A Dream Come True....
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A Dream Come True....
| Thu, 04-13-2006 - 6:34pm |
Hi everyone!
Wanted to introduce myself. I'm Sarah, in Saskatchewan, Canada. I have two kids, Nic aged 10, and Princess Alyssa aged 5.
It's my dream to be able to take the kids to Disneyland or world, it doesn't matter to me really, but we really need to experience everything Disney Princess.
The thing that freaks me out is cost, we live on my income alone, and I need to start saving.
I hope to find out everything I need to know here. I don't even know how expensive the tickets are!
The bottom line is, Alyssa MUST meet Disney Princesses. I'd love your input. I heard somewhere that there is a Breakfast with Princess Ariel?
Thanks!
Sarah


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Let's see how much help I can be. First, I would suggest going to allearsnet.com for the most extensive info on Disney World. I would definitely suggest Disney World since there are 4 parks there vs. 2 in Disneyland. You'll get the most info on it since it's more popular than DL.
I am not a good judge on how much it will cost. My parents have a timeshare, so we stay for free. Just as an example, you can stay at one of the Value resorts for around $79 a night, sometimes less depending on time of year. And time of year will play a factor. Disney has 3 or 4 seasons. The most busy is the week before and after Christmas, Easter (before and after) and generally summer, which is VERY hot! I always take my kids out of school to go. Being in Canada, you may have different schedules, but usually summer starts around Memorial weekend (last Mon. of May) and ends Labor Day (1st Mon. in Sept.).
This year, we bought 5 day park hopper tickets. That means we can go 5 days, and go to different parks on the same day. For instance, we could start at Magic Kingdom and then move to Epcot. We like this very much, but some people don't mind staying in the same park all day (this will save $$). Our tickets cost $850 (thereabouts, if I remember correctly. I bought them before the price increase in Jan.). I believe you can get ticket prices from allears also.
The other costs are travel expenses, which I can't guesstimate at all. You'll have to check around to see what airplane tickets costs. You'll have to figure in dining, too. I'm not sure how much you normally spend on meals. We usually have breakfast in the room, and either eat at counter service (fast food) or go back to the room for lunch (we keep sandwich fixings). Then, we always eat out. We try to eat at a table service restaurant or go offsite. I would guess that we spend at least $150 a day on food, including snacks, drinks, everything.
You will have to do the math! I don't have a calculator handy. I do remember when I volunteered for Make a Wish many years ago (10), and it costs around $3000 to send a family of 4 to WDW. That may be a good ballpark still, if you did it on a budget. I'm sure you'll hear from others who will be more helpful!
M'Shel
I think I would figure out how expensive it would be to get to Orlando (DisneyWorld) vs Anaheim (Disneyland). The cost of transportation might be one of your biggest deciding factors. Yes, there is "more" in Orlando, but for some reasons that's why I prefer Disneyland. Or maybe it's just because I grew up in southern California and went to Disneyland a lot. I have been to Orlando, but probably wouldn't go back.
I think it's easier to see Disneyland because there are just the two parks and Downtown Disney, and you can get from one to the other easily. I think the park tickets are less expensize than DisneyWorld also. The three on-site hotels are going to be the most expensive, but there are lots of hotels that are very reasonable and very close. You can easily walk to the park from a lot of them, and most of them also provide some kind of shuttle. Most of the hotels off-site also provide a complementary breakfast. If you stay close enough and only plan to "do" the Disney parks you really don't even need a car.
You can take a look at the Disneyland and DisneyWorld websites and get an idea of what is in each area, and what kinds of things will appeal to you and your children. The Magic Kingdom at DisneyWorld is about the same as Disneyland, however all of the rides and attractions are not totally the same. EPCOT is unique to DisneyWorld and California Adventure is unique to California. There are opportunities to see princesses at both places. At Disneyland I'm pretty sure there must be a princess breakfast, you can also see most of the princesses in designated areas throughout Fantasyland.
Have fun planning.
Wow! How could you be more helpful than that!
Thanks so much for all of the information. A waitress at our favourite restaurant was telling DF and I that when they went to Disneyworld, they rented a house from a man that lived in another state. I guess you just rent it online with a credit card, or sometimes by cheque...and you show up there, there's a key waiting with a passcode, and voila, you've got use of a three bedroom fully furnished professionally clean home. She said that she was really comfortable, and it was nice for the kids to have a home-like environment so they could simmer down in the evenings and actually have a restful sleep. Another bonus, they went to the grocery store and stocked the fridge and cupboards with healthy, favourite foods, and cooked most of their own meals and ate dinner out occasionally.
She said it worked really well, and was only $200 per night Canadian $$ to stay there. When the vacation was over, they locked up and left the key in the box, and off they went.
I wonder if I would feel the same way...I really like staying in hotels, especially nice ones....it really adds to the "feel" of the vacation.
I can't wait to start planning. Thanks a lot for all of your input.
Sarah
Considering I haven't ever been to either California or Florida, I don't think that I would be at all disappointed with Disneyland. We could easily drive there from where we are in Saskatchewan. We make trips to Toronto and that is a 36 hour drive, so the kids are used to travelling by car...our family loves a good road trip. :)
To add, my daughter is only 5...if we get there next year, when she's 6, then she'll be alright with the two full days of Disneyland. I think that she'll be wound up enough with two days. My 10 year old son on the other hand, wants more.
Where is Universal Studios?
Thanks so much
Sarah
I have heard that Universal in CA is awesome! It is set up differently than the one in Orlando. In CA, there is supposedly no waiting in lines. It has been then for quite a while. When they built the one in Orlando, they set it up like Disney. So, therefore, you get the waiting in lines.
I believe I read this in the Unofficial Guide by Bob Sehlinger years ago. I have been to the one in FL, but it was 10 years ago. We still liked it, but I would love to try the one in CA. Of course, I'd also love to visit Disneyland, but that may be a few years!
I had one comment about the house. My cousins did that several years ago, and they really liked it. It had its own pool, too, as do many houses in FL. I think it comes down to do you want a lot of room, some room, or just one room to do everything in. I'm a little claustrophobic, so I can't ever seeing us do a regular room. It would at least have to be a suite. At WDW, the onsite resort suites are unbelievably expensive ($600+), so it's hard for me to justify the price! Although, starting in June, All Star Suites will be available, so that's an option, too. My dream is to stay at the Grand Floridian. It's the ultimate resort! One of these days.....
I forgot to mention that we're a family of 4. My ds will be 8 on Easter, and dd will be 6 in June. Ds has been to WDW 5 times and dd has been 4 times. They are very excited about our trip starting April 29th. 15 more days!!!!
M'Shel
I took my kids to Canada's Wonderland in Toronto last summer, basically the equivalent to Disney in Canada. The kids had an awesome time. I'll never forget the look on my daughter's face when she saw Dora the Explorer up close. I had tears in my eyes..I can only imagine her in the presence of a Disney Princess...
Sarah
We're over on the other side of Canada to you and we've been to Disney world twice now (and DL once but that was years ago- pre daughter!)
We drove down once and flew the second time, we like road trips too and we had fun driving, it took us about 3 days - we could have done it faster but preferred to take our time.
First I would check nto flights (Canjet are good from here, maybe Westjet out your way)and decide which side of the country you want to go to, then you can plan for hotels vs rental house etc.
We've stayed onsite and in a rental in Kissimmee (mt sister rents there regularly and we stayed with her)It was nice to have the extra space in the house, but for us the drive to the parks made us far prefer to stay onsite - if you are flying from the West coast you will need to rent a car to do the daily commute to and from the parks etc which will add to your costs. If you stay onsite you can use the Didney transport to get where you need to go.
Either way your little DD will love to meet the princesses and your ds will enjoy the rides - there are enough thrill rides in Disney to keep him happy for his first trip - although if you decide on Orlando you can easily enough get to Universal for a day.
Have fun planning
Carole
Carole
HI Sarah!
If you are willing to travel when it hot, Disney WORLD is offering free meal plan with a 4 night say Aug 13 - end of September.
My DH and I are taking our 3 kids, 5, 4 and 14 months at the time of the trip for just under $2700 american including airfare with the baby in his own seat.
We are flying out early SUnday morning, using the magical express to get to the all star Movies resort, upgraded to park hoppers for 6 days, and will get one sit down meal, one quick meal and one snack per night per person. I have booked us for 4 character meals!!
THe more I read on Allears.ner and mouseplanter, the more I Cna't wait to go!!
I hope you can get your little princess there soon!
~ELena (I think the deposit was only like $300, but we paid in full since we had our incom tax return burning a hole in our pocket LOL!)
Wow!! Thanks for that bit of awesome information! I love the heat! Remember, I'm from Saskatchewan, our winters are -40 degrees, so I can handle it.
Sarah
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