Disney is king of family vacation destinations! They offer the widest variety of accommodations, activities, theme parks and dining. How on Earth are you expected to understand it all and make the right choices for your family. A travel agent is a great first call! But here are a few things your travel agent is going to ask you so let's get you prepared!
What type of vacation do you prefer?
Active, quiet, take it slow, or full speed ahead. Think about your over all experience when you vacation. Do you want to unwind and slow your family down or do you want to make sure they don't miss a single thing?
Accommodations, what is a must have in a resort?
Disney offers 4 categories of resort options: Value, Moderate, Deluxe and Home Away From Home. As you guessed it, the price starts low (Value) and goes higher (HAFH). There is something to fit every budget and every size family but you really need to think about what you can't live without. Value is the HoJo version of Disney hotels. Yes they all have great Disney themes but you will get the basics of amenities. Moderates offer larger beds (queens vs. doubles), larger square footage and even some resorts with trundle beds for families of 5! Deluxe are the plush resorts. You will have high end amenities but the best part is location, location, location! All of those beautiful resorts along the monorail loop are Deluxe resorts as well as, the lagoon at the Boardwalk.
Home Away From Home resorts offer full kitchens and actually have resorts in all 3 main categories. Art of Animation and All Star Music have family suites with partial kitchens. Fort Wilderness Cabins are in the moderate category with full kitchens. And all other HAFH resorts are in the Deluxe category with full kitchens and top notch amenities.
Theme Parks ~ do you add the "others"?
Disney has 4 theme parks: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Disney's Hollywood Studios. You can choose tickets that give you unlimited access for your entire stay (Park Hopper tickets) or you can choose one park per day (basic tickets). Some guests go to WDW every few years so they want to add everything into their trip including Sea World and Universal Studios. To do the absolute minimum each park offers you will need 7 full days (4 at WDW parks and 2 at Universal Studios and 1 at Sea World).
When ~ when do you want to go?
This will affect your cost a lot! There are seasons at WDW as with all hotels. Disney has Holiday seasons which are going to include Spring Break, Thanksgiving and Christmas thru New Years. Expect the highest prices and the largest crowds during those times. If you want my quickest answer to the best time to go, here it is: mid-January, May, September-early November and early December. Prices are kind of reasonable in July and August but the heat might just get you. Disney has of late been offering free dining September - November (with some time in early December). This offers you the absolute best bang for your buck if you can swing a trip during free dining. Keep in mind Disney blocks out certain popular times which include a lot of school fall breaks (except for any in September).
How does this all work?
You can book any Disney Vacation package with just a deposit of $200.00. Your entire vacation must be paid in full 45 days prior to your arrival. If you need to make changes you can for no fee, although prices will vary if you change to low season to high season or if ticket prices have changed.
Can a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 children between the ages of 3-9) go to Disney for a week for $2,500. Yes they can! Value resort during free dining will be your absolute best time to go. You will be able to get 6 nights/7 days with basic tickets. It won't include Universal or Sea World, but for a little more you can add one or both. Travel agents (and I don't mean Expedia or the like) are you best resource to use when planning. Disney trains them all the time and they can provide the best way to get the most of your vacation.
I as your travel agent have your best interest at heart! I want to make sure you everything you want out of your trip. I can plan on Disney property or off Disney property and price everything in between. Use me! I charge no fees and will always put you first! Visit my website for more information about me and what I offer and always check my Disney Information website that as a travel agent Disney maintains with the most current information. Email me at mackeymousetravel@yahoo.com or call me at 770.490.5974.
This was so helpful when we were planning our trip to WDW! Our first decision was which of the Disney Resorts to stay at, then we looked for any packages they had and it seemed like everything else just fell into place. It was probably a one in a million chance that our vacation basically planned itself. I will be referencing this the next time we go though, I know it won't be as easy next time (I am not that lucky haha).
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