Coop chats with Brent Hardie, Plan Disney Panelist on Walt Disney World Vacation Planning Tips
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00:00Hey, it's Coop with Big 98. One live at the most magical place on Earth. Walt Disney World.
00:04Remember, you can win your vacation at big 98 one dot com. But you also want to continue
00:08to come back here because trust me, I've been lucky enough to come to Disney World with
00:12my family five times now. And every time it just gets better and better. There are more
00:16memories that are made, especially as the kids age up and they can do some of the things
00:19that maybe they can't do when they're younger. So you have to plan your vacation. And that's
00:23why we've got Brent here. He is the master on planning your Disney vacation. Let's start
00:27from the beginning. How do you get started with that?
00:29I get started by just researching where I want to stay. Picking the right resort is,
00:33I think, the most important thing. You can base it off of theming. You can base it off
00:37of proximity to the parks. So they have something for everybody here. But that's where my family
00:42and I like to start. We like to kind of pick out the perfect resort for us.
00:45It's interesting you say that because we've stayed at the Grand Floridian before. Magic
00:47Kingdom's right there. We've stayed at the Boardwalk before, which has access to Epcot's
00:52right there. So if you want that proximity, that's awesome. But if you want the theming
00:56of Animal Kingdom, where we are now, that's an incredible experience in and of itself.
00:59And that's why I say you got to continue to come back and plan because there's a different
01:03experience and a different memory every time you come if you go to different places.
01:07All right. So let's say, for instance, let's take my family. It's a family of five. I got
01:11kids who are 12, 11, and 6. My wife and I, obviously, we're wanting to plan our vacation.
01:15What kind of tips do you have for us?
01:17I would take a look at something like a family suite at Art of Animation. It's got a lot
01:21of room, separate living and sleeping area. Beyond that, I would kind of take a look at
01:25what your kids are most interested in and then base your trip off of that. So right
01:29now, in my situation, my kids are into Star Wars. So we gravitate towards Hollywood Studios
01:34quite a bit. My littlest one is into the animals. So we will plan a day specifically for him
01:38at Animal Kingdom Park. So I base all of my trips kind of where the kids are in that specific
01:44age group. And then we just kind of switch it up and we remain flexible so that we always
01:48can just kind of pivot where we need to based on how the kids are throughout the trip.
01:51Your website is so handy, so helpful. And you really can kind of get an overview of
01:55here are all of your options. Here are all the things that you can do. And you can sort
01:59of plug and play and see a price adjustment and kind of make it fit your budget, make
02:03it fit kind of however many boxes you want to check, right?
02:06Exactly. Yeah, there's something for everybody and for every budget. So it's really a great
02:10tool to use. And then in addition to the Walt Disney World website, you have resources like
02:15Plan Disney, which I'm a part of. And that's where you can ask guests just like yourself
02:20what you need to do for a specific vacation. And since we've been here, we kind of know
02:24the inside tips and tricks. We can share a personalized response to a question that you
02:27have when planning your vacation to help you out.
02:29We talked about the resorts and sort of planning that out. Let's talk about food and dining
02:33because you have a bunch of options there as well.
02:35Absolutely. You have character dining, you have signature table service, you have grab
02:39and go. There's something for everybody at every budget and whatever suits your taste
02:43at the moment.
02:44I'd also like the fact that because we've gone on there and planned our vacation before
02:48where you can see sort of the price, you can put down a deposit right away and then sort
02:53of kind of see, all right, this is how much we need to get to this point to make it happen.
02:58You guys really make it as easy and affordable for any price range that someone has, right?
03:02Absolutely. Yeah. You can book your vacation package, you put down your deposit, and then
03:06you have up until I believe about 30 days prior to your vacation starting before you
03:10have to pay that balance.
03:11So for me, I like to plan about a year out in advance by picking my resort and my tickets.
03:16And then every little bit I can, I just chip away at that balance and make it so affordable
03:20when we get here.
03:21That's the way to do it.
03:22Brent, thank you so much.
03:23Make sure you plan your dream Disney vacation.
03:24Take your family here.
03:25It is an unbelievable place.
03:26You know that.
03:27It's the most magical place on earth.
03:28And those memories, they last a lifetime.