re: Disney this week

You can go to any pool if you are staying on property with the exception of Beach Club which is for those guests only (maybe Yacht Club can use it as well?)

Glad you didn’t wait 3 hours. Too much. Did you try to do the Star Wars attraction? Curious what the wait is during a busy holiday week and with no fast passes.

Because port Orleans is nice and not that expensive. Riverside is more Natchez and Bayou than new Orleans. Used to be Dixie Landing.

I don't like Key west or Caribbean way too spread out. Though the skyliner my change that opinion

We stay at POFQ every time we go. Easy boat ride to Disney springs, easy walk back to room since resort is not spread out like other moderates, food court is decent, large splash pad for ur little kids most other resorts don’t have. Feels like bus ride is central to all other parks. I don’t mind looking at a clean New Orleans lol.

quote:

---

Keeping it laid back this trip

---

At Disney?

Good luck with that

I am heading to Disney on Friday and I have never been. Not sure what to expect as far as crowds. We are staying at the Beach Club resort and hopefully, the kids will be able to swim some when we are having downtime. Any advice for a newbie??

LINK

If you can get me some more info it would help. Pin down some specifics and I can shoot you some advice.

Not sure how old kids are or what your fast passes are but here is what I can help you with...

Magic Kingdom
- It's gonna be busy! Get there when the place opens and make a run for whatever mountain you want to finish out first. More than likely it should be 7 dwarfs mine train. Do as much of the big stuff as you can and get it out of the way. Thunder mountain, Splash mountain, or Space mountain. If you can fit in Peter Pan and/or Pirates then great since they can get long wait times also. If not, when your kids are getting tired or need naps, head back after lunch and chill at resort. Come back later in the afternoon and hit smaller rides or do other rides over. Watch fireworks show with kids! Worth fighting for a spot.

Animal Kingdom
- Get there early for rope drop and go to Flight of Passage first if you don't have a fast pass. Best ride in all of the parks and longest wait time to get on. If you can make it to an early safari ride the better for kids to see more animals moving before it gets to hot. Expedition Everest line will start to get longer after the morning rush for Pandora. If you have a later fast pass for Flight of Passage, I'D say start at either the Safari ride early or Everest depending on your preference. You can skip the night show here.

Epcot
- Since your at Beach Club already, you have a 5 minute walk into Epcot from the back gateway. First thing you need to get to is Test Track since normally this will have the longest wait. Next will be Frozen ride, followed by Soarin'. Other rides here you can hit standby or use your 2nd tier fast passes on. Have not seen the new night show here so can't give you an opinion.

Hollywood Studios
- Start out at either Star Wars or Toy Story here. My opinion, knock out Toy Story land first. Hit up Slinky Dog ride first thing since the wait can get long for it pretty fast. Kock out the other two rides in the land and roll out to do either Rockin Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, or Star Wars land. Bad thing about Star Wars land is the one ride it has. From what I understand, getting into the ride is not bad so I would possibly save it for later. The kids really enjoyed the Fantasmic night show here so up to you on that.

No park day
- I mean, we never really did a ton at Disney Springs. Homecomin' restaurant is very good! Ghirardelli ice cream shop is a great place to split a massive ice cream with the kids.
- We had an off day as well but they are normally during warm months where kids can swim. If it's warm enough for them to, you have the best pool around to do it! That evening, we went to Hollywood Studios and did Toy Story land at night when all the rides and land are lit up and it was pretty cool. We also did Fantasmic this night that way we got it out of the way.

- Make sure you and wife have My Disney experience downloaded and familiarize yourself with it.

Hope this info helps you out. You can read a ton of crap on all this that will make your mind explode! If you need food help or anything else, just let me know.

Yea mine are 6 and 3. Make sure you have a stroller for the 5 year old. If your driving, bring a quick fold up one she can fit in. If your flying in and can’t bring it with you, rent one from an outside company or call Disney and ask what the preferred vendor is to get it delivered to the resort. There are tons of companies renting them out, but Disney changed the policy to where you have to meet the company and they will not hold it for you like before. Will only do it with their private vendor I think. The ones you rent at the resorts suck bad and it’s just at the park then turn it back in.

Yes pool will be heated.

We went to many resorts on our down day and people were swimming everywhere.

Here is another cool option on a down day if your kids are interested in art. Art of animation does 3 free pencil art lessons. Last Sunday we had tickets for the very Merry Christmas party in magic kingdom. Entry for that started at 4:00. We were staying at the wilderness lodge. So, that morning we took a lyft to AOA for the art lesson, then rode the skyliner around for a bit. Just something else that may be different.

A couple things I would add to the above.

The second attraction for Star Wars is suppose to be opening tomorrow. It's getting a ton of hype, but will probably have some down time while you're there as they work through the kinks.

During this time of the year, we like to take advantage of the season for our off days. A lot of the Deluxe Resorts go all out decorating for the holidays. We would just go walk around some of these resorts and look at the massive trees, decorations and life size ginger bread houses. Also, Disney Springs has a Christmas Tree Trail that nice time of year.

Pro tip: If you want a picture with Santa, I would bypass doing it in the parks and instead plan on doing it at Disney Spring. At Disney Spring they have a virtual queue and will text you when yours turn. That way you can wander around and avoid the lines.