Disney: How we managed it without going broke or crazy

I will post a detailed trip report for each day of our Disney/Orlando trip but wanted to do an intro post to summarize our logic and planning. For years we have been planning exotic trips for two around the world. Planning a trip to Disney with a 3 and 4 year old was just as hard, and expensive. Disney can bankrupt you. My suggestion is to go knowing you will spend money. The key for us was knowing where we were willing to spend money.

Our kids know some characters but by no means are Disney fanatics. Our daughter just likes princesses all around. The longer the hair the better. Our son likes cars and trains. We took this into account when making our plans.

First decision - where to stay. This was fairly easy. To us our only decision was whether to stay Onsite at a Disney resort or offsite in a condo. We had 6 people and needed at least 3 bedrooms. Even the cheapest Disney resorts would cost a small fortune. After some research we opted for a 3br ground floor unit in Windsor Hills Villas for $750/week. We rented through Airbnb. If you have your own car (like we did since we drove) this was perfect. If a cold front hadnt come through we would have used the pool more with the kids. It was a great retreat each night and super close to all the parks.

Stroller - the kids no longer use a stroller at home but we knew having one for them would be crucial. The plastic doubles at the park looked incredibly uncomfortable and appeared to cost anywhere from $20 - $30 a day. Instead, we rented a double Baby Jogger stroller from Apple strollers. It was $44 for the week. They will deliver them to your hotel or you can pick then up. Probably the best $40 we spent the entire week.

Clothing - Before going I got them Disney clothes to wear so that we wouldn't feel the need to buy anything there. For my daughter I found both a Snow White and Cinderella costume at a recent consignment sale for a couple dollars. I also found her adorable Minnie Mouse shirt awhile ago at H&M. For my son I hit up the Disney outlet store and for him a few t-shirts on sale for $6. I also let them each pick out a mini plush from the clearance section for $2. They knew all of these were special to use one the trip (and saved me a lot of money).

Glow - I remembered that every child is mesmerized by those glowing toy vendors at the parks. To save some money I hit the $1 section at Target before we left and snagged several packages of glow bracelets, glasses and wands. Far cheaper and we still have a bunch left. Whenever it started getting dark and the kids were grumpy that would hold them over.

Parks - We decided to not overdo it and chose the parks we thought the kids would like the most. We went with Legoland, Seaworld and Magic Kingdom. I think we chose right. The off days we filled with stuff at the Disney Resorts and special meals. Below was our itinerary and it seemed to work great.

Day 1: Drive to Florida, Dinner at O'hana while watching Magic Kingdom fireworks

Day 2: Spend afternoon exploring Fort Wilderness, Dinner at Hoop Dee Doo Revue

Day 3: Legoland

Day 4: Seaworld

Day 5: Cape May Cafe Character Breakfast, Winter-Summerland Mini Golf, Swim, Explore Animal Kingdom Lodge, Dinner at Boma

Day 6: Princess Breakfast at Cinderella's Castle (first guests into park), Magic Kingdom

Day 7: Free Day (details on private blog), Character Dinner at Chef Mickey's

Day 8: Recover and drive home!