This blog is brought to you by Sharyn Kaye Travel – a Walt Disney World expert & an amazing travel planner!
Welcome back! I’m glad you made it. Hopefully Part II added to your comfort of planning your magical Walt Disney World vacation like a pro.
Let’s move on to Part III and discuss additional things to consider before you
make your reservation.
As with all things Disney, there is A LOT of information; so we’ve broken
things down into a 3 part series to make it a little easier. This is part III.
Consider renting DVC points.
Did you know that you can rent
“points” from Disney Vacation Club (DVC) owners? Search DVC point
rental in your web browser. By renting points instead of booking your
resort through Disney World, you can save 50% or more off your
resort costs. I’ve rented from dvc-rental.com and can recommend
their quality service. Our last stay cost $1,870.00 (resort only) by
renting DVC points vs. $4,700.00 if we would have booked directly
with Disney World.
Split Stay. Can’t decide which resort you want to stay at? Try a split
stay. You can start your vacation at one resort and then move to
another one for the remainder of your trip. Bell Services will even
transport your luggage between the resorts, for free! On our last trip
we stayed 3 nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani Village and then
moved to Disney’s Boardwalk Villas. After we checked out at Kidani
Village, we brought our luggage to Bell Services, hopped on a bus to
Magic Kingdom and when we arrived at the Boardwalk Villas later that
afternoon, our luggage was waiting for us. Super easy.
Weather. Consider seasonal weather when making your plans. June,
July, and August can be very, very hot and humid.
Theme Parks. There are 4 theme parks and 2 water parks at Walt
Disney World
Magic Kingdom
Cinderella Castle, Space Mountain, Main Street USA, and It’s a
Small World are some of the attractions you’ll see throughout
the 7 magical lands.
EPCOT
Separated into 2 distinct sections: Future World and World
Showcase. Test Track and Mission Space are some of the
attractions in Future World while World Showcase is home to 10
Countries from around the world – Mexico, Norway, Germany,
China, Japan, Morocco, France, Italy, United Kingdom, Canada.
Hot Tip: create your own “tour around the world”. Sample
sample different beverages/food/candy from each country.
Hollywood Studios
Rockin Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Toy Story Land are
some of the attractions. Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge will be opening
Fall 2019.
Animal Kingdom
World of Pandora, Kilamanjaro Safari, and Expedition Everest are
some of the attractions. The new Rivers of Light nighttime show
is really fun.
Blizzard Beach – Thrilling water park
Typhoon Lagoon – Laid back water park
Disney Transportation. No need to rent a car when traveling to Walt
Disney World. Disney’s Magical Express provides complimentary,
round-trip transportation from the Orlando International Airport to
your resort.
Once you are at your resort, complimentary, onsite transportation
including a monorail, water ferries, and buses, will take you from your
resort to the theme parks and also between the theme parks if you
want to park hop.
Opening late 2019, a new gondola system called Skyliner will be
opening so you’ll have even more options to get around.
Special Events. Walt Disney World hosts many special events
throughout the year that raise the level of magical a little higher.
Spring – EPCOT International Flower and Garden Festival
Fall – Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party
Fall – EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival
November and December – Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party
My favorite time of year to visit is right after Labor Day. Park
attendance is very low and two special events are going on: Mickey’s
Not So Scary Halloween Party and the EPCOT International Food and
Wine Festival.
My second favorite time to visit is the Sunday after Thanksgiving to
mid-December. Everything is beautifully decorated for the holidays
and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party takes place at the Magic
Kingdom. Crowds are still low and the weather is a little cooler.
Disney’s Boardwalk Villas (DVC rentals) is my go to resort because
there are so many amenities available and you can walk to both
EPCOT and Hollywood Studios.
Okay everyone, that wraps up this series on Walt Disney World
planning. Thanks for sticking with me. I hope you learned a lot and are
ready to start planning.
If you have any questions along the way, drop my a line at Sharyn@sharynkaye.com
header image // Cravings in Amsterdam