We did disney 2 summers ago. My husband and I, 4 kids and my mother. We drove down from VA but left in the middle of the night so the kids could sleep. Once they were up, I had a "goodie box" that I had been putting things in for months. They knew about it, even decorated it before-hand. Every hour, they got a surprise out of the box. Some were travel games, some where little things from the Disney Store. One was a hand-held disney fan to take to the parks. This made traveling alot more child friendly!
We rented a house in a resort community. It was in Davenport, just south of disney. It only took us 10 minutes to get to all of the parks. We never had traffic problems, even in late June.There are plenty of lanes going in and out so traffic moved quickly. We had a 4 bedroom house, with 2 kids to a room, my mother to a room with a private bath, and hubby and I to the master suite! We also had our own private pool!! This was cheaper than any hotel we could get for 7 people! We paid $900 for 8 nights.
We got 4 day park hopper tickets from our local disney store. You save 20%, which is the same as ordering online from disney and cheaper than mousesavers. Plus you can use cash instead of charging it. I'm not big on charging a vacation.
Anyway, it was GREAT!! If you ask the kids what their favorite part of the trip was, they say the house and pool! They loved disney but coming home and swimming by themselves while we were cooking or just a quick dip before bed was wonderful.
If anyone wants info on renting houses, send me an email. I searched millions! We rent houses everywhere we go. Haven't stayed in a hotel in 5 years and don't miss them at all!!

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We didn't have a kitchenette as it wasn't that style of hotel. But I did bring the cooler, so we stopped at a grocery store on the way in from the airport and picked up some snacks, box of cereal, plastic ware, ect. So all I bought from the Disney Resort was milk.

From both an expense and and energy perspective, it was nice to have a quick breakfast or snack in the room.

[ 03-31-2006, 08:57 PM: Message edited by: JHB ]

We've stayed on the resort both times and you're right JHB it's wonderful but pricey. We did love having the ability to fix breakfast and snacks in the our own little kitchen. I even baked brownies and made muffins and scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast and one night we just went to the resort store and picked up a frozen pizza and a salad. The prices at the stores on the resort are shocking but we had been warned by friends so we packed ziploc bags of cereal and the muffin and brownie mixes along with some snacks.

The shuttles are great too because they drop you right at the entrance.

We used hopper passes too. A definite recommendation. The first year we went, the waterparks were included in the hopper. That changed last year.

Okay, all this talk has made me want to go back!!!

We went to Disney World last year. It was a lot of fun. There are so many websites and travel books that it seems there's too much information. So it's smart to ask for referrals.

The website I would recommend is MouseSavers.com . Lots of great info, wonderful tips, details on ALL the parks.

As far as lodging, my first choice would be to rent a house or condo so you have a good base of operations, a place to relax, can fix simple meals, etc. Or a mid-range hotel, maybe with a kitchenette or fridge/microwave. The parks are pretty tiring - going out for every meal on top of that can get old. Sometimes you just want an easy snack or a bowl of cereal!

My husband wanted to do the whole Disney experience, so we stayed on a Disney property. The the hotel was gorgeous, the shuttles were nice, but it was expensive.

We got a "4 day park hopper plus" ticket which allowed us to come and go at the major Disney parks. (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney-MGM Studios, Animal Kingdom)

The "plus" was a bonus allowing us to pick an additional site (water park, etc.) for a single visit. We wouldn't have known to shop around for the "plus" version without mousesavers.com.

We did take a collapsable soft-side cooler with us (the kind with wheels). That way we could keep some snacks on ice in the hotel room.

[ 03-31-2006, 09:00 PM: Message edited by: JHB ]

We've done Disney in July twice now and the biggest tip I can give you is take a break in the afternoon because it gets HOT. We would head to the park on the shuttle so we got there right as they opened in the morning. We had a plan as to what we wanted to see and ride and the best way to get to it all. We used Fast Passes whenever we could. We would go until lunch, then while we were eating we would plan what we could get done by 1:00 or 2:00. Then we would head back to the hotel and either swim in the pool at the resort, or head to a water park. We'd come back to our room about 5:00, dress, eat supper somewhere and go back to the parks for a couple of hours.

We found that a little planning can make a huge difference in how much you can get done and helps to not waste time going to places that your kids will have no interest in. We let them look through the little brochures and pick what they wanted to do.

I can not sing the praises of this website enough... www.tourguidemike.com I have used it for our trips in July, September, and this past January. His tips and suggestions literally save you hours standing in line and we were able to make some amazing memories thanks to him.

I just wish it was less than 295 days until we go again!

If you have specific questions, please email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and I'll try and help.