rwbeagles-Disney World planning

 I really like Disney LAND (California). The planning can be a pain, but the place itself... well, I think you'll have fun. (And I hope you do!)

I come from a family of Disney nuts, and we were just there a year or so ago to celebrate my grandmother's 80th birthday. I think we were the only family in the park with nobody under age 16 in our group (which was 17 people). LOL.

My #1 piece of advice is to buy a "Mini Mickey": http://www.amazon.com/Mini-Mickey-Pocket-Sized-Unofficial-Disney/dp/0470085827/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202334655&sr=8-1

It's like an insider's guide and has loads of useful information. That and buy mouse ears with your name's on them! :)
 

You're going to Florida not California, right? I was there in early May last year and the weather was still mild, so keep that in mind. I'll try to see if I can find the link for where we stayed. I went with my girlfriend and rented a condo. It was 2 bdrm, 2 bath, full kitching, living room and screened patio area right by the pool and I think it was about $120 a night. They had shuttles to all the parks too. 

There are a couple of really good Disney guidebooks.  It's definitely worth the money to invest in one.  We like Birnbaum's the best.  Loads of good tips about picking where to stay, where to eat, how to plan your visit to each park, etc.

Birnbaum's 2008 Guide to WDW

If you are going to Florida, this is the place we stayed at:

http://www.starwoodvacationownership.com/sheraton_vistana_resort/welcome.jsp?im=shrw_web_pp_svr

Well... concidering I live 1 1/2 away - I never really plan to go there much in advance. Never had much problem with that. You WILL want to reserve your place to stay as much in advance as you can. Most places will have shuttles to the parks (yes, there are way more than just the one). Depending on what kind of stuff you are looking to do - plan your hotel around that. Celebration is really, really cool - it's a tiny "perfect" little city. We go up there for christmas every year and spend the day there.

Also... just because it's FL, does not mean it will be warm.... bring a jacket just in case! And plan around the rainy season... it doen't rain all day - but it's certainly annoying!

I married into a Disney family and actually got engaged there...  :)

I only have two words of advice for you since you'll get the park/hotel/transport info from the guide books etc.

     "Suspend Reality"

If you can do that and stop second guessing and wondering how they do stuff etc you'll really be able to enjoy it.  Really, get yourself in a fun and playful mindset and it will be a blast.  FWIW, my favourite thing is the river ride in Animal Kingdom!

Make sure not to miss Universal Studios.

Joyce

OMG! Disney World!!! Can I come??? :P

My family & I just went there last year, March 28th - April 4th. We went on spring break, the second busiest time following Christmas (I believe) and it wasn't bad crowd-wise for us at all. If you know how to use Fastpass, it will make things sooo much easier and the waits so much better. We never waited more than an hour if I remember correctly, which is great for the time we went.

Do you plan on staying onsite? They have a lot of resorts/hotels broken into three categories- deluxe, moderate, or value (most expensive, moderately priced, least expensive). We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside, a moderate resort and LOVED it. I strongly recommend it, but whatever floats your boat! There are many advantages to staying onsite...its more of the whole Disney experience first of all. Also, the best part, you get bus transportation from park to park and back to your hotel, etc. The transportation system there is amazing. Also, if you stay onsite and fly in, you get to take advantage of Magical Express - a Disney bus that takes you from the airport to Disney World, and vice versa when you go home, for free, so you don't need to rent a car or anything.

I also suggest using Disney's Meal Plan. It's sweet. You get way more than enough food every day and my dad said that we saved a ton of money that way.

 My parents planned far in advance too. Of course plane tickets will be cheaper that way, and you can take your time planning where you want to eat (I'd strongly recommend reservations, we did this and it worked out great...just ask the family where they want to eat), what you want to ride, etc.. Our tickets were a great deal, we flew United with a layover in D.C. and then onto Orlando. Wow, I am feeling nostalgic just think about it!

 We also got the parkhopper pass-  it means you can go from park to park anytime any day. That was great, because if we wanted to ride something in, say, Epcot and we were in MGM we could just go to the bus area and hop on. I'd definitely get the parkhopper pass. : )

I don't even know how to continue or what to touch on...WDW is AMAZING. I cannot wait to go back. So I'll just give some of my favorite rides and restaurants, things I think you should try out! : P]

Rides (with park they're in)

Rock n' Rollercoaster (if you like thrill rides, this is unbelievable) - MGM

Tower of Terror (how can you not?) - MGM

Space Mountain - MK

Splash Mountain - MK

Test Track - Epcot

Mission: Space - Epcot, there is a mild and wild side. My dad and I did the wild side. Warning: not for the little kids, this ride (the wild side) actually has sick bags inside. You were warned....; )

Soarin' - Epcot

Expedition Everest - AK

Buzz Lightyear something-er other - MK (this is something the whole family should enjoy)

Mickey's Philarmagic (3-D show) - MK

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - MK, roller coaster but not too scary or anything

Disney's Beauty & The Beast (show) - MGM

Killimanjaro Safari - AK, we didn't do this unfortunately, but I've heard it's a must see

Pirates of the Caribbean - MK (come on, you have to!) especially with the Johnny Depp!

The Haunted Mansion - MK, a classic. Seriously, if one goes to DW one must ride this. It was recently refurbished too.

Hall of Presidents - MK, a cool "show" (sort of) of presidents who talk - they're all um, some type of robot thing, animatronics?? IDK, but the technology in this is pretty neat.

Epcot's World Showcase - not a ride, but like half of the park...we didn't do a lot here, but next time I can't wait to. You must let me know what it's like when you go!

Studio Backlot Tour - MGM, this is sooo cool. It takes you "backstage" in an action movie, showing how they do certain scenes. You'd really have to see it to get it.

 'kay enough rides... Can you see how much I love this place?

Restaurants, this is getting long so I'll just list the places we ate that I recommend:

Hoop-dee-doo Revue - show/food. LOVED IT. I can't wait to see this again! It was really funny and entertaining for me.

1900 Park Fare

Coral Reef

Ohana

50s Prime Time Cafe

Drive-In

Planet Hollywood (tho this is in Downtown Disney)

Sci-Fi Dine In

Spoodles

OH, and  you've GOTTA see "Wishes" the fireworks show in Magic Kingdom. This was beautiful, with the fireworks and music. Definitely something the whole family will love, assuming none of your kids are afraid of fireworks (when I was younger I used to hate the noise) lol. "Illuminations" at Epcot is breathtaking too. You just have to see it - you'll get the magical part of it all right then and there.

Wow. I could write a lot more. But I won't. :D Have fun!!!!! I know it's probably a ways away but still! .. oh, and take advantage of the Photopass. You get pictures taken by employees for free in prime locations - Cinderella's castle, MK entrance, etc. and you can look at them online when you get home and order any you like.

Oh!! I forgot, Birnbaum's Walt Disney World books are the best. We used Birnbaum's WDW 2007, I'm not sure if there's a 2008 or not. It's the perfect planning book tho IMO.

 Well depending on when you book, I can fly out of Winnipeg or Thunder Bay.  Either via TX or I can just meet you down in FL itself.  Oh and the end of July is no good for me, I plan on having a baby around then, but any other time is a go! 

Ok, I live here (and we're annual passholders).  It all depends on what trips YOUR trigger and what time of year you can go.

1.  CHEAPEST time of year is October-*early* November.  Best weather all year - still very warm but not 100.  It is my favorite time down here. 

2.  Plan your deals carefully -- because a deal isn't always a deal.  Yeah, most of the larger motels/hotels have shuttles -- but will you have your car here?  It can cost to park, and driving down here is TIME-CONSUMING.  I see people get rooms in Altamonte or Winter Park and then they find out they're an hour or better each way in traffic from the park. AND you'd pay to park.  OR if you've flown in and depending on shuttles you're stuck not being able to do anything *else* b/c you're so far from everything.  Like a taxi from Altamonte down to where all the outlet malls are is like $180 round trip! (no decimal point there)

2.  There is more than Disney.  I am SOOOO serious.  Yeah, SeaWorld and Universal -- and between the 3 they are serious time, serious money and you won't see "all" of anything.

However -- there is so much else in Florida -- Silver Springs is one of my all-time faves.  It beats Animal Kingdom all to pieces and they do incredible predatory bird and panther rehab there.  Half the price. 

Then there is Busch in Tampa, Cypress Gardens just south of Disney, the beaches, etc. 

3.  Are you coming with or without dogs?  Florida is not the dog-friendliest place -- Disney has climate-controlled kennels at all 3 parks BUT you have to walk the dogs yourself and considering these parks are literally miles of walking it can take you almost 2 hours in the middle of the day to walk out to get the tram or boat to get TO the kennel to walk the dog only to return and then there is dinner, etc.  And most of the motels aren't dog friendly and don't count on leaving the dogs IN the room either.

4.  A lot of people simply decide it is money and time ahead to stay ON Disney property so you use their transportation all the way all the time (including DownTown Disney at night) and if you want to go no further than the Disney parks it can be time-wise.

5.  Another consideration may be all the special events -- for example Universal now has Mardi Gras going on til mid-March (every Saturday there is a concert with someone 'recently popular' usually -- this weekend is the GoGos, laslt year they had Daughtry - someone new every week).  Then Epcot (Disney) will roll into the Flower & Garden Show just after Easter -- there is a headliner band every single day from the 60's/70's -- Turtles, Herman's Hermits, Eric Burdon, Arlo Guthrie, Paul Revere & Raiders (probably all too 'way back' for you) -- but also on tap is this whole huge "garden" show with seminars and all sorts of stuff.

In the fall (October/Nov) is the Food & Wine Festival with ethnic specialties from a zillion countries, seminars on cooking, and wines plus another concert series -- these are mostly 80's and more 'soul' groups -- but it ranges from Sister Sledge to the Four Tops and I can't even remember all of them. 

Essentially those two festivals are geared to bump up attendance when it's low.  Universals sticks to "holiday" stuff -- besides Mardi Gras there's Grinchmas at Christmas and some other stuff.  All the parks do a HUGE deal at Christmas.

Now, Gina, I realize you have kids -- but be at least aware of this stuff because these things can complicate things -- like the traffic for Universal this weekend will be gridlocked all over Orlando b/c of the Mardi Gras stuff (and once again if you're relying on 'shuttles' it can seriously fubar all your plans). 

If you need a reality check on anything let me know, I'd be glad to check it out for you.  (Like does this hotel really exist?)

Also -- just another small "reality check" -- plan on the kids getting WET at any park ANY time.  They literally have fountains for them to run thru, and many of the rides DESIGN you getting wet.

Why?  Because they can sell TOWELS and dry clothes!!  Seriously.  You can spend serious bucks (while the kids are complaining about being wet and cold and shoes blistering wet feet) just trying to dry everyone off.

ALL the parks (and I think that's absolutely true -- at least of the Disney ones) have lockers where you can stash stuff.  But ALSO all the parks now have a bag search on your way in -- so you can't bring in your own food and drink.  A Coke is like $2.50 and water fountains are VERY Few and far between -- and you can't get dehydrated down here or you're in trouble. 

So hope that helps the 'planning' bit.

calliecritturs

Also -- just another small "reality check" -- plan on the kids getting WET at any park ANY time.  They literally have fountains for them to run thru, and many of the rides DESIGN you getting wet.

That is a very good point. If you want to do anything near water (like Splash Mountain at Disneyland, not sure if they have it in FL too), make sure to do it  during the day, not at the end of the night when you will end up being cold, wet, and tired!!

I've been able to sneak some small food/drinks into Disneyland... if you're not worried about it being confiscated, couldn't hurt to try. I wrapped a couple water bottles in a spare change of clothes a few times and nobody cared/noticed. You can pack granola bars or something under "womanly products," lol. But when I was going I was a broke high school kid, so maybe you wouldn't want to go to quite those lengths for your trip, since you'll probably have a budget of more than $10/day, lol.

Make sure you have really comfortable shoes, and bring moleskin or similar for blisters. It's easy to forget how much walking is involved at a place like that!

In Disneyland, my favorite cheap meal was soup in a breadbowl down in the "New Orleans" area. Pretty cheap (relatively speaking), and the bread bowl made it really filling!

Look into "fast passes" and other wait-time-minimizing options. I'm not really up on the details, sorry. :-\ Also, to avoid bored kiddos, bring something to do while waiting in line. My friends and I used to bring thread to make friendship bracelets or those plastic strings to make lanyards. An mp3 player, gameboy, or similar can also be great. (Just make sure not to put things in your pockets before getting on rides!)

I *think* they have a Space Mountain at Disneyworld... if so, the kids might have fun with glow-in-the-dark makeupy sorts of things. My friends and I thought it was just the coolest thing EVER in middle school to paint designs on our faces with glow-in-the-dark glitter paint and do our nails with glowing polish and then ride around in Space Mountain (dark, blacklit, sort of a space simulator). This was definitely the highlight of our Disney trips for me and my fellow 11-14 year old friends, lol.

In general I hate rollercoasters, but I love the Disney rollercoasters (not too scary!). :) Big Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain are definitely my favorites.

Shoot, I miss Disneyland! Where I used to live was about 15 minutes away, and I always got free tickets because our school bands would perform there. If you're willing to suspend disdain for "cheesy" (and willing to spend $$$ for food during the day), it can be SO much fun! 

Both Thunder Mt. and Space Mountain at WDW.  Space Mountain is simply a roller coaster IN THE DARK.  (and the "b" side IS better than the "a" -- imo  *grin*)