Need Disney World Advice

spoon · Jan 6, 2008

This coming fall my wife and I are going to take our sons and grandkids (ages 7 - 10) to Disney World. Since we have never been there before, I would sincerely appreciate any advice you experienced TUG'ers can offer.

1) Which is a better time to go - mid October or Thansgiving?
2) I have 150,000 available RCI points, what resorts would you recommend?
3) Should I purchase "hopper" tickets?
3) Do they offer "skip to front of the line" passes? If yes, should I buy them?
4) What other things besides DW should we see or do?
5) Do you have any other related advice?

Much THANKS in advance.

LUVourMarriotts · Jan 6, 2008

Hi Spoon. Sounds like a great trip for the family.

1) I'm guessing the mid-October is a school break. The answer to this question depends on your expectation of crowds. Although school vacations are busy times, Thanksgiving will be more crowded. Decide on your likes.
2) I'm not in RCI, so can't answer.
3) I'm assuming you mean the Park Hopper option for tickets. This all depends on your families plans for visiting parks. If this is the first trip for everyone, there is probably plenty to see/do at each park that won't allow you to go to another park on the same day.
3) They offer what is similar to restaurant reservations for the bigger rides. You go to the kiosks and slide in each persons park card. You then get a receipt with the time to show up and walk right in (or as close to "walk right in" as you're gonna get)
4) Universal Studios has some great parks, SeaWorld is a great time. Of the Disney water parks, I strongly recommend Blizzard Beach over Typhoon Lagoon.
5) Either bring some backpacks with food in them for lunch, or bring a backpack full of money for food.

hvsteve1 · Jan 6, 2008

I would recommend trolling the resort reviews to decide where to go. As Orlando is the mecca for building (and selling) timeshares, there are many really beautiful resorts in both RCI and II. I would also recommend purchasing the Unoffical Disney guide for some good info. Also try some of the Disney fan web sites such as www.allearsnet.com, www.wdwinfo.com and www.mousesavers.com. I spent a lot of time on those sites before my first of a number of trips to WDW and really benefited from the information.

Denise L · Jan 6, 2008

Wow, what a great trip

!

We have been to WDW twice at Thanksgiving and we are going again this year. We love the holiday decorations, plus hurricane season is basically over so there aren't a lot of weather concerns. It does get crowded Wed-Thurs-Fri-Sat, but we leave on Friday so we only have a couple of days of crowds.

Yes, I would recommend getting hoppers. That way, you can spend 1/2 day at one park and 1/2 day at another park, etc. We stay onsite and enjoy using the transportation service to park hop.

You can use FastPass for the busy rides so that you can come back at a later time and not have to wait very long. You need to go to the ride, use your ticket to get a FastPass, and come back later on in the day. There are no front of the line passes for sale.

If you go in October, you can probably get tickets to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, which sounds/looks like a lot of fun. We almost booked for October this year, but decided not to take the kids out of school for more than a few days.

Check out www.disboards.com for everything Disney. There is a ton of information on what time of year to go, crowds, tickets, prices, touring plans, etc. I'd also recommend getting the book, The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World. Have fun planning :cheer:

!

madra dubh · Jan 6, 2008

Hello Spoon - Sounds like a great trip! We have always done the park-hopping thing, except for our recent trip to WDW. For a lot of reasons, we opted to buy one park/one day tickets. I thought, as we were buying the tix, that I would regret the decision, but it actually worked out quite well. Park hopping involves a lot of planning and it seems like you are always rushing to get to transportation. Not to mention the time it takes to move from park to park - it probably takes 40-45 minutes to take WDW transport from Magic Kingdom to EPCOT. Not to mention that when you are with a group, you need to get everyone's buy-in on where to go next. One park/one day simplifies everything. No matter which type of tickets you choose, I'm sure you'll have a great trip.

travel girl 2 · Jan 6, 2008

One more EXCELLENT resource for planning times of the year and days in the park is:

www.tourguidemike.com

You will have to pay a small membership fee, but his information is spot on and really valuable during the holiday crowds! We used his site and had 2 wonderful Christmas WDW vacations with minimal ride waits - he does not have you criss crossing the park at record speed, but rather learning how to plan to enjoy your vacation!

Say hi to Mickey for me!

tomandrobin · Jan 6, 2008

This coming fall my wife and I are going to take our sons and grandkids (ages 7 - 10) to Disney World. Since we have never been there before, I would sincerely appreciate any advice you experienced TUG'ers can offer.

1) Which is a better time to go - mid October or Thansgiving?

Out of those two, October would be best.

2) I have 150,000 available RCI points, what resorts would you recommend?

Vistana Resort, right outside WDW.

3) Should I purchase "hopper" tickets?

Yes, I also would recommend going mousesavers.com for tickets.

3) Do they offer "skip to front of the line" passes? If yes, should I buy them?

Disney offers fast pass system, but that time of year lines will be very managable.

4) What other things besides DW should we see or do?

Being your first time to Walt Disney World, you will need all seven days. WDW is huge, 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, and Downtown Disney.

5) Do you have any other related advice?

Go to Disboards.com for ton of WDW advice. Also, allears.net is a great source of information. Make any dinner reservations at the 180 mark for the nicer restuarants and character meals. That time of year there are two big events happening. The first is Food and Wine Festival at Epcot and the second is the Mickey's Not So Scarry Halloween Party.

Have fun, looks like you are planning a great trip to WDW. We've been to WDW 30+ days the past couple of years. Feel free to ask all the questions that come up during your planning.

Jimster · Jan 6, 2008

wdw

I've been to WDW probably 20 times so I know it very well. In fact, I just got back this week. Vistana is not right outside Disney World. Both Orange Lake and Silver Lake are much closer (5 miles closer). Both OL and Silver Lake border Disney property. Availability should be greatest at Orange Lake and Vistana and OL has its new water park. Even though you won't get into the River Island housing portion of OL you can certainly use it! If you can afford it, I would stay on Disney property. It is easier and I think a big part of the Disney experience. There is also Disney Quest, Pleasure Island and Blizzard Beach. I would also recommend October since it will be a bit warmer then. Also do a character breakfast, for the 7 year old. It maybe a bit to juvenile for the 10 year old but it depends on the GC. We did Cinderella's Royal Table this time and though expensive the GC loved it. BTW you can book character breakfasts 180 days out on the WDW website. I would also suggest you do just that.

myip · Jan 6, 2008

I won't waste money for hopper pass. 1 park per day is more than enough especially when you stay off site.

gjw007 · Jan 7, 2008

spoon said:
This coming fall my wife and I are going to take our sons and grandkids (ages 7 - 10) to Disney World. Since we have never been there before, I would sincerely appreciate any advice you experienced TUG'ers can offer.

1) Which is a better time to go - mid October or Thansgiving?
2) I have 150,000 available RCI points, what resorts would you recommend?
3) Should I purchase "hopper" tickets?
3) Do they offer "skip to front of the line" passes? If yes, should I buy them?
4) What other things besides DW should we see or do?
5) Do you have any other related advice?

Much THANKS in advance.

1) I have never been there for Thanksgiving but the Halloween activities (Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween Party) is going on in October and is a hoot. It might be warmer in October if that is a factor.

2) There are a lot of nice resorts in Orlando. I think you would enjoy OLCC River Island, Hilton Grand Vacation Club, Vistana, Bonnet Creek, etc. but a choice here also depends on what you expect at a resort and how much time at the resort. Some, such as Vacation Village at Parkway (VVP) have little in amenities other than a pool whereas others such Vistana Resort and Orange Lake have tons of amenities. If you plan to stay at the parks from opening to closing, you would do well to reserve VVP or Hilton. The absolute closest to being on property would be Bonnet Creek with Orange Lake and Silver Lake bordering the Animal Kingdom. Cypress Pointe and VVP are also close to WDW. The reality is that they are all very close with Orange Lake, Silver Lake, and Bonnet Creek right outside Disney and the others not too far away. You can use this URL, http://tug2.com/tsmaps/TimeshareMaps.html, to see how close the resorts are to WDW.

3) Given its your first time to WDW, I would say no as you will probably spend the entire day at each park. The benefit of the Hopper is if you will be moving between the parks.

4) I don't know about skip to the front of at the line but Disney does have fast passes where you pick up a fast pass and come back at the time posted. You cannot get another fast pass until the pass is use or expired. I think you may also be able to get another one after 2 hours but I'm not positive on that. I hit the rides that are going to be busy when I first get there.

5) Other activities in Orlando include Cypress Gardens, Gatorland, Universal, Islands of Adventure, SeaWorld, Holy Land Experience, Wet'n'Wild, etc. A short drive away is Busch Gardens, Cape Canaveral, and beaches on either the Atlantic or the Gulf of Mexico.

6) Just one, enjoy yourself.

PStreet1 · Jan 7, 2008

In my opinion, the best money you can spend is to go to the bookstore, or Amazon.com, and purchase The Un-official Guide to Disney Land. The book is truly wonderful. It explains all there is to know. It describes each ride in detail and gives ratings for toddlers liking it/ school age liking it/adults liking it/senior citizens liking it, etc. It also rates all restaurants on property for quality, price, value and gives ratings on many off-property. One of the best features, in my opinion, is a plan for seeing the park efficiently (one page for easy portability) in one day, another plan for two days, another plan for three days, and there's probably one for longer--I don't remember.

It rates all the hotels around the area--don't remember if it includes timeshares or not.

It gives fast-pass, park hopper, etc. information and gives you enough information that you can make an informed decision about what is right for you and your group.

Aside from thinking the book is wonderful, I concur that the park hopper pass is a waste: in my opinion, there just isn't a reason to be in more than one park per day, especially if you are not staying in a Disney property. You'll have commute time, parking issues, food to procure, etc. One park a day is a pretty tall order in and of itself.

Debbyd57 · Jan 7, 2008

I would personally choose right after Thanksgiving to get in on the Christmas events but miss the crowds. I would not recommend going during Thanksgiving. We were there this year the day after Thanksgiving and the parks were a mess until the Monday after Thanksgiving.

We like the following resorts: Vistana Villages, Orange Lakes East Village and FF Bonnet Creek (a hard one to find). The HGVC resorts look nice but we have never stayed there.

If you go around Thanksgiving, I highly recommend Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party and the Candlelight Processional. Don't miss any of the nighttime shows (Fantasmic, Illuminations and Wishes).

The best bargain on tickets is the parkhopper, non-expiration 10 day ticket but it is expensive and not worth it if you won't ever go back. If it is your first trip, you can easily stay at most of the parks for the entire day and not need a parkhopper, unless you want to hop over to one of the parks that stays open longer when the shorter parks close, ie Animal Kingdom. You would need to check the hours for the time period you are going. If you go in October, don't miss Mickeys Not So Scary Halloween party. You might want to join Mousesavers and sign up for her monthly newsletter to find out about the "bargains" on tickets, etc. She has saved us a lot of money.

Above all, get to the parks before (30-60 minutes) before they open to avoid some of the crowds even during low season. If you want a guide book to study before going, I recommend The Unofficial Guide to WDW or the Passporter.

Have Fun.

Debby

LUVourMarriotts · Jan 7, 2008

PStreet1 said:
In my opinion, the best money you can spend is to go to the bookstore, or Amazon.com, and purchase The Un-official Guide to Disney Land. The book is truly wonderful. It explains all there is to know. It describes each ride in detail and gives ratings for toddlers liking it/ school age liking it/adults liking it/senior citizens liking it, etc. It also rates all restaurants on property for quality, price, value and gives ratings on many off-property. One of the best features, in my opinion, is a plan for seeing the park efficiently (one page for easy portability) in one day, another plan for two days, another plan for three days, and there's probably one for longer--I don't remember.

Good point. About 10 years ago, I bought a book named Disney World for Adults and Families Too. It was full of GREAT information that made our stay so much better than it would have been without that book. I'm not sure if that book is still around, but it was great. I recently donated it to the library.

tomandrobin · Jan 7, 2008

Jimster said:
I've been to WDW probably 20 times so I know it very well. In fact, I just got back this week. Vistana is not right outside Disney World.

You are confusing Vistana Village and Vistana Resort. Vistana Resort is RCI and II affilliated and a quick drive to DTD. Vistana Village is much further away, closer to sea world, and is only II affilliated.

spoon · Jan 7, 2008

Thanks

WOW, many THANKS to all for your wonderful advice.

Jimster · Jan 7, 2008

DTD

Not that it really matters, but I agree that Vistana is close to DTD but to me that's not DW. And you still have to go up the street past Pizzeria Uno and Olive Garden. Its just a mall not the theme park. The theme parks are still 5 miles away. Even if you take the boat from there, it's still going to take you awhile. You can't get closer than bordering the property and that's OL and Silver Lake. I would agree with anothe poster that added Bonnett Creek as well. I've stayed at all of them.

kapear · Jan 8, 2008

We went ot WDW this past spring break with our 4 kids, 10, 8, 4, and under 1 at the time. we stayed at the Vistana Resort and were pleased with our accomodations. We found it to be reasonably convenient to the parks.

I personally would not spend the money on park hoppers. There is plenty to do each day at a single park. I feel like it would be a waste of time to go between parks. Just my opinion, but a lot of work with kids.

Have fun.

mattman27 · Jan 8, 2008

I think the park hopper option works great if you buy for this trip and the future. $75.62 for a one day pass to any park. * 10 days = $756.00

10 Day park hopper bought now = $428.10 (no expiration)

This is assuming you see yourself using 10 days over the lifetime of your visits. Just need to have the money up front to pay for future visits.

It's a lot of money but worth it in the long run.

alwysonvac · Jan 8, 2008

spoon said:
This coming fall my wife and I are going to take our sons and grandkids (ages 7 - 10) to Disney World. Since we have never been there before, I would sincerely appreciate any advice you experienced TUG'ers can offer.

1) Which is a better time to go - mid October or Thansgiving?
2) I have 150,000 available RCI points, what resorts would you recommend?
3) Should I purchase "hopper" tickets?
3) Do they offer "skip to front of the line" passes? If yes, should I buy them?
4) What other things besides DW should we see or do?
5) Do you have any other related advice?

Much THANKS in advance.

For the first timer I suggest the PassPorter Walt Disney World Guidebook. It covers all of the major points (very concise) and is easy to carry around. I love The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World but can be a little overwhelming for the first timers.

October is a better time than Thanksgiving week. http://allearsnet.com/pl/attend.htm
October events at DW - http://allearsnet.com/pl/events.htm#oct

If you're only staying for a week then I would suggest spending all of your time at DW if it's the first time for your group. LOL, I've been to Disney World eight times and I still haven't seen and done everything. You have four major theme parks, two water parks, indoor interactive park (DisneyQuest), and Downtown Disney. DW encourages longer stays by lowering the per day cost based on the length of the ticket.

I would check out the ticket prices before you decide whether to get hopper tickets. The cost of park tickets can be very surprising to some. http://www.mousesavers.com/wdwtixadvice.html
http://allearsnet.com/pl/ticketchart.htm

Depending on your budget you might want to skip the hopper tickets for some of the other options at Disney World (souvenirs, dining, shows, tours, etc).

http://www.mousesavers.com - This one of my favorite sites for discounts for Disneyworld

My other favorite sites have already been mentioned allearsnet.com, disboards.com, and wdwinfo.com. I also rely on tourguidemike.com when traveling during peak periods (school holidays & vacation) to avoid the long lines.

Don't miss the evening fireworks shows
At Magic Kingdom Park - WISHES Fireworks
AT EPCOT - IllumiNations Fireworks
AT MGM STUDIOS - Fantasmic Show

Also if your group likes parades then you might not want to miss
Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade at Animal Kingdom
Disney Dreams Come True Parade at Magic Kingdom (#1 parade)
Spectromagic at Magic Kingdom (evening parade)
Stars and Motor Cars Parade at MGM Studios

Have a great time !!

tomandrobin · Jan 8, 2008

alwysonvac said:
Also if your group likes parades then you might not want to miss
Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade at Animal Kingdom
Stars and Motor Cars Parade at MGM Studios

Have a great time !!

Both of these parades are going to be replaced soon. The Hollywood Studios is being replaced in the Spring, not sure when the Animal Kingdom parade is being replaced.

elaine · Jan 8, 2008

resorts, tickets, etc.

Thanksgiving will be busy--I would choose OCt.

For RCI resorts--I like OLCC, and you might be able to get Houses of Summer Bay--it is a free-standing 3 BR with it's own heated private pool. With OLCC and Summer Bay, you can go down a back road and be at Disney in 5-10 minutes, even in the worst traffic. Silver Lake is also in that area.

For your ages, Vistana is also a great resort with lots to do (and 7 pools)---but OLCC and Silver Lake are less driving because of the back road shortcut. But if you go in OCt, driving should not be an issue.

Tickets--for your trip, I would buy 7 day single park tickets---after you hit 4 days, the extra days are only a few bucks. Disney will let you add park hopping, later, if you need it (only if you buy from Disney direct and possibly certain distributors--check 1st). I would not get the non-expire option---it costs a lot more and you don't know that you will be back anytime soon, plus, you very likely will want another week-long when you come back, so an extra day or two would have little value to you. in the future. If you don't use every day on your trip, you only paid and extra $4 or so for them.

Last point of advice---at 4-6 months out, make Disney dining reservations---even if you are unsure--you can always cancel later for free. Surf disboards.com to find out about character meals--they're very fun--I would plan at least 1.

Patri · Jan 8, 2008

spoon said:
Can I come with you?
We were just there in June.

3) Should I purchase "hopper" tickets?
No, you waste time traveling between parks. Each one will keep you entertained for the day.

3) Do they offer "skip to front of the line" passes? If yes, should I buy them?
The fast passes are free. Get them as you can.
QUOTE]

talkamotta · Jan 8, 2008

We usually go to Orlando in October week 43, usually the last week. Its warm and the crowds are down, less humidity. I love Florida in October. Two years ago we went to Orlando during Thanksgiving there was an unseasonably cold spell that went through and although we are from Utah and had coats the people we met up with from Florida were freezing. The Christmas decorations were beautiful but after Monday and Tuesday it gets crowded.

We have been there many times now but I would spend 2-3 days at Disney at the most and at least one day at Universal. The hopper pass is questionable, you will spend at least one complete day at the Magic Kingdom. Parents like Epcot but kids that age will get bored. So the hopper pass will be good if you do part of the day at Epcot and the other at Animal Kingdom? If you have time Sea World is pretty good.

I would leave at least 2 days to break up the parks, maybe go to the beach. You could take them to Cocoa Beach one day and Clearwater or the Gulf side on another day. I say this because the first year, we did park after park and everyone got soooo tired of it. They wont remember which park had which ride not to mention the beach is free. :banana:

alwysonvac · Jan 8, 2008

Here's an article regarding EPCOT and kids.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/Just_for_kids/epcotkids.htm

My nieces and nephews love EPCOT.

elaine · Jan 8, 2008

IMHO, I would only do WDW

Esp. for a 1st trip, there is so much to do, you can easily spend a day at each park at WDW and then go back to your favorites. With extra days, it also lets you tour at a more relaxed pace, come back for a swim, only go for the afternoon and fireworks one day, etc.
If you add Universal and/or SW, you will be paying a lot for those extra days vs. only a few bucks for extra WDW days. For a week trip, the kids will not be bored with just WDW--I promise.

Need Disney World Advice

spoon

LUVourMarriotts

TUG Review Crew: Veteran

hvsteve1

Tug Review Crew: Rookie

Denise L

Tug Review Crew: Veteran

madra dubh

TUG Review Crew

travel girl 2

tomandrobin

Jimster

myip

TUG Review Crew: Expert

gjw007

PStreet1

Debbyd57

LUVourMarriotts

TUG Review Crew: Veteran

tomandrobin

spoon

Jimster

kapear

mattman27

alwysonvac

tomandrobin

elaine

Patri

TUG Review Crew: Veteran

talkamotta

TUG Review Crew: Expert

alwysonvac

elaine