Going To Disney World ! - Page 4

pdchristensen · 10-30-2012, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by huizarr

Universal Studios is a seperate theme park not affilated with WDW. The park that has the Osborne Family Xmas Spectacle of Lights is Disney Hollywood Studios (used to be called MGM/Hollywood). IIRC the spectacle is every night right after sunset starting on Thanksgiving and running to the beginning of January. We went last year for Thanksgiving week and it was a sight to behold.

If you are not afraid of heights I highly recommend the Soaring ride at EPCOT. You will likely have to use a FastPass as it is an extremely popular ride. It is a hang gliding simulation.

Next year (2013) we are going right after Thanksgiving and will be staying at Ft Wilderness for the first time.

Last year (2011) we were off Disney at the Kissimmee KOA and it was an easy drive to the Disney theme parks. One thing you will have to remember is that there is a daily parking fee, don't forget to take money for that. If you were at the resort you could take the transportation like was mentioned, but we heard many guests complain and if you on a WDW resort parking at the theme parks is free .

We have 1 flex day, so we will likely check out Disney Hollywood Studios.
We will definitely ride "Soaring" at Epcot.

jimh · 10-30-2012, 08:36 AM

we took our trailer abt 2yrs ago. Ft Wilderness has several campgrounds at different prices. we chose full hook ups. the difference between the more expensive one and the one a few dollars cheaper (that met full hookups) is the date it was built.
buy a hopper ticket (think that is what it is called...allows u to move freely between parks). also buy a meal ticket. the meal ticket is a very good value. u aren't going to waste ur time leaving one of the parks to go back to the trailer or off premisses to eat.
my recommendation would be to go down and stay in a hotel on the Disney property. Seems like Ft Wilderness ran close to $100/day. I've seen offers for less than that for their hotels.

If u do take the trailer, getting to Disney is easy. I was told to follow the signs...it works.
If u stay on property, u get an extra hr at closing time. don't remember if u were allowed in an hr early or not.

you may want to get a stroller (put a doll in it if u don't have a small child). people use them as weapons to get where they want to go. i've seen them back down people in wheel chairs.

pdchristensen · 10-30-2012, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimh

you may want to get a stroller (put a doll in it if u don't have a small child). people use them as weapons to get where they want to go. i've seen them back down people in wheel chairs.

that's hilarious, I did not know strollers had such "executive class" treatment. We do have a 4 year old, so we will likely be using a stroller.
Likely we'll buy one in Orlando when we arrive rather than rent. I believe the charge is about $15.00 per day rental. Much cheaper just to buy one at an Orlando Walmart, then donate it to charity when we leave.

Cajun Po-Boy · 10-30-2012, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdchristensen

that's hilarious, I did not know strollers had such "executive class" treatment. We do have a 4 year old, so we will likely be using a stroller.
Likely we'll buy one in Orlando when we arrive rather than rent. I believe the charge is about $15.00 per day rental. Much cheaper just to buy one at an Orlando Walmart, then donate it to charity when we leave.

We rented a tri stroller from an outside dealer for our kids...it was a dream! Had rear shocks, bicycle style tires, well padded seating and big sun cover to keep them covered while napping or during light rains.

pdchristensen · 10-30-2012, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ragin Cajun

We rented a tri stroller from an outside dealer for our kids...it was a dream! Had rear shocks, bicycle style tires, well padded seating and big sun cover to keep them covered while napping or during light rains.

Probably opt for a smaller, easy to pack & go unit. Not sure how are logistics will play out, however we do want the flexiblity to fold up a fairly light weight stroller to change gears from on foot to "on ride" or "on bus" or on "monorail" or on "train"...etc..etc...

hockeytownmom · 10-30-2012, 12:37 PM

We have a baby jogger city mini. You can rent them from orlandostrollerrentals.com

pdchristensen · 10-30-2012, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hockeytownmom

We have a baby jogger city mini. You can rent them from orlandostrollerrentals.com

Awesome suggestion, I just completed my booking online. Price for the week is 60.00, fairly reasonable as it would not cost much less to buy one at walmart when we are down there. It is also cheaper than renting at resort + they will deliver & pick up from the resort we are staying at.

Thanks for the tip !

hockeytownmom · 10-30-2012, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdchristensen

Awesome suggestion, I just completed my booking online. Price for the week is 60.00, fairly reasonable as it would not cost much less to buy one at walmart when we are down there. It is also cheaper than renting at resort + they will deliver & pick up from the resort we are staying at.

Thanks for the tip !

No problem! That stroller is easy to maneuver and folds with one hand and stores almost flat!

We've been very happy with it.

Arefbee · 01-07-2013, 12:30 PM

So, PD - How did the trip go?
Was the new Fantasyland good?
Anything you would do differently?

pdchristensen · 01-07-2013, 07:05 PM

Gee did not know anyone was still following this old thread.
Trip was great. Our daughters were shocked when we broke the news to them on the morning we were leaving.(almost fainted from excitement)

Everything was wonderful for our first ever trip to D.W. other than getting lost on the way to the hotel in Orlando.

We spent 1 day in Animal Kingdom (loved the Kali River Rapids ride & Everest was a thriller - also took in the African Safari Ride)

Did 2 days at Epcot (loved - Soarin, Mission to Mars, Spaceship Earth, Test Track, - all great)

Did 3 days at Magic Kingdom - did not find Fantasyland that great, we enjoyed Frontierland & Adventureland the most (Thunder Mountain Railroad, Spash Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Jungle Cruise were our favorites). The younger one got a kick out of Bear Country Jamboree and Small Small World. The Haunted House was great.

I think we planned everything perfectly. Rented a 2 bedroom hotel with kitchen and did all our cooking at the hotel. Brought our own snacks to the park to save money. Rented a car to give us more travel flexibility.
We came in just a little over budget, but over all would not change a thing.

The "Fast Pass" ride system worked great for us. (never waited in any line for a ride).

The one thing we would do differently would be to "pre pay" for professional photography package prior to our park visits. We did not realize this was an option. We could have had several professional family photos on rides, and in strategic park areas for a reasonable package price including special effect software for adding features & text to photos.

We plan on going back next year for 2 weeks - kids are already saving their birthday money & allowance to fund an earlier return visit.

Cajun Po-Boy · 01-07-2013, 07:39 PM

Great to hear you guys had a great trip!

We'll be there in 3 months...hope you left the place intact!!! LOL

asquared · 01-07-2013, 09:06 PM

Glad to hear you had fun. I have been following this thread for ideas as we are going to fort wilderness for our first time in august. My 5 yr old DD just figured it out the other day. Our coded conversations were finally interpreted. She is so excited. We have been showing her pictures and discussing things she may or may not want to do (ie blizzard beach).

hockeytownmom · 01-07-2013, 09:13 PM

Sounds perfect! We're reserved for October, but my kids are begging for us to go next month for mid-winter break or spring break. LOL

JFM-jr · 01-07-2013, 09:29 PM

I leave in 3 weeks! I am a Vacation Club Member and have been many times it does'nt seem to ever get old lots of great memories there. I will say if the budget allows for it stay inside Disney it's a much different experience from the minute your luggage is taken from your hometown airport (if your flying).

DDC · 01-07-2013, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JFM-jr

I leave in 3 weeks! I am a Vacation Club Member and have been many times it does'nt seem to ever get old lots of great memories there. I will say if the budget allows for it stay inside Disney it's a much different experience from the minute your luggage is taken from your hometown airport (if your flying).

X2 One of the best purchases we ever made was was the Disney Vacation Club, we use it for Fortwilderness and for our home base which is Saratoga Springs, never tire of disney.

pdchristensen · 01-08-2013, 06:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JFM-jr

I leave in 3 weeks! I am a Vacation Club Member and have been many times it does'nt seem to ever get old lots of great memories there. I will say if the budget allows for it stay inside Disney it's a much different experience from the minute your luggage is taken from your hometown airport (if your flying).

I did a lot of research on the Disney Resort Hotels. (my preference would have been to stay inside Disney if it was not cost prohibitive). For my DW and 2 daughters the preference was for a 2 bedroom hotel room. (prefer the girls having their own private room for sleeping). I had a hard time finding any 2 bedroom Disney Resort Hotel rooms - the few I did find were over $350.00 per night compared to where we stayed.

Our 2nd consideration for considering the Disney resort would have been the meal plan, however once again the price for the meal plan seemed quite a bit on the high side compared to our option of staying at a hotel equipped with a kitchen (fridge, stove, dishwasher, pots, pans, dishes and cutlery provided). Shopped at a 24 hour Walmart Superstore the first night we were there and stocked up our kitchen for the whole week.
We did splurge on a "Character Dining Experience" with the Disney Princesses at the Royal Banquet Hall in Epcot, however for the rest of the time we packed our own snacks/food to take into Disney. The park meal prices were quite high (ie: $4.00 for a small popcorn - as opposed to us bringing a tube of pringles for 99 cents). Disney allows you to bring your own food in and dine at any of the outdoor table areas no problem.

One of the advantages of staying at a Disney resort was the free transportation to the parks. We decided to rent a car for $200.00 to give us some flexibility on the times we arrived & left the parks. Overall that worked pretty good - with parking fees of $15.00 per day and gas of $50.00 the transportation cost us about $350.00

Overall though the savings realized by staying just outside of Disney were too much to overlook. The World Quest Resort where we stayed was 1rst class. (1200 square feet of living space - 2 separate bedrooms & 2 separate bathrooms for both us and the kids, jacuzzi tub, swimming pool, continental breakfast....and other ammenities for $100.00 per night.

I calculate that we saved $1,500 by staying at the World Quest an managing our own dining.

Location of the World Quest is excellent as well. Just outside the Disney Resort area - 10 minute drive to Animal Kingdom, Epcot and Magic Kingdom.

Just my 2 cents from our experience.

bob34787 · 01-08-2013, 06:48 AM

camped at fort wilderness for 4 months last summer, plan on going back soon.

dblr · 01-09-2013, 07:22 PM

We are also DVC members and enjoy our stays on property,there is just something special about it. We are planning on the crazy week between Christmas and New Years in a Tree House, done that week before and as crazy as it is we had a great time.
Do try to get to the Fort for a stay sometime you will love it, and if knowone as metioned it before( I might have) check out this sitehttp://www.fortfiends.net/forum/ a lot of great info there.

JFM-jr · 01-09-2013, 09:57 PM

I've been to Disney many many times and stayed there over the Christmas holidays in 2000/2001 and that was without question the most crowded I have ever seen it. Parks are decorated and it is really nice but once was enough during that time frame for me.

**ependydad** · 01-10-2013, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JFM-jr

I've been to Disney many many times and stayed there over the Christmas holidays in 2000/2001 and that was without question the most crowded I have ever seen it. Parks are decorated and it is really nice but once was enough during that time frame for me.

Funny! We went camping in the Orlando area this past year (2012). I completely agree - it was nice doing the parks at Christmas to see the decorations, but I'm good for the rest of my life to never go back during the Christmas holiday. In fact, we went another time over President's Day (also in 2012) and I'm pretty well set for never hitting another holiday there.

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