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Subject Topic: Orlando/Disney vacation Post ReplyPost New Topic
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teachingmyown
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Posted: June 07 2008 at 1:46pm | IP Logged Quote teachingmyown
It looks like we might actually get to take a real vacation this year! We were offered a great deal to stay at a Hilton resort in Orlando with a 3 bdrm suite. (We have to listen to the 2hr sales pitch, of course.) This combined with the stimulus check made us jump at the chance to do something we otherwise could never do.

So, we want to go in late Fall. It will be our last family vacation before my oldest joins the Marines. I am looking for any and all advice, such as:
1.where to get discount tickets to Disney, Univeral and Sea World?
2.what is a must-see?
3.what is realistic in 4 days with kids ranging from 17 to almost a year?
4. anything else you think I should know!

Thanks!

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Roma
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Posted: June 07 2008 at 3:21pm | IP Logged Quote Roma
i'm going to email some friends and see if i can find any leads on discounts. can't promise, but i can try:)
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DianaC
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Posted: June 09 2008 at 1:12pm | IP Logged Quote DianaC
I don't know much about discounts when you stay off of disney property, but here are a couple of sites that friends have recommended:

http://www.mousesavers.com/
http://www.allearsnet.com/

We have taken several vacations at Disney and got discounts to stay at a Disney resort.

Just a heads-up: This year, we decided to take advantage of the Hilton Resort stay. We had frequent flyer miles and disney passes that had not expired, so we thought we'd have a "cheap" little vacation at Disney. We stayed at the Hilton Tuscany Resort. They had told us when we booked that they would provide a shuttle to and from the airport and to and from Disney as part of our stay. (When we stay at a Disney resort, all transportation is provided and included in the package.    When we arrived at the airport we called for the shuttle only to find out that there isn't one. They offered to give us some taxi referrals. So, we asked about the shuttle to and from Disney - and they said that they do have a shuttle for Disney - but it is $10 per person/per round trip. And they only had two departure times per day. So we wound up renting a car (and a carseat!). Although it was expensive, it was cheaper than paying for the shuttles.

Also, allow at least an hour for travel from the hotel to Disney.

On a more positive note: our favorite meals/character dining are the Akershus at the Norway Pavilion in Epcot and the Crystal Palace at Magic Kingdom and Chef Mickey's in the Contemporary Resort.   At Akershus, while you are dining, you'll be visited by 4 or 5 princesses and you are welcome to take pictures. At Crystal Place, you'll get to meet all of the Pooh characters. At Chef Mickey's you'll meet Donald, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto and Daisy.

We take along scrapbook pages for each child (put them in a big ziploc bag) and each gets one autograph per page. Then we take a picture of each child with each character. When we get home, we put the scrapbook pages in the book and place the pictures in with each autograph. These are our children's favorite "souvenirs" from Disney and they get them out and show them to everyone!
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5athome
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Posted: June 09 2008 at 4:18pm | IP Logged Quote 5athome
With only 4 days, I would pare down the number of places that you visit. Your best deals will be multi day tickets rather than single visit tickets. What types of activities interest your kids? I have never been to Universal. Sea World is a lot of sit down type animal shows which may or may not be enjoyable with many little ones. Disney seems like it offers the widest range of parks for your age span. I would be tempted to go all 4 days to their various parks on a multiday park hopper pass.   

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