Yoo Hoo Jim:
You said:
 JY=> Any advise on purchasing entry
passes, hotels, motels, information on JY=> attractions that should be
avoided, etc. would be appreciated as we try to JY=> plan things out.
Jim, you are my type of vactioner.  I love going on vaction, but I have
almost as much fun planning it.
You may have already received many replies.  Here is my two cents
(actually worth much more in this economy :-)  ):
Buy Birnbaums' Official Guide to WDW and also Bob Sehlinger's (sp?)
Unofficial Guide to WDW.  Read them.  However, for our family we
disregard what the Unoffical Guide says about the food at WDW.  We enjoy
many of the restaurants that they merely find mediocre (such as King
Stephan's Banquet Hall and the 50's Prime Time Cafe).  We have never
been to the Hoop-de-doo Revue, but friends who have gone have liked it,
I think the Diamond Horshoe Jubilee(is it Jamboree?) is probably the
similiar to the Hoop-de-doo without the cost (it's free unless you buy a
snack).
Ok, now check with you (or your spouse's) work and see if you can get
the Magic Kingdom Club card (it's free for many employees).  This can
give you significant hotel discounts during some times of year, and also
gives a small discount on admission passports.  You also get dining
discounts at certain restaurants, and discounts at some of the shops at
the Disney Village Marketplace.
We are Disney fanatics.  The first trip we took was 15 nights/16 days.
We did take off two of those days to do non-Disney things, but even then
we did not see everything at WDW in that time!  The parks are enormous
and jam packed with things to do.
When are you thinking of going, and if you have children, how old are
they?  This will make a difference as to how you plan your itinerary.
Ok, we have only stayed in two places on site - The Disney Vacation Club
(which is Disney's version of a timeshare, but they rent rooms out too)
and the Fort Wilderness Vacation Homes.  We have seen Dixie Landings and
the Grand Floridian, Wilderness Lodge (I heard the rooms were small) and
the Polynesian - all of which look like great places to stay.  The
Contemporary's exterior turns me off, but the interior looks good.
Fort Wilderness:  It was quiet, peaceful and dark.  We stayed in a
Wilderness Home, which is a trailer.  It had a full kitchen (including a
dishwaser), a living room with a pull down queen size bed, a spacious
bathroom, and a large bedroom with bunk beds and a queen size bed (some
bedrooms only have one bedding choice).  We had daily maid service, and
there was a large laundry room close by.  I would say my only complaint
was that you have to take a bus from your site (people can tent or RV
camp here too) to the main bus loop, or to the MK launch, so it takes
longer to travel around without a car.  There is lots to do there:
horseback riding (for a fee), swimming, canoeing, petting zoo,
playground and the nightly campfire. We did not like the Trail's End
Buffeteria food much, it was overpriced for being so mediocre.
The Disney Vacation Club:  This has several room types:  a studio (two
queen beds, a large bathroom, a small refrigerator and a microwave), a
one bedroom ( one bedroom with a king size bed, a jacuzzi bathtub, a
large bathroom with shower, a full kitchen, and a large living room plus
a washer and dryer), two bedrooms (the studio and one bedroom put
together, you even get the refrigerator and microwave in the smaller
bedroom), and a three bedroom (three bedrooms, one with two double beds,
one with two queen beds, and one with a king size bed with a personal
bathroom with a jacuzzi bathtub.  You get a total of four bathrooms (one
half bath) in the three bedroom.  You also get a dining room and full
kitchen and washer and dryer).  The Vacation Club is great.  It's
decorated in a Key West style and is very quiet and relaxing. They have
several small swimming pools around the property and a larger themed
pool (and sauna and jacuzzi) near the Hospitality House.  We loved the
size of the rooms and the peacefulness.
Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon are great.  Blizzard is probably my
favorite now because they have more family rides and places.  But
Typhoon has the best wave pool.  We were not as impressed with River
Country, it is not designed as much for non-swimmers.
Once we know the ages of the people going we (meaning all of us on the
board) can give you a better idea of what to avoid, etc.
Write again.
-Dawn Lease
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