Questions about DisneyWorld vacation?

There aren't usually good deals that package airfare and Disney packages together. The best deals are usually found by booking airfare separately from the Disney tickets/room. There are several discount airlines, such as AirTran, that fly into Orlando.

I definitely recommend staying onsite, especially if you are flying into Orlando. Disney resort guests receive free transportation to and from the airport, and you also receive free transportation between your resort and all of the Disney parks. If you stay offsite, you either have to rent a car and drive (and pay for parking; the parking lots are also quite a walk to the gate) or use the hotel shuttles, which are often inconvenient and unreliable. The Disney buses run every 20 minutes from several hours before park openings to an hour or so after they close, and drop you off right at the gates - you just can't beat that convenience.

It's hard to give an opinion on the best Disney resort without knowing what you want to pay. There are several levels of resorts - Value, Moderate, Deluxe, and Deluxe Villas. They are all nice places, but vary in terms of the size and type of rooms, the amenities offered, the pool areas, etc. All do have some sort of fast food/food court offering, but the food tends to be more expensive at the Deluxe and Villas. Depending on when you go, Disney offers free dining as part of a package you can book. It can save you some money, depending on your dining preferences.

If I had to pick a favorite at each level, I'd say Pop Century at Value (although the new Art of Animation looks to be nice when it opens this coming year), Port Orleans at Moderate, and Polynesian or Beach Club at Deluxe. I'm not that familiar with the Deluxe Villas.

Disney has a link on its site where you can price your vacation - choose your dates, your resort, the types of tickets you want, a dining plan (if desired), and it prices it for you. They also list the specials and discounts that might be offered. There are no specials or discounts available through other travel sites - what you find at Disney is all you'll find.

There are some travel agents who specialize in Disney trips. They can't really get you a better deal than you'd find yourself, but they are better at finding the best deals and monitoring the reservation for better deals that may arise. We have used Small World Vacations in the past, and they were fantastic. Very easy to work with, and they found us a great package that included our kids' tickets for free, which saved us over $1000 alone.

Look for packages at Disney.com. Make sure you CALL to book your trip, my mom was able to negotiate our trip price until it was in our budget. Also, our favorite airline (good quality, cheapest) is Airtran. For hotels, ALWAYS stay inside the parks - the Disney Resorts are best. If you have young kids and want something cheap, I suggest the Allstar resorts or Pop Century. They have a food court. The upper class resorts are fancier and more expensive, but seeing as you won't be spending much time at the resort, they're not always worth it. They also don't have a food court, you'll have to order at a restaurant.

It would probably be cheaper to rent a condo or a hotel room that has a kitchenette. You'd also have to rent a car and then drive to/from WDW and pay the parking fee, however.

Your library has books on traveling to WDW. The Birnbaum one is good.