About the credit card... it's no annual fee. So I have it and just use it when I'm at Disney to get the discounts. I use other cards for my daily expenses.

IF you are planning on renting a car - be sure and keep an eye on airfares to both Orlando AND Tampa - there's not a huge amount of difference in the drive time and with five air tickets it can be a great money saver.

Disney doesn't give anything away to any travel agents. All this agency is getting you are the same rates available to the public. Mousesavers has the same deals. Plus, it's not even considered one of the biggies that deal with Disney.

You don't have to like it, you have to get the info you need and there is a ton of it on DIS (disboards.com). I haven't found a better site with more members in years. I don't post much there, but I research it thoroughly before each trip. Again, you rent a car and you live in MCO?

Not anymore. To get the AP discount you have to reserve 90 or 120 days in advance. Right now, they are only guaranteeing the "lowest publicly available rate" to AP holders. The days of big discounts & AP codes are over. I have gone around Xmas and Halloween, and recently too. The discounts were nowhere near 50%. The dining discounts are limited to 10% at certain restaurants - many for lunch only, and the Halloween & Christmas party discounts are of neglible value to me. I'm not sure if the discount is 25% any longer. Also, many of these discounts are availble if you're a AAA member, such as for the tours.

The APs are very very expensive now. For the average family making that "special" trip, most, if not all, are not going to use the benefits. They are of more use to those of us who have gone frequently and will continue to go frequently, and still, with the 10 day admission payback, it may not be worth it to buy them for those who live out of state.

I just planned 2 vacations for co-workers - both came back raving. I didn't use an agency for either, they got the best deal available, and I got a gold star . One had gone the agency route, and I made them cancel everything and redid it myself at a savings of about $1000 for a family of four. They also did things the packages did not include.

That's what mousesavers & disboards can do for you.

Yup... when I go to Disneyland and Southern California

but when I found out Enterprise in Orlando has C6 Corvettes, I did rent one for a few days of unadulterated fun on the back roads between WDW and Windermere

Just be prepared for delays on I-4 during construction in Hillsborough and Polk Counties. Once you get to the Haines City exits it should be clear.