Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida is the “Happiest Place on Earth,” filled with a million strollers and crying babies. I’m just kidding, of course (kind of). I was actually surprised to see many adults at the theme parks without kids, even couples getting married or on honeymoons. I guess it’s true, you’re never too old to visit Disney. It’s a great place for children and adults alike, with many rides, restaurants and events catering to all ages.
My travel goals didn’t include a trip to Disneyland last year or Disney World this year, but my little cousin’s performing arts group was invited to perform in the parades and on the Disney stage. What a great experience for the kids and the adults tagging along to support them.
Most of the trip was part of a group package with hotels, park tickets, and activities included. However, I did research on a Disney vacation prior to the trip so I’ll provide some insight as well for anyone who has the desire to travel to the place “Where Dreams Come True.”
How Did We Fly?
I elected to fly on my own, apart from the group, redeeming miles for an award ticket instead of paying the group rate. At the time, prices from Honolulu (HNL) to Orlando (MCO) was trending around $700-$900. On a side note, I found a rate of $587 for end of January 2016 so prices can be low for Hawaii travel.
I booked my flights by purchasing one-way tickets on American Airlines, with one layover on each segment, using two different programs: Citi ThankYou points and AAdvantage miles. For HNL-MCO, American’s award redemption was too high at 40,000 miles one-way, but the ticket price was $300 one-way. Instead of paying cash, I booked through the Citi ThankYou travel portal to redeem at a rate of 1.25 cents per point (if you have the Premier credit card), which equates to 24,000 points. For MCO-HNL, American had MileSAAver awards at 17,500 miles, plus I received 10% back in miles (if you have the Citi AAdvantage or Barclaycard Aviator credit cards), thus it really cost 15,750 miles. Overall, I paid $5.60 (award ticket fee) + 39,750 points for a roundtrip flight to Orlando. Great deal!
If your dates are flexible and you’re able to travel during low season, you could book HNL-MCO roundtrip on Economy Saver awards at 35,000 miles on American (increasing to 40,000 in 2016), 45,000 miles on United, or 50,000 miles on Delta. During high season, like summer and holidays, award redemptions are higher.
Where Did We Stay?
We stayed at two Disney World resorts: Disney’s Port Orleans Resort-Riverside and Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort. Both locations have standard rooms that fit two queen beds to accommodate 4 people, just enough space to rest then head out for the whole day at the parks. If you stay on campus, the pools are large and plentiful with a main pool for the family and lap pools in various areas of the property. There is a large cafeteria and restaurant at both hotels that offer pretty good food for good value. The beverages, on the other hand, are outrageously priced.
Port Orleans-Riverside, Port Orleans-French Quarter, and Coronado Springs average $180-$200 a night, and you can purchase discounted tickets to the parks as part of your Disney reservation. There are cheaper hotels that cost about $115 like Pop Century Resort, All-Star Music Resort, All-Star Sports Resort, and All-Star Movies Resort, but they appear to book quickly as I don’t see openings in the near future.
If you’re enrolled in Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou, or AMEX Membership Rewards, I suggest checking their travel portals first, and if prices are comparable you should book with them to earn more points through these programs. If you choose to redeem points for free hotel nights, the best redemption rates are with UR at 1.25 cents per point or TY at 1:1, with MR being the worst at 0.7 cents per point. In other words, a $1,000 hotel reservation requires 80,000 UR points; 100,000 TY points; and 142,857 MR points.
The Magic of MagicBands
When you reserve your Disney hotel, Magicbands are assigned to you and your party to enter your room. They are colorful, waterproof bands that you wear on your wrists like a watch. If you link it with My Disney Experience, it unlocks more benefits like linking your park tickets, accessing PhotoPass pictures, and charging food and merchandise to your room.
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Disney World is comprised of four parks: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. Each park is unique and offers many rides and activities for the whole family. The one thing they have in common is that they are all very large and require a lot of walking (my legs were aching every evening). You should plan on one to two days per park.
Universal Studios is not a part of Disney, but is in the vicinity and a place to visit if you’re interested in movies or Harry Potter. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter includes Diagon Alley at Universal Studios and Hogsmeade at Universal’s Islands of Adventure, which requires a park-to-park pass to board Hogwarts Express to travel between each park. I’m a huge Harry Potter fan and I had a blast drinking Butterbeer and waiving my wand around the park (Yes, I bought an interactive wand and no, I didn’t let the little kiddies touch it). Plan on a day or two to visit each park.
Disney Tickets
If you decide not to stay at a Disney resort, you can purchase tickets directly with Disney, which cost more without the hotel reservation. There are agencies online offering discounted tickets, but I can’t speak to them since my tickets were part of a package.
The Food
Disney offers a variety of foods from all over the world, their parks literally broken up by countries with cuisine that match, so you won’t go hungry. Universal offered Butterbeer like in the Harry Potter movies, a sweet mix of cream soda and butterscotch, which was awesome.
Tip: If you’re staying at a Disney hotel and not renting a car, you’re pretty much stuck purchasing food, snacks and drinks at Disney properties, which is quite expensive. An alternative is Garden Grocer, an online grocery store that delivers to the Orlando area, including Disney hotels. The prices are better than the hotel and parks, but slightly more than going to the grocery store yourself. You pay for the convenience and save some money. You should place an order before you leave for your trip, as it may take a few days to process, and pick the delivery date, perhaps the day you check in.
Transportation
Every Disney hotel offers transportation to the parks. I highly suggest staying at Disney for the free shuttles because renting a car and paying parking fees may get expensive. Depending on what hotel you stay at, shuttles to each park take about 10-20 minutes.
Disney also offers free transportation to and from your Disney hotel and the airport. This service is called Disney’s Magical Express. Just make your reservation with your booking agent, by phone at (407) 939-1936, or online when you book your hotel.
If you need transportation from your Disney hotel to Universal, options include getting a rental car for the day (Alamo is located at Disney), taking a cab, arranging a shuttle with Mears Transportation, or booking with travel agencies like Destinations In Florida (look out for promotions on park tickets + free shuttle).
The Final Word…
Disney World and Universal is an amazing vacation combination. Luckily we were there during low season, so the parks weren’t as busy. Disney personnel mentioned that high season, during summer and holidays, is full of people and sometimes parks close due to reaching maximum capacity. Since I was here with a group on an itinerary, there wasn’t as much free time to explore all the parks in full. I will definitely be back!