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We are DVC members so we have usually stayed at a DVC resort but now that our kids are out of school and we have more flexibility in our time and income we have started staying at different resorts. My daughter and I stayed at Art of Animation so we could be on the Skyliner route since we were there mostly for the Flower and Garden Festival at Epcot. Access to the Skyliner was great ~ we had so many options for food and places to explore with the other resorts on the Skyliner. We stayed in a little mermaid room which is basically a hotel room with Little Mermaid theming and loved it. Those rooms were further away from the Skyliner and main food court/shop/reception/bus area which was fine for us but I could see how having to walk further at the end of a park day with little kids would be exhausting. Luckily the suites don't have as far of a walk. Theming is so fun at this resort and we would definitely stay here again and recommend it for families. FYI ~ I am afraid of heights and absolutely loved the Skyliner! We had to ride it one last time before we left we loved it so much. We have never stayed at the Contemporary but have stayed at Bay Lake and you can't get a better location than here. You can walk to MK and back for a rest and have a separate security area you can go through which is nice not having to deal with long lines depending on the time of day. So many food options at Contemporary and having access to the Monorail is another perk. You can hop on and take it to the other Monorail resorts to explore on a fun rest day. LOL sorry this is so long. Talking about the Disney resorts makes me happy 😄

wow...those prices are insane. 2019 christmas-new year's, beach club, first floor pool was like $820. now that's art's price? what? with little kids...i agree, probably contemporary or AKL. our family's favorite was that holiday trip to beach club. stormalong bay...beaches 'n cream...boardwalk...walk into France for breakfast.

Oh there are so many good resorts id love to stay at! Definitely considering port Orleans riverside for my next trip!

You guys are so fun! The bud-wise-err frogs had me giggling 😂

🔧 🤠

kiddie coasters are so fun. We love flight of the hippogriff and Disney's big thunder mountain.

Damn…. park looks like a ghost town 😂. Gotta love those days

This video was on point!

Can't imagine not bringing your own bottle of water, 😂 🤦🏾

Great topic! I vacation so much differently than I use to. I was a total planner before, it made my anxiety feel better to have a plan. Now I still plan but am able to go with the flow better if something comes up. One thing I always discuss now with travel partners is being on time. Some of my friends are usually running late and when you have reservations, especially for transportation it is important to know what the expectations are. Also discussing budget is huge! I always think of the Friends episode where three of the friends could afford going out and the other three couldn't and it caused an argument between them. :)

You got a point about chasing those theme park 🐉 🐉 🤔

I like seeing things around town etc, 😂

Thanks! Great Tips 👍🏾💰

In 2022 my partner and I went to Disneyland for Halloween time to attend Ooogie Boogie Bash 🎃 for 2 days, 2 nights did not park hop, relaxed and went to both parks and stayed at a hotel 1.5 miles away with a shuttle 🚌running all day into the night. Had breakfast🍳 at hotel, took our snacks,🥨🧃🍫🍌🍎🍇 water etc. I started putting money on a Disney gift card a year before and had more than enough so I could do whatever I wanted, plus back up 💰 so yeah having my pre planned budget allowed me to be more spontaneous, and not go into debt which was goal for peace of mind 😁 I did the numbers before and after our trip, we saved a lot 🤓

Its hard enough to make regular plans with friends now that we are in our upper 30's and 40's with young children...a vacation to another state?!?! 🤣 🙃🤪

We have done lots of vacations with other friends and families and they have all gone pretty well. We will plan certain activities (usually meals and/or certain shows/attractions to do together) and then let the other people know what activities we are going to do after (and if they want to join us-great, if not they are perfectly welcome to do something else). We do not need to have alone time or insist that everything has to be done as a group together either.

The time of year is super important as well…if it’s late spring early summer, the test seats that sit directly in the sun expands the seat and can give wrong info…happened to me on hagrids but it went green several times and I was good to ride with the elbow trick

Biggest take away... "Be reasonable with your expectations" 🙌 Everyone knows what best for their family...do your homework, set your budget, and your goals, and have fun!

Disney has every right to change things up. They have to so they can always attract record numbers of visitors. So my only comment to Disney is do not indicate there is an expansion when in actuallity it's a replacement. I am with you, excited about Cars🙂

You did a good job explaining this potential change, thank you. I don't know what I can add of any value other than to say that for me personally its the nonstop change, and honestly the elimination of the little stuff that is taking a toll. I remember that short Muppet's act in the 2nd floor window above Hall of the Presidents a few years ago in the area of the park you are talking about in this video. It was so funny (and memorable) if one was lucky enough to catch it. I could go on with other examples like this, but I'll spare you of all that whining. Honestly I don't go to Disney because of those massive capital Investment changes that are so important to Disney management. It's the little things that created the "magic" for me & my family.

We traveled to WDW in Jan of this year with my 10yo daughter's bestie and her family. The two girls enjoying the parks together was a delight, but honestly the trip overall was HARD. We're actually coming back in October to "take a mulligan". We knew the friend girl was ADHD. We didn't realize her mom was too. There was a real difference in focus and intention among us---we'd be headed somewhere and they'd be zig-zagging along behind us the whole way. So there's a certain degree of neurodivergency we had to accommodate, and we were highly unprepared.

I love my friends, but I can't vacation with them. We are polar opposites when it comes to travel speed and punctuality. I might plan for an extra half day of driving time in case of accidents, road construction, or just needing to stop because of highway hypnosis, or if we have a layover for a flight, I might make sure to book at least 90 minutes between flights. They however push everything to the absolute smallest margins. If the GPS says that the drive takes 20 hours, they're doing it in 18. They think that a 20 minute layover is more than enough time to catch a connecting flight from a different concourse, and to stop for a coffee in between. But when it comes to walking inside of a theme park, I am the speed demon, walking 3.5mph, making sure that we are 10 mins early for the next show or meal reservation. I am hyper aware of the crowd and how to move through it. They are much more lackadaisical. They procrastinate even starting to get ready to move to the next activity until a few minutes before it starts, and then they walk at 1.4mph, and have absolutely no spatial awareness as they bump into other people, miss their turns, and then stop in the middle of the walkway to look at the map, before finally arriving to everything 15 minutes late.

If you are taking Disney newbies (like we are next month), ask about what they have heard about and must experience, if they care about food (character dining) at all, or if motion sickness is an issue! My husband and I know that we care less about the rides than we do about the food and ambiance and resort hopping, so we've had to do a lot of probing to know what will make them feel like they're getting their best experience and money's worth!

1. one of you is marvel. the other is dc

Funny you posted this. My daughter and I have a whole game plan when we hit the parks. Where we have issues is when others join us. I finally had to put my foot down and tell family and friends: I love you too much to make you hit the parks like we do, lol. Let's meet for a sit down meal once a day and all go our own ways.

I always tell people when they go you're going to get into a fight with your family at some point, just roll with it and know it's not the end of the world.

Great video, I agree some alone time and budget are the two most important topics when traveling with others.

This is one of your best topics yet Is there a link for the original CNBC article?

Great video!

Love these tips. I think to add on I would just say, be willing to split up. Not everyone traveling together has to do the same things as a group. I find it less stressful when you are willing tonpart feom your group from time to time. Not only does it all each person to get what they want from the trip, but prevents possible conflicts later in the trip. Of course i would add, try to still be in pairs for safety, but if you can't, try to keep contact from time to time.

damm girl you are realy beuatiful . loved your video keep it up your a joy to watch ♥

Every trip (every other year) my wife gets 1-2 Starbucks, cups, 1-2 Pandora charms, 1-2 Spirit Jerseys and 1-2 Loungefly bags. I will splurge at Arribas Bros. or on Disney art.

Narrows streets is traffic calming measure to dissuade speeding

Genius. Thank you!

Agreed 1000%. Disney, like all businesses, is out to make money. And can we please stop dissecting concept art like it’s gospel. Was Epcot not enough of a lesson against doing that??? Loved the wrench mic lmaooooo

All of your tips were great 👏🏾👏🏾 Especially the money part. Disney is VERY overpriced for legit everything and if you can’t accept that-do NOT go. But the sooner you do accept it-you can actually start to enjoy your time there. Also bonus tip: if you/your family are not physically active on a daily basis, I’d highly recommend getting used to walking a few miles a day leading up to your trip. There is a physical toll to being in the WDW parks and I’m not even talking about the heat. Great video 🖤

I love the fact that you tell us what you think especially about multipass and that you don't have to spend all day on your phone. I've just got a question l get motion sickness when I travel and l love going on the rides so l use the travel nausea band's that you put on your wrist my question is that I've heard some of the rides have metal detectors.

We carry a cooler back pack with ice packs in it to keep water cool.

A lot of your advice (as I'm sure you intend) is aimed at travelling, not specifically Disney travelling, which I really appreciate. Your last point really hit home for me. A few years ago, I started planning a trip to the UK for my husband and me. I looked at all kinds of travel sites, TH-cam channels, etc., and bugged my husband constantly for information about what he was interested in seeing or doing. After several months, I narrowed our trip to just London and a few day trips. After a few months more, I narrowed it down to London. I have no regrets about being so specific--the plans catered exactly to what we wanted to experience. It's the same with a Disney trip. Get specific. Have certain goals in mind, and be loose with the rest. I'm currently planning a family trip for my sisters and their families to WDW, and nailing down what it is we want to do. Part of it will be the nostalgia of sharing with the little ones the joy our parents found in certain attractions, and some of it will be making our own memories with them. My motto (stolen from Rick Steves) is "Expect you will return."

it is a beautiful day, because any day you get to walk from DHS to almost EPCOT, and back, is beautiful.

May be controversial, but I would submit that not all families are built to go to Disney (hopefully they know who they are😂). I have a friend who would 100% keep that cranky kid in the park from opening to close because she wants the most out of every dollar she pays for the tickets. And I agree that they are expensive. To some degree, I've come to believe Disney is not only for the people that can afford the luxury of high-priced tickets, it's also for the physically and mentally hardy. The summers are brutal, the miles pile up on your feet, lines can be outrageous, etc, etc...So if finances and stamina don't align, like the vid says, be realistic.

You croc siting got me. 🤪

Thank you for the finger wagging commentary. I have stage 4 cancer and don't outwardly appear to have a need for an ECV and I can manage small to medium distances aka a trip to Target or Walmart however, an entire day in a park would not be possible without an ECV. I also appreciated the info on using an ECV in queue. Armed with that info there is no need for DAS for me. Thank you!

Great video! I'm going to watch this again right before our family (20 people!) vacation in December. I am definitely that person who plans and trys to do it all. 🙄

I’m really sad about the loss of TSI. Not for nostalgia reasons, but for the demolishing of one of the last open ended play spaces for kids. The ability to run free and explore (spooky caves, forts, lookouts) is magical and unique. Spots like Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground and Toon Town allowed for those experiences too and that is no longer valued. It’s just lines for rides or lines for food or lines to buy things. The parks can be sensory overload and the island provided a welcome reprieve. I’m also afraid the new land erases all the benefits of nature and will become a broiling concrete pad with no shade like Toy Story Land.