Disney's Death Star is calling me

I do like the booze.

 

Definitely stay at Disney to take advantage of transportation system. If you can swing it stay at one of hotels on Monorail - Grand Floridian, Contemporary or Polynesian. With a 5 year old you will be spending most of your time at the Kingdom and staying on monorail line makes it easy to get back and forth for naps / ect

Take advantage of early park openings. Every day its a different park. You want to get there at least 20 minutes before opening to get at front of line.

If you plan on doing any theme meals at parks you can make your reservations 60 days in advance.

 

We took our two teenagers to Orlando in October and spend one day at Disney/MGM studios, two days at Sea world and two days at Universal/Islands of Adventure. We'd all been to Disney twice and wanted something new. For a five-year-old, though, personally I think he'll enjoy Disney better because he's likely much more familiar with the characters.

Key tip: Get everyone in the family high quality shoes. I cannot stress this enough. Disney is adept at moving people, but you will still spend all day on your feet. Unless you're and avid hiker, this will be a tough adjustment.

As for the other stuff, just clear the credit cards and splurge. If you're worried about every dollar while you're there, it will spoil the trip. Just accept the fact that it's expensive and move on.

 

I've never even been to Disney World ... or Land, for that matter.

 

Not since the incident, huh?

 

The wife and I went to the Magic Kingdom on our honeymoon (she had never been) and we were bored. We liked Sea World better (where I got drunk making beer at the ABusch tent). We brought the three-year-old to the Magic Kingdom last year and absolutely loved it. It was better than everywhere else.

Going with a kid makes all the difference.

 

I'll second this. We went several times before we had kids and I never was all that impressed (except with Epcot and drinking around the world). But we've been I think 5 times in about 2 1/2 years with our two small kids. We can't get enough of the place. I'm trying to rig a little 3 or 4 night trip for spring break.

Advice: Don't go with relatives, although it doesn't sound like you have much choice. We went with the in-laws in Aug. 2006 and haven't spoken to them since. Hopefully you have a better relationship with your family than we do with my wife's parents (My FIL threatened to crack my daughter's head open ... guy never apologized ... needs some anger management classes or something!)

The Disney Dining Plan is worth it as someone else suggested, especially if you plan on staying on Disney property.

We usually end up in one of the moderate resorts (Caribbean Beach, Coronado Springs, Port Orleans French Quarter and Port Orleans Riverside). You can't go wrong with any of them. I liked French Quarter a lot. They just remodeled the pool at Caribbean Beach, which is nice as well. They all have their own unique features.

Booking through AAA will almost always save you money. They get discounts on the tickets etc. Even if you don't have a membership, look into how much it will save you to get one and book everything through them.

Finally, we always plan a day where we don't go to any of the parks. It's a nice break ... gives you a chance to sit by the pool, or go to a character meal at one of the other resorts etc. So, if we're going to be there 5 full days, we'll buy 4 days of park tickets. We usually just buy the base park tickets. They're cheaper than the Park Hoppers ... it's a way to save some money if you don't have to go to two different parks in the same day.

My wife spends about as much time perusing a Disney message board site as I do SportsJournalists.com every day. So definitely PM me if you have any questions.

 

Animal Kingdom is a cool place to stay.

And to reiterate an earlier poster, quality footwear is a must.

But all in all, it's great fun.

 

IMO 5 is too young for EPCOT.
Stay with the Magic Kingdom and Disney MGM/Hollywood Studios.
Get a park-hopper pass so you can move between them more easily.
Haven't been to the Magic Kingdom in ages.
Was at MGM in '06 and had a blast. With a five-year-old definitely hit the Muppet 3D experience there.

If your 5-year-old can stay up late enough, the fireworks/late shows at both parks are a must.

 

Gotta get the park hopper. I didn't think we'd use it, but I'd guess that four of the five days, we went to two parks.

 

You could always charge the whole thing to Mr. Underhill's American Express card. Want the number?