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First of all, I haven’t been to Disney World in 11 years!  And had only been there once in high school prior to that and then when I was under 5 before that.  So to me, this is a very special thing.  Second of all, I have a 4 ¾ year old and a 3 year old, along with my husband of 11 years.  Thirdly, and most importantly for this blog, I’m a bargain hunter!  So, imagine me, clueless and researching everything top to bottom to get the best deal, but to be able to enjoy our trip thoroughly.  So I hope that something in this helps you.

Crystal and her family at Disney

To begin with, my research and forum hunting has led me over and over to a few specific sites that have helped me tremendously.  When I read a guide or a website talking about Disney, etc… they would always refer me to these sites for the best information and reliable.  After the filters,  when people across the country are saying the same thing, you have to believe there is some truth to it.  

My favorite sites
www.mousesavers.com
www.undercovertourist.com
www.disboards.com
www.easywdw.com/category/calendar

I also looked and asked around on the forums for the best suggested books. The overall most suggested books were these:
The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World by Bob Sehlinger and Len Testa
PassPorter’s Walt Disney World by Jennifer Marx, Dave Marx, and Allison Marx.

A helpful book lent to me by a friend that was excellent as well with my kids was:
Beyond the Attractions: A Guide to Walt Disney World with Preschoolers by Lisa Battista

Now that I’ve given you my sources, I’m going to tell you what I did, or maybe in hindsight wish I’d done to get the best deals.

Tickets to Parks
You can’t get a great deal on tickets, it’s just not possible unless you are a Florida resident, in the military, or with certain branches of AAA… or know a cast member who can get you discount tickets.  So, that really does cut out a lot of us, so your best bet is to sign up for the www.mousesavers.com newsletter.  The big newsletter comes on the 15^th every month to your email inbox.  Within the newsletter is a ‘private link’ to undercovertourist.com to buy your tickets there.  You save a few dollars this way versus any other way you can go if you are buying tickets for 3 days or more.  This is a very reliable source and link and takes about a week to get your tickets in the mail. The tickets are free shipping and no tax, which is one of the main reasons they are so much cheaper.  Do not trust anyone on eBay or other sites to buy tickets unless they are an authorized dealer.  If the tickets are really cheap and one of the characteristics in my first sentence is not a factor, it is suggested that you are likely going to be ripped off.

Places to Stay
So I have learned that there are a lot of options in respect to places to stay. 

Walt Disney World itself has a number of hotels/resorts with easy access to the four parks via Monorail and/or shuttles.  As for how to find a good place, your best bet is to first of all, check the forums and mouse savers for any special deals.  For example mousesavers.com has been advertising the Kids Stay and Play Free promo for several months which means that your kids 9 and under can get Free Disney World Tickets (value of $215 per kid per 3 day ticket).  This is only good though if you are staying in WDW.  Mousesavers also continue to show any other specials any hotels around the area and in WDW promote.

Timeshares are another idea.  There are always timeshare deals to be had, just come with a price of an intense timeshare talk usually.  So if you are willing to go through it, look into deals that Wyndham or other Timeshare companies (if there are others besides Wyndham that is) have, could be very worth it, or not.  Depends on what you’re willing to do.

Travel Discount Companies (i.e. Priceline/Expedia) will usually have deals of price per person including a flight and hotel price.  Keep an eye out, Orlando is a hotspot so you can almost always find a good deal.  Especially if you’ll be flying anyhow, it might turn into a great deal.  Then get in on the Kids Stay and Play Free plan and your kids get free tickets too!!

Online… EBay and VRBO.  Two great places to check into for offsite locations.  A lot of Timeshare holders rent out weeks of their Disney Vacation Club points/rooms online for much cheaper than you’ll get looking yourself at the hotel’s websites.  A lot of people recommend renting from Timeshare holders because the timeshares have excellent rooms and service, and you don’t have to pay for the maintenance fees.

What did I do?  Well, my husband and I decided to go through a short term timeshare trial, buying into so many points to use for one year.  We determined that the cost of our stay at the Wyndham Bonnet Creek will be $333 for 4 nights/5 days.  Our hotel will have an entire kitchen so we plan to save money and cook and eat most meals in the hotel and bring meals for lunch in a cooler.  Our deal also allowed us a free night in a Wyndham hotel so we will stay an extra night in Jacksonville, Fl on our way home with that to extend our trip one more night and go spend a morning on the beach, bringing our trip to 5 nights/6days.

Eating
If you stay at Walt Disney World, you will be offered the Disney Dining Plan.  There are several different plans you can go with, and pay attention to what each offers before you decide.  I’ve heard a lot of talk about these plans positive and negative.  I have heard several friends come back and talk about how much food there was on the dining plan… if you and your spouse think you could share meals, you might want to look into only buying one plan.  The negatives I hear are usually revolving around the fact you have to plan your days around where you are eating because of reservations (which you literally have to make at the non-quick serving restaurants), and that the plans are very regimented and if you want to switch out items or go against the grain with them at all, the cast members at the restaurants are not well equipped at doing it easily.



Character Meals- wow what fun!  I’m so excited we have reserved a breakfast at the Tusker House while we’re at the Animal Kingdom.  I know Donald Duck is there… and I think Mickey and Minnie Mouse will be there too!  But it’s the only place we’ve decided to splurge thus far (this will cost us $70 pre tipping for our family).  But if you’re going, schedule ASAP, for when I called, there was only one time slot the day I wanted to go left… and I called a month in advance.  I am pretty sure other Character Meals fill up before this one though.

Kids Eat Free Card… a card you can buy… costs around $17 through undercover tourist and you get a card with 50 restaurants your kid can eat free at.  You have to have one for each child though. 
Or you can eat out in Orlando, or as you go.  But prices al a carte are pretty expensive.  My Passporter shows lunches at around $12 for quick dining per adult.  And my hotel doesn’t offer free breakfast, but yours might. 

Transportation
If you don’t have an option but to fly, obviously research best prices using small and large airlines from your local and next to local airports.  There is a whole suggested system for searching for flights.  Plus we signed up for Southwest.com airlines rewards Visa to get 2 free roundtrip tickets with our first purchase to use within 2 years.  There is an annual fee, but it’s worth 2 free roundtrip tickets.  For those who fly, if you are staying on site at WDW, the airlines will deliver your luggage to your hotel without you having to pick it up from the airport.  It’s an automatic service.  I think there is free shuttling to your hotel as well.  If you are staying offsite, you’ll be paying for transportation from the airport to your hotel.  It includes shuttle, taxi, and/or rental car.  Your best deal might actually be that rental car.

If you are close enough that driving is pretty much a given, consider that the hotels generally have free parking.  If you are staying onsite WDW you have free shuttles into the park so you won’t have parking fees.  If you are staying offsite, then you will have to drive to the parks.  Parking is $14 per day.  You may also want to consider paying for gas with cards with the best gas rewards.

If you are far enough away you can’t decide, consider the length of time it will take you to get to the airport, how early you get there before the flight, the length of time of the flight, any delays, the length of time to get out of the airport, and the hour drive to the hotel.  Mine was looking like 6-7 hours for a nonstop 1hr35min flight vs a 10 hour drive… and having my own car and car seats to get around.

Other Tips
Free Customized Maps mailed to your home of the 4 parks at customizedmaps.disney.go.com
Autograph books- create your own rather than purchasing at Disney.  Use coupons to Michaels or AC Moore or other craft stores to buys photo albums or scrapbooks. Another option is using discount codes online at picaboo, shutterfly, snapfish to get good deals on photobooks.  Use online Disney photos that look like a picture frame for your photos, leaving a great place on each page for each character to sign by their own pictures. 

How to get your best deals:


Sign up for Mousesavers newsletter and get your tickets through the link midmonth.

Get a Disney Rewards Visa.  You can Google it, but usually they give away a free gift card with your first purchase or some other benefit.  I was able to get in on a $200 gift card offer.  Once my statement posts online, I can request my gift card and it’ll be mailed to me in 6-8 weeks.  Other benefits of the card are 1 dream dollar per $100 purchase.  Once you get to so many dream dollars, you can redeem for a Disney card.  This can also be redeemed at Disneyworld.  Bring your Visa and ID, and they will redeem your rewards dollars right there.  Other benefits of the card are a special photo-op and Meet and Greet at Disney when you present your card.  You get a free 5x7 photo at this Meet and Greet.  You will also get a percentage off purchases in Disney Stores.

Sign up on Disney’s sites.  You and your spouse both should.  When you are signed up, Disney randomly sends out ‘pins’ which are numbers/codes that give you special deals for any onsite stays.  You can also call Disney to ask if there is a ‘pin’ associated with your name.  I did, it was only 10% off any Disney purchases for Dining or hotel stays, but I’ve heard people get free dining packages and 40% off their entire stay packages… so this one is worth it to sign up ASAP so you can get best chance of getting a good one.

Completely Research out far in advance to get your best deals.  If you watch these sites, in December a promo was given out for this year, but I wasn’t watching in December.  I suggest start at least 6 months in advance of your trip so you have plenty of options and have time to get reservations. Also research a day before and day after for staying… if we had checked in one day sooner, it was an extra $170 for the trip.  If we had come in the day before that, it was almost double the cost!