Movieguy Posted May 31, 2005 Posted May 31, 2005 Hey all. Just thought I'd let you know that I decided that for my solo vacation I will be going to Orlando and visiting WDW, a place I haven't seen for 6 years. I considered Universal, but that place is loaded with intense darkrides, and I'm a big chicken when it comes to those things. So I'm gonna go back to a place I already know I love, and see what's new. Now I just have to figure out when and how I'm going to get there, and where I should stay. My key decisions are: 1. Who to plan this trip with 2. What Airline to book 3. Planning ahead to deal with the headaches of the airport (delays, security, etc.) 4. Transportation to lodging. (I don't have a driver's license yet.) 5. Finding suitable lodging in or around WDW, and not spending a ton of money to stay there. (It's true I have nearly $8,000 in savings, but I can't spend it all on this trip. I need a lot of it to take care of my monthly expenses, including student loan repayments, and rent.) 6. Planning and purchasing tickets for the parks. I mainly would like to see MK, EPCOT, and MGM. I might also go see Downtown Disney if I have the time. Are Park Hopper tickets the way to go? This and any other advice you may have for me would be greatly appreciated. My Dad's going to help me too, but he's got a lot of other things to take care of at the moment. Thanks for taking the time to read this. I hope I can plan all this soon, while I still have the money.
disneyfan1313 Posted May 31, 2005 Posted May 31, 2005 Hey all. Just thought I'd let you know that I decided that for my solo vacation I will be going to Orlando and visiting WDW, a place I haven't seen for 6 years. I considered Universal, but that place is loaded with intense darkrides, and I'm a big chicken when it comes to those things. Hey! Quite a bit has changed in 6 years so you will have a great time. Doing a first solo vacation can be fun, yet scary so it is great to plan ahead as much as possible. What is the time frame that you are looking to go in? 1. Who to plan this trip with I usually price all my airfare through Orbitz and Travelocity and then I book directly through the airlines website - it's usually a little cheaper that way. If you are staying on Disney property (can do it for as low as 70bucks a nite) then book directly through Disney. Otherwise I would look at hotels off property that offer transportation to WDW. Tickets I would buy directly at disney.com. 2. What Airline to book Where are you flying out of? I'm assuming Syracuse or Rochester? Orlando is great because there is so much competition but unfortunately since you are flying from a smaller airport it might be a bit expensive. Honestly? The cheapest you can get! 3. Planning ahead to deal with the headaches of the airport (delays, security, etc.) Just make sure you are there early enough - the airports really are not that bad! 4. Transportation to lodging. (I don't have a driver's license yet.) I would recommend staying at a Disney Resort if you are only doing WDW and you can afford it. That way you have complementary transportation for you and your baggage through Disney's Magical Express directly to your resort and then you would be able to use resort transportation while you are there. It might end up saving you money considering shuttles are about 20 bucks each way and many resorts in the area charge for their disney shuttles as well. Price it out and see what works best for you! A taxi from the airport to a Disney area hotel will run you 40 bucks or more depending on where you are going. 5. Finding suitable lodging in or around WDW, and not spending a ton of money to stay there. See what works for you! If you think that you are going to be able to spend 70ish a night staying at a Disney Resort would be your best bet (see above). Otherwise it really depends on when you would be here on what would be the best value for you. 6. Planning and purchasing tickets for the parks. I mainly would like to see MK, EPCOT, and MGM. I might also go see Downtown Disney if I have the time. Are Park Hopper tickets the way to go? Don't forget Animal Kingdom and possibly the water parks..etc. How long will your vacation be for? Check out www.disneyworld.com for all the ticket options. The longer you stay the cheaper the tickets become so that is a thing to consider. Hope that helps!
maliboomer Posted May 31, 2005 Posted May 31, 2005 Consider getting a Passporter, not everyone likes them, but I use them. Get a Deluxe version if you plan visiting again anytime soon. http://www.passporter.com/wdw/
Movieguy Posted May 31, 2005 Author Posted May 31, 2005 Well, I think for my first experience in travel planning, I should do it around real people and not on the internet. There are some travel agencies in town, and my dad's looking into which one I should talk to.
disneyfan1313 Posted May 31, 2005 Posted May 31, 2005 I respectfully disagree 100% In todays day and age with all the information available to you on the net there is no reason to go to a travel agency and pay inflated prices/commission unless you are traveling somewhere very exotic. The internet is great because you can compare what is available, look at pictures and read reviews - not just get stuck with some motel on us192 that the the travel agent happens to get a kick back from but is pretty crappy. I have always booked all my travel online (from traveling 100 miles to going to Japan and Europe to cruises all over) and I have *never* had a problem at all. I work in the hospitality industry and see many more problems with people who book through travel agents than when they do it themselves. Good luck either way... i'm sure you will have a fabulous time.
Movieguy Posted June 2, 2005 Author Posted June 2, 2005 Well, say what you will about those agencies, I'm still going to look at this one my dad goes to a lot, and make up my own mind about it. Also, I've been looking at all of these TR posts in the forum, and thinking that I'd love to do the same thing for my WDW trip. If only I could afford a good enough camera. (Something tells me those cheap disposable cameras I usually get aren't going to cut it for something like this.)
Ghost Posted June 3, 2005 Posted June 3, 2005 Try this one for planning... http://www.wdwvacations.com/ They do everything for you and you pay the lowest price (they will check all discounts for you and in case a new discount would pop up after you booked it is still changed...) I am planing my whole trip with them and already saved a lot of money I can use for other things on my trip
Movieguy Posted June 3, 2005 Author Posted June 3, 2005 Well, I'm happy to report that I am now booked for the trip. I ended up going to AAA, and even though some of you may argue that I got ripped off by not doing this through orbitz or Travelocity, I found the price of one of their package deals to be very reasonable, since I had the money for it. The trip is set for the middle of July, and includes 4 nights at a resort. I tried to get one of the value resorts, but they were all booked to the rest of the month. So, I went with the moderately priced Carribean Beach Resort. With that I got 5 day park hopper tickets (I'll have some more time to spend at the parks before I leave.) and I'm pretty well covered for meals as well, and the flights have been arranged too. So it's official now. I AM going to Disneyworld
Movieguy Posted June 3, 2005 Author Posted June 3, 2005 Ok, there's been a change. My AAA agent called a little while ago and said that she had made a mistake when she had called Disney. There were no openings in the Carribean Beach resort after all. However, there was an opening at one of the all-star resorts, so she got me that, and ended up saving me $400 in the process ^^
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