Disney vacation question

[capitalcityguy]

staying on properrty is the way to go at Christmas. I recommend touringplans.com for crowd calendars. I have had great luck with their accuracy.

Yes, touringplans.com is the companion to the Unofficial Guide to Disney World book. This is what we've always used as well.

A co-worker and his family get the annual Disney World Pass, so they are there more than once every year. He swears by this website. We used it last November and had good luck.

 

[Hiltonmagk]

I may or may not be the best to give you advice as my wife and her mother are a little Disney crazy. My 10 year old has been to Disney World like 8 or 9 times I think. Every year since she was 4 with her grandma and a few with the rest of the family. We've done two Disney cruises and both were great. They really cater to the kids on the ship and if you think the 6 year old will like meeting characters then the cruise is great for that. They have several character "meets" everyday for pictures and autographs. The food is better or as good as any cruise line I'd say. Plenty to do for adults and as a bonus you can carry on any liquor you want for no charge and soda is free onboard. I've carried on a few bottles rum each time and had no problems. Heck I've seen people carry on a case of rum before no problem. Some of the cruises stop at Disney World and you get free admission to any park for a day. Personally I'd never go to Disney in the summer but to each his own. We usually go in October or November when crowds are lower and they offer free dinning at the parks. Sometimes with the cruises they offer kids sail free around April. I have been to Disney Land before but it's been a long time and I don't remember it being nearly as nice as Disney World. One other thing about Disney World. They have the Magic Bands and they store everything for your trip on them, from fast passes, and room keys to the ability to charge items to your room account. Fast passes are better at Disney World as well because you can pre book 3 passes per day and once you use them you can book more. One last thing...always good to stay at a Disney property as there are certain days just the Disney property guests get admission to the park either early or get to stay late. Lines are far less during those times. Now that I've written a book enjoy the vacation where ever you go. If you have any question just let me know.

 

[CyPlainsDrifter]

I have been to Disneyland once and WDW numerous times with my family and it has always been great. Many great memories. Sometimes we do strictly on-site and others we venture out. If you are going to stay at WDW the entire trip, make sure you stay in a Disney hotel and make the most of it. If you are going to venture out, I would probably stay off site.
Do your research on Disboards and Mouse Ears websites and you'll learn more than you ever cared to about the mouse.

 

[aeroclone]

Do Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party if it works out on your schedule
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/e...agicKingdomSpecialEventTicketsOnSaleToday0002

When we went, all you can eat cookies and hot chocolate. Seriously. Awesome :yes:

And I'll second the reservations things. 6 months out is crazy, but realistic.

Did the Christmas Party twice on our last trip. It was a little pricey, but we had a blast. We would absolutely do it again. That said, the last one is on the 18th. From then until New Years, I think they do the special parades, shows, and fireworks during normal park hours. As for the free food, lack of lines, and special characters that you have at the party, those will be nowhere to be found!

 

[3TrueFans]

Get your fast passes as soon as possible, they fill up fast. Figure out which rides have the longest waits typically, rollercoasters for instance, and get those instead of ones that have lower average wait times. Get your table service reservations made early as well, the popular restaurants book up fast. Be Our Guest restaurant is really cool and the food was fantastic, it's a quick service but a little higher end than the typical cafeteria style quick service places. Definitely download the Disney World app, you can do most everything from there, change fast passes, change meal reservations, check wait times, has a map to show you where you are, where restrooms are etc.

 

[oldman]

My sister lives in San Diego, so the Disney Land option presents an extra bonus for us. I just wasn't sure how the whole "Disney experience" was in general. I'm having a hard time trying to figure out how long the princess thing will last with her. What time of year did you go? We are debating between June or over New Years. I know San Diego is pretty temperate year round, but I wasn't sure about crowds.

It's been 35 years since I was to DisneyLand, and about 10 for World. I liked World a lot better, but if you have relatives in SD, I'd definitely go to DisneyLand. SD Zoo could be the best in the world. Sea World is fun. Knotts Berry Farm is not far. Lots of stuff to see. I think there is a wild animal park out there too.

 

[CysRage]

Get your fast passes as soon as possible, they fill up fast. Figure out which rides have the longest waits typically, rollercoasters for instance, and get those instead of ones that have lower average wait times. Get your table service reservations made early as well, the popular restaurants book up fast. Be Our Guest restaurant is really cool and the food was fantastic, it's a quick service but a little higher end than the typical cafeteria style quick service places. Definitely download the Disney World app, you can do most everything from there, change fast passes, change meal reservations, check wait times, has a map to show you where you are, where restrooms are etc.

Ditto this. Also, once you use your 3 fastpasses for the day, you can go to a park fastpass kiosk (maybe the app too) and add another fastpass for a ride, once you ride that ride you can add another at a kiosk, and so on. So set your original 3 fastpasses to be in the afternoon when park crowds peak then go 1 by 1 for fastpass. There are people who have reported using 10 fastpasses in a single day.

 

[tec71]

Also when you first do your fast passes on the computer the my Disney experience website will give you four recommendations of different schedules for that day. I have found that lots of people just accept the schedules as they're given. many times those schedules aren't ideal for your family's plan for that day or how you like to tour the parks. It is relatively easy though to accept the one that is nearest to what you like and then immediately go back in and start moving the times for specific rides around to different times of day. For example as someone noted if you are trying to mash them all together at the peak times mid day or if you're trying to mash them together all first thing in the morning you can do that. The original schedule you're given by the computer won't likely be exactly what you're looking for. after you've made the original selection you can go back in and move individual ride times around. I don't think it will let you have any overlapping fast pass times but you can press them altogether so you basically have a ride window three consecutive hours. The other thing to note about fast passes is the earlier you finish your three the earlier you can get a fourth fifth etc.if you pick a fast pass for a 3 PM parade or a 9:30 PM fireworks show you can't get a fourth fast pass until those are used. By the time you have used up your three there won't likely be many left at least not for the good rides for that day.

 

[SerenityNow]

If your daughter is into princesses, make sure one morning you do Breakfast with the Princesses at Magic Kingdom. Ours loved it, including our older one who was 10 at the time and kinda done with the princess thing.

 

[jsb]

I'm not sure if they still have this but the last time I went....2001 or 2002....we did some sort of Christmas event. Not sure what it is called but basically they open the park at night for a very limited number of people. They do a special parade and things like cookies and hot chocolate. And of course the rides are nearly empty. Well worth the price of admission.

 

[CysRage]

I'm not sure if they still have this but the last time I went....2001 or 2002....we did some sort of Christmas event. Not sure what it is called but basically they open the park at night for a very limited number of people. They do a special parade and things like cookies and hot chocolate. And of course the rides are nearly empty. Well worth the price of admission.

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. Never done it but it sounded neat.

 

[CascadeClone]

Instead of going to Disney, I have an alternate suggestion.

Start by withdrawing $5000 from the bank, then drive home, open up your grill, put the money on the grill, and light it all on fire.

Then shoot yourself in the face with the largest shotgun you can hold. And then light yourself on fire.

This will be cheaper and more enjoyable than going to Disney. My $0.02.

 

[keepngoal]

Instead of going to Disney, I have an alternate suggestion.

Start by withdrawing $5000 from the bank, then drive home, open up your grill, put the money on the grill, and light it all on fire.

Then shoot yourself in the face with the largest shotgun you can hold. And then light yourself on fire.

This will be cheaper and more enjoyable than going to Disney. My $0.02.

yet you care to post in a thread about WDW. Lol

 

[Jammin’]

Also,

Disney Quest in Downtown Disney is half off admission after 8pm. Works out to be $20 per person. My seven year old nephew probably enjoyed that more than anything. We went 3 straight nights right at 8.

 

[acrozier22]

Instead of going to Disney, I have an alternate suggestion.

Start by withdrawing $5000 from the bank, then drive home, open up your grill, put the money on the grill, and light it all on fire.

Then shoot yourself in the face with the largest shotgun you can hold. And then light yourself on fire.

This will be cheaper and more enjoyable than going to Disney. My $0.02.

Stay classy, buddy.

 

[acrozier22]

Thread resurrection!

We had a few unscheduled expenses last year and ended up holding off the vacation until this year. I think it should be better since my daughter will be 8 and should hold up a lot better. I just finished booking the trip for Dec 19-26 (yeah, over Christmas - I'm a glutton for punishment).

I ended up getting non-stop round-trip flights from KC on Delta for $1100 for the three of us, which I thought was pretty decent. I don't travel for my work, so I don't get the points perks that some of you do. A friend of ours is a Disney regular (a Disney freak) and clued us into a decent deal at the Disney Beach Club with a meal plan (not the biggest one). I'm a big fan of having the bulk of this paid for well in advance.

I debated staying off-site, but when I think of how worked up my wife can get in day-to-day traffic, I decided that the convenience and piece of mind were probably worth a little extra. Being first-timers, I liked the idea of not having to worry about a rental car and where to park as well.

I ended up getting the Unofficial Disney Guide and holy hell, that sucker is thick. There is a ton of info in there, so I appreciate the resource. I've got to read up some more on the fastpass and magic bands and see which apps work best yet, but I am definitely seeing the advantages to planning ahead.

I'll likely read up on it, but what are the transportation options from Disney to Universal Studios? We are going with a few of her older cousins and they are wanting to check out the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Also, if anyone has any specific info about the Disney Beach Club and can't-miss things to do over Christmas, I'm all ears. TIA.

We stayed at Beach Club this past year for Christmas. Absolutely loved it. The proximity to Epcot is great. Epcot's firework show (Illuminations) during the holiday is amazing. We went every night that we weren't in another park. If you can get a reservation at Rose & Crown around 8 p.m., you should be able to have great seats for the firework show at 9pm.

The Beach Club hotel is very nice. The pool is great but you may or may not get weather good enough for swimming. Make sure you ask the front desk when Mickey and Minnie will be visiting the hotel. They visited the hotel 3 of 6 nights we were there during Christmas. They had their christmas gear on and we got some incredible photos with them in front of the Christmas Tree. It was an awesome experience for my kids and the entire family who was with us. Also, take a quick walk over to the Yacht Club (connected to Beach Club) and check out their Christmas display. They have a train set that is pretty neat and the kids love it.

Beach Club is in a great location because you can walk to Hollywood Studios (about a mile walk) or take a boat ride to it. You also can experience the Boardwalk as well which is fun at night.

We didn't eat at any beach club restaurants because we were so close to Epcot. We ate at Epcot every night. Kinda made our way around the world so to speak. The ice cream shop at Beach Club (Beaches and Cream) is great though.

You have a few transportation options that I know of for Universal...

1. Rent a car from Alamo at WDW. They have a car rental place outside of the magic kingdom. Great place to rent a car for a day.

2. Uber it. Uber estimates are 13-18 bucks one way. Not bad.

3. Shuttle Service (Mears)

If you have other questions, DM me. My wife and I have taken our family to WDW 6 times in 3 years so we have experienced a lot. Always willing to help.

 

[CysRage]

Instead of going to Disney, I have an alternate suggestion.

Start by withdrawing $5000 from the bank, then drive home, open up your grill, put the money on the grill, and light it all on fire.

Then shoot yourself in the face with the largest shotgun you can hold. And then light yourself on fire.

This will be cheaper and more enjoyable than going to Disney. My $0.02.

I understand Disney vacations aren't for everyone but this post was extremely ignorant. I have gone 10+ times and had an incredible time every time.

 

[NickTheGreat]

It's been 35 years since I was to DisneyLand, and about 10 for World. I liked World a lot better, but if you have relatives in SD, I'd definitely go to DisneyLand. SD Zoo could be the best in the world. Sea World is fun. Knotts Berry Farm is not far. Lots of stuff to see. I think there is a wild animal park out there too.

We;ve been to World a lot (5 or 6 times) and Land just recently (April 14). World is bigger, bad-***'er, louder, shinier. Land is more old-school and charming. More compact and intimate.

Land, you can bounce back and forth between parks in about 5 minutes. We stayed in the Californian, and it was so close you could even go back to the hotel for a mid-afternoon nap. World would take you 45 minutes each way :twitcy:

We always said we'd do Land with small children, and World when they're older and more self sufficient.

 

[cyrevkah]

Yesterday I learned more about Cinderella's Royal Table. Talk about a pricey, awesome draw for parents with girls! If the information was current, you get to greet Cinderella on the way in and other princesses will wonder around during.

 

[cyhiphopp]

Instead of going to Disney, I have an alternate suggestion.

Start by withdrawing $5000 from the bank, then drive home, open up your grill, put the money on the grill, and light it all on fire.

Then shoot yourself in the face with the largest shotgun you can hold. And then light yourself on fire.

This will be cheaper and more enjoyable than going to Disney. My $0.02.

I went to Disney with my boys last summer. Had an awesome time, even though it cost some money.

Maybe the problem is with you, not Disney.