Disney World in 2012

[viking245]

For airline tickets, I think Len said they get good prices on Southwest.

Checkout http://www.mousesavers.com. Loads of good info. Also sign up for her monthly newsletter. In there is a link to site for discounted park tickets.

As for a hotel, if you can utilize points for BW, that would save quite a bit. But will you need to rent a car? That might make the savings not so great (rental plus parking). If they offer a shuttle, be sure to check the hours and frequency. Sometimes they only have a couple in the AM and a couple in the PM. Possibly before park actual closing.

A hotel you may want to look into is "The Hilton, located in the WALT DISNEY WORLD® Resort". It's located a crosswalk away from Downtown Disney. Staying here gives access to Extra Magic Hours, and frequent buses (every 30 minutes I think) to and from the parks, up to 1.5 hours after park closing. We got in there last summer with a MouseSavers rate of $75 per night.

Books/Guides: You can't go wrong with The Unofficial Guide (Bob Selinger). Almost too much information, but not quite. Downsized a little is PassPorter's Guide, but only physically. It holds plenty of good info. If your more of a computer person than a book person, check this out. http://www.guidetothemagic.com/

Dining: http://allearsnet.com/din/dining.htm What restaurants are were and their menus.
Remember, ADR's can be made 180 days in advance. Online or (407) WDW-DINE (939-3463)

For a list of upcoming shows, special events and performers at WDW, Steve Soars has all the info. http://pages.prodigy.net/stevesoares/

Disney Vacation Ultimate Packing List http://www.mousesavers.com/UltimatePackingList.doc
Pretty comprehensive.

[elizabethswann]

Oh, that packing list is so helpful! Thank you for that!

I thought about the Hilton but her father only has points for Best Western, Holiday Inn and Wyndham otherwise I would have considered it. We may have to take a taxi if we would stay at the Best Western since I don't have a license but hearing about the MouseSavers deal is pretty great. I'm definitely looking around for a lot of possible deals to consider but I can't book anything for January right now. No selections available. Other than that, I'm saving up before I start booking for the hotel and the tickets.

I have allears bookmarked since I look there all the time but all the other places you linked me I'm saving as well.

[viking245]

As for booking hotels, most if not all can be held with a credit card and you have until 1 to 5 days (varies) before your actual stay to cancel them without penalty. So when you are able to book a room, check the cancellation policy. If it's like I said, you can book the room without any charge. Then as time goes on, keep looking around for specials. Something better (maybe even at the same hotel) may come up and you can book it and cancel the prior one.

[mindflipper]

It is very important to find out the cancellation policy. The Swan resort was 7 days when I stayed back there in Dec 2010, but the Grand Floridian was wanting a 75 day cancellation period, which I thought was excessively ridiculous.

[Wizzard419]

Is it still the vacation must be paid in full within 45 days of arrival?

[Amy]

It is very important to find out the cancellation policy. The Swan resort was 7 days when I stayed back there in Dec 2010, but the Grand Floridian was wanting a 75 day cancellation period, which I thought was excessively ridiculous.

75 days seems extreme

Is it still the vacation must be paid in full within 45 days of arrival?

Something like that. I paid the deposit and assumed I would get some sort of email reminder when the balance was due. I never received any sort of communication until I got a phone call from Disney saying, "We will be cancelling your reservation unless we hear from you by 5 pm today. Thank you for planning on coming to Disney and we hope you have a magical day!"
You better believe I was on the phone within minutes of checking that message!!

[mindflipper]

It is very important to find out the cancellation policy. The Swan resort was 7 days when I stayed back there in Dec 2010, but the Grand Floridian was wanting a 75 day cancellation period, which I thought was excessively ridiculous.

75 days seems extreme

Is it still the vacation must be paid in full within 45 days of arrival?

Something like that. I paid the deposit and assumed I would get some sort of email reminder when the balance was due. I never received any sort of communication until I got a phone call from Disney saying, "We will be cancelling your reservation unless we hear from you by 5 pm today. Thank you for planning on coming to Disney and we hope you have a magical day!"
You better believe I was on the phone within minutes of checking that message!!

It seems nowadays they don't want to mail anything but send it all by e-mail. That was the way it was with the Swan. Did you give your e-mail address? Any way they had it wrong in their system?

[Amy]

No, my email was correct. I guess I just incorrectly assumed they would send out a reminder. Now I know for next time I guess. I'm just glad they called and didn't just automatically cancel our reservation

[Wizzard419]

It is very important to find out the cancellation policy. The Swan resort was 7 days when I stayed back there in Dec 2010, but the Grand Floridian was wanting a 75 day cancellation period, which I thought was excessively ridiculous.

75 days seems extreme

Is it still the vacation must be paid in full within 45 days of arrival?

Something like that. I paid the deposit and assumed I would get some sort of email reminder when the balance was due. I never received any sort of communication until I got a phone call from Disney saying, "We will be cancelling your reservation unless we hear from you by 5 pm today. Thank you for planning on coming to Disney and we hope you have a magical day!"
You better believe I was on the phone within minutes of checking that message!!

It seems nowadays they don't want to mail anything but send it all by e-mail. That was the way it was with the Swan. Did you give your e-mail address? Any way they had it wrong in their system?

Yep, because it costs more money and time to use the USPS, I hate it when places want you to go paperless with no benefit to you (such as a discount).

Anyway, last time I went I booked sooner than 45 days but it's good to know that you have to physically make the payment rather than have them automatically charge your card.

[masterj345]

dunno if someone else said it but italy has a new pizza place

[Amy]

dunno if someone else said it but italy has a new pizza place

Yup, it's been mentioned ~ and it is tasty

[mindflipper]

Elizabethswann: do you plan to only do Disney, or do you plan to visit Sea World, US-Orlando, or US-IoA while you're there as well?

[elizabethswann]

Elizabethswann: do you plan to only do Disney, or do you plan to visit Sea World, US-Orlando, or US-IoA while you're there as well?

At first I thought about just Disney but the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is up in the air. We'd only go to that one park but we'd wait until after Disney World to go there.

[viking245]

At first I thought about just Disney but the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is up in the air.

Hint: ask for the single rider line (if they still have it).
My DW, 2 DS's saved at least a 45min to hour wait for the Forbidden Journey once we discovered this. In and out in just over 10 minutes. Granted you miss a lot things to see in the cue. But if you just want to ride, it's (or at least was July '10) the way to go.

[elizabethswann]

Hopefully it won't be too terrible in January but if it does, we'll opt out for single rider if possible.