What's new
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

Welcome to Our Forums. Once you've registered and logged in, you're primed to talk football, among other topics, with the sharpest and most experienced fantasy players on the internet.

Disney Vacation (2 Viewers)

My family and I stay off property at any one of the properties run by Magical Memories. These properties are typically REALLY nice, we've stayed at a condo a number of times with 3 bedrooms, a living room, dining room, 2 bathrooms, all for 119/night. With that kind of savings, it makes all the sense to rent a car - and allow yourself to go to Universal Studios or Soak CIty.

I dont know why you wouldnt do this, it's such a money saver.

 
Now what's the deal with the pins? Some kid was telling me about it. :confused:
Metal pins and pin sets with Disney characters and logos can be bought and traded throughout the parks. There of course are pin purchasing stations and kiosks all over for Disney to trade you their pins for your money, but you can also trade pins for pins with other guests or cast members (1). The pins themselves don't play music or light up or anything, but some of them are pretty cool to look at, and Disney publishes a broad array of pins, so just about each character, park, ride, and attraction is represented. If you and/or your kid(s) want to give it a shot, the most cost-effective way to do is to get a "pin starter set" and a pin lanyard or pouch. As you walk through the parks, check for cast members wearing pin lanyards or pouches. Guests can trade 1-2 pins for an equal number of pins from cast members, and cast members cannot refuse a trade unless the trade would give them two identical pins on their lanyard (2). Some cast members will have unusual pins from trades with folks who have been pin trading for years. Some will have pins that are not sold in the stores. Some cast members are designated "kids-only" traders who will not trade with the hardcore (3) pin traders, only trading with kids. I wouldn't say that pin-trading is awesome or a must-do, but it was a relatively cheap way to acquire tangible reminders of the parks and favorite rides/shows (4). It's also a nice way to pass time in line. The pins themselves are just nice enough to look at and hold but not too heavy (5). Resetting the pins, separating the keepers from the trade fodder isn't a bad way to take impatient minds off of the line ahead of them. Cast members with pins to trade will walk along the lines and scan for kids wearing pin lanyards, offering trades and chatting up folks. Since Disney cast members are from all over the world, it's also an opportunity to talk, albeit briefly, with people from all over the world. And on rare occasions, a cast member will give a pin to a kid. On MegaTrip a cast member in the Christmas store in the Liberty Square section of MK saw my daughter flipping through the pin kiosk. After checking to make sure no other customers were around, the cast member subtly slipped a Christmas Minnie Mouse-themed pin to her with a "Merry Christmas, Princess" stage whisper.If you think pin trading would be fun for the kid(s), give it a shot. If you don't, you aren't depriving your kid(s) of the complete Disney experience or anything like that. I dug it not just because my daughter liked trading the starter pins she didn't like at all for nicer pins cast members had that she liked. I liked the short chats with the cast members and learning how to pronounce unfamiliar names and cities (6). The downside was having yet another set of stuff to have to keep track of, not my favorite thing to do on vacation.------ (1) "Cast members" is Disneyspeak for "employees"(2) Cast members are not allowed to include anything other than Disney pins in either side of the trade. This includes their name tags. Yes, I did try to trade for a cast member's name tag that had my brick-and-mortar first name and a city I once lived in. The cast member agreed it was good shtick, but said he was told such a trade was a fireable offense. I have no reason to doubt the latter.(3) by "hardcore", I mean "your crazy mom/aunt/sister-in-law/neighbor/co-worker who is waaaaaaay too into Disney"(4) wearing the pin lanyard might become a hassle in hot weather, and you will need to stow it or leave it with a non-rider on the bigger coasters and aggressive rides(5) another cheap souvenir option that younger kids might get into is pressed pennies. The machines that make them are simple enough to be operated by a 5-year-old, and at 51 cents per pressed penny (plus a few optional bucks for a book to carry them) you can make a sizable pressed penny collection chronicling your highlights of the parks about the same cost as an official Disney plush stuffed animal (6) as well as when I did know how to pronounce a city correctly and knew how others butcher the pronunciation. For example, I talked to a cast member whose city/state tag read "Wayzata, Minnesota" (A). Minnesotans say the first syllable of "Wayzata" like you're saying the letter 'y', and the last two syllables rhyme with Volkswagen sedan name "Jetta". (A) which also happens to be the city Brandon and Brenda Walsh (i) lived in before their family moved to Beverly Hills (i) who pronounced the city's name "way-ZOT-ta", just as it reads, in an early episode of '90210' (a).(a) stop me before I subreference again
 
My family and I stay off property at any one of the properties run by Magical Memories. These properties are typically REALLY nice, we've stayed at a condo a number of times with 3 bedrooms, a living room, dining room, 2 bathrooms, all for 119/night. With that kind of savings, it makes all the sense to rent a car - and allow yourself to go to Universal Studios or Soak CIty.I dont know why you wouldnt do this, it's such a money saver.
convenience and dining planI have done both
 
We get our kids one pin every time we go. We usually wind up getting them more then 1 because we are suckers. Not essential but kids like picking them out more then anything. I think we have only ever traded one.

 
Hey guys, going to Disney World from Feb.8 - 11/12 and have a few questions.

1)We're staying in Kissimmee, are there shuttles or buses going to and from the park? How much would a cab be from the airport(undecided on car rental)?

I think it depends on where you are staying. Some off site hotels offer shuttle services. I know we stayed at one that did a few years back. I dont remember the hotel but it was across the street from a Hooters and buffet pizza place that I forget the name of. Not sure on a cab.
In my experience, off-site shuttles are worthless. The two I've seen had one drop off in the morning and two pickups in the evening. The drop off bus hits all the parks, so don't plan on being at any when the park opens. In August, the drop off bus was also extremely crowded, it probably is better other times of the year.
 
(5) another cheap souvenir option that younger kids might get into is pressed pennies. The machines that make them are simple enough to be operated by a 5-year-old, and at 51 cents per pressed penny (plus a few optional bucks for a book to carry them) you can make a sizable pressed penny collection chronicling your highlights of the parks about the same cost as an official Disney plush stuffed animal
This is what my son is into. No interest in the characters but likes checking out the "penny smashers". I'm 100% on board with this.We keep an empty film container (relics now) with a stack of change loaded - two quarters, then a shiny penny, two quarters, then a shiny penny... The pressed designs look much nicer on shiny new pennies than they do on the average penny from your pocket.
 
Hey guys, going to Disney World from Feb.8 - 11/12 and have a few questions.

1)We're staying in Kissimmee, are there shuttles or buses going to and from the park? How much would a cab be from the airport(undecided on car rental)?

I think it depends on where you are staying. Some off site hotels offer shuttle services. I know we stayed at one that did a few years back. I dont remember the hotel but it was across the street from a Hooters and buffet pizza place that I forget the name of. Not sure on a cab.
In my experience, off-site shuttles are worthless. The two I've seen had one drop off in the morning and two pickups in the evening. The drop off bus hits all the parks, so don't plan on being at any when the park opens. In August, the drop off bus was also extremely crowded, it probably is better other times of the year.
Yes. If I stay off site, a rental car is a must.
 
considering a trio in October. This time we are thinking of driving down. If I have my car is it worth it to look into offsite hotels and drive or still better to stay on site and get the dining plan. We paln on doing one day at Sea world but the rest will be at Disney. Any reccomendations for moderate resorts?

 
(5) another cheap souvenir option that younger kids might get into is pressed pennies. The machines that make them are simple enough to be operated by a 5-year-old, and at 51 cents per pressed penny (plus a few optional bucks for a book to carry them) you can make a sizable pressed penny collection chronicling your highlights of the parks about the same cost as an official Disney plush stuffed animal
This is what my son is into. No interest in the characters but likes checking out the "penny smashers". I'm 100% on board with this.We keep an empty film container (relics now) with a stack of change loaded - two quarters, then a shiny penny, two quarters, then a shiny penny... The pressed designs look much nicer on shiny new pennies than they do on the average penny from your pocket.
:thumbup: We had a similar system with an used mini M&M container, but I think the film container would work better with smaller coin counts. I'm with you on the designs popping more on new coins, but my daughter likes the look of the variety of coin color tones in her pressed coin book. Like you, I'm 100% on board with this, and it's been fun expanding the collection to other theme parks and family attractions like zoos and science museums. BTW, if you ever want to turn an old penny into a shiny one, wash it with Taco Bell Hot Sauce. I'm not 100% on the science behind its effectiveness (1), but I'm guessing Taco Bell Hot Sauce contains vinegar. (1) This may or may not have been accidentally discovered during my bachelor pad days when we brought some Taco Bell back to the pad after an evening out that may or may not have included activities that caused temporary reduction of fine motor skills.
 
60 pages is alot to read through. Taking the kids (8-5-2) for a week the end of March. Staying at the Wyndham Orlando. Thinking DisneyWorld for 3 days and Epcott for 1 (after Stu's suggestion). I'll read through the thread...any suggestions?

 
considering a trio in October. This time we are thinking of driving down. If I have my car is it worth it to look into offsite hotels and drive or still better to stay on site and get the dining plan. We paln on doing one day at Sea world but the rest will be at Disney. Any reccomendations for moderate resorts?
Onsite packages during the off season may include passes, dinning plan, etc. you have to search for the deals. I don't use them, but there have been suggestions on places to go to get the better deals somewhere through the thread. IF it is more cost effective to stay off ground and you want to save the extra money, then go for it. Just know you will have to pay for parking, extra magic hours is for on-grounds guest only and you will not be able to do the dinning plan.
 
60 pages is alot to read through. Taking the kids (8-5-2) for a week the end of March. Staying at the Wyndham Orlando. Thinking DisneyWorld for 3 days and Epcott for 1 (after Stu's suggestion). I'll read through the thread...any suggestions?
Yikes. Epcot is considered part of Disney World. I recommend reading through the thread and coming up with questions as you go.
 
considering a trio in October. This time we are thinking of driving down. If I have my car is it worth it to look into offsite hotels and drive or still better to stay on site and get the dining plan. We paln on doing one day at Sea world but the rest will be at Disney. Any reccomendations for moderate resorts?
I'm not informed enough on the onsite/offsite thing to give you a meaningful take on that.If you're driving down, I'd consider Port Orleans Riverside on the moderate resort price level. Riverside isn't one or three gigantor buildings, but a bunch of separate two-story buildings with parking all over the facility. The upside here is you can pretty much drive right up to your room, so you don't have the long hallway walks or elevator waits you have at the larger buildings. And since the parking is so spread out, there's usually parking available by the main entrance if you don't want to walk across the grounds from your room to the restaurants or other main activities. If you stay onsite, you get free parking at the parks. That's not a ton of money (about $15 each time you park) but it does reduce hassle when you're excited to get to the park. You are given a sheet of paper at check-in to display on your dashboard and/or wave at the parking attendant as you drive up to the parking toll plaza, and the attendant will wave you through. The parking lots at Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios are small enough to manage and close enough to the front gate to be worth the flexibility of having your car with you. I would still recommend busing it to Magic Kingdom, though. The parking lot at Magic Kingdom is still a tram ride, then a monorail or boat ride, from the front gate. That process can take up to an hour. The bus from Riverside to Magic Kingdom is about 15 minutes and drops you off at the front gate of the park. You mentioned Sea World. I typed a few thoughts about Sea World, but I'm putting it in Spoiler tags so folks reading this and just wanting to read Disney stuff can bypass it quickly.
If you're doing a full day at Sea World, consider the all day dining pass. It's not much more better than break-even on two meals, but if you get there early enough for breakfast, you're freerolling them on dinner. Also, the staff let us take extra water bottles with us after our meals to have in the park. That doesn't seem like much on the surface, but a 20-ounce bottle of cold water goes for $2.50-$3.00 in a Florida theme park. It added up. Another nice bonus: the dining pass receipt is a wristband, so you can bypass the cashier line - just load your tray, and flash your wristband at the cashier to get waved through.One last Sea World note... if you've got kids that like aggressive roller coasters, the Kraken and Manta roller coasters are awesome, but the lines build up. Kraken is an outstanding mix of speed, drops, loops, and corkscrews. Manta isn't quite as fast, but unusual. It kind of like a coaster where the car hangs under the track, but right before takeoff, it pulls the cars up to the track. So as the ride starts you're parallel to the ground and facing down. You can buy a line bypass to the rides, but the bypasses are varying levels of success. Manta let you bypass some of the line, but the unusual nature of the ride makes for slow loading and unloading. It might still be 20-25 minutes from the bypass to the boarding the ride. Kraken is a phenomenal bypass experience. You take a separate route to the loading area somewhat reminiscent of the Copa scene from GoodFellas, you can ride in the second or seventh row of the car, and you don't have to exit with the masses. Hop off after you ride, and if no other VIPs are waiting, you can hop back on the next car that comes through.
 
60 pages is alot to read through. Taking the kids (8-5-2) for a week the end of March. Staying at the Wyndham Orlando. Thinking DisneyWorld for 3 days and Epcott for 1 (after Stu's suggestion). I'll read through the thread...any suggestions?
Yikes. Epcot is considered part of Disney World. I recommend reading through the thread and coming up with questions as you go.
Ok, will do. What is the "yikes" for?
 
60 pages is alot to read through. Taking the kids (8-5-2) for a week the end of March. Staying at the Wyndham Orlando. Thinking DisneyWorld for 3 days and Epcott for 1 (after Stu's suggestion). I'll read through the thread...any suggestions?
Yikes. Epcot is considered part of Disney World. I recommend reading through the thread and coming up with questions as you go.
Ok, will do. What is the "yikes" for?
I think he just meant that Disneyworld= Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. Epcot is not separate. It is a lot to take in especially for someone who has never been there
 
Hey guys, going to Disney World from Feb.8 - 11/12 and have a few questions.1)We're staying in Kissimmee, are there shuttles or buses going to and from the park? How much would a cab be from the airport(undecided on car rental)?2)Right now, the plan is to get four day passes. Is one day at each park enough/too much?3)Are cheap eating options available. The park looks expensive, would like to limit park eating to one meal a day. Can you leave and get back in?I appreciate all answers, and any suggestions. Now back a few pages to do some reading.
1. Don't know.2. Animal Kingdom is one day and only one day. MK and Hollywood Studios can be done more than one day. Epcot is a no day to one day depending on if you have kids and if you want to do restaurants in the countries. I'd leave Epcot till last just in case you want to return to another park, unless you're going for food.3. Affordable, but not cheap is available, but not usually the best quality in that price range. My family packs lunches for the day. You can bring in all the food and drink you want in a backpack. You can leave and get back in, but since you're staying out of the park, it will be a pretty big hassle.
The more days you go to the park the cheaper the prices are. I think it really drops off after 4 days. So, if you will be there longer than the 4 days I recommend getting the days extended and don't be as rushed to get through the parks. I enjoy Epcot and can do a full day in the countries alone(without kids). MK is definitely 2 days. As far as eating. I would suggest bringing lunch into the park and sitting down to a decent dinner in the park or at a resort. I feel you get the best bang for your buck that way.
Sadly, more time is not an option. Is Megatrip a legit option? I checked them out after being mentioned in this thread and they have a get a fifth day free option which is perfect. Any reason not to buy from them?
 
I booked a trip! Staying at the Poly with a castle view. Got some food reservations and things are looking good. Now what's the deal with the pins? Some kid was telling me about it. :confused: Also where can I get some good lobstah down there? TIA!
Dude. You are better then this. You live in New England. Nobody from Baltimore goes to Omaha and gets crab cakes. :thumbup: on the Poly. You are going to love it.... just make sure you bring some silver coinage. your going to need it.
So we will be eating Gator? I spent $100 last night on pins for my kids to trade. How's that work? Anyone? $210 a roll Ref....I hope Florida is treating you well.
 
60 pages is alot to read through. Taking the kids (8-5-2) for a week the end of March. Staying at the Wyndham Orlando. Thinking DisneyWorld for 3 days and Epcott for 1 (after Stu's suggestion). I'll read through the thread...any suggestions?
Yikes. Epcot is considered part of Disney World. I recommend reading through the thread and coming up with questions as you go.
Ok, will do. What is the "yikes" for?
I think he just meant that Disneyworld= Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. Epcot is not separate. It is a lot to take in especially for someone who has never been there
This.
 
So does anyone actually go to DisneyLand?
I live in Phoenix right now and was considering a day trip-weekend trip w/ the wife (baby is only 3 mo. old, so too young for a trip like that). Its only a 5-6 hr drive from here so the thought has crossed the mind...
 
Now what's the deal with the pins? Some kid was telling me about it. :confused:
Metal pins and pin sets with Disney characters and logos can be bought and traded throughout the parks. There of course are pin purchasing stations and kiosks all over for Disney to trade you their pins for your money, but you can also trade pins for pins with other guests or cast members (1). The pins themselves don't play music or light up or anything, but some of them are pretty cool to look at, and Disney publishes a broad array of pins, so just about each character, park, ride, and attraction is represented. If you and/or your kid(s) want to give it a shot, the most cost-effective way to do is to get a "pin starter set" and a pin lanyard or pouch. As you walk through the parks, check for cast members wearing pin lanyards or pouches. Guests can trade 1-2 pins for an equal number of pins from cast members, and cast members cannot refuse a trade unless the trade would give them two identical pins on their lanyard (2). Some cast members will have unusual pins from trades with folks who have been pin trading for years. Some will have pins that are not sold in the stores. Some cast members are designated "kids-only" traders who will not trade with the hardcore (3) pin traders, only trading with kids. I wouldn't say that pin-trading is awesome or a must-do, but it was a relatively cheap way to acquire tangible reminders of the parks and favorite rides/shows (4). It's also a nice way to pass time in line. The pins themselves are just nice enough to look at and hold but not too heavy (5). Resetting the pins, separating the keepers from the trade fodder isn't a bad way to take impatient minds off of the line ahead of them. Cast members with pins to trade will walk along the lines and scan for kids wearing pin lanyards, offering trades and chatting up folks. Since Disney cast members are from all over the world, it's also an opportunity to talk, albeit briefly, with people from all over the world. And on rare occasions, a cast member will give a pin to a kid. On MegaTrip a cast member in the Christmas store in the Liberty Square section of MK saw my daughter flipping through the pin kiosk. After checking to make sure no other customers were around, the cast member subtly slipped a Christmas Minnie Mouse-themed pin to her with a "Merry Christmas, Princess" stage whisper.If you think pin trading would be fun for the kid(s), give it a shot. If you don't, you aren't depriving your kid(s) of the complete Disney experience or anything like that. I dug it not just because my daughter liked trading the starter pins she didn't like at all for nicer pins cast members had that she liked. I liked the short chats with the cast members and learning how to pronounce unfamiliar names and cities (6). The downside was having yet another set of stuff to have to keep track of, not my favorite thing to do on vacation.------ (1) "Cast members" is Disneyspeak for "employees"(2) Cast members are not allowed to include anything other than Disney pins in either side of the trade. This includes their name tags. Yes, I did try to trade for a cast member's name tag that had my brick-and-mortar first name and a city I once lived in. The cast member agreed it was good shtick, but said he was told such a trade was a fireable offense. I have no reason to doubt the latter.(3) by "hardcore", I mean "your crazy mom/aunt/sister-in-law/neighbor/co-worker who is waaaaaaay too into Disney"(4) wearing the pin lanyard might become a hassle in hot weather, and you will need to stow it or leave it with a non-rider on the bigger coasters and aggressive rides(5) another cheap souvenir option that younger kids might get into is pressed pennies. The machines that make them are simple enough to be operated by a 5-year-old, and at 51 cents per pressed penny (plus a few optional bucks for a book to carry them) you can make a sizable pressed penny collection chronicling your highlights of the parks about the same cost as an official Disney plush stuffed animal (6) as well as when I did know how to pronounce a city correctly and knew how others butcher the pronunciation. For example, I talked to a cast member whose city/state tag read "Wayzata, Minnesota" (A). Minnesotans say the first syllable of "Wayzata" like you're saying the letter 'y', and the last two syllables rhyme with Volkswagen sedan name "Jetta". (A) which also happens to be the city Brandon and Brenda Walsh (i) lived in before their family moved to Beverly Hills (i) who pronounced the city's name "way-ZOT-ta", just as it reads, in an early episode of '90210' (a).(a) stop me before I subreference again
Wow! Post of the year for me, thanks! I gotta get some cheap pins....
 
We are going to WDW for 7 days at the end of March. 2 days travel and 5 days at the parks. Days will be MK, Epcot, Hollywood, MK then finish with AK on the monday before we head home. Works out well because each day there is either and early or late EMH's we can take advantage of since we are staying at Port Orleans Riverside resort. We have been to Disneyland many times but our first Disney World attempt. We have pretty much everything planned out down to the meal reservations everywhere and working on what we are going to do when the parks open to get some of the long line rides out of the way before the park opens to everyone.

 
considering a trio in October. This time we are thinking of driving down. If I have my car is it worth it to look into offsite hotels and drive or still better to stay on site and get the dining plan. We paln on doing one day at Sea world but the rest will be at Disney. Any reccomendations for moderate resorts?
I'm not informed enough on the onsite/offsite thing to give you a meaningful take on that.If you're driving down, I'd consider Port Orleans Riverside on the moderate resort price level. Riverside isn't one or three gigantor buildings, but a bunch of separate two-story buildings with parking all over the facility. The upside here is you can pretty much drive right up to your room, so you don't have the long hallway walks or elevator waits you have at the larger buildings. And since the parking is so spread out, there's usually parking available by the main entrance if you don't want to walk across the grounds from your room to the restaurants or other main activities. If you stay onsite, you get free parking at the parks. That's not a ton of money (about $15 each time you park) but it does reduce hassle when you're excited to get to the park. You are given a sheet of paper at check-in to display on your dashboard and/or wave at the parking attendant as you drive up to the parking toll plaza, and the attendant will wave you through. The parking lots at Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios are small enough to manage and close enough to the front gate to be worth the flexibility of having your car with you. I would still recommend busing it to Magic Kingdom, though. The parking lot at Magic Kingdom is still a tram ride, then a monorail or boat ride, from the front gate. That process can take up to an hour. The bus from Riverside to Magic Kingdom is about 15 minutes and drops you off at the front gate of the park. You mentioned Sea World. I typed a few thoughts about Sea World, but I'm putting it in Spoiler tags so folks reading this and just wanting to read Disney stuff can bypass it quickly.
If you're doing a full day at Sea World, consider the all day dining pass. It's not much more better than break-even on two meals, but if you get there early enough for breakfast, you're freerolling them on dinner. Also, the staff let us take extra water bottles with us after our meals to have in the park. That doesn't seem like much on the surface, but a 20-ounce bottle of cold water goes for $2.50-$3.00 in a Florida theme park. It added up. Another nice bonus: the dining pass receipt is a wristband, so you can bypass the cashier line - just load your tray, and flash your wristband at the cashier to get waved through.One last Sea World note... if you've got kids that like aggressive roller coasters, the Kraken and Manta roller coasters are awesome, but the lines build up. Kraken is an outstanding mix of speed, drops, loops, and corkscrews. Manta isn't quite as fast, but unusual. It kind of like a coaster where the car hangs under the track, but right before takeoff, it pulls the cars up to the track. So as the ride starts you're parallel to the ground and facing down. You can buy a line bypass to the rides, but the bypasses are varying levels of success. Manta let you bypass some of the line, but the unusual nature of the ride makes for slow loading and unloading. It might still be 20-25 minutes from the bypass to the boarding the ride. Kraken is a phenomenal bypass experience. You take a separate route to the loading area somewhat reminiscent of the Copa scene from GoodFellas, you can ride in the second or seventh row of the car, and you don't have to exit with the masses. Hop off after you ride, and if no other VIPs are waiting, you can hop back on the next car that comes through.
Thanks. The tip about Port Orleans Riverside could definately come in handy. I really hadn't looked into sea world yet so that was helpfull.
 
We are going to WDW for 7 days at the end of March. 2 days travel and 5 days at the parks. Days will be MK, Epcot, Hollywood, MK then finish with AK on the monday before we head home. Works out well because each day there is either and early or late EMH's we can take advantage of since we are staying at Port Orleans Riverside resort. We have been to Disneyland many times but our first Disney World attempt. We have pretty much everything planned out down to the meal reservations everywhere and working on what we are going to do when the parks open to get some of the long line rides out of the way before the park opens to everyone.
:shock: You rule dude.I'm going to be there the dame time, and I don't even know if I'm going to rent a car yet or not. On the plus side, at least I learned that EP is part of DW. :lmao:
 
is there a preferred android app for wait times? I see several in the marketplace, curious if these are any good.
If you're a Verizon customer, the official Disney Parks app is by far the best once you're inside the park. It posts line times and FastPass return times that are synched with the posted times on the park signs. It also posts show times, character meet-and-greets, parade times, stuff like that.The others are dependent on crowdsourced information. We found the line time info on some were decent, but other park info like FastPass stuff was useless.BTW, the Disney Parks app was the only offical one from the Orlando parks that was worth the memory space. The official Universal app was just a map. The Legoland app had some good ideas like a "car finder" that used GPS to help you get back to your car if you logged the location where you parked it, but the app was so buggy and battery-draining I had to shut it off. Maybe they have fixed it by now.
 
So does anyone actually go to DisneyLand?
Since Disney doesn't own miles of land around the parks, they don't market it as the destination resort WDW is. Disneyland is more of a local/regional thing, or one of many places you go on a trip to southern California. You can cover everything in Disneyland and California Adventure in 3-4 days. It can take up to two weeks to hit everything in WDW if you include Downtown Disney and the water parks.
 
Just had a total nerdgasm on the Star Tours ride. Holy crap is that cool.
Go again...it will likely be different. There are somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 different potential rides. (Correct me if I am wrong - but it is in this neighborhood - there are 3 or 4 different pieces that can be different and there are a half dozen of each one or something like that.)
 
Just had a total nerdgasm on the Star Tours ride. Holy crap is that cool.
Go again...it will likely be different. There are somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 different potential rides. (Correct me if I am wrong - but it is in this neighborhood - there are 3 or 4 different pieces that can be different and there are a half dozen of each one or something like that.)
They advertise "54 different rides" are possible, but it's not like there are dozens of "worlds" or anything, just six.2 starting scenes... either a mechanical probe or Darth Vader looks for "the spy"3 first planets... Hoth, the starspeeder race, or the Wookie planet3 incoming transmissions... Leia, Ackbar, or Yoda ask you to deliver the spy.3 second planets... Naboo/Jar Jar's planet, Death Star with Boba Fett, or the battle at Coruscant.2x3x3x3 = 54.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Just had a total nerdgasm on the Star Tours ride. Holy crap is that cool.
Go again...it will likely be different. There are somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 different potential rides. (Correct me if I am wrong - but it is in this neighborhood - there are 3 or 4 different pieces that can be different and there are a half dozen of each one or something like that.)
They advertise "54 different rides" are possible, but it's not like there are dozens of "worlds" or anything, just six.2 starting scenes... either a mechanical probe or Darth Vader looks for "the spy"3 first planets... Hoth, the starspeeder race, or the Wookie planet3 incoming transmissions... Leia, Ackbar, or Yoda ask you to deliver the spy.3 second planets... Naboo/Jar Jar's planet, Death Star with Boba Fett, or the battle at Coruscant.2x3x3x3 = 54.
Thanks for clearing this up! I was close though!! ;)
 
I'm glad I got to go as a kid and didn't have to plan all this stuff.

Then again I think we largely picked up and went.

-QG

 
Bruce -- doing DHS in a week or two. Any must sees and must avoids?
A lot of your DHS day is built around the question, "do I want to do Toy Story Mania?"If yes, be there at rope drop, and bumrush it to the Pixar section. There will be running room behind the street carts and kiosks that aren't open yet - it's a great way to avoid maniac stroller drivers. Have your fastest runner hit the FP kiosk with everyone's tickets while the second fastest runner gets in the standby line. That's your best chance at riding TSM without tying up your FP privileges for two hours.If you decide you don't need TSM that bad, stroll to the Tower of Terror and Rock and Roller Coaster. RnRC will have the longer line and more FP demand. I'm a big fan of Tower of Terror and Rock and Roller Coaster. You can find faster and more aggressive coasters in Orlando, but none of them sync Aerosmith songs with your ride. At Tower of Terror, take a moment to appreciate the details - they did a great job making the place look like it's been rundown for decades.Star Tours has improved a ton. Rather than try to launch a new character, they changed it to populate it with famous SW characters. The ride (it's a simulator) cycles through several different stories, so if you ride it twice there will be subtle differences.AVOID the backlot tour. It's a huge time suck with little payoff. I'd put the Great Movie Ride in the same bucket, with the exception of GMR is an air-conditioned option if the temp is above 90.If you and/or the gal pal like musical theater, the Beauty and the Beast show is good. It's a compressed version of the Broadway show hitting the song highlights. There's also a Little Mermaid show, but it's IMO geared towards kids. For a good snack, the Starring Rolls Cafe has good pastry options. I dug the chocolate croissant and the sweet rolls looked good.For dining... Mama Melrose's has reasonably priced pasta and flat breads for lunch. There's a Sci-fi themed eatery where you sit in an old convertible and watch 50s Sci-fi while you eat. If you're still around at dinner time, I'd actually park hop it over to Epcot.If you and/or yours are into the classic characters and/or drawing, consider an Animation Academy class in the animation building. They usually start up after the park has been open for a couple hours and run every half-hour. You'll learn how to draw one of the headliners like Mickey or Donald from a great instructor and get to keep your drawing.The MuppetVision 3D show is OK. It's a bit dated, but the theater you see it in is an excellent reproduction of the theater from the original Muppet Show. If you're into the Muppets, the studio store right by MuppetVision has some cool Muppet stuff and signage.The car stunt show and Indiana Jones shows are good, but probably don't need to be seen twice.Throughout the day, an American Idol competition takes place. No shtick. There's a studio theater for it and everything. Park goers can audition in the morning to compete in semifinals in the afternoon. The top singers advance to the Finals in the evening, and the studio audience votes for the winner. I think the daily champs win the right to audition for the real American Idol but I'm not sure about that. The finals are simulcast on video boards on the outside on the AI studio. Nothing I heard on those simulcasts made me want to watch the competition from inside the studio, but if someone from your group can sing it looks fun enough to compete in if you have talent.The big fireworks show is Phantasmic. It has its own dedicated amphitheatre and most of the show cannot be seen from other parts of the park. We did a dining/Phantasmic package where be got lunch at Mama Melrose's and reserved tickets to Phantasmic. I enjoyed it, but keep in mind that "Reserved" does not reserve you a seat, but the right to sit in a preferred viewing section that is first come first serve for Reserved ticket holders. You will still need to show up 45-60 minutes before showtime but they do let you bring snacks and drinks in with you.
So I finally went to DHA studios yesterday. A few thoughts:-- it's really a compressed park. Luckily there weren't too many people there but I think I would almost feel claustrophobic in the summer. Not a lot of walking room. -- phabtasmic is closed for renovations. The guy had no idea when it would reopen, but I suppose I can google that. --boy were you correct about that backlot tour. Simply awful. Tried to talk the GF out of it but she wanted to do it. All the dated movie posters and constant Pearl Harbor movie tie-ins killed me. It's 2012! Doesn't Disney have fresher movies they could incorporate to this thing? Who even liked that movie?-- the park felt like it could use a reset. Too many oldster references around. Heard Home Improvement music playing over one loudspeaker ( :confused: ). --the peanut butter and jelly milkshake in the 50s prime time diner was INSANELY good. If you're there in the park just roll up to the bar of this place and get one. Best 4 bucks you'll spend all day, and it could feed two people. --Indiana Jones was blah. Didn't care for it. Star Tours was amazing and remarkably short lines. We were able to walk right up to the ride. We did it 3 times and it was different each time. --I didn't laugh at the Muppets show and I'm a big fan. The whole bit with the 3D cartoon thing blew. -- we got there late do we missed Toy Story. 2 hour waits. :loco: Rockin and TOT were both awesome. The Girl loved the Beauty and the Beast show. -- the park closed at 7. Is that common? If I bought a full day pass and the hours were 10-7 I'd be irate. As it is, we went to MK to close out the day.
 
Question about tickets. Are there places to get cheaper tickets down there or is the park the only option. Also, Megatrip has a decent deal, has anyone bought from them, are they legit?

 
So does anyone actually go to DisneyLand?
On big tip for Disneyland... the fastpass system works a little different than in FL, so plan your day accordingly.

If you have little kids that would want to do the Fantasy Land rides (Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Snow White, etc...), do them early in the morning. Do Peter Pan first, that line gets to be the longest in the park. Only "It's A Small World" should you consider doing later in the day, as that line keeps moving and it's never very long. Otherwise, everyone with a toddler will be in Fantasyland pretty much all day, so that area gets packed as the day goes on.

While one parent is in the lines with the kids, if possible send the other (with everyone's park admission tickets) to go collect one or two fastpasses. The fastpass rides at DL are: Autopia (not even worth it), Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (ride line usually very short after dark anyway), Haunted Mansion Holiday (Halloween thru about MLK weekend only, when 'Nightmare Before Christmas' redress is done), Indiana Jones, Roger Rabbit, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Star Tours.

The longest wait times are for Star Tours (since it's new), Splash Mountain (when it's hot out), and Space Mountain (year round). If you want to go on one of those, get fastpasses for everyone as soon as you can, ideally you'd send one parent over as soon as you enter the park while the other one starts running the kids through Fantasyland.

When you get a fastpass, say at 9AM, it'll read something like "Space Mountain: Return between 11AM and 12 PM", and in little type, it'll say "You can get another fastpass at 10:30AM". Generally, the system works so you don't have multiples at the same time, unless the return wait is more than 2 hours. However, and this is key to the planning of your day, you do not have to ride the ride during the time window at the California parks (this is for both DL and California Adventure next door). So if your pass said "return between 11 and 12", you can ride any time that day after 11AM. So you can rack up rides on the non-fastpass kids rides all morning, and start collecting fastpasses for the afternoon and evening when you don't want to stand in any more lines.

Second, you can get a fastpass for Roger Rabbit's ride at any time, regardless of the delay printed on your other tickets. For some reason, the Roger Rabbit system isn't connected to the main ticketing system, it's on it's own. So even if your fastpass says you can't get any more until 11AM, go over to Roger Rabbit and get one anyway and it'll be valid. So you can start your day with 2 fastpasses for each of the visitors. Just scan their ticket barcodes at the machine. So you'll start the day with 2 of the 5 fastpasses worth having (Roger Rabbit plus one of Space Mtn, Splash Mtn, Star Tours, or Indiana Jones). If your kids aren't going to go on Splash Mountain (the flume ride), then you're halfway through the day on fastpasses right away.

So collect them all morning & mid-day when they are available, and save them for the afternoon. Also, if you're park-hopping back and forth between DL and DCA all day(you don't really want to do this, but you can, it's a lot of walking, you'd rather spend a few hours at each park at a time instead of running back and forth one ride at a time), the fastpass system of one park is independent from the other. So if you've picked up a fastpass at DCA that says you can't get another one for two hours, you can still go to Disneyland and get one. The exclusion is for that park only.

The fastpass rides at California Adventure are: California Screamin' (rollercoaster with one loop), Goofy's Sky School, Grizzly River Run (water ride, you will get soaked), Soarin' over California (hang-gliding simulator), Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (free-fall drop), and World of Color. World of Color is the night-time water & light show, you have to get a fastpass early in the AM and then come back at night, so it's not one of the fastpasses that prevents you from getting another. The longest line is usually for Soarin', so that's the most worthwhile fastpass to get.

I've gone enough I have the system pretty well down, it's not difficult at all to get in 15-20 rides in a day, with an hour lunch & dinner breaks as needed. For a first timer, it shouldn't be difficult to get 10-12 rides in. It's mostly just thinking about your time and some walking to what's available, rather than what's right there next to what you just finished.

 
'Bruce Dickinson said:
'moleculo said:
is there a preferred android app for wait times? I see several in the marketplace, curious if these are any good.
If you're a Verizon customer, the official Disney Parks app is by far the best once you're inside the park. It posts line times and FastPass return times that are synched with the posted times on the park signs. It also posts show times, character meet-and-greets, parade times, stuff like that.The others are dependent on crowdsourced information. We found the line time info on some were decent, but other park info like FastPass stuff was useless.BTW, the Disney Parks app was the only offical one from the Orlando parks that was worth the memory space. The official Universal app was just a map. The Legoland app had some good ideas like a "car finder" that used GPS to help you get back to your car if you logged the location where you parked it, but the app was so buggy and battery-draining I had to shut it off. Maybe they have fixed it by now.
not verizon. :kicksrock:I downloaded undercover tourist free app and have been keeping an eye on wait times...seems to have some good detail on ride info as well - min height and stuff like that. Also seems to have a good map app.Going this weekend, will reply back with app review.
 
"Breaking news" from the Be Our Guest podcast, which I never got out of the habit of listening to even after the DTOAL (1): The back end of FastPass times will be enforced during the spring break season.

This doesn't mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of things, but the advice given here about stocking up on FastPasses early to redeem them late may no longer be good advice. The rumored policy come March is FP returnees arriving more than 15-20 minutes after the back end of their FP return time will be turned away. So if your FP says 1:00-2:00, you will need to use it by 2:15-2:20 or it will be worthless.

Most parkgoers won't notice the difference, but I can see this eventually putting more pressure on the in-park restaurants to turn tables over and hit reservation times more accurately. We had a couple of times on DTOAL when our reservations weren't honored until 20-30 after our reservation time (2). It didn't matter much for us overall, but if a botched dining reservation made me miss a FP window, I'd be a bit peeved.

So it's a minor inconvenience for the ultra-prepared, but probably won't change the park experience much. If anything, it will make cashing in late FPs easier since there won't be a bunch of FPs from the morning stuffing the FP return queue.

It also seems to be setting up a long-term next-gen tech strategy for Disney. The mouse is planning a customized tech experience for visitors, especially those who stay on property. Things like customized news for returning visitors informing them of what is new/changed since their last visit, smoother Web/smartphone capabilities for dining reservations, etc. But the one next-gen thing this FP enforcement is pointing to is the possibility down the road for visitors to make reservations on popular attractions like Toy Story Mania. I could see WDW opening up the opportunity to book rides in advance as a perk for those staying on property, not unlike how people with on-property reservations can book dining reservations before the general public can.

Anyway, I have no idea how this will play out. I haven't checked any of the WDW messageboards, but I'm guessing there are from Patriots-fans-quality meltdowns going on there for the uberplanners.

----

(1) DTOAL: "disney Trip Of A Lifetime", previously referred to in this thread as "MegaTrip". Name changed because it turns out MegaTrip is the name of a vacation-planning company I have no affiliation with as either a customer or stakeholder.

(2) Queue the scene from an early episode of "Seinfeld" where Jerry destroys a rental car counterperson. Paraphrasing "I don't think you know what a reservation is. If you did, I would have a rental car right now. Anyone can take reservations, it's the holding the reservations part that matters."

 
A few posters mention Star Tours as a new attraction and worthy of a fast pass. Did they redo it? I always thought it was just the motion simulator (opened late 80's) and was able to walk on the last couple trips.

 
A few posters mention Star Tours as a new attraction and worthy of a fast pass. Did they redo it? I always thought it was just the motion simulator (opened late 80's) and was able to walk on the last couple trips.
Yes, the old one went out of commission in Fall 2010.
 
So I'm taking my wife, six y/o boy, and three year old girl. I got two Ohana reservations, Chef Micks, some Norwegian princess lunch in epcott, some epcott restaurant with fish tanks everywhere, and yet another Princess dinner at the Contemp or Floridian. I feel like I should get some dinner with a boy theme for my son. Anybody got anything? We are hitting MK, Epcott, both water parks, and MAYBE hollywood if it's true they have little Einsteins there. I'm saving AK and Downtown for next year. Also does anyone know if there are any other little Einsteins things at disney. My daughter is obsessed. Tia.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I am going to make a few statements. You tell me if i am wrong.If you want to plan a trip to Disney World and location is your #1 issue........and money is no issue, then the Polynesian is the best place to stay. It's location on the monorail and TTC make it #1.and you have some money to spend but still want to be frugal then renting points and staying at the Bay tower is the best choice. You get to stay near the MK and get short walk access to the monorail for reasonable money.and you have some money and don't want the hastle of renting points then the wilderness lodge is the best choice. You get access by boat to the MK and the TTC.Am I wrong here?
If MK is your primary destination, then the monorail is great. We hated being on the monorail though because we found it terrible to ride to the other parks. The monorail resorts frequently share a bus with at least one other resort. They are also furthest from the other resorts. We love the location of Animal Kingdom Lodge and Coronado Springs. I would never stay at a monorail resort again.
 
I am going to make a few statements. You tell me if i am wrong.If you want to plan a trip to Disney World and location is your #1 issue........and money is no issue, then the Polynesian is the best place to stay. It's location on the monorail and TTC make it #1.and you have some money to spend but still want to be frugal then renting points and staying at the Bay tower is the best choice. You get to stay near the MK and get short walk access to the monorail for reasonable money.and you have some money and don't want the hastle of renting points then the wilderness lodge is the best choice. You get access by boat to the MK and the TTC.Am I wrong here?
If MK is your primary destination, then the monorail is great. We hated being on the monorail though because we found it terrible to ride to the other parks. The monorail resorts frequently share a bus with at least one other resort. They are also furthest from the other resorts. We love the location of Animal Kingdom Lodge and Coronado Springs. I would never stay at a monorail resort again.
I don't understand what your saying. .I have a three year old snd stayes at the Poly over the beach mostly because of the monorail. That was a bad idea?
 
A few posters mention Star Tours as a new attraction and worthy of a fast pass. Did they redo it? I always thought it was just the motion simulator (opened late 80's) and was able to walk on the last couple trips.
Yes it's very good. Went back to DHS yesterday. It's an interesting place. There's 4 top-end rides (Star Wars, RNR Coaster, Tower of Terror and Toy Story Mania) that are exceptional. Might be 4 of the best 6-7 rides in all of Disney World. And the Prime Time Diner is faaaaaaaaantastic food and atmosphere. But there's not a lot else to do there. The trip through the movies ride is outdated and corny. People with me were rolling their eyes when "Bugsy" tried to take over the car, and the other hostess mailed it in, as if she were channeling Nicholas Cage himself. The Muppets show was a huge disappointment for me (and I'm a big fan) and Indiana Jones was lame. Fantasmic sounds great but has been closed for 2 months (but Beauty and the Beast was well-done), and the park is really small and closes at 7. I guess what I'm trying to say is you get a lot of top-end bang for your buck, but I think I would be disappointed if I spent $80 to go there for one day and couldn't park hop. We were standing around at 1:30 with nothing to do.
 
I am going to make a few statements. You tell me if i am wrong.If you want to plan a trip to Disney World and location is your #1 issue........and money is no issue, then the Polynesian is the best place to stay. It's location on the monorail and TTC make it #1.and you have some money to spend but still want to be frugal then renting points and staying at the Bay tower is the best choice. You get to stay near the MK and get short walk access to the monorail for reasonable money.and you have some money and don't want the hastle of renting points then the wilderness lodge is the best choice. You get access by boat to the MK and the TTC.Am I wrong here?
If MK is your primary destination, then the monorail is great. We hated being on the monorail though because we found it terrible to ride to the other parks. The monorail resorts frequently share a bus with at least one other resort. They are also furthest from the other resorts. We love the location of Animal Kingdom Lodge and Coronado Springs. I would never stay at a monorail resort again.
I don't understand what your saying. .I have a three year old snd stayes at the Poly over the beach mostly because of the monorail. That was a bad idea?
Not a bad idea at all if you will be spending most of your time at MK. Epcot is our primary park followed by DHS.
 
I am going to make a few statements. You tell me if i am wrong.If you want to plan a trip to Disney World and location is your #1 issue........and money is no issue, then the Polynesian is the best place to stay. It's location on the monorail and TTC make it #1.and you have some money to spend but still want to be frugal then renting points and staying at the Bay tower is the best choice. You get to stay near the MK and get short walk access to the monorail for reasonable money.and you have some money and don't want the hastle of renting points then the wilderness lodge is the best choice. You get access by boat to the MK and the TTC.Am I wrong here?
If MK is your primary destination, then the monorail is great. We hated being on the monorail though because we found it terrible to ride to the other parks. The monorail resorts frequently share a bus with at least one other resort. They are also furthest from the other resorts. We love the location of Animal Kingdom Lodge and Coronado Springs. I would never stay at a monorail resort again.
What's wrong with the monorail? Always seemed pretty quick to me.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top