Can you give me some pointers on a Disney World Vacation?

First, I think that is a great age to take you kids. They will be a bit short for a few rides, but not many. These ages are in the range for my favorite ages at Disney.

Now, this is a question that I relate to a great deal. We have taken the kids to Disney World several times, and on a tight budget each time. The thing is, once you are through the gates to the park, nobody can tell if you flew first class, drove, stayed in a 5 star hotel, or camped. So, it is all good.

First the bad news. The theme park tickets cost a fortune. There are very few legitimate discounts for Disney tickets. So, you want to wrap your mind around that price first and then continue. The thing to look at for Disney ticket is how the price per day goes down when you go for over 4 days. For instance, with your group the price difference between 4 and 6 days is $86 FOR THE ENTIRE GROUP. See the link below for the Disney Ticket Calculator. You can play with it and see what I mean.

After ticket prices, you need to deal with a hotel. There are slightly less expensive hotel options found outside the Disney resort, however some of them are not that nice. Also note that if you stay outside of Disney you can have additional expenses like daily parking and car rental.

Food is expensive there. There is no way around that. Some people like to get the meal plan because they can then make restaurant reservations at a fixed price, and choose the most expensive items on the menu. Others look at the amount of food included and determine that they would normally eat less and spend less. You can do an internet search on "Walt Disney World menus" and find a couple of sites that list all the menus and prices for the park. You can compare that to the cost of the meal plans and see how it comes out.

Now, after all of that your best option is probably as follows:

Book one of the economy resorts at Disney.

Get 6 day tickets.

Either drive of fly to Orlando depending on personal preference. If you fly, have disney pick you up at the airport for free and thus forego the rental car.

Either get the meal plan, or don't. You can look at the prices and determine if you want it or not.

You can carry some snacks and drinks for the kids. They do allow you to take snacks into the parks.

Do a little research on fast passes, and figure out what parks you want to do on which day, and go have fun.

How long are you planning to visit? I'd suggest going for at least 4 days, and spending 1 day in each park. If you can go for a little longer, I'd spend an extra day at Magic Kingdom. A 2-day ticket for your family would be $680, while a 4-day would be $990, and a 5-day would be $1036 (all before tax). The per-day price drops as you add more days to your ticket.

For kids those ages, they would probably most enjoy Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. EPCOT can be hit or miss with kids that age, so if you must skip a park, I'd make it that one.

You're going at a good time of year for saving money on hotels. Fall hotel rates are some of the cheapest at Disney. Stay in a Value resort to save the most money. I recommend staying on Disney property - you get the benefits of free transportation to/from the airport; free, reliable, and convenient transportation to the parks (off-site hotels offer shuttle service to the parks, but it's not reliable or convenient); free parking if you drive yourself (otherwise $14 a day); and Extra Magic Hours (each day, one of the parks either stays open late or opens early, just for resort guests). They often offer Free Dining promotions during the fall, which you can ony get if you book a package through Disney that includes your tickets and room.

Other ways to save money:

*Eat breakfast in your room

*Bring snacks and drinks into the parks with you (allowed)

www.mousesavers.com has a lot of information about saving money, and also about promotions that might be available at the time.

Well if you would like to have an affordable Disney vacation, why not stay at a Disney value resort?

For example their is Pop Century resort. I have stayed there twice and have never had a bad experience. The price is $89 per night. They have giant statues which your kids will love.

The rooms were a little squishy, but not horrible. Pop Century resort has it's own food court, where you and you you're family can munch on breakfast, lunch or dinner. As far as the amount of days, I would recommend 4 nights, 5 days. Then you can experience each park without being in a rush :)

For tickets, to save money, I would recommend going with the 5 day BASE ticket. The Park Hopper options allows you to visit more than one park each day, but if you do end up going for 5 days, the Base ticket is all you will need. Therefore, for a package I would recommend the Magic Your Way Plus Dining plan. It includes Room Accommidations of your choice, Magic Your Way Base ticket, One table service meal per person per night, one quick service meal per person per night, one snack per person per night and a resort refillable drink mug. Have a MAGICAL time! I hope I helped!

The price of your tickets and lodging, you know ahead of time, so the areas where you save money are food and impulse buys. Every Disney "ride" exits conveniently through a gift shop/snack bar, so start training those children in discipline now. Don't look around, don't slow down, just keep walking until everyone is completely OUT of the ride. No, we aren't buying treats or gifts, so don't ask. BEING HERE is the treat, don't ask for more.

Try to eat supermarket food that you prepare yourself instead of Disney food, which is priced sky high. If you're flying in, can so can't do a supermarket run, at least get bread, cold cuts, cheese, etc at the hotel gift shop instead of going to snack bars and restaurants. The Fort Wilderness Trading Post is the closest thing Disney has to a supermarket.

If you book directly with Disney you will be paying the most. We always use a travel agent. There are discount "codes" that only travel agents can use to get you a great discount. Also, they can let you know if your dates are good for stuff like FREE dining plan and stuff like that.

I recommend Heidi Marlowe with White Glove Destinations. She can help you with ANY questions you may have (where to stay, which parks on which days, what's good for certain ages, price, food, seriously anything). Here is her contact information:

Website: www.whiteglovedestinations.com

E-mail: heidi@whiteglovedestinations.com

Phone #: 281-380-3437

Be sure to tell her that the Gleave Family sent you to her and I hope you all have a magical vacation!

Try and get to the park as early as possible to make the most of it.

Go to all parks but I'd suggest doing magic kingdom twice, as its the biggest park and has the most rides

Look on the internet for a condo to stay in, these can be cheaper than a disney hotel

Look on the internet for discounts on tickets

Bring your lunch/tea into the park with you as the food is fairly expensive

Bring a water bottle into the park, there's water fountains around

If your girls want to do meet and greets, get them an autograph book either before or in one of the local supermarkers

Wear warm clothing. It is always 60-70 degrees in the fall there. Stay at a Walt Disney World (WDW) resort hotel. Get the park hopper package so you can go to all 4 parks. When going to Downtown Disney bring your pass because you will need it to go to DisneyQuest. When at the parks, look for hidden mickeys because they are everywhere! Hope I helped!

Really depends on how long you stay. Magic Kingdom and Epcot are great. Animal Kingdom is best if you can get there first thing in the morning when it is a bit cooler and the animals are more up and about. MGM is also good.

I plan Disney Vacations so I can help you with whatever you may need. Give me a budget and I can see what I can work out for you. The more days you buy on a Disney Ticket the cheaper it gets. Depending on when you are planning in the fall, there are sometimes free dining or room discounts at that time. Just check out my web page and if you would like a quote just fill out that info. I'd be glad to help.

If you belong to AAA, check with their travel folks on package pricing.

Stay onsite for convenience.

Do lot of research before. Study park maps ahead of time and identify your "must see" rides and shows, parades, fireworks, etc. (You can find reviews online or buy a book.). You can also find the park hours fon the Disney website which vary each day.