When shall we visit the World?

The answer to this question is significant in regards to many aspects of your Disney vacation. You will have a much different trip if you visit in the middle of June than you will if you visit at the end of January. There is the obvious factor of the difference in weather- and crowds, park hours, and resort room rates and discounts will also vary significantly depending on when you choose to visit the World.

As a child, we typically visited from Christmas until New Years, and again during Easter break. These are two of Disney’s busiest times of the year, but as a kid, I didn’t know any better, and I found it very normal to wait in line for Splash Mountain for upwards of 2 hours (this was way before the Fast Pass ever existed). Now that I'm the one planning our trips, I tend to favor the autumn season, as well as late winter (my son's birthday is at the end of January, and what better time to escape the harsh Midwest winter!!). I choose these times of the year for several reasons, the primary reason being that discounts have always been available at these times of the year.

 

Beginning in 2009, we started a tradition of a fall Disney trip with my extended family. We have gone in both September and October, and we love this time of year because the crowds are more manageable, the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival is in full swing, the weather is typically conducive to spending 12+ hours in a theme park, and finally (my favorite reason of all)- FREE DINING!!

Disney is not known to give anything away. And there is a price to pay when it comes to Free Dining- this being that you do not get any sort of discount on your room. But my family loves to eat- not just for the food, but for the social time as well- and so we always find that we save money when we pay the full price for the room and take the Free Dining offer. Depending on your family’s preferences, it may be more beneficial for you to take the room discount that is typically offered along with the Free Dining promotion (you choose one or the other- either the room discount, or the Free Dining offer). I have heard that if you stay in a Deluxe resort, and there are only a couple of people, the room discount can save you more money than the Free Dining offer, but I have never done the math to figure that one out, as we do not stay Deluxe.

 

Free Dining and/or different room discounts are typically offered from late-August through mid-December, and then again from mid-January through the beginning of March. I would highly recommend visiting during these time periods if you can. While Free Dining was not offered for our son’s birthday trip in late January 2015, there was a ‘Stay, Play and Dine’ offer that provided us with a significant discount on a resort, dining plan, and ticket package.

 

One thing to consider, however, is that during the ‘slower’ times of year, the theme parks are not open as late as they are during the busier times. When we used to visit at Christmastime, I remember the parks being open until midnight or later every night, and so we wouldn’t even get going until after lunchtime. If you are not an early riser and find it appalling to do so while on vacation, mid-January might not be the time for you, as the parks can close as early as 5-7pm during this time of year.

 

Please give weather a consideration as well, if at all possible. In July 2012, just before I graduated nursing school, I was offered a job and we decided we would celebrate by taking a quick and very last-minute trip to the World in August. My parents decided to join us, and the 4 of us experienced a VERY warm trip. My husband is NOT a fan of the humidity, and so he was borderline miserable during this trip. I can still remember standing in line with him for Rock ‘N Roller Coaster, still early in the day, and both of us were just drenched (and I do mean drenched) with sweat, with an entire day yet to go at the theme parks. Our January 2015 trip was VERY different, with us needing sweatshirts during the day, and gloves and hats at night. Of course, unseasonal weather can always creep up on you, so whenever you visit, make sure to be prepared and pack for both cold and warm weather just in case!

 

I have visited Walt Disney World during every month except June and July, and I definitely have my favorites. Early spring is lovely weather-wise, the Flower and Garden Festival presented by HGTV is going on at Epcot, and it’s fun to have a trip to look forward to during those long winter months. Mid-to-late November may provide you the opportunity to see the World decorated BEAUTIFULLY for Christmas, and when I was there around Veteran’s Day in 2007, it was warm enough to sit by the pool during the day, though it did get rather chilly at night. In 2015, the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival runs through November 16. Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party begins on November 8, 2015, and so it would be possible to include both of these popular events on a trip if you are flexible with your dates.

 

I hope you have enjoyed reading, as always, if you have any questions or need any help with planning your trip, please feel free to contact me at dana_aimee@hotmail.com. Happy Travels!

Travel tips

Against my better judgement (because I ought to go to bed), I'm re-writing this post, as I had just written a wonderful post and somehow deleted it.

I'm still trying to figure out how to organize this blog- yes my last post was nearly 9 months ago, but I'm back! I'm going to try to post once a month. We'll see how it goes!

I've still got some general travel tips in mind, so we'll start there. If flying (my family's preferred method of travel), I recommend Southwest. My comfort zone from Indy to Orlando is around $120 per person each way. Children under 2 fly free, which has been very nice to be able to utilize multiple times. My family is very tall, and so we tend to either grab the bulkhead seats if still available (no tray table but tons of legroom), or at the very least my husband will grab an aisle and I'll sit next to him. If we know the flight isn't full, I've been known to take the window seat and hope nobody sits in between us- and it's worked (disclaimer: not always!). Before kids, we would almost always take the exit row, but you must be at least 18 to sit in that row. We have never paid the extra $25 per person for priority seating, but rather, I get online and the second the clock switches to exactly 24 hours before my flight on my iPhone, I check us in to our flight, and I'm typically pretty happy with our assignment (example: if my flight leaves at 2:00pm on Friday, I check us in at exactly 2:00pm on Thursday- you are given a letter A-C, and a number 1-60, and that is your boarding order.. So A1 is first to board, and C60 is last. A's are the best, but we've gotten low B's and still had plenty of seating choices available). Bags fly free on Southwest as well, and we always carry-on our 2 allowed bags each, and then check the rest.

A great money-saver is to buy kids clothing at home to bring on the trip. H&M, JCPenney, Kohl's, Babies R Us- just to name a few- all sell cute kids Disney clothes, at a fraction of the cost. I don't have girls, but I've heard that buying Princess dresses beforehand and taking them along is the way to go. I know Disneystore.com sells cute dresses, and I've also seen dresses at all the above mentioned places except H&M. Unless your girl is a tomboy like I was, she is going to see all of the other little girls dressed up and want a dress of her own. Now I don't know how the quality compares to those bought in the parks, but personally, if I ever have a girl , I'll definitely be buying my dresses ahead of time elsewhere. I can't justify the Disney prices. To make giving her the dress extra fun, you could leave the dress, along with a note from the Princess, in the morning for her to find when she wakes up for her first full day in Disney.

Along those same lines, let me just say that EVERYTHING is going to cost more in Disney. My family has, on several occasions, brought our own alcohol to enjoy at night in the room or out by the pool. We have brought 4-packs of the mini plastic wine bottles (1 bottle in the gift shop at the resort costs the same as a 4-pack at home), and also mini plastic bottles of rum/ vodka to mix with soda.

Disney gift cards- these beauties are the way to go! Jeff and I love receiving them for birthdays and holidays. In the past, we'd charge everything to the room over the course of a week. At the end of the trip, you're left with a hefty bill AND the fact that vacation is over. Nowadays we use gift cards for tips, alcoholic beverages, and souvenirs... and not getting a bill at the end of the trip makes for a happier check-out day!

I am hoping I've covered everything that was in my deleted post. I thank you for reading, and hope everyone has a lovely week. Thanks for reading!

It's all in the research

How do I book a Disney vacation? Where do I even begin? Two questions you are probably asking yourself if you're thinking about making a visit to the happiest place on Earth. I have booked both through a travel agent, and done it myself. There are perks to both, but if you've never booked a Disney trip before, I suggest using a travel agent. I belong to AAA, so I use them, but you can do a Google search and come up with some good ones- if they're legit, they WILL NOT charge you extra to book your trip!!! Booking a trip to Disney requires some work and some know-how, so having someone to help you along the way can definitely be a plus.

The best way to approach planning your trip is to start by visiting Disney World's website. Look at the 'special offers' section to see when discounts may be available. My family prefers to travel in the fall, and there are often discounts available for this time of year. Keep in mind that when the schools are out for Christmas, spring break, and summer break, that Disney doesn't have to offer discounts because these are their busy seasons.

I always recommend staying at a Disney resort, but of course staying 'offsite' is an option, too. I would never go this route because for me, part of the fun is never leaving Disney property. Transportation is included in the cost of your resort price, but if you stay offsite, you'll pay to get from the airport to your resort, and then you'll have to (more than likely) pay to park at the theme parks every day- keep this in mind when deciding where to stay! Daily parking can add up (currently it's $20 per day), and it may end up being less expensive to stay on-site where transportation is included!

While checking out the website, take a glance at the different ticket options as well. If you do go with a travel agent, she or he will help point you in the right direction, but it doesn't hurt to familiarize yourself with some basics first. While AAA is the official travel agent of Disney, I have actually clued them into different discounts which became available, so it never hurts to do your research!

So to recap: Figure out whether you'd like a travel agent, and if so, a bit of research to find one who's reputable is a must! Familiarize yourself with different discounts offered throughout the year, and decide whether you are able to take advantage of these offers. And finally, do some research regarding the different resorts and ticket options which are available to you. Happy researching!