PAGING MNA : Disney-Orlando / Vacation/ Wedding suggestions and feedback ?

In your title, put PAGING MNA. MNA is having a Disney 2018 wedding

I co-sign what @Ash said

I'm getting married in Daytona and lots of our family has expressed wanting to do Disney while they are there! FH and I did disney last year for one day and loved it. Debating on spending part of our honeymoon with our guests at Disney. We are getting married on a Saturday though incase people don't want to take a full week, we have quite a few locals attending as well.

I live in Florida, and I would advise looking into Airbnb. I've had friends rent entire houses just to themselves. They know it's a tourist area, so some people rent their properties to airbnb, rather than a long term tenant.

Disney hotels are ridiculously expensive. Any time I go up to Orlando, I usually end up staying in Kissimmee. It's about half an hour south, but so much more affordable.

A lot of weddings take place in Grand Floridian - a very beautiful resort with a wedding gazebo on the lagoon. It is right across the water from Magic Kingdom, so you can take the monorail to most other locations. We just had our family vacation down there in June. Definitely do the dining package if you are staying for a week. Dinners are an average of $50 per adult and 18% tipping is mandatory. The dining plan covers more than you will need to eat for a fraction of the cost.

If you're having a destination wedding, most people will have to travel and take some time off from work so having it on a mon-thurs wouldn't be a big deal, and is pretty common for destination weddings. That being said, I think the courteous thing to do would be to aim for a Monday or Thursday so people can just take a long weekend if that's what they want. A Tuesday or Wednesday means taking more time off that they may not have.

As far as when to invite them, you simply invite them to the wedding and they can choose to stay for however long they wish. If people have to travel, they may want to make it into a vacation rather than traveling only for the wedding.

You don't get extra magic hours if you stay off property, except for one or maybe two hotels. If you don't care about those, take a look at the Swan and Dolphin. You are basically on property that way. Bonnet Creek is also great for families. For a big group, a house is fantastic and you can go home for lunch and swim in the pool during the worst heat of the day.

FH and I go to Disney a lot since we are Florida residents. We have done Disney hotels, off site hotels, and airbnb. If you can find a decently priced airbnb I think it's worth it. But most of the time I can find a hotel for the same or better rate. So it just depends if you would want a house or hotel room.

We enjoy staying in a hotel on Disney property. Even though you will have cars, Disney transportation is very convenient and reliable. Our favorite is the Swan and Dolphin, but I've heard great things about the Grand Floridian and the Polynesian Resort. Our friends stayed at Fort Wilderness Resort last time and LOVED it.

Our favorite parks are Epcot and Animal Kingdom. Epcot is a little more adult friendly (alcohol) and has some great restaurants. Animal Kingdom has some great rides. Of course you can't go wrong with Walt Disney World, especially with kids.

Port Orleans Riverside is also super.

I have FL resident annual passes to Disney. I stay on property 2-3 times a year. It makes my experience a million times better. You can shop and have your souvenirs sent back to your room, you can pay for everything with your wrist band, it is so much easier to take breaks at your hotel because you don't have to worry about traveling in and out of the park, and no hotel will give you the same customer service as Disney. The only way you can do a dining plan is if you book a vacation so if you are not staying on property that is not an option (the dining plan is really worth it if you plan on dining at the higher end restaurants). I usually stick with the moderate priced hotels. easywdw.com does a great comparison of hotels and can point you in the right direction based on your needs. I really think for something as important as a wedding, you should get the full Disney experience which means staying on property.

I've looked into quite a few hotels but it's not a lot of family style rooms within budget . Ultimately I want to stay in a Disney hotel so the kids can get the full Disney experience. The other option would be to find two adjoining rooms and put the kids on the other side . I will look into the other suggestions as well !

@Kaylie : Good point I think a Thursday lunch wedding would work .

Also all of my family are about 2 hours from Orlando . The only guest that will have to really travel are my FH family and friends from his hometown. And our other friends we've made on our moving journal .

Did you look at the cabins at Fort Wilderness?

If your family is only 2 hours away I think you could definitely get by with a Thursday lunch. Family could either drive first thing in the morning or Wednesday night. They'd only likely need to take Thursday off for the wedding, but could take Friday and make a nice long weekend.

I also second the cabins at fort wilderness. Port Orleans riverside has certain rooms that have a fold-out bed so they sleep 5 total. Not sure how many children you have though haha.

Looking into it now , it will be 2 Adults and 3 kids .

I would try and stay on Disney property it's easier to get around and not pay for parking which is ridiculously expensive. Just check out all package deals.

I second staying on site for Disney. My parents, my brothers, and myself recently took a Disney trip together as a last hurrah of sorts for family vacations and staying on site made it so much better! From the extra park hours, the convenience of the wristbands, to the free transportation, staying at a Disney Resort made the trip go so smoothly.

Like others have said, there is nothing quite like the Disney Experience.

You could also look into Art of Animation as they have family suites. We stayed there a couple years ago and it was great. And honestly to make the most of your time there, I would definitely stay on site and utilize Disney transportation.

If you're staying on Disney property, look into a suite at either Art of Animation or Animal Kingdom lodge depending on your budget. Wilderness lodge also has super cute cabins. We rented one out for a team bonding session when I worked at Disney. There won't be a transportation issue if you stay there since you'll have cars.

One thing to highly consider when staying off property is parking. If you stay at a Disney hotel, you get extra magic hours and complimentary parking. You have to pay for parking at each park daily if you stay elsewhere.