Just got back from disneyworld...

G

GM Platter

100+ Posts
... and all-in-all a good experience. Haven't been in about 25 yrs. Big family group, stayed six days, saw the whole thing. If you're going soon I might have some tips for you.

We rode pretty much every big ride and waited no longer than 30 minutes for any of them.

Stayed onsite at the All Star Sports. A tricked up motel with rooms that look like they were decorated for a 10 yr old boy. It is what it is, but disappointed that it had no fridge or coffeemaker. We used the bus service once. After that drove to each park/attraction ourselves (this was the best idea of the trip).

Ate lunch with Cinderella in the castle, dinner in Morocco at Epcot, all that good stuff.

Best rides - Mt Everest, Rocking Rollercoaster, Mission to Mars
Best night show - Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios
Best resort visited - Ft Wilderness Lodge
 
In the planning stages right now for a trip this fall. Me, wife, and 3 boys ages 11, 7, 6. None of us have ever been so any tips are welcome. We need a hotel for 5, probably stay off site (non-Disney) due to budget. Your comment about driving to each park makes me feel better about this option because I have heard it is better to stay at Disney. Looking at 7 days, 6 nights with a 5 day Disney World Magic Your Way pass or whatever the hell they call it. Is the park hopper option worth it?

I have read the old posts here but any new tips will help.
 
txangel,

Could you be more specific as to which resort(s) for $60/nt? Sorry to be a pain in the *** but a little new to this. We are looking at going sometime in Sept/Oct. TIA
 
1) First you can stay at several of the hotels along Buena Vista that are off site that have shuttles to Disney that are pretty affordable. You don't really need a car if you are flying in. HOWEVER, if you stay onsite at Disney you can get into the park an hour earlier and have an option to stay later. This is where the park hopper comes in to go see the Animal Kingdom in the morning and see the EPCOT fireworks display that evening.
2) if you are flying in, arrange for a shuttle that will take you to the grocery store for half an hour at no additional charge. We made sure we had a fridge in the room and the wtaer, cereal and sandwich makings, and liquor saved us a TON of cash. More importantly you want to be at the gate when it opens and some ceral and a belly bag with some granola bars or a sandwich for a mid morning snack go a long way towards saving the bucks and TIME in the morning.

3) To have real fun at Disney you MUST ATTACK IT!!!! And you must learn how to use the fast pass to your advantage!!! basically every park has about 4-5 top tier must see attractions/rides. These are the ones you will see the lemmings waiting for over an hour to ride at 2 in the afternoon. Wake up early and be at the gate when it opens. This is most important at the Aminal Kingdon as animals feed in the morning and are more active then. The real beauty of arriving early is taking advantage of the Fast Pass system. Disney tells you that you can only get a fast pass every two hours... that is true in the afternoon but not true when the park first opens. see fast pass in a second. Basically you need to devise a basic strategy of attack using the fast passes to save time and sort of plan a route. Decide what you must see, what you want to see, and what you don't care about to prioritize

4) THE FAST PASS! - What could be better than walking past that hour line and wiating 5 minutes for a premium attraction? that is the essence of the fast pass program. your tickets are basically like little credit cards (dad should keep ALL of these together). You can insert your card and get a thermal fast pass ticket for the shorter line entry at a later time. this allows you to go see a teir two attraction to burn some time and then see a tier 1 ttraction with no wait.

The SECRET is that a time is stamped on the fast pass when you can first gain entry to the shorter line, that time stamp is also is when your ticket becomes eligible to get another fast pass. Early in the morning the full allocation of fast passes are not yet allocated and thus if you try to get an early fast pass you may get a much shorter time to wait before entry, and being able to get another pass. By about 10:30 each fast pass you get will be time stamped two hours later because all the allocation is full.

Example: family of four at Magic Kingdom- You get to the park at 7:30, you have mom and the kids walk to the best attraction on the right to wait in line at Space Mountain. Dad jogs over to the best attraction to the left side of the park and gets the fast pass tickets. Dad puts his 4 daily mag strip ticket into the fast pass machine at 7:45 for Spash Mountain and recieves 4 fast passes time stamped for 8:40, and quickly catches up to Mom and the kids on the other side of the park. Buying a good laminated map was worth it to me as a side note.

You guys wait in line for 20 minutes and ride space mountain and finish the ride about 8:20. then you go wait in line a few minutes for a tier 2 attraction and by the time you are done there you walk out and it's 8:39. Your fast pass for Splash Mountain on the other side of the park goes live in one minute.


EDIT:!!! Apparently now fast passes have a one hour expiration so the times below with two hour windows are inaccurate... Great LINK for fast pass info. with list of ALL fast pass attractions for planning purposes- p://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/fastpass.htm>Fast Pass Link


You walk over to the next tier 1 attraction (say Buzz lightyear) and head for the fast pass kiosk. At 8:40 your splash mountain fast pass goes live, at 8:41 you insert your mag strip park ticket at Buzz Lightyear and receive 4 fast passes time stamped 10:10. The time is getting closer to the 2 hours Disney says but in realty is only an hour an a half and you have TWO fast passes in your hand, something Disney tries to tell you is impossible. Fast passes expire two hours after they "go live' so yu need to start moving slowly towards Splash Mountain to use your fast pass before the expiration at 10:40. Hou head to Splash mountain at 10 am and you laugh at the long line of folks as you walk in the fast pass entrace. 15 miuntes later you come out of spash muntain and your Buzz light year ticket has gone live at 10:10 freeing up your daily mag strip pass in the computer system for another fast pass at Thunder MOuntain right next Splash Mountain. It will be time stamped for entry two hours later because NOW, all of the fast pass allocations are full in the park.

At this point you have seen Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, have a live fast pass for Buzz lightyear and just got another fast pass good Thunder Mountain railroad that will go live a little after noon. You will have seen 4 of the best attractions in the park only having to wait in the regular line for the first attraction of the day! You will have saved HOURS waiting in line and seen 3 of the 6 big attractions with a fast pass ticket in hand for the 4th major attraction. Grab a qucik snack with the kids and some water and reapply the sunscreen. or go grab an early lunch ahead of the throngs.. Then go to a tier 2 attraction and some piddly attractions until your Thunder Mountain Railroad fast pass goes live just after noon.

THAT is how you see a ton of stuff with the shortest waits in line. The key is getting to the park when the gates open and getting that first fast pass as soon as possible. If staying onsite I would probably be heading back to the hotel to hop in the pool after that noon fast pass ride. right before leaving the park (If I was coming back that afternoon) I would get one last fast pass that woudl go live let's say at 2:15 and stay live until 4:15. I leave for the hotel where I make my drink in the room and take it down to the pool while the wife takes a nap. We head back out to the mgic Kingdom at 3:30 and start moving towards our fast pass attraction arriving just before the 4:15 expiration of the fast pass......


We literally saw TWICE as many attractions using this method as the first time we went with far less waiting and agravation. Make a plan and attack the park. there are lots of sites that give basic plans of attack for differing age groups of kids. I will admit that more than once we did not use that fast pass we took with ua out of the park as the kids were having fun at the pool and we made them take later naps with the thought of going back out in the evening instead for the light shows. But NOTHING is better at disney world than having a fast pass in your hand.... just ask the lemmings waiting in line at 2:30.....
 
Great reply! Thank you for the information! I was unaware there was such a thing as a fastpass but I will check more into it and utilize your tips.

I wasn't really planning on getting into "attack" mode but I might be going about this all wrong. Time to man up and get prepared for battle!
 
I say attack, but it's really just more of being aware of when you can get another fast pass (time stamp) and knowing what you do or do not care to see. AND getting up early to beat the crwods and the heat!

I will also say that we enjoyed an early meal at the brown derby at Hollywood (mgm) one day using this strategy, where you normally need to make a reservation. While the meals were not cheap 17-20, the air conditioning and actual decent wait service was both refreshing and rejuvenating. I figured refills on ice tea, water and complementary bread offset the cost of the more expensive main courses for us and the kids meals were pretty darn good as well with good size portions. ESPECIALLY when compared to the quality level of the cheaper burger sandwich fare we had had before. I think we got a fast pass, wen to a leisurely hour plus lunch and then back at it. the food quality was pretty good and needed to try the place where the Cobb salad originated. Brown Derby Menu

here is a good unoffical link with maps, menus and lots of info The Link
 
Summerof79 speaks the truth. You better strap it on when you go to disney. This was our one and only family trip - loved it, but I'm into more relaxed vacation experiences. I did somewhat enjoy gaming the competition and outmaneuvering the crowds, but after 4 days of Operation Market Garden style logistical planning and execution, I felt like I had attempted one bridge too far.

Here's a little fast pass tip for you - you can use the fast pass even if you miss the late arrival window on the card. For example if your pass says 1-2:30, you can show up after 2:30 and they'll still let you in the fast lane.

I'm a Houstonian, natural born anti-mass transit type, so I liked the control of driving where I wanted without waiting in lines to board shuttle busses. This produced some of the most enjoyable experiences of the trip - with onsite hotel you can park anywhere for free.

So for example, we'd drive to Ft Wilderness Lodge and catch the ferry (walked on no line) to Magic Kingdom. Or even better parked at Disney Boardwalk and from there could ferry or walk to Epcot. The big deal about that is if you're staying through the firework shows, you avoid the chaotic rush to the park parking lot trams / shuttle busses at the end of the show. While the lemmings are nuts to butts going out the main entrance of Epcot, we're casually strolling out the back exit along the boardwalk to our car.

Park Hopper works well to give you the needed mid day break. Go early, hit the rides ahead of the crowd, then out for a break and then to the same or other park for evening shows/fireworks.
 
effin A Cotton. summer of 79 I am not sure if I am impressed, mesmerized, in awe, or want to put a bullet in my head at the thought of having to take my kid there some day.
 
We went last summer and also stayed at all star sports. 3 families with 5 boys no girls between us and boys aged 11-6 so this resort was no-brainer. UNlike others on here...I loved the bus option to and from the parks. Only one time did we ever have to wait over like 15 minutes. I usually am a "drive everywhere guy" myself but I thought the buses were greatness. As far a no fridge. There was one sitting outside when we were going into room so dad in other family picked it up carried it into his room plugged it in and presto.....free fridge for our stay.
 
007 it's actually fun, EPCOT is really cool for adults and kids alike as well as educational. the technology is mind boggling, but I hate lines and hate not getting my money's worth even more! So get up and go early and use that fast pass.

If you are ex military- "shades of Green" at Disney is an incredible deal, but you have to reserve way ahead.
 
We're taking our kids this December 16th-19th for their first trip. They are 6, 6 and 4. We've been booked since February, since their aunt (my wife's sister) has been there before and got us on the ball. Anyway, we are staying at the Wilderness Lodge, and grandma got up early last week to book like three character meals. It should be interesting
laugh.gif
 
There was a mention that fast passes don't expire at the end of the period. While that's true for some rides, it isn't true for all. Some strictly enforce the time limits.

Our tips.
1. If possible, stay at a monorail resort. Best access out there allow you to come and go. Poly is the best because you are on the MK monorail and can walk to the Epcot monorail.

2. Use Fastpasses. this was explained above (but why aren't there fastpasses for Pirates? Makes no sense to me).

3. Get to the park early. We find that we can usually do more in the first 1 1/2 to 2 hours of the day than the rest of the day combined. This is particularly true if you properly use the fastpasses.

4. If you have small children, use the parent swap. This is particularly true if you have 2 or more kids, and some are too big for the ride, but others can go on it.

5. Take breaks during the day. We like to stay on site so we can go back mid-day (when parks are hottest and busiest) for a nap or a swim. You don't want to be one of those parents dragging your tired, screaming kids around. This is particularly true if you're going a full week.

6. Park hopper. If you're there for several days, get it. You will appreciate the freedom it offers. It's nice to spend the big part of the day in a park (AK for example, and then be able to go to Epcot for a meal or MK for fireworks).

7. Plan, plan, plan. It seems to me that most people that really enjoyed their trips and want to go back are people that planned --- they had a good idea of what rides they wanted ride at each park, they had some reservations for meals, they knew how to use fastpasses, etc. It always seems that the people that didn't like the trip were those that were stuck in lines, wandered around trying to figure out what to do next, got frustrated when they got there and most of the good restaurants were booked, etc.

We went in April, and I tell people it was great. My wife cried when we got there and drove under the welcome sign, and my kids cried when we left because they didn't want to leave.
 
sent you a pm re the resorts....
also if you're going late sept-october, you'll be there during the food and wine festival at Epcot. GOOD times. Wine for the adults and interesting food choices for the kiddies
 
ALSO- buy some of those cheapo ponchos at Academy as in Florida in the afternnon you will often get a rain shower. Plus if you are going to ride the Kali River Rapids you will need them as you WILL get wet

Belly Bags are an absolute must!!!! Your sunglasses, tickets, granola bar, sun screen, wallet, and change are all more secure in a belly bag than in your pockets on the rides.

One thing I always thought would be absolutely a hilarious Coffee table book would be a book of Photos I would call, "The Faces of Disney." As inevitably you see kids screamsing and crying, tired frustrated parents and of course a lot of smiles. The first time we went, we went with my in-laws and the whole family, something like 22 of us. My father-in-law spang for the rooms and wanted us all to go to everything together. I was about losing my mind with the wait for so and so before we go wait in line.... My meltdosn point came when I saw my Father-in-law waving to us from the train that circle the magic kingdom saying he would be right back, and to wait for him..... I cam about an inch from simply going to the hotel packing my car and hading home....

So Disney can indeed be a fun and exciting experience as well as a horrifying nightmarish experience, and sometime a little of both.
 
Here is my dad's blog entry following a trip to Disney/Epcot/MGM last summer:


I MISS OL' WALT

I went to California's Disneyland in 1958 with my parents and three siblings. As I recall we had a great time and I took a picture of Walt and "Alice" with my Cub Scout camera as they lead a parade and opened the new "Alice in Wonderland" ride. I liked the river boat cruises, and the rides, and we all came home to Texas with mouse ears and big smiles.

I took my own two children to Disneyland in the early 1980s and enjoyed the park again through their experiences. We saw as much as we could in one day, and I was regretting being too old to really own a toy "Captain Hook" hook when the fireworks ended the day.

Recently we were invited to Disney World in Orlando to celebrate a family event, and my wife and I decided to go but with misgivings....

I like amusement parks. I had great fun in Houston as a kid riding the old wooden roller coaster at Playland Park, and whirling in the "Bullet" or the "Rocket" until nearly loosing my cotton candy. I have been to Six Flags and other amusement parks with my children and grandchildren, and while sometimes it was hot, crowded or uncomfortable, we had a good time. The Texas State Fair last fall was a ball with two of our grandsons.

But Disney World...
Wow, I came away feeling that old Walt had turned on me. Disney got every minute and every dollar from the time we collected our luggage in the Orlando airport to the time we got back to the airport three days later. I felt like one of a herd of lemmings heading toward the water's edge, but they don't shear lemmings first, do they?

It felt like the whole place is one big gift shop, selling over priced trinkets made in China that we have been brainwashed into believing that we must have in order to worship the god of Mickey Mouse -- and they passed the collection plate at every opportunity. Disney & Co. must be laughing hysterically as they dive into a huge pool of money like Scrooge McDuck. Make no mistake, they are not here to entertain you. Michael Eisner makes over $100,000. per HOUR and fights hard to keep employee wages and benefits as low as possible. They are here for the money -- your money. Years of genius marketing have hooked us, and it's not "catch and release."

After long, hot waits, the rides or attractions at Disney World were brief, and not much more advanced than those of Disneyland fifty years ago, but no one seemed to notice that the "Trip to Outer Space" or whatever, was less fun, shorter and more poorly presented than any IMax film, or most adventure movies or many exhibits of art or science at museums in any large city in the world. There are aquariums, parks, theater, historical exhibits and amusements in every state in this country that are better and cheaper than the attractions at Disney World. And, of course, each Disney attraction ended in yet another gift shop.

Beyond the question of value, there is the question of Disney World's presentation of the world as utopia. I understand the value and fun of an occasional escape into fantasy, whether it's children playing make believe in the back yard, a good thriller novel, or pretending to be in the world of magic castles where everything is clean, perfect, and safe. But this place goes way beyond that. You have a feeling that the crowds would really rather stay here and abdicate their responsibilies in the world and avoid any unplesantness associated with reality. Epcot center had attractions and sets designed to look like foreign countries. But to see how many people would rather to go to "Mexico" in Disney World than take a real trip to Mexico, or spend days next to fake bay and boardwalk rather than a real beach or coastline was disturbing.

The "New Orleans" resort was as clean and vacant as a set from the Twilight Zone, and The Disney "Mexico" looked like a Taco Cabana with a gift shop. It was clean and safe -- there were no disturbing poor people, no litter, no unwanted smells, and no Mexicans. There was no history, no geography, no social or political interaction -- no cooks, artists, bankers, beggars, farmers, dancers -- no wonderful smells of the market place or the orchids of the Yucatan. At our New Orleans resort, there were no street musicians, no coffee with chicory, no roots in the land or the water. The river might as well have been plastic. The breakfast waffles had mouse ears, and you could buy a $12. plastic cup for your coffee.

Disney World invites you to be a child, and to live in a fantasy world where evil and imperfection do not exist. But they do. The world is dangerous and dirty, but it is also filled with incredible beauty and people and places that offer us adventure and wonder and even escape from our everyday chores. The banks of the Blanco River in Texas are more beautiful than a fake city across a fake lagoon, near a fake shipwreck, and the real streets of San Francisco are infinitely more interesting than the ones on the Disney MGM movie lot and, they have better food -- and better gift shops.

I might go with my grandchildren to a Disney park someday, and if so, I will try to convince myself that their pleasure is worth the price in dollars, but I regret the loss of 'ol Walt, because, I still think he started out to entertain us and expected to be paid a fair wage for his talent and vision. I don't think he intended to brainwash us into a world of mindless illusion and convert us to worship at the feet of a golden Mickey.

The high point for me was finding that they still sell frozen, chocolate dipped bananas on a stick, and remembering how my dad liked those when he was the grandpa on the 80s visit.
I had two.

My wife bought me a cap with Grumpy on it.
 
The most important advice on this thread is to take time to go back to the room and rest. There is no way that you can see everything, so don't make this an Olympic event. The attempt to "get your money's worth" will turn into a disaster. You will end up screaming at your kids, and they will scream back at you. Perhaps college age, or young adult people can get to the park as early as possible and sprint from ride to ride, but kids can't do this...maybe the early part, but not the sprint part. The youngsters may protest leaving for a nap/rest, but assure them that you will return after rest time, and that there are more days left. If it's the last day, tell them that there will be something new to see "next time."

The advice on the fast pass is good, but realize that Disneyland/World can be a physically taxing activity. Try to define "getting your money's worth" as having a wonderful time with your family, not as seeing every nook and cranny.
 
I agree that kids are not ready for all the walking especially young ones. We rotated them in and out of the stroler even though none were babies. We also walked quite a bit in the evenings around the neighborhood before we left to condition the kids to walking more than usual.

Go early, plan what you must see, what you want to see and what you could see as filler if need be. bring your own granola bars or sandwich snacks and be at the park as early as you can KNOWING you will leave shortly after noon for some rest for all then consider heading back for the evening for an hour or two... or not if you had a big morning.

Arrive at 10:30 and I guarantee you won't like Disney at all....
 
My advice for what it's worth: go in October. The weather is nice and the crowds are not so bad. We never got hot and sweaty. Also, stay at a Disney hotel. It makes getting around so much easier.

Our kids are night owls so we stayed from park open to park close and covered pretty much everything. We didn't rush. If we needed to get fastpasses, I'd run over to the fast pass booth while my wife and kids waited in line at another ride. Then I'd just jump in with them.

Go see all of the 3-D movies. They are entertaining and it is 20 minutes of rest in airconditioning. Nice break from walking. We went to all 4 parks on 4 days, then for the 5th day we let the kids pick their favorite rides and we went to each park to just ride those rides and move onto the next. Somehow we pulled it off, but that day was a rush. Fun, but a little much for most kids.

All in all, we had a blast and I would go back again. Going into it, I was thinking nightmare, but it was great. The excitement on the kids faces was priceless.
 
I second the suggestion of the 3D movies and other air conditioned shows. In the heat of summer especially, this break is appeciated by parents and kids alike.
 
i don't have kids and had no plans on going to DisneyWorld any time in the near future, but this is one of the most informative threads i've ever read on this website. now i want to go to DisneyWorld.

plus, i saw a show on the Food Network about all of the crazy food options at DW. looked great.
 
we took a family trip there several years ago. overall, it was enjoyable, but like that blog post, I felt like the entire enterprise was just set up to sell me and my kids a ton of cheap crap at outrageous prices. the number of gift stores was off the charts.
 
We went in august of 2001. Best thing was that it rained the five days we were there. We had the water parks practically to ourselves. Negative was that youngest wasn't tall enough for the thrill rides, so one of us had to wait with him while others did rides. Went with parent-in-laws (m-i-l had hip replacement), so we rented a wheel chair and were able to get good parking and other preferred benefits.

I've heard it has changed now, but when we rented wheel chair for d.c. trip; we got pulled to front of line for white house tour and got to use private elevator going up floors.
 
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