In 2016, Disney came alive to us as we stepped foot into the magical world of Disneyland in California for (almost) the first time. It was such a wonderful experience that we ended up going to Disneyland 3 times last year! All which were very different but amazing trips. (More on those trips in a later blog post.) This year, we decided to take the leap and check out Walt Disney World. Talk about an experience!
In January 2017, we were blessed with the opportunity to utilize a "free timeshare week" in Florida at the Silver Lake Resort. (Silver Lake was great btw! More on them in a different post.) So with only a few months to plan the trip, I started researching. I scoured Pinterest, read books and tons of blogs. All the information sent me into a tizzy and made me feel so unprepared for our trip. After many hours of reading and taking notes, I realized I didn't really have a plan but I had some ideas and that would have to be good enough!
We booked the "cheap" non-refundable, non-changeable flights for the four of us (my husband, myself, our 10 year old and our Disney traveling buddy). It was an overnight flight on the way there and we found out after booking that we were flying the "greyhound bus" of the sky. Don't get me wrong, Frontier is not a bad airline but it definitely lacks any bells or whistles and you have to pay extra for carry-ons! Luckily, we were flying United on our way home so we could bring all our souvenirs back in a carry-on (we don't check bags... our motto is "If it doesn't fit in a back pack you don't need it"). The flights weren't horrible but I highly recommend paying the extra for airlines (like Alaska) that don't skimp on leg room or snacks especially if you have an over night flight. And buy travel pillows, they are worth it on those long flights! We stopped in Denver on the way there... the airport had a variety of options for eats, all relatively close to each other. Houston airport on the other hand, was not a great stop on the way home as the food was not near the gates. And the few food spots near by were very expensive and not great short lay-over foods. Bring snacks if you know you're going to stop there.
We rented a car as it was cheaper than getting a shuttle to and from the airport and shuttling back and forth from the parks. For the week, we spent $305 on transportation. The rental car was $151 for the week (We used Nu/Action rentals. They are not actually located at the airport and their facilities are kind of sketchy but we didn't have any issues with them), $20 a day for parking at any/all the WDW parks ($140 for the week), and $14 for gas for the week. The shuttle for the four of us would have been $180 from and to the airport, plus $10 per person per day ($40 for the 4 of us) to shuttle to and from the park which would have cost us $460 total. You may find better deals on shuttling but for the 4 of us it wasn't worth it plus it gave us freedom to travel when we wanted without having to lose "park time" waiting on the shuttles.
Driving to the parks was easy from where we stayed as the signage was great but getting home was another story, lol. We missed our turn several times and several nights as the signage leaving wasn't as clear and my GPS on my phone couldn't seem to recognize where we were most of the time as many of the exit roads blend with other roads. By day 6, we got it figured out though, lol.
In the area we stayed, which was 5-10 minutes away from all the parks and full of other resorts and many hotels, there were several restaurants and fast food places, a movie theater, Super Target, Ross, a grocery store (Publix) and a variety of gift shops. It was a great location to stay. We only made it to Super Target as that's where we did our grocery shopping for the week and a local pizza place (serving New York style pizza) that was just nearby. (The pizza wasn't bad, wasn't good but was easy and accessible after a long day at Magic Kingdom.) Since we stayed in a timeshare condo, we were able to eat breakfast there, pack lunches/ snacks, and make our dinners. We spent $200 on groceries for the week for the four of us. We bought a few meals/snacks in the parks and had our $5 latte's everyday but didn't spend more than $200 for the four of us on food in the park. (I'll cover the park food in another blog.)
We hit the park running the Sunday we landed and went non-stop until the day we left. Lucky for us, going in January meant earlier closing times at some of the parks so we were able to get a little rest during the week. While we were there we learned several "tips and tricks" (which I will share with you in future blogs) that really made a difference in our park experience. The most important thing we learned on this trip though was that it's ok to call it a night and "head home" early. It was an incredible trip and we will do it again soon but not too soon.