Disney Vacation (2 Viewers)

[Yankee23Fan]

What is the story about Harry Potter not being at Disney?

Rowling made really really stiff demands that Disney was having a hard time agreeing to. She wanted Hogwarts to be actual size, which means it would have dwarfed Cinderella's Castle, and they didn't want to do that. Everyone that worked it had to be British. I'm pretty sure she wanted it to be its own park and not put in one of the other parks and the sheer size of what it would have been would not have fit anywhere in any of the parks except maybe Animal Kingdom, but then it wouldn't have had the feel of the adventure it was supposed to be.Universal gave her almost everything she wanted and it appears that the relationship between Disney and Rowling ended or is in pretty bad shape because of it. It probably worked out best for everyone. Disney instead expanded Fantasyland and has done some other things including beginning a long term plan of updating a ton of the entire complex with newer characters from newer shows.

 

[saintsfan]

What is the story about Harry Potter not being at Disney?

Well, I heard that Rowling really wanted Harry Potter at Disney. I think she felt it fit more with Disney's thing than Universal's thing, and as I pointed out above, it really does. It seems a bit out of place at Universal IMO. However, Rowling also wanted a level of control that Disney doesn't give anybody. For example, Rowling didn't want any Disney logos or people to even be able to buy a Coke in the Harry Potter section of the park. She wanted the guests to be completely in this Harry Potter world.Universal was willing to give Rowling whatever she wanted because Harry Potter at Disney would almost be, IMO, checkmate. Disney pulled out and Universal gave in so Harry Potter is at Universal.

 

[FreeBaGeL]

We'll be headed to Disney/Universal for 3 days in early March. A Saturday/Sunday/Monday. We'll be doing Epcot, Islands of Adventure, and Universal Studios. Since I expect Monday to have the smallest crowds, which park should we do on that day? My wife is extremely interested in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and I've heard that crowds are bad at that, but Epcot seems like it gets some nasty crowds at its big attractions too. Are either going to be so crowded on the weekend that we should make sure to do that park on the Monday?

 

[Premier]

Interesting stuff. Thanks guys. I can't imagine what park Harry potter would even go in. It would be cool to see a Star Wars world at Hollywood. Almost makes too much sense.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Interesting stuff. Thanks guys. I can't imagine what park Harry potter would even go in. It would be cool to see a Star Wars world at Hollywood. Almost makes too much sense.

Potter would have had to go into Magic Kingdom or Studios, but it was way way too big in concept for the studios and it wouldn't have worked in MK because of the demands she had. The best idea was probably to built it's own mini park attached to Studios almost similar to Future World/World Showcase with EPCOT, but there is no way Disney is building anything where it can't be disney-centric. Mickey would have been in a Hogwarts cape walking around and it didn't seek like that was going to work.On the Star Wars side, they may actually be massively hypocritical and just build a 5th park that is Star Wars-centric. The Disney Universe is already mixed with Star Wars enough that it doesn't take away from either and it would make billions without trying. The problem would be the Star Wars stuff in the Studios and if they kept it or moved it. Or they could do something similar to the Harry Potter idea and build a Star Wars section of the Studios - I think the problem there though would be that it would dwarf the studios pretty easily. Overall, it's a good problem to have.

 

[saintsfan]

Interesting stuff. Thanks guys. I can't imagine what park Harry potter would even go in. It would be cool to see a Star Wars world at Hollywood. Almost makes too much sense.

I think Disney is the only one that could have given Rowling an entire park dedicated to Harry Potter, but for obvious reasons, that would have been difficult for Disney to agree to give her that much control. I can't see it in any of the existing parks either. The sheer size of Hogwarts would have dwarfed the existing park icons. Not to mention, it's not a real good idea to have an entire Disney park where there is no Disney anything and you can't even buy a Coke.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Interesting stuff. Thanks guys. I can't imagine what park Harry potter would even go in. It would be cool to see a Star Wars world at Hollywood. Almost makes too much sense.

I think Disney is the only one that could have given Rowling an entire park dedicated to Harry Potter, but for obvious reasons, that would have been difficult for Disney to agree to give her that much control. I can't see it in any of the existing parks either. The sheer size of Hogwarts would have dwarfed the existing park icons. Not to mention, it's not a real good idea to have an entire Disney park where there is no Disney anything and you can't even buy a Coke.

If I remember the rumblings right (and it's been awhile) there some talk of putting it in Animal Kingdom and allowing the focus of it to be all the weird creatures and the forest and whatnot so that it kinda fit into Animal Kingdom. But I don't think it would have worked if it was ever seriously considered.

 

[Godsbrother]

We'll be headed to Disney/Universal for 3 days in early March. A Saturday/Sunday/Monday. We'll be doing Epcot, Islands of Adventure, and Universal Studios. Since I expect Monday to have the smallest crowds, which park should we do on that day? My wife is extremely interested in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and I've heard that crowds are bad at that, but Epcot seems like it gets some nasty crowds at its big attractions too. Are either going to be so crowded on the weekend that we should make sure to do that park on the Monday?

You should be good at EPCOT on the weekend. Just make sure to be there 15-20 minutes before opening and head straight to Soarin' to get a fast pass and then go immediately to ride Test Track (or vice verse). After that you can tour EPCOT at your leisure.I would probably do Islands of Adventure on Monday.March is a very busy time so it will be tough to avoid all of the crowds. The #1 rule for any of the parks is to arrive early and hit the top attractions first.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

We'll be headed to Disney/Universal for 3 days in early March. A Saturday/Sunday/Monday. We'll be doing Epcot, Islands of Adventure, and Universal Studios. Since I expect Monday to have the smallest crowds, which park should we do on that day? My wife is extremely interested in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and I've heard that crowds are bad at that, but Epcot seems like it gets some nasty crowds at its big attractions too. Are either going to be so crowded on the weekend that we should make sure to do that park on the Monday?

Never been there is March so can't help. EPCOT is a unique park though. While it may be packed at the 3 big attractions, it's spaced out enough and offers so many different things that it might not be that bad.

 

[Bruce Dickinson]

What is the story about Harry Potter not being at Disney?

Rowling made really really stiff demands that Disney was having a hard time agreeing to. She wanted Hogwarts to be actual size, which means it would have dwarfed Cinderella's Castle, and they didn't want to do that. Everyone that worked it had to be British. I'm pretty sure she wanted it to be its own park and not put in one of the other parks and the sheer size of what it would have been would not have fit anywhere in any of the parks except maybe Animal Kingdom, but then it wouldn't have had the feel of the adventure it was supposed to be.Universal gave her almost everything she wanted and it appears that the relationship between Disney and Rowling ended or is in pretty bad shape because of it. It probably worked out best for everyone. Disney instead expanded Fantasyland and has done some other things including beginning a long term plan of updating a ton of the entire complex with newer characters from newer shows.

Couple of legends about the negotiations that I really hope are true:* After JK Rowling and Disney reached an impasse, Rowling took a detour on her way to the airport and just showed up at Universal Orlando unannounced and without advance notice to open negotiations for HP theme park rights. Given what we know about gazillion dollar negotiations in general and Rowling in particular, I doubt this is true. But I want it to be.* Michael Eisner was furious about not getting a deal done with Rowling, and tried to buy Scholastic Books to backdoor his way into HP rights. He couldn't convince the beancounters that a few billion for declining properties in a dying industry was worth purchasing just to get a Harry Potter section into Walt Disney World. Given how meticulous Rowling has been about the HP section at IOA and the one under construction at USO, I highly doubt buying the HP's publisher would have given Disney the rights and control they wanted over the characters.

 

[saintsfan]

We'll be headed to Disney/Universal for 3 days in early March. A Saturday/Sunday/Monday. We'll be doing Epcot, Islands of Adventure, and Universal Studios. Since I expect Monday to have the smallest crowds, which park should we do on that day? My wife is extremely interested in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and I've heard that crowds are bad at that, but Epcot seems like it gets some nasty crowds at its big attractions too. Are either going to be so crowded on the weekend that we should make sure to do that park on the Monday?

Universal is not nearly as busy as Disney. Even the Harry Potter attraction just seemed like any reasonably busy day at Magic Kingdom. It never went to 120 minutes like I see Soarin' go to every time I've ever been at Epcot. The rest of the park, the lines were sometimes long, but not Disney long. We did single rider a couple of times only because we had only one day at Universal and didn't want to waste 45 minutes.I would tour Universal on the weekend and Epcot on Monday if it was me. Get to Epcot when the rope drops and immediately head to Soarin and get a Fast Pass or ride it if the wait is 20 minutes or less. Then go do Test Track and Mission Space, Test Track first. Once you get those three big ones done, the rest of the day should just fall in your lap.

 

[saintsfan]

We'll be headed to Disney/Universal for 3 days in early March. A Saturday/Sunday/Monday. We'll be doing Epcot, Islands of Adventure, and Universal Studios. Since I expect Monday to have the smallest crowds, which park should we do on that day? My wife is extremely interested in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and I've heard that crowds are bad at that, but Epcot seems like it gets some nasty crowds at its big attractions too. Are either going to be so crowded on the weekend that we should make sure to do that park on the Monday?

You should be good at EPCOT on the weekend. Just make sure to be there 15-20 minutes before opening and head straight to Soarin' to get a fast pass and then go immediately to ride Test Track (or vice verse). After that you can tour EPCOT at your leisure.I would probably do Islands of Adventure on Monday.March is a very busy time so it will be tough to avoid all of the crowds. The #1 rule for any of the parks is to arrive early and hit the top attractions first.

Godsbrother is correct. The #1 rule for Disney (especially Disney) and probably any theme park is arrive EARLY. If you can get the big attractions done in the first 90 minutes, the rest of the day, you'll be ahead of most of the crowds trying to get to the big attractions. There are never long waits for shows so save them for later in the day. It works out better because you'll be more tired and you'll have some sitting time for the shows. If you arrive early, you can sometimes even head back to your resort for some R&R and head back to the parks later in the afternoon.

 

[Bruce Dickinson]

Interesting stuff. Thanks guys. I can't imagine what park Harry potter would even go in. It would be cool to see a Star Wars world at Hollywood. Almost makes too much sense.

Disney recently transferred the person who ran the day-to-day development of Carsland to DHS. Her rumored project is re-purposing the land covering the Backlot Tour (which sucks) and the car stunt show (which is too expensive for an attraction that doesn't move the needle) into a new single awesome section. There's enough real estate to recreate Carsland in that space and could connect with the Pixar section, but Lassiter is protective of Carsland and DCA. I'm just spitballing here, but that space would be perfect for some badass Star Wars ####.

 

[Premier]

Interesting stuff. Thanks guys. I can't imagine what park Harry potter would even go in. It would be cool to see a Star Wars world at Hollywood. Almost makes too much sense.

Disney recently transferred the person who ran the day-to-day development of Carsland to DHS. Her rumored project is re-purposing the land covering the Backlot Tour (which sucks) and the car stunt show (which is too expensive for an attraction that doesn't move the needle) into a new single awesome section. There's enough real estate to recreate Carsland in that space and could connect with the Pixar section, but Lassiter is protective of Carsland and DCA. I'm just spitballing here, but that space would be perfect for some badass Star Wars ####.

Seems like it would be easy to connect that space. Backlot, the car show and the lame Muppets show (which could be so much better) could all be wiped to give you that whole area.

 

[AcerFC]

Interesting stuff. Thanks guys. I can't imagine what park Harry potter would even go in. It would be cool to see a Star Wars world at Hollywood. Almost makes too much sense.

Disney recently transferred the person who ran the day-to-day development of Carsland to DHS. Her rumored project is re-purposing the land covering the Backlot Tour (which sucks) and the car stunt show (which is too expensive for an attraction that doesn't move the needle) into a new single awesome section. There's enough real estate to recreate Carsland in that space and could connect with the Pixar section, but Lassiter is protective of Carsland and DCA. I'm just spitballing here, but that space would be perfect for some badass Star Wars ####.

the backlot tour is a huge waste of time. We never go on it. Nothing can beat the backlot tour at Universal CA because they actually film movies there even when the bus is coming through. Would love to see more star wars stuff there. Or, they can move Pizza Planet and the muppets movie and build the star wars closer to Star Tours. I think Carsland stays as CA only since that is a big draw there

 

[Disco Stu]

Star Wars rumors

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Star Wars rumors

Could work, but I don't know if it is big enough. And then can easily link the two areas together if they have to. In fact, there is actually a ton of room back there. They could blow out into the woods behind the current STar Tours area, and use that as the main entrance to the Star Wars land and take out the back lot tour and go really really farther back. The only hinderance would be the main entrance to the park that actually runs into that area, so they would have to re-run the road - not to mention expand it because the Studios would become a ton more crowded with a Star Wars area. They could, in all realty, build it as big as they want and it could expand almost all the way to the Pop Century resort which is the only closest complex to that side of the park. There is enough room in between the two for a whole new Studios complex, parking and all - so the room is there.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Star Wars rumors

You'd have to think they'll focus a lot of it on the movie they release, but so many opportunities from the original that they could capitalize on. If I can't order a boozy fluroescent blue drink that smokes in the Mos Eisley Cantina while listening to a live band that looks like a freakshow, I'm going to be highly disappointed.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Star Wars rumors

Could work, but I don't know if it is big enough. And then can easily link the two areas together if they have to. In fact, there is actually a ton of room back there. They could blow out into the woods behind the current STar Tours area, and use that as the main entrance to the Star Wars land and take out the back lot tour and go really really farther back. The only hinderance would be the main entrance to the park that actually runs into that area, so they would have to re-run the road - not to mention expand it because the Studios would become a ton more crowded with a Star Wars area. They could, in all realty, build it as big as they want and it could expand almost all the way to the Pop Century resort which is the only closest complex to that side of the park. There is enough room in between the two for a whole new Studios complex, parking and all - so the room is there.

I've got it - how cool would this be?Keep Star Tours where it is, only re-que the entrance to that you have to go into the store first. Make this the main and only entrance to the new Star Wars land. You have to get into the Star Tours "shuttle" to get there. The reprogrammed ride is awesome, and it ends with you delivering the rebel spy to wherever they had to go. When you exit the ride you enter Star Wars land just like you crashed there. Now granted, each of the Star Tours has a different ending and you could be on one of 4 or 5 planets, but there is an easy way to deal with that I'm sure. That would be really cool.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Star Wars rumors

You'd have to think they'll focus a lot of it on the movie they release, but so many opportunities from the original that they could capitalize on. If I can't order a boozy fluroescent blue drink that smokes in the Mos Eisley Cantina while listening to a live band that looks like a freakshow, I'm going to be highly disappointed.

Yeah, see this is why it almost needs to be its own park - then you can break it up into Tantooeneland (space port, Luke's house, Jawa's, Jobba the hut, pod race ride) Hothville (all wintery like) Dagoba (all rainforest like) Naboo (this is where they will stick Jar Jar stuff - you know he will be there) and Death Starville. 5 separate areas all with their own unique rides or attractions. That would be sweet.

 

[Disco Stu]

Star Wars rumors

You'd have to think they'll focus a lot of it on the movie they release, but so many opportunities from the original that they could capitalize on. If I can't order a boozy fluroescent blue drink that smokes in the Mos Eisley Cantina while listening to a live band that looks like a freakshow, I'm going to be highly disappointed.

Yeah, see this is why it almost needs to be its own park - then you can break it up into Tantooeneland (space port, Luke's house, Jawa's, Jobba the hut, pod race ride) Hothville (all wintery like) Dagoba (all rainforest like) Naboo (this is where they will stick Jar Jar stuff - you know he will be there) and Death Starville. 5 separate areas all with their own unique rides or attractions. That would be sweet.

I like it. Though Endor gets the nod over Dagoba imo. And probably Coruscant instead of Naboo. Jedi Temple as the park's central icon?

 

[saintsfan]

Star Wars rumors

You'd have to think they'll focus a lot of it on the movie they release, but so many opportunities from the original that they could capitalize on. If I can't order a boozy fluroescent blue drink that smokes in the Mos Eisley Cantina while listening to a live band that looks like a freakshow, I'm going to be highly disappointed.

Yeah, see this is why it almost needs to be its own park - then you can break it up into Tantooeneland (space port, Luke's house, Jawa's, Jobba the hut, pod race ride) Hothville (all wintery like) Dagoba (all rainforest like) Naboo (this is where they will stick Jar Jar stuff - you know he will be there) and Death Starville. 5 separate areas all with their own unique rides or attractions. That would be sweet.

I like it. Though Endor gets the nod over Dagoba imo. And probably Coruscant instead of Naboo. Jedi Temple as the park's central icon?

I was going to say the Death Star, but now that I think about it, that's a bit too much like Spaceship Earth...

 

[Disco Stu]

Woah

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Woah

Just put a dent into the bottom of my desk.

 

[Premier]

For the hell of it I looked up prices to the Disney vacation club today. Who is this catering to? $23,000 one-time fee and $975 annual fee. I mean what is the benefit to it? You'd have to go through a LOT of Disney vacations to earn that back.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

For the hell of it I looked up prices to the Disney vacation club today. Who is this catering to? $23,000 one-time fee and $975 annual fee. I mean what is the benefit to it? You'd have to go through a LOT of Disney vacations to earn that back.

We finally broke down and bought in, but I didn't go through Disney, I bought someone else's points. When we were looking it was $15,000.00 up front or you could finance it. The annual fee depends greatly on the hotel that is your main one. I think they are selling Bay Lake right now which is the most expensive.We bought 75 points from someone who had them at Old Key West. 75 points basically ends up being one week when we usually go. I will make my money back on that purchase after going about 5 or 6 times, and we obviously will do that because we go every year. To me, it's basically paying in advance a few years at a set number and since we go every year it worked for us.There are benefits too. They did a thing this year for DVC members where they gave a massive discount for the gold standard annual pass that has everything included in it. So we can do the water parks, Disney Quest, and even golf for free (or at least, included in our pass). Stuff like that for members is a nice perk.Also, the prices recently increased because they attached DVC to the RIA timeshares around the world or whatever their name is. So you can now use your Disney points for places all over the world and not just Disney resorts. We aren't into that, but again, nice perk.

 

[GreekFreak]

For the hell of it I looked up prices to the Disney vacation club today. Who is this catering to? $23,000 one-time fee and $975 annual fee. I mean what is the benefit to it? You'd have to go through a LOT of Disney vacations to earn that back.

We finally broke down and bought in, but I didn't go through Disney, I bought someone else's points. When we were looking it was $15,000.00 up front or you could finance it. The annual fee depends greatly on the hotel that is your main one. I think they are selling Bay Lake right now which is the most expensive.We bought 75 points from someone who had them at Old Key West. 75 points basically ends up being one week when we usually go. I will make my money back on that purchase after going about 5 or 6 times, and we obviously will do that because we go every year. To me, it's basically paying in advance a few years at a set number and since we go every year it worked for us.There are benefits too. They did a thing this year for DVC members where they gave a massive discount for the gold standard annual pass that has everything included in it. So we can do the water parks, Disney Quest, and even golf for free (or at least, included in our pass). Stuff like that for members is a nice perk.Also, the prices recently increased because they attached DVC to the RIA timeshares around the world or whatever their name is. So you can now use your Disney points for places all over the world and not just Disney resorts. We aren't into that, but again, nice perk.

We own at Bay Lake Tower, we have gone 5 times and stayed in a 2 bedroom for a week. Not sure what the "rack" rate would be if you tried paying cash for that. I like having the extra room and since our kids are still little, we figured we get alot of use out of the DVC memberhsip.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

For the hell of it I looked up prices to the Disney vacation club today. Who is this catering to? $23,000 one-time fee and $975 annual fee. I mean what is the benefit to it? You'd have to go through a LOT of Disney vacations to earn that back.

We finally broke down and bought in, but I didn't go through Disney, I bought someone else's points. When we were looking it was $15,000.00 up front or you could finance it. The annual fee depends greatly on the hotel that is your main one. I think they are selling Bay Lake right now which is the most expensive.We bought 75 points from someone who had them at Old Key West. 75 points basically ends up being one week when we usually go. I will make my money back on that purchase after going about 5 or 6 times, and we obviously will do that because we go every year. To me, it's basically paying in advance a few years at a set number and since we go every year it worked for us.There are benefits too. They did a thing this year for DVC members where they gave a massive discount for the gold standard annual pass that has everything included in it. So we can do the water parks, Disney Quest, and even golf for free (or at least, included in our pass). Stuff like that for members is a nice perk.Also, the prices recently increased because they attached DVC to the RIA timeshares around the world or whatever their name is. So you can now use your Disney points for places all over the world and not just Disney resorts. We aren't into that, but again, nice perk.

We own at Bay Lake Tower, we have gone 5 times and stayed in a 2 bedroom for a week. Not sure what the "rack" rate would be if you tried paying cash for that. I like having the extra room and since our kids are still little we see ourselves going to Florida once or twice a year.

Depending on the time of year, anywhere from $900-$1200 a night

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Rack rate for us at OKW when we go is about $450-$500 a night roughly. Initially though, no one ever pays rack rate. There are so many deals and packages that if you did you are a moron, but just going from that... If it's $400 a night and we stay for 7 nights that is $2,800 for the room. I'll have that paid with my DVC in another 2 years, so for the next 30 my room is free, except for the $500 a year I have to pay for annual dues. Fine by me.

 

[Premier]

Good stuff. What about cruises? We are taking one in October and laid out 3.5 racks for it.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Good stuff. What about cruises? We are taking one in October and laid out 3.5 racks for it.

You can use DVC for their cruises. But the point system is crazy. It's a ton of points. the rack rate is pretty similar to the high end hotels on the DW site I think.

 

[glvsav37]

Good stuff. What about cruises? We are taking one in October and laid out 3.5 racks for it.

You can use DVC for their cruises. But the point system is crazy. It's a ton of points. the rack rate is pretty similar to the high end hotels on the DW site I think.

The DVC points for the cruises is crazy by the cruise s basically all-inclusive with the food and entertainment You don't get that in the parks. DVC member here too (230 at OKW) but we bought resale too and only cost us $13k, would have been over 2x that straight from DizWhere you potentially lose with DVC Is the free dining when they offer it We can't travel off season so it was a non issue to us.

 

[AAABatteries]

I know it won't happen but what I'd like to see is two new parksStar Wars - with everything you guys mentioned. I guess Star Wars land in HS is an ok consolation but there's so much they can and should do with SW they really need a separate park.Pixar World - this one is a pipe dream - you already have Nemo and Bugs Life at AK; Toy Story, Monsters Inc. at MK; Nemo at Epcot; Toy Story at HS plus the character greetings. I know this wont happen but there is still plenty they could do with Pixar Stuff and IMO they could easily move all of those attractions to a new park and replace them with more classic stories. You could just turn HS in to Pixar world but you'd have to completely redo it and what do you do with TOT and RnR? Now that I'm moving stuff lets go all the way:- Star Wars World and Pixar World exist- Close American Idol and Sounds Dangerous. Nobody will care and I know it has nothing to do with what we are discussing but they need to go- Star Tours goes to Star Wars world - replace it with a Wall-E simulator or ride. ETA - obvious screwup here. Just move it and worry about WALL-E attraction at Pixar World- Jedi training goes too- Indiana Jones stut show goes to AK- Move all Pixar rides/shows to Pixar World.- the one exception I have is Bugs life movie in the Tree of Life - to me it fits too perfectly to move. I think everything else can move without much fuss.- I'm not sure what replaces the two attractions in Tomorrowland but I can't think of everything- Move Aquarium to Animal Kingdom and put it where the Nemo show is leaving; rebrand turtle talk with Sebastian?- Close raceway at MK and put it at Pixar World rebranded as Cars ride; use this space to further expand Fantasyland, Mermaid and/or Belle show from HS could move here.- Pixar World already has some great attractions - Toy Story Mania, Buzz ride - have Cars land (screw DCA), Ratatouille is a sit down restaurant, Pizza Planet goes here. You could make an awesome ride out of the doors scene from the Monster Inc. Plenty of material to make an entre park IMO.- I've basically stripped HS so there's a lot to fill but lots of possibilities - you can expand the Muppets area or get rid of it - my vote would be to expand but that may be my nostalga talking. I'd stick with the overall classic Disney/ old school. Disney animation, TOT, 50's dinner. Maybe make it more adult oriented; maybe add more coasters; lots of possibilities that could happen.I have no clue why I typed all this out but it's what I'd like to see happen. You end up with 6 parks instead of 4 but to me they are themed "better" with these changes. It will NEVER happen but nice to think about and discuss. The big problem with my scenario is you've gutted HS but it doesn't flow well AT ALL and something needs to change.

 

[AAABatteries]

Created a Disney Countdown clock for the kidshttp://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/generic?iso=20130405T07&p0=867&msg=Disney+Countdown45 days to go.

 

[Disco Stu]

Good stuff. What about cruises? We are taking one in October and laid out 3.5 racks for it.

Just in case you weren't already aware, Disney cruises allow passengers to carry on alcohol.

 

[FreeBaGeL]

Looking to book 1 or 2 Disney restaurants for our trip down to Disney/Universal. Less than a month out so O'hana and Le Cellier are all booked up, of course. What are the next best options? Looking at only the ones with 5/5 rating on Tripadvisor, all of the following have availability (as well as several of the others).Yachtsman SteakhouseKona CaféFlying Fish CaféBomaJikoCitricosWhen the big 2 are booked, what do you guys usually go after?ETA: There isn't really any type of food that we dislike. Location probably isn't too big an issue as we'll have a car and our Disney dining days will probably be days we're at Universal parks anyway (other than if the restaurant is in Epcot, as obviously we'd have to do that on our Epcot day).ETA2: Adults only at dinner.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Looking to book 1 or 2 Disney restaurants for our trip down to Disney/Universal. Less than a month out so O'hana and Le Cellier are all booked up, of course. What are the next best options? Looking at only the ones with 5/5 rating on Tripadvisor, all of the following have availability (as well as several of the others).Yachtsman SteakhouseKona CaféFlying Fish CaféBomaJikoCitricosWhen the big 2 are booked, what do you guys usually go after?ETA: There isn't really any type of food that we dislike.

Kona is pretty good. I'm a fan of the Liberty Tree in MK. It's not special, but it's just good old fashioned american food. I would stand outside LeCellier and beg frankly. The new Italian place is pretty good.

 

[roarlions]

Looking to book 1 or 2 Disney restaurants for our trip down to Disney/Universal. Less than a month out so O'hana and Le Cellier are all booked up, of course. What are the next best options? Looking at only the ones with 5/5 rating on Tripadvisor, all of the following have availability (as well as several of the others).Yachtsman SteakhouseKona CaféFlying Fish CaféBomaJikoCitricosWhen the big 2 are booked, what do you guys usually go after?ETA: There isn't really any type of food that we dislike. Location probably isn't too big an issue as we'll have a car and our Disney dining days will probably be days we're at Universal parks anyway (other than if the restaurant is in Epcot, as obviously we'd have to do that on our Epcot day).ETA2: Adults only at dinner.

We usually have dinner at Boma once per trip. Pretty great buffet.

 

[Clawyer]

2/28-3/6Can't come soon enough. Really looking forward to O'hana. Bringing the folks down with us this time so we can sneak away a few times too. It's a surprise and we are not telling the kids until we get to the airport. Any cool ideas on how we should break it to them?

 

[The Ref]

2/28-3/6Can't come soon enough. Really looking forward to O'hana. Bringing the folks down with us this time so we can sneak away a few times too. It's a surprise and we are not telling the kids until we get to the airport. Any cool ideas on how we should break it to them?

tell them your going to a cardboard convention or something for work and there might be a pool or something if they are lucky. Then buy some personalized mickey ears and give them to them at the airport. hey will freak the F out.

 

[AAABatteries]

2/28-3/6Can't come soon enough. Really looking forward to O'hana. Bringing the folks down with us this time so we can sneak away a few times too. It's a surprise and we are not telling the kids until we get to the airport. Any cool ideas on how we should break it to them?

We ordered the free park maps from the Disney website. We were driving and left early on a Sat morning. Wife and I packed and had everything ready - around 6am when we were ready to leave we woke them up and had them head downstairs - my older two were like, WTF?, the younger two were kind of out of it at first. Told them we had a surprise - they each had a bag with a map and a embroidered Mickey shirt (my wife sews). They all freaked out and we told them they had 10 minutes to get dressed to leave to head to Mickey's house.That was one of the times we've been. This time we told them ahead of time so they can be saving for souvenirs and help do the planning. They get a kick out of it like I do.

 

[baaloc1968]

Looking to book 1 or 2 Disney restaurants for our trip down to Disney/Universal. Less than a month out so O'hana and Le Cellier are all booked up, of course. What are the next best options? Looking at only the ones with 5/5 rating on Tripadvisor, all of the following have availability (as well as several of the others).Yachtsman SteakhouseKona CaféFlying Fish CaféBomaJikoCitricosWhen the big 2 are booked, what do you guys usually go after?ETA: There isn't really any type of food that we dislike. Location probably isn't too big an issue as we'll have a car and our Disney dining days will probably be days we're at Universal parks anyway (other than if the restaurant is in Epcot, as obviously we'd have to do that on our Epcot day).ETA2: Adults only at dinner.

Of that list, I've eaten at Yachtsman, Boma and Jiko. All were very good. I think Le Cellier was a better steak than Yachtsman. Boma was good for a buffet. Jiko had great braised short beef ribs.

 

[Godsbrother]

2/28-3/6Can't come soon enough. Really looking forward to O'hana. Bringing the folks down with us this time so we can sneak away a few times too. It's a surprise and we are not telling the kids until we get to the airport. Any cool ideas on how we should break it to them?

We pulled the Disney surprise twice when our kids were growing up. Once we told them we had to get up early to make it to my niece's christening. We got them up at 5:00 AM on a Saturday morning which they were not enthused about. We got in the car and drove to the airport and my middle son was the only one paying attention. When he saw us pull into the airport he figured out we weren't driving to Philadelphia and got very excited. This got the other kids out of their trance and they guessed we going to Disney World. Lots of fun.The second time we just pulled the kids out of school half-day and told them to get in the car because we had to catch a flight to Orlando. It was really cool to do it this way too.There were times where we let them help plan and save up for the trip too and they enjoyed that as well. In short I don't think there is a bad way to tell kids they are going to Disney World.

 

[AcerFC]

2/28-3/6Can't come soon enough. Really looking forward to O'hana. Bringing the folks down with us this time so we can sneak away a few times too. It's a surprise and we are not telling the kids until we get to the airport. Any cool ideas on how we should break it to them?

We pulled the Disney surprise twice when our kids were growing up. Once we told them we had to get up early to make it to my niece's christening. We got them up at 5:00 AM on a Saturday morning which they were not enthused about. We got in the car and drove to the airport and my middle son was the only one paying attention. When he saw us pull into the airport he figured out we weren't driving to Philadelphia and got very excited. This got the other kids out of their trance and they guessed we going to Disney World. Lots of fun.The second time we just pulled the kids out of school half-day and told them to get in the car because we had to catch a flight to Orlando. It was really cool to do it this way too.There were times where we let them help plan and save up for the trip too and they enjoyed that as well. In short I don't think there is a bad way to tell kids they are going to Disney World.

We were supposed to leave and surprise them on a Tuesday morning. But then Sandy came and we left on a Sunday night to beat the storm out. We told them at the airport. They were psyched. And of course my know it all 5 year old insisted she knew the whole time. We did nothing special but it was still exciting for them

 

[Clawyer]

Checked in and ready to enjoy Ohana.

 

[parasaurolophus]

2/28-3/6Can't come soon enough. Really looking forward to O'hana. Bringing the folks down with us this time so we can sneak away a few times too. It's a surprise and we are not telling the kids until we get to the airport. Any cool ideas on how we should break it to them?

We pulled the Disney surprise twice when our kids were growing up. Once we told them we had to get up early to make it to my niece's christening. We got them up at 5:00 AM on a Saturday morning which they were not enthused about. We got in the car and drove to the airport and my middle son was the only one paying attention. When he saw us pull into the airport he figured out we weren't driving to Philadelphia and got very excited. This got the other kids out of their trance and they guessed we going to Disney World. Lots of fun.The second time we just pulled the kids out of school half-day and told them to get in the car because we had to catch a flight to Orlando. It was really cool to do it this way too.There were times where we let them help plan and save up for the trip too and they enjoyed that as well. In short I don't think there is a bad way to tell kids they are going to Disney World.

For as much fun as I think this would be in the moment, I would never trade how much fun we have planning these trips. We are heading back April 19th and we have already made like ten itineraries. We never stick to any of them, but it is sure fun.

 

[parasaurolophus]

If anybody is interested, I purchased a year long subscription to one of the crowd level places. I would be happy to look at whatever dates anybody wants to PM me and let you know which parks are the best/worst for those dates.

 

[Native]

Any suggestions for Disney Resorts for a family of five? I noticed that they jack the prices up if you have three kids vs two I really dont see why the cost of a room at Disney All star Resort is $142/nt with two adults + two kids but, if I add my three year old to the mix the price skyrockets to $362/nt.

 

[Plaid Boxer]

Any suggestions for Disney Resorts for a family of five? I noticed that they jack the prices up if you have three kids vs two I really dont see why the cost of a room at Disney All star Resort is $142/nt with two adults + two kids but, if I add my three year old to the mix the price skyrockets to $362/nt.

Wyndham Bonnet Creek. Booked here vacationupgrades.com and just did a second stay, this time for 8 nights with a family of 5. On Disney property, just not a Disney hotel. We love all the space of a 2 bedroom at a fraction of the Disney cost.

 

[Godsbrother]

Any suggestions for Disney Resorts for a family of five? I noticed that they jack the prices up if you have three kids vs two I really dont see why the cost of a room at Disney All star Resort is $142/nt with two adults + two kids but, if I add my three year old to the mix the price skyrockets to $362/nt.

Disney says that a regular room at an All Star can accomodate 4 adults + 1 child under 3 in a crib. They aren't jacking the prices cause you have a 3 year old -- the increase in price is because they are moving you up to a suite. To be truthful regular rooms at the All Stars are pretty small. A family of 5 would not be comfortable sharing one.Note: the prices you are quoting seem to be rack rates. Disney almost always is offering some sort of package deals. Also look into booking via a travel agent or AAA -- you might save some cash.