Disney Vacation (5 Viewers)

[playin4beer]

The points can be used at Disney, or Disney.com. When you go to Disney World, or Disneyland, they transfer the amount of points you've earned to a Disney Giftcard to use at the shops while you are down there. Every point = $1 If you are planning to go to Disney, and already use a Credit Card it is worth it, at least is for us. Can't wait to get down there and shop.

How much do you have to charge to the card to earn a point?

We have a Disney Visa that we use for everything...it's the only CC we use....We had $1000 Disney dollars to use for our trip last week.

 

[ATC1]

This place is awesome. It's coming to an end and it sucks. I need to figure out a way to win the Florida lottery tomorrow night so that I can just stay.

Finally hit the new Toy Story ride - very fun; can see why it's so coveted. Also did the Kim Possible secret agent adventure today with my son. We both had a blast. Whoever came up with that idea should be made a Vice PResident of the company.

Everytime we do the countries, i see kids running with cell phones. I thought it was crazy until I saw a Kim Possible station. Very cool thing to do especially in an area geared more towards adults.

 

[ATC1]

This place is awesome. It's coming to an end and it sucks. I need to figure out a way to win the Florida lottery tomorrow night so that I can just stay.

Finally hit the new Toy Story ride - very fun; can see why it's so coveted. Also did the Kim Possible secret agent adventure today with my son. We both had a blast. Whoever came up with that idea should be made a Vice PResident of the company.

That's the one at Epcot.. right??I think my daughter would have a blast but wondering:

A) How much time does it take?

B) How much is running around finding stuff, or is it just part of the visiting of Epcot that you find what you are looking for??

I have never done it (kid not old enough yet), but I see a lot of kids lose their parents running to the next station. If you need a constant eye on your kids, they are going to need to keep pace with you.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

Kim POssible takes about 10-15 minutes per country if your kids are really into it. You can choose to just do one country are any number of the 7 that have it.

 

[Foosball God]

The points can be used at Disney, or Disney.com.

When you go to Disney World, or Disneyland, they transfer the amount of points you've earned to a Disney Giftcard to use at the shops while you are down there.

Every point = $1

If you are planning to go to Disney, and already use a Credit Card it is worth it, at least is for us. Can't wait to get down there and shop. :(

How much do you have to charge to the card to earn a point?

* I cheated... From their website

You earn 1% in Disney Dream Reward Dollars® on everyday purchases made with your credit card.1 So, for every $100 in qualified purchases on the card, you earn 1 Disney Dream Reward Dollar. 1 Disney Dream Reward Dollar is worth $1 when redeeming for Disney products and offerings.

I've been using my Disney Visa wherever I was using my Visa Debit card. I set it up to pay the balance from my checking account automatically, so basically I'm just substituting one card for the other, but I'll be making Disney money instead of nothing.

 

[snogger]

Kim POssible takes about 10-15 minutes per country if your kids are really into it. You can choose to just do one country are any number of the 7 that have it.

 

[Disco Stu]

I may make that switch. I use an airline card now. This probably works out to roughly the same amount of "money" without having to worry about blackout dates.

airline: $25000 on card = 25000 miles = 1 flight = ~$250

Disney: $25000 on card = 250 Disney dollars = $250

 

[theToes]

Does anyone know if you can use the Disney Reward dollars to purchase the meal plan?

 

[ATC1]

Does anyone know if you can use the Disney Reward dollars to purchase the meal plan?

yes, but you have to call and get them to send you a gift card. The gift card can be used on anything on disney property. It takes about 10 days to come in the mail, but you don't have time you can also get a giftcard directly on grounds at the kiosk downtown.

 

[GreekFreak]

Do you really need to make advanced dining reservations?

We are going next month and was thinking about taking the kids to Chef Mickeys but people are telling me that its too late and I wont be able to get a table if we just walk up some morning.

Is this true?

 

[johnnycakes]

I'll be taking the kids to Disneyland Hong Kong over next Christmas. I'll be booking flights and making reservations about as soon as they start taking them, I guess.

 

[belljr]

Do you really need to make advanced dining reservations?We are going next month and was thinking about taking the kids to Chef Mickeys but people are telling me that its too late and I wont be able to get a table if we just walk up some morning.Is this true?

From what I researched - Yes.We're going in February and doing our "normal routine".We split a house with family, easier to get a roof for 8-12 people easier IMO for cheap. We then hit up a WalmArt for breakfast supplies and snacks.We usually just grab lunch anywhere in the parks. And then grab dinner either late or at the house. I don't think the parks are open real late in February anyway. I think 7 or 8.We buy tickets from ticketmania.com.We don't go to the parks everyday so we just buy a few and hit other attractions or hang out and relax at the pool at the house.I know we're probably missing out on some cool stuff but that's what we do. The only downfall for us is having to rent a car.

 

[GreekFreak]

Do you really need to make advanced dining reservations?We are going next month and was thinking about taking the kids to Chef Mickeys but people are telling me that its too late and I wont be able to get a table if we just walk up some morning.Is this true?

From what I researched - Yes.We're going in February and doing our "normal routine".We split a house with family, easier to get a roof for 8-12 people easier IMO for cheap. We then hit up a WalmArt for breakfast supplies and snacks.We usually just grab lunch anywhere in the parks. And then grab dinner either late or at the house. I don't think the parks are open real late in February anyway. I think 7 or 8.We buy tickets from ticketmania.com.We don't go to the parks everyday so we just buy a few and hit other attractions or hang out and relax at the pool at the house.I know we're probably missing out on some cool stuff but that's what we do. The only downfall for us is having to rent a car.

I wonder if a $20 handshake works at Disney.

 

[parasaurolophus]

Kim POssible takes about 10-15 minutes per country if your kids are really into it. You can choose to just do one country are any number of the 7 that have it.

My son loved this. I told him that if anybody saw us on the mission we automatically failed it. He took it so serious. He was hiding behind bushes, fences, kiosks, in the phone booth, it was a riot.

 

[FBGirl79]

Do you really need to make advanced dining reservations?We are going next month and was thinking about taking the kids to Chef Mickeys but people are telling me that its too late and I wont be able to get a table if we just walk up some morning.Is this true?

From what I researched - Yes.We're going in February and doing our "normal routine".We split a house with family, easier to get a roof for 8-12 people easier IMO for cheap. We then hit up a WalmArt for breakfast supplies and snacks.We usually just grab lunch anywhere in the parks. And then grab dinner either late or at the house. I don't think the parks are open real late in February anyway. I think 7 or 8.We buy tickets from ticketmania.com.We don't go to the parks everyday so we just buy a few and hit other attractions or hang out and relax at the pool at the house.I know we're probably missing out on some cool stuff but that's what we do. The only downfall for us is having to rent a car.

I wonder if a $20 handshake works at Disney.

You could try it but I wouldn't count on it and it is probably easier to make the reservations and know for sure you have the places you want rather than try to get in. The $20 might be worth trying if you can't get ressies somewhere you really wanted and most places used to save some spots available for walk-ups. I saw way too many angry people getting turned away when were there in September bc they didn't have reservations and the places weren't taking any walk-ups for the entire day.

 

[The Ref]

Do you really need to make advanced dining reservations?We are going next month and was thinking about taking the kids to Chef Mickeys but people are telling me that its too late and I wont be able to get a table if we just walk up some morning.Is this true?

I was in the same boat as you. I planed a trip for early Jan as a gift to my wife and Kid - as part of the gift I bought the meal plan. I talked to a few Disney n@zis (sorry if that's insensitive) friends of ours and was SEVERELY reprimanded for not having dinner reservations in place already. I called to make reservations and wasn't able to get the exact time I wanted and I was shooting for early dinner times 4-5 because of my kid. That would lead me to believe that the 6-8 PM slots are probably gone - but I am a relative rookie.I booked the Italian Dinner at Epcot Italy and Cinderella's Magical Dinner or something at the Disney castle. Now the Italy dinner I booked for personal sentimental reasons - but how's the dinner at the castle? They wacked me for two table dinners on the plan so I figure it must be decent.Good Choice or no?

 

[Please See Mine]

Do you really need to make advanced dining reservations?We are going next month and was thinking about taking the kids to Chef Mickeys but people are telling me that its too late and I wont be able to get a table if we just walk up some morning.Is this true?

I honestly thought that Chef Mickey's was kind of a rip. The picture that you get with it is with a statue of Mickey. The breakfast is a buffet and is decent but nothing spectacular.If you have girls, I would suggest the princess breakfast in Cinderella's castle. Much better food and all the princesses come around and talk to the kids. I think it is more expensive and/or the equivalent of 2 meals, but a much better experience to me.

 

[Godsbrother]

Do you really need to make advanced dining reservations?

We are going next month and was thinking about taking the kids to Chef Mickeys but people are telling me that its too late and I wont be able to get a table if we just walk up some morning.

Is this true?

I was in the same boat as you. I planed a trip for early Jan as a gift to my wife and Kid - as part of the gift I bought the meal plan. I talked to a few Disney n@zis (sorry if that's insensitive) friends of ours and was SEVERELY reprimanded for not having dinner reservations in place already. I called to make reservations and wasn't able to get the exact time I wanted and I was shooting for early dinner times 4-5 because of my kid. That would lead me to believe that the 6-8 PM slots are probably gone - but I am a relative rookie.I booked the Italian Dinner at Epcot Italy and Cinderella's Magical Dinner or something at the Disney castle. Now the Italy dinner I booked for personal sentimental reasons - but how's the dinner at the castle? They wacked me for two table dinners on the plan so I figure it must be decent.

Good Choice or no?

Dinner at the castle is good but not outstanding. It is definitely cool eating there though. If there is a restaurant you want to go to but couldn't get reservations keep trying as people cancel all of the time. You can check and book reservations online.

 

[tdog]

Do you really need to make advanced dining reservations?We are going next month and was thinking about taking the kids to Chef Mickeys but people are telling me that its too late and I wont be able to get a table if we just walk up some morning.Is this true?

I honestly thought that Chef Mickey's was kind of a rip. The picture that you get with it is with a statue of Mickey. The breakfast is a buffet and is decent but nothing spectacular.If you have girls, I would suggest the princess breakfast in Cinderella's castle. Much better food and all the princesses come around and talk to the kids. I think it is more expensive and/or the equivalent of 2 meals, but a much better experience to me.

If you have girls, the princess lunch / dinner in EPCOT's Norway is the best deal. Cheaper than the castle (only 1 credit if you have the food plan) and all the characters are there. There is a lot of hype associated with the castle meals and the reservation is hard to get for breakfast and lunch. Just didn't think it was worth it, IMO. Norway and Crystal Palace (Pooh) were the best character meals we had, and we did it 'em all (one boy and one girl under 6).

 

[belljr]

I know I posted this before but I remember a time really not that long ago where everyone was treated equally at Disney.

You showed up paid for your ticket, and then get this you stood in line for rides just like everyone else, there was no magical hopper ticket, and when you got hungry you just picked a place and showed up and waited in line if there were no tables.

Now it's like some private country club cult where if you want special bullcrap you need to pay extra or your not entitled.

BIG from me....

 

[parasaurolophus]

I know I posted this before but I remember a time really not that long ago where everyone was treated equally at Disney.

You showed up paid for your ticket, and then get this you stood in line for rides just like everyone else, there was no magical hopper ticket, and when you got hungry you just picked a place and showed up and waited in line if there were no tables.

Now it's like some private country club cult where if you want special bullcrap you need to pay extra or your not entitled.

BIG from me....

You are misinformed. Reservations don't cost anything.

Fastpasses dont cost anything.

 

[belljr]

I know I posted this before but I remember a time really not that long ago where everyone was treated equally at Disney.

You showed up paid for your ticket, and then get this you stood in line for rides just like everyone else, there was no magical hopper ticket, and when you got hungry you just picked a place and showed up and waited in line if there were no tables.

Now it's like some private country club cult where if you want special bullcrap you need to pay extra or your not entitled.

BIG from me.... :(

You are misinformed. Reservations don't cost anything.

Fastpasses dont cost anything.

oh - my mistake. I take it half back then Still should need reservations and should just have to wait like everyone else

I don't know what days we're going to be where an when 2 months from now

 

[snogger]

I know I posted this before but I remember a time really not that long ago where everyone was treated equally at Disney.

You showed up paid for your ticket, and then get this you stood in line for rides just like everyone else, there was no magical hopper ticket, and when you got hungry you just picked a place and showed up and waited in line if there were no tables.

Now it's like some private country club cult where if you want special bullcrap you need to pay extra or your not entitled.

BIG from me.... :(

You are misinformed. Reservations don't cost anything.

Fastpasses dont cost anything.

oh - my mistake. I take it half back then Still should need reservations and should just have to wait like everyone else

I don't know what days we're going to be where an when 2 months from now

We 'd the fast passes last time.. People standing in line gave us the and we as we walked by. We have plans to get FP as much as possible this time.

examples are:

Day one at Epcot.. I'll take all 3 of our "tickets" over to Soarin' when we walk in the gates at Epcot while the wife and daughter get in line for something else... Than when we are about to head to soarin' for our FP time, we will go get another FP for Test Track or Mission Space..

Same for Hollywood Studios, get a FP for Toy Story, while Wife and daughter work their way towards Tower of Terror/Rocking Coaster.. Hopefully time it out that our FP falls in line after we are done with either ToT or Rocking Roller coaster so we can grab another FP for the other ride and head over to Toy Story..

it's all in the planning..

less than 24 hours now before we jump on the plane :(

 

[belljr]

I know I posted this before but I remember a time really not that long ago where everyone was treated equally at Disney.

You showed up paid for your ticket, and then get this you stood in line for rides just like everyone else, there was no magical hopper ticket, and when you got hungry you just picked a place and showed up and waited in line if there were no tables.

Now it's like some private country club cult where if you want special bullcrap you need to pay extra or your not entitled.

BIG from me.... :(

You are misinformed. Reservations don't cost anything.

Fastpasses dont cost anything.

oh - my mistake. I take it half back then Still should need reservations and should just have to wait like everyone else

I don't know what days we're going to be where an when 2 months from now

We 'd the fast passes last time.. People standing in line gave us the and we as we walked by. We have plans to get FP as much as possible this time.

examples are:

Day one at Epcot.. I'll take all 3 of our "tickets" over to Soarin' when we walk in the gates at Epcot while the wife and daughter get in line for something else... Than when we are about to head to soarin' for our FP time, we will go get another FP for Test Track or Mission Space..

Same for Hollywood Studios, get a FP for Toy Story, while Wife and daughter work their way towards Tower of Terror/Rocking Coaster.. Hopefully time it out that our FP falls in line after we are done with either ToT or Rocking Roller coaster so we can grab another FP for the other ride and head over to Toy Story..

it's all in the planning..

less than 24 hours now before we jump on the plane

I don't want to have to work that hard on vacation but I guess I need to get battle ready . Thanks.

 

[tdog]

Unless you go at a really slow time, the Disney vacation likely requires a good deal of planning and reservations long in advance to make it enjoyable. That's just the way it is. It just isn't a go with the flow place any longer (except maybe walking around EPCOT at night drinking a beer). Generally, if you do only a handful of things you can have a rather easy time with everything else. 1) Make dinner reservations 180 days out. Dinner is easer to get to as you have your days free to run around wherever you want and just have to be somewhere at night. 2) Get to the park at opening and get a fastpass right away for the most popular ride. You should be able to get 1 or 2 more fastpasses before the early afternoon for some of the other busy ones. At the busy times, the whole place is crushed by 1pm. 3) Try to stay for several days so you don't feel like you have to everything right away and can take a break during the day.

I fully understand the desire to feel like you can do whatever you want when you get there but you'll likely end up just running into a lot of roadblocks along the way that will get you upset (you see yelling parents and crying kids all over the place). If you just don't want to do some planning, go in February.

 

[ATC1]

I know I posted this before but I remember a time really not that long ago where everyone was treated equally at Disney.

You showed up paid for your ticket, and then get this you stood in line for rides just like everyone else, there was no magical hopper ticket, and when you got hungry you just picked a place and showed up and waited in line if there were no tables.

Now it's like some private country club cult where if you want special bullcrap you need to pay extra or your not entitled.

BIG from me.... :(

You are misinformed. Reservations don't cost anything.

Fastpasses dont cost anything.

oh - my mistake. I take it half back then Still should need reservations and should just have to wait like everyone else

I don't know what days we're going to be where an when 2 months from now

We 'd the fast passes last time.. People standing in line gave us the and we as we walked by. We have plans to get FP as much as possible this time.

examples are:

Day one at Epcot.. I'll take all 3 of our "tickets" over to Soarin' when we walk in the gates at Epcot while the wife and daughter get in line for something else... Than when we are about to head to soarin' for our FP time, we will go get another FP for Test Track or Mission Space..

Same for Hollywood Studios, get a FP for Toy Story, while Wife and daughter work their way towards Tower of Terror/Rocking Coaster.. Hopefully time it out that our FP falls in line after we are done with either ToT or Rocking Roller coaster so we can grab another FP for the other ride and head over to Toy Story..

it's all in the planning..

less than 24 hours now before we jump on the plane

Going more often surely puts you at an advantage of the use of the FP. By the end of the trip you will be kicking yourself at how you could have used them more effectively.

 

[ATC1]

Unless you go at a really slow time, the Disney vacation likely requires a good deal of planning and reservations long in advance to make it enjoyable. That's just the way it is. It just isn't a go with the flow place any longer (except maybe walking around EPCOT at night drinking a beer). Generally, if you do only a handful of things you can have a rather easy time with everything else. 1) Make dinner reservations 180 days out. Dinner is easer to get to as you have your days free to run around wherever you want and just have to be somewhere at night. 2) Get to the park at opening and get a fastpass right away for the most popular ride. You should be able to get 1 or 2 more fastpasses before the early afternoon for some of the other busy ones. At the busy times, the whole place is crushed by 1pm. 3) Try to stay for several days so you don't feel like you have to everything right away and can take a break during the day. I fully understand the desire to feel like you can do whatever you want when you get there but you'll likely end up just running into a lot of roadblocks along the way that will get you upset (you see yelling parents and crying kids all over the place). If you just don't want to do some planning, go in February.

Excelent informative posting today.

 

[ATC1]

Do you really need to make advanced dining reservations?We are going next month and was thinking about taking the kids to Chef Mickeys but people are telling me that its too late and I wont be able to get a table if we just walk up some morning.Is this true?

I honestly thought that Chef Mickey's was kind of a rip. The picture that you get with it is with a statue of Mickey. The breakfast is a buffet and is decent but nothing spectacular.If you have girls, I would suggest the princess breakfast in Cinderella's castle. Much better food and all the princesses come around and talk to the kids. I think it is more expensive and/or the equivalent of 2 meals, but a much better experience to me.

If you have girls, the princess lunch / dinner in EPCOT's Norway is the best deal. Cheaper than the castle (only 1 credit if you have the food plan) and all the characters are there. There is a lot of hype associated with the castle meals and the reservation is hard to get for breakfast and lunch. Just didn't think it was worth it, IMO. Norway and Crystal Palace (Pooh) were the best character meals we had, and we did it 'em all (one boy and one girl under 6).

Did the kids like the food at Norway. I have nightmares of when I was a kid when I eat there growing up. Everything was cold and I needed a hamburger after I left. Did it change?Cinderella's castle is two sit downs because of the location. Better than the Crystal palace IMO, but not worth the two sit downs to me. Our favorite buffett character meal is the 1900 Park Fair Breakfast in the Grand Floridian. Mary Poppins and Alic in Wonderland. Good food, Omlette station, not too crowded ala Chef Mickey's.

 

[belljr]

Unless you go at a really slow time, the Disney vacation likely requires a good deal of planning and reservations long in advance to make it enjoyable. That's just the way it is. It just isn't a go with the flow place any longer (except maybe walking around EPCOT at night drinking a beer). Generally, if you do only a handful of things you can have a rather easy time with everything else. 1) Make dinner reservations 180 days out. Dinner is easer to get to as you have your days free to run around wherever you want and just have to be somewhere at night. 2) Get to the park at opening and get a fastpass right away for the most popular ride. You should be able to get 1 or 2 more fastpasses before the early afternoon for some of the other busy ones. At the busy times, the whole place is crushed by 1pm. 3) Try to stay for several days so you don't feel like you have to everything right away and can take a break during the day.

I fully understand the desire to feel like you can do whatever you want when you get there but you'll likely end up just running into a lot of roadblocks along the way that will get you upset (you see yelling parents and crying kids all over the place). If you just don't want to do some planning, go in February.

LOL - that's exactly when we are going.I know the last time we went down, like 3 years ago, we went to Universal and there was no one there.

Staying for 7 days.

Haven't been to Disney in 12 years.

 

[Sucrose]

Does anyone know if you can use the Disney Reward dollars to purchase the meal plan?

I use the card as my meal plan. Not of fan of the current Dining Plan so we just eat where, when, & what we want and use the Rewards card to pay for it all.

 

[parasaurolophus]

Unless you go at a really slow time, the Disney vacation likely requires a good deal of planning and reservations long in advance to make it enjoyable. That's just the way it is. It just isn't a go with the flow place any longer (except maybe walking around EPCOT at night drinking a beer). Generally, if you do only a handful of things you can have a rather easy time with everything else. 1) Make dinner reservations 180 days out. Dinner is easer to get to as you have your days free to run around wherever you want and just have to be somewhere at night. 2) Get to the park at opening and get a fastpass right away for the most popular ride. You should be able to get 1 or 2 more fastpasses before the early afternoon for some of the other busy ones. At the busy times, the whole place is crushed by 1pm. 3) Try to stay for several days so you don't feel like you have to everything right away and can take a break during the day.

I fully understand the desire to feel like you can do whatever you want when you get there but you'll likely end up just running into a lot of roadblocks along the way that will get you upset (you see yelling parents and crying kids all over the place). If you just don't want to do some planning, go in February.

LOL - that's exactly when we are going.I know the last time we went down, like 3 years ago, we went to Universal and there was no one there.

Staying for 7 days.

Haven't been to Disney in 12 years.

Just make sure you go in with the right attitude.Does it suck having to plan out certain aspects? Sure. In a perfect world you could do what you wanted when you wanted and never wait in line. Would you rather wait for an hour for a table?

I usually make reservations for every night and usually hit half of them. We move around the parks pretty quickly and honestly it seems like we could always eat so we have a lot of flexibility. I will usually secure like 6pm reservations, but then if we walk past a place at 4:30 and we can get right in we just eat there and I call and cancel the reservation.

Dont look at these things as negatives. They actually save you a ton of time.

 

[ATC1]

Unless you go at a really slow time, the Disney vacation likely requires a good deal of planning and reservations long in advance to make it enjoyable. That's just the way it is. It just isn't a go with the flow place any longer (except maybe walking around EPCOT at night drinking a beer). Generally, if you do only a handful of things you can have a rather easy time with everything else. 1) Make dinner reservations 180 days out. Dinner is easer to get to as you have your days free to run around wherever you want and just have to be somewhere at night. 2) Get to the park at opening and get a fastpass right away for the most popular ride. You should be able to get 1 or 2 more fastpasses before the early afternoon for some of the other busy ones. At the busy times, the whole place is crushed by 1pm. 3) Try to stay for several days so you don't feel like you have to everything right away and can take a break during the day.

I fully understand the desire to feel like you can do whatever you want when you get there but you'll likely end up just running into a lot of roadblocks along the way that will get you upset (you see yelling parents and crying kids all over the place). If you just don't want to do some planning, go in February.

LOL - that's exactly when we are going.I know the last time we went down, like 3 years ago, we went to Universal and there was no one there.

Staying for 7 days.

Haven't been to Disney in 12 years.

Go for Mardi Gras just about every year. If you go during that week the parks are a little more crowded with us redneck coona##es, but we have a blast handing out breads all day.

 

[tdog]

Do you really need to make advanced dining reservations?We are going next month and was thinking about taking the kids to Chef Mickeys but people are telling me that its too late and I wont be able to get a table if we just walk up some morning.Is this true?

I honestly thought that Chef Mickey's was kind of a rip. The picture that you get with it is with a statue of Mickey. The breakfast is a buffet and is decent but nothing spectacular.If you have girls, I would suggest the princess breakfast in Cinderella's castle. Much better food and all the princesses come around and talk to the kids. I think it is more expensive and/or the equivalent of 2 meals, but a much better experience to me.

If you have girls, the princess lunch / dinner in EPCOT's Norway is the best deal. Cheaper than the castle (only 1 credit if you have the food plan) and all the characters are there. There is a lot of hype associated with the castle meals and the reservation is hard to get for breakfast and lunch. Just didn't think it was worth it, IMO. Norway and Crystal Palace (Pooh) were the best character meals we had, and we did it 'em all (one boy and one girl under 6).

Did the kids like the food at Norway. I have nightmares of when I was a kid when I eat there growing up. Everything was cold and I needed a hamburger after I left. Did it change?Cinderella's castle is two sit downs because of the location. Better than the Crystal palace IMO, but not worth the two sit downs to me. Our favorite buffett character meal is the 1900 Park Fair Breakfast in the Grand Floridian. Mary Poppins and Alic in Wonderland. Good food, Omlette station, not too crowded ala Chef Mickey's.

They have pizza and hot dogs on the kids menu. We are hitting the Mary Poppins breakfast in July. 1900 Park fair also has a lunch with lots of the princesses. A bit easier and cheaper than the castle. I am not much of food critic when it comes to this character stuff. I had no expectations but was surprised by the quality of the food in general. Looked at it as more of a bonus. If I didn't have little kids, I wouldn't be eating at any of the character places.

 

[belljr]

Unless you go at a really slow time, the Disney vacation likely requires a good deal of planning and reservations long in advance to make it enjoyable. That's just the way it is. It just isn't a go with the flow place any longer (except maybe walking around EPCOT at night drinking a beer). Generally, if you do only a handful of things you can have a rather easy time with everything else. 1) Make dinner reservations 180 days out. Dinner is easer to get to as you have your days free to run around wherever you want and just have to be somewhere at night. 2) Get to the park at opening and get a fastpass right away for the most popular ride. You should be able to get 1 or 2 more fastpasses before the early afternoon for some of the other busy ones. At the busy times, the whole place is crushed by 1pm. 3) Try to stay for several days so you don't feel like you have to everything right away and can take a break during the day.

I fully understand the desire to feel like you can do whatever you want when you get there but you'll likely end up just running into a lot of roadblocks along the way that will get you upset (you see yelling parents and crying kids all over the place). If you just don't want to do some planning, go in February.

LOL - that's exactly when we are going.I know the last time we went down, like 3 years ago, we went to Universal and there was no one there.

Staying for 7 days.

Haven't been to Disney in 12 years.

Go for Mardi Gras just about every year. If you go during that week the parks are a little more crowded with us redneck coona##es, but we have a blast handing out breads all day.

lol -crap that's the week we are going. 13-20th Never thought of Mardi Gras - Thanks for the advice all

 

[sho nuff]

Unless you go at a really slow time, the Disney vacation likely requires a good deal of planning and reservations long in advance to make it enjoyable. That's just the way it is. It just isn't a go with the flow place any longer (except maybe walking around EPCOT at night drinking a beer). Generally, if you do only a handful of things you can have a rather easy time with everything else. 1) Make dinner reservations 180 days out. Dinner is easer to get to as you have your days free to run around wherever you want and just have to be somewhere at night. 2) Get to the park at opening and get a fastpass right away for the most popular ride. You should be able to get 1 or 2 more fastpasses before the early afternoon for some of the other busy ones. At the busy times, the whole place is crushed by 1pm. 3) Try to stay for several days so you don't feel like you have to everything right away and can take a break during the day.

I fully understand the desire to feel like you can do whatever you want when you get there but you'll likely end up just running into a lot of roadblocks along the way that will get you upset (you see yelling parents and crying kids all over the place). If you just don't want to do some planning, go in February.

LOL - that's exactly when we are going.I know the last time we went down, like 3 years ago, we went to Universal and there was no one there.

Staying for 7 days.

Haven't been to Disney in 12 years.

Go for Mardi Gras just about every year. If you go during that week the parks are a little more crowded with us redneck coona##es, but we have a blast handing out breads all day.

Sourdough? French? Wheat?

 

[Please See Mine]

Do you really need to make advanced dining reservations?We are going next month and was thinking about taking the kids to Chef Mickeys but people are telling me that its too late and I wont be able to get a table if we just walk up some morning.Is this true?

I honestly thought that Chef Mickey's was kind of a rip. The picture that you get with it is with a statue of Mickey. The breakfast is a buffet and is decent but nothing spectacular.If you have girls, I would suggest the princess breakfast in Cinderella's castle. Much better food and all the princesses come around and talk to the kids. I think it is more expensive and/or the equivalent of 2 meals, but a much better experience to me.

If you have girls, the princess lunch / dinner in EPCOT's Norway is the best deal. Cheaper than the castle (only 1 credit if you have the food plan) and all the characters are there. There is a lot of hype associated with the castle meals and the reservation is hard to get for breakfast and lunch. Just didn't think it was worth it, IMO. Norway and Crystal Palace (Pooh) were the best character meals we had, and we did it 'em all (one boy and one girl under 6).

Princess dinner in Norway was cool. I liked the food. My wife didn't really. Cool salad bar with fish and other funky stuff.The princesses at the castle treated us much better than at Norway (not that the Norway ones were bad), but that may have just been luck/coincidence. Also, my daughter did the bippity-boppity boutique before the cinderella breakfast, so all around it was one of her top experiences (though obviously not cheap).

 

[ATC1]

Do you really need to make advanced dining reservations?

We are going next month and was thinking about taking the kids to Chef Mickeys but people are telling me that its too late and I wont be able to get a table if we just walk up some morning.

Is this true?

I honestly thought that Chef Mickey's was kind of a rip. The picture that you get with it is with a statue of Mickey. The breakfast is a buffet and is decent but nothing spectacular.If you have girls, I would suggest the princess breakfast in Cinderella's castle. Much better food and all the princesses come around and talk to the kids. I think it is more expensive and/or the equivalent of 2 meals, but a much better experience to me.

If you have girls, the princess lunch / dinner in EPCOT's Norway is the best deal. Cheaper than the castle (only 1 credit if you have the food plan) and all the characters are there. There is a lot of hype associated with the castle meals and the reservation is hard to get for breakfast and lunch. Just didn't think it was worth it, IMO. Norway and Crystal Palace (Pooh) were the best character meals we had, and we did it 'em all (one boy and one girl under 6).

Did the kids like the food at Norway. I have nightmares of when I was a kid when I eat there growing up. Everything was cold and I needed a hamburger after I left. Did it change?Cinderella's castle is two sit downs because of the location. Better than the Crystal palace IMO, but not worth the two sit downs to me. Our favorite buffett character meal is the 1900 Park Fair Breakfast in the Grand Floridian. Mary Poppins and Alic in Wonderland. Good food, Omlette station, not too crowded ala Chef Mickey's.

They have pizza and hot dogs on the kids menu. We are hitting the Mary Poppins breakfast in July. 1900 Park fair also has a lunch with lots of the princesses. A bit easier and cheaper than the castle. I am not much of food critic when it comes to this character stuff. I had no expectations but was surprised by the quality of the food in general. Looked at it as more of a bonus. If I didn't have little kids, I wouldn't be eating at any of the character places.

So much better food choices if you don't do buffett or character meals. Although the liberty Tree in MK is not bad as a family style buffett with characters.

 

[FBGirl79]

I just want to second the advice of everyone else about planning. I did a ton of planning/research for our recent trip and it really made the biggest difference ever. Now I know some say they don't want to do that much work for the vacation but for me...that was part of the fun and anticipation. What I did was used the crowd calendar from the Unofficial Guide to WDW website and wrote down what days parks were listed as best/worst/etc. Then I made a list of all the places we wanted to eat. Next was getting the reservations. I had the restaurants ranked (for example we really wanted LeCellier so I got that first then adjusted my tentative schedule around that and so on) and just went through making all the ressies. We got ever restaurant we wanted. Once I had the dining down, I went day by day to decide what parks hours were and what we would hit first and just got a general idea of our direction through the parks. I put everything on an excel spreadsheet (I have no idea how to share it here but would email it if someone wants to post it here or use it) that we could print out. It had our reservation numbers on it, parks, notes, etc. and was perfect to give to the adults (we had 5 adults/two families going) so everyone knew what was going on that day. If we got to the park and saw something someone really wanted to do, we did it. We didn't do the rides commando style, just knew where to get FPs first and then went from there. It saved us considerable back tracking and was such a relief to have a plan bc WDW can be very overwhelming.

I'd be happy to share any of the info or things I made for our trip (I made a countdown trivia calendar, Halloween candy bags, mousekeeping envelopes, tie dye mickey shirts, animal kingdom shirts and autograph books) with anyone who wants them or make autograph covers with your kids name and favorite characters if you want. I'll get some pictures up as soon as I can.

ETA Here are some pictures of some of the stuff I made.

 

[Please See Mine]

I know I posted this before but I remember a time really not that long ago where everyone was treated equally at Disney.

You showed up paid for your ticket, and then get this you stood in line for rides just like everyone else, there was no magical hopper ticket, and when you got hungry you just picked a place and showed up and waited in line if there were no tables.

Now it's like some private country club cult where if you want special bullcrap you need to pay extra or your not entitled.

BIG from me.... :(

You are misinformed. Reservations don't cost anything.

Fastpasses dont cost anything.

oh - my mistake. I take it half back then Still should need reservations and should just have to wait like everyone else

I don't know what days we're going to be where an when 2 months from now

I guess I can understand not wanting to plan, but really without the fastpasses I would kill myself. No way I am going to stand in a line for an hour (and neither was my daughter). Plus planning out when to be at which parks to use the extra magic hours was a huge bonus. As others have said, planning it all out really adds value to your park utilization/experience.

 

[ATC1]

Unless you go at a really slow time, the Disney vacation likely requires a good deal of planning and reservations long in advance to make it enjoyable. That's just the way it is. It just isn't a go with the flow place any longer (except maybe walking around EPCOT at night drinking a beer). Generally, if you do only a handful of things you can have a rather easy time with everything else. 1) Make dinner reservations 180 days out. Dinner is easer to get to as you have your days free to run around wherever you want and just have to be somewhere at night. 2) Get to the park at opening and get a fastpass right away for the most popular ride. You should be able to get 1 or 2 more fastpasses before the early afternoon for some of the other busy ones. At the busy times, the whole place is crushed by 1pm. 3) Try to stay for several days so you don't feel like you have to everything right away and can take a break during the day.

I fully understand the desire to feel like you can do whatever you want when you get there but you'll likely end up just running into a lot of roadblocks along the way that will get you upset (you see yelling parents and crying kids all over the place). If you just don't want to do some planning, go in February.

LOL - that's exactly when we are going.I know the last time we went down, like 3 years ago, we went to Universal and there was no one there.

Staying for 7 days.

Haven't been to Disney in 12 years.

Go for Mardi Gras just about every year. If you go during that week the parks are a little more crowded with us redneck coona##es, but we have a blast handing out breads all day.

Sourdough? French? Wheat?

Why of course, this is New Orleans the french bread rocks. - Beads

 

[ATC1]

I just want to second the advice of everyone else about planning. I did a ton of planning/research for our recent trip and it really made the biggest difference ever. Now I know some say they don't want to do that much work for the vacation but for me...that was part of the fun and anticipation. What I did was used the crowd calendar from the Unofficial Guide to WDW website and wrote down what days parks were listed as best/worst/etc. Then I made a list of all the places we wanted to eat. Next was getting the reservations. I had the restaurants ranked (for example we really wanted LeCellier so I got that first then adjusted my tentative schedule around that and so on) and just went through making all the ressies. We got ever restaurant we wanted. Once I had the dining down, I went day by day to decide what parks hours were and what we would hit first and just got a general idea of our direction through the parks. I put everything on an excel spreadsheet (I have no idea how to share it here but would email it if someone wants to post it here or use it) that we could print out. It had our reservation numbers on it, parks, notes, etc. and was perfect to give to the adults (we had 5 adults/two families going) so everyone knew what was going on that day. If we got to the park and saw something someone really wanted to do, we did it. We didn't do the rides commando style, just knew where to get FPs first and then went from there. It saved us considerable back tracking and was such a relief to have a plan bc WDW can be very overwhelming. I'd be happy to share any of the info or things I made for our trip (I made a countdown trivia calendar, Halloween candy bags, mousekeeping envelopes, tie dye mickey shirts, animal kingdom shirts and autograph books) with anyone who wants them or make autograph covers with your kids name and favorite characters if you want. I'll get some pictures up as soon as I can.

Mrs. ATC1? We actually had a Disney trivia game for the car ride. A new section of the game for each park was done after every stop along the way. The winner gets disney dollars.

 

[Godsbrother]

I guess I can understand not wanting to plan, but really without the fastpasses I would kill myself. No way I am going to stand in a line for an hour (and neither was my daughter). Plus planning out when to be at which parks to use the extra magic hours was a huge bonus. As others have said, planning it all out really adds value to your park utilization/experience.

Disney could make things a whole lot easier by having a central FastPass station for all attractions in addition to having them at each invidual attraction. It would really save a lot of backtracking if you could get a FP for say Space Mouuntain while on your way to ride Big Thunder Mountain in the standby line.ETA: I heard they have recently experimented with this idea in Animal Kingdom but I did not see it when I went in October.

 

[belljr]

I just want to second the advice of everyone else about planning. I did a ton of planning/research for our recent trip and it really made the biggest difference ever. Now I know some say they don't want to do that much work for the vacation but for me...that was part of the fun and anticipation. What I did was used the crowd calendar from the Unofficial Guide to WDW website and wrote down what days parks were listed as best/worst/etc. Then I made a list of all the places we wanted to eat. Next was getting the reservations. I had the restaurants ranked (for example we really wanted LeCellier so I got that first then adjusted my tentative schedule around that and so on) and just went through making all the ressies. We got ever restaurant we wanted. Once I had the dining down, I went day by day to decide what parks hours were and what we would hit first and just got a general idea of our direction through the parks. I put everything on an excel spreadsheet (I have no idea how to share it here but would email it if someone wants to post it here or use it) that we could print out. It had our reservation numbers on it, parks, notes, etc. and was perfect to give to the adults (we had 5 adults/two families going) so everyone knew what was going on that day. If we got to the park and saw something someone really wanted to do, we did it. We didn't do the rides commando style, just knew where to get FPs first and then went from there. It saved us considerable back tracking and was such a relief to have a plan bc WDW can be very overwhelming.

I'd be happy to share any of the info or things I made for our trip (I made a countdown trivia calendar, Halloween candy bags, mousekeeping envelopes, tie dye mickey shirts, animal kingdom shirts and autograph books) with anyone who wants them or make autograph covers with your kids name and favorite characters if you want. I'll get some pictures up as soon as I can.

info?ETA: I found it. The calendar stops in January and I only signed up for the free.

 

[ATC1]

I guess I can understand not wanting to plan, but really without the fastpasses I would kill myself. No way I am going to stand in a line for an hour (and neither was my daughter). Plus planning out when to be at which parks to use the extra magic hours was a huge bonus. As others have said, planning it all out really adds value to your park utilization/experience.

Disney could make things a whole lot easier by having a central FastPass station for all attractions in addition to having them at each invidual attraction. It would really save a lot of backtracking if you could get a FP for say Space Mouuntain while on your way to ride Big Thunder Mountain in the standby line.ETA: I heard they have recently experimented with this idea in Animal Kingdom but I did not see it when I went in October.

I would think that would increase the time to come back dramatically and not a lot of people will show up in the time they are supposed to return. As it is right now, you can get the FP, do the stuff in the area and it should be around the time the FP are up. This works well in Epcot and MK. Maybe not as well in Studios and AK.

 

[Foosball God]

It's like you people are speaking another language in here. Good thing we probably aren't going to go until 2011, because I think it will take me a year just to know what you guys are saying.

 

[ATC1]

It's like you people are speaking another language in here. Good thing we probably aren't going to go until 2011, because I think it will take me a year just to know what you guys are saying.

The best thing to do is ask questions on planning. Do it as much ahead of time as possible, so it doesn't seem like a huge task come crunch time.

 

[Godsbrother]

I guess I can understand not wanting to plan, but really without the fastpasses I would kill myself. No way I am going to stand in a line for an hour (and neither was my daughter). Plus planning out when to be at which parks to use the extra magic hours was a huge bonus. As others have said, planning it all out really adds value to your park utilization/experience.

Disney could make things a whole lot easier by having a central FastPass station for all attractions in addition to having them at each invidual attraction. It would really save a lot of backtracking if you could get a FP for say Space Mouuntain while on your way to ride Big Thunder Mountain in the standby line.ETA: I heard they have recently experimented with this idea in Animal Kingdom but I did not see it when I went in October.

I would think that would increase the time to come back dramatically and not a lot of people will show up in the time they are supposed to return. As it is right now, you can get the FP, do the stuff in the area and it should be around the time the FP are up. This works well in Epcot and MK. Maybe not as well in Studios and AK.

Perhaps but a large number of people grab a FP for a major attraction as soon as they enter the park and then head to another major attraction and wait in standby. This is especially true for anyone using touring plans found in books and online.

 

[ATC1]

I guess I can understand not wanting to plan, but really without the fastpasses I would kill myself. No way I am going to stand in a line for an hour (and neither was my daughter). Plus planning out when to be at which parks to use the extra magic hours was a huge bonus. As others have said, planning it all out really adds value to your park utilization/experience.

Disney could make things a whole lot easier by having a central FastPass station for all attractions in addition to having them at each invidual attraction. It would really save a lot of backtracking if you could get a FP for say Space Mouuntain while on your way to ride Big Thunder Mountain in the standby line.ETA: I heard they have recently experimented with this idea in Animal Kingdom but I did not see it when I went in October.

I would think that would increase the time to come back dramatically and not a lot of people will show up in the time they are supposed to return. As it is right now, you can get the FP, do the stuff in the area and it should be around the time the FP are up. This works well in Epcot and MK. Maybe not as well in Studios and AK.

Perhaps but a large number of people grab a FP for a major attraction as soon as they enter the park and then head to another major attraction and wait in standby. This is especially true for anyone using touring plans found in books and online.

You try to time it the best way possible. You know you don't HAVE to make it back between the hours designated on the FP. As long as you come back after the time. That time or the designated time below that tells you when you can get your next FP, so you can plan accordingly to that. I'm the designated runner, but I enjoy it. It's better than being the designated bathroom runner, make sure everyone has their snacks, no sayer to the question - "oh daddy can I have that?" person as we go to the next ride.

 

[FBGirl79]

I just want to second the advice of everyone else about planning. I did a ton of planning/research for our recent trip and it really made the biggest difference ever. Now I know some say they don't want to do that much work for the vacation but for me...that was part of the fun and anticipation. What I did was used the crowd calendar from the Unofficial Guide to WDW website and wrote down what days parks were listed as best/worst/etc. Then I made a list of all the places we wanted to eat. Next was getting the reservations. I had the restaurants ranked (for example we really wanted LeCellier so I got that first then adjusted my tentative schedule around that and so on) and just went through making all the ressies. We got ever restaurant we wanted. Once I had the dining down, I went day by day to decide what parks hours were and what we would hit first and just got a general idea of our direction through the parks. I put everything on an excel spreadsheet (I have no idea how to share it here but would email it if someone wants to post it here or use it) that we could print out. It had our reservation numbers on it, parks, notes, etc. and was perfect to give to the adults (we had 5 adults/two families going) so everyone knew what was going on that day. If we got to the park and saw something someone really wanted to do, we did it. We didn't do the rides commando style, just knew where to get FPs first and then went from there. It saved us considerable back tracking and was such a relief to have a plan bc WDW can be very overwhelming.

I'd be happy to share any of the info or things I made for our trip (I made a countdown trivia calendar, Halloween candy bags, mousekeeping envelopes, tie dye mickey shirts, animal kingdom shirts and autograph books) with anyone who wants them or make autograph covers with your kids name and favorite characters if you want. I'll get some pictures up as soon as I can.

info?ETA: I found it. The calendar stops in January and I only signed up for the free.

I didn't want to buy the book so I went to our library and checked it out. If you have the book in hand you can get (or at least could for 2009) access to the website free. You have to enter page info from a couple pages so you need the book in hand but once you verify you are good for the year. Our library didn't have the 2009 version but they ordered it for me. You could probably do the same for the 2010 version.

 

[parasaurolophus]

It's like you people are speaking another language in here. Good thing we probably aren't going to go until 2011, because I think it will take me a year just to know what you guys are saying.

for us, planning has become a huge part of the fun.We make all sorts of specific plans, which almost always get scrapped, but we just have a blast doing it.In the end we spend 60% of our time at Epcot because it is everyone's favorite park. On the last trip we were at Magic kingdom for a grand total of 4 hours, and that included eating lunch. We absolutely killed it during that 4 hours though. Proper use of Fastpasses and hitting rides at the right time can lead to a much more fun experience. I was amazed at how much we went on in such a short period of time.