We have travelled several times to Disney World and for the past year we have lived 45 minutes from it (we are moving Monday back to Michigan so it will be awhile before we get to return).
We have gone several times during the last year and thought I would chime in for souviners…..if your kids are younger and love the characters then purchase a autograph book and pen (you could even purchase a non disney one before you leave), my kids also love the smashed pennies….they are all over, in every park and many of the resorts….we purchased little booklets for them to go in and the kids still love to look them over.
Another tip is…if you chose a hotel off site, without transportation to Disney, daily parking is now $9 each day.
To me thats a lot to park you car for the day in a parking lot. We always stay on site so we can have the transportation, thats something that we found we missed when we drove from home. Park ticket prices do not change according to the season but hotel prices certainly do.
Sept-Oct are usually less expensive (but it is hurricane season and you might have some rainy days, occasionally they do shut down if a hurricane is close). Jan-early Feb is also a good time to go. Week days are much better during these times too, weekends bring out a lot of us locals!
As do days when school is out of session. We went several times on a Friday when there was no school and found it horribly busy!
Have fun!