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Originally Posted by Palm Desert Babe
To answer ur question BGW4SC, I'm gonna be staying about a week.
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A week will give you enough time to see the four parks. I typically break Epcot up into two day, spend one day each at the other three and then a day or two for loose ends (going on rides again, shopping, different restaurants, etc). That will fill most of your week. With Disneyland in my backyard I typically don't spend too much time at the Magic Kingdom (half day tops). Since it is your first time you might want to take a full day or more for comparison reasons.
I'm a foodie so the meals are important to me. For the most part the best restaurants are in the hotels. All of the deluxe resorts have at least one good to excellent dining option (signature dining experience is what they are calling them these days). Jiko at the Animal Kingdom Lodge is my personal favorite even though they lost their executive chef Annette Grey to TGI Fridays [gag]. I also really like Narcoosee's and Citricos in the Grand Floridian and Artist Point at the Wilderness Lodge. The only drawback on the signature dining experiences are the restaurants have a business casual dress code which might not be condusive with day at the parks in the heat and humidity.
As far as eating in the parks goes Epcot has the most to offer. I prefer Bistro de Paris in France -saw Paris Hilton there in May- over Chefs de France. In all honesty most of the restaurants in Epcot are good but none are great. I think Restaurant Marrakesh in Morocco is a hidden gem that most people over look. The Coral Reef in The Living Seas has great atmosphere but you can get better seafood in the hotels. The great thing about the parks is if you are on a budget you can find decent food that isn't too expensive. In fact there isn't a table service restaurant in the Animal Kingom -unless you count Rain Forest Cafe, which I don't- so you can snack on some tasty items that you might not find in Palm Desert.
My final food recommendation -at least in this post- is to make a point of going to breakfast at the Kona Cafe in the Polynesian Resort. They have a banana-stuffed French toast (Tonga Toast) that is legendary. I've had several people tell me that Elvis Presley liked it so much that he had his private chef fly down to Disney World so he could learn how to make it. Of course I have had a bunch of Elvs fanatics tell me that he ate other things for breakfast and that legend was conspired by Disney. Regardless, I think that any food tied to the legend of Elvis is usually pretty darn good.
I've never stayed off property but you should still be able to accomplish everything you set out to do. Just allow extra time to get to the parks in the morning so you don't miss any of the magic.