Disney World

[chango]

Taking our first trip to Disney World next week (3 kids between 7 and 13) . We are staying at the Contemporary.

Any advice, tips, etc. would be appreciated!

 

[bigup2dahorns]

we've got our own disney insider on here, txangel03, shoot her a PM for some current updates.

 

[txangel03]

please do! Happy to help

 

[KazooMan]

We, too, have annual passes (cheap for Florida residents), so PM me if you need more help. A few ideas:

1. Take the kids back to the hotel in the middle of the afternoon for a break - go swimming, take a nap, play in the gameroom, whatever, and then go back to one of the parks later in the afternoon. The parks are most crowded in mid afternoon, so take advantage of staying at the Contemporary.

2. There is a small balcony off the restaurant at the top of the Contemporary that is the best place to see the Magic Kingdom fireworks. Book a late dinner there, and then take the whole family out on the balcony to see the show.

3. Try and get a room on the water side of the Contemporary, so that you can see the light parade in the evening.

4. Get a refridgerator for your room, to keep drinks in - save some big bucks by bringing in six packs of your favorite beverages. Worth the extra rent $.

5. Even though the monorail goes all the way around to the Magic Kingdom, ride the mono just to the transportation center one day, and then take the boat ride to the Magic Kingdom - a fun (and very pretty) way to approach the park. If you are in a hurry, stay on the monorail.

6. Staying at one of Disney's hotels allows you to use ALL of the hotels on the property - check out the pool at the Poly, the restaurants at the other hotels, etc. Staying at a place where the monorail goes right through the hotel makes it easy! Your wife might like hotel hopping/shopping - every hotel has different shops.

7. Remember that the mono does not take you to MGM or the Animal Kingdom - you will have to catch a bus to hit those parks. Plan on more time to get there, especially on the days when you are allowed to go into those parks early because you are staying at a Disney property. The reverse comes true when leaving those parks - you don't want to be leaving MGM or the Animal Kingdom at closing time, having to catch a bus back to your hotel or the transportation center. EPCOT is a great place to stay late, see their fireworks show, and then you can ride the monorail back, or take a bus - transportation choices are much better from that park because of the monorail connection.

Have a great time!

 

[CaboWabo]

I went in April. My only advice is to take a shitload of cash, or make sure you have a lot of room on your credit cards.

 

[Pancho Negro]

i live here and i've never been to DW.

i've been to the wide world of sports though. it was fun but disney itself is hectic. hope you have fun. throw up a hookem horns when you get here and i'll throw up one back. it's like we're brothers.

 

[longhrnfan]

i freaking love disney world. I can't do a park in a day though... I'm too fast. I like to do two parks in a day.

Animal Kingdom is the bomb.

 

[Orangesweat]

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[NCAAFBALLROX]

"Lake Buena Vista" is the town Disney set up & they have their own jurisdiction... after the state let this happen, they learned a lot about what they did wrong in ceding so much power to a corporation.

If you stay in LBV, i.e. an offsite hotel, ALL hotels in L.B.V. are able to advertise as "closest to Disney" even if one of them is 2 miles further away than the one that might be 'geographically closest' to the front gate. Not sure if they have to pay extra for that "closest to Disney" moniker or not.

I'm sorta from the area & have family in Winter Park, so I don't have to pay for lodging.

 

[chuychanga]

My dad got roped into going to DisneyWorld a few months ago. Here's his blog about it.

 

[hullabelew]

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