Walt Disney World @ Orlando, FL - Plan, Stay, Food

Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida is like a small World in itself. A place loved by people of all ages. On our recent trip there I was amazed to see kids as old as a few months to people as old as 80 years having a good time and enjoying every minute of being in a different zone. It truly is a place where you can let your Disney side show - just like they way they have marketed it.

Just like any other trip that we have taken - this trip was planned on the fly out of the blue. People may say that you need to plan a Disney Vacation 6 months in advance and do this thing and do that thing - Its just my opinion that you can take a trip on a whim and still enjoy every bit of it - provided you do not over exert yourself and keep the to do things to a minimal.

It all started on 20th Dec 2014 - we had not been on a trip in over 6 months and it was time to take a small family vacation. Mr. A (as I like to call my husband) was looking at some options and he thought of a place called St. Augustine in Florida. It was a beautiful beach resort that he was looking at - however, a beach resort in Florida in January is still cold and you cannot really enjoy the beaches. Well, that idea was dropped - but, I guess the destination was fixed - the trip had to be some place in the sunny state of Florida. Our daughter Lil Miss A (I love to call her that - have been doing so since she was born) loves her princesses and knows all of them. So, it was a no-brainer - the vacation had to be to Disney World in Florida. She is not even 5 yet - but, this is the first of many trips to the amazing place and so we just started planning it out.

Thats us just outside the entrance to 'Magic Kingdom'

We looked at a number of sites on the internet and looked at a lot of options. The main question that needed an answer was - Should we stay in one of the Disney resorts or a different hotel outside?
After researching - we decided to stay in one of the resorts and use the shuttle service to get to and from the parks (this meant no car rental).
We used The DisneyWorld Website to book our hotel stay and ofcorse as we looked at the options, we decided to go ahead and get our park tickets done from the site too along with the meal plan and ofcorse the airline tickets too. The airline tickets were the same price as the airline would have offered - it was just the convenience of booking everything through one place that made it super easy to manage and to look at.

There are a lot of options for resorts and believe me when I say that each and every resort has its own charm. It totally depends on what you want for your family and book accordingly. We put ourselves at the All Star Music Resorts. It was a economical choice for us. The rooms were clean and good, the pools were clean and warm and always had a lifeguard when the pool was open. The dining area is open from 6 AM to 12 AM and food is always there fitting the time of the day. We decided on an economical resort as we were not going to use the resort facilities as most of our time was going to be spent at the parks - we needed a nice bed to rest at night, and this resort fulfilled that need perfectly.

A few resorts that caught our eye on this trip are listed below. We did not see the rooms here as we just visited the resorts to have dinner at our restaurants situated inside.

• The Contemporary Resort - simply because of the proximity to Magic Kingdom and the easy access to and from the park using the monorail. And if you get a room that faces the park - you are sure to be able to get a view of those awesome fireworks out there.
• The Polynesian Village Resort - somehow this resort gave a feeling that you are in Hawaii. The decor, the people the music everything makes you feel you are invited to a Luau and you want to just dance there.
• My most favorite was the Animal Kingdom Villas at the Kidani Village. During the day you can actually see animals like zebras, giraffes, ostriches and many more roaming freely in the sanctuary that surrounds this place. Its like you are on an African Safari always.
• The Grand Floridian - Well, the name itself has the word grand in it, so its a grand place. Right from the entrance to the white decor and the live band, it is truly grand in all sense.

Our package was a 7 nights and 6 days package. We reached Orlando, FL on 23rd Jan and left on 30th Jan. We had 6 whole days and we used each day to go to a park. We picked up 6 park day passes. There are various choices - you can do park hop, where you can visit more then one park in a day OR you choose to do just one park in a day. Ticket prices vary based on your choice. We knew, we wanted to d only one park in a day and chose that. You can choose what park you want to visit while you plan your visit (highly recommended) OR you could even decide on the morning you plan to visit a particular park. There was a family we met there, who had the same resort package as ours, but, they chose to take only a 4 day park pass and the 2 days they were not going to the park, they used to enjoy the resort facilities. Lots of choices.

We also chose the meal plan in our package. There are various options available. We chose the meal plan which had 1 quick service meal, 1 snack and 1 tableside meal a day. Quick service meals are great as you can use it in the resort food court or at the parks where its like a food court. The meal is good - you get one food item (sandwich/omelette etc), one dessert (we loved the carrot cake) and a drink. The snacks could be an ice-cream, peanuts, rice crispie treats etc (you need to look at the snack sign against that item) and the 1 tableside meal is at a proper restaurant that has table service - could be used for character dining, buffet or just a normal restaurant that accepts meal plans.
You could even choose to have 2 table side meals or 2 quick service meals - you are the master and you can make your own choices.

Will write in detail about the restaurants we visited in the next post.

We looked at flights that were available from an airport close to home and picked the flights that fit best. These were added to the itinerary to the whole package at Disney World. We paid for the whole trip using our credit card.

In about 10 days we received a package that had a USB drive which gave us a few details of what to expect when we reached. A booklet that gave full details of our trip. Our plane tickets and also three luggage tags. Yes, these luggage tags are a blessing. you can attach them to your checked in bags and give them to the airport at check-in. When you reach Orlando, FL - you just need to go ahead to the bus area with your cabin luggage. About 3 hours after you land in Orlando, FL - your bags will be delivered to your room if they have the yellow tag on them - now isn't that just great?
The next package came after about 20 odd days - these had our MagicBands. These bands are cool - they work on radio frequency and makes life very very easy for you at Walt Disney World. You have a choice to have a magic band or a card (my personal recommendation is a MagicBand - you wear it like a watch and its always there very handy). The MagicBands and cards are secure and an all-in-one device which will allow you to  access the plans and vacation choices that you’ve made with My Disney Experience.

This is the description I picked from the Disney Experience Website.

"MagicBands are colorful, waterproof wristbands—resembling a watch or bracelet—that you can quickly and easily touch to a sensor called a touch point. Cards work in a similar fashion, but physically resemble a plastic credit card or driver’s license. Both MagicBands and cards allow you to travel lighter throughout your vacation.

• You can use your card or MagicBand to:
• Unlock the door of your Disney Resort hotel room.
• Enter theme and water parks (with valid admission).
• Check in at FastPass+ entrances.
• Connect Disney PhotoPass images to your account.
• Charge food and merchandise purchases to your Disney Resort hotel room (only available during your hotel stay)."

This was how we planned the magical vacation we took to Walt Disney World in January 2015. A truly magical trip.

The next post will be about the meals and food and water information.