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I had some great advice on Disney and NOT to go over Thanksgiving………but since then, we did find out that my DH has vacation time that is USE or LOSE before Dec 31st, so we are still hunting to go. We had no idea he even had time, since he just started his job this year, but its like 7 days worth!~ Ithink it was suggested a lot to go the 1st week of December. Now that that is settled, Im here to ask the blog again, who gave me such good advice before:
1) What is the best place to stay that is REASONABLY priced. We are not rich. I prefer that Charlotte has a different room or bunk bed. She is hell to sleep near.
2) Which park is best for a nearly 4 year old. Of course Magic Kingdom, but anything else?
3) Any good advice on cheap eating?
4) Anything to do OTHER then parks there?
~Trisha[/private]
Ha! I’m so lame. I must be extra tired today (or at least that’s what I’m blaming it on). I can’t believe I rattled on and on about Disneyland, and you’re going to Disneyworld! I finally connected all the dots over here. Just a major case of mommy-brain I guess.
Hope you have a great trip to Disneyworld!
That’s great Trisha! I think we are going to be there Dec 5 -7th ourselves.
I would skip Epcot. The Animal Kingdom is great. Benjamin loves that as well as Disney Worl itself of course. Hollywood Studios is good too. They have Disney Clubhouse live on stage.
We were just there 2 weeks ago with our Annual Passes. We also looking into to the Mikey’s Very Merry Christmas Party as well when we go. They have a special Parade, it’s all after hours, they make Snow on Main Street and other stuff.
We stay at the marriott village which is about 10 mins from Disney world and about 5 mins down the road from down town Disney.
We went right after Christmas…and it was at Max. Capacity. WOW!! Lots of fun though. We stayed at the Hilton, about 4 blocks away, and they shuttled us to and from. This was Disneyland mind you.
Not much help if you are going to Disney World. LOL
The best thing I did, and I did it on day 2…was I took one of those backpacks with the different compartments. Major back saver and it was perfect for my camera, video camera, all of the stuff we bought for the day, some snacks and a couple bottles of water. The first day I just took my purse, my shoulder ached and it was a big ole P.I.A.
Have lots of fun, no matter what and share pictures!
We just got back from Disneyland two weeks ago (we stayed in the Tropicana across the street from Disney and it was great). I would say that it is really worth it to stay close to the park. I have a 4 year old son and he needed a rest in the middle of the day. He didn’t take a nap or anything, but we made sure he laid down for an hour after lunch before going back to the park, and it made a world of differenece. He didn’t have a single meltdown (and he’s capable of colossal size meltdowns).
We went to Disneyland and Disney’s California park, and I think there’s enough there to keep little ones busy. My kids are 7 and 4 and we did everything in Disneyland except for the Matterhorn, Nemo and Indiana Jones. My 4-year-old was the daredevil saying, “Let’s do that roller coaster again!”
There was less to do for him in the California park, but they had a Monsters Inc ride, and Bug’s Life area that were really fun.
I know my boys wanted to go to Legoland, but we didn’t have enough time.
I hope you have a wonderful trip!
this is where we stay when we have the kids…http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/ss/1/en/hotel/disbv;jsessionid=SS0I3CB451L4QCTGWA2SJ0QKM0YBCIY4?_requestid=1310334
nice & cheap!
they have their own room and games in there
The 50s Diner at MGM Studios is AWESOME! We loved it! It’s priced about like a Cracker Barrel & the food is good & you get enough!
I can’t help you with a four year old…I know Epcot is mostly walking & looking at things, so you probably wouldn’t want to go there.
I def. recommend staying on Disney property. It’s worth the experience. You can stay at the Value resorts for like $60-80 a night right now.
Good Luck & Have fun!
No help when it comes to WDW, but if you ever make your way out to see the OG Disneyland, I am your gal for information!!
LOL
We were just there too and are Disney Vacation Club owners. My take on things:
All Star Music, Sports, and Movies are all awesome hotels but are budget. They are on Disney property so you can take busses to and from — it’s soooo worth it. Pop Century is another budget hotel on property. Otherwise, we like Saratoga Springs which is right across the “lake” from Downtown Disney — we can take a boat there.
Cheap eating: Did you know you can bring food into the park? Eat breakfast before you go and bring some snacks and drinks with you. We brought all of that stuff, so we didn’t have to keep buying 8.00 chips lol. We rarely ate in the park, and when we did, we liked the cheaper stuff because it was quick. You’ll find most places you can eat for about 6 bucks. I only drink water, and they will give you a cup for free, so that’s never an issue for us.
Our favorite all time thing to do is to go to the Boardwalk hotel at night and walk around the boardwalk and beach club hotels. It doesn’t cost you anything to go there. If you are at Epcot, you can actually take a boat from the back of Epcot to the lake at the Boardwalk. Beaches and Cream at Beach Club has the best ice cream and dessert and you have to check out the pool there — it is the world’s largest sand bottom pool! You can’t swim, but it’s neat just to see it — fun area.
I agree that Animal Kingdom is good with a 4 year old. Epcot has Finding Nemo and Turtle Talk with Crush which is really neat. Audrey actually loved the boat ride in “The Land” which I thought was boring but whatev. Oh, and the Playhouse Disney Show at MGM is a must-see. We went twice — she loved it so much.
We are going back in March but I am totally jealous that you are going to see all the Christmas Decor! It’s great!
Hey there. I went to Disney in May and we went on a shoe-string budget. If you decide to stay on site, the most reasonable stay are the all-star resorts : music, sports (forgot other two, sorry). They are only $99 a night and they have daily room cleaning service plus onsite laundry. They are themed nicely for the kids, have a pool and have free bus service to all the parks — all within 15 minutes drive. You can book everything from these resorts: car rental, meal reservations plus they have an onsite mealplan. I found this really convenient and since you’re at the parks most days you don’t really need a luxury suite. I would do this again.
We just went a month ago. We stayed in an offsite resort, and would say it is worth it to stay on-site. It saved with parking (free parking) and you could also use the public buses.
My young kids loved the animal kingdom. I wish we would have gone there 2 days instead of 1.
Make sure to go back to the hotel for naps. It might seem like a pain to have to leave the park , but you’ll enjoy the kids a lot more when you do
Check out the Because I Said SO Blog. She just took her whole family (yes, all 6 kids) to Disney.
Oh, I just love Disney! I loved it so much I use to work for them!!
Okay, a nice hotel to stay at is the Wilderness Lodge. The prices of rooms range greatly and the best advice is to call and price it out. Ask if they have any specials. If it’s not your thing, check out the hotels in the Downtown Disney area. Your not at a Disney hotel, but you are pretty damn close.
A great park for a four year old is Animal Kingdom. Kids love animals so it’s obvious, plus they have a great kid-friendly animal parade daily.
Cheap eating is a toughie, but if you’re at the MK check out Pinocio’s by it’s a small world. Hot dogs, hamburgers and fries cheap (if you’re not super hungry order the kids meal for yourself, it gives you everything you need, drink included).
Plus, you’ll be be the carousel, check it out and ask for Cinderella’s horse, your daughter will love saying she was able to ride her horse!!
Disney also has TONS of great stuff to do that doesn’t involve the parks. Check out Downtown Disney, they have TONS TONS TONS of stuff there. If you come in December they’ll have all their decorations up and it’s quite magical. There’s Disney Quest, a huge movie plex, tons of restaruants and more. There’s also the Boardwalk Hotel (which has great views of Epcot’s fireworks nightly). All the big hotels have great events planned too, so have your front desk person tell you all the details.
I hope your trip is amazing. And if it’s your daughter’s first trip, you can get a 1st visit button for free at Town Hall in the MK.
Hope this helped!
I live not far from Disney World. My girls ages 2 and 5 love all the Disney parks. Besides the parks, Disney also has three mini golf courses that are loads of fun. There is Downtown Disney Marketplace.
As far as hotels I would try to stay on Disney property. There are activities to do around the resorts. You can also go “visit” the other disney resorts to look at their Christmas decorations. They always have the hotels decked out for the holidays.
I’m not sure if it is in your budget but the Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is such fun. And in Epcot they have Santa’s that represent each country.
Geez I better stop before I write a novel.
I’m so glad to see this come up. We’re going on vacation/babymoon the first week of December as well and Disney World in Florida is one of two destinations were contemplating. The other place is a beachside condo rental on Marco Island, Florida. I’m interested in hearing what everyone has to say.
Hey Trisha!
We are taking Audrey to Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Sea World. We did MGM over the summer and the new playhouse disney area were awesome! Audrey loved it and the beauty and the beast stage show. She flipped for that. She also thought the muppet 4d thing was cool. You should definitely do downtown disney as well, because it’s free 
We are also taking Audrey to the lunch at Cinderella’s castle with all the princesses. You should try this website, http://disneyworldforum.disney.go.com/home.aspx it’s awesome for information on the parks and where to stay cheap. I read somewhere that one of the disney hotels is as low as 59 bucks a night…
I’m so glad you decided not to go thanksgiving week it will be a mad house. We are going the first week in December too. You should give yourself a shopping day because there are 3 outlets in the orlando area, you could totally take care of all your Christmas shopping there. Oh, and there’s a gymboree outlet
I don’t think we’d ever go to Disney without staying in the park. It’s so easy to jump on a boat/monorail/bus to get where you need to go fast. We’ve stayed at Wilderness Lodge and LOVED it. When we go back, that’s where we’ll be staying again. A quick boat ride and you’re at MK which is where I think you’d be spending most of your time. We also stayed in a cabin at the campground. that’s good because you have a bedroom to put the kids asleep in but the campground it sooo spread out! I don’t think we’d stay there again. We included the meal plan when we stayed there and really liked it. if you think you’d be eating mostly in the park, it would definitely save you money. Make sure you book a character breakfast asap, even if you aren’t staying in the park….Charlotte would love it!
This is long enough i think! lol
I don’t know cheap places to stay since we have our timeshare.
Animal Kingdom is a good park. Next time we go I planned on taking my kids to Universal and had a good time there in may and I think Islands of Adventure has more to do.
Eating at the parks you could do the meal ticket, or if you found a place with a full kitchen you could do your meals at the room. That’s what we do its a lot cheaper than eating out for a week.
Good luck.
animal kingdom is a GREAT place for young children. lots to see & do. you will LOVE going when it’s decorated for christmas. such fun!