Planning first trip!

[jaimiemarshall]

Hi everyone, my name is Jaimie and I am currently in the process of planning my first Disney trip. I will be going with my boyfriend who went like 25 years ago, my step-son who will be 13 and has been twice, and my son who is 11 and my daughter who will be 10. I've never been and neither have my kids.

We are going in August 2014 and we've been debating driving to Buffalo and renting a van and driving vs. flying from Buffalo and purchasing a package. We plan to stay for about 10 days. I'm pricing it out and it actually seems to be fairly similar in cost to drive which surprised me. Anyone have an opinion on driving vs. flying?

There is so much to learn! I ordered the personalized Disney hats that I'm going to wrap up and I may try to make a "ticket" or something to add to the package because this is one of their big Christmas presents so I'm excited about that.

Looking forward to learning from all of you

Jaimie

 

[scrappinginontario]

Congrats on planning your first Disney trip!!

I live near Toronto and fly to FL from Buffalo often. If the cost of renting and driving is similar to flying then hands down I would recommend flying!! Would you rather spend 4+ days in a van or 6 hours in a plan (3 each way) and have the rest of your time at Disney?!! August is a hot time to be at Disney so you'll want to be prepared for that. We've gone in August the past couple of years and describe it as 'melt-your-face-off hot.' But....we loved it! We enjoyed pool time as well as many days in the parks.

A week from now the surprise will be out! How fun!!!

Happy planning!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

If the cost of renting and driving is similar to flying then hands down I would recommend flying!! Would you rather spend 4+ days in a van or 6 hours in a plan (3 each way) and have the rest of your time at Disney?!!

I agree. While I don't personally enjoy flying, I very much enjoy squeezing every last minute of my precious vacation time. So when we travel to Orlando, its by plane (if at all possible) to maximize the amount of time we can spend there.

We have been twice in August so far (2012 and 2013) and are currently planning for August 2014. Be sure to plan for a day or two at the waterparks....your kids are the perfect ages and you will be super thankful for an opportunity to get wet and cooled off in the oppressive summer heat! Also plan for lots of pool time at your resort. Where are you staying while you're there?

 

[busyshrew]

I live near Toronto and fly to FL from Buffalo often. If the cost of renting and driving is similar to flying then hands down I would recommend flying!! Would you rather spend 4+ days in a van or 6 hours in a plan (3 each way) and have the rest of your time at Disney?!!

I also agree. It's not really about the driving for us (our DD9 is old enough now that it would be easier and much more pleasant). But DH and I aren't young, we can't push the drive in a 20 hour blitz, and I prefer to spend my first 24 hours in Orlando fresh and excited, not stiff and cramped up from being stuck in a car).

Besides, it's not the drive TO Disney that difficult (oh! the anticipation!). It's that loooong, annoying, tedious drive back home that can really take it out of you.

 

[jaimiemarshall]

Thanks for the input! We've decided to fly for sure. We are going August 18th. I'm not 100% sure of the location yet but we've found a few good condos online that seem to be reasonable. Does anyone have a recommendation for a good condo for that time of year?

We just lost power for 72 hours from an ice storm (I'm sure there are more of you here that were affected as well) so my plans have kind of gone up in smoke with respect to the "ticket" idea. Its 3:30am here and I just finished wrapping so I'm going to have to do up a lame thing on my computer and print it in black and white. No much else I can do. The hats came in and were awesome so I'm really excited by that!

Hope you all have a great Christmas and New Year. I'm really looking forward to learning a lot from these boards.

 

[boundfordisney]

My daughter was without hydro for 3 days, came back on Christmas eve around 8 pm, so glad it was back on for Christmas, feel bad for everyone that is still waiting! as for your trip, flying out of Buffalo is a breeze,very easy to navigate once there since the airport is so small. My daughter has booked with allstar vacation homes on a couple of her trips, great reviews from lots of people, the homes were awesome and price range is vast. Have you considered staying onsite? I have always stayed onsite and wouldnt have it any other way, just soo convienent and we like the idea of not having to drive any where since disney provides all the transportation. But thats just my opinion, either way you are gonna love disneyworld! Have fun planning your trip!, I do suggest booking your dining reservations as soon as you are able to, if you neeed any suggestions just ask I would be more then happy to help out as Im sure everyone else here on the boards is as well!

 

[aljay]

Regarding where to stay? We went last August, same dates as you, and booked a townhouse in Windsor Hills. It's about a 15 min drive to DW and we loved it! The owners of the house we rented were Canadian too, from Ontario, and great to deal with.
We searched for our rental on VRBO's site. You will find lots of options there!