Where do you begin to plan a Disney trip?

I have not booked a trip since our honeymoon!

I'm not really a travel agent user.

What are your favorite ways to book a good deal trip to Disney.

It would be with a 15 months old so not such a huge agenda needed.

What on the grounds hotel would you recommend?

And I'm thinking of late September. Anyone know if that's a good time to go? Or is it hurricane season?

TIA!

Re: Where do you begin to plan a Disney trip?

you email Kimmie - mommy to 3 dogs, 1 boy. she goes MULTIPLE times a year.

Re: Where do you begin to plan a Disney trip?

Our favorite time of year is end of sept/beg in oct. My sister went down the end of october one year and went to the mickey halloween party and she said it was really cool.

We have timeshare so we book directly through disney for the hotel.

For tickets we generally go to www.ticketmania.com.

As to where to stay it really depends on how much you are willing to spend per night. The value resorts are generally around 100/night. For the value resorts I think they are all about the same. We've stayed at Pop Century and All Star Movies and they were about the same. For the moderate priced we like Carribean Beach or Port Orleans. We've stayed at all the deluxe ones except the Contemporary and they are all really nice. Polynesian and Grand Floridian are nice because they are on the monorail system. The pools at the Polynesian, Wilderness Lodge, and Animal Kingdom are really nice because they are zero entry which is easier for little ones. You really can't go wrong with any of the hotels it just depends on how much you want to spend.

ETA: I think my mom goes on two different websites that have discount info on Disney. mousesavers.com and disboards.com.

Message edited 4/27/2010 10:56:44 PM.

Re: Where do you begin to plan a Disney trip?

I go usually at least 3 times a year. and i routinely plan my families trips to florida as well. FM me or email me at [email protected] if you need help :)

Re: Where do you begin to plan a Disney trip?

I booked on Disney's Official Website

then became addicted to yet another forum:
DISboards
and learned all I needed to know from those exp Disney travelers..I learned so much from hotels, dining, reservations, and park tips!

Re: Where do you begin to plan a Disney trip?

if you need ANY help, let me know. i work there and go there A LOT when i'm not working. (i've been 3 times this year!)

Re: Where do you begin to plan a Disney trip?

First I always book myself. Unless you don't want to do the work - there is no real reason to have a TA for disney - sometimes it is a disadvantage if you are waiting for a code to come out they might not get to it in time (they have x amount of rooms for the dates with the codes and once they are gone you can't book them).

I start with - trying to choose a hotel or two to research -check out:
The unofficial guide to WDW 2010.
allearsnet.com
and
disboards

Those sites will also help you decide what you want. Packages didn't used to be a good idea but these days it can be depending on a lot of factors. But you should figure out what tickets you want (park hoppers? water parks? just the basic one park a day ticket?) and then if you want the dining plan (if you think you will do one sit down and one counter service a day it might be a good deal for you).

If you narrow it down to a couple that you are the most interested in then you can go to WDW's own website and price out the trip. This will just give you an estimate of what it will cost you.

Then I go to this website:
mousesavers.com

It will tell you more info on what options you might and might not want on a budget. She also has ALL of the discounts that are available to the general public. If there is a code out there it is immediately ON this site. Then once you have looked there you can go book directly through disney. (AAA has limited discounts which are nice when historically you are there when there are no codes - BUT their TA stink and don't know what they are talking about).

If you are booking way in advance you might have to book at rack rate and wait for a discount/code to come out - once a code is released you can just call up and they will adjust your package to the discount rate. That is what many people have to do b/c codes usually only come out 3 months or so before your trip. Although sometimes they come further ahead you never know. If you use a TA they can call and make the adjustment but I have heard of people who didn't get the discount b.c they TA didn't make the switch in a timely manner and all discounts were gone.

I'm happy to help if you need help I have helped lot of friends and people on here in the past.

We are going in May.

Late September is a great time - not too crowded - hot and humid though (we were last there end of Sept/beginning of Oct 08 with DD#1). Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween party is at that time and a lot of fun.

Make sure you go to WDW's website and register over there and order their free vacation dvd - if you do most of the time you will get discount private code emails that can only be used by YOU. Some of them are great deals others - okay deals.

Re: Where do you begin to plan a Disney trip?

Thanks everyone! I did order the free planner dvd last night! And did look a little bit on the site at the hotels. It's something one could spend hours doing! I'll do a little research at a time.

Thanks!