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well if you are staying on site, your tix are part of your package and are also your room key. They are given to you at the front desk. off site...not sure
Yeah, we're staying Kissimmee. Just wanted to make sure will call isn't as big of a line as buying tickets there; then we probably wouldn't even bother...
I bought tickets through work online last trip. Will call at Epcot took roughly three minutes. YMMV.
Check out undercover tourist.com for tickets, I bought them from there last time we went and had no issues. Use this link from the mousesavers.com newsletter to get a better price.
We are staying at the Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort in two weeks. Our first trip to Disney wrapped around a relative's wedding. Kids are 7,4,1 so just doing two days of the 7 we are there at the parks. I hope the resort is nice and will have enough to do so we can keep th ekids busy the days we do not go to the park.
From what I have read, you should have plenty to do at the resort. There are a number of pools, mini golf and quite a few planned activities for children there. I woukd suggest going to MK with a plan. Dumbo just reopened so I would probably hit dumbo first, the goofys barnstormer, grab a fastpass for peterpan then do other fantasyland rides while waiting for your FP to become available. After you finish Fantasyland, head to tomorrowland do buzz and the laugh floor then head to adventureland. Grab your FP for jungle cruise then go do swiss family treehouse, magic carpets, pirates and tiki room if you have time before your jungle cruise time. If you have time left, head over to splash mountain and haunted mansion. You can also go over to Tom Sawyer island to let the kids run around.With Hollywood Studios, you definitely want to do ToyStory Mania first and then grab a FP to do it again. There are some other adult and older child friendly rides there like rockin rollercoaster, tower of terror and star wars which you can still ride by using the child swap program. Basically you ride while your wife stays with the kids then swap and she gets to ride without having to wait through line again. We are heading to Bonnet Creek in 3 weeks and I cant wait. Let us know what you think!
First off glad you had a great time. I have been to WDW many times and I still really enjoy it. One of the advantages of going so often is that I don't have to jam everything in -- I have pretty much done it all so if I miss something it is not a big deal. One of our favorite things is the Wine & Food Festival in EPCOT -- it is a lot of fun for adults.I'll address your other points:1. Spring break is a busy time at WDW and so it can get crowded. We typically go in September/October/November when the crowds are smaller and wait times are shorter.2. Going at night is awesome. Our strategy is usually to arrive at the park before rope drop and leave around noon -- then head back to the park around 4:30.3. Fastpass is awesome but look for a major change coming soon.4. These apps are cool but only as good as the people feeding the info in. The two that I used on my last trip were "off" quite a bit.5. I agree that Toy Story Mania is a tad overrated -- the problem is that DHS has few rides for little kids so FP go quickly and the wait times are long. What is needed is another "E" ticket attraction for little kids. There have been rumors about a Monsters, Inc ride in the Pixar location of the park so that might help although it is supposed to be a coaster so I'm not sure how suitable it will be for young kids.6. AK is an awesome park but a lot of people miss out because they are just looking for rides. One thing I think Disney should do is drop the "poacher story" aspect of the Safari -- it is dumb and detracts from an already great attraction. There is a major expansion of the park coming that is based on Avatar -- not sure I like the idea but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.
1. I assume 5Rings is talking about Magic Kingdom taking an hour, since you have to go through the extra Transportation Center step. I've never seen any of the other parks take anywhere close to that long when driving.3. Sucks that the return window is being enforced now. Could make things run more smoothly overall though. The rumored xPass thing sounds interesting, but kinda risky from a PR standpoint.5. Toy Story Mania may be overrated, but it's clearly an upgrade over Buzz purely from a ride standpoint. I like them both, but c'mon... What they need at Studios is a "Cars" attraction geared toward kids.6. I know the animatronic elephant is being removed from the safari ride to make room for a zebra watering hole. Is the "poacher story" leaving with it? Avatar sounds interesting and seems like a good fit, because of the conservation themes in the film. And a major expansion (rumored at $500 million) is a nice boost for the Animal Kingdom. Also a nice replacement for the "Beastly Kingdom" that never happened.
I think you can also buy them at your local Disney Store IIRC. I wonder if they can set it up that if you lost them on the way there that they could be replaced at will call
Most rides are 40". Splash mt., Thunder mt., Tower of terror (not space mt. or rockin roller.) My daughter was 39". We let her wear high heeled sandals and stuffed napkins in her socks. She got on all of them but one. But we then we went back to that ride later in the day and she got on.
MK - If you're going to do Dumbo, do it first. The Buzz lines are pretty short and fast moving, so there's no reason to rush to Tommorowland if you're skipping Space Mtn. You should also do Pirates and Big Thunder Mtn imo. Big Thunder is a very tame roller coaster but still fun. Magic Carpets can be skipped if you did Dumbo... basically the same ride. Don't miss Mickey's PhilharMagic.Studios - With two boys, I wouldn't miss the car stunt show. And to a lesser extent the Indiana Jones one. Are they into Star Wars? Cool ride plus the Jedi Training show.
NYC, if your son is skittish on scary stuff and jerky rides. I'd skip Dinosaur in AK even if he likes Dinosaurs. Or at least ride it first. That ride scares me and my back hurts leaving every time.I think Stiches great escape maybe scarier then the haunted mansion and not worth the time IMO.
Good points, God and Stu.Yup, I was talking about MK taking an hour. If I didnt wait 90 minutes in line with 3 kids, I probably would have enjoyed Toy Story more. As it was...and hell, that was really my own fault. I went in thinking we could just "wing" it at the park, I don't need no stinkin plan. Changed our tune real quick come day 2'Disco Stu said:
The other parks were a breeze to get into. The 3D shows at each park were surprisingly excellent.The staff is amazing at each park. Very impressive experience.
Oh yeah... closed until May 27.Looks like Test Track will be closing sometime this month for redesign. Scheduled reopening is this fall.
I was at DW last week for Spring Break as well - 6 day hopper passes and we stayed at the Wilderness Lodge. Me, my wife & our sons (5, 6) and another couple with boys the same age. It was an exhausting week but we had a total blast. The DW apps were definitely helpful to give general wait times before heading across the park (or not) to get in line, but most of the time I found them to list longer than actual times. In general, afternoons were ridiculously crowded and we couldn't get much done. By the end of the week we just went back to the hotel pool after lunchtime and hit the parks again at dinner. Since we stayed on property, we were able to take advantage of the "magic hours" and that was great. Friday night we stayed at Epcot until midnight (9pm - 12am magic hours) and just ran the kids into the ground. Regarding the Fastpasses, I definitely recommend sending someone to get them while the rest of the party hits another popular ride. That way, you (hopefully) hit one attraction with a shorter line right away and can walk right onto the next.Good points, God and Stu.Yup, I was talking about MK taking an hour. If I didnt wait 90 minutes in line with 3 kids, I probably would have enjoyed Toy Story more. As it was...and hell, that was really my own fault. I went in thinking we could just "wing" it at the park, I don't need no stinkin plan. Changed our tune real quick come day 2'Disco Stu said:
The new fantasyland is open? You will want to go there ASAP before the rush comes. Where will you be eating lunch? Cosmic Rays is a good place for counter. If you decide to eat there, I recommend Buzz after the crowd comes for fantasyland. If you eat on the other side of the park, then I recommend Adventureland which will be the other side of the park.
This means park at 8am, so you are in around 9:00am.Hit Dumbo first, that always had long lines. Peter Pan too. Like Stu said, Buzz usually doesn't have huge lines.
Epcot has a magic hour on Tuesday 17th. I'll be there.
The only part of the Fantasyland expansion that is open is the new Dumbo ride, the Barnstormer and the new train station. The rest of it is opening in phases but there aren't any official dates yet. I would guess that Dumbo & Barnstormer will get backed up fast though.
I don't like driving to Magic Kingdom but it would still be faster than driving to Epcot, parking, walking to the monorail, waiting for the monorail and then getting to Magic Kingdom. If I remember correctly, you have to stop at the TTC (transportaion ticket counter) anyways to get a different monorail before getting to Magic Kingdom. If you drive, you are going to drive, park, walk to the TTC and take the boat or monorail...much quicker than the Epcot scenario. If you have to pay for parking anyways, you could always drive to the Grand Floridian, valet your car and hop on the monorail for a quicker option that should be easier than dealing with the MK parking lot. You can't park at the deluxe resorts if you are going to the parks but if you valet, you can do whatever you want. Someone else mentioned BTMR (Big Thunder Mtn) and it is closed for refurb until at least the end of May but the rumor is that it is going to take longer and may be pushed back until sometime August.
I assume #4 means offsite. How far away from WDW? Will you have a car?The next step is probably deciding how many days you want to spend at the parks. Their pricing structure makes it really difficult to keep it under 4 days.1-Day - Adult $852-Day - Adult $1683-Day - Adult $2324-Day - Adult $2435-Day - Adult $2516-Day - Adult $2597-Day - Adult $267
How much more for non-expiring? I was going to do the 2 day pass but man those prices for more use are so much better.
Yeah....we were thinking 4-5 days. We are staying offsite just a couple miles away from the Animal Kingdom entrance. We were down there just a year and a half ago. Don't think we need to go to AK again this time. Is the WDW site the cheapest place to get tix? Are "other" sites reliable?
No, not as of last week. . .
It's considerably more. With the no expiration option...4-Day - Adult $3185-Day - Adult $3666-Day - Adult $3897-Day - Adult $4278-Day - Adult $4709-Day - Adult $50310-Day - Adult $516
We're vacation club members and have been going every Christmas. We prefer to go before Christmas (Dec16-23, but usually try to stay till the 25th), because it's get considerably busier around the 25th and it's the highest priced time to stay on site from the 24th to the 1st. We absolutely love it though. It's become a family tradition. It's great to see the characters and the parks decorated for Christmas.Where to start...You need to decide if you want to stay on site or off site. On site they have "regular" resorts or you can buy points from vacation club members to stay at premium resorts. For premium you'd pay $8-10/pt and need around 200 for a week in a 1 bedroom before the 24th. The week you listed you'd need 300+. I'm not sure how on site regular hotels or off site hotels/houses are priced for peak and non peak times.Tickets will be around $1000. Then it's just meals, souveniers and other misc stuff. Let me know if you have more specific questions about the Christmas time there. We have been the past 2 years.
Way to show her. I was unsuccessful....twice. We go, so it was worth the membership. We are happy with it. Disney cruise in May.
We go the week after Christmas traditionally. During the marathon week. Pretty empty once the christmas rush is gone.
So, we've decided on a 5 day pass. We'll be at HS on Monday, MK on Tuesday, Epcot on Wed and AK on Thurs. We are going to leave the fifth day up to our son, whichever park he wants to go back to. We've booked a character breakfast at HS and dinner reservations somewhere in MK (name escapes me). What am I missing? We looked over the restaurants in Epcot and it doesn't seem like we "need" reservations there. Plenty to choose from.
There are more good choices in Epcot, but you should make the choice and book in advance. I prefer lunch reservations, since it's a nice way to break up the day and avoid some of the busier time. If you're fairly adventurous eaters, Morocco has very good sit-down and counter service restaurants.That said, the main thing you're missing is a dinner reservation at Ohana. It's close to MK and about a billion times better than any of the MK options, so I'd replace your current reservation with Ohana if at all possible. Probably too late though.
We looked at Ohana, but all their reservations they had left were after 8pm. That won't work with a four year old so we went inside the park. Honestly, the only real reason we've made any sort of reservations on site is because of the characters.
Glad you liked it! 13 more days and I will be eating dinner there...can't wait. Have any of you done LaNouba at DTD? Since we have AP's we can get a 25% discount on tickets when we are there in a couple of weeks and I thought about checking it out. Is it worth the money ($70+pp)?
very nice with all the decorations and stuff, but very busy. One of the most crowded weeks of the year if IRRC. We did it in 2000 for our honeymoon and enjoyed it, but just be ready for the crowds.'comfortably numb said:
it was a good show. depends on what you like. Wife and I love theater (being in NY), so spending a night doing this was a no brainer. if you are planing a non-park night, it is a good distraction. have fun.
