Disney Family Vacations

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If you've been toying with the idea of a family vacation at Disney World, you might want to consider planning it now. With the current financial crunch everyone is offering vacation deals and Disney is no exception.

But before we start talking about how to save on your Disney family vacations, you might want to learn a little more about exactly what Disney has to offer, especially if you've never been there.

Snapshot of Disney World

Disney World is located in sunny Orlando Florida. The entire resort is built around 4 separate and distinct theme parks along with two water parks, a "downtown" shopping plaza, and a sports complex.

Magic Kingdom, the first of the Disney parks to open in Florida back in 1971, encompasses what every child thinks of when they think of Disney World. Cinderellas castle, Princesses, Pirates and Peter Pan. Magic.

Epcot, originally named Epcot Center, is home to Future World and the World Showcase. This wonderful park gives you the sights, sounds and tastes of the world along with a peek into the future.

Disney Hollywood Studios, formerly known as Disney's MGM, will transport you back to old nostalgic Hollywood as well as give you a thrill with first hand experience at catastrophic special effects, and stunt shows. -I'm not a big fan of stunt shows...I kind of hate them...but I never mind sitting through the ones at DHS.

Disney's Animal Kingdom, the newest of the major parks, focuses on animals in their natural habitats. There is an African Safari and many new attractions and stage shows. It's also the place to have your first face to face with a full size dinosaur, and experience the thrill of Mt. Everest (Disney style).

Each of the four major parks offers a variety of stages productions, daily parades and firework spectaculars all included in the price of your ticket.

photo credit: kevkev44

The Disney World Resort also has two water parks.Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach, each with it's own distinct theme and watery attractions. At Typhoon Lagoon you can actually surf and/or swim with sharks! Yes. Real sharks. Yikes!

There is a also a shopping and entertainment plaza called Downtown Disney. Tons of retail stores, entertainment venues, and restaurants, all nestled together in a waterfront setting, most with familiar and popular names.

Disney's Wide World of Sports complex includes a 9500 seat baseball stadium (Atlanta Braves Spring Training Home), a 5000 seat Fieldhouse, and a 10 court tennis complex.

There is a track and field complex, 5 multi-use outdoor sports fields, and a softball quadroplex.

photo credit: Joe Shlabotnik

Throughout the year this enormous sports complex host many professional and amateur sporting events for fans and athletes of all ages.

The Disney World resort is truly a vacation destination unto itself, with something for everyone, but it can be overwhelming and pricey without careful planning.

Because we're being frugal we'll focus on all the "must see" things at Walt Disney World and the most economical ways to have great Disney family vacations.

More Disney World Stuff

• Check out FFM's list of Walt Disney World Tips.
• The most frugal fun souvenirs you'll bring home are your Maps of Walt Disney World. Colorful, fun and informative, these maps make great keepsakes.
• Flying into Orlando? Get a sneak peek at Orlando International Airport and some quick airport tips from www.sensibleorlandovacations.com.

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If you've already booked a Disney family vacation design your own custom maps for free!