Disney World - March 2015 - recommendations needed

My Father-In-Law turns 60 y/o in March of 2015. My MIL wants to celebrate with a trip to Disney World.

We are coming from Houston, Texas the week of March 7th and returning no later than the 14th. Depending on the cost, we plan on flying from Houston to Orlando. If it's outrageous, we'll make the 14 hour dive.

The following people will be going:
My family of two (2) adults and one (1) child who will be 2 y/o @ time
Sister-in-laws family with two (2) adults and two (2) children, ages 8 and 3
And my In-Laws, two (adults)

Our budget is limited and if you have experience with kids at the park or places to stay on/off site, i would love to hear them.

We would like to visit Epcot, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and maybe a water park if they're open.

 

Stay onsite at either the Pop Century resort, or at another complex where they have 3 hotels - All Star sport, toys & music themed, but all basically the same. These are the least expensive resorts, but gives you a good clean room with pools etc to enjoy. The biggest benefit of staying here is that you use the resort buses or monorails to go wherever you want to. That saves you the hassle of driving, paying for parking,etc. Also, if someone in the party gets tired they can go back to the hotel while others can stay longer. You cant do that if everyone is in one car/van. Also, if you stay in the resort you can get in the parks an hour or so early, which helps a lot if you have a long list of rides you want to do.

EPCOT is a must for adults (kids also) and Magic Kingdom for kids (adults also).

A week at Disney is not going to be cheap, no matter what you do. Food is expensive. If you can get a room with refridgerator, try to eat in the room, or make sandwiches and go eat at the pool, but try to avoid too much resort food - that's a budget killer.

 

My wife and I were just there a week ago.
Stayed at the All Star Movies Resort. As Boerseun said, it was convenient - didn't use the car the 3 days we were there. I think staying at the resort gives some advantages costwise - parking, wristbands included, etc.
As long as that's not a school vacation week, crowds shouldn't be a problem.
Labor Day week was great with no crowds or lines. If you think there will be crowds, make sure you get a package which includes the Fast pass option. This lets you reserve a time at busy rides and bypass the regular lines. You can do that from your phone using their app. Let's you see wait times too.
All works off the RFID band which also works as a room key and let's you charge food & bling with a swipe of the wrist (good or bad depending on your point of view.)

 

All good advice above. Even if you aren't able to stay at one of the places on the Disney property, if you search around, many of the hotels in the immediate area (i.e. Kissimee or St. Clound etc) offer free bus service all day to the monorail entrance. Maybe not quite as convenient as on site, but it does save some time and parking fees.

Also, if anyone happens to be active or retired military, check with the nearest base, because they usually have a travel/tours office with fairly decent ticket package deals available for military and employees.

One thing is for certain, the supply of hotel rooms in the Orlando/Disney area is HIGH, tremendously HIGH. So no matter what your budget is, keep searching and you will eventually find something decent or better than decent that fits.

 

Honestly... I would rather hit up a nice condo on either coast and hire a sports fisherman and go fishing than spend a day in that over packed over priced theme park. Now don't get me wrong i used to go to DW religiously but there is no end to thier greed. The second time i took my kids there (back in the early 90's) by noon they had enough of the crowds they wanted to go home, and what is this crap that you have to spend more to get a park hopper pass? Sorry i went off but i get tired of hearing how great DW is.... I actually was there before any construction started.. it was just a trailer out in the middle of nowhere with a model of the park inside of it.

 

We haven't been down there but twice with the kids and it cost us a lot, even with saving on travel and lodging costs. And the kids enjoyed it so much I almost convinced my self the tickets were worth it for multiple days full of world class professional entertainment that the kids loved more than I did. Told myself it was probably cheaper than a vacation to New York to find that same level of theatrical productions.

But it has been quite a while for us, and lately I have been reading other forums where a lot of folks are saying they used to think of it the say way, but recently they have changed their mind and it has gone too far overboard on the greed and prices.

 

If anyone is military (retired, reservist or active), check out the shades of green resort as you still get the early entrance benefits and the free shuttles.

We went in 2013 and found a vacation rental via HomeAway about 10 minutes from the parks and it cost about $80/nt for a house that slept 7 in actual beds and another 3 on the couches. There are a variety of them out there but I recommend sticking to a more legit site like airbnb or homeaway vs. craigslist. We had 5 in the house but it was comfortable for us that way.

 

Update 2.10.15: Mother In Law has booked and paid for the trip, including a meal plan for the WHOLE FAMILY!

We are leaving March 7th and returning March 13th. With a 2 1/2 year old, we decided to fly and using Southwest Airlines to and from. First time with the kid on the plane, so i hope he does okay.

Our accommodations are at the All Star Music Resort, and each family has their own room. The meal plan we have includes a snack, quick service meal and a table-side meal each day, with a refillable soda mug. We have 5-days worth of tickets, so we plan on doing all the parks, and using the 5th day to return to our favorite park, probably Magic Kingdom for the kids.

My wife and i's 4th anniversary is on March 12th, the last full-day before we leave. Any suggestions on a nice place to eat or be entertained on property or in Orlando?

 

Sounds like you're all set for a great week at Disney. The meal plan is the way to go IMO.

Just make sure you have something for the kid to play with on the flight. Don't get stressed if they won't settle down. You'll be fine.

Go to Raglan Road Irish Pub at Disney for your anniversary dinner.

Enjoy!

 

I hope yall have a good trip! The wife and I going to Disney and Universal at the end of April for our 2 year anniversary. I ended up opting for an offsite hotel with shuttle services to all of the parks. Check out some of the restaurants in Downtown Disney, they have a pretty good selection.

 

Awesome. I love Disney. Agree with the Fast Passes. You'll get the hang of it. But, while everyone is standing in line for a ride (usually 30 min), someone from your group run over to another ride you want to do after. Give that person all of your Disney Cards (like credit card things) and they can run over the other ride and insert all of them in one of the Fast Pass machines. It will print out a little paper pass for when you can go to that ride and bypass the long line.

They make a time limit on your fast pass card. So once the time is up do the same thing. Stand in a line, give all cards to a person to run to another ride, scan all fast passes, then go to that ride later.

Sounds confusing but you'll get it. We also had the food passes which was actually decent food. And we stayed at the All-Star resort. Have a good time

 

I dont like staying at the hotels. Too damn expensive.

We were there for five days with my family.

I saved a few thousand by staying at a short term rental home.

Since it is a tourist area, there are a BUNCH of those short term rental homes for 40% to 60% cheaper than the disney hotels.

it is SO worth it.

 

same here, that's why we did the rental as well. $20 less per night than a hotel room and we would have needed two.

 

two words, Fast Passes

 

We are going on March 16th and staying at Pop Centry this is our 3rd time going and we always drive for us its cheaper than flying. We always drive to Tallahasse and continue our trip to Disney the following morning. Its also 14 hrs for us leaving from Beaumont

 

Be aware, Bike Week is going on simultaneously in Daytona during that week. That might not seem like a problem, but that's an 500,000 people visiting the area. Traffic will suck, there will be motorcycles everywhere. Yes, even in Orlando. And of those 500K, several thousand also visit the theme parks. So expect LONG lines for everything.

 

Been back in Houston for three weeks or so. I had a great time with the family, though a little to much family time at some points. Carson, my two year old son, loved everything about it and was a trooper the whole time. The weather was awesome the week were there, compared to the rainy week Houston had.

I studied and am degreed in Recreation Administration. I told my wife, Disney would be the ULTIMATE recreation job! They have that experience down solid.