Disney World - Pleasant Hill,CA

Updated on July 13, 2011
A.T. asks from Pleasant Hill, CA
6 answers

We are hopefully planning a trip to Disney World the last week in January... Would love suggestions on a decent/inexpensive place to stay. We'll be there with my 7 and 1 yo sons, and my sister's family with a 6, 4, 2 yo. Besides all things Harry Potter (a must for my 7yo), what do we need to do? What should we avoid? Any thoughts are much appreciated! Oh- and any clue what to expect weather wise in Jan?? (I know I can look it up of course!) Thanks!

*Great suggestions so far- thank you! So obviously I don't know anything about Orlando... That's part of my question- which theme parks should we hit? For sure Universal Studios for Harry Potter, which I'm now realizing has nothing to do with Disney World. For DW then, what do you recommend? Magic Kingdom definitely... Anything else? Not sure a water park would work for this gang (boring, I know). Thank you again!

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K.U.

answers from Detroit on

Get the Unofficial Guide to Disney World - they come out with a new edition every year. All the most helpful advice and information you could ask for. It's been required reading for us every time we have gone.

When we went this past February, we actually rented a house for the week and that worked best for us. We went grocery shopping, cooked our own meals and saved a ton of money on food by not eating in the parks all the time. We had our own pool and hot tub. Kids had their own rooms. We did have to drive to the parks every day and pay for parking but it was still worth it for us. Since you have a bigger group, that's something you might want to consider.

BTW, Harry Potter is at Universal Studio's Islands of Adventure - not Disney. If you do go there, get there EARLY. Like, before they open, and make a bee line for Harry Potter. It's hugely popular and the long lines form fast.

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B.R.

answers from Sacramento on

I can't answer any of your questions regarding Disney World or where to stay in the Orlando area. Never have been there. However, I can tell you after having lived in the Florida Keys many years ago, that typically Florida weather is rainy in January and February. You may not be able to change the dates of your trip at this point, but I have always said that the best time of year to visit Florida is in December. The weather is just right, the beautiful tropical flowers are at their peak and it's just a perfect time to be there.

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K.S.

answers from Miami on

Harry Potter is not disney world. The wizardly world of harry potter is at Universal Theme park in Orlando. Not that far from Disney if you are driving. As for disney definitely stay in disney. If your looking for inexpensive stay at pop century. For a little more you can ask for the premium rooms there and get next to the main building where the buses are. If you are driving get a cooler and stop at the grocer and get some basic items for the kids like cereal milk. Pop century does not have a coffee machine or frige in the room inthe room. so when we stayed there we got a cooler with milk cereal and some sandwhich meats. They do have ice machines. Just need remember change the ice everyday. so we ate cereal in the room and lunches of sandwhiches. If you want to go a little more money stay at the Carribean Beach resort. It has a frigerator and a coffee pot in rooms. They have a pirate theme room and another theme can't remember what it was. If you want to spend just a tad more and dont want to stop at the grocer or cant. Get the dinning plan which will give you one sit down mean, one concession and one snack. Its chilly in January so do pack some long sleeves and a jacket, but also do pack bathingsuit and shorts because the weather can flip flop.

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J.F.

answers from Tallahassee on

For where to stay, check out Windsor Hills. It's a gated vacation home community and it's only about 1 1/2 - 2 miles from the entrance of Disney. They have condos, townhomes and single family homes available. Some you can rent directly from the owner and some go through different management companies. My family stayed at a townhouse there last month and it was very, very nice. We had 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, washer & dryer and we even had our own private screened in splash pool out back. They even have a nicer and bigger community pool with a water slide and an awesome playground that we never had time to use.

Try googling "homeaway Windsor Hills" and you can narrow your search down from their website, view photos and reviews of properties and send the owners messages to ask about renting. You should be able to get some great rates for January. We paid the same amount for the 3 bdrm, 1500 sq ft townhouse that we would have paid to stay in one of Disney's value resorts which was just a small room and bathroom (not good if you have kids that need to nap and go to bed earlier than the adults).

January will be a great time of year to go to Disney. The temps average 50's at night to the low 70's during the day.

Have fun!

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W.K.

answers from New York on

I was there this past January and the weather is great and comfortable about the 70s during the day and about 50s at night. Im from NY so it was cold and a lotta snow, lol Im always cold but I was fine with a sweater during the day. We didnt hit water parks, sometimes they are not open during January/February - its low season and I believe unless they weather is a certain temperature they dont even open or are only open for a few hours. When we went down one of the water parks was closed and the other closed at around 4. Aquatica which is the waterpark by Seaworld was not even open.

I havent been to Harry Potters area yet but thats in Universal Studios. Its still crowded at times but January should be a nice time to visit. Universal also closes earlier then Magic Kingdom. During that time of the year most of the parks close at 5-6pm. Remember the tickets are also separate - check out allears.net - they have great information about traveling to Disney. mapleleaftickets.com also has great ticket prices.

When we travel we stay at our timeshare. Its a two bedroom condo and we cook breakfast and dinner daily, saves a ton of money. There are so many timeshare condos but be prepared they may want you to do a tour.

If you need a week let me know, I have two weeks available that we are not using. My timeshare is at Westgate.

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B.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

Just a suggestion, if you all get along well, you can probably rent a timeshare cheaper than you can stay in a hotel. Then you have a kitchen and can save money on food. If money is no problem, stay at a Disney resort and eat in a Disney restaurant.

We stopped by Burger King, McD and other fast food places and bought their sandwiches off their 99 cent menus. We put them in the frig overnight and then took them to the park the next day. We bought sodas at grocery stores and put them in the frig over night and had them with our 99 cent sandwiches. We bought fried chicken at grocery stores or Rotisserie chicken at Sams and saved a bunch of money. We went to Walmart and bought souviniers in their Disney section and save 60% to 70% over what we paid for them in the parks.

Good luck to you and yours.

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