Also, has anyone done Discovery Cove? I’ve been told it’s a must to spend a day there.
It sounds just like Skiing. You either go cheap, or premium, not in the middle. You can get a great condo cheap a mile down the road from the mountain, or get an expensive ski-in condo right on the slope. What you don’t want to do is get an expensive on mountain room that isn’t ski-in since that’s the worst of both worlds.
Either pay the extra to be on the monorail or ferry, or stay offsite. Of course, onsite is Disney 24/7, so it also only makes sense if you’re not planning on going other places.
No, I wouldn’t agree with that. Sure, monorail access to the parks from your hotel is bitchin’, but the mid-level places (like Caribbean Resort) have a food court and restaurant that are on the meal plan, it’s a three minute drive to the parks, and the shuttle option is available if your party wants to separate but you’ve only got one car. The Caribbean Resort is a very pleasant place to stay – there’s a huge lagoon with beaches and volleyball, a big pool with slides and activities (and several smaller pools), and they screen movies in the evenings.
–Cliffy
The evening magic hours now last three hours beyond scheduled closing time. This probably doesn’t come into play with small children in tow, but for my wife and me, sleeping in and then getting to stay at the parks until anywhere from midnight to 2 a.m.(!), with little or no wait for even the biggest headliner rides, is totally worth it.
Agreed. We stayed at the New Orleans resort where you walked from your room to a bus stop (3 minute walk), bus went directly to Magic Kingdom front gates (10 minute drive).
If I would have stayed off-site it would be a drive to the Disney property, drive thru the disney property, wait in car line to pay for parking, park and wait for a tram, tram takes you to ticketing where again you wait for either the ferry or the monorail, which then takes you to the front gate.
We stayed offsite at a rental house last October - saved a metric buttload of money between rent and meals and had separate bedrooms for the 3 kids. Driving in was easy, though admittedly it was low season. Our average time was 20 minutes door to turnstiles. And we probably saved at least that much time per day by eating breakfast at the rental home instead of having to go to a hotel restaurant each morning.
Not that there’s anything wrong with on-site, and it would probably be better for the OP since her kid is so young and they can all fit in a hotel room, but offsite isn’t the mess a lot of people claim it to be.
There are a lot of great planning sites out there. I use DisBoards.com (emphasis on the Florida parks), and micechat.com (emphasis on the California parks).
I’m a DVC (Disney Vacation Club) owner at Bay Lake Tower, so we always stay on-site. The new Art of Animation value resort looks really cool, but all of their resorts are highly themed. If you stay on-site and are flying in to Orlando International Airport, you can use the free Disney’s Magical Express to get to your resort, and back to the airport when you leave.
If your daughter is into the Princesses, it’s much easier to get into the Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in the Norway pavilion at EPCOT than Cinderella’s Royal Table at the Magic Kingdom (MK). I like to do any buffet dining at breakfast, but that’s a personal choice. Our favorite buffets are Crystal Palace at MK, and Chef Mickey’s at the Contemporary Resort. I highly recommend you get Advance Dining Reservations for any character meals you would like to attend! They are very popular and waiting stand-by will take a while to get a table-not easy with a hungry pre-schooler!
Mostly what you need to remember is to HAVE FUN and don’t stress about trying to see everything! I’ve been several times and there’s still stuff I haven’t done yet!
I’ve done it both ways (and when I lived there just commuted in) and in December will be staying off-site in a condo with a few other families.
However, if it were just myself, wife and son and I wasn’t concerned about price I would stay on-site every time.
Yup yup. From what I’ve heard, they begin taking reservations for Cinderella’s Royal Table at 7 AM, 90 days in advance, and they’re full by 7:01.
Haven’t done Chef Mickey’s but the Crystal Palace is indeed a great breakfast buffet. Tusker House in Animal Kingdom was also a great breakfast buffet, and they load you up with Donald’s special blended Jungle Juice . We’ve done two buffets at 1900 Park Fare, the restaurant at the Grand Floridian (the priciest and swankiest hotel), and been disappointed both times. The best meal I’ve had at Disney, buffet or otherwise, was at Cape May, at the Beach Club, on fried shrimp night. Everything down to the potatoes was triple-awesome.
Jiko. The first meal I ate at Jiko was disappointing, but I chose poorly. My husband loved his meal and we went back. The second meal I had a Jiko was incredible. I also had a great meal at Flying Fish years ago that I dreamed about for years afterwards.
But food has slipped.
Yep, that one is the one we stay at. Moderate in cost, so really nice rooms without plush. And the food court puts out a very fast, very inexpensive, large portioned breakfast- in a wide variety. Yes, it’s hardly gourmet fare, but it keeps you going, and allows you to save $$ toward s really nice dinner in the parks.
It’s where I am having my birthday dinner this year. All-you-can-eat steamed crab legs with drawn butter on tap. (The other food is good, too. And Max is right about the potatoes, they are bizarrely awesome.)