I am trying to plan our vacation and it's so hard. We are spending a week on Sanibel Island with a total of 3 families. My family, my sisters family and my Dad and Step-Mom. Then the second week will be spent in Disney with only my family - and only two (out of 6) of the kids. My older three kids have been do all the Disney parks year after year so we are leaving them with the grandparents. They have two sets of grandparents within two hours of Orlando. (And Olivia, my step-daughter, is an adult and does her own thing.)
So.
I am stuck at... stay on site, stay off site or take a Disney Cruise.
Staying at a Disney resort isn't as much as I thought it would be. There are about five Disney Value Resorts that are fairly cheap and include passes to the parks. Staying off site, but still in the general area is a couple hundred cheaper, even with purchasing our tickets. Of course there are benefits to staying on site though.
Our third option is a Disney Cruise like Virgin's Disney Cruises. Those are fairly good prices too but a tad bit higher. I've been searching and I have found Disney Cruises for as low as $1100. That's not too bad for such a fun vacation! I would LOVE to go on a Disney Cruise because there is less to worry about. Its' all taken care of for you. Mike wants to go on a Disney Cruise too. If we don't do a cruise this time, we are definitely going to do one next time. That WILL be our next vacation!
Either way, when we are at Disney World, one of the things we are planning on doing is dinning at Beast's Castle. We've watched videos and the castle is beautiful. Gracie loves Beauty and the Beast and Beast even makes an appearance during dinner!
We are also going to "Dine with the Princesses". I can't wait for that! Gracie is going to love that too!
Have you been to Disney? What kinds of things do you like to do when visiting?
I can't wait to hear all about your finished plans for the trip! I'd love to go sometime later this year but I am so stressed just thinking about all of the planning. I will definitely be asking you for tips when the time comes!
ReplyDeleteWe just went to Disney this past September with our 18 month old daughter and some of our extended family and it was a blast. This website was a huge help in planning for us: http://www.tipsfromthedisneydiva.com/2012/04/walt-disney-world-park-planning.html
ReplyDeleteOur favorite parks were Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom for sure! And the light shows at Hollywood studios and Magic Kingdom are the best!
I am a big fan for staying on site if you can. It makes it easier to hop on a their public transportation and get anywhere quickly. It is also nice for when you want to head back for a little nap and then re-visit the parks.
ReplyDeleteOh man, if you could stay on site that would be so awesome!! I love Disney World. We made sure to take breaks during the week if were were there for 6 or 7 days so that they kids had time to break their brain and body!
ReplyDeleteI am so jealous I have never been to disney and my oldest two boys have been i want to go on the disney cruise
ReplyDeleteTrista
That sounds so fun! We went to Disney 8 years ago when my daughter was turning 10 and my son had just turned 7. It was awesome. We stayed at the Pop Century and had a great time. We got the meal plan too so it was so convenient. The kids were just the right age to enjoy it though my son did get tired once in awhile and he did NOT like getting wet in the 4D show. We loved the convenience of the shuttles. We went in November so the crowds were not too bad at all.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many fantastic choices to stay. With a large family and little ones staying on Disney grounds is so worth it!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like such fun. We are planning a trip to Disney Land this summer. (We have a family reunion in S. Cali already so we are turning it into a vacation trip too.) Do you have any tip ideas for planning as a blogger? Are you trying to get access to any activities of amenities in exchange for blog posts and social media updates? I'd like to to do this but not sure where to start.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many options for Disney vacations, and I would totally be frazzled with all of the planning, especially since I have never been on a Disney vacation and am the type of person who wants to do everything and make sure I can see everything and with Disney being so huge, that just wouldn't be possible. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI would love to do both!!! We have been wanting to visit Disney for a while, but I have also wanted to go on a cruise for such a long time! It would be hard to pick just one! I can't wait to hear all about your trip though!!
ReplyDeleteI have never, NEVER been to Disney. I WILL go someday though. Even if I have to go by. my. self. !!
ReplyDeleteWe just went to Disney in November and it was fantastic! We had my daughter's 5th birthday dinner at Cinderella's Castle and it was just incredible. Every detail was attended to with such care and you could tell they loved making her day special. I suggest staying on site, it is so much more convenient to be able to send things back to the hotel, and to be able to zip back and forth if needed!
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