Disney World

Inspired by my dear friend Caroline, I have decided to do a post about Disney World. For those of you who don't know, we took Andrew to Disney this last October so he could meet the real Buzz. We saw Buzz an average of 2-3 times a day, and after the 3rd day, Buzz knew us! He drew Andrew a picture and wrote him a note, which we were told he had never done before. We all love Buzz!

I did A LOT of research before going to Disney, but found all the information to be vague! I wanted someone to tell me where to stay, etc. We have had several friends that have asked my opinion, so I think I will share it now. I am contemplating writing a book!

So hear goes,

First and foremost, the big question, where to stay. We love Disney World, so when we go to Orlando, we go just to Disney; therefore, we only stay at a Disney Resort. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the Value and Moderate Resorts if you are going on a budget, but if we are going to spend the money to go to Disney, we are staying at the Deluxe Resorts. We visited (not stayed) all of them, and here is our opinion. We stayed at the Wilderness on our honeymoon and loved it! It is one of our favorites! If you are going to spend a lot of time swimming, stay at the Beach or Yatch Club. If you can afford it, stay at the Grand Floridian. Nothing can compare. We are debating about the Contemporary. We love the new rooms, monorail, and view of Magic Kingdom! The lobby is dated and doesn't have the magic Disney feel. Hopefully they will renovate it soon.

When to go...Value Season, when crowd levels are at their lowest!

Which kids to bring. If you have a child that adores a character like we did and do, it is absolutely worth it to take them, around 3 or four, when they can miss a nap. If you don't have one that is obsessed, wait until the youngest is 40" tall. They can do all the good rides!

Character meals... Do the meal plan, and do Character meals for dinner only. Everyone is ready to sit down, and we like our big meal to be at dinner. Cinderella's castle and Chef Mickey are the only two I recommend at this time (I have new ones I want to try).

When you bring kids that are under 40" tall, you will spend most of your time meeting characters, watching parades, and watching shows. Our favorites are afternoon parade at Magic Kingdom, night parade at Magic Kingdom, Wishes fireworks and Magic Kingdom, opening show at Magic Kingdom, show in front of castle at Magic Kingdom, afternoon parade at MGM. Also one of my favorite things to do is ride in the front cab of the monorail. Best views!!!

Don't do the Park Hopper Pass. It just causes stress. If you can only go to one park a day, you will be a little more relaxed.

These are just our opinions. I know you may disagree. Please feel free to post. We are planning on going next September to take Anna to meet Cinderella, so I would love to know different people's thoughts and experiences.