I have spent the last 11 months planning our Disney Christmas Vacation and I have learned a lot along the way. This won't be my first trip to Disney World but it is the first trip in which I was the one doing the planning. I first visited The World the summer after my freshman year in college. It lived up to, and exceeded, every "magical" expectation I had. I was lucky enough to go with my roommate and her family who were Disney Pros (as in go multiple times each year). Flash forward seven years and now her sister is my travel agent (P.S. check out Zip-adee-doo-dah Travel if you need help planning your vacation). Before I took my first trip, and even throughout my planning, I discovered lots of misconceptions I had about Disney vacations. I also heard a lot of them from other people (they were usually people who had never been). So just over a week before our trip I would like to dispel some myths about taking a Disney Vacation.
Image is from Disney's website and is linked directly to it's original page.
Myth #1 Disney is "too" expensive.
Saying Disney is "too" expensive is a relative term that can mean a lot of things to a lot people. When I first started crunching the numbers I was pleasantly surprised at how affordable it actually was because I had always heard it was "too expensive." So now I say "too expensive in comparison to what?" When we first started considering a trip I got on the Walt Disney World website and began pricing hotels, tickets, and meal packages so I would have a rough estimate of the cost. It was no more expensive than our trips to Pigeon Forge, TN had cost us. Ironically Pigeon Forge is a place we visited frequently as children yet were always told Disney was "too expensive." Once I saw that the trip was possible and in a price range we could absolutely afford I contacted Ashton at Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Travel and told her the dates we were looking at, how long we wanted to stay etc. She got back with me with 3 different price quotes. Which brings me to my next myth...
Myth #2 Using a Travel Agent costs extra
While this isn't a myth specifically related Disney it's a conversation that got brought up during my Disney planning. I suppose it depends on which travel agency you use but in my experience using a travel agent saved us money, got us a better trip, and gave us peace of mind. Our agent took the information I provided her and showed me what different style trips would cost. We were able to stay in my dream hotel (Art of Animation-Little Mermaid Room), that I had just assumed was out of our price range because it wasn't the absolute cheapest hotel. Without an agent I would never have considered booking that hotel. When it came time to make our restaurant reservations she booked them for us, while this sounds simple it can actually be a complicated task trying to book Disney dining. Picking out Fastpass+ can also be confusing especially for those of us who haven't been in a few years or don't visit frequently. She was able to use her expertise to let us know what the best use of our passes were. Without an agent I would have been lost with trying to decide which rides to pick. They do get commission for booking trips but it comes from Disney there is no additional fee added onto your vacation cost. A good agent will never oversell you because they want you to come back and use them in the future. You can tell them your budget and they will create the best trip for you.
Image is from Disney's website and is linked directly to it's original page.
Myth #3 It's *Always* cheaper to stay off-site
If you haven't been to Disney World before you may not know that there are "on-site" hotels (owned by Disney located on Disney property) and "off-site" hotels. While it *can* be cheaper to stay in a hotel off-site, it is not *always* cheaper. There are many perks that come with staying on-site at Disney World, you get free parking and transportation, early entrance into the parks, and the ability to purchase a meal plan, just to name a few. So when looking at the nightly rates of hotels it may seem that it is cheaper to stay off-site but there is more to consider than just the nightly rate. Off-site hotels will often times have a "resort fee" that is added on top of the nightly rate. They may or may not offer transportation, but if they do offer transportation it is not free. If the off-site hotel doesn't offer transportation you may need to rent a car, an added cost that on-site guests do not have to consider. Parking is $20 a day at each of the theme parks, if you stay in a Disney Resort parking is free. Disney World has 3 levels of their on-site resorts: Value, Moderate and Deluxe (the deluxe category has both hotels & villas.) Disney World also has a campground on-site. As with any hotel, the nightly price will vary throughout the year. In my opinion if you are saving less than $100 on the nightly rate by staying off-site it's not worth it because once you factor in transportation/parking costs and the resort fee you really aren't saving money and you are losing on-site perks, like getting into the parks an hour before off-site guests.
Myth #4 Disney is only for kids
Disney is definitely not *only* for kids. Yes there are lots of things for kids to do and it is great for family vacations but that doesn't mean you can't have a great time without kids. Now if you don't like theme parks, parades, shopping, or plays/musicals, then you probably won't enjoy Disney and that's ok! But if you do like those things you don't need to wait until you have kids to take a trip to Disney. I have known many friends to take their honeymoon at Disney World or who just like to take their vacations there. Of course we will want to go back one day when we do have kids but that will be a totally different experience than the one we get to have now.
Ears can be purchased directly from Disney by clicking on the photo.
Now you might be thinking "Hey this sounds like a great idea!" How do I book a trip? All you need is a $200 deposit and you can book a trip for as far away as 499 days. That gives you more than a year to pay off your trip! Your final payment must be made one month (30 days) before your departure day and it's totally refundable. If you have to cancel your trip after you've started making payments it's not a problem you can get a full refund. If you cancel your trip after your final payment (less than 30 days before you departure) you can get a refund for everything except that original $200 deposit. This only applies to aspects booked through Disney (i.e. park tickets, on-site hotels, & meal plans). This doesn't include air-fare since that isn't booked through Disney directly, it also won't apply to your hotel if you decide to stay off-site. Luckily we are within driving distance so we don't have to worry about booking flights. If you do have to fly though I recommend getting travel insurance so that you have some protection if you need to cancel the trip.
