Need advice on Disney World trip January 2013

[greeny]

I'm planning a trip to Disney World for mid January 2013. There will be 3 adults and one 6 year old girl. Was looking at booking the Beach Club Resort. Anyone stayed there? How was it? Any tips or advice on discounts, what to do during our trip? We will be there for 7 days. How is the weather that time of year? What places are affordable to eat at? Are there any good shopping malls/outlet centres close by? Is it cheaper to take a taxi or rent a car for a day? What would a 6 year old girls really enjoy the most at Disney World? We will be visiting all 4 parks. Thanks !

[operabob]

Get hold of this book:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1118277597

It will teach you all the tricks so you don't waste time like:

1. Buy the early ticket
2. Head straight down Main Street with out stopping.
3. Turn left. Ride Indiana Jones 3 times ducking under the rail before the lineups show up.
4. Exit, turn right, ride Space Mountain 2 times, etc.

We saw everything we needed to see by lunch. By the end of the day I even rode the tea cups.

The last book I bought came with sample maps and itineraries for different sized family groupings.

[hollyquaiscer]

If you purchase your tickets through mousesaver.com you can save a lot of money. The tickets for the different parks. We took some grandchildren and 4 adults, we went down in August. We rented a condo 5 miles from disney world, it had 5 pools, a golfcoarse and so much more for the kids. We went for 2 weeks and it cost us less than $600 a person (including all the parks plus 1 waterpark), our food plus car rental.

I saw a few of the resorts, and they looked nice. I think the beach club is one of the older resorts there, but they are all kept us very nicely. I have heard that meals not included are expensive, but there are tons of coupon books for buy 1 get 1 free so if you go off the resorts you can save lots of money.

Also, if you don't use your full pass (a few of the parks are huge) you can sell the balance of your pass back to any of the booths that say they buy passes.

Hope you have a wonderful time, but definately check out mousesavers.com Thats where we purchased all our passes and they are great!

[greeny]

Thanks so much for th advice !

[thriftygranny]

Definitely take Operabob's advise and buy the book, it is invaluable. My husband and I took 18 12 year old soccer players last year for the Disney Cup and it was a lifesaver. I highly recommend going to Sea world as well if the kids are into Marine Life, best day we had there! The shuttles from the Disney resorts are very efficient so you will have to weigh the advantages of staying farther away and renting a car, we have done it both ways and I would rather stay further away and rent a car so we were free to go anywhere and find less expensive restaurants with healthier food.

[Lynn49]

All great advice! We purchased our tickets the first time we went through Mousesavers.com and they were very efficient. Last year we just went to the local WalMart and bought them. Just don't stand in line at the gate to buy them...the line-ups can be long (although perhaps not so in January) and tedious. As for staying at the resort, I think the advantage there would be that you can haul the kiddlings back in the early afternoon for a nice cool swim and nap, and get them well rested for the afternoon and of course, the evening parade and fireworks - not to be missed! The monorail that takes you from the park to your resort is a lovely ride and you're not messing around with parking lots. However, the disadvantage is, that unless you rent a car, you're eating primarily rather expensive food. No Golden Corals there! LOL!!! Being there a week, I'd rent a car and drive into Orlando...the strip (Universal Drive) has tons of food options. And of course, the Prime Outlet mall at the end of it is a very nice place to pick up deals. As are the flea-markets which are so much fun to rummage around in!

For us, THE best attraction was "A Bug'S Life"...I can't remember where it's located, but omg....we saw it, turned right back around, got in line again, just to experience it again! It was hilarious...and we're grown-ups!

Have a lovely visit...there's so much information on the net re 'how to do the parks' etc...just to some googling and you'll get lots of forum info. Also, on tripadvisor.com, there are forums..just do a search for Disneyworld and you'll find threads dedicated to it.
Enjoy!!