Disney
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Disney
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Monday, 06 June 2011
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This is a group about all things Disney. The parks, the movies, the games, and anything else we need to know as Dads to spoil our kids way too much for their own good. Know any special tips for Disney World? Hear of a great deal on a Disney product? Have a review of the latest Disney movie? Put em here!Announcements
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Autograph books are sold in a large percentage of the gift stores. I would, first and foremost, get a map--take a good ten minutes to plan your day--including breaks. Identify potential areas of concern--thunderstorms, kids needing a break from walking (make sure everyone has comfortable shoes that fit!), food, drink, bathrooms. Basically, it's like walking all day, getting very tired and being hit by the occasional thunderstorm. Whatever you can do to break that up, rides, indoor shows, etc--do it.
Find characters to get their picture taken with the kids. For me, one of my biggest thrills of the Disney experience was watching my daughters' faces light up when they were hugged by a character or just near one. Even the oldest (10 at the time) was just eating it up and loving being around the characters. Remember there are characters that are real life (princesses mostly) and the rest are in the suits. Whenever you can get a picture taken with them, I would try.
Wall
So now that the trip is complete, here are my thoughts:
Get to the parks around 8:30am. There is hardly any traffic and things move smoothly, except for Magic Kingdom where parking your car is just the first step to actually getting to the park. Then you have to wait in line to get on the tram or ferry to actually get to the front gate, then get in line to get in the park. It all takes about an hour from the point you park your car. For Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios you park your car and pretty much walk right in to the park.
Hit the main attraction first, before the lines get crazy. For Animal Kingdom go to Everest, for Hollywood go to Toy Story. We went straight to Toy Story and there was already a 50 minute wait, and the line just to get a fast pass was almost as long. We got out of the ride at around 10am and to get a fast pass then you would have to come back at 5pm! We really didn't see a need to ride it again, though, unlike Everest which we rode three times, twice at the beginning of the day with absolutely no wait. Space Mountain was the best ride at Magic Kingdom. I guess. There really isn't one main ride at MK, although the Peter Pan show seemed to be the most popular. By the time I figured that out it was too late for us to see it. Oh well.
Get there early for the major attractions, like the Light Parade/fireworks at MK and Fantasia show at HS. I'm talking like at least an hour early if you want a prime seat. It really is pretty crazy.
If you have daughters I can't recommend the Princess Breakfast enough. The food is great, the princesses come around and give one-on-one time with your kids, sign autographs and take pictures, and you get an 8x10 and three 4x6 pictures included as well. Plus there was absolutely no wait, and we even got there a half hour early. It was like they were waiting for us! But you have to make a reservation months in advance.
We made reservations in advance for dinner at each park, also. If I had to do it again I don't know if I would have bothered. Sure it's a welcome break from the mayhem of the day, but it is expensive for food that is good, but not great. Plus it takes a good hour or more out of your day, which is a big deal when you have limited time to see and do what you want. The Rainforest Cafe at AK was a neat place to eat, but they have one at Downtown Disney as well, which is another point I wanted to make:
Go to Downtown Disney. It is a mile or so long strip of crazy stores and restaurants, with free parking. It is in the same general area as the rest of the parks. It was a nice diversion, and a better place to buy your souveniers than being stuck carrying them around one of the main parks all day. We went here on our last evening of vacation.
Disney ended up being a great vacation, but it was nice to get home and finally be able to relax, yoa few u know? I can't understand how some people do it every year, but I will probably be back after years.
Get to the parks around 8:30am. There is hardly any traffic and things move smoothly, except for Magic Kingdom where parking your car is just the first step to actually getting to the park. Then you have to wait in line to get on the tram or ferry to actually get to the front gate, then get in line to get in the park. It all takes about an hour from the point you park your car. For Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios you park your car and pretty much walk right in to the park.
Hit the main attraction first, before the lines get crazy. For Animal Kingdom go to Everest, for Hollywood go to Toy Story. We went straight to Toy Story and there was already a 50 minute wait, and the line just to get a fast pass was almost as long. We got out of the ride at around 10am and to get a fast pass then you would have to come back at 5pm! We really didn't see a need to ride it again, though, unlike Everest which we rode three times, twice at the beginning of the day with absolutely no wait. Space Mountain was the best ride at Magic Kingdom. I guess. There really isn't one main ride at MK, although the Peter Pan show seemed to be the most popular. By the time I figured that out it was too late for us to see it. Oh well.
Get there early for the major attractions, like the Light Parade/fireworks at MK and Fantasia show at HS. I'm talking like at least an hour early if you want a prime seat. It really is pretty crazy.
If you have daughters I can't recommend the Princess Breakfast enough. The food is great, the princesses come around and give one-on-one time with your kids, sign autographs and take pictures, and you get an 8x10 and three 4x6 pictures included as well. Plus there was absolutely no wait, and we even got there a half hour early. It was like they were waiting for us! But you have to make a reservation months in advance.
We made reservations in advance for dinner at each park, also. If I had to do it again I don't know if I would have bothered. Sure it's a welcome break from the mayhem of the day, but it is expensive for food that is good, but not great. Plus it takes a good hour or more out of your day, which is a big deal when you have limited time to see and do what you want. The Rainforest Cafe at AK was a neat place to eat, but they have one at Downtown Disney as well, which is another point I wanted to make:
Go to Downtown Disney. It is a mile or so long strip of crazy stores and restaurants, with free parking. It is in the same general area as the rest of the parks. It was a nice diversion, and a better place to buy your souveniers than being stuck carrying them around one of the main parks all day. We went here on our last evening of vacation.
Disney ended up being a great vacation, but it was nice to get home and finally be able to relax, yoa few u know? I can't understand how some people do it every year, but I will probably be back after years.
324 days ago
Day 1 at Animal Kingdom is complete. We headed straight for the Everest ride first and were able to ride it twice without any wait at all. We probably could have ridden it again but we had other things to see and do.
The Hard to Be a Bug 3D show and Finding Nemo Musical shows were great, the water ride and the safari truck ride were lame. Still, no one had a meltdown or got a sunburn so day 1 was a success! The only snag was this morning when I transferred my photos to the laptop I think I accidentally lost about half my pictures. I'm still pissed about that, but I do have all my videos.
What are the most popular rides at Magic Kingdom? I want to hit those first again, but I'm not sure which ones they are, so any help would be appreciated!
The Hard to Be a Bug 3D show and Finding Nemo Musical shows were great, the water ride and the safari truck ride were lame. Still, no one had a meltdown or got a sunburn so day 1 was a success! The only snag was this morning when I transferred my photos to the laptop I think I accidentally lost about half my pictures. I'm still pissed about that, but I do have all my videos.
What are the most popular rides at Magic Kingdom? I want to hit those first again, but I'm not sure which ones they are, so any help would be appreciated!
333 days ago
I can't remember getting super wet on any of the rides and we didn't take our big camera just a little $99 point and shoot w/zoom so it would fit in a freezer bag with credit card and phone...
345 days ago
Water is involved in a couple of the parks. There is a water ride at the Animal Kingdom park that got me completely soaked last time and I would suggest wearing light clothing that drys quickly or put a change of clothes in a back pack. Shoes--comfortable shoes. Bring your cellphone for sure if you want to quickly check the weather, time, etc.
All the rides, even the coasters, have storage for your items either on the seat in front of you or under your own seat. You never have to leave your items behind on the platform. We have never lost anything on a ride.
There are also storage lockers at each park if you have to store something larger.
The one ride at animal kingdom allowed us to leave our bag behind and they watched it while we rode. I also, and it's just me, kept my items that I thought might get wet in a zip lock freezer bag inside my bookbag. I always brought my camera. I always brought my cell phone and we never had any issues.
I have been to Kings Island, which I described to my uncle who lives up that way, as Walmart with less clothes on. It is kind of just rides and water rides. Disney is an experience--goes beyond the rides. They really do make you feel comfortable.
All the rides, even the coasters, have storage for your items either on the seat in front of you or under your own seat. You never have to leave your items behind on the platform. We have never lost anything on a ride.
There are also storage lockers at each park if you have to store something larger.
The one ride at animal kingdom allowed us to leave our bag behind and they watched it while we rode. I also, and it's just me, kept my items that I thought might get wet in a zip lock freezer bag inside my bookbag. I always brought my camera. I always brought my cell phone and we never had any issues.
I have been to Kings Island, which I described to my uncle who lives up that way, as Walmart with less clothes on. It is kind of just rides and water rides. Disney is an experience--goes beyond the rides. They really do make you feel comfortable.
345 days ago
Some more questions: Is water involved a lot at the park? Should I wear shoes or sandals, and should I bring my cellphone along? I will have my camera with me as well. What should I do with it when on rides? Is it safe to leave it anywhere? My only real point of comparison is Kings Island here in Cincinnati. I wouldn't take my camera there for safety reasons, but I can go there any time I want. And I usually leave my cellphone in the car in case I get wet. Is Disney World the same, or am I only really going to get wet if it rains?
I promise in a little over a week the incessant questioning will end!
I promise in a little over a week the incessant questioning will end!
345 days ago
You can buy them at an off site Souvinere Shop or just inside the gate. Wifejust told me we use our scrap book and did the pages according to who signed the page...
347 days ago
