Disneyworld advice?

[Boom_70]

Screw the Disney resorts and screw the Disney restaurants and their money grabs.

Hotel: Check Hotwire or similar sites on the off chance you can score a four-star room for $60, like we did for the Crowne Plaza near Universal. You'll be able to afford a ...

Rental Car: Book the smallest one you can tolerate, since you'll probably be bumped to a small SUV or minivan anyway. Then you won't be a slave to the Disney transportation system and can actually get off the reservation to see ...

Places: Like the Tampa aquarium, Cocoa Beach, the Kennedy Space Center, etc. Maybe the Science Center on a rainy day. All of them an hour away. Go coast-to-coast in one day if you'd like. The monorail isn't going to get you there.

And the free stuff: Downtown Disney, the Universal City Walk and all of the other shopping destinations.

Food: Eat wherever the heck you want. My family and I ate very well, between the hotel, the park, the celeb-chef restaurants, etc., and there wasn't a single day we spent anything near what Disney would have charged.

If you're not on a budget, do whatever the heck you want, I guess. But the only thing that made a Disney trip survivable for me is that I wasn't a slave to Disney.

That's all fine, but I believe the thread is about planning a Disney World trip, not a trip to Tampa or Cocoa Beach.

Maybe some people like being a "slave" to Disney. Certainly not your cup of tea, but I enjoy Disney transportation. I enjoy Disney resorts. I enjoy the Disney service. Because of those things, I'll pay $15-20 more a night to stay somewhere I know and trust.

I was thinking that also. Why even go to Disney if you are concerned about being a slave. By even going to the park MMS contradicts himself.

 

[Bradley Guire]

In the interest of full disclosure, the first two trips were taken as a kid. Even the trip from a few years ago was picked up by the parents as a very nice Christmas present. So I didn't feel the financial pinch. Even if I had to do a trip with my money, and I've priced it out, I'd stay at a Disney resort. I wouldn't mind paying a bit of a premium.

 

[93Devil]

If I were doing a seven-day vacation with four days at Disney and three days doing the Tampa or Orlando stuff, I would stay four nights at a Disney resort then for the other three days I would move off site to a more central hotel to the other things I was doing.

 

[Pancamo]

I bought two 2-day park hopper tickets off Ebay and saved a ton of money. I picked the tickets up at a broker shop about a mile from the park and it was sketchy. The cards worked at all the parks.

 

[Captain Obvious]

I bought two 2-day park hopper tickets off Ebay and saved a ton of money. I picked the tickets up at a broker shop about a mile from the park and it was sketchy. The cards worked at all the parks.

What if they don't work? And, yeah, the brokers look to be sketchy from the looks of the shacks they're based out of.

 

[Pancamo]

I bought two 2-day park hopper tickets off Ebay and saved a ton of money. I picked the tickets up at a broker shop about a mile from the park and it was sketchy. The cards worked at all the parks.

What if they don't work? And, yeah, the brokers look to be sketchy from the looks of the shacks they're based out of.

I would have bought the tickets at the gate and went back to the broker and got my money back. It was a credit card transaction so I called ahead to make sure broker purchases were covered.

I am not sure how the cards work but someone told me they purchase cards from people leaving the park who did not use up all the days.

We were on the monorail and a guy was telling me his family of eight bought tickets from a broker the prior year and when they arrived at the gate, the Disney security pulled them aside and asked how they got the tickets. Evidently, $20K worth of tickets were purchased on a stolen card and sold to a broker. The guy had to call the broker, tell him the tickets didn't work and when the broker arrived to replace the tickets, he was arrested. Disney replaced his tickets for helping set up the broker.

.

 

[StaggerLee]

If I were doing a seven-day vacation with four days at Disney and three days doing the Tampa or Orlando stuff, I would stay four nights at a Disney resort then for the other three days I would move off site to a more central hotel to the other things I was doing.

I've had several clients do that, and it's not a bad thing to do. I normally tell them to do it with Disney as the end of the trip. I find Disney's attention to detail and service spoils you and could potentially ruin your experience at Universal or Busch Gardens.

There are several nice, affordable places right off I-drive in Orlando in close proximity to Universal.

 

[Bradley Guire]

I bought Donald Duck orange juice today.

A. I didn't know Disney still made this.
B. Yes, I am 7.
C. Did no one at Disney get the irony? Duck in orange sauce? Anybody? Sheesh.

 

[StaggerLee]

I bought Donald Duck orange juice today.

A. I didn't know Disney still made this.
B. Yes, I am 7.
C. Did no one at Disney get the irony? Duck in orange sauce? Anybody? Sheesh.

I didn't even know they made that. I'll have to look for it, maybe my kids will finally drink orange juice if it's got Donald's picture on it.

What I wish Disney sold was the POG juice they have at Polynesian and Animal Kingdom. I've tried to make it before, but it doesn't taste nearly as good as the juice at Disney.

 

[Bradley Guire]

I found Donald Duck orange juice at a Rosauer's. It's just as cheap as the store brand OJ. No pulp. Cuz the pulp may be shredded duck taint.