1st Disney planning and i'm LOST!!! PLEASE help a novice....

[Mikey0709]

Can someone please just tell me where to stay when we go to Disney......

I'm such a planner at times, and I'm a HUGE bargain hunter... but I am totally blanking when it comes to our FIRST Disney FL trip! Like an overwhelming mental block that I don't understand! on/off property, rental points??? this is TRULY foreign to me!

Maybe I should just use a travel agent, but that may KILL me cause usually i'm so good at doing things myself and saving money! I feel like i wouldn't get the best deal with an agent? true?

I wish someone would just give me a choice - like between 2-3 places to stay.... and I could go from there. Can anyone help with that??? I can totally shop airfare myself, and rental cars and cheap tickets... but it's the accommodations that are mentally blocking me?

Here's quick details:

First family trip in a LONG time - we probably wouldn't get back there for years and prob last trip with my WHOLE family.
We have 3 boys (5,7 & 9).... BUT - - nonadventurous. My 5 & 7 year old WON"T go on many rides... so it's more about the experience than rides. we LOVE shows!
We are bring my 70+ parents with us. They are pretty mobile.
Also taking 3 other adult family members (my brothers) - who are very adventurous.

SO - 7 adults, 3 kids. DO we find a place and stay together? Do we book 2-3 rooms?

I'm cheap. OK - frugal. At first I was thinking on-site to avoid rental cars and make it easier on my parents if they want to leave a park. But then i was thinking off-site to save $ cause this whole trip is a stretch for us.

It will be in the fall - most likely early October. One week.My boys are actually MOST excited thinking about legoland, and not even so much disney.

SO - - WHere would you stay? Besides Legoland and Magic Kingdom... what else is a MUST??? I do have a superhero fan! What should we do while they are young - thinking maybe we can get back there when they actually LIKE rides? (teenage years?)

Can someone PLEASE give me 2 or 3 places they could recommend I look at even to START for pricing??? and what type of room/suite/condo???

PLEASE help... all advice greatly appreciated.

[123LuckyMom]

I can only repeat what I've heard others say, because we have only stayed in deluxe, on site hotels, mostly because our kids are still stroller aged, and we wanted the easiest hotels for transportation and the ability to come back and nap each day. You don't need that. Wyndham Bonnet Creek gets a lot of love here. Have you looked into that?

What I can speak to is the travel agent. We used one when we planned our first trip with kids and extended family. She was absolutely wonderful, but she couldn't really give me much help in choosing a hotel. She wanted to know our dates and desired hotels. She didn't plan our trip for us at all. We still had to do the decision making!

Have you read The Unofficial Guide? It's really, really helpful in educating you all about Disney, and it has lots and lots of information about different hotel options both on and off site. I'd invest in a copy or take one out of the library.

[candaceb]

With that group, you might do well to rent a house at Windsor Hills. We went last year with my mom, my sister & her kids and we rented a 5 bed/5 bath home at Windsor Hills for less than what we would have paid for 2 rooms at a Disney moderate. The house we rented was managed by All Star Vacation homes and we got it through VRBO (which was less than getting it through All Star). It was immaculately clean. My sister complains about everything and she did not have a single complaint about that house.

If you want to stay on property, you should talk to one of the Disney-only travel agents like Small World Vacations.

[Mikey0709]

Thank you both - - i'm looking into EVERYTHING you said!!!