Posted on: 28-07-14 08:27:57
Hi Guys,
I am thinking about going on vacation to Disneyland and Bahamas cruise. I need some detail inforatmaion from you guys who already spent some time there. I have two boys 7 years and 11 years. We are 100% vegiterian. This will be my first long vacation with Family in North America. I prefer to spend about 7 days or 8 days but will see if I can extend it because this will be my first and last visit to Disneyland park and Bahamas. I have some question below but you may add as much as detail/suggestions you think will helpful to me.
1) List of Disneyland parks and which parks you think we must visit as per age of my kids. As per your experience if you can list parks in order to visit, it will be great. I am sure I will not able to visti all parks. So, I can decide later on base of how much time I am spending at Disneyland. I believe full one day need to spend for each park. What need to be plan to visit each park? Which hotel do you suggest near to parks? Which is the best place to buy tikets for parks?
2) Which cruise you guys suggest for Bahamas? How much time we should spend there (2 night 3 days or 3 night 4 days)? What is the approximately cost for Bahamas Cruise including all other taxes or service fees?
3) Suggestion for meals at Disneyland and Bahamas cruise.
4) What is the best time of the year to go there?
5) Approximately cost for this vacation for family of four.
I am sure. I will have more questions but let's start from here for now.
Thanks,
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Success is Never Ending and Failure is Never Final.
I went twice in the past 4 years.
Suggestions based on my experience:
If you can get a cruise/ parks/ stay package that will be ideal but look at independent options as well.
Disney - Visit Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom and Epcot -1 park/ day. Epcot has educational value too. Spend full day in the parks. There are promos at resorts near the park all year. You should be able to obtain good hotels at <$100/ night. For tickets search online - I knew atleast 2 authorized websites that were offering lower than gate ticket prices.
Rent a vehicle to move around, eat where you want and find time for at least a day to visit Universal studios and one day for Kennedy Space Centre.
2 nights on cruise is OK. I used Royal Caribbean Cruise. They had Indian food at one food counter everyday (enquire while booking). Cost for 4 will be $2000 max - regular rates. In Bahamas visit the aquarium.
Best time to avoid visit is July and December - busiest.
Excl airfare, $4K to $5K for a family of 4 is a reasonable budget in my opinion.
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Originally posted by meitsme
1) List of Disneyland parks and which parks you think we must visit as per age of my kids. As per your experience if you can list parks in order to visit, it will be great. I am sure I will not able to visti all parks.
Based on the age of the kids, I will suggest following order of priority:
#1 - Disney Hollywood Movie Studios
#2 - Animal Kingdom
#3 - Epcot
#4 - Magic Kingdom
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I believe full one day need to spend for each park.
Yes, easily.
If you are going to do 3 or more parks, please plan for 1 day of rest in between.
It is extremely tiring to do 3 or more parks back-to-back, esp. in the summer.
Animal Kingdom and Epcot are the largest parks and you will often be running back and forth across the parks to get to various shows/attractions in time.
Unless you are planning to do 3 parks back-to-back, and then fly back home after that, it is probably alright.
But if you are moving on to the next leg of your vacation to the Bahamas, you will be very tired.
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What need to be plan to visit each park?
- Read up in advance on the various rides, shows, and attractions within each park, and decide which ones to visit first.
- Figure out a rough strategy regarding the Fast Pass (which attractions)
- Allow enough time for meals and rest
I suggest spend some time on the WDW website - navigating through the various park websites, resorts, and the area maps.
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Which hotel do you suggest near to parks?
The only hotels that can be considered "near" to the park are the Disney resorts.
Other than that, you can choose regular hotels outside the Disney area.
Look for hotels in the Kissimmee & Vineland Rd. area as well, which is close to the Disney area.
Do not stay in downtown Orlando, International Drive, or the Universal Studios area - you will spend at least 30 mins. - 45 mins. getting to the Disney parks every morning.
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Which is the best place to buy tikets for parks?
Does not matter.
There are no discounts in Disney park tickets.
The only way to get "discounts" is to go through one of the timeshare or MLM presentations, or to buy a package deal.
If you want to do cost savings, try to save on hotel, and don't buy souvenirs, clothes, or other stuff inside the park.
You can find almost everything that you see inside the park, outside as well.
In fact, there is a huge Wal-Mart on Vineland Rd. that is an authorized Disney retailer and sells the exact same, original items that you can find inside Disney for much lower price.
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4) What is the best time of the year to go there?
Not summer ;o)
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