So, you want to go to Disney World
I figured, why not make this a series of posts here?
It's easier to think in terms of ONE topic at a post and will make the thing much easier to organize. I'll toss up cuts since this could get lengthy.
The first question and rightly so is often "how much does it cost?" I often respond with "how much do you have?" This isn't as flippant as it sounds. Walt Disney World can be rather affordable, considering what you get for the money...or you can blow through upwards of $3,000 a day and no, that's not a made up number.
The first number you need to figure involves travel. If you have less than two people and Orlando is more than a few hundred miles, your best choice is by air. Given the price of gas, as well as stopping for food and potentially an overnight, the road trip notion turns out to be if not more expensive, break even at best. Once you start adding more people to the trip, the costs start favoring the car. The gas expenses are pretty much a fixed cost, as is a hotel room, meals will cost you a bit more but on the whole, the more people traveling by road, the cheaper it becomes on a per-person basis. There is the human costs to a road trip. It is tiring. The trip TO Disney World is often exciting with everyone in high spirits but the trip back can easily destroy your will to live. You are already tired, suffering from vacation come-down and you have a long drive ahead. Sometimes, it's just worth the money. The great news is that with Expedia/Travelocity and Google Maps it's VERY easy to cost compare. Average mpg for your vehicle, distance to Orlando and average price for a gallon of gas are easy to find up-to-the-second data. Make an informed choice even if you have already made up your mind...it's bad to have "what if" after you've set things into motion. Speaking of! Be prepared to do your leg work on setting this up. Leg work these days is browsing some websites and reading a book or two but package deals don't save you a thing (unless they come directly from Disney) and in some ways are less convenient. So, don't be lazy...if you tend to be lazy, quit right now, a Disney vacation is NOT for you, those who stick with the series will see why.
Once you arrive at which mode best fits your temperment and budget, this is a fairly fixed cost. That is to say there is little you can do to change that cost. The same is true for park tickets and this is also a few of fairly easy choices. So, let's talk park tickets! The first thing to know is that Disney admission is on a sliding scale. Each day in the park is cheaper than the one before and by day four, drastically so. Day four typically costs less than $20 per person! This is why I typically advise people that there is no such thing as a three day park admission. Only go two to cut costs if you must but if you go for three, go for four and see it ALL. With a cost difference that low, better to spend day four a bit bored, looking for something to do instead of leaving at the end of only two days, knowing you've missed stuff. The add ons for park tickets are dictated by your style. The park hopper is a very nice addition. With it, you can hop on the Monorail (or bus) at any time in the day and go visit another of the Disney parks instead of being stuck in the same one all day. If you know your group will be moving slow or you can't envision wanting to switch parks in a day, by all means omit this option. If you move quickly (code for "sans children") or just could see some of the parks not holding your interest for a full day, this is a low cost option you will want. The Water Park Fun option is something you and your party will have to decide on. Families find them an invaluable break, smaller groups who want to spend all their time basking in all the magic will give it a pass. Bottom line, it's a great break and easy way to entertain the little ones while you relax but personally, we have water parks at home.
Now that we've covered the costs you really cannot change, and you have those two numbers (travel and park tickets) jotted on a page in Google Docs (trust me, note taking is important) it's time to figure out your two highly variable costs of food and lodging. We need to talk lodging to be able to talk about food.
If your primary limiting factor is money, this is easy: Stay off of Disney property. Staying at a Disney resort has a LOT going for it. There are many great reasons to stay there and they will be happy to outline the advantages of each...and charge you for them. Don't get me wrong, they are absolutely right, they are a tremendous value if that's what you want. BUT if a pool, onsite laundry, shuttle service throughout the day and the dining plan are things that don't really matter to you, staying off-site can save you up to half. That's right, HALF, 50% less bay-bee. There are many great guides to where to stay in Orlando so I won't go into that here but I typically don't have any trouble finding a clean and comfortable room for ~$60-80 depending on season. Amenities don't concern me, if I'm awake and I'm not in a park, I feel like I am wasting my time. Now that said, if you are traveling with kids or aren't much of a Disney freak, downtime with a pool is nice, shuttles that will take you back to your hotel at a moment's notice are nice, package delivery is nice, friendly and magical staff are nice. None of this is nice enough to pay twice as much for a room.
But the dining plan, is much more than nice.
Disney is stupid rich by not being stupid. You can't have the dining plan if you don't stay at a Disney resort and the savings on dining suddenly make a huge difference. If you plan on eating at moderate and counter service (fast food) restaurants that are fully covered by the dining plan, then there is NO cost difference between off-site and on-site. So, you get all the amenities and conveniences of a Disney resort for just about the same price as staying off-site once you look at the total costs. Which begs the question...what kind of idiot wouldn't? Since I am that kind of idiot, I am fully qualified to answer that. Oh and please note! Just because I'm not going into detail about the virtues of the dining plan & on site lodging doesn't mean I don't think it rocks. There are gobs of sites to tell you how much it rocks and they aren't wrong. I'm just making the case of why Doreen and I don't.
There are a few reasons we stay offsite and the first is the freedom of having a car. We have some Friends in Orlando and while the bus service is tight, it's not on-demand. Not to mention that running to the Winn-Dixie for another tube of sunscreen is a LOT cheaper than buying it at Disney. If you want to visit Universal Orlando (and what Harry Potter freak doesn't?), it's easier with a car. The second reason is that not having kids of our own, we've not developed the ability to ignore other people's. Every family stays at the Disney resorts and this is an easy way to have a bit more peace. Finally, we like to lash out a bit when it comes to meals. I can have a moderately priced Italian dinner at home...but where else in the world can I have world class food at the top of Disney's Contemporary Resort while eye level with the night time fireworks as I eat? This is NOT covered by the dining plan. A lot of the places we enjoy aren't typically fully covered by a single dining plan meal. So the savings from the dining plan go right out the window. In short: We plan on spending a lot of money on some outrageous dinners and it works out slightly cheaper this way. So if you don't plan on this...stay on site, you'll be much happier.
So, unless you have a specific reason NOT to stay on site, go to Disney and put in your numbers. Expect four days of magic to run you ~$1500 (Under $1,300 if you don't mind a tent or RV) for two adults and a child, assuming summer prices. Add a couple of hundred for mouse ears and incidentals and if that's a number you can live with, you're going to Disney World!
The next part will be the "and then what."
It's easier to think in terms of ONE topic at a post and will make the thing much easier to organize. I'll toss up cuts since this could get lengthy.
The first question and rightly so is often "how much does it cost?" I often respond with "how much do you have?" This isn't as flippant as it sounds. Walt Disney World can be rather affordable, considering what you get for the money...or you can blow through upwards of $3,000 a day and no, that's not a made up number.
The first number you need to figure involves travel. If you have less than two people and Orlando is more than a few hundred miles, your best choice is by air. Given the price of gas, as well as stopping for food and potentially an overnight, the road trip notion turns out to be if not more expensive, break even at best. Once you start adding more people to the trip, the costs start favoring the car. The gas expenses are pretty much a fixed cost, as is a hotel room, meals will cost you a bit more but on the whole, the more people traveling by road, the cheaper it becomes on a per-person basis. There is the human costs to a road trip. It is tiring. The trip TO Disney World is often exciting with everyone in high spirits but the trip back can easily destroy your will to live. You are already tired, suffering from vacation come-down and you have a long drive ahead. Sometimes, it's just worth the money. The great news is that with Expedia/Travelocity and Google Maps it's VERY easy to cost compare. Average mpg for your vehicle, distance to Orlando and average price for a gallon of gas are easy to find up-to-the-second data. Make an informed choice even if you have already made up your mind...it's bad to have "what if" after you've set things into motion. Speaking of! Be prepared to do your leg work on setting this up. Leg work these days is browsing some websites and reading a book or two but package deals don't save you a thing (unless they come directly from Disney) and in some ways are less convenient. So, don't be lazy...if you tend to be lazy, quit right now, a Disney vacation is NOT for you, those who stick with the series will see why.
Once you arrive at which mode best fits your temperment and budget, this is a fairly fixed cost. That is to say there is little you can do to change that cost. The same is true for park tickets and this is also a few of fairly easy choices. So, let's talk park tickets! The first thing to know is that Disney admission is on a sliding scale. Each day in the park is cheaper than the one before and by day four, drastically so. Day four typically costs less than $20 per person! This is why I typically advise people that there is no such thing as a three day park admission. Only go two to cut costs if you must but if you go for three, go for four and see it ALL. With a cost difference that low, better to spend day four a bit bored, looking for something to do instead of leaving at the end of only two days, knowing you've missed stuff. The add ons for park tickets are dictated by your style. The park hopper is a very nice addition. With it, you can hop on the Monorail (or bus) at any time in the day and go visit another of the Disney parks instead of being stuck in the same one all day. If you know your group will be moving slow or you can't envision wanting to switch parks in a day, by all means omit this option. If you move quickly (code for "sans children") or just could see some of the parks not holding your interest for a full day, this is a low cost option you will want. The Water Park Fun option is something you and your party will have to decide on. Families find them an invaluable break, smaller groups who want to spend all their time basking in all the magic will give it a pass. Bottom line, it's a great break and easy way to entertain the little ones while you relax but personally, we have water parks at home.
Now that we've covered the costs you really cannot change, and you have those two numbers (travel and park tickets) jotted on a page in Google Docs (trust me, note taking is important) it's time to figure out your two highly variable costs of food and lodging. We need to talk lodging to be able to talk about food.
If your primary limiting factor is money, this is easy: Stay off of Disney property. Staying at a Disney resort has a LOT going for it. There are many great reasons to stay there and they will be happy to outline the advantages of each...and charge you for them. Don't get me wrong, they are absolutely right, they are a tremendous value if that's what you want. BUT if a pool, onsite laundry, shuttle service throughout the day and the dining plan are things that don't really matter to you, staying off-site can save you up to half. That's right, HALF, 50% less bay-bee. There are many great guides to where to stay in Orlando so I won't go into that here but I typically don't have any trouble finding a clean and comfortable room for ~$60-80 depending on season. Amenities don't concern me, if I'm awake and I'm not in a park, I feel like I am wasting my time. Now that said, if you are traveling with kids or aren't much of a Disney freak, downtime with a pool is nice, shuttles that will take you back to your hotel at a moment's notice are nice, package delivery is nice, friendly and magical staff are nice. None of this is nice enough to pay twice as much for a room.
But the dining plan, is much more than nice.
Disney is stupid rich by not being stupid. You can't have the dining plan if you don't stay at a Disney resort and the savings on dining suddenly make a huge difference. If you plan on eating at moderate and counter service (fast food) restaurants that are fully covered by the dining plan, then there is NO cost difference between off-site and on-site. So, you get all the amenities and conveniences of a Disney resort for just about the same price as staying off-site once you look at the total costs. Which begs the question...what kind of idiot wouldn't? Since I am that kind of idiot, I am fully qualified to answer that. Oh and please note! Just because I'm not going into detail about the virtues of the dining plan & on site lodging doesn't mean I don't think it rocks. There are gobs of sites to tell you how much it rocks and they aren't wrong. I'm just making the case of why Doreen and I don't.
There are a few reasons we stay offsite and the first is the freedom of having a car. We have some Friends in Orlando and while the bus service is tight, it's not on-demand. Not to mention that running to the Winn-Dixie for another tube of sunscreen is a LOT cheaper than buying it at Disney. If you want to visit Universal Orlando (and what Harry Potter freak doesn't?), it's easier with a car. The second reason is that not having kids of our own, we've not developed the ability to ignore other people's. Every family stays at the Disney resorts and this is an easy way to have a bit more peace. Finally, we like to lash out a bit when it comes to meals. I can have a moderately priced Italian dinner at home...but where else in the world can I have world class food at the top of Disney's Contemporary Resort while eye level with the night time fireworks as I eat? This is NOT covered by the dining plan. A lot of the places we enjoy aren't typically fully covered by a single dining plan meal. So the savings from the dining plan go right out the window. In short: We plan on spending a lot of money on some outrageous dinners and it works out slightly cheaper this way. So if you don't plan on this...stay on site, you'll be much happier.
So, unless you have a specific reason NOT to stay on site, go to Disney and put in your numbers. Expect four days of magic to run you ~$1500 (Under $1,300 if you don't mind a tent or RV) for two adults and a child, assuming summer prices. Add a couple of hundred for mouse ears and incidentals and if that's a number you can live with, you're going to Disney World!
The next part will be the "and then what."