Dining and other details

Ok, so now we know where we are staying.  We know when and we have our airline booked.  But the planning is far from over.
I knew we had to rent a car now because we were staying off property for a few days.  Being a Costco member, I knew we could save on car rental.  But did you know you could combine discounts if you got special promo codes?  I didn't either.  But I was thrilled to find that out.  Car rental is not cheap.
Two great things with our car rental.  1.  We were upgraded to a mini-van when we picked up our car.  Again, that space issue is huge with us!  2.  I was able to drop it off at The Swan hotel which was right next to us and then then walk 10 minutes back to our hotel.  Once we were on Disney property, we had 'free' transportation.  We didn't need to pay for a car the entire time.
Stroller rental was also an issue.  Cameron was almost 5.  He could walk a lot, but I knew 2 things.  He would tire quickly and he's too big to carry.  And, I didn't want to fly with a stroller. 
So with more research, I found a great place to rent strollers.  The Disney strollers are great, but you have to turn them in when you leave the park.  There is still some walking either to your car or your bus after you leave the park.  This company dropped then off and picked them up for free at the hotel. AWESOME!

  Our big guy sleeping as we wait for the Electrical Parade in his comfy stroller.

Everything else came along great.  I used online coupon sites to save money on restaurants near by.  Even one at Downtown Disney.  The House of Blues had great food and service. 

A few important details when planning your dining.  You can share adult plates or adults can eat from the kids menus to save money.  Most of the time the meals are big enough.  You can bring in food to the parks.  We brought lots of snacks to help avoid the 25.00 'snack' runs with popcorn and pretzels.  And if you want to dine in a Disney full service restaurant, make your reservations IMMEDIATELY.  They will book up fast. 

We ate at Boma at the Animal Kingdom for the second time.  Although the food was amazing.  And the chef comes around to show us what is safe for our son with food allergies, it was far too expensive for us.  I think the prices had gone up by 10.00/person.  We came out of this wonderful buffet restaurant spending over 150.00. 

Picking A Hotel

I was so excited to start planning this trip.  I love to find deals and save money on our vacations.  Somehow it makes it seem more fun knowing I have planned how to get more for less. 
The first thing I did was check out the Disney hotels.  I quickly found out that our choices were limited with 5 family members.  Since Cameron was no longer in a 'crib', he had to have his own bed and there aren't too many hotels on Disney property that accommodate that need within our budget.  Another important factor with our family is we need space.  I consider our kids pretty typical.  They don't like being touched by one another.  They don't like to be annoyed by their youngest sibling.  And of course they fight over who sleeps where and with who.  
So I needed to figure out where we could stay with the most space, again within our budget.  We considered the family suites at All Star Music Resort.  This is the only Value resort with two rooms that has enough sleeping space for us.  But, it wasn't available.  I considered a Disney hotel with a trundle but it was pretty small. And then there was the option of adjoining rooms.  But by the time you pay for that, you might as well get a Deluxe category hotel room . 
After all the phone calls to a Disney rep and checking hotel dates, I ended up booking an off site property that is similar to an Embassy Suites that I found an AMAZING deal on.  The room was a bit smaller, but provided enough beds (and TVs) and gave us a hot breakfast each morning.  As I was researching off-site hotels I found many of them have resort fee's AND parking fees.  (be aware of that when you are searching)  That was not something I was willing to pay for.  And this hotel did not have that!  BONUS AGAIN!
I made some Disney phone calls again to check on hotels for part of our stay.  Because we were saving so much on our first hotel, I knew we could splurge a little on the Disney hotel. I even asked what the square footage of the rooms were.  Keeping in mind the smallest difference in space was still important in keeping our personal space boundaries. 

We decided on a Deluxe hotel that was AMAZING!  The location, the space, the beds and pool was everything we were looking for.  Why this one over the other Deluxe category hotels?  The pool was the deciding factor!  A white sandy bottom.  How could you go wrong with that? 

Who Makes the Final Decision?

Well it certainly isn't dad.  His intentions were clear but that quickly changed when we started making our plans.  Let me explain.
On our last Disney World Vacation, our youngest son Cameron was about 15 months old.  We decided to go then knowing our older 2 kids were tall enough, not in a stroller, and past the nap time phase.  They would enjoy it AND remember it.  Another huge plus...Cam was FREE!  If any of you have been to DW before, you know not too many things are free.  The water fountain and brochures are the only things that come to mind right now. 
So why not right?  Lets go.  Ok, well on the way home from that vacation, my DH said, "We are not coming back until Cameron is 5." 
Alright, I understand.  Not only is it very expensive, but we want him to remember the trip and be tall enough to have the choice of going on the attractions as well. 
I think my husband and I sort of thought the kids would forget we said that.  I mean,  it was 4 1/2 years ago.  But...they didn't.  Why don't they have that kind of memory when it comes to homework? 
So the planning started...let's go in September.  It will be  a lot less crowded and the prices of the hotels are less.  Well, September happens to be very busy month for Matt at work.  October, there are too many activities they would miss at school.  And the summer was too hot.  So...let's go in May.  WHAT? (says my DH)  Cameron won't be 5 until August.  That goes against our plans.  Let's go next year when he's 5 1/2. 
My reply was something of a whinny gasp.  How can you start talking about going to Disney World to 3 'Disney Crazed' kids (and wife)  but not go for another year??
You can't...
So, who made our final decision?  It was the majority.  The BIG Disney Fans!  3 kids + mom.  
My first reaction, 'WOOHOO, LET THE PLANNING BEGIN!