Orlando Travel with Kids, Part 2 of 2

Meredith Bailin-Hull has always been a Disney fan. "When I was a child, we went to WDW every holiday break without fail. We’d stop for a few nights on our way to visit my grandparents in Miami. This was when there was only the Magic Kingdom, and then for a few years after EPCOT opened, however, so 2 days was more than enough to get in all of the things we wanted to do. As I got older the trips became less frequent, much to my disappointment."

When she married and had a child of her own, she was ready to share that love. "I managed to convince my husband, who is not quite the Disneyphile I am, to spend part of our honeymoon at the Parks. Every time we go back I relive pieces of my childhood. The anticipation before the trip and the pure joy of being there have not dwindled a bit. I may as well be 6 again. My daughter is 2 ½ and has only been to the parks once, when she was just a year old. We went with friends who have a little girl 2 years older than ours and the two of them had a blast. We are planning a trip back this fall, when our daughter will be 3 and have already started to prepare her. She can’t wait to visit the 'princess castle' (as she calls it) and to meet all of her favorite characters."

Traveling with a little girl has changed the way Meredith experiences the parks, but it has not diminished her love for it. And she's determined that it never will! Here are her best tips for not losing your theme park love, while trying to pass it along to the next generation.

Tip #1 -- Plan as much as you can.
We learned early on that a relaxing Disney vacation with children requires advanced prep and scheduling. You have to work for the relaxation! We make all meal reservations as far in advance as we can, and try to hit on all of the spots we think we may want to eat. We may book two different restaurants for the same meal and decide between them at the last minute. The key is to have that schedule set so that you aren’t turned away at meal time, and so you don’t waste valuable ride/show time deciding where to eat. This mean you will have to decide ahead of time which park you will be at each day, but it is well worth it! I get the kid excited by playing Disney videos and the Sing-Along Song DVDs that are filmed in the parks.
I am not an organized person by nature, so I have to force myself to be as proactive as possible. I make a list of all of the items I believe we will need while on vacation (including during travel). I break the list up between things that I have to pack and things that I can get upon arrival. GardenGrocer.com delivers grocery items to WDW hotels (and off-site, too), so I start my order with them as soon as I can (you can edit it up to a day before, I believe). Things like shampoo, baby formula, diapers, a case of water, sunblock, breakfast bars, etc. can all be delivered to your resort at a fraction of what it would cost to buy these things on-site.

Tip #2 -- Then plan to be flexible
Have a plan. Decide which parks you are going to on which days and have a basic outline of which rides/shows are the “must haves”. Do NOT be afraid of deviating from your plan. Flexibility is just as important as having an itinerary in the first place. If you have a little one, have a stroller, period. They don’t have to be in tit all of the time, but the option should be available. Use the Parent Swap (also called Baby Swap) option. Wait on line with everyone and then ask for a Baby/Parent swap ticket when you get to the front of the line. One person stays out with the kid(s), the rest ride. The ticket you have will now be good for 3 people any time during that day – just take the ticket to the Fast Pass line and go on in. This is a great way to let older kids ride more often! Another tip: these don’t work like Fast Pass. You can have more than one in your hot little hand at a time. Use the bajeezus out of this!

Tip #3 -- Have plenty of the basics
Repeat after me and make this your mantra: Water & Sunblock. Bring it with you everywhere. Refill your water at water fountains so you don’t pay the high prices for the bottled water.


Tip #4 -- Staying on-site can save time and money
We like the ease of staying on-site, plus the access to Extra Magic Hours and the Disney Meal Plan. If you are traveling on a budget, the All-Star and Pop-Century resorts are very affordable and much MUCH nicer than anything you’ll get for that price off-site. Chances are that you won’t spend that much time in the room, anyway. Ask for a fridge in your room if one isn't already supplied. Staying on-site can mean skipping the cost of a rental car, especially if you only plan to hit the major parks.
If you are staying on-site, nothing beats the mal plans. We have used the Deluxe Meal Plan in the past and it was very well worth it. You have enough meal points that you don’t have to feel guilty going placed that deduct 2 meals (like the HoopDeDoo Revue). The big bonus: if you love the annual Food & Wine Festival at Epcot (like we do) and want to try absolutely everything (like we do), you can use snack points to purchase the food items at the festival’s pavilions and save yourself quite a bit of money.

Tip#5 -- Share the joy
Don’t do it alone if you can help it. Go with another family or meet another family there. It makes it easier on everyone, including the kids.

Airlines Cut More Flights Into Orlando

Your Orlando vacation might be harder to plan now, but the news isn’t all bad

Some of the most popular airlines may have put a wrinkle in your future Orlando vacation plans. In light of the outlandish gas prices they are facing, Delta Airlines announced last week that they will no longer fly direct to Orlando out of 5 different U.S. cities.

Of course, this doesn’t have to negatively impact your Orlando vacation, because there are always other options. The best option for a thrifty Orlando vacation is to get all of your Orlando theme park tickets at DWTickets.com, the best one-stop Orlando theme park ticket spot on the Web.

Delta’s latest flight changes restrict travel to Orlando from the following five cities: New Orleans; Nashville, Tennessee; Birmingham, Alabama; Asheville, North Carolina and Lexington, Kentucky. These flight eliminations will go into effect by August of this year.

Even with the gas prices what they are, all of these cities are within fairly easy driving distance from Orlando:

• New Orleans to Orlando – Just over 630 miles or about 9 hours.
• Nashville to Orlando – Approximately 685 miles, or a 10-hour trip.
  Birmingham to Orlando – About 525 miles or just over 8 hours.
• Asheville to Orlando – Under 600 miles and close to 9 hours.
• Lexington to Orlando – Around 825 miles or 12½ hours.

If you drive a gas guzzler, look into renting a car for your road trip. Even though you have to pay for the rental car, you may make up the rental fees in gas savings. Another option for traveling to Orlando is Amtrak. They have local stations – one in downtown Orlando and one in Kissimmee – that offer convenient transportation to the theme park areas in town.

Airline Customers Rate Their Favorites
And speaking of air travel, the University of Michigan recently released the results of their annual survey of airline passengers. If you are a frequent flyer, you will not be surprised to learn that most of the ratings have decreased over the past several years.

Southwest is the leader in customer satisfaction, with a rating of 79 (based on a scale of 1-100). US Airways came in last with a score of 54. In between were AMR Corp. (American Airlines and Continental) at 62, Delta with 60, Northwest at 57, and United Airlines rating 56.

This is a difficult time for all of the airlines, but you can still find some good deals out there if you do the research. And the best deals of all are on all of your Orlando theme park tickets at DWTickets.com!

Disney Follows Our Lead

Disney Parks recently announced that they have launched the “first-ever Walt Disney World Moms Panel” to help Orlando-bound folks like you plan your Walt Disney World vacation. Here at DWTickets.com, we have been doing just that for years!

And we don’t just do Disney.

We are your one-stop shop for ALL of your Orlando vacation needs. So, by all means, put a visit to the Walt Disney World Resort on your vacation list and be sure to get your discount Disney tickets right here at DWTickets.com.

Then spread your traveler’s wings a little further: add SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, Discovery Cove, Cypress Gardens, Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure to your itinerary too. DWTickets.com is the best source for cheap theme park tickets to ALL of Orlando’s attractions. We have the discount tickets and vacation guides you need no matter what you want to do when you get into town.

Disney’s new panel consists of 11 moms and one dad featured in an online forum where they answer questions from and give guidance to curious future vacationers. There’s nothing wrong with good trip advice – the best vacations come from using it wisely. The downside with Disney’s group is that they only speak Disney. At DWTickets.com, we speak whatever language your Orlando vacation requires.

Our vacation specialists are always ready, willing and able to answer your questions and provide your with the best prices on whatever tickets you need for your trip to Orlando. We also keep you up-to-date on all of the latest theme park news with our DWTickets.com blog. The best part, though, is that when you get your tickets with us, you can get the discount tickets you need for all of the Orlando theme parks – not just Walt Disney World - and you can get them all in one place and at the best prices in town!

We can keep you vacationing after you leave the parks too, with amazingly cheap tickets for all of Orlando’s dinner shows like Arabian Nights, Medieval Times, the Pirates Dinner Theater and Tony N Tina’s Wedding. If space is your thing, DWTickets.com will hook you up with discount tickets to Kennedy Space Center. If it’s fast-moving fun you want, we’ll get you into the Richard Petty Driving Experience.

Whatever you want to experience during your Orlando vacation, let DWTickets.com be your guide!