Who has been to Disney World in the last 5 to 10 years?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Beth Reed on March 9, 2008 at 4:38pm

We go pretty often, since it's so close. We don't usually stay over, though, usually just do a day trip. Transportation around the park and between parks is great, no problems at all there. Magic Kingdom is by far my favorite, and Animal Kingdom my second fave. Epcot and the Movie studio one are okay, but could easily be done in half a day each, in my opinion. Not much in the way of rides and not much to draw in the kids. If you want to do a character meal, plan and reserve early, most of them fill up fast. Check out www.wdwinfo.com for a lot of great info. Tthe one time we did stay for a weekend a couple years ago we stayed at The Contemporary Resort, which also has a character restaurant - Chef Mickey's Buffet, which was yummy. You'll have a great time no matter what, I'm sure. Disney is a lot of fun, just be ready to spend some serious cash. lol

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Michele Gaddis on March 10, 2008 at 7:10am

Hi Beth,
Thanks for the information. A couple of people that we have talked to said that transportation around the park was difficult. I find that hard to believe because why would a park make it hard on you to have fun?
We live in CA and go to Disneyland a lot. We can walk to everything, so maybe that is what people are complaining about. In Disney World it doesn't seem like you can walk to anything. LOL. It looks rather spread out.

Thanks for the input on restaurants too. I think my son would like the Mickey Buffet.

Have a great day.
Michele

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Amber on March 10, 2008 at 4:58pm

I went to Disney World for my honeymoon in 2000. Magic Kingdom is pretty much just like Disneyland. Epcot was pretty cool. You walk around and it seems like you are actually in different countries. And Animal Kingdom was kind of like San Diegos Wild Animal park if you have ever been there. I think Downtown Disney is better in CA. It was hard for us to find food in Downtown Disney because the food was all ritzy and we don't really like that kind of food. I don't recommend wolf gang pucks.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Kristi Sikora-Blankenship on March 21, 2008 at 9:02pm

We went to Disney December 2006 with our whole family (My dad, my sister & family, my brother, my grandma, and my family & I) we LOVED where we stayed because it had two bedrooms, a living room with a pull out, and a FULL kitchen. We saved so much money having breakfast in the room every day and I brought a cooler with snacks to the park every day. It was the Beach Club Villas and it is a Disney property - it is right next to Epcot (we walked there). We took a cool boat ride to MGM. And the shuttle to The magic kingdom and Animal Kingdom. It had a nice big entry way where we could fit my grandma's scooter and the strollers. They have a FABULOUS pool area that my kids would have stayed in all day. It was a nice place, good work out room, plenty of space for us, and I could never to go to Disney now with lots of small kids and no kitchen. We ate so much healthier and cheaper than if we were in a regular room. My girls (3 and 5) liked trading pins and seeing the princesses the best (we got our pins on Ebay thanks to a tip from a friend). Enjoy your trip.
Kristi

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Michele Gaddis on March 22, 2008 at 6:38pm

Hi Kristi,
Thank you for your reply. I was looking at the "villas" in the deluxe hotels. Those seem really nice. I wanted to know how you felt about the shuttles around Disneyworld? I read on Trip Advisor and heard from a friend that the shuttles can take a long time to get back and forth between the parks and your room. Any light you can shed on this would be great.
So, did you rent a car to go buy food outside the park?? That is a great idea eating breakfast in the room and bring snacks. When we go to Disneyland, we always bring in our own food.
Thanks a lot.
Have a great day.
Michele

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Kristi Sikora-Blankenship on March 23, 2008 at 3:58pm

Hi Michele -
We were there with my Busia (84 years old) who rented a scooter, and we had 4 strollers between all the kids, and we honestly had no issues with the shuttles. There was a bit of a wait, but not bad at all, and it was Christmas, so the parks were packed. I am not sure if it just where we stayed or what, but we had no problems getting on that boat to MGM or the busses - there was one time we did just miss a shuttle, but we just danced and hung out - without too much trouble. It did not seem that long. And, where we stayed, we walked to Epcot - so there was no wait that day at all. :) I do not like to wait really, especially with all those little kids.... but I just asked my husband, too - and he said he does not really recall it being a problem, even with that big old scooter and all those strollers (AND, it pour rain one day!!).

Yes, my dad did rent a car to get everyone back and forth from the airport and stuff - and that is what we used to run to the grocery store. That was KEY to my happiness on the trip. We had good, cheap, healthy food for breakfast, a lunch the day we took a break from the park, and one or two dinners.... I always took snacks and it saved us a ton. Probably enough to pay for the car. If you do not want to rent a car - I am sure it would still be worth it to take a taxi to a store in the long run.

You can ask me any other questions. Do you know about Pin Trading?? I had NO CLUE and had never heard of it, and my girlfriend went before us, and ended up buying EXPENSIVE pins in the park for her girls to trade.... she warned me, and told me to get some EBay, and my girls (2 and 4 at the time) LOVED to trade pins with cast members and other kids in line. It made the lines go fast, and it was honestly one of their favorite parts of the trip!! I think I might still have those Ebay links if you need them.

I hope you enjoy your trip - it was the trip of a lifetime for my children. We loved all of it.

Kristi :)

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Michele Gaddis on March 24, 2008 at 7:44am

Thank you for the information. I am glad to hear the transportation isn't as bad as I was hearing.
My cousin confirmed what you said. I was worried because my husband was ready to forget the trip all together based on what our neighbors said and he read Tripadvisor. So, now with your comment and my cousin's...we are still going.
Now... where to stay. I think I would love to stay in one of the villas.
Thanks again.
Michele

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Kristi Sikora-Blankenship on March 24, 2008 at 8:38am

You will have a good time - just believe it will all be amazing and that will happen. I really hope you enjoy the trip. I am positive you will.
Kristi

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Heather David on March 24, 2008 at 9:10am

We just returned from there last week. It was a great trip! We stayed at the military resort that is on Disney property, but next time we will be staying at a Disney resort. You can't beat the ammenities that you receive if you book through Disney. We did not do all of the parks because we wanted to have a day at Sea World and a day for swimming. We did Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, both were fabulous. We also spent one evening at MK for the Pirate and Princess Party and it was so worth the extra cost! There was very little wait for the rides, less than 5 minutes on most, and the kids had tons of time with the characters. Definitely check out an after hours party if there is one while you are there!

As for transportation, I thought it was excellent. The only thing we had trouble with was getting on the monorail on a very busy night at park closing from Magic Kingdom. But it was only about a 20 minute wait. They are very efficient and have crowd movement down to a science. Otherwise, the wait for buses is minimal. You just have to remember to allow extra time for travel. For example, we want to the Yacht and Beach Club for breakfast on our last morning. We took the bus to Hollywood Studios from our hotel and from there took a boat to the hotel. It took about 40 minutes total. On the way back we took a bus from the hotel to Magic Kingdom, the ferry to Ticket and Transportation and a bus to the hotel from there. The trip back took about 30 minutes total. Explore all of the options available, not just the buses. Once you figure out all of the options it is not bad... and the kids have a great time on the buses, boats and trains!

I found the following websites to be VERY helpful in planning our last minute trip. Check out www.disboards.com and www.allears.net. They are both unofficial websites, but provide a wealth of updated information. Have fun planning your trip!

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Michele Gaddis on March 26, 2008 at 8:42pm

Hi Heather,
I appreciate your reply and information. I will check out those websites too.
Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun. I can't wait to go!!
Michele

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by NickiV on April 21, 2008 at 7:43am

We stayed at the Yacht Club (our boys LOVED their pool, so did we) - I would suggest anyplace that has the shuttles to and from everywhere, so that you don't have to drive. We flew in and the set-up we had was that our luggage had special 'tags' on it that said our name and hotel and Disney picked us up on a bus and our luggage was brought to our room later that day - one less thing to worry about. We loved Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom and Epcot. Our ticket package was the four parks, four/five days - I can try to look up more specifics for you. Essentially we spent one morning/afternoon/day at each park and went back to the ones we really enjoyed. The boys were 2 and 5, this was 2 summers ago already. Buy one refillable cup at each park and then everyone can drink from that for much cheaper than multiple drinks all the time. We also had that at the hotel, one mug, multiple refills. We also bought food for breakfast and kept it in our room, cheaper that way. I brought along snack foods - fruit snacks, granola bars etc, one less thing to buy as well. I have more tricks or tips if you'd like them - go to the parks at opening, get the stroller rental for multiple days (if you don't bring your own, works at all the parks). It really depends on how long you're going and what all you're wanting to do and the age/interests of everyone.

▶ Reply to This