Orlando - My WDW Family Holiday Planning

Thanks to those who responded to my query in the previous similar thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/Forum7/HTML/000031.html). Rather than hijack that thread for my enquiry, I thought I should start again and allow the original enquirer's questions to continue in their thread.

From what I can tell from the hotel prices and dates, it would seem the school vacation period pricing commences about June 12. Does this seem correct? And would that mean that we won't be too overrun at WDW June 2 through 5? Hopefully we will find the calm before the storm - if there is ever calm at WDW.

We arrive at MCO after 6pm on June 1. So to save paying WDW accommodation price for the first night, we are looking to stay off-site but nearby for that night (found Travelodge for $31 a night, which seems reasonable).

If we reserve for 3 nights at AllStar resort at WDW, can we then arrive at WDW early first mornning (June 2 for us), drop our bags, collect Park Hopper passes and spend the day in the parks, to return to the resort later in the afternoon to our room?

Same on last day - can we checkout in the morning, leave luggage in the car and spend the day in the parks, departing in the evening. Can we still use the Disney transport even though we have checked out of the hotel? Can again get Travelodge for $31 for final night in Orlando before driving north.

This way we can spend 3 nights at WDW AllStar resort and use 4-day park hopper.

Thanks for sharing your collective experience and wisdom about all things Disney. Deb's Unofficial WDW site (http://www.wdwig.com/) is excellent and I have been looking at it for quite some time now and have gained some wonderful insight.

Your strategy sounds fine.

While I'm 100% in favor of staying "on property", if money is an issue, I'd suggest considering using Priceline and staying off property on your stay. We went to WDW over last Christmas, and managed to land the WDW Hilton for $62/night. While the private transportation system didn't hold a candle to the Disney one, it may be worth it to save on the room. At a minimum, I'd consider Priceline for your first and last day stays. For that same $31 you could wind up in something a lot nicer than the Travelodge.

You can find out about bidding strategies on biddingfortravel.com's Orlando forum.

http://pub109.ezboard.com/fpricelineandexpediabiddingorlandowaltdisneyworld

As far as using the transport system, in all my trip to WDW I've never had the transport driver guys check to see if you were "authorized" to use the system. I wouldn't worry about it.

Good luck and have fun!

Thanks for the info. I am planning to check things like Priceline and even direct with the hotels closer to the time. With the sad state of world events, there might be some good deals at the time. So I am trying to make non-committed reservations at this time and if I can find better cloer to travel time, I'll grab them.

Thanks also for the words of wisdom re Disney transport system. Sounds like it really is worth some exra money.

Does the Hilton still give the "Disney Experience" that one expects when staying at a Disney resort? And is there much advantage to being at a non-Disney on-site accommodation compared to near-by off-site?

I didn't care for the Hilton.

There wasn't really anything wrong with the hotel, but getting to/from the park was a pain. We worked around it after the first day by walking to Downtown Disney and using the Disney transport system. It made the stay a lot more tolerable.

Having said that, I really think that $62 compared to $110+ (for an All Star) made the hassle just about worth it. We normally stay at the boardwalk ,so the saving over over $200/night made it a lot more worth it. If I had paid more for the Hilton, I'd have been more disappointed.

You said that money was tight, if that's so, I'd focus on the Disney World Vicinity zone and select resort hotels.

I'd start at $45/night and see what happens. Take the money you save and blow it on La Nouba http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif