Prices differ vastly based on the hotel you stay in. |
how old are the kids? |
I think it sounds pretty good. You'll also want to go to Disney Springs which is a nice shopping area with many cute stores (some Disney, some not). Your kids at these ages would enjoy the T-Rex Cafe. I would focus on Orlando. The parks are tiring and you won't feel like driving to a beach, it's not that close. |
We used Fantastical Vacations. The owners have a great podcast and YouTube channel as well. They've saved us significant money on perks or deals that we didn't know about. |
You don't need the park hoppers. They allow you to visit more than one park per day. For your first visit, especially where you're unfamiliar with things, one park per day is plenty. I've been to Disney many times, have been an annual pass holders, etc., and I can count on one hand the number of times that I've ever felt like I needed to go to a second park in one day. Save your money and take that off your package. Spend it instead on the lightening lanes. |
Agreed. The only place that park hopping makes sense is at Disneyland/California Adventure as they are directly adjacent to each other and easily traversed. |
I used to work at Disney and we had park hopping down to where we could hit our favorites at all four parks in a single day. But that was for people who'd been to the parks many times and wanted to hit very specific things. |
Cocoa beach is a dangerous dump. Go to Melbourne beach a little further south. |
Barbara Libbin was great - she had a zoom for questions with clients and was also happy to chat with me on the phone a million times. She lives in Silver Spring.
Barbara Libbin barbaralibbin@smartmomstravelagents.com |
OP, please get a travel agent. As others have mentioned they are free to you.
And they will also book you a package, there’s really no benefit to Costco. I don’t mean this to be rude but some of the questions you’re asking suggest you really have no idea what you’re doing. A travel agent can help. I used a Mouse and a Beach (Melissa) when we first went and she was extremely helpful. Not local but she does Zoom sessions. You don’t need to be an expert or plan down to every minute but the trip will go much smoother if you have a basic understanding of the parks and what you want to prioritize. |
Travel agent for sure. Disney is overwhelming |
I agree park hopper is generally not worth it. The big question is hotel. There are advantages to staying in a disney hotel and I’m pretty sure the costco packages are all off site. Some hotels are closer to parks than others. For summers, I might think about beach club because it has a nice pool. But all the deluxe resorts have nice pools and they often have activities planned at the pools in the afternoon. But if your kids really love animals, animal kingdom lodge is really lond of unique. If you want something slightly cheaper, Art of animation is nice. Or you can go cheaper still and do something like Port Orleans or All Sport. The travel agent can help but just know that the hotel will make a big difference in your price. And also in how much time you are spending traveling on transport within the park.
Do you get disney plus? If so, it is fun to watch the behind the scenes at animal kingdom before you go — they show you all about how they care for the animals and you sort of end up feeling like you know the animal. |
Genie plus is no more. Keep up and stop giving bad advice. |
+100 |
Melbourne is a lot rockier than Cocoa Beach, so you tear your feet up more. My personal favorite place to go around that area is Canaveral National Seashore but it's a further drive. |