Postby BalhamMumWorkingFT » Sat Jun 29, 2013 8:35 am
Ok, i've done Disney staying at Disney and off Disney. My advice is to get the most recently opened hotel. They are usually much nicer as lot of Disney hotels are dated. Also, the absolutely best place to stay is at a monorail connected hotel. If you have to get on a Bus, you might as well drive yourself. I just found it so much easier to drive when I had young ones because you could escape without waiting for a bus (they are quick though, any wait is usually around 5-10min).
I recommend the following places:
Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa (expensive but very nice)
Disney's Contemporary Resort (close enough to walk to the magic kingdom)
Orlando Omni Championsgate - Golf, spa, etc... This was the absolute best place we ever stayed. We stayed in a Villa which was advertised as 2 beds but actually was three beds. Had a full kitchen, huge dining area, and a living area. Was about 1400 sq foot. And cheaper than even the lowest priced Disney hotel. The staff rocked and as willing to drive us to disney everyday and pick us up. I even left a couple bits of clothes there by accident and they mailed them to me, NO CHARGE!
My other piece of advice is to stick to one park a day, find out when all the parades and activities are per park, choose what you think you'd want to do, and plan your park visit around it. We bought park hopper tickets (more expensive) and NEVER changed parks. I recommend the electrical light parade (Magic Kingdom) as a not to miss. It is a night, we just got slices of pizza and found a spot to sit for 30min which was right in the front. It was like having our own dinner show.
Final advice... get the fast track vouchers. We would go to our favourite ride first thing and get fast track, then ride it once without fast track and get back in line to ride again with fast track. Fast Track vouchers make sitting in line ok.
YAY! Have so much fun. It is truely one of the best holidays I have ever had... and we've done some pretty crazy travel. Everyone is so nice and helpful. Big smiles on their faces... as if they are living the dream. (weird and yet so cool).
