Disney

[Shwane]

So, I think it may or may not be time this year for the trip. I thought maybe I could have got another year out before I had to go there. My boy is 40'' tall, I plan on flying there, and staying for 6 days. Beyond that I have no clue. I thought maybe I'd tap the BS knowledge tree for any hints, tips, places to stay, etc... Any insight is highly appreciated.

 

[jms]

If you have military ID check out Shades of Green . It is a military get away at Disney World.

 

[tmlowe]

stay on the disney grounds so you have the shuttle service and get park hopper passes. we always stay at the all star resorts. it's cheap but fun atmosphere and you don't spend time in the room anyway. another plus for staying on the grounds is you can stay late at magic kingdom for like 10 bucks on certain nights. only 20k people are allowed and it's exclusive to disney resort guests iirc

 

[Cat]

stay on the disney grounds so you have the shuttle service and get park hopper passes. we always stay at the all star resorts. it's cheap but fun atmosphere and you don't spend time in the room anyway. another plus for staying on the grounds is you can stay late at magic kingdom for like 10 bucks on certain nights. only 20k people are allowed and it's exclusive to disney resort guests iirc

It's nothing extra if you have the park hopper tickets. Otherwise unless that's the park you visited for the day I don't believe you can enter at all. But I may be wrong there.

It's also never limited in such a way you really have to worry about it. The parks close due to capacity on one, maybe two days a year and that's Christmas Day by noon. Sometimes the day after. As long as you show your room key then you're good to go.

 

[JLouv]

there's a nice Doubletree Hotel on disney property. I stay there because all the disney brand resort hotels <that I've been to> are complete crap and should have been updated at least 10yrs ago. It's important to note that I spend on average 180 nights per year in hotels. I may be biased. My Point is: find your favorite hotel, make sure it's on disney's property, and stay there so you get all the perks <early admission, shuttle bus> as well as a comfortable bed.

If you want to eat anywhere besides fast food in the parks, make your reservations NOW. You may already be too late for some places. Also, there are a lot of restaruants to choose from, but none of them are really any good. I mean, nothing I ever ate there really made me want to go back. My recommendation: have breakfast at your hotel. Fast food/junk food lunch. Nice sit down dinner at any of the 5,000 places around the downtown disney area. <that'll save you at least $150 per day for two adults>

After I just finished bashing the restaruants....I do have one recommendation....but not for the food. Make a late dinner reservation at the CAlifornia Grill located at the top of the old contemporary hotel <the one the monorail goes through>....If you time it right, you can dine and watch the fireworks at magic kingdom. This restaurant came closest to having what I'd consider a decent meal for the price. I had a fillet, cooked perfectly...and then the chef smothered it with F-ing BBQ sauce??!?!?!

Park hopper passes - anything else for more than a 1 day visit is a waste of money.

Depending on the size of your family and what you're packing, the shuttle bus may not be your best way to go. If you're traveling with multiple children/families, strollers etc...get a cheaper hotel and drive your own vehicle to the park. The cost of parking is offset by the cheaper hotel. Loading and unloading out of your own personal vehicle is MUCH easier than packing everything in and out of a public bus. And once you're in the park system, if you don't want to drive again, you can use the bus to get to another park....I like having my own vehicle so I can come and go as I please and not worry about missing the bus or waiting for an hour it to show up. Not to mention getting shoe-horned into one like a sardine.

Shopping. If you're gonna shop, do it the very first day and have the packages delivered to your hotel <if you're staying close enough>. Otherwise, whenever you purchase anything, you can have it delivered to the customer service desk at the enterance to the park.....so just enjoy your stay and at the end of the day, head for the exit and pick up all your loot. <this actually compounds the bus/bags/stroller/kids problem>

I could probably write a ton more stuff. It may sound like I hate disney, and I really do. It would be a great place if it wasn't for all the people. On average I go about 2x year. Once for work and once again because my girl wants to...

One more thing...speaking of people....stay FAR FAR FAR away from Downtown Disney. The rudest people in orlando go there because it's free. I can't tell you how many people I knocked down before the fight started and I got escorted out. I'm not a violent person usually....but when the up-teenth person kicked my baby's stroller and didn't apologize or even acknowledge what they'd done, I started stiff-arming them out of the way before they could even get close...

But have fun!!

 

[Cat]

Ditto on the ADR's. You can make reservations now 180 days from your trip. Le Cellier books solid by 179 days out during busy seasons.

Most folks say they don't want to schedule around meals. But just decide which park you want to go to first day, second day, etc and make a lunch or dinner reservation.

 

[El Rubio]

Went there last summer. We spent 4 days at Universal and 1 day at Disney. We still had tickets from our previous trip to Disney. My kids are Harry Potter fanatics and we had to see the HP ride/exhibit. They loved it, I found it extremely crowded but the main ride is very nice. My kids get nauseous on those simulated 3d rides that seemed to make up most of the rides at Universal. My youngest ( 12) had a better time overall at Disney. We hit Animal Kingdom & the Magic Kingdom in one very long day. Disney seems to have their crowd control act together better than Universal. We didn't bother spending day #4 at Universal at all and went to the beach instead. We stayed off the property at a place called the Floridays. I got a 2bdr/2bath, full kitchen, living room, wash/dryer, etc for $175 a night. The 5th night was free, internet was free, and breakfast was free. It was ten minutes from Disney and about 20 from Universal. To my wife's pleasure, it was 10 minutes from the IKEA store which can be as expensive as the parks.

 

[Gus McCrae]

there's a nice Doubletree Hotel on disney property. I stay there because all the disney brand resort hotels <that I've been to> are complete crap and should have been updated at least 10yrs ago. It's important to note that I spend on average 180 nights per year in hotels. I may be biased. My Point is: find your favorite hotel, make sure it's on disney's property, and stay there so you get all the perks <early admission, shuttle bus> as well as a comfortable bed.

If you want to eat anywhere besides fast food in the parks, make your reservations NOW. You may already be too late for some places. Also, there are a lot of restaruants to choose from, but none of them are really any good. I mean, nothing I ever ate there really made me want to go back. My recommendation: have breakfast at your hotel. Fast food/junk food lunch. Nice sit down dinner at any of the 5,000 places around the downtown disney area. <that'll save you at least $150 per day for two adults>

After I just finished bashing the restaruants....I do have one recommendation....but not for the food. Make a late dinner reservation at the CAlifornia Grill located at the top of the old contemporary hotel <the one the monorail goes through>....If you time it right, you can dine and watch the fireworks at magic kingdom. This restaurant came closest to having what I'd consider a decent meal for the price. I had a fillet, cooked perfectly...and then the chef smothered it with F-ing BBQ sauce??!?!?!

Park hopper passes - anything else for more than a 1 day visit is a waste of money.

Depending on the size of your family and what you're packing, the shuttle bus may not be your best way to go. If you're traveling with multiple children/families, strollers etc...get a cheaper hotel and drive your own vehicle to the park. The cost of parking is offset by the cheaper hotel. Loading and unloading out of your own personal vehicle is MUCH easier than packing everything in and out of a public bus. And once you're in the park system, if you don't want to drive again, you can use the bus to get to another park....I like having my own vehicle so I can come and go as I please and not worry about missing the bus or waiting for an hour it to show up. Not to mention getting shoe-horned into one like a sardine.

Shopping. If you're gonna shop, do it the very first day and have the packages delivered to your hotel <if you're staying close enough>. Otherwise, whenever you purchase anything, you can have it delivered to the customer service desk at the enterance to the park.....so just enjoy your stay and at the end of the day, head for the exit and pick up all your loot. <this actually compounds the bus/bags/stroller/kids problem>

I could probably write a ton more stuff. It may sound like I hate disney, and I really do. It would be a great place if it wasn't for all the people. On average I go about 2x year. Once for work and once again because my girl wants to...

One more thing...speaking of people....stay FAR FAR FAR away from Downtown Disney. The rudest people in orlando go there because it's free. I can't tell you how many people I knocked down before the fight started and I got escorted out. I'm not a violent person usually....but when the up-teenth person kicked my baby's stroller and didn't apologize or even acknowledge what they'd done, I started stiff-arming them out of the way before they could even get close...

But have fun!!

I have a lot of disagreement with this. I have a much different experience and I have been a few times in the past couple of years. Part of my experience may be due going during off seasons. I highly recomend going at times when kids are generally in school.

I should also add, we don't have kids so we aren't as tied to the stuff that will appeal to kids (we don't have to stop at counter service restraunts so we can get on the dinosaur ride again etc). I have had more fun going as an adult than I did when I was a kid.

Anyways, I have no problems with staying at the "Pop Century" resort (one of the park hotels). It's a budget place and has been clean and serviceable every time I've stayed. The higher end park hotels are plenty nice. We will probably stay at the Animal Kingdom hotel (whatever it's name is) next time we go at least a few nights.

I definitely prefer the shuttle, but we travel light with maybe a backpack between the wife and me. We also schedule going to parks that should have the lowest population that day (you can find out on the disney boards which days, which parks are busiest) and save going to the busy parks for magic hours (generally only people staying at the resorts get to go during magic hours). If I had strollers, and 150lbs of gear, I might could see taking a car. IMO, use the shuttles, travel light, and spend some money for your food/drinks.

I have never had any problems at the restraunts, but my wife spends quite a bit of time on the Disney boards (forums) to figure out which ones are worth going to and if we should make reservations. There are actually quite a few good ones, but it may not be where you kids want to go. I've had decent food at the pub in England (Rose and Crown), but Ragland Road (downtown disney) is much better. Mama Rosa's is in Disney Hollywood Studios is tucked away in a corner, but is pretty good. Jiko at the Animal Kingdom Lodge is pretty good, but not cheap. The sit down Mexican restraunt in Epcot (in Mexico) is interesting because they serve some traditional Mexican dishes that you might not recognize (your kids might not like it). The best way to figure out what is good and what is not good is to post on the Disney Boards.

I agree on getting park hopper passes. This way you can go to the least crowded parks and schedule your fun accordingly.

I agree on having your purchases sent to your room. That junk is going to be a pain in the butt to carry all day. It will be less fun on the shuttle.

We used to go to Downtown Disney for the Adventurers Club all the time, but it was closed apparantly for more family oriented fun (shopping and restraunts). On the weekend nights, it gets pretty crowded (and I'd avoid it). That's one place I'd go to on a Monday or Tuesday when everyone is at work.

Now my experience is probably different because we generally plan our trip at the times when the park volume is the lowest (again, we don't have kids). My wife starts planning our time there months in advance so we go to the least likely to be crowded parks. She also plans on which fast passes to pick up on the way to another ride. She gets kinda crazy about it, but she makes sure we get the most fun packed into a single day (We open a park and close with a Magic Hours Park)... sometimes we have to plan to come back in the middle of the day for a nap and by the end of our day, my favorite ride is the sleep ride.

Get on the Disney Boards and do some research!!!!

 

[Gus McCrae]

Oh, I'll add.....

The dining programs suck. They lock you into eating counter service (most of which is pretty mediocre) a good bit of the time. IMO, just pay (or charge to your room) and eat where the decent food is at.

That's another thing, we just charge everything to the room and we have had to pay our bill every few days. It really made things simpler for us.

 

[dmh]

We've had great success with Disney. I disagree with the dining plan being terrible as we've gone everywhere we've wanted to go and in many cases have got the dining plan either free or at a considerable discount. If you know where to go there are really great counter service options, and we avoid the chicken nugget style places.

It all depends on what you and your family want to do (we have an 8 year old who has been 7 times and never used a stroller) and just bought the Vacation Club package. Do your homework and decide what highlights you want to see/do and then just fill in the rest.

 

[Gus McCrae]

We've had great success with Disney. I disagree with the dining plan being terrible as we've gone everywhere we've wanted to go and in many cases have got the dining plan either free or at a considerable discount. If you know where to go there are really great counter service options, and we avoid the chicken nugget style places.

I was probably a little harsh with the dining plan. Our problem with them is that we generally like to have sit down meals and don't generally do the counter service meals. We don't want to be regulated to what meals we can have in a day. They suck because they are restricting, not because of the service or food.

 

[Shwane]

Wow, looks like I have some research to do. I dont think Im getting the grasp of the sheer amount of people in the parks. Thanks for all the input. I will have to print this thread for reference. Again, thanks

 

[jmeng]

My advice would be go during the off season. Late January is great.

 

[Kraut]

We went in Oct. 09 when my son was 5, stayed on grounds at the Caribbean, had a meal plan, parkhopper passes, utilized the shuttles, and rented a stroller.

I found staying on the grounds to be convenient as far as having the shuttle service, just give yourself plenty of lead time if you want to make something big like the Epcot or Magic Kingdom fireworks/laser shows. The Caribbean is spread out, but we were in the section right next to the central pool/restaurant/shop area so it was a real short walk from our room.

The meal plan worked out OK for us, the way they set up the meals we always had extra stuff to throw in the backpack to nibble on later (whatever snack/dessert items came with counter meals like cookies or such), and at night we always got a water or Powerade with the meal which we then put in the room fridge to carry in the next day since we had the refillable cups for use with the drink fountains, and all the fresh fruit and milk/juice available became breakfast in the room the next morning. The meal plans aren't a perfect option, but I didn't have any serious complaints about it.

The stroller thing: we had one that I forgot to pack, and upon arriving in FL and staying overnight with a friend in Tarpon Springs the night before going to Disney, we went and looked at Wal-Mart, however my friend's wife suggested the rentals were worthwhile, and I think she was absolutely right on that. We had tickets for 7 days, and I think we paid $79, cheaper than buying a nice new stroller, and much easier with the way we moved around. You have a daily ticket, and it's good for whatever park you visit where you need a stroller, so you don't take it on the shuttle or anywhere outside the park if you hop from one park to the next. Epcot in the morning, use a stroller, check it back in but keep your ticket to get another stroller if you then go to the Magic Kingdom for the Light Parade. Being a LEO, I can't stand to leave my belongings long out of sight, but it was amazing to me how people left their backpacks and packages and even what appeared to be camera cases in their strollers, or the park strollers, "parked" in areas near the attractions entrances/exit with no worries. We left the stroller parked alot, but I carried a backpack for our personal belongings, I couldn't bring myself to leave valuables no matter how trusting everyone else seemed to be. Anyway, the stroller rental was well worth it to me, we even have some rental tickets left that will still be good when we go back later this year, they don't expire.

A friend of ours who is a serious Disney veteran always recommends the non-Disney hotels that are on property near Downtown Disney and offer the shuttle services. We're looking hard at that option for our return later this year, but there are also plenty of options off grounds nearby if you are willing to drive a short way and pay to park.

If you go during the summer, and you have a small child who like my son loves anything that has a spinning apparatus, such as those misting fans or LED light spinners, buy that crap at Wal-Mart before you go. I own an $18 Disney-marked misting fan. I didn't really want to own one, not for $18 that is, but a 5 year old with Asperger's can really wear you down.

Although no one mentioned in this thread, Disney's policy is no weapons, but they don't have metal detectors and they don't pat you down, they only look in your bags. I carried the first day in, but with all the other crap I found myself stuffing in my pockets, the rest of the time I just said "BAAAA" walking out the door in the morning and went without strapping, just carrying my knife in my pocket.

 

[dmh]

We've stayed at Coronado Springs multiple times. It's the convention resort but they have the best food court. A salad station, tex mex, full grill, pizza station, etc. taht all count as quick service. We get to the parks when they open, do what we want, go back to the resort around lunch, eat and rest, go to our dinner reservations around 4:30 or so and do any night plans after that. We still do a lot of character dinings and always do the fantasmic show because they really are enjoyable for us and the meal plan is great for that too.

 

[deuxlatch]

Go during the Mardi Gras break. The rest of the country doesn't get it off like we do and there is no one there so no lines for the rides. Take advantage of the fastpass for the rides and definitely stay on the premisis, the shuttle service is great and the monorail is awesome. Have fun.

 

[Cat]

Oh, I'll add.....

The dining programs suck. They lock you into eating counter service (most of which is pretty mediocre) a good bit of the time. IMO, just pay (or charge to your room) and eat where the decent food is at.

That's another thing, we just charge everything to the room and we have had to pay our bill every few days. It really made things simpler for us.

You got the thumbs down dining plan. There are upgrades, if you want table service for two meals, or a wine and dine with a bottle of wine...

Counter service can be a hit, or a miss. Most are mediocre but there are some gems. Yak and Yeti has take-out which counts as a counter service I believe. Earl of Sandwich I believe, is counter as well. The Diamond Horseshoe in the MK is a hidden gem. All Ears Net, Disboards, and a few other disney boards discuss the counter services in depth.

 

[Gus McCrae]

You got the thumbs down dining plan. There are upgrades, if you want table service for two meals, or a wine and dine with a bottle of wine...

Counter service can be a hit, or a miss. Most are mediocre but there are some gems. Yak and Yeti has take-out which counts as a counter service I believe. Earl of Sandwich I believe, is counter as well. The Diamond Horseshoe in the MK is a hidden gem. All Ears Net, Disboards, and a few other disney boards discuss the counter services in depth.

Never got any dining plan. We looked through them and decided that none of the plans fit what we wanted/needed. Since it's just me and the wife, some days we'll go to a sit down place for our meals, sometimes we'll want counter service (Turkey Leg anyone?). We'd spend more money going with the expensive plan and not get what we wanted with the cheaper. It just doesn't fit what we wanted to do. IF we were toting a bunch of kids around, the plans might make more sense.


When we go my wife spends months in advance planning out our trip. She gets so excited about going. She's a junkie for Disney.

 

[Cat]

Never got any dining plan. We looked through them and decided that none of the plans fit what we wanted/needed. Since it's just me and the wife, some days we'll go to a sit down place for our meals, sometimes we'll want counter service (Turkey Leg anyone?). We'd spend more money going with the expensive plan and not get what we wanted with the cheaper. It just doesn't fit what we wanted to do. IF we were toting a bunch of kids around, the plans might make more sense.

Oh, ok. Yeah when we went just the two of us, there was no dining plan to be had. But with children it is unquestionably the best and cheapest option unless you eat off property. With a party of four, even counter services, you cannot save money without it. They snack too much.

At least I don't think so.