geeteebee Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Headed there this week. Last time I was there was 1977, has anything changed? We are staying onsite and know about the longer hours for guests staying at WDW hotels. Have reservations for the Biergarten, Hoop Dee Doo Review and Chef Mickey's. Still have a couple of nights open. Anybody have any favorite restaurants? Not going to be able to get away from the kids for an evening at Victoria & Alberts... Any secrets on minimizing wait times? I've heard the Toy Story ride in Hollywood Studios is the bomb and we need to do that early. By the way, I have 4 boys ages 3-10. Any advice would be most appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big John Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 From 2006 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Footballjoe Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 I think we addressed this last year in the forum. Calling Big John. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bier Meister Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 never have been to orlando. have a great trip! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpwallace49 Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Advice? Bring yer wallet . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yo mama Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 I haven't been since college. Though, I had a great time and made out with a cute Mormon girl. Hope that helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geeteebee Posted January 10, 2011 Author Share Posted January 10, 2011 I haven't been since college. Though, I had a great time and made out with a cute Mormon girl. Hope that helps! Cool, I'll look her up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Country Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Never done Orlando since I live 15 minutes from Disneyland, but have been told that to maximize the experience, this book is must. Don;t get the "Official" guide as it is just put out by Disney to drive you to the typical tourist stuff, this "Unofficial" guide gives the real ins and outs of a good DisneyWorld trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpwallace49 Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Headed there this week. Last time I was there was 1977, has anything changed? We are staying onsite and know about the longer hours for guests staying at WDW hotels. Have reservations for the Biergarten, Hoop Dee Doo Review and Chef Mickey's. Still have a couple of nights open. Anybody have any favorite restaurants? Not going to be able to get away from the kids for an evening at Victoria & Alberts... Any secrets on minimizing wait times? I've heard the Toy Story ride in Hollywood Studios is the bomb and we need to do that early. By the way, I have 4 boys ages 3-10. Any advice would be most appreciated. The African Restaurant at Animal Kingdom resort is amazing. I did the buffet restaurant and the much more expensive sit down place. That whole resort is fantastic. some neighbors just went to thw Wizarding World of Harry Potter experience and loved it. But be prepared for lines almost 2 hours long . . seriously. That is . . .if you are also doing Universal Studios. What resort are you at? Key West? Boardwalk? Pop Century? I still love Epcot. An absolute blast for boys into science-y stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rajncajn Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Changed from 1977? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i_am_the_swammi Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 (edited) We just got back in late September after an 8-day trip...we had a blast! Some tips: 1. Head to the rides you definitely want to get on as soon as possible. Get a Fastpass for one, then immediately head to another one to wait to ride it. Once you get off the 1st ride, it will like be immediately time for you to use your Fastpass. Basically, you can knock out two rides at a time with one short wait. Repeat this process all day. There will be some longer waits thru the middle of the day, but its an easy way to get the most out of one day. 2. Toy Story: phenomenal. Get to Hollywood Studios early, and go get your Fastpass ASAP. Then immediately head to the Rock n Rollercoaster, and wait in a short line. After you ride it, hit the Bates Motel...also phenomenal. Then head back to Toy Story and enjoy the ride. 3. Animal Kingdom: you will need only about 4-6 hours here, so if you got the Parkhopper option, know you'll have an evening to spend somewhere. Make sure you hit Expedition Everest here. One of the best coasters I've been on in a while. If your kids are too young, make sure you ride it even if they have to do something else while you are waiting. Phenomenal. 4. Catch a mid-day Magic Kingdom parade, and another Electric parade in the evening when its dark. Both very cool. 5. Water parks are awesome. If you have a day to just relax and cool off, hit Blizzard Beach. My kids loved the amusement parks, but what they still talk about even today is the "awesome water park". 6. Bring water in a backpack in re-fillable bottles. You'll save a fortune on beverages. I carried a backpack the whole time, and while sometimes inconvenient, it was a lifesaver. We'd freeze them overnight, then just get refills as the day went on. 7. You see tons of characters in every park...with long lines to meet them and get autographs. If you can convince your kids that you promise they'll get to see them a different day, save it all for Epcot. Characters galore, and much much shorter waits. 8. Catch the fireworks show at Epcot at 9:00PM....phenomenal, over-the-water light and firework show. 9. Ditto for Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios...just get in line early to make sure you get in. They usually do two shows a night. The first was completely mobbed with families with very young kids/infants. We went to the later show, which was still a hugh corwd, but we got in line about an hour before the gate opened and got in with plenty of room to spare. The show is worth it. 10. Evening fireworks at Magic Kingdom over the castle...no-brainer. 11. Stroll Downtown Disney one night for dinner...plenty of restaurants to choose from, and some really neat attractions (Lego Store with life-size lego princesses, Woody, Buzz, etc.). For the more popular restaurants, you likely need a reservation (Planet Hollywood, Dinosaur restaurant, etc). Also, hit DisneyQuest if you have time and its includued in your package...awesome virtual games, all-you-can-play...5 stories high of phenomenal video experiences. If I think of others, I'll add them. We stayed off-site, and loved it in a 6 bedroom house we rented for $950 for the week. If it had been in-season, traffic would have been a bummer. But off-season, we were door-to-door in literally 10-15 mintues....quicker than the trains & buses from on-site hotels. Edited January 11, 2011 by i_am_the_swammi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yukon Cornelius Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 no Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beaumont Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 We go every year and the best so far should you choose to splurge is the concierge level at the Polynesian. They have a break room with all the free food you can eat and free beer you can drink (hint: you already paid for it but if you drink hard enough you may be able to turn the tables on them). Its awesome. You can watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks from this room with a great view. Our last day we were packed out of our room but we could come back to this haven while we waited for the shuttle and feel the ac and catch a cool buzz. I actually teared up with happiness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilthorp Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 I found the sushi bar at the Polynesian to be top notch. Epcot, especially the world tour is our favorite by far. Drink a beer in each country, I dare you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlanta Cracker Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Headed there this week. Last time I was there was 1977, has anything changed? We are staying onsite and know about the longer hours for guests staying at WDW hotels. Have reservations for the Biergarten, Hoop Dee Doo Review and Chef Mickey's. Still have a couple of nights open. Anybody have any favorite restaurants? Not going to be able to get away from the kids for an evening at Victoria & Alberts... Any secrets on minimizing wait times? I've heard the Toy Story ride in Hollywood Studios is the bomb and we need to do that early. By the way, I have 4 boys ages 3-10. Any advice would be most appreciated. You have the characters covered with the reservations so that's good. I will just give you my story for the Toy Story ride at HS since we were there over Christmas when it was packed. One day we went to HS with plans to do a few things, have a late lunch and catch Fantasmic. We got there at 11AM and Fastpass for Toy Story was at 9:30 PM. It was really cold that day so we ended up leaving before that after Fantasmic was over. Next morning me and my son went back at the park opening and went straight to Toy Story. It was mobbed with even a 30 min line to get to the fast pass machines. Said screw it and just got in line which was showing 1 hour plus. Ended up taking us 30 mins to get on for 2 reasons. 1 - everyone thought it was an hour plus and didn't want to wait. 2 - As a party of two there is a certain point in the line where you can veer off and join other parties. I would strongly suggest breaking your entire group into parties of 2 to save about 15 mins waiting. There are only 4 ppl per car on the ride so there really is no reason to all try to be in the same car. The line moves fast. Just wait a couple of times and enjoy. The wait was even better about 1 hour after the park opened. We rode twice in an hour. Check out touringplans.com - Worth the $10 for the line wait estimator and telling you which park to go to (after the extra hours). If you get to Animal Kingdom when it opens you can do all the cool stuff there before noon. Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh 0ne Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 One word for you: Fastpass. We went last April and had a blast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpwallace49 Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 I found the sushi bar at the Polynesian to be top notch. Epcot, especially the world tour is our favorite by far. Drink a beer in each country, I dare you! I did that too . . . almost lost it on the huge cup of warm sake at Japan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boilerduff Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Fast pass, and Ride Share. Definitly pick the 1 ride you want to acomplish and make a b-line for the fastpass for that ride 1st thing. Also, if you have a little ones, they have a ride share deal where if one parent takes a child on a ride, and the other parent is watching the little one, you can ask the attendant for a ride share ticket. Parent 1 rides the ride with the older child, and then parent 2 gets a fast pass for themselves and the child, to go again right after the 1st parent is done. It works very well, just ask any ride attendant for the details. both parents get to go on the rides with the older kids. It is very cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDFFFreak Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Check out www.disboards.com for all the info you'd want to know from a bunch of Disney nuts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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