Did I tell you our exciting news? We are going to Disney World! Along with everyone else we know. Not really {just Bets and Jay}, but seriously all of our friends are also going at some point this year. Now that our kids are 4 and old enough to get excited, it’s about that time!
So when we first decided to do a Disney Vacation with Bets and Jay, I bombarded my Pinterest Boards with any Disney-related posts I could find. And there are. a. lot.
Where to Stay:
I went back and forth about whether to stay on-sight, rent a house, or try to do a time-share. The pros and cons for each were overwhelming. You can only do the Disney Meal Plan if you stay onsight. You can catch a shuttle to the parks for free if you stay on site. But, it’s waaaaaaay cheaper to rent a house (and you’ll get your own pool that way!). Time shares seemed the obvious happy medium, with their multiple theme pools, transportation to parks, and eat-in kitchens. But they were still pretty expensive. And then my friend Joanna filled me in on Farrell’s Vacation Rentals. Farrell is just a guy who personally owns a bunch of timeshares, and he’ll rent them to you for much less than the actual resorts. So, we ended up booking a two bedroom condo at the Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort {complete with Disney shuttle and lazy river!!} for $109 a night. Not bad!
Next order of business: Food.
Top of the List? Disney Princess Character Breakfast! We’d heard from multiple friends to skip the Cinderella Castle meals and head to Epcot’s Akershus Royal Banquet Hall, where Belle, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Jasmine and Mary Poppins dine. I found all of the menu items, pricing and other options here. Considering Dave and I will be continuing our Biggest Loser Lifestyle, we figure that we will try to eat in our hotel as much as possible, and pack healthy snacks and lunches for the parks {since I found out you can bring food and drinks into the park!}.
Final step: Entertainment
We will be in Orlando for 7 days, so we are still debating whether to get a 3 or 4 day park-hopper pass….hoping to go to a park every other day. Our resort has plenty for us to do on the off days, plus Betsy and Jay will be staying over at the campground, which will have lots of entertainment there too. We budgeted for full price tickets, but I’ve found a couple of sites with discount tickets {I’d share them with you, but I’m not sure if they are legit yet…I’ll keep you posted}. Our plan is to get to each park before it opens at 9 {a little birdie told me that sometimes the characters come out to hang while you are waiting for the park to open!}, eat a packed lunch there and just go for as long as the kids can hang. Then we’ll head back to the hotel in the late afternoon for naps and dinner. I’m hoping I can convince Bets to swap off kids for a couple of the nights so we each can grab a date night with our hubby in Downtown Disney!
I’ve got lots more Disney coming at you in the near future, including packing lists, our activities around the house to get excited, and some secret tips I found! In the meantime, PLEASE feel free to leave any tips or advice in the comments!
Check out my other Disney-related posts! Click Below:
Secrets of the Kingdom: A Collection of Walt Disney World Tips
I’ll be at the Wyndam Bonnet Creek next weekend and it is a great location and layout for the kids – good choice! They have fun things like movie nights for the kids, s’more making and dance parties by the pool too
Oh thank you so much for the tips! We are super excited about staying there…and since we probably won’t be staying late at the parks, we’ll be looking for some after dinner fun! Thanks for reading! -Shara