Once a year, we like to take the Tyke to the Magic Kingdom. She loves to visit the Disney Princesses. Her favorite is Cinderella. This year we are going on November 11th.
Planning a weekend trip can be quite a task. Selecting the right hotel, deciding where to eat, and planning activities for our little getaway has been nerve racking to say the least. Im a perfectionist and I want everything to be perfect for our family time together. After we enjoy our weekend it is my goal that my husband and the tyke exclaim that this was the best weekend ever.
How do you make it the best weekend ever you ask? There are multiple facets to being assured that everyone has a great time.
First- The big one, cost. No one wants to go on vacation and pay way more then they should have. In the same token, no one wants to come home and two days later see their bank statement and freak because there where charges and fees that they didnt expect to accrue. For example, when selecting a hotel make sure that you read all the fine print. Many hotels in Orlando and Kissimmee charge "resort fees" as well as the 13% tax. Resort fees are imposed to cover things like the resort style pool and internet access.
My suggestion on finding the best price for hotels-Go directly to the website of the hotel chain. They usually have deals for Florida Residents, AAA members, and often specials that they call " advance reservation specials" which in many cases the advance can be 24 hours prior to your arrival.
The same applies to visiting amusement parks and dinning out. Many of the Parks and Restaurants have websites where you can find coupons to print out or discounts for multi day passes. Take advantage of the multiday passes, especially if you live in Florida. They are usually good for return visits within a time frame, ie:90 days.
Second- Selecting a hotel. My biggest fear is booking a hotel and it's 20 miles away from the maingate of Walt Disney World. Seriously, this happened to me many many years ago. We might as well have stayed at home and drove over for the day lol. Always map it. Also, many hotels put on their website how many miles they are from Disney or Universal or Seaworld.
Another important step that should not be missed when selecting a hotel, read the reviews! I cannot stress this enough, do you want to wake up in the middle of the night to giant roaches pushing you out of the bed??? Or you see "heated pool" on the hotels website and then you see reviews where the customers idea of heated and the hotels belief that 60 degrees is a great temp for swimming in Dec (as well as cost effective for them) do not coinside with each other. I use tripadvisor.com.
Finally, What are you going to do on your vacation? Whether you are going for a couple nights or a week the goal is for everyone to have fun. Look at it this way, if my hubby is not having a great time he will gripe for weeks about the cost. If the tyke is not having a good time, she will have a major melt down the whole trip and then I will be griping about the cost of being stuck for the entire trip with a screaming kid or whinning husband. Get everyone involved with the plans that way if they complain after you can remind them that they where part of the decision making process. They knew exactly what amusement parks we where visiting and where we where eating.
Last thoughts, dont just try to wing a trip without planning it out. That's what our parents did and who can forget, geting lost on the way there or eating scary food at Stuckeys because the parents had no clue what else was available taking one of those strange exits off the interstate to unknown territory. TG we have the internet now, plan plan plan and have a wonderful family getaway.
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