Double Woot!

Yeah!!!

Are there certain websites I should check out?

Deal sites?

Where is the Disneyworld for Dummies tutorial?

YAY!!

We bough The Unofficial Guide to Disney the first year we went. It was incredibly helpful.

1. Unofficial Guide is first 2. Go through a WDW travel agent - they get perks nobody else can 3. Do the dining plan. 4. Stay on site.

5. CONGRATULATIONS!

Oh and go in April. After Spring Break & before summer. It's empty and cheaper and did I mention EMPTY. Not to mention the Epcot Flower Show is GORGEOUS.

Greg is talking May. Because he is crazy. It really depends on the final closing figures. I am thinking fall due to that...

This is helpful, ya'll. I knew exactly where to go for help!

Excellent news!

If it's May - make it EARLY May. You can get on Pinterest and it shows park visitation by month. After spring break & before summer is literally the emptiest all year.

Fall is kinda crazy b/c it's Wine Expo at Epcot and Not So Scary at Magic Kingdom.

It's not nearly as empty as the week after Thanksgiving. Just an FYI.

But that can be COLD

To you, yes. To us, it was quite warm.

I guess it depends what your idea of warm or cold is. haha

She's like me. We're Texans!

Oh, well then it could be cold.

We were married there in the middle of October. We can handle that time.

I'd prefer cold over hot any day. Not as cold as most of ya'll deal with but Florida cold!

October is BUSY. It's NSS and Food & Wine. We didn't enjoy that trip as much b/c it was noticeably busier.

It's decorated for Christmas the week after Thanksgiving, which is AWESOME, but in spring is the flower show at EPCOT, which is also awesome.

I like the week after Thanksgiving idea.

I kid you not, there were no lines to some of the things. We walked right onto some rides.

That was us in April. 10 rides in 60 minutes flat.

I am not sure if I can delay him that long. I think it will really just depend on how bad the house thing turns out to be. Although the heat might be a good excuse.

The other would be dining. It'll be hard to get the good locales so close to trip time.

It wasn't that hot, really. We got sunburned, but we're Yankees and were there before we had sun to help out. totally bearable, even for us.

Although not impossible.

And, I concur. It was 70s/80s. Truly wonderful. And, oddly, it was 99 on Oct 30th.

We are white white, well I am a redhead, of course.

I can't see April being doable really. We will need a couple months of being mortgage-less to get back on our feet

May is stretching it IMO

I'd really look into it. They have 30% off rates right now to try to entice you to book for then

We totally don't have the money now.

for us, staying off resort is WAY cheaper than on, and we take tons of snacks to offset the hunger so we don't spend as much on meals.

Oh, you don't pay now. You pay right as you go. But, they want you booked - so the hotels are full

I am not sure if we will need a hotel. His grandfather used to live about an hour out from Orlando. We stayed there during our honeymoon. He has moved but the houses are still there. I am not sure it is

an option, but it would be great if it were.

OH, that would be GREAT.

It really would. I hope we can do that.

You'd have to leave EARLY to get to park opening. That's rule #1 on the Unofficial Guide.

Nope, that would never happen. We would stay until closing instead!

But if the park is dead when you're there anyway, you don't have to be there at opening. You do what's best for your family. WE're not there for opening or closing. We're mid-dayers.

We are not morning people.

We're rule followers We do what the book says.

We are so not!

The fireworks are at night. What are the perks of being there at opening?

Clearly, we're not either. But we used the book to get good insider tips, and pick and choose what was important to us.

Nobody's there.

We watch fireworks from the hotel.

Because they are smart and are sleeping in!

But that's the way to avoid the crowd.

We did see Hollywood Studio's fireworks twice on our last trip. They are AWESOME.

The best perk of getting there at opening gong and running like mad is to actually ride Dumbo. The wait when we got off the 2nd rotation was already 2 hours. If you don't get there then, it's 3-4 or more.

There isn't Fast Pass for Dumbo.

Fact: we never rode Dumbo. Not once in two trips.

Because of the wait, right rockingpony?

It's notorious for the excessive wait times. That's why you have to be on the 1st or 2nd rotation.

No, because it's a ride we can do at our County Fair, minus the elephant shaped carts.

But. It's DUMBO! It's famous. And, it's the same ride as Aladdin - which also has a long wait time but not as bad b/c it isn't Dumbo.

We didn't ride that either. In fact, we missed everything in Kiddie Land. Our kids all wanted big rides. But it's an age thing.

We will need the kiddie rides, obviously... But if it requires a long wait, there is no way we would do it.

An FYI: we did not find Stitch's ride to be kid-friendly at al.

It's dark. And kinda scary for kids.

Good to know. Kristen is a wimp. Said as lovingly as possible.

The Unofficial Guide will explain each ride to you, so you'll have a heads' up on things like that.

Yeah. Stitch is scary. And gross. They turn the lites out & he burps in your face.

And it smells like stale, rotten onions.

Um, since Dumbo has been redone, there are fast passes now.

No! Avoid Stitch!!

getting to Hollywood Studios early is a must for Toy Story Mania. That ride is worth getting up for. Get your fast pass and then go wait in the line. That way you get 2 rides.

Yes, agreed about Toy Story Mania! And there's always a huge line for that.

I hope that you will meet up with me when you get here!!!

Ok, Stitch bad. Toy Story Mania good! frenchgirlrn, I would love that!!

www.allears.net is a wonderful site for tips! I LOVE that site. Mousesavers.com also has some deals and tips. I think when we next go, I will consider using a travel agent. Although, we're a different case

because we've been able to utilize my parent's Vacation Club the past 2 times I've gone. Next time we will, too.

I suggest going in September - awesome weather, no crowds.

or the week after Thanksgiving, weather isn't bad, and the park is decorated with all their holiday stuff (Osbourne Lights are awesome!)