Disney Vacation (7 Viewers)

[AcerFC]

driving down in august

just booked hoop de doo review and aloha dinners for family of 5, $309 each dinner.

hope they are worth it

any other reco's for dinner shows?

we did cindy's castle last time around...

and any other worthwhile apps or online guides worth the $$

thanks!

By aloha dinner do you mean, O'Hana? If so.... well my friend, I hear that is pretty good.

Doing HDD Review and O'Hana in the same trip is a almost a perfect 10 for the food portion of your vacation. Congrats on being so awesome, on being the guy that other guys want to be and who dads want their daughters to marry. I bet you use Old Spice shower wash, hunt bears with your hands and Diet Dr. Pepper and use Duralast batteries in your car.

No, he is talking about Spirit of aloha

I did not think it was worth 300 bucks tbh

 

[Mr. Ected]

driving down in august

just booked hoop de doo review and aloha dinners for family of 5, $309 each dinner.

hope they are worth it

any other reco's for dinner shows?

we did cindy's castle last time around...

and any other worthwhile apps or online guides worth the $$

thanks!

Not a 'show,' but the dinner at the Whispering Canyon Cafe is fun. Depending on the age of the kids, younger is better. And have them as for a bottle of ketchup!

 

[AcerFC]

driving down in august

just booked hoop de doo review and aloha dinners for family of 5, $309 each dinner.

hope they are worth it

any other reco's for dinner shows?

we did cindy's castle last time around...

and any other worthwhile apps or online guides worth the $$

thanks!

Not a 'show,' but the dinner at the Whispering Canyon Cafe is fun. Depending on the age of the kids, younger is better. And have them as for a bottle of ketchup!

I second this. Had a fantastic time there. I would replace the Spirit show with this or Ohana. Better food in both places

 

[Mr. Ected]

driving down in august

just booked hoop de doo review and aloha dinners for family of 5, $309 each dinner.

hope they are worth it

any other reco's for dinner shows?

we did cindy's castle last time around...

and any other worthwhile apps or online guides worth the $$

thanks!

Not a 'show,' but the dinner at the Whispering Canyon Cafe is fun. Depending on the age of the kids, younger is better. And have them as for a bottle of ketchup!

I second this. Had a fantastic time there. I would replace the Spirit show with this or Ohana. Better food in both places

Less $$$ too!

 

[Disco Stu]

Hoop De Doo Review is awesome. The show has been running forever and still holds up. Kids thought it was hilarious.

As for the food... the fried chicken was delicious. "What's that? Beer, wine, and sangria are included?" And along with much of Disney, they now have Yuengling.

So you're sitting there enjoying a show (featuring a couple of pretty cute girls btw), kids are entertained, and you have a bucket of fried chicken and a pitcher of Yuengling sitting in front of you. This was a bargain.

 

[belljr]

I have to say as someone who hated the old fp system I like the new. We were still in beta and couldn't link our tickets ahead of time. We hit the kiosk and the helpers were great. I think HS has it in tiers where you get 1 of the big 3 then 2 others. Anyway we were lucky and the crowd was low. We were about to use our fp when one of the workers said don't bother the line is super short and we were able to go back and pick something different.

 

[mphtrilogy]

driving down in august

just booked hoop de doo review and aloha dinners for family of 5, $309 each dinner.

hope they are worth it

any other reco's for dinner shows?

we did cindy's castle last time around...

and any other worthwhile apps or online guides worth the $$

thanks!

Not a 'show,' but the dinner at the Whispering Canyon Cafe is fun. Depending on the age of the kids, younger is better. And have them as for a bottle of ketchup!

I second this. Had a fantastic time there. I would replace the Spirit show with this or Ohana. Better food in both places

thanks guys, i'll consider swapping that out instead...

 

[rodg12]

Thanks for the info on the FP+. Will definitely have to get the tickets and get them linked soon. Think our first day is June 21st. We usually go last week July/first week of August, but going a little earlier this year. How do the FP+ work? Do I print off a FP ticket or is it just linked to my park ticket?

Whats an FP?

(First time family here)

Steady: A FP+ is a "Reservation" for an attraction. You get a 1 hour window where you can go back to the attraction and go through a separate line that lasts only 0 > 15 or so min. They use to be a paper ticket you would pull outside each ride, and you could only get them day of, and hold 1 at a time. However, they revamped the system this year and now you can make 3 of them per day from home 60 days (for on site guests, 30 for off site) before you get there.

So for example, you are going to MK on your 1st day, you can reserve Big Thunder at 11am, splash mountain at 12:15 and then a meet and greet with mickey at 2. All from a special web site from home.

Once you are there, after you use your 3rd FP+, there are kiosks around the park where you can sched another FP+, and so on and so on.

Steady and Rodg: The reservation is linked to your Magic band. MB's are wrist bands that have RFID Chips in them that work as your park ticket, room key, tap-to-pay and FP+s. There is an app called "MyDisneyExperience" (web site too) that lets you track and manage all your FP+s.

If you are an on site guest, you get the magic band for free with your room reservation. Off site? I don't think they get one, you'll get a plastic card with the RFID chip that acts the same way. You can buy a MB for $20 or so at the gist shops and they will link the card with the band.

Rodg: I'd call Disney and ask how the reserving process works for off-site guests w/o tickets yet. We are annual passholders, and stay on site so we are always 'linked'

We just did all out FP+s for our July trip the other day. Its fairly easy and moving them around was no big deal. My only problem with it is, as a family with young kids, who tier easy and melt down hard, we really never know where or when we re going to be somewhere, let alone 60 days a head of time.

Thanks for all this info. WIll definitely have to get the tickets soon. Do you know how we get the plastic cards you were talking about or is that something we should call Disney about?

 

[Drifter]

Not much Disney Land talk in here. Going to be there in about 6 weeks. We'll also be doing Seaworld. SoCal City Pass gives you 3 days Disney park hopper plus magic Morning plus Sea world. We will only do 2 days at Disney and won't likely do any of the other City Pass stuff so I'm debating whether it's worth it to go that route or save around $400 and buy a 2 day Disney one park per day pass and Sea World invidiually.

Basically, is Magic Morning plus park hopper worth $300-$400? I understand the advantages of Park Hopping with the Fast Pass system but with a 5 and 3 year old, I question if we will be that productive with our time.

 

[stubby]

Hoop De Doo Review is awesome. The show has been running forever and still holds up. Kids thought it was hilarious.

As for the food... the fried chicken was delicious. "What's that? Beer, wine, and sangria are included?" And along with much of Disney, they now have Yuengling.

So you're sitting there enjoying a show (featuring a couple of pretty cute girls btw), kids are entertained, and you have a bucket of fried chicken and a pitcher of Yuengling sitting in front of you. This was a bargain.

Yup. Great experience. My 6 year old thought the show was fantastic.

We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge Villas, so we ate at Whispering Canyon Cafe twice while we were there. Agree that it's better food and value (if you can really use that word about anything at Disney) than Spirit.

 

[Disco Stu]

Thanks for the info on the FP+. Will definitely have to get the tickets and get them linked soon. Think our first day is June 21st. We usually go last week July/first week of August, but going a little earlier this year. How do the FP+ work? Do I print off a FP ticket or is it just linked to my park ticket?

Whats an FP?

(First time family here)

Steady: A FP+ is a "Reservation" for an attraction. You get a 1 hour window where you can go back to the attraction and go through a separate line that lasts only 0 > 15 or so min. They use to be a paper ticket you would pull outside each ride, and you could only get them day of, and hold 1 at a time. However, they revamped the system this year and now you can make 3 of them per day from home 60 days (for on site guests, 30 for off site) before you get there.

So for example, you are going to MK on your 1st day, you can reserve Big Thunder at 11am, splash mountain at 12:15 and then a meet and greet with mickey at 2. All from a special web site from home.

Once you are there, after you use your 3rd FP+, there are kiosks around the park where you can sched another FP+, and so on and so on.

Steady and Rodg: The reservation is linked to your Magic band. MB's are wrist bands that have RFID Chips in them that work as your park ticket, room key, tap-to-pay and FP+s. There is an app called "MyDisneyExperience" (web site too) that lets you track and manage all your FP+s.

If you are an on site guest, you get the magic band for free with your room reservation. Off site? I don't think they get one, you'll get a plastic card with the RFID chip that acts the same way. You can buy a MB for $20 or so at the gist shops and they will link the card with the band.

Rodg: I'd call Disney and ask how the reserving process works for off-site guests w/o tickets yet. We are annual passholders, and stay on site so we are always 'linked'

We just did all out FP+s for our July trip the other day. Its fairly easy and moving them around was no big deal. My only problem with it is, as a family with young kids, who tier easy and melt down hard, we really never know where or when we re going to be somewhere, let alone 60 days a head of time.

Thanks for all this info. WIll definitely have to get the tickets soon. Do you know how we get the plastic cards you were talking about or is that something we should call Disney about?

The plastic cards are your tickets.

 

[Disco Stu]

Not much Disney Land talk in here. Going to be there in about 6 weeks. We'll also be doing Seaworld. SoCal City Pass gives you 3 days Disney park hopper plus magic Morning plus Sea world. We will only do 2 days at Disney and won't likely do any of the other City Pass stuff so I'm debating whether it's worth it to go that route or save around $400 and buy a 2 day Disney one park per day pass and Sea World invidiually.

Basically, is Magic Morning plus park hopper worth $300-$400? I understand the advantages of Park Hopping with the Fast Pass system but with a 5 and 3 year old, I question if we will be that productive with our time.

I don't think so. Just make sure you go to the park that isn't offering magic morning that day.

So if Disneyland has it on Saturday and California Adventure has it on Sunday, you want to go to California Adventure on Saturday and Disneyland on Sunday. Plan to arrive twenty minutes before posted opening and you'll be fine.

 

[Billy Bats]

Hoop De Doo Review is awesome. The show has been running forever and still holds up. Kids thought it was hilarious.

As for the food... the fried chicken was delicious. "What's that? Beer, wine, and sangria are included?" And along with much of Disney, they now have Yuengling.

So you're sitting there enjoying a show (featuring a couple of pretty cute girls btw), kids are entertained, and you have a bucket of fried chicken and a pitcher of Yuengling sitting in front of you. This was a bargain.

No doubt, great post. I remember it as a kid and suggested it to the Mrs, she hadn't gone before, neither had her kids. We all went in September and they all had a blast. It might've been their favorite dinner of the trip too.

 

[rodg12]

Thanks for the info on the FP+. Will definitely have to get the tickets and get them linked soon. Think our first day is June 21st. We usually go last week July/first week of August, but going a little earlier this year. How do the FP+ work? Do I print off a FP ticket or is it just linked to my park ticket?

Whats an FP?

(First time family here)

Steady: A FP+ is a "Reservation" for an attraction. You get a 1 hour window where you can go back to the attraction and go through a separate line that lasts only 0 > 15 or so min. They use to be a paper ticket you would pull outside each ride, and you could only get them day of, and hold 1 at a time. However, they revamped the system this year and now you can make 3 of them per day from home 60 days (for on site guests, 30 for off site) before you get there.

So for example, you are going to MK on your 1st day, you can reserve Big Thunder at 11am, splash mountain at 12:15 and then a meet and greet with mickey at 2. All from a special web site from home.

Once you are there, after you use your 3rd FP+, there are kiosks around the park where you can sched another FP+, and so on and so on.

Steady and Rodg: The reservation is linked to your Magic band. MB's are wrist bands that have RFID Chips in them that work as your park ticket, room key, tap-to-pay and FP+s. There is an app called "MyDisneyExperience" (web site too) that lets you track and manage all your FP+s.

If you are an on site guest, you get the magic band for free with your room reservation. Off site? I don't think they get one, you'll get a plastic card with the RFID chip that acts the same way. You can buy a MB for $20 or so at the gist shops and they will link the card with the band.

Rodg: I'd call Disney and ask how the reserving process works for off-site guests w/o tickets yet. We are annual passholders, and stay on site so we are always 'linked'

We just did all out FP+s for our July trip the other day. Its fairly easy and moving them around was no big deal. My only problem with it is, as a family with young kids, who tier easy and melt down hard, we really never know where or when we re going to be somewhere, let alone 60 days a head of time.

Thanks for all this info. WIll definitely have to get the tickets soon. Do you know how we get the plastic cards you were talking about or is that something we should call Disney about?

The plastic cards are your tickets.

Ah, ok. Makes sense.

 

[This_Guy]

Not much Disney Land talk in here. Going to be there in about 6 weeks. We'll also be doing Seaworld. SoCal City Pass gives you 3 days Disney park hopper plus magic Morning plus Sea world. We will only do 2 days at Disney and won't likely do any of the other City Pass stuff so I'm debating whether it's worth it to go that route or save around $400 and buy a 2 day Disney one park per day pass and Sea World invidiually.

Basically, is Magic Morning plus park hopper worth $300-$400? I understand the advantages of Park Hopping with the Fast Pass system but with a 5 and 3 year old, I question if we will be that productive with our time.

I don't think so. Just make sure you go to the park that isn't offering magic morning that day.

So if Disneyland has it on Saturday and California Adventure has it on Sunday, you want to go to California Adventure on Saturday and Disneyland on Sunday. Plan to arrive twenty minutes before posted opening and you'll be fine.

This is the right answer. If you aren't using the rest of the city pass that 1 hour isn't worth the extra hour. If you are a member of southern california AAA or know someone who is you can get discounted tickets with a magic morning early admission and free parking. $205 for a 2 day park hopper. http://www.calif.aaa.com/home/discounts/disneyland-tickets.html?zip=91702&stateprov=ca&city=azusa&devicecd=PC&referer=www.calif.aaa.com

 

[NIU Kicker]

+1 on hoop de doo. Great time for kid and parent alike.

I remember going as a kid with my grandparents

 

[Bruce Dickinson]

WDW Prep School is a good blog and podcast series if you're planning your first trip there.

I'm also digging the new-ish Cast Member Secrets podcasts. Might be a little insidebaseball if you've never been to WDW before, but IMO it's good for regular attenders.

 

[Premier]

WDW Prep School is a good blog and podcast series if you're planning your first trip there.

I'm also digging the new-ish Cast Member Secrets podcasts. Might be a little insidebaseball if you've never been to WDW before, but IMO it's good for regular attenders.

Is it current cast members?

 

[glvsav37]

If you are looking for entertainment and value...go check out one of the true hidden gems of wdw.

On select nights, over at Port Orleans resort there is a little bar with a funky piano on stage. No cover, drinks and bar food served to you table and Yee Ha Bob on stage leading fun, silly, crazy sing alongs with tons of audience participation and laughs. A true entertainer, Bob starts at about 8 and his first show is really geared towards kids with songs they will recognize but that parents will also enjoy. He pulls kids and adults up and makes them do silly things that every kid would love.

While still clean, his act gets a bit more adult oriented as the night goes on.

Get there early and get. Table. He will come by and chat with you and that will assure hat he works you into the act. His memory is amazing.

YouTube a few of the videos of him and see what his act is all about

And did I mention....FREE! Not everything at wdw costs an arm and leg.

 

[Bruce Dickinson]

WDW Prep School is a good blog and podcast series if you're planning your first trip there.

I'm also digging the new-ish Cast Member Secrets podcasts. Might be a little insidebaseball if you've never been to WDW before, but IMO it's good for regular attenders.

Is it current cast members?

The host is a Disney superfan who enjoyed taking vacations there so much, he moved to Orlando and started working there.

 

[Premier]

WDW Prep School is a good blog and podcast series if you're planning your first trip there.

I'm also digging the new-ish Cast Member Secrets podcasts. Might be a little insidebaseball if you've never been to WDW before, but IMO it's good for regular attenders.

Is it current cast members?

The host is a Disney superfan who enjoyed taking vacations there so much, he moved to Orlando and started working there.

Thanks. I was hoping it was more about cast members banging in the underground tunnels and less about where you can find Daisy Duck for autographs.

 

[Otis]

Hoop De Doo Review is awesome. The show has been running forever and still holds up. Kids thought it was hilarious.

As for the food... the fried chicken was delicious. "What's that? Beer, wine, and sangria are included?" And along with much of Disney, they now have Yuengling.

So you're sitting there enjoying a show (featuring a couple of pretty cute girls btw), kids are entertained, and you have a bucket of fried chicken and a pitcher of Yuengling sitting in front of you. This was a bargain.

This sounds like heaven.

 

[Bruce Dickinson]

WDW Prep School is a good blog and podcast series if you're planning your first trip there.

I'm also digging the new-ish Cast Member Secrets podcasts. Might be a little insidebaseball if you've never been to WDW before, but IMO it's good for regular attenders.

Is it current cast members?

The host is a Disney superfan who enjoyed taking vacations there so much, he moved to Orlando and started working there.

Thanks. I was hoping it was more about cast members banging in the underground tunnels and less about where you can find Daisy Duck for autographs.

I was about to post a link to a Reddit of past & present Disney employees telling their favorite crazy stories at the parks and behind the scenes, but then I remembered this thread was where I found out about it. Read that damn thing for hours and left a lot of content unseen.

 

[avoiding injuries]

WDW Prep School is a good blog and podcast series if you're planning your first trip there.

I'm also digging the new-ish Cast Member Secrets podcasts. Might be a little insidebaseball if you've never been to WDW before, but IMO it's good for regular attenders.

Is it current cast members?

The host is a Disney superfan who enjoyed taking vacations there so much, he moved to Orlando and started working there.

Thanks. I was hoping it was more about cast members banging in the underground tunnels and less about where you can find Daisy Duck for autographs.

I was about to post a link to a Reddit of past & present Disney employees telling their favorite crazy stories at the parks and behind the scenes, but then I remembered this thread was where I found out about it. Read that damn thing for hours and left a lot of content unseen.

Link?

 

[Mr. Ected]

WDW Prep School is a good blog and podcast series if you're planning your first trip there.

I'm also digging the new-ish Cast Member Secrets podcasts. Might be a little insidebaseball if you've never been to WDW before, but IMO it's good for regular attenders.

Is it current cast members?

The host is a Disney superfan who enjoyed taking vacations there so much, he moved to Orlando and started working there.

Thanks. I was hoping it was more about cast members banging in the underground tunnels and less about where you can find Daisy Duck for autographs.

I was about to post a link to a Reddit of past & present Disney employees telling their favorite crazy stories at the parks and behind the scenes, but then I remembered this thread was where I found out about it. Read that damn thing for hours and left a lot of content unseen.

Link?

Here you go!!!

 

[Premier]

Star Wars weekend is pretty decent. Not a lot that they do, but enough to freshen the place up a bit.

They could pretty much open Star Wars World at this point. HAS to be in consideration right?

 

[Billy Bats]

They could pretty much open Star Wars World at this point. HAS to be in consideration right?

I'm just waiting for the announcement, you would think it's inevitable. It would be a good counter to Universal's Harry Potter lands. Unless they just re-do tomorrow land and add a few SW things, but an entire SW land could be sweet.

 

[Quez]

I can't believe they are going to have an entire Avatar part of AK. Does it really have a cult following like Harry Potter or Star wars? I think they are supposes to have a few more movies, so maybe it will by then...

 

[beavers]

I just reserved a week (Dec 13-20) at the cabins and with the free dining plan. Not sure if I'll keep it, but put the dates in just in case.

Question: Do we need a resort reservation conf # to book our character dining experience?

 

[Premier]

They could pretty much open Star Wars World at this point. HAS to be in consideration right?

I'm just waiting for the announcement, you would think it's inevitable. It would be a good counter to Universal's Harry Potter lands. Unless they just re-do tomorrow land and add a few SW things, but an entire SW land could be sweet.

Do they have the space for an entire new Star Wars world? I know Ferris talked about tacking it onto DHS but damn....there were a LOT of mega nerds there yesterday. With a new movie coming out annually now you have to think the support would be there for something big.

 

[glvsav37]

They could pretty much open Star Wars World at this point. HAS to be in consideration right?

I'm just waiting for the announcement, you would think it's inevitable. It would be a good counter to Universal's Harry Potter lands. Unless they just re-do tomorrow land and add a few SW things, but an entire SW land could be sweet.

Do they have the space for an entire new Star Wars world? I know Ferris talked about tacking it onto DHS but damn....there were a LOT of mega nerds there yesterday. With a new movie coming out annually now you have to think the support would be there for something big.

Yes, they have plenty of space. Overall the property is 2x the size of Manhattan, and I think only 20% is developed. But I doubt SW would make a 5th park. there is a lot of updating they can do in their current parks first.

Studios id the natural place for it. They would need to close a few outdated attractions but there is plenty of space there if you consider Indy stunt spectacular, Backlot tour and Lights Action Car stunt show all eat a lot of real estate.

There are 'mock plans' out there for SW area, and the natural place would be to build it adjacent to Star Tours which would take over Inday stunt show and prob knock out most of the area including Muppets. Hopefully they would update and move Muppets if they did that.

As for Avatar...I'm not overly excited about it, never cared to see the movies. But with Cameron planing 2 new movies in the next few years, there is great marketing opportunity to open the new area of AK at the same time as the new movies premier.

 

[glvsav37]

I just reserved a week (Dec 13-20) at the cabins and with the free dining plan. Not sure if I'll keep it, but put the dates in just in case.

Question: Do we need a resort reservation conf # to book our character dining experience?

Yes....at least at the 180 days out mark. Not sure what the time frame is to just book a dining reservation, but I would guess somewhere around 30 days, but its tough to get all your preferred locations that late.

But if you are booked, wouldnt you have a conf number?

 

[Premier]

Rode the new Mine Train today. Fun little ride. Like a coaster for people who hate coasters. Nothing really special but worth checking out.

If any of you are there this week (before it officially opens), you can snag a fast pass the day of off of the Disney app.

 

[beavers]

I just reserved a week (Dec 13-20) at the cabins and with the free dining plan. Not sure if I'll keep it, but put the dates in just in case.

Question: Do we need a resort reservation conf # to book our character dining experience?

Yes....at least at the 180 days out mark. Not sure what the time frame is to just book a dining reservation, but I would guess somewhere around 30 days, but its tough to get all your preferred locations that late.But if you are booked, wouldnt you have a conf number?

I was tentative on the dates I booked but those are set now. We have 5 people going to Disney for 7 days, 6 nights in mid December. The 3 adults are paying 1800 a piece and that includes staying at Ft Wilderness Cabin, Disney meal plan for 5, airfare, 5 days of tickets with park hopper option, and the memory maker photos. The key was the free dining week and reward points on Southwest (I pay my daughters day care expenses on a Southwest card then pay it off monthly). Great deal IMO.

 

[The Noid]

Help me understand the Mickey Magic Chrstimas thing. On those dates, MK closes at 7 for regular guests? For the nights they aren't having MVMCP, you can still see the night-time parade and fireworks for free?

 

[Bruce Dickinson]

Help me understand the Mickey Magic Chrstimas thing. On those dates, MK closes at 7 for regular guests? For the nights they aren't having MVMCP, you can still see the night-time parade and fireworks for free?

Once the party starts, only people with the Xmas party wristbands get to board rides, meet characters, carve out space for parade and fireworks viewing. Some shops and restaurants might be open for daytime guests, but it's policed pretty strictly - cast members put out several rope trails and checkpoints to control the crowd.

IIRC, the night parade and fireworks still happen on regular MK nights. The crowd is a lot thinner on Xmas party nights because of the separate admission, but the night parade and fireworks at Xmas time are spectacular. It will "snow" on Main Street after the show.

I recommend doing the Xmas party once. MK brings out characters in Xmas garb, and the volume of characters in the park goes way up - for example, it's one of the few times all seven dwarfs appear at the same time, and they are all in Xmas colors. There are also a couple of dance parties set up where guests can have more, longer interactions with characters - this was where my daughter did some two-stepping and spins with Woody, and a small group of us did the Running Man with Woody to a faster-paced song. There are cookie/hot chocolate stations set up all over the park, partaking included with admission.

If you do spring for the Xmas party... even though the party starts at 7:00, your ticket is good for admission by 4:00, 5:00 for sure. Not sure how this might change with the magic bands, but when we went in 2011, it was a lot easier to enter the park and get our party credentials at 5:00 than near the official party start time - the front gate was packed at 7:00ish.

 

[The Noid]

Thanks. Can you get the MVMCP tickets on discount like regular park tickets? Or only at face from Disney?

 

[RBM]

I'll 2nd that Christmas parade. When that snow starts coming down on Main Street....magic time. Really special stuff.

 

[The Noid]

Anyone know when the characters stop coming around at Hollywood & Vine? I know it's only for breakfast and lunch, but want to try and bookt he Fantasmic package and 3pm is one of the times listed. I'm just not sure if that's considered dinner, or still lunch, and will the characters still be coming around to the tables, at that time.

 

[The Ref]

As I said before - whoever dreamed up the separate admission for the Christmas/Halloween parties should have made Sr VP at Disney. What a money grab that is. Now that said - it is a nice experience. The way i play it as a Florida resident is to buy a 4 day pass and one of the party passes for a Friday night. That allows me to pick up my kid a school on Friday afternoon and by the time I get to Orlando and check in I can use the Party pass to get in on Friday night. The party passes tend to be cheaper then buying an additional day pass. I'll then use two of the days on the pass and I'll save two days for a return trip between Jan-Mar.

 

[Premier]

As I said before - whoever dreamed up the separate admission for the Christmas/Halloween parties should have made Sr VP at Disney. What a money grab that is. Now that said - it is a nice experience. The way i play it as a Florida resident is to buy a 4 day pass and one of the party passes for a Friday night. That allows me to pick up my kid a school on Friday afternoon and by the time I get to Orlando and check in I can use the Party pass to get in on Friday night. The party passes tend to be cheaper then buying an additional day pass. I'll then use two of the days on the pass and I'll save two days for a return trip between Jan-Mar.

It is a phenomenal racket. We went to both last year for the first time and I didn't see much different from a usual night that I would want to pay separately for. The Headless Horseman was unbelievably cool but not worth $70 extra.

The smaller crowds are nice but you can just go on a Saturday night and see 95% of the same thing.

 

[Bruce Dickinson]

Just booked a bunch of meal reservations for December's "Trip of a Lifetime 2: Electrical Parade Boogaloo".

Ohana - actually booked two dinner reservations, one early in the trip and one late, but will probably just keep both of them so I can send Y23Fan photos as I'm eating there twice

California Grill - sunset seating, with patio passes to view the MK fireworks

Flying Fish - somehow missed the BoardWalk last time

Whispering Canyon - because sometimes a bro needs a ####load of ketchup

Via Napoli - first time

Biergarten - first time

Teppan Edo - filet mingon option is on the dining plan, my girls like the show

Sana'a - new joint in Animal Kingdom Lodge, lunch on an AK day for daytime views of the AKL animals

Mama Melrose - the missus wants preferred seating for Phantasmic, package includes meal and good Phantasmic seats

Tusker House - breakfast before AK opens, Jungle Juice FTW

Yak And Yeti - underrated sit-down in AK, had to come back because it was our kickoff meal on TOAL

Crystal Palace - breakfast before MK opens, family tradition in Florida and California

Decided to go the lunch route for Be Our Guest.

Also want to try Wolfgang Puck QSR when we go to Downtown Disney.

The Missus wants to go to MVMCP twice. I'm in the Been There Done That camp on that party, so I imagine we will compromise and go to MVMCP twice.

Osborne Lights are a must. Gonna try to hit them once when they throw the switch, and once at closing - DHS often keeps the Osborne Lights going 30-60 minutes after closing.

Staying at Wilderness Lodge, so we're going to try to be on the program of hitting the parks at opening, chill out back at the hotel on a few afternoons, then hit the parks til close.

 

[parasaurolophus]

As I said before - whoever dreamed up the separate admission for the Christmas/Halloween parties should have made Sr VP at Disney. What a money grab that is. Now that said - it is a nice experience. The way i play it as a Florida resident is to buy a 4 day pass and one of the party passes for a Friday night. That allows me to pick up my kid a school on Friday afternoon and by the time I get to Orlando and check in I can use the Party pass to get in on Friday night. The party passes tend to be cheaper then buying an additional day pass. I'll then use two of the days on the pass and I'll save two days for a return trip between Jan-Mar.

How can this be? Adding one day to a four day pass is like 15 bucks. Are florida resident passes different in that they are the same price for each day?

nevermind, looked it up before I posted. You cant add a day. 4 is the maximum so you would have to buy a whole new additional pass. It is worth noting though in case somebody else is looking to do this adding from a 3 day to a 4 day florida pass is only 20 bucks. 4 just seems to be the magic number for the big jump.

 

[NIU Kicker]

As I said before - whoever dreamed up the separate admission for the Christmas/Halloween parties should have made Sr VP at Disney. What a money grab that is. Now that said - it is a nice experience. The way i play it as a Florida resident is to buy a 4 day pass and one of the party passes for a Friday night. That allows me to pick up my kid a school on Friday afternoon and by the time I get to Orlando and check in I can use the Party pass to get in on Friday night. The party passes tend to be cheaper then buying an additional day pass. I'll then use two of the days on the pass and I'll save two days for a return trip between Jan-Mar.

How can this be? Adding one day to a four day pass is like 15 bucks. Are florida resident passes different in that they are the same price for each day? nevermind, looked it up before I posted. You cant add a day. 4 is the maximum so you would have to buy a whole new additional pass. It is worth noting though in case somebody else is looking to do this adding from a 3 day to a 4 day florida pass is only 20 bucks. 4 just seems to be the magic number for the big jump.

Bingo. Should have made that clear.

 

[The Ref]

Someone help a brother out.... which of the DW water parks is the better of the two?

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Just booked a bunch of meal reservations for December's "Trip of a Lifetime 2: Electrical Parade Boogaloo".

Ohana - actually booked two dinner reservations, one early in the trip and one late, but will probably just keep both of them so I can send Y23Fan photos as I'm eating there twice

California Grill - sunset seating, with patio passes to view the MK fireworks

Flying Fish - somehow missed the BoardWalk last time

Whispering Canyon - because sometimes a bro needs a ####load of ketchup

Via Napoli - first time

Biergarten - first time

Teppan Edo - filet mingon option is on the dining plan, my girls like the show

Sana'a - new joint in Animal Kingdom Lodge, lunch on an AK day for daytime views of the AKL animals

Mama Melrose - the missus wants preferred seating for Phantasmic, package includes meal and good Phantasmic seats

Tusker House - breakfast before AK opens, Jungle Juice FTW

Yak And Yeti - underrated sit-down in AK, had to come back because it was our kickoff meal on TOAL

Crystal Palace - breakfast before MK opens, family tradition in Florida and California

Decided to go the lunch route for Be Our Guest.

Also want to try Wolfgang Puck QSR when we go to Downtown Disney.

The Missus wants to go to MVMCP twice. I'm in the Been There Done That camp on that party, so I imagine we will compromise and go to MVMCP twice.

Osborne Lights are a must. Gonna try to hit them once when they throw the switch, and once at closing - DHS often keeps the Osborne Lights going 30-60 minutes after closing.

Staying at Wilderness Lodge, so we're going to try to be on the program of hitting the parks at opening, chill out back at the hotel on a few afternoons, then hit the parks til close.

I hate you. Keep going. ..

 

[Premier]

How is it I've had roughly 70 sit down meals at DW the past 3 years and have only maybe hit a quarter of that list ferris posted?

 

[Bruce Dickinson]

How is it I've had roughly 70 sit down meals at DW the past 3 years and have only maybe hit a quarter of that list ferris posted?

A lot of the restaurants we're hitting are at resorts, so if you're spending your time at the parks, a lot of those listed are easy to miss.

It will be our first time for some of those as well.

A few are family-friendly, or even kid-centered places most folks would probably skip on date night.

 

[Bruce Dickinson]

Someone help a brother out.... which of the DW water parks is the better of the two?

Blizzard Beach is the one that makes more water park superfan lists. Get featured on Travel Channel/Destination America more often than Typhoon Lagoon, too.

Haven't been to either, so I'm talking second-hand at best.

 

[Bruce Dickinson]

I hate you.Keep going. ..

That's fair.

It will be a slightly different dining experience for us this time. The daughter is off the kids' menu and is fine with reducing the character/princess dining this time around. We will be checking in on the first day of a free Dining Plan window, so we were armed and ready when the rope dropped this morning, but without needing to get in Cinderella's Royal Table or dinner at Be Our Guest it wasn't quite as intense.