Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

I recently started looking into it and felt so so overwhelmed lol

My son is just shy of 3 and we are considering a Disney cruise (when DD is old enough she isn't even here yet lol).

I feel like at his age the cruise will be perfect, my DH and I aren't waiting on line all day but he is getting to see all the characters which is what he will love. Best of both worlds vacation wise for us. When DS and DD are older and can understand what waiting on a line is (so like 20 ) we will do the parks.

Message edited 9/6/2014 8:45:57 AM.

Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

The first time we took DS when he just turned 4. We stayed off site at a suite hotel and just winged it day by day. We didn't know how he would react tot he characters, lines rides etc. so planned to wing it and go to one park each day. It turned out great - he loved the characters and didn't mind waiting for their autograph and a picture, they lines weren't bad (off peak) and he loved most rides. We didn't have any "memorable dining experiences" and that was fine.

The second time we went he just turned 9, we also took our nephew who was 11. We split our time between Disney and Universal. We stayed off property at an awesome time share that was almost between both parks. The boys were totally into the rides and figuring out how to wait the least amount of time for each one. We ran around getting fast passes and showed up at rope drop each day. I had a ride wait time app my phone for each park that really worked well. We cooked dinner most nights and participated in the activities at the time share a few nights. They had 0 interest in the characters.
I researched lots of the extra freebee things to do in each park some were a hit some they didn't care to do .

We had a great time on both trips with minimal planning and we never felt like we missed anything. If there something we really wanted to do - I had never seen the electric light parade and it was on my must do list, we made sure we did it. Other than that we let the boys energy levels (ha) weather, and crowd level guide us. We had a general idea of where we wanted to spend each portion of the day based on the crowd level but that was it.

Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

IMO if you don't care about goin to Disney and you win it you will never feel you are missing out. If you are a huge Disney fan and must see it all then plan. Your DD is young and will be happy with anything you see.

If you go at a slower time you will obviously get to do more since lines are shorter etc.

You don't have to buy into the hype and can have a perfectly great time doing it with little planning.

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

We go every year, but we stay off site and only do one full day at a park each time we go. We are familiar with the layouts of the parks by now, but we don't pre-plan at all. We totally wing it. We get there when we get there, we eat wherever and whenever we are hungry. If we miss a ride or two, oh well. It doesn't bother us at all.
The only thing we have done once in the maybe 7-8 times we've been there was book the character breakfast at Tuskers in Animal Kingdom. We have also made reservations at T-Rex for our dinosaur obsessed DS.

Message edited 9/6/2014 10:08:11 AM.

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

Thanks for all the responses!
They are definitely making me feel better.
Question for those who recommended staying off site at a higher end hotel/resort. ..where do you recommend that is nearby?
I like a nice hotel....

Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

I prefer blue water over Disney and I think so does DS. I think he just wants to see Mickey Mouse, so if the bank allows it, I might just a do a Disney cruise. My back up is Disney Land Cali since I love Cali and don't really care for FL.

If I do go to Disney, I am just going to book a hotel nearby and go to the usuals - Magic Kingdom, Epcot blah blah. I just really hate lines and amusement parks.

Before my son, we had taken my SS to Disney in December and it was such a nightmare and crowded, I never want to go back. We actually didn't even go to a fourth park because everyone was over it by day 3. Lmfao!

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

Posted by DiamondGirl

I recently started looking into it and felt so so overwhelmed lol

My son is just shy of 3 and we are considering a Disney cruise (when DD is old enough she isn't even here yet lol).

I feel like at his age the cruise will be perfect, my DH and I aren't waiting on line all day but he is getting to see all the characters which is what he will love. Best of both worlds vacation wise for us. When DS and DD are older and can understand what waiting on a line is (so like 20 ) we will do the parks.

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

Posted by BargainMama

Posted by DiamondGirl

I recently started looking into it and felt so so overwhelmed lol

My son is just shy of 3 and we are considering a Disney cruise (when DD is old enough she isn't even here yet lol).

I feel like at his age the cruise will be perfect, my DH and I aren't waiting on line all day but he is getting to see all the characters which is what he will love. Best of both worlds vacation wise for us. When DS and DD are older and can understand what waiting on a line is (so like 20 ) we will do the parks.

Just so you know, there ARE lines on the Disney cruise to see characters. In fact, people line up an hour before, and it gets long. We did the cruise last September, and loved it, but you definitely have to wait in many lines for many things. It was not a relaxing cruise. I mean, it could be if you didn't want to participate in family activities, character meet and greets and shows (i.e. you just sit at the pool, eat, and get off at ports).

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

Posted by Sash

Posted by BargainMama

Posted by DiamondGirl

I recently started looking into it and felt so so overwhelmed lol

My son is just shy of 3 and we are considering a Disney cruise (when DD is old enough she isn't even here yet lol).

I feel like at his age the cruise will be perfect, my DH and I aren't waiting on line all day but he is getting to see all the characters which is what he will love. Best of both worlds vacation wise for us. When DS and DD are older and can understand what waiting on a line is (so like 20 ) we will do the parks.

Just so you know, there ARE lines on the Disney cruise to see characters. In fact, people line up an hour before, and it gets long. We did the cruise last September, and loved it, but you definitely have to wait in many lines for many things. It was not a relaxing cruise. I mean, it could be if you didn't want to participate in family activities, character meet and greets and shows (i.e. you just sit at the pool, eat, and get off at ports).

Oh damn, there goes that. Lol maybe I just hire somebody to dress up as Mickey for DS.

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

We are going in 2 weeks. We know nothing. We booked this trip at the beginning of July. USE A TRAVEL AGENT. I am more than happy to recommend mine If you'd like - just PM me. She did everything for us, this is the easiest trip I have ever "planned". She gets commission thru Disney, you pay nothing for her services.

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

Yes hire a really good disney certified TA who will plan everything for you. Go to them now so they have the 180 days. They will book your dining, book your fast passes. Just tell you when to show up and where.

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

Posted by Sash

Posted by BargainMama

Posted by DiamondGirl

I recently started looking into it and felt so so overwhelmed lol

My son is just shy of 3 and we are considering a Disney cruise (when DD is old enough she isn't even here yet lol).

I feel like at his age the cruise will be perfect, my DH and I aren't waiting on line all day but he is getting to see all the characters which is what he will love. Best of both worlds vacation wise for us. When DS and DD are older and can understand what waiting on a line is (so like 20 ) we will do the parks.

Just so you know, there ARE lines on the Disney cruise to see characters. In fact, people line up an hour before, and it gets long. We did the cruise last September, and loved it, but you definitely have to wait in many lines for many things. It was not a relaxing cruise. I mean, it could be if you didn't want to participate in family activities, character meet and greets and shows (i.e. you just sit at the pool, eat, and get off at ports).

Oh damn, there goes that. Lol maybe I just hire somebody to dress up as Mickey for DS.

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

I have not read the responses. I feel similarly. I really have no interest in Disney and while I normally am anal researching and planning vacations (ie: Europe) I have done no planning for our Disney ones. We were fine.

We go every June to FL with my inlaws who rent a beach house. Last summer DS was almost 2 and I told dh if we were going to FL we should do a day at Disney. We did one day at mK. 2 nights before we booked a hotel room for the night before bc condo was 2 hours away and we figured it was easier to drive up night before and sleep there. We got a room at art of animation for $110. Was great, pool is 24 hours and my DS loved nemo. We had a little mermaid room. Had we planned ahead we would have shown him the movie before we went lol.

Was old fast pass system, all was well, we had fun, no planning at all. What I wish I did differently - rented a stroller from an external company. Their stroller rentals suck, basically an uncomfortable plastic chair with wheels and my DS couldn't nap in it. Otherwise we were fine.

This year we went back again but for 2 days. Booked hotel last min bc we did last time but bc we went on a weekend prices were higher and art of animation, where we has wanted to stay, was booked. I was pissed. We stayed at pop century which wasn't as nice and pool isn't 24 hours. So, just book art of animation :) we planned to do one day at MK and one at Hollywood studios. Changed hollywood studios to epcot night before after doing some googlingn at 1am and realizing there wasn't really a full day of stuff for an almost 3yo to do at HS. We got our fast pass bracelets at check in night before we planned to go to parks. (If we ordered them ahead of time we could have gotten colors, as slackers we got grey). We made our fast pass selections the night before. We were fine and got everything we would have wanted. Only thing booked was Anna and Elsa which we didn't care about. Only thing I caution is to link your tix to your bracelet. My ILs didn't and had to wait on line at the park to get it linked. We were totally fine, but as slackers again got stuck with the ****** park strollers. Next time I will rent a citi mini or something from an outside company.

That's really it. Googling told us that u need to use all 3 fast passes before u get more so we booked them close in time to eachother at similar areas of park and my dh downloaded the app.

Fwiw, I loved epcot - lots to do for DS and for us, great food, etc. I wanted to shoot myself at MK. Didn't hurt it was 100 degrees and I was 26 weeks pregnant and was unknowingly coming down with coxsackie.

Only other advice I have is know which rides have longest lines and use your fast passes for those. U can do it if we can :)

Oh and we didn't make any reservations (we roamed and grazed at epcot, again the food there was great) and ate what we could at MK (food was horrible). I also stopped at target on our way to the hotel and bought DS Mickey ears, a Disney shirt to wake up to, a Mickey stuffed animal and 2 souvenir frames. I don't think we bought any souvenirs at the parks, my ILs did buy him a pirate Mickey after pirates of Caribbean ride. Easy peasy.

Message edited 9/6/2014 9:27:24 PM.

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

I could see someone going off peak before FP+, winging it, and doing fine.

However, I do think FP+ changes things. With the old FP, everyone was on equal footing when they walked in the parks because you couldn't get FP in advance. With FP+ you can and according to the blogs it's affecting standby wait times at several rides drastically.

I wouldn't go without planning but there is an easy solution if you don't want to deal with it - just use a travel agent. They are free to you and they will book all the FPs and dinner reservations for you. I recommend the poster Jenniferever on here.

I will echo what some others said about dinner reservations, though (also called ADRs); I really don't think too many, if any, are necessary (even if the travel agent books them for you.) I remember from your other posts that you're a foodie so you'll probably be underwhelmed by most of the food. The sit down restaurants especially are very overpriced. Also, they now require a deposit and 24 hours notice to cancel. Personally I don't find any restaurant there so special that I am willing to take that chance. Since we're staying off site, I am most likely not even booking any ADRs at all for our February trip. Our planning will really just be for the parks so we can avoid lines.

Let us know what you decide to do!

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

Disney cruise???
It might have been suggested, I didn't read pp responses.

Message edited 9/7/2014 7:16:09 AM.

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

The quality of the $200ish Disney hotels equals IMO the quality of the $60 surrounding hotels. The whole town of Kissimmee is chock full of hotels that would fit the description.

For spending a bit more in Kissimmee or staying at the ritz, universal, marriott, etc, you get an experience that equates or is better than the grand Floridian, Polynesian, etc but with better food.

The negative staying off site is you need to rent a car or use shuttles hotels provide. You need to drive 10 minutes to Disney, take a 5 minute shuttle. You lose the extra park hours.

Not sure what the new fast pass system will do, but I'll risk it.

The other thing is, we spend 3 days at the park. We do the rest of the time at the hotel & we go to the beach for a few days.

We stayed on site once. In our opinions, it wasn't worth it.

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

Posted by Sash

Posted by BargainMama

Posted by DiamondGirl

I recently started looking into it and felt so so overwhelmed lol

My son is just shy of 3 and we are considering a Disney cruise (when DD is old enough she isn't even here yet lol).

I feel like at his age the cruise will be perfect, my DH and I aren't waiting on line all day but he is getting to see all the characters which is what he will love. Best of both worlds vacation wise for us. When DS and DD are older and can understand what waiting on a line is (so like 20 ) we will do the parks.

Just so you know, there ARE lines on the Disney cruise to see characters. In fact, people line up an hour before, and it gets long. We did the cruise last September, and loved it, but you definitely have to wait in many lines for many things. It was not a relaxing cruise. I mean, it could be if you didn't want to participate in family activities, character meet and greets and shows (i.e. you just sit at the pool, eat, and get off at ports).

Oh damn, there goes that. Lol maybe I just hire somebody to dress up as Mickey for DS.

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

Message edited 9/7/2014 3:47:37 PM.

Re: Is there a way to go to Disney without a Masters degree in Disneyology and a year long planning stage?

Posted by Bridex100

Posted by Sash

Posted by BargainMama

Posted by DiamondGirl

I recently started looking into it and felt so so overwhelmed lol

My son is just shy of 3 and we are considering a Disney cruise (when DD is old enough she isn't even here yet lol).

I feel like at his age the cruise will be perfect, my DH and I aren't waiting on line all day but he is getting to see all the characters which is what he will love. Best of both worlds vacation wise for us. When DS and DD are older and can understand what waiting on a line is (so like 20 ) we will do the parks.

Just so you know, there ARE lines on the Disney cruise to see characters. In fact, people line up an hour before, and it gets long. We did the cruise last September, and loved it, but you definitely have to wait in many lines for many things. It was not a relaxing cruise. I mean, it could be if you didn't want to participate in family activities, character meet and greets and shows (i.e. you just sit at the pool, eat, and get off at ports).

Oh damn, there goes that. Lol maybe I just hire somebody to dress up as Mickey for DS.

I think it depends on the sailing. We booked a last minute cruise in May and there were no lines for anything. We got great pics with characters on Castaway Cay. There were many times where the characters were standing with no wait. We went when all the kids were back in school after spring break and not out for summer yet. There were like barely any elementary kids on the boat.

We had so much fun that we want to do the Disney cruise during spring break. What is preventing me from booking is spring break crowds the week before Easter. I'm sure our experience would be much different. I HATE WAITING in line. I'd rather not do things if I have to stand in line for more than 20 min tops.