[wtwo3]

I'm not a fan of Disney World... tons of screaming children makes my skin crawl... but my daughter is approaching 5 years old and keeps asking when we're going to "Dimsey". Just had a newborn 2 months ago, it's a bit too early for us to go travel there for daughter's 5th bday. So thinking about potentially travelling travelling there for her 6th birthday in late fall 2023.

1) How soon is too soon to start planning a trip to Disney? I've heard of resorts and some of the popular restaurants (something about dining in a castle) that get booked up immediately as they become available, so in an effort to make this a "magical" experience for her, I'm willing to begin the process as soon as necessary.

2) Has anyone ever used one of those Disney vacation planners? Any good? I'm seeing the "Vacationeers" as one of the top rated Disney trip planners, so considering talking to them.

3) Any other tips? We'd probably be doing a 7 night, 6 day trip. 4 days at the parks with a couple down days to mentally recover from screaming children. Thinking of a budget under $10k for 4 of us (me, wife, 6yr old daughter and 1.5yr old son at time of travel).

[ntg44]

I don't think you can make it a week at Disney for 10k today. Not that I've tried, but based on my coworker's experience (he goes 2x/year).

[wtwo3]

Originally Posted by ntg44

I don't think you can make it a week at Disney for 10k today. Not that I've tried, but based on my coworker's experience (he goes 2x/year).

Jeezuusss and I thought I was being generous

[ntg44]

Originally Posted by wtwo3

Jeezuusss and I thought I was being generous

To be fair, he also has 4 kids, within 8-16 year old range, so it's a bit of an unfair comparison. But I know when they go, from what he's told me it's absolutely insane.

But there are so many variables like which hotel to stay at, and attractions visited, so I could very well be wrong.

[wtwo3]

Originally Posted by ntg44

To be fair, he also has 4 kids, within 8-16 year old range, so it's a bit of an unfair comparison. But I know when they go, from what he's told me it's absolutely insane.

But there are so many variables like which hotel to stay at, and attractions visited, so I could very well be wrong.

Yeah that'll do it... In my case my son should have free admission everywhere we go... so it's really just the 3 of us we're paying for.

[Tommy-G]

Do you care about staying at a Disney resort?
ANYTIME we go, we stay at Dolphin or Swan. They are Marriott properties and just revamped but if you NEED the Disney experience this may not work.
The location is perfect right outside of Epcot and Hollywood Studios and they have the Disney buses stop at the hotel constantly.

The hot restaurants fill up WAY early. I don't have my ipad at work with me but I have a Disney app that allows you to make reservations for restaurants and hotels.

[wtwo3]

Originally Posted by Tommy-G

Do you care about staying at a Disney resort?
ANYTIME we go, we stay at Dolphin or Swan. They are Marriott properties and just revamped but if you NEED the Disney experience this may not work.
The location is perfect right outside of Epcot and Hollywood Studios and they have the Disney buses stop at the hotel constantly.

The hot restaurants fill up WAY early. I don't have my ipad at work with me but I have a Disney app that allows you to make reservations for restaurants and hotels.

In the past we've done the whole, stay outside of the Disney resort to save money thing. But with this being specifically for my daughter's 6th bday, I figured we'd do it right this time. If it was just me and my wife (we probably wouldn't be going to Disney to begin with), we'd probably stay off-site.

[Alfisti]

I couldn't imagine anything worse, not to mention it'll be brutal on the bank account. Do a day at 6 flags and go out for dinner, seriously.

[wtwo3]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

I couldn't imagine anything worse, not to mention it'll be brutal on the bank account. Do a day at 6 flags and go out for dinner, seriously.

Psh... I wish.

Let me get you on the phone with my daughter and you can let her know

[floridaorange]

If it were me, knowing what I know, this is what I would do.... Let me know if you have any questions about any of these parks, I've been to them all, the Disney Cruise is amazing... might be a fun alternative/investment. Your daughter will get an amazing Disney experience + you and the missus will get a super high quality cruise on a ship that won't rock like the cheaper cruise lines. They have highly skilled Norwegian captains and the ships have stabilizers that work remarkably well.

Disney 1 day - plan to arrive later in the day so that you can enjoy the park at night, all lit up + fireworks. If you can go around Christmas time it will be busy, but it will be extra awesome.

Epcot - Epcot is more fun for adults, but there is enough going on for children to enjoy it, especially your daughters age.

LegoLand - about an hour from Disney, LegoLand also has a waterpark (worth it, it's hot). Legoland is really fun for kids and less crowded than Disney, I've been 3 times. Recently went with my 10 yr old and 4 yr old for his 4th bday, they had a blast.

Island H20, great for taking a break from the theme parks and actually really fun for both adults and kids. About 20 mins from Disney.

Disney Cruise. This is an idea if you want to go on a trip that every one will enjoy and there are kids activities that give the parents down time.

Universal - I know you didn't ask, but the CityWalk area outside the park is fun for adults and kids and it's free.

Downtown Disney - Also free, it's easy to park because each spot has a green light or red light for simple navigation in the parking garage. It's basically a bunch of restaurants and stores, but I really enjoyed it last time I was there with my family. Recommend going later in the day to stay through dinner.

30 mins away from Disney is Winter Park, it's just a nice walkable part of Orlando with upscale stores and restaurants and a big park. Worth the drive to get out of the touristy areas.

[wtwo3]

Originally Posted by floridaorange

If it were me, knowing what I know, this is what I would do.... Let me know if you have any questions about any of these parks, I've been to them all, the Disney Cruise is amazing... might be a fun alternative/investment. Your daughter will get an amazing Disney experience + you and the missus will get a super high quality cruise on a ship that won't rock like the cheaper cruise lines. They have highly skilled Norwegian captains and the ships have stabilizers that work remarkably well.

Disney 1 day - plan to arrive later in the day so that you can enjoy the park at night, all lit up + fireworks. If you can go around Christmas time it will be busy, but it will be extra awesome.

Epcot - Epcot is more fun for adults, but there is enough going on for children to enjoy it, especially your daughters age.

LegoLand - about an hour from Disney, LegoLand also has a waterpark (worth it, it's hot). Legoland is really fun for kids and less crowded than Disney, I've been 3 times. Recently went with my 10 yr old and 4 yr old for his 4th bday, they had a blast.

Island H20, great for taking a break from the theme parks and actually really fun for both adults and kids. About 20 mins from Disney.

Disney Cruise. This is an idea if you want to go on a trip that every one will enjoy and there are kids activities that give the parents down time.

Universal - I know you didn't ask, but the CityWalk area outside the park is fun for adults and kids and it's free.

Downtown Disney - Also free, it's easy to park because each spot has a green light or red light for simple navigation in the parking garage. It's basically a bunch of restaurants and stores, but I really enjoyed it last time I was there with my family. Recommend going later in the day to stay through dinner.

30 mins away from Disney is Winter Park, which is near where we live and it's just a nice walkable part of Orlando with upscale stores and restaurants and a big park. Worth the drive to get out of the touristy areas.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

We've definitely considered the Disney Cruise. I have a feeling that's going to end up being a separate trip. We've got some friends who've wanted to organize a group Disney Cruise trip. I think that would fare better than doing a group Disney World trip.

Someone else was also mentioning Legoland - sounds like it's worth checking out! I'd just have to convince my wife to suck it up and use one of the downtime days for a trip to Legoland. I have good energy levels so I'm always up to do things, but in her case, if she could lay on a beach the entire week, that would be her ideal vacation

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by wtwo3

Psh... I wish.

Let me get you on the phone with my daughter and you can let her know

I'll take the call, little life lesson with uncle fucking 'fisti.

Jokes aside I been having a reality chat with the mrs. She glorifies the vacation experience with kids, all i see is monumental headache and $15K out of pocket. Best bet here is book a cottage with another family with similar aged kids, $2K for the week and everyone is happy.

[Tommy-G]

I will offer this suggestion and take it very loosely. The more pricey properties usually have a better class of people and their kids are a little more well behaved instead of the heathens running around the budge properties. (This is borderline racist to say but....)

Boardwalk and Yacht Club are also very nice properties.

[wtwo3]

Originally Posted by Tommy-G

I will offer this suggestion and take it very loosely. The more pricey properties usually have a better class of people and their kids are a little more well behaved instead of the heathens running around the budge properties. (This is borderline racist to say but....)

Boardwalk and Yacht Club are also very nice properties.

Yeah.... sad but true....

[bucketfoot]

If you want to stay at a resort property you might want to look into renting Disney Vacation Club points and staying at a DVC property. You can generally get much better deals doing this versus booking at a Disney resort hotel.

[wtwo3]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

I'll take the call, little life lesson with uncle fucking 'fisti.

Jokes aside I been having a reality chat with the mrs. She glorifies the vacation experience with kids, all i see is monumental headache and $15K out of pocket. Best bet here is book a cottage with another family with similar aged kids, $2K for the week and everyone is happy.

In our situation those weeklong cottage trips with another family and similar aged kids are in addition to a Disney trip, not in place of one.

It's not so much that I can't tell my daughter no... I tell her no probably too often. But this is one of those things I'd like to do for her since I take special care to not spoil her on a normal basis. My motivation here is that my parents never really took me anywhere special (mainly because we grew up poor). So while day to day living I make sure she understands that she can't have anything she wants (at least as much as a 4 year old is able to understand), for special once in a blue moon type trips like this, I don't mind splurging a bit to create memories for her (even if all I remember is screaming kids and a hole in my pocket).

[Chihuahua]

Originally Posted by Tommy-G

Boardwalk and Yacht Club are also very nice properties.

I can vouch for the Yacht Club, the last company I worked for put me up there for the weekend back in 2018. It was very nice, but underwhelming given what it costs per night to stay there. Cost wise, it's on par with the Ritz, and it ain't the Ritz.

[1and1]

Couldn't imagine spending a week there, but then we live in FL so it's only fun drive over for a great 4 day midweek thing...

When the kid was young, in that 5ish window, we rented a house, and that was a great experience. Full 3BR 3BA house with a screened in pool. Grabbed some basics for the kitchen and we had a place to decompress the kid for a bit, kind of a quiet base of operations. Was nice.

Last few times we did Universal, and stayed at the Lowes Portofino Bay. Can be a fairly nice place to stay, walk or boat to Universal & City Walk etc, and the first time you wander over to CW for dinner and marvel at the traffic leaving the park you may never stay outside a park again...

[Watching The World Burn]

Originally Posted by wtwo3

Psh... I wish.

Let me get you on the phone with my daughter and you can let her know

Originally Posted by Alfisti

I'll take the call, little life lesson with uncle fucking 'fisti.

Jokes aside I been having a reality chat with the mrs. She glorifies the vacation experience with kids, all i see is monumental headache and $15K out of pocket. Best bet here is book a cottage with another family with similar aged kids, $2K for the week and everyone is happy.

Do you really want your 5 year old daughter to learn ALL the swear words known to man that quickly? If not, I'd advise you not to let Alfisti anywhere near where she can hear him.

We've been thinking about Disney too, but at this point, are leaning more towards the Disney cruise since it seems like best bet that my wife and I might have a small chance (emphasis on small) to enjoy ourselves as well. Seeing as how they have childcare available. Unless they fricking punt my 5 year old overboard. Which after they spend more than a few hours with him I might be able to understand their temptation to do so.

Ahh he's a good kid, just very high energy, both of them are. Both of them need a decent run around the house a few times a day. My 7 year old does 5-10 km runs with my wife (usually one small break in the middle for water). And my now 5 year old bikes that easily, but has less endurance than his older brother...but more speed.

[Tommy-G]

Originally Posted by Chihuahua

I can vouch for the Yacht Club, the last company I worked for put me up there for the weekend back in 2018. It was very nice, but underwhelming given what it costs per night to stay there. Cost wise, it's on par with the Ritz, and it ain't the Ritz.

Agreed 100%, the prices are insane but it does keep the rif raf at bay.

[UncleWede]

Hey-Sus!!! My kid graduated college this year, and we were thinking of paying HALF his cabin fee to go on a cruise with us to Mexico for a week. That will cost me about $1200.

10-15 THOUSAND to go to Dimsey?????

[iamwingman]

Originally Posted by UncleWede

Hey-Sus!!! My kid graduated college this year, and we were thinking of paying HALF his cabin fee to go on a cruise with us to Mexico for a week. That will cost me about $1200.

10-15 THOUSAND to go to Dimsey?????

I just dropped 9 grand for two nights at the Star Wars galactic cruiser at Disneyworld . For my girlfriend and I. Was totally worth it.