Disney Vacation (13 Viewers)

[GreekFreak]

Any DVC owners here? I just bought 240 points at Bay lake tower.

Owners of 250 points at Beach Club Villas since Nov. 2007. We have yet to stay at our home resort but have stayed across the lake at the Boardwalk Villas. Also stayed at Wilderness Lodge Villas and Old Key West. We'll be at your home resort, Bay Lake Towers, in 2 months. So far the Wilderness Lodge is our favorite.

Have you found it easy to get reservations 7 months out for the places you stayed at?We will be staying at BLT for a few years, kids are 5 and 2 so we will be doing spending most of our time at Magic Kingdom.I really want to try the Treehouse Villas and the Animal Kindgom lodge.

 

[bigbottom]

By the way, one thing that sort of depressed me about Animal Kingdom is something we learned when we took the train up to Rafiki's Planet Watch. Each night, every animal, with the exception of the birds and crocs, are moved from the habitat and put up in these steel and concrete warehouses. I guess it's for their own good, but it was still sort of a bummer after you've seen most of them out in the open on the safari.

 

[belljr]

By the way, one thing that sort of depressed me about Animal Kingdom is something we learned when we took the train up to Rafiki's Planet Watch. Each night, every animal, with the exception of the birds and crocs, are moved from the habitat and put up in these steel and concrete warehouses. I guess it's for their own good, but it was still sort of a bummer after you've seen most of them out in the open on the safari.

Yeah they said an hour or so before dusk they start lining them up and sometimes you will see the animals hanging out on the entrance road to their "homes". They also told us that not all of the animals come out, meaning some have "days off" from the safari. When we road by you could see some rhinos that had the day off hanging in the pen.

 

[Sucrose]

Any DVC owners here? I just bought 240 points at Bay lake tower.

Owners of 250 points at Beach Club Villas since Nov. 2007. We have yet to stay at our home resort but have stayed across the lake at the Boardwalk Villas. Also stayed at Wilderness Lodge Villas and Old Key West. We'll be at your home resort, Bay Lake Towers, in 2 months. So far the Wilderness Lodge is our favorite.

Have you found it easy to get reservations 7 months out for the places you stayed at?We will be staying at BLT for a few years, kids are 5 and 2 so we will be doing spending most of our time at Magic Kingdom.I really want to try the Treehouse Villas and the Animal Kindgom lodge.

We haven't had any trouble. The only time I even had to waitlist was for the Boardwalk but that was calling at 3 months out and the waitlist came through in a couple of weeks. Wilderness Lodge & Bay Lake Towers were both booked 5 months out. We typically travel there end of April through first week of June. That must be a pretty slow time for DVC as we have never had trouble staying where we requested. I do think the Treehouse Villas will be next to impossible to book at 7 months out for quite some time now just because of the small number of units available. With the addition Kidani Village, reservations at the Animal Kingdom should be a little easier to come by. They had availability when I booked the Bay Lake Towers rooms.

 

[Snotbubbles]

Any DVC owners here? I just bought 240 points at Bay lake tower.

Looked into it. Didn't look like such a great deal to me. The Bay Lake Tower is an RCI property so you could have stayed there with any timeshare that is affiliated with RCI.

RCI owns Bay Lake Towers? Really?Are you sure?

RCI doesn't own the property, the property is available for exchange through RCI.HERE ARE THE RCI EXCHANGE DISNEY PROPERTIES

 

[bigbottom]

Any DVC owners here? I just bought 240 points at Bay lake tower.

Looked into it. Didn't look like such a great deal to me. The Bay Lake Tower is an RCI property so you could have stayed there with any timeshare that is affiliated with RCI.

RCI owns Bay Lake Towers? Really?Are you sure?

RCI doesn't own the property, the property is available for exchange through RCI.HERE ARE THE RCI EXCHANGE DISNEY PROPERTIES

We stayed at Sartoga Springs and really liked the property. It's about a 20 minute shuttle ride to the parks, however.

 

[Snotbubbles]

Any DVC owners here? I just bought 240 points at Bay lake tower.

Looked into it. Didn't look like such a great deal to me. The Bay Lake Tower is an RCI property so you could have stayed there with any timeshare that is affiliated with RCI.

RCI owns Bay Lake Towers? Really?Are you sure?

RCI doesn't own the property, the property is available for exchange through RCI.HERE ARE THE RCI EXCHANGE DISNEY PROPERTIES

We stayed at Sartoga Springs and really liked the property. It's about a 20 minute shuttle ride to the parks, however.

I really want to stay in an Animal Kingdom Suite.

 

[GreekFreak]

Tired of paying big money for Photopass?

Works like a charm

 

[Mr. Ected]

Tired of paying big money for Photopass?

Works like a charm

There is an underground method to group several people together who are visiting Disney around the same time to then combine their photopasses together and put them all on one CD and split the cost, and have the photos then distributed. On a wonderful board with tons of info about Disney (DisBoards.com) you used to be able to join up, but Disney put a thumb down on that, so you are no longer allowed to go over details about shaing Photopasses (among other things). You can however do it on Facebook. If you search for Disney Photopass Share it will take youto the appropriate place.It is a cool idea, because you get the Disney photographers to take pics of your whole family, and I noticed when I was there last year that more rides were putting pics from the rides onto photopass.

 

[ditka85]

Any DVC owners here? I just bought 240 points at Bay lake tower.

Looked into it. Didn't look like such a great deal to me. The Bay Lake Tower is an RCI property so you could have stayed there with any timeshare that is affiliated with RCI.

RCI owns Bay Lake Towers? Really?Are you sure?

RCI doesn't own the property, the property is available for exchange through RCI.HERE ARE THE RCI EXCHANGE DISNEY PROPERTIES

We stayed at Sartoga Springs and really liked the property. It's about a 20 minute shuttle ride to the parks, however.

Just got back Friday from Saratoga. Very nice place. They do a nice job of bending over backwards to accommodate your every wish (within reason, of course). Even had an employee OFFER to run out and grab me a 12 pack on his break (I did give him $$ to pay for it). After spending all day at MK, came back to the room to enjoy an ice cold Blue Moon tucked away nicely in the fridge.

 

[Osaurus]

Taking Mrs. Osaurus to WDW this Saturday. It is our anniversary so I thought I would surprise her with a quick little getaway. We are staying at the Wilderness Lodge and going to the Magic Kingdom. We got 30% off the room being FL residents and are buying the $99 four day passes when we get there. Looking forward to a nice weekend.

 

[Mr. Chumley]

We're starting to get serious about planning our diosney trip this a fall. First priority is food. I know it was talked about earlier in this thread but I'm too lazy to ga back and read to find where it was being discuseed, so could you guys post your favorite resturants at Disney world? We plan on doing one character meal, most likely dinner so we don't waste the mornings eating when we could be riding. I'm thinking the Liberty Tree Tavern right now. I know we plan on doing the choral reef for dinner and maybe the prime time cafe for lunch ine day. Any other suggestions?

 

[Gator Shawn]

We're starting to get serious about planning our diosney trip this a fall. First priority is food. I know it was talked about earlier in this thread but I'm too lazy to ga back and read to find where it was being discuseed, so could you guys post your favorite resturants at Disney world? We plan on doing one character meal, most likely dinner so we don't waste the mornings eating when we could be riding. I'm thinking the Liberty Tree Tavern right now. I know we plan on doing the choral reef for dinner and maybe the prime time cafe for lunch ine day. Any other suggestions?

Late Character Breakfasts are a good idea. It's a combo lunch breakfast that keeps you going late into the day. More than likely, Disney will be offering Free Dining at some point in the next few weeks for this fall. They have every year for the last several years. Do that. Use the FREE dining to explore. I highly recommend Boma and Whispering Canyon CafeOur bill for dinner for 4 at Les Chefs Du France was $165.00. Our cost? $0. Disney Dining Plan FTW

 

[Yankee23Fan]

We're starting to get serious about planning our diosney trip this a fall. First priority is food. I know it was talked about earlier in this thread but I'm too lazy to ga back and read to find where it was being discuseed, so could you guys post your favorite resturants at Disney world? We plan on doing one character meal, most likely dinner so we don't waste the mornings eating when we could be riding. I'm thinking the Liberty Tree Tavern right now. I know we plan on doing the choral reef for dinner and maybe the prime time cafe for lunch ine day. Any other suggestions?

Liberty Tree is very slid food but it isn't a character meal anymore - at least it wasn't when we were there - I'm hoping they change it back.Places you really shouldn't miss are too numerous to mention, still my personal favs:O'Hana. If you do not eat there for dinner you must turn in your man card.Liberty TreeCoral ReefLe'Cellier - steakhouse in Canada - a must if you can get it but it's always packedI hear you on the morning rush stuff, but you can get early breakfast reservations at Crystal Palace in MK and get into the park (to get to the restaurant) before the park actually opens unless they have extra magic early morning hours that day. So if the park opens at 9, get breakfast reservations at 8:30 or earlier if you can pull it, and be done eating just as or right after the park opens.

 

[Mr. Chumley]

We're starting to get serious about planning our diosney trip this a fall. First priority is food. I know it was talked about earlier in this thread but I'm too lazy to ga back and read to find where it was being discuseed, so could you guys post your favorite resturants at Disney world? We plan on doing one character meal, most likely dinner so we don't waste the mornings eating when we could be riding. I'm thinking the Liberty Tree Tavern right now. I know we plan on doing the choral reef for dinner and maybe the prime time cafe for lunch ine day. Any other suggestions?

Liberty Tree is very slid food but it isn't a character meal anymore - at least it wasn't when we were there - I'm hoping they change it back.Places you really shouldn't miss are too numerous to mention, still my personal favs:O'Hana. If you do not eat there for dinner you must turn in your man card.Liberty TreeCoral ReefLe'Cellier - steakhouse in Canada - a must if you can get it but it's always packedI hear you on the morning rush stuff, but you can get early breakfast reservations at Crystal Palace in MK and get into the park (to get to the restaurant) before the park actually opens unless they have extra magic early morning hours that day. So if the park opens at 9, get breakfast reservations at 8:30 or earlier if you can pull it, and be done eating just as or right after the park opens.

We went to the palace with my daughter a few years back. This time my son is going so I'm hoping to get Mickey or Pluto. Has any one done the fantasmic dining package? which restaurant was better?

 

[ditka85]

We did dinner with Chef Mickey at the Contemporary. It's a buffet that's pretty good. Wide variety of food and a massive dessert bar. You meet Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto & Goofy. Nice way to knock out 5 character greetings without having to wait in line.

Whispering Canyon is also a must for the kids and the food is great, especially the Canyon Skillet. It includes an all-you-can-eat of briskett, ribs, chicken, beans, corn bread, salad & mashed taters. When kids ask for ketchup, the server yells "I need ketchup" to the whole restaurant and brings over every bottle in the house. The next time another patron needs it, your children get to participate and bring it to the next table.

Ohana has great food too. Never made it to LeCellier. Did eat at Citricos and it was excellent although pricey. More of a fine dining establishment and the bill was $200 for 2 adults and 2 kids.

 

[bigbottom]

We only ate at a few restaurants during our trip:

Kona Cafe (at the Polynesian) - Menu was interesting, but the food was on the bland side. B-

Turf Club (at Saratoga Springs) - Highbrow menu executed poorly. C-

T-Rex (at Downtown Disney) - Standard fare done well; fun atmosphere. A-

Tutto Italia Ristorante (Epcot) - One of the better Italian meals I've had in years. A+

 

[Osaurus]

Tony's - MK. All I can say about it is meh

Going to Wave at the Contemporary and taking Mrs. Osaurus to the Grand Floridian for tea this time too.

Coral Reef was good. I liked Kona Cafe. Only ever eaten at Rainforest Cafe in DD and would not go back.

Turf Club was weak.

I think that is all the places I have been lately.

 

[Gator Shawn]

I completely forgot about O'Hana. Holy schnikes that place was so good.

 

[Morton Muffley]

Does anyone know how to find out the "show" times for things like Lion King and Nemo ahead of time?

Found our old entertainment guides from our last trip...not sure how much the times have changed though.

Not a biggie.

Getting pumped as the boy can ride more things now and he really wants to do the Star Wars Jedi Training thing.

show times are updated weekly on this guy's site very helpful for planning as times do change frequently enough and it's nearly impossible to plan a visit to Disney Studios in advance without this info as the park is mainly 30 min shows

 

[sho nuff]

Not sure how I forgot this...I recommend going to Rafiki's Planet and catching Pocahontas...the two times we have been there...she was pretty darn hot.

 

[ditka85]

Not sure how I forgot this...I recommend going to Rafiki's Planet and catching Pocahontas...the two times we have been there...she was pretty darn hot.

I'll have to track down the pic my wife took of her out of the 1000 she took. And I'm not kidding, she took just over 1000 pix in 7 days. Anyway, Pocahontas is absolutely smoking hot!

 

[sho nuff]

Not sure how I forgot this...I recommend going to Rafiki's Planet and catching Pocahontas...the two times we have been there...she was pretty darn hot.

I'll have to track down the pic my wife took of her out of the 1000 she took. And I'm not kidding, she took just over 1000 pix in 7 days. Anyway, Pocahontas is absolutely smoking hot!

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4003/442329...a0120fb97_b.jpgwife was prego in this one so I should keep her out of it...but there is my boy a few years ago on his first trip to Disney.

 

[harryhood]

Spending a week in Sarasota the first week of April and thinking of taking a one day trip to Orlando with our almost 3 year old. We have seen Nemo on Ice and a Winnie the Pooh show at our local arena over the past year and she has loved them both. Figure a day pass is perfect for her age and attention span.

We want to hit the Magic Kingdom right? Any suggestions on arrival time for spending the day?

 

[2Young2BBald]

Spending a week in Sarasota the first week of April and thinking of taking a one day trip to Orlando with our almost 3 year old. We have seen Nemo on Ice and a Winnie the Pooh show at our local arena over the past year and she has loved them both. Figure a day pass is perfect for her age and attention span. We want to hit the Magic Kingdom right? Any suggestions on arrival time for spending the day?

If your Kiddo likes Nemo, Turtle Talk with Crush over at Epcot is awesome, but there isn't a heck of a lot more for e 3 year old there. As for arrival, I am there when the gates open and run like heck to get fast passes for whatever is tops on the list (there is a Pooh ride at Magic Kingdom). With a 3 year old, I'd almost be compelled to recommend Animal Kingdom over all the other parks. So much to see, and places to stop and play. Its just too bad they don't have a 1-day park hopper.

 

[Osaurus]

Went last weekend to Disney. Stayed at the Wilderness Lodge. We really liked it. We would stay there again in a second. They have a boat launch to the MK and the Contemporary.

Food:

Grand Floridian Tea Room - Spoiled Mrs. Osaurus rotten with some high end tea and the sammiches and everything else. Dudes are indeed a minority there, but I highly recommend the experience.

Wave- The Contemporary has moved this downstairs to their convention floor. The food wasn't bad, but nothing special either. If we were there and needed a place for dinner, we might go there again.

Staying at Old Key West in mid-April and going to EPCOT (the four day Florida resident dream pass is ).

So far we have reservations for the Tokyo restaurant for lunch and the Marrakesh restaurant for dinner and one more meal at the restaurant at Old Key West. What we really want to do is go to Le Cellier Steakhouse (Canada) for one of these meals, but reservations are completely full forever it seems. Is there any way to get in that place without a reservation? Anyone know some way to get in without knowing someone? We want to try it after hearing such great things, but we are thinking we will have to plan another vacation around a reservation there if we ever want to go in. Any help is appreciated here.

BTW: MK was freakin' packed the Saturday we were there. All major rides were full and fast passes were gone by 3 pm for the rest of the day. We went back later after dinner and the crowds really died down after the 8:00 parade. At 10:00 there was still a 2 hour wait for Space Mountain. Unbelievable!

 

[sho nuff]

Just back tonight after a 13 hour drive back...great week...cool weather which my wife thought was too cold at times...perfect to me.

Pretty busy and it paid to have a good plan.

Yesterday at MK was dead though for the most part...got so much done.

Kids had a blast...will post more tomorrow...my mind is jello right now.

 

[sho nuff]

Alrighty...after a little sleep....this will be a bit wordy but hoping people realize to have a plan when you go in...

Great week at Disney...stayed off the property...Cypress Pointe (RCI resort) very nice...though no wireless internet except for a fee in the main building. But it was nice to be unplugged for a week too.

Very crowded all week and you had to have a plan to get to do everything you wanted. If this had been our first trip...I would have been in for a shock.

Day 1-last monday - MK

Breakfast at Chef Mickeys...got us off to a slow start getting in the park, but good to start off with characters, even though my 2 year old daughter was freaked out a bit.

Got into the Park about 10ish. Got fastpasses for Buzz Lightyear and did the laugh floor quick. By the time we were out of that, Buzz was outside the ride and my son saw him and got his autograph. Then our fastpasses for Buzz were ready. Directly after that, I got fast passes for Space Mountain...for 5:45pm. Just happy to get them.

Filled the rest of the day with teacups (my daughter's favorite) lunch at Pecos Bill (just kind of blah this time) and caught one of the parade/street party things. It was pretty good. Then hit space mountain late...son loved it (5 years old).

Day 2 Tuesday Hollywood Studios

Wife, daughter, and step mom went straight to Toy Story Mania...waited in a long line and got fastpasses for 11:45.

Son and I went to the Jedi Experience. In the past I think they just randomly selected kids. Now they take the first 12-15 kids for the first show (9:50). And let the rest line up in a roped off area. Right after the first show (so about 10:15) they selected the next 12-15 kids for the 2nd show...and continue doing this for the rest of the shows. Some people may have waited a long long time. We were kid 17 so were about to be picked for the 2nd show. Only my 5 year old decided he did not want to be up on stage once he saw how freaking big Darth Vader was. So we watched the first show and waited for an hour and 15 minutes for him to back out at the last minute. Made kid #31 very happy to get into the 2nd show (which would have been at about 10:45-10:50).

Did a few things before Toy Story Mania. By 12:30 we were eating and I went to see on fastpasses for rock n roller coaster (was not a priority this trip) but they were not available to come back til 9:30 so we skipped it. Did Epcot fireworks that night instead.

Day 3 Epcot

Right there when the ropes dropped...2 big groups, one headed for test track (us) the rest for Soarin.

Hindsight should have had my dad go to Soarin to get the rest of us fastpasses (he was not doing test track).

Got right on Test Track...but then I waited for about 30-40 minutes just to get fastpasses for Soarin (got them for 1:30 and this was at about 9:45). Where Soarin is makes it a logistical nightmare getting people in and out and figuring out if you are in line to get a fast pass or in line for the actual ride. Disney needs to fix this somehow.

Not all bad, got over to Turtle Talk with Crush which is still awesome for the kids. Then did a few things til our fast passes were ready. Made it an early day and did some naps then Downtown Disney for a bit (which was ridiculously crowded in the stores).

Day 4 Animal Kingdom part 1.

We had a 6:10 reservation for Crystal Palace that night so we knew this would just be a morning at AK then naps after lunch so we could hit dinner, Spectramagic and Wishes Fireworks that night.

Me, Wife, 5 year old, and Step Mom headed straight for Everest (the 5 year old again loved it). Of course, it was down and they were not sure when it would be working again...had not even let anyone into the main building/line yet. Fastpasses going like crazy, and of course our tickets were with my dad at the Safari getting fast passes over there. By 9:25 they started letting people in and we flew right in pretty quickly. Then to the Safari which still only had about a 20 minute wait by the time we got there.

Did that, then the Lion King show and called it a day there.

After dinner with Pooh (now about 8 pm) the rest of the crew went to Dumbo while I scouted a spot for the parade. 1 hour before, and I still only got in the 2nd row on Main Street (and I figured I would. But it worked out great, people in front of us had a little room and let my 5 year old sit on the curb as we knelt right behind them and had plenty of room). Then up the street for the fireworks...2 year old loved the "booms"...she also was much more comfortable with the characters.

Day 5 Animal Kingdom part 2.

After not getting the kids in bed til 11:30 or so...we decided to sleep in (and not get to AK til about 10 am). Step mom and 5 year old did the rapids with no wait while we did the jungle trek. Then headed over to Nemo about 40 minutes before show time. Caught Nemo, did the triceratops twirl in Dinoland...then ate at Restaurantasaurus. Wife had a huge bacon double cheeseburger which she said was great (I had one elsewhere the next day). Then to Rafikis Planet...and as I said earlier and emphasize more from this trip...Pocahontas is hot.

Right after Rafiki's planet we got just outside the Safari spot at about 3:20 and found a spot for the parade at 3:45. Right by an ice cream cart...tip, if you want ice cream before the parade...get it by about 3:30 because they close the carts down during the parade.

Day 6 MK last day

Got there at the opening...very cool seeing the characters arrive on the train just inside the gate. Headed to Pirates...while I got fastpasses for thunder mountain. That side of the park was dead.

We ended up not using the fast passes and just went on with no real wait after pirates. My daughter and wife headed back to see Cinderalla and Belle. Quick note, the train does not stop at toon town until about 9:45. I think it was about 9:30 and they had to go around once. There was already a 30 minute wait for the fairies so they saw Cinderella and Bell back there instead. We hit thunder mountain...then saw alladin with no wait right by his carpets (I think Jazmine came out later...saw her one day and she was hot too). Did the treehouse, then haunted mansion with no waits as we headed towards the back of teh park to meet up with my wife and daughter. Walked right on small world after getting passes for Peter Pan. Did the carosel and teacups again while waited on the fast passes...then peter pan. Earlier in the thread I said I did not like Cosmic Rays...it was the chicken. Bacon Double Cheeseburger though...was pretty darn tasty. But right before that got to see Alice and the White Rabbit. While waiting, a kid rolled by on a stroller crying and Alice ran over to calm him down...very cool.

Monorailed it to Epcot for the afternoon.

First thing we checked and saw only a 25 minute wait for the Epcot Character spot and saw Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald, and Goofy and my daughter was jumping up and down excited and hugging them all. Very cool. Went through the countries (the flower and garden show is going on and they have some incredible flower creations of the different characters...like this Mickey and Minnie Farmer)

The comedic waiters outside of France were very good.

Then got lucky and caught Snow White with no real wait outside of Germany.

And that was the end really. Great trip. Still so much I did not even post. Trying to rest some today and got through about 900 pictures (between my camera, my dad's and my step mom's)

 

[AcerFC]

Awesome time sho nuff

 

[Third]

Day 2 is in the books on our Disney vacation - first for our family of 5 (kids 8,5,3). Just a few random thoughts from our trip so far.

Day 1 - Animal Kingdom (Sunday). It started raining at noon and never stopped. I mean a monsoon yesterday afternoon. Luckily, we got a good start before the rain. We did Dinosaur first thing with no wait, FP'd Everest, rode Safaris with no wait, and then rode Everest. So we had the big 3 down in the first 90 minutes. We did Rapids in a downpour, so we were already soaked. Half of the crowd left when the rain didn't let up, so we got character greetings with no wait. It was a decent day overall, but I was a little underwhelmed. Everest/Rapids/Dinosaur were good, but not great. We were too soaked to wait around for Lion King and I really hate we missed that show. Maybe it was because we went on Sunday, maybe it was because rain was in the forecast, but we had no trouble getting around the park and riding rides with little to no wait.

Day 2 - Hollywood Studios (Monday). Loved this park. The kids thought it was 10x better than AK. I have a cast member/friend that is getting us in on his complimentary parkhopper passes (which is just an incredible thing for us) and he and I rode RnR Coaster and Tower of Terror first thing with no wait. We got there at 9 sharp, and the park was not crowded on that end at all. Wife FP'd Toy Story while we rode. We rode Toy Story around 11 and got another FP for the 5-6 window...glad we did. The wait was 90+ the rest of the day and FP were gone by noon. And I know why - the ride was terrific. I was expecting a lot of hype but not a great ride, but I was wrong. Everyone thought it was the highlight of the day - definitely worth multiple rides if you can do it. We did all the other usual stuff and got to meet a TON of characters. The kids loved it.

We are doing Disney on a budget. Between my friend getting us free passes, staying offsite, packing sandwiches and snacks to take into the park, this is definitely Disney on a shoestring. Not how I would prefer, but about the only way we could do it right now. Magic Kingdom is on deck tomorrow and Wednesday, and then Epcot on Thursday.

 

[kneeshooter]

ShoNuff (or anyone else for that matter) - my kids will be around the same age (around 5+3) when we look to go next spring. Is there "enough" for a smaller kids at parks like Epcot/Hollywood Studios? Or would you recommend less than a full day at either?

Probably going for 5 whole days, figured 1 day for each park and double up on MK.

Also, how necessary are park hoppers?

 

[baaloc1968]

ShoNuff (or anyone else for that matter) - my kids will be around the same age (around 5+3) when we look to go next spring. Is there "enough" for a smaller kids at parks like Epcot/Hollywood Studios? Or would you recommend less than a full day at either? Probably going for 5 whole days, figured 1 day for each park and double up on MK. Also, how necessary are park hoppers?

Park hoppers are only necessary if you plan on attending more than one park on any given day. On our last trip, we had the park hopper option and never used it.

 

[sho nuff]

ShoNuff (or anyone else for that matter) - my kids will be around the same age (around 5+3) when we look to go next spring. Is there "enough" for a smaller kids at parks like Epcot/Hollywood Studios? Or would you recommend less than a full day at either? Probably going for 5 whole days, figured 1 day for each park and double up on MK. Also, how necessary are park hoppers?

Well...I always do the Park Hopper because many times we had dinner planned for a park we did not plan on being at all day.Or for when you want to check out the fireworks on a day you were not at the MK or Epcot.As for little kids.HS-with that range it will be a bit dependent on your kids. For us...wife did some stuff with our 2 year old while I was with the 5 year old. 5 year old did not want to do playhouse disney and beauty and the beast...so we did the stunt show.TS Mania is great for all. THough, be ready that your 3 year old will be strapped into their own seat on that ride. We had no clue, but it worked out. While my 2 year old just fooled around, she liked going through the thing anyway and being a big girl in her own seat.Plenty of characters around too. Jedi Experience is cool if the 5 year old like Star Wars...just be ready to be there early and know you have to send someone else to get TS Mania fast passes.We left that park about 3 or 4 that day though. We could have done a few more things...but were pretty tired. I have usually only done one day at HS and usually not a full day.Epcot - Nemo/Turtle Talk is great. My 5 year old loved test track...but was unsure about doing soarin. If they don't like heights...I would not attempt it.There is the journey into the imagination with figment and a play area after that which my kids liked. Also have Honey I shrunk the audience. Each country also has some kid's activity in it.Plus there is a Kim Possible thing you can do. You get a little cell phone recording thing and have missions throughout the countries to find things. We did not do this but saw others doing it and have read about it here. Looked pretty cool.We did Epcot parts of 2 days. 1st day was a 1st thing in the morning do Test Track, Soarin, Nemo and Figment day...probably til about 4ish again. Did the fireworks there another night (the night of HS partial day). Then our last day we hit Epcot around 2ish til about 6 doing the countries and hit the Character Spot.

 

[AcerFC]

ShoNuff (or anyone else for that matter) - my kids will be around the same age (around 5+3) when we look to go next spring. Is there "enough" for a smaller kids at parks like Epcot/Hollywood Studios? Or would you recommend less than a full day at either? Probably going for 5 whole days, figured 1 day for each park and double up on MK. Also, how necessary are park hoppers?

I love the park hopper option. Allows you to hit one park in morning, another in afternoon or night

 

[sho nuff]

ShoNuff (or anyone else for that matter) - my kids will be around the same age (around 5+3) when we look to go next spring. Is there "enough" for a smaller kids at parks like Epcot/Hollywood Studios? Or would you recommend less than a full day at either? Probably going for 5 whole days, figured 1 day for each park and double up on MK. Also, how necessary are park hoppers?

I love the park hopper option. Allows you to hit one park in morning, another in afternoon or night

Yeah...each trip we have been we use it.Do a park in the morning...take naps if needed...head to another that night for dinner/parade/fireworks...or a show we wanted to see where we did not need to be there when the park opened.I think just about every time we saw fireworks was not a day we were in that park all day.

 

[GreekFreak]

Just got a ding from Southwest, $89 each way non stop to Orlando.

Called DVC and got a studio at Kidani Village for 5 days in May.

Totally out of the blue

 

[PatriotJohn]

Going with our kids' High School band in a week and had a question about the meal vouchers.

We will be getting $15.00 each for each day we are there (Tues-Thurs).

I am assuming that the vouchers will only be allowed to be used at one time, with no credit or change given back.....is this correct? We plan on splitting meals and using two people on a voucher per meal (lunch/dinner).

We leave Monday morning, Arriving Tuesday morning for breakfast at the main Disney complex, with our band marching in the parade that evening. Wednesday will be Epcot, and Thursday is at Animal Kingdom.

Will be loading up on the Fast Pass rides. Any other suggestions for any of those parks in particular? Any good restaurants to make reservations at?

TIA

 

[Parmcat]

15 days till my trip. That report from Sho Nuff was awesome, but wow...you really need to know your stuff. I am sure we will not get on all the stuff we want, as I am not running anywhere...LOL

We are there Sun to Fri, so hopefully the crowds are down.

These are the ADR's I have booked:

Donalds Tusker House for Character Breakfast at AK

Sci Fi Cafe at DSH

Chef Mickeys for Character Breakfast at Poly

Coral Reef at Epcot

Crystal Palace for Character Dinner

Getting pretty stoked actually!!!!!

 

[AcerFC]

These are the ADR's I have bookedonalds Tusker House for Character Breakfast at AKSci Fi Cafe at DSHChef Mickeys for Character Breakfast at PolyCoral Reef at EpcotCrystal Palace for Character DinnerGetting pretty stoked actually!!!!!

We did the Tusker House and it was great. Unlike Crystal Palace, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy and Goofy were at the Tusker. The juice they serve is pretty good. It was my daughters birthday when we went and Donald or Daisy brought out a cupcake and sang to her. Was pretty cool. Crystal Palace is cool too if you like the hundred acre wood crowdMy wife and I enjoy sci fi. Never been with kids. We have not done Chef Mickey but its on the agenda for December. Trying to decide if we should spend the extra money and stay at the hotel that has Chef Mickey and the monorail (pretty sure its the same place)have fun

 

[Parmcat]

These are the ADR's I have booked:

Donalds Tusker House for Character Breakfast at AK

Sci Fi Cafe at DSH

Chef Mickeys for Character Breakfast at Poly

Coral Reef at Epcot

Crystal Palace for Character Dinner

Getting pretty stoked actually!!!!!

We did the Tusker House and it was great. Unlike Crystal Palace, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy and Goofy were at the Tusker. The juice they serve is pretty good. It was my daughters birthday when we went and Donald or Daisy brought out a cupcake and sang to her. Was pretty cool. Crystal Palace is cool too if you like the hundred acre wood crowdMy wife and I enjoy sci fi. Never been with kids. We have not done Chef Mickey but its on the agenda for December. Trying to decide if we should spend the extra money and stay at the hotel that has Chef Mickey and the monorail (pretty sure its the same place)

have fun

Yes, the Contemporary Resort.

We booked the trip only 2 months ago, and were very surprised to get all the ADRs we wanted, since you can now book 180 days in advance.

Not too sure what the above hilighted means

 

[AcerFC]

These are the ADR's I have booked:

Donalds Tusker House for Character Breakfast at AK

Sci Fi Cafe at DSH

Chef Mickeys for Character Breakfast at Poly

Coral Reef at Epcot

Crystal Palace for Character Dinner

Getting pretty stoked actually!!!!!

We did the Tusker House and it was great. Unlike Crystal Palace, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy and Goofy were at the Tusker. The juice they serve is pretty good. It was my daughters birthday when we went and Donald or Daisy brought out a cupcake and sang to her. Was pretty cool. Crystal Palace is cool too if you like the hundred acre wood crowdMy wife and I enjoy sci fi. Never been with kids. We have not done Chef Mickey but its on the agenda for December. Trying to decide if we should spend the extra money and stay at the hotel that has Chef Mickey and the monorail (pretty sure its the same place)

have fun

Yes, the Contemporary Resort.

We booked the trip only 2 months ago, and were very surprised to get all the ADRs we wanted, since you can now book 180 days in advance.

Not too sure what the above hilighted means

Winnie, Piglet, Tigger and Eyore

 

[Parmcat]

These are the ADR's I have booked:

Donalds Tusker House for Character Breakfast at AK

Sci Fi Cafe at DSH

Chef Mickeys for Character Breakfast at Poly

Coral Reef at Epcot

Crystal Palace for Character Dinner

Getting pretty stoked actually!!!!!

We did the Tusker House and it was great. Unlike Crystal Palace, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy and Goofy were at the Tusker. The juice they serve is pretty good. It was my daughters birthday when we went and Donald or Daisy brought out a cupcake and sang to her. Was pretty cool. Crystal Palace is cool too if you like the hundred acre wood crowdMy wife and I enjoy sci fi. Never been with kids. We have not done Chef Mickey but its on the agenda for December. Trying to decide if we should spend the extra money and stay at the hotel that has Chef Mickey and the monorail (pretty sure its the same place)

have fun

Yes, the Contemporary Resort.

We booked the trip only 2 months ago, and were very surprised to get all the ADRs we wanted, since you can now book 180 days in advance.

Not too sure what the above hilighted means

Winnie, Piglet, Tigger and Eyore

 

[Third]

Just got home from our Disney trip. It was terrific. I will post a detailed report later but here are a few highlights/thoughts:

1. I can't believe how many people don't utilize fastpasses. We rode Splash Mountain 3 times 2-hour span and everytime there were people lined up to the back of the queue enduring a 90-minute wait. I guess people don't do any research, get there, and assume you have to pay for them or something. I was shocked at the number of people waiting in lines. You don't need to be neurotic about planning your day to the minute, but a little planning and timing with fastpasses made all the difference in the world. Our longest wait in 5 days was 20 minutes for Soarin at the very beginning of the day.

2. We hit all 4 parks, here are my quick takes on the rides/attractions:

Overall Best: Splash Mountain (MK), Soarin (E), Toy Story Mania (HS), Tower of Terror (HS), RnRoller Coaster (HS)

Most Overrated: Expedition Everest (AK), Kali River Rapids (AK), Dinosaur (AK), Space Mountain (MK), Pirates (MK)

Surprisingly Enjoyable: Mickey's Philharmagic (MK), Thunder Mountain RR (MK), It's a Small World (MK), Turtle Talk with Crush (E)

3. We got stuck on Peter Pan. Ride stopped and we sat there for 45 minutes. The fire department came in and got us down with ladders. The cast members threw us ice cream bars while we waited and then gave me 12 "any ride/any time" fastpasses...which was awesome.

4. My favorite locations in the parks strictly in terms of ambiance/atmosphere were: Liberty Square (MK), Germany (E), France (E), Mexico (E). I could sit in those spots and people watch and just enjoy the atmosphere for hours...if I had the opportunity (which I didn't).

5. I was blown away by how well Disney "does" Disney. In 5 days in the parks, I never once found myself saying, "why did they do this?" "why didn't they do this?" "this is really annoying." Nearly everything made sense and ran smoothly.

6. A little different take on characters for those not planning on doing a lot of character dining. We didn't book a single character meal and it made no difference to my kids at all. We let our kids know that we weren't going to stand in long lines to wait on characters but we would see all of them eventually. We were patient and over the course of 5 days took pictures with/got autographs from 20-25 characters. Our longest waits were for the "Up" characters at HS and for Buzz and Woody at HS. Probably 30 minutes each time, but those characters aren't available at meals anyway. I'm not knocking the character meals in anyway (I'm sure the kids love them), but if you don't want (or can't afford) to spend $100+ on a meal, just realize you can get all the characters greetings you can handle without them. In Epcot, we saw Alice, Mary Poppins, Princess Aurora with a line of only 2-3 people each time. While waiting for the "Up" characters in HS (in the building where Sorcerer Mickey is located), 5-6 characters walked out at once and you could meet them with practically no wait. Animal Kingdom is a great place to hit Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy with very short waits. They are located back past the Lion King show location...a lot of people don't realize they are back there. The lines there were 1/4 as long as those in HS and MK for those characters.

 

[sho nuff]

"2. We hit all 4 parks, here are my quick takes on the rides/attractions:

Overall Best: Splash Mountain (MK), Soarin (E), Toy Story Mania (HS), Tower of Terror (HS), RnRoller Coaster (HS)

Most Overrated: Expedition Everest (AK), Kali River Rapids (AK), Dinosaur (AK), Space Mountain (MK), Pirates (MK)

Surprisingly Enjoyable: Mickey's Philharmagic (MK), Thunder Mountain RR (MK), It's a Small World (MK), Turtle Talk with Crush (E)"

Interesting on your most overrated. IMO...Splash Mountain is pointless unless its really hot. Never been a fan. Much prefer the rapids.

Oh, and Everest Rules as does Space Mountain.

IMO, Thunder Mountain is a disappointment, but fun with my 5 year old since he loved it.

 

[sho nuff]

On the characters...it must not have been that busy.

Because when it is...when Characters come out by the hat at HS...there are lines already starting. In my experience, you have the chance to hit one, maybe 2 of them if you are lucky.

Basically, you can do it, you just have to be at the right place at the right time not to wait for characters.

 

[sho nuff]

One last thing I forgot from my last trip.

The rider swap pass.

Guy at one ride told us to point out our child that was keeping both from riding. They said they had a lot of abuse with them and are tightening up.

But if you do have a child or don't mind trying.

Get one...it basically gives you another "fast pass" for you and 2 other people (because they don't want you to ride alone).

 

[Mr.Pack]

Anyone have (3) one day passes they want to get rid of?

Or anyone know where to get them cheap?

 

[Third]

"2. We hit all 4 parks, here are my quick takes on the rides/attractions:Overall Best: Splash Mountain (MK), Soarin (E), Toy Story Mania (HS), Tower of Terror (HS), RnRoller Coaster (HS)Most Overrated: Expedition Everest (AK), Kali River Rapids (AK), Dinosaur (AK), Space Mountain (MK), Pirates (MK)Surprisingly Enjoyable: Mickey's Philharmagic (MK), Thunder Mountain RR (MK), It's a Small World (MK), Turtle Talk with Crush (E)"Interesting on your most overrated. IMO...Splash Mountain is pointless unless its really hot. Never been a fan. Much prefer the rapids.Oh, and Everest Rules as does Space Mountain.IMO, Thunder Mountain is a disappointment, but fun with my 5 year old since he loved it.

The theming on Splash Mountain is great. All three of my kids have not stopped talking about it. Rapids was over in what felt like 90 seconds...none of us would have taken the time to ride it a second time. ...to each his own. Everest and Space Mountain are good rides, but for all the hype over Everest, it wasn't anything special to me. Disney roller coasters aren't supposed to be true thrill rides but more about the entire experience. For me, Everest fell short in that respect. The Yeti "reveal" was very underwhelming. Again, just sharing my opinion.

On the characters...it must not have been that busy.Because when it is...when Characters come out by the hat at HS...there are lines already starting. In my experience, you have the chance to hit one, maybe 2 of them if you are lucky.

We were there during one of the main spring break weeks...it wasn't at capacity but it was more than just a little busy...I'm guessing everyone in this thread won't be visiting during absolute peak time. Again, all I can speak to is my experience.

 

[Urlacher54]

 

[spOOfy]

I'll be there in about 6 weeks.

Restuarants booked:

Tutto Italia Ristorante (we've been here before, but not in our last 2 trips) - Love this place. Great Italian food.

Whispering Canyon Café - Never been. Booked it completely based on recommendations in this thread.

San Angel Inn - Been at this one before, we're big fans of Mexican food so this one was a must.

The Crystal Palace - My kids enjoy the character meals so we're doing a breakfast here. Never been.

The Garden Grill - Went here once before and my kids loved it. Character meal and kids enjoy "making their own dessert."

Princess Storybook Dining at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall - Never been to this one, but last visit we ate in Cinderella's castle, which was very cool. My daughter is excited for this one.

There were several other restuarants we wanted to try but they were booked already (we've tried Canada steakhouse our last 3 trips, always booked).

We're staying in the Polynesian, which is a 1st for me, but my wife stayed there all the time as a kid. Looking forward to quick monorail transport to MK & Epcot.