Disney Vacation Tips
Vacation Ideas

We prefer to stay on property because of the many perks, including unlimited use of the Walt Disney World transportation system, and "Extra Magic Hours."

That latter perk entails Disney resort guests getting to stay in the parks a few hours longer than the general public, for no extra charge.

We also really appreciate the "Disney Dining Plan" which enables us to purchase all of our meals ahead of time, at quite a savings!

Our favorite hotel on property to stay in is Disney's All Star Movie Resort.

The movies the resort is whimsically themed around include Toy Story, Fantasia, The Mighty Ducks, 101 Dalmatians, and The Love Bug. If you're looking for something for everybody, a trip to "The World" is tough to beat.

I had just graduated with my second master’s degree and wanted to celebrate two years of stress and hard work with a family vacation. We had never been on one before and a strong love of all things Disney prompted me to take us there.

One of the great things about Disney is that they offer an inclusive trip experience if you stay on the resort, which being a single parent, I truly appreciated. I had the option of booking my airfare through Disney or on my own and I chose on my own because it was cheaper.

I then informed Disney which airline and flight we would be arriving on and they made sure that we were picked up at the airport and taken to the resort. They even had our luggage transported from the airport and put in our room so all we had to worry about was our carry-on luggage. Disney provides transportation to all of their resorts, parks and shopping areas which is so convenient when traveling without a car. We stayed at one of the All Star Resorts as it was the most economical.

However, I don’t recommend choosing the cheaper room option because we were put all the way at the back of the resort which made it harder to drag purchases (and child) back to the room every time! Our favorite park was The Magic Kingdom because it was the most age appropriate for my almost five year old.

Our train left around 9:00pm the night before our check-in date at the Wilderness Lodge Disney Resort and arrived around noon the next day. The train ride would have been awesome during the daylight, but since we traveled at night we weren't able to enjoy any of the views or scenery and sleep wasn’t very easy since we are not used to sleeping in recliners.

Once in Orlando we took a taxi to the resort and since we arrived before check in we enjoyed a lunch at the resort's family restaurant while we waited. We had purchased our park tickets online and they were the flex tickets which allowed us to visit any of the parks as many times as we wanted during the 6 days we stayed there.

This was the best thing we did since we had young children, if one needed a nap, got hungry, thirsty or just wanted a break, we could run back to the resort and not have to worry that we had wasted our tickets. The Disney parks were very child and parent friendly (as you can probably imagine) but they took extra steps to make it easy for parents. There were private nursing rooms, feeding supplies like high chairs and microwaves as well as changing areas and kid sized bathroom facilities.

Many of the rides and activities were gentle enough for my 6 month old to ride along too and when they were not, they allowed the parents to wait with the child while the other parent rode, and then just switched you out without having to return to the back of the line. Then there was the convenience of getting to and from the parks, from the Wilderness Lodge we could take the ferry over to the Magic Kingdom, the ferries ran about 2 to 4 boats at a time, so there was never a long wait to get over to the park.

From the Magic Kingdom we could take the Monorail to any of the other 3 parks, but since the motor coach buses also ran regular schedules directly to and from the Lodge, we usually just took the bus to Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios.

The Wilderness Lodge itself was magnificently decorated and everything had that wilderness feel. The larger of the two pools was made to look like a pond that came from a waterfall and included a natural looking water slide. The smaller pool was made to resemble a hot spring complete with bubbling spots. We also enjoyed the hot tubs since it was October and the night air was starting feel cooler. On the return Amtrak train, we decided to get a sleeper car since we would once again be traveling overnight. We were able to stretch out and relax this time and get a great night's sleep.

Word of caution though, if you have the top bunk it really doesn't matter how old you were the last time you fell out of bed, they put that net up for a reason, and if you take it down you will find out why! Overall the whole Disney World FL trip was excellent and makes great vacation ideas even with small children.

You must plan based on the time of year and the ages of your party. Different age groups like to do different things, but rest assured Disney has something for everyone. I would suggest going in the early spring while school is still in session which keeps crowds to a minimum and before summer temperatures get really cranked up. We’ve gone in February (and another trip in March) and the weather was outstanding. Just be sure to do your homework!

My daughter, who was two, spent the rest of the day pouting and frantically trying to find Minnie. Later when the park was closing and we were walking thru the shops of Main Street on our way to exit, I feared the worst. Suddenly, I saw a HUGE statue of Minnie in one of the clothing stores. I scooped up my daughter who was awestruck, stood her next to the statue and took a photo. She was happy and never knew the difference. So for Disney vacation tips, I say be creative, relax and just go with the flow.

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