If you follow along with us on Instagram, you know we go down to Walt Disney World where we’re annual passholders about three to four times per year, and we’re planning to go to Disneyland California one time per year, as well. So, that means a lot of hotel arrangements every couple of months!

Because we’re always traveling into Disney, we get asked a lot by family, friends, and followers about the best places to stay when planning a Disney trip. So, I decided to write about all the hotels (both Disney and non-Disney) we’ve stayed at when visiting the most magical place(s) on earth and give you the pros, cons, and star ranking (1-10) I feel it warrants based on a few quality ratings. 

I’m going to start off the blogs with a classic: Disney’s All-Star Resorts.

If you live out-of-state, staying at one of the All-Star Resorts is pretty much a rite of passage. It’s the most inexpensive Walt Disney World resort most of the year. Sometimes it gets so booked up that something like Pop Century may actually be less expensive than an All-Star Resort, but that’s rare. We’ve stayed at every single one of the All-Star Resorts at one time or another, they all are the same in my book (leave a comment if you have a different take on that, I’m more than willing to change my mind!), so I’ll give them the collective review.

Pros:

• The theming is incredible at all of them. I mean just look at those pictures above! 
• Dining is pretty good. Lot of food selections and a large space that doesn’t make you feel crowded
• Has an arcade outside the dining area
• You’re never too far from dining or the main entrance of your resort (for bus transport, concierge, check out, etc.)
• A lot of Disney Shuttles (obviously)
• Magical Express to and from Orlando Airport
• Inexpensive (relative to other Disney hotels and at certain times of the year cheaper than some surrounding hotels)

Cons:

• Beds are firm and many times a double (not a queen-size). A little small for me (our king size at home has spoiled me)
• Bathroom is rather small and plain
• Room size is on the smaller side
• Shuttles to and from the park can get SUPER crowded, meaning you may end up waiting for a second bus before you get on, and you may still end up having to stand the whole ride

The All-Star resorts keep me feeling the magic even after I leave the parks, which I really like. I have always enjoyed the dining at these resorts, as well. It’s nothing special, but they have all the options I want and then some, which is good for me because I’m picky and hate feeling like there’s not enough options for me to choose between (even though I pretty much get the same thing every time, I’m just weird like that). I will say, it’s not my favorite of the Disney Resorts, but it’s a classic and always can get us to the parks when we plan a last-minute trip and need somewhere inexpensive to stay!

Hotel Quality: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Disney Convenience: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Room/Bathroom Quality: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Bed/Bedding Quality: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Overall: 7 Stars

So here is what we would do. To get the Disney feel, go to Magic Kingdom. There is plenty to do there and this way you are not trying to navigate more than one park a day.

Download the MyDisneyExperience app on your phone. This way you can see wait times for rides and see what fastpasses are available.

Rides to try: Space Mountain is a roller coaster in the dark. Super fun! Usually there are a couple fast passes for this, so try and get them.

Haunted Mansion is a classic ride. I would try and go on this ride closer to the evening. It’s much more fun at night.

Pirates of the Carribbean- a wonderful ride for all to enjoy. You ride in a boat and go through the story.

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train- If you can get fastpasses for this, definitely do it. It’s a roller coaster that goes through the story of Snow White and is just a fun roller coaster all around. Stand-by wait times is usually two hours, so if you see a fastpass, grab it while you can!

Buzz Light Year Ranger Spin- A fun ride where you have to help Buzz defeat Zurg and you are in competition with who you ride with. Go help Buzz!

Peter Pan’s Flight- This ride is one of the original from when the park first opened. Fast passes are hard to get so if you see it, take that opportunity! Otherwise, Stand-by wait times is also 2 hours.

It’s A Small World- This is right across from Peter Pan and is also one of the originals. Definitely a good one to see during your time here.

Big Thunder Mountain- A fun rollercoaster for everyone!

There are shows at the castle and dance parties in front of the castle with characters that you can participate in. I always do!

Festival of Fantasy Parade is also a must see. Check your MyDisney App for times as they can change daily.

Happily Ever After Fireworks- Definitely got to see this show ending your evening at magic Kingdom. It’s a fun time for all to see the castle lit up and to watch fireworks over the Castle.

We hope you enjoy your day in Disney! If you have other rides to add to the list, let me know! Read my blog about the best restaurants in Magic Kingdom for your day there!

Why drawstring bags are a better choice than a full sized backpack when trekking through the Disney Parks.

I am a classic over-preparer. Whether it’s a week vacation or a weekend getaway, I pack like I’m never coming home again. I guess I just don’t like the feeling of regret from not bringing something with me on the off chance I want to wear it. And yes, this is Nick writing, not Lete. She packs less than I do…

So when it comes to going into the parks at Disney, you’d think I’d be all about the full sized backpack to carry things around in, but I’m actually not. I’ve tried the full sized backpack and let me tell you, it is not fun to walk around the parks all day with a massive heat satchel on your back. Not only that, some rides are kind of small (like one of my favorites, Space Mountain) and a full sized backpack would make for a pretty uncomfortable ride. That’s what brought me to purchase a drawstring bag.

But what about the things? All the things? How can I carry everything I ever wanted and more? Well, surprisingly, you can carry a lot in a drawstring bag. I was able to fit five shirts (#allthemerch), a rain jacket, a water bottle, earphones, a battery pack for my phone, a camera lens for my phone, purell, my wallet, and napkins and still had a little room to spare.

The storage is definitely adequate, but there are three main things I love about carrying that bag as opposed to a full sized zipper backpack:

1.    Lightweight. Keeps me from bringing and carrying too much.
2.    Compact. Fits easily at my feet on all the rides.
3.    Secure. A little tough for someone to try and steal from you without you knowing.

Let’s break those down a little.

 1. So yes, I can carry a lot in my drawstring bag, but it prevents me from over packing (which I will do if given the space), and that keeps the bag from getting too heavy. Which is great when you’re walking 10+ miles a day in the heat. Also, I’m no longer the mule for everyone else’s stuff. Mo’ bag, mo’ problems.

 2. Remember Space Mountain? Yeah, drawstring bags fit perfectly under the lap bar at your feet. It’s pretty wonderful. I never worry about my bag being too big for any ride.

 3. Maybe it’s just me, but whenever I stand in any line with a backpack I feel like someone is sneakily unzipping my pockets and taking things out. That makes me hold items like my wallet, phone, earphones, etc in my pockets so I know they’re safe. That’s not comfortable. With a drawstring bag it cinches shut. You have to lift the bag up and pull apart the ends to open it and grab something inside. I’d have to be pretty distracted not to feel that, so I feel safe keeping my valuables in my bag. That frees up my pockets for more important things, like my hands.

I love my drawstring bags and that’s why we decided to put our Disney inspired designs on drawstring bags. We think they are just perfect for the parks and we think you’ll find the same to be true! Everything I mentioned fitting into the bag was put into my treat yo self bag, and all the bags are the same size. So before your next trip to Disney, be sure to treat yo self to a better bag for trekking through the parks.

The grupohefestos signature drawstring bags, only €14.99!

Edit: Blog updated April 2019 to reflect new pricing in WDW

A financial guide on when it makes sense for you to stop buying tickets and get your Walt Disney World annual pass.

When the time came for Aleta and I to decide whether we should get an annual pass for Walt Disney World or if we should just continue to purchase tickets every time went, we took our time to make our decision. In the end, I think we ended up giving ourselves a good one to two whole…seconds.

All right, it was a particularly easy decision for us. We live in Maryland, sure, but we go to Florida often. I have been going to Florida at least twice a year since I was born; and since Aleta and I got married we have been going to Disney every time we went to Florida. I also had a general idea about how many days we would need to spend in Disney throughout the year to break even on the passes, so we just went for it (#noregrets).

Although I have previously done a little math about the breakeven point (I figured it would be about 7 days in Disney to make it worth it), I have been wanting to break the numbers down even more. Thus, this blog post; because I decided that if I am going to crunch the numbers, I might as well do it not only for my own edification, but for others as well! 

via GIPHY

1. General Admission Ticket Pricing
2. Are you a Florida Resident?
3. Out-of-Staters

Disclaimer: I will just be using the basic annual pass (The Disney Platinum Pass) compared to general admission tickets with park hopper (park hopper is necessary to make sure the tickets are equal, i.e. they both get you into the four main parks). I will not be including taxes and fees or pricing for the water parks, as it adds a few too many ripples, and I do not feel every scenario needs to be explored for the sake of the annual pass decision. The differences are very minute for some of those factors, so it would not change much either way.

Disclaimer out of the way, let’s get to it!

1. General Admission Ticket Pricing

Below is a table with the ticket prices for Magic Kingdom and the other three parks (different pricing) and their variations. Here are what general admission tickets will cost you when you just go one day at a time (not multiple days in a row).

2. Are you a Florida Resident?

If you are a Florida resident, why do you even need this explained? Go get an annual pass!

All right, fine, we will take a quick look at the numbers. The Disney Platinum Pass is only €749 per year per person for Florida residents. How does that compare to the single day park hopper option? Well here is a nifty table for you:

If you are just going to Disney on days where you can get value ticket pricing (which is typically during the week) then it will take you until the fifth visit for you to save money by getting the annual pass. But essentially, if you plan on going to Disney World five or more times, it is totally worth the purchase.

In addition to that, Florida residents can also have their ticket broken down into monthly payments so they do not have to come out of pocket for the entire pass right away. Being in Florida has its perks, like being the state where Disney World is. Good enough perk for me, but you also have those other things I just mentioned, so go out and get that annual pass!

 3. Out-of-Staters

Now that we have seen how good the Florida residents are living, time to look at the out-of-staters’ costs.

The cost for an annual pass is €894 per year per person. To get a good comparison, I do not feel that using the single day ticket pricing model is a great representation of how we would purchase our tickets to Disney. If you are out of state and are contemplating an annual pass purchase you are probably looking to go for a few vacations throughout the year, not just a day here and there. So, I am going to base everything on three day stays; long weekends, essentially.

The reason multiple days makes a difference is because you get a discount per ticket when you buy for more than one day at a time (but they must be used within 14 days of your first use, you cannot buy a 10-day pass and use it 10 different months throughout the year). Prices range from €109 for a one-day ticket to €44 per day for a 10-day ticket. A three-day ticket costs €104 per day per person. Soooo, time to table it up:

After two three-day weekends, you are €132.20 away from breaking even on the annual pass. Just throw in one additional day at any ticket price (value, regular, or peak) and you are pretty much good to go!

Just because I love tables, I am also going to show you where you break even on a few other scenarios (tables.are.awesome):

via GIPHY

The main take away from these tables is this: if you plan to vacation in Disney more than one time per year, at least about three days per stay, you will find the annual pass to be worth it. But just to make sure you have no doubts, here is one more thing to help you feel even more confident in your purchase: memory maker is an additional €169 per stay at Disney. If you are an annual passholder, memory maker is included. So, add €169 to each of those stay...Yeah, pretty worth it now, right? Thought so.

Also, you get discounts on hotels and purchases throughout the park as an annual passholder, meaning you break-even quicker than what I just showed you. But to break down those numbers would require a much more in-depth analysis and I think you get the picture.

via GIPHY

I hope this helped you make your decision! Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter or follow us on Instagram and Facebook for more tips and information on Disney! If you have any suggestions for another topic you would like me to discuss, by all means, let us know!