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RE: Help me plan Disney vacation - 4/15/2008 2:26:39 PM
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29redballoons
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Tammy, we went with a child just under two and she rode everything we rode...even slept thru the haunted mansion. I second the It's a Small World...that is such a good ride when it is hot...wow, it has been 11 years and I still remember that ac!!!!!
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RE: Help me plan Disney vacation - 4/15/2008 10:35:18 PM
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TammyIsBlessed
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what about an infant (3 months). Obviously can't sit in his own seat like our 2 yr old can (she's almost 3). Can I carry him on rides? Which ones?
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RE: Help me plan Disney vacation - 4/15/2008 10:42:08 PM
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Brandy
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Some rides you can't 'wear' it but can store it in front of you or under your feet. If a small child can ride the ride, so can your backpack.
Some of the rides you can ask a Castmember to watch your bag and they usually will. HOwever, with your size group you may find you do kidswap for some rides. Kidswap is for limited rides but VERY handy. You basically get to the ride and have an adult stay with whatever children cannot ride, then they get to ride when you are done, there may be a special entrance for that ride but it's usually well marked. And I think you can find out what rides offer Kidswap online or right at the gate. Or just ask.
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RE: Help me plan Disney vacation - 4/16/2008 9:40:30 AM
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peculiar_lady2
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Tammy....I know it isn't Disney, but most theme parks are run about the same with regard to all those questions....I can tell you that when I worked at Dollywood it was pretty much like Brandy said. Strollers were placed at the front of the tram....the front car of the tram had about 1/3 of it's space without seats so that it could pile on the strollers. You didn't HAVE to break it down, but if you could they appreciated it so they could fit more on there in one ride. Definitely keep everything in a bag of some kind....or two....not many things lose, that way when you go to a ride you just have to grab and go. Do NOT leave anything in the stroller that you can't live without....that's a good rule of thumb. Also if the ride doesn't allow you to carry things with you then they will gladly hold your stuff....usually they have a place that they put things like that where you get on, or if you exit at a different place they will pass it down to that attendant. Believe me, there is a system they have for things like that...and as a former ride attendant we dealt with that "problem" hundreds of times a day. I would suggest that you mark your bag in some way so that it is easy for you to see that it is YOURS from a simple glance...esp if it looks very general looking. Kidswaps are great too....like Brandy said, just ask the attendant....again they deal with that a hundred times a day too.
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RE: Help me plan Disney vacation - 4/16/2008 11:53:36 AM
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Brandy
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I can't say enough about Kidswap, we don't have any and that's why we always co-ordinate going with my co-workers/friends with their kiddo. She's a riot to watch without her folks, but she's a great asset to get on rides faster 
It's also fun because I buy her the noisiest toy I can for the day in the park and tell her to play with it in every line we get in. I'm evil and I know it will come back to haunt me but it's sooo much fun!!
Oh, if Orlando has the Nemo ride.. PASS on it. Here it's a 2+ hr wait and NOT WORTH IT. ESPECIALLY if you have ANY hint of claustrophobia. Oh my gosh. It was a nightmare for me and was kind of a let down so far as a ride goes.
My favorites:
Astro Blasters - you shoot things and get points.
Pirates of Carribean - indoors, sit down, nice and slow. 2 decent drops but not terrible for kiddos.
Jungle Cruise - sit down.
Indiana Jones - when NOT pregnant. Bumpy and has height requirement, may scare younger kids.
Space Mountain - NOT for little kids. Indoors, dark, strobe lights, roller coaster.
Haunted Mansion - My favorite at Christmas/holiday time - they change it over to Nightmare before Christmas theme. Other than that, it's ok but kind of oldish.
Smallworld - Cali is closed until November for renovations. Disney finally admitted it needed to retrofit the boats to accommodate 'larger' passengers.
Pooh's Wild ride ? - I love Winnie the Pooh. It's a very short ride.
All the storybook rides - Snow White, Peter Pan, Mr Toad, Pinnochio and Alice are fun and cutesy.
Storybook Land ride- sit down, outdoors, kids like to see the houses of Ariel, Cinderella etc.
Tea cups - YUM fun to make you want to barf.
DUMBO - kids love it, I find it over rated.
there's a similar ride in Tomorrowland as Dumbo but it's rockets.
Honey I Shrunk the Audience is a good 15 minute little 3D show. Naptime for adults.
Brain just stopped working on rides.. so that's all I can think of and I'm not sure they are all at Orlando but I think most of them are.
Foodwise - its expensive but there are SOO many little snack vendors that have GREAT fresh fruits. I love their pineapple wedges and watermelon when it's super hot. There are also McDonald's fry stations too :) Just fries tho.
Ok, now I want to go again even though we just went last month. We have promised ourselves not to go until the baby is old enough to 'get it' but I have a feeling we will be there for Christmas this year
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RE: Help me plan Disney vacation - 5/10/2008 3:36:00 AM
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_Cinderella_
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So when do we get to hear your Disney World tips? I leave three weeks from today!!
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RE: Help me plan Disney vacation - 5/11/2008 11:55:31 PM
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TammyIsBlessed
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How old are your kids?
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RE: Help me plan Disney vacation - 5/12/2008 4:21:04 AM
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_Cinderella_
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I don't have any kids - it is just my husband and I going.
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RE: Help me plan Disney vacation - 5/12/2008 12:27:58 PM
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TammyIsBlessed
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OK, here's my tips.
If you can get a AAA Diamond Parking Pass do it! You still have to pay to get in to the parking lot ($11/day) but the Diamond Parking lets you park right next to the handicap spot which is right close to the entrance. This is good for all 4 parks. I think you can also get them on EBay if you can't get them from AAA.
Either purchase the book "The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World" or sign up for the online version here. They have an incredible amount of information on everything from restaurants to rides to places to stay to theme parks to maps, etc. It's awesome. Also - I highly recommend using their touring plans - it truly saves you a ton of time waiting in line, especially if it's busy when you're going. I borrowed the book from a friend, and I purchased the online subscription - I think it was around $9 for a year. Online they have numerous different touring plans customized for adults only, families with young kids, etc. It even tells you which days are best to go to which parks. Sundays Animal Kingdom is the best park to go to - we went on a Sunday and it was perfect!!! Very minimal lines, especially using the touring plan from their site. If you want, you can let me know the dates you're going and I can send you the touring plans they suggest. Course, for only $9 you may just want to do it yourself, but if not, I don't mind! They also have a section that tells you which rides are not to be missed at each of the parks.
The key is getting there for park opening. The fewest lines will be first thing in the morning and right before closing, as well as during parades. This is also when it's the coolest, so that's a bonus as well! The afternoons are the busiest and the hottest - so you're truly best off returning to your hotel/house during the afternoon for a quick lunch, swim and naps (this worked especially well for us with kids) - and going back for the late afternoon refreshed and ready for more rides! If you don't want to do that - take a late lunch and rest a bit during the worst of it. You'll be glad you did!
You can bring in snacks and likely even lunch to the parks. This will save you money as well as time not spent waiting in another lineup. We went home for lunch so we just brought snacks and water bottles (which we simply refilled at the water fountains).
With having young kids, we alternated one day at the parks with one day at the house relaxing and swimming and recovering! But, seeing as your adults that won't be necessary - unless you're wanting a more relaxing vacation combined with the Disney experience. Then you might want to take at least a day or two at some point.
If you are considering going to the brand new waterpark "Aquatica" by Sea World - do reconsider. We heard from people that have been there that because it's so new it was absolutely jam-packed full - a complete nightmare. Yes, the rides were awesome, but it was too packed to even enjoy it. You'd be better off going to one of the Disney ones - Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon.
I forget where you're staying but we rented a house and absolutely LOVED it! We loved having our own private pool/hot tub. We loved all the space we had. We loved having a kitchen available, especially for breakfast and lunches. We just loved everything about it. And we were so close to the parks. Literally, from our driveway to the Animal Kingdom parking lot was probably less than a 7 minutes drive. We stayed in Windsor Hills area.
We rented our house from Romancing The Mouse. They were absolutely fabulous!!! A family of 5 who own 4 houses down there. I'm pretty sure they're Christians. Amazing personal attention - met us at the house with fresh cookies, juice and muffins. Gave us tips on Disney including a driving short cut. Gave us their cell phone # which we were free to call at any time for any questions whatsoever. Brought us chocolate covered strawberries our last night there - amazing! If you book a stay there off of my referral, you get a 30% discount, and I get an extra 5% on my next visit. So if anyone books there, PM me for my email address for the referral discount!
Give yourself some extra time when going to Magic Kingdom. After parking, you have to take either the monorail or the ferry to get to the Magic Kingdom, so it does take longer. For this park you'd probably be better off staying all day and just taking a short break for a late lunch/rest at the park due to the extra time travel.
That's all I can think of for right now. If you have any specific questions about anything, feel free to ask!
< Message edited by TammyIsBlessed -- 5/12/2008 12:35:13 PM >
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RE: Help me plan Disney vacation - 5/12/2008 1:53:06 PM
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MrsTracy72
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So Tammy, you had a great time.
Catherine, I envy you right now. I want to go back so bad. Are you going to Cali or Orlando? You will have lots of fun if it is just you and your husband. The child swap thing is awesome, but you can use the fast passes and will be able to navigate the parks more quickly without kids.
I STILL love Fantasyland. My little one and I spent the whole entire day there once the last time we went. Tammy had all the right tips. I don't know much about the waterparks because we only get the park hopper passes. We have enough waterparks where we live so we don't go to the waterparks while in Disney.
Are you planning on having any nice meals there? If so, you better get your reservations made. And three weeks from now, does that put you into the first week of June? Is that when you are going? If so, all of the rules change.
The first week in June is Gay pride week and the parks can get more crowded than usual. But we were there that week last year and we had a wonderful time probably because there were more adults there than kids. But it was more crowded than usual.
I do hope you find some time to have a nice meal somewhere if you haven't scheduled it already.
Tracy
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RE: Help me plan Disney vacation - 5/12/2008 4:07:56 PM
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TammyIsBlessed
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We had a FABULOUS time! Nathan said it was definitely our best holiday ever. We're already tentatively planning to go back in 1 1/2 yrs - we thought we'd go in October this next time as it's still quite nice weather wise, hurricane season is virtually over, and the crowds are the lightest. I'm definitely going to try to get Lunch with Cinderella at the castle booked this time though!!
OOh yes, definitely look into how fastpasses work. Here's a quick rundown.....
Let's say you want to go on Splash Mountain AND Big Thunder Mountain railroad. They're both really close together and both really popular attractions. If you go there first thing there won't be a big line up at either one yet, but by the time you're done riding the first one, there'll likely be a line up for the 2nd, kwim? So, grab a fastpass at Big Thunder on your way to Splash Mountain. If you go straight there it'll likely give you a return time of 9:30 - 10:30. This means you can come back anytime between 9:30 and 10:30, and go in the fastpass line (which is usually really short - anywhere from no wait to about 10 mins). They also do not normally enforce the end time. For ex - before we left Magic Kingdom for our lunch break we grabbed a fastpass for Splash Mountain (they do only give out a certain amount per day and we didn't want to risk them being gone by late afternoon when we came back). Return time was between 2 and 3. We only got back at around 6 and they still let us use them. So, you grab the fastpass at Big Thunder, then go ride Splash Mountain. When you're done, it's likely almost 9:30. Either way, at 9:30 you can get another fastpass already, even before you've used your first one. So, at 9:30 you could grab a fastpass for the Jungle Cruise, then go back to Big Thunder and use your fastpass for that ride. I hope this is making sense - it's sounds all complicated when I type it out but it's really not. Let me know if that was confusing! And, if you want to be really speedy, your husband could run for the fastpass while you already get in line. The staff are usually really good about letting the 2nd person catch up to the rest of the party in line.
Basically if it's less than a 25 or 30 min wait it's not usually worth it to do a fastpass.
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RE: Help me plan Disney vacation - 5/12/2008 4:17:16 PM
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TammyIsBlessed
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We went to Animal Kingdom once and Magic Kingdom twice. The second time we went to Magic Kingdom it was just dh and I with all 4 kids (the other times Nathan's parents and his S and BIL came with us) - so we just did the "easy" stuff and left around 12:30 when they were tired.
Our kids faves at MK - Goofy's Barnstormer (small roller coaster), Peter Pan, Mickey's 3D Philharmagic, Mickey's Dream Show (in front of the castle) which included princesses and other characters, Jungle Cruise.
One ride we would NOT do again - Dumbo. It's a glorified mid-way ride with a huge lineup. We went straight there at opening and still had to wait 40 mins - never again, unless there's literally no lineup. Especially since they have a Dumbo "statue" right next to it that you can climb into and take a picture in!
At Animal Kingdom are faves - Kilimanjaro Safaris, Kali River Rapids, Flights of Wonder show, It's Tough to Be a Bug 3D show (although our kids were terrified at that one!), Expedition Everest rollercoaster (adults only on that one!).
And of course - the highlight for our kids was meeting the princesses and getting their autographs. If you had kids and were wanting autographs, this would be my advice - the princess line is in Toontown which officially opens at 10. It actually opens at around 9:45 - so be there for 9:45 and get in the princess line immediately and you won't have to wait long! Get there much later than 10 and you'll be waiting 45 mins or more! Ariel is in Ariel's Grotto pretty much at opening time, so go straight there for no lineup.
Also - find out when the Extra Magic Hour days are for each park (they have them on different days at different parks) - those are days when Disney resort guests get to come one hour earlier and stay one hour later than all other guests. Do not go to that particular park on those days - much busier. The early morning advantage is lost because tons of people have already been there for an hour.
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RE: Help me plan Disney vacation - 5/12/2008 11:28:41 PM
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_Cinderella_
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Yes, we are going the first week of June. Yes, I do now know it is gay pride week. The main reason we are going to Florida in the first place is because my husband is the best man at his best friend's wedding. If I would have known about gay pride week before we book our airline tickets I would have opted for us to stay in Florida the week after the wedding instead of the week before. Too late now, plus we didn't want to pay fees to rebook our plane tickets.
We made reservations at five restaurants. And we are staying on property.
I actually planned which park we would go to each day based on the evening extra magic hours. Owell.
One day we will be going to the Disney Water park to get away and relax.
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Live like you're loved by the Lord up above.
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15 days til Disney World!
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RE: Help me plan Disney vacation - 5/13/2008 2:17:18 AM
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TammyIsBlessed
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If you are staying on property then you are better off going during Extra Magic Hours!
Which parks are you going to on which days?
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RE: Help me plan Disney vacation - 5/13/2008 3:11:22 AM
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_Cinderella_
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Question: what did you do about storing stuff while you were on the rides? We probably wouldn't be carrying much accept probably some water bottles. Even though they are not in fashion, I was thinking about buying a fanny pack to store money, park admission tickets, itinerary, and the camera (ours is pretty thin). Carrying a purse is not my favorite thing.
Here is my current itinerary:
Sunday:
Magic Kingdom
Breakfast Reservation: Crystal Palace
Dinner Reservation: CA Grill (uses two dining credits each)
Monday:
Animal Kingdom
Dinner Reservation: Tusker House Restaurant
Tuesday:
daytime: Blizzard Beach (open til 7 PM)
Dinner Reservation: 1900 Park Fare
After dinner: Epcot or Magic Kingdom
Wednesday:
Breakfast Reservation: Chef Mickey’s
Hollywood Studios
Thursday:
Epcot
Dining Reservation: none
Friday: (only have time to stay half the day)
Magic Kingdom or Epcot
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~*Catherine*~ aka ~*PC*~
Live like you're loved by the Lord up above.
-Mark Schultz
15 days til Disney World!
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RE: Help me plan Disney vacation - 5/13/2008 10:53:40 AM
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MrsTracy72
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Catherine, you get to go to all the not so kid friendly places. I can't wait to be able to do that. Crystal Palace is one of my favorites. It has the Pooh characters and is right in the Magic Kingdom.
I always kept my stuff in the stroller, but since you don't have one, you really don't have to worry too much about the rides. If you have a small backpack, I would bring it. When we go in, I use a waist pouch thing for my money, but a small backpack is good too. You would just put it on the floor of whatever ride you are on and put your foot in the place where you would hang it off your back.
If you plan on going on Soarin, get there early and wait for the park to open and run directly to the Land pavillion. I believe that is also where the CA grill is also. If you don't do that, you will have to wait more than an hour or two to get on it and that is one ride you don't want to miss.
Also, if you can get into Animal Kingdom at opening one day just to go on Everest. That is a great ride. I didn't see anybody get off of that ride not wanting to go back on. It is great for both kids and adults. It goes pretty high up, but alot of it is indoors so you don't really notice except for at the very beginning when you do your first climb. But the view is awesome.
I sent you a SS PM did you get it?
Tracy
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RE: Help me plan Disney vacation - 5/13/2008 10:58:42 AM
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MrsTracy72
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quote:
ORIGINAL: _Cinderella_
If I would have known about gay pride week before we book our airline tickets I would have opted for us to stay in Florida the week after the wedding instead of the week before. Too late now, plus we didn't want to pay fees to rebook our plane tickets.
One day we will be going to the Disney Water park to get away and relax.
Actually, I found the first week in June to be one of the best. People were more polite and like I said, there were less kids running around, and sometimes those teenagers can get pretty nasty. The other best time to go is when they have Night of Joy. Mark Schultz was there last year. But that is good too because the kids are back in school so you get the parks almost to yourself until about 5, but then you get awesome concerts everywhere you look in the Magic Kingodm. And the park is only open to those with NOJ tickets. The package was cheap and we did it last year. We want to do it again, but not sure how that is going to work out with money.
And as for the waterparks, let me know how relaxing they are. I never went to them, but when I see the unsupervised kids getting off the buses there, I sometimes feel like I am glad not to go. And we have lots of waterparks here.
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RE: Help me plan Disney vacation - 5/13/2008 3:50:55 PM
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_Cinderella_
Posts: 5482
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quote:
ORIGINAL: MrsTracy72
Catherine, you get to go to all the not so kid friendly places. I can't wait to be able to do that. Crystal Palace is one of my favorites. It has the Pooh characters and is right in the Magic Kingdom.
What no-so-friendly kid places are there that you want to visit? I don't think we want to go to Pleasure Island, and I don't know of any other ones.
CA Grill in not in a park ~ it is in the Contemporary Resort.
Night of Joy would be a fun time to go! I am not sure when we will get back to Disney though since there are several other places we want to visit as well.
Where I live there is only one water park, and I have never been, but I thought it would be good to go one day to get away from the main parks for most of the day.
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Live like you're loved by the Lord up above.
-Mark Schultz
15 days til Disney World!
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RE: Help me plan Disney vacation - 5/13/2008 8:15:26 PM
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MrsTracy72
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All of the resturaunts that want you to dress a bit nicer than the normal clothes you wear to the parks. One day I just want to go out with just my husband. He even wants us to take a long weekend and leave the kids home so that we can just go to Disney and have time alone. I don't think my kids would take that too well because they are mad that we are not going this year. But this year, we are going to Washington DC and Williamsburg. I am so excited to go and we are going to drive so we can take advantage of the places we find along the way there and on the way back.
Last year when we drove to Orlando, we drove straight through to get there, but on the way home, we built in an extra day just to find some interesting places to stop. And I don't know if anyone remembers my post from last year when all three kids threw up multiple times in the car on the way home, that extra day helped us out alot. We spent alot of time doing laundry that trip. That was weird though because 15 minutes into the drive is when it started, and lasted most of the day. None of my kids get carsick and it didn't happen on the way down.
You will have fun and I can't wait to hear all about it. Now I am trying to think of the place that is in the Land pavillion. It is some grill. We were supposed to eat there once, but an opportunity came up to go to Tony's Town Square, and we took it. If you ever go there, make your reservation for about 2 hours before the parade and request to sit outside. That way you get to see the parade from your table over dessert.
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RE: Help me plan Disney vacation - 5/13/2008 9:21:31 PM
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MrsTracy72
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I love the travel channel. You can get so many great ideas from there. The fireworks are great, but I have only watched them from the park. They also have music to go with them so it is fun eventhough it is crowded. But usually the park is still open for an hour after the fireworks, and people seem to think it isn't so when the fireworks end, they leave and the last hour of the park is dead.
Where are you staying?
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RE: Help me plan Disney vacation - 5/14/2008 12:12:45 AM
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_Cinderella_
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I'd rather not post exactly where we are staying right now since there is always the possibility of Internet stalkers, but I will tell you after the trip. :)
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~*Catherine*~ aka ~*PC*~
Live like you're loved by the Lord up above.
-Mark Schultz
15 days til Disney World!
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RE: Help me plan Disney vacation - 5/14/2008 12:51:43 PM
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TammyIsBlessed
Posts: 1579
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quote:
ORIGINAL: _Cinderella_
Sunday:
Magic Kingdom
Breakfast Reservation: Crystal Palace
Dinner Reservation: CA Grill (uses two dining credits each)
Monday:
Animal Kingdom
Dinner Reservation: Tusker House Restaurant
Tuesday:
daytime: Blizzard Beach (open til 7 PM)
Dinner Reservation: 1900 Park Fare
After dinner: Epcot or Magic Kingdom
Wednesday:
Breakfast Reservation: Chef Mickey’s
Hollywood Studios
Thursday:
Epcot
Dining Reservation: none
Friday: (only have time to stay half the day)
Magic Kingdom or Epcot
According to The Unofficial Touring Guide....
Sunday - Crowd Level 7
Best Park: Animal Kingdom
Parks to Avoid: Magic Kingdom, Epcot
Monday - Crowd Level 8
Best Park: Epcot
Parks to Avoid: Disney Studios, Animal Kingdom
Busy Level:
Tuesday - Crowd Level 8
Best Park: Disney Studios
Parks to Avoid: MK, EP, AK
Wednesday - Crowd Level 6
Best Park: MK
Parks to Avoid: DS, AK
Thursday - Crowd Level 8
Best Park: EP, DS, AK
Park to Avoid: MK
Friday - Crowd Level 7
Best Park: EP, AK
Parks to Avoid: MK, DS
Gay Days at Studios
quote:
The Crowd Level column is based on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being least crowded conditions and 10 being most crowded. The scale measures the peak wait time at the Magic Kingdom's three headliner attractions (Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad). Thus, the Crowd Level is a "worst case" scenario, predicting the longest wait at any of these three attractions on a particular day.
1 = Peak wait times of 14 minutes or less
2 = Peak waits of 15 - 24 minutes
3 = Peak waits of 25 - 34 minutes
4 = Peak waits of 35 - 44 minutes
5 = Peak waits of 45 - 54 minutes
6 = Peak waits of 55 - 64 minutes
7 = Peak waits of 65 - 74 minutes
8 = Peak waits of 75 - 84 minutes
9 = Peak waits of 85 - 94 minutes
10 = Peak waits of 95 minutes or more
That being said however.......
quote:
How Important Is Choosing the Right Day?
Worrying about the day of the week before you have a good touring plan is like ordering two triple cheeseburgers with fries, then wondering whether the restaurant has Diet Coke. Things like the predicted crowd level, the time of day, and the attractions that you wish to visit will all affect how long you have to stand in line, and in general how crowded a park will be. Other factors, such as day of the week and whether it's a holiday can affect the crowd levels too. Our research team measures all of these factors to develop a model that will predict the amount of time you'll spend waiting in line. The following table shows how important these factors are in determining how long you wait. An importance level of 10 means that a variable has a huge effect; while a level of 1 means that it has virtually no effect at all.
Variable Importance
Attractions 10
Time of Day 10
Crowd Level Index 9
Holiday 8
Early Entry Morning 5
Day of the Week 2
Weather 1
So what does this tell us? According to our data, the attractions you visit and the time of day at which you visit them will have the greatest influence on how long you wait. On the other hand, the day of week and the weather will play only a small role. Statistically speaking, the time of day is 5 times more important than the day of the week.
Put another way, a good touring plan is much more important than choosing the right day to visit the parks. If you followed the Unofficial Guide's Magic Kingdom One-Day Touring Plan for Adults on a typical slow Tuesday and a typical busy Thursday, you'd only wait in line about 20 more minutes on Thursday - a little less than one incremental minute of wait time per attraction. In contrast, that same touring plan can save up to four hours of standing in line when compared to not following a plan.
Here's one sample of a touring plan for you - let me know if you'd like any others or not....
This is the very short version of it - it has additional info on the actual plans....
Animal Kingdom - June 2 - Open 9am - 8pm
Mickey's Jungle Jammin Parade: 4pm
1. Arrive 30 mins early
2. Upon opening, send someone to get fastpass for Expedition Everest (going through Asia not Dinoland is shortest)
3. If you have kids ride Tricera Top Spin in Dinoland - | | |
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