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My first Disney World trip
Posted on 11/9/17 at 1:29 pm
Posted on 11/9/17 at 1:29 pm
Just returned from a week at Disney with the family and wanted to share my experience and see what others thought. It was SO hot for November and humid. I dont know how people handle the long summer days.
im no longer a Disney virgin and after experiencing a week there i can say that I get the hype. I can see how people go every year and we cant wait to go back
Heres what we did
Stayed at Port Orleans- Riverside
5 day park hopper.
DAY 1- Animal Kingdom
Day 2- Epcot
Day 3- Hollywood Studios
Day 4/5- Magic Kingdom
went to dinner at Disney Springs friday night.
We loved all the parks, but our rankings
Magic Kingdom
Epcot
Animal
Hollywood- Star Wars was awesome and with Toy Story and Star Wars World coming, i expect this to be amazing
Looking back, we loved our hotel but in the future we might drop down to an entry level resort. we literally just slept and showered there. We left at 7am for the bus each day and returned at 10/11pm. Curious how much that would save us?
Also, not sure we got our moneys worth with the park hopper. we went to Epcot twice at night to listen to bands and eat during the F&W festival, but other than that i dont think we got our moneys worth.
we learned our lesson with the food. i wasnt impressed with majority of lunch and dinner spots other than Epcot and Disney Springs. the Beast castle dinner was very good and so was dinner at Epcot in Germany, but other than that we learned to bring a whole backpack of snacks next time. It was the same snack selection throughout every park and they sucked.
Overall we had a blast and look forward to going in the future. thinking next time we will do a budget hotel and hit 2 days of Magic Kingdom/Epcot and then 2 days of Universal Studios
im no longer a Disney virgin and after experiencing a week there i can say that I get the hype. I can see how people go every year and we cant wait to go back
Heres what we did
Stayed at Port Orleans- Riverside
5 day park hopper.
DAY 1- Animal Kingdom
Day 2- Epcot
Day 3- Hollywood Studios
Day 4/5- Magic Kingdom
went to dinner at Disney Springs friday night.
We loved all the parks, but our rankings
Magic Kingdom
Epcot
Animal
Hollywood- Star Wars was awesome and with Toy Story and Star Wars World coming, i expect this to be amazing
Looking back, we loved our hotel but in the future we might drop down to an entry level resort. we literally just slept and showered there. We left at 7am for the bus each day and returned at 10/11pm. Curious how much that would save us?
Also, not sure we got our moneys worth with the park hopper. we went to Epcot twice at night to listen to bands and eat during the F&W festival, but other than that i dont think we got our moneys worth.
we learned our lesson with the food. i wasnt impressed with majority of lunch and dinner spots other than Epcot and Disney Springs. the Beast castle dinner was very good and so was dinner at Epcot in Germany, but other than that we learned to bring a whole backpack of snacks next time. It was the same snack selection throughout every park and they sucked.
Overall we had a blast and look forward to going in the future. thinking next time we will do a budget hotel and hit 2 days of Magic Kingdom/Epcot and then 2 days of Universal Studios
6
Posted on 11/9/17 at 1:47 pm to dallastiger55
I've been hearing more and more people saying ditch the park hopper especially if you have young kids. You shouldn't need to park hop if you're there for 5-6 days. I can see using it if you are doing a 3 day trip and just hitting specific attractions.
Posted on 11/9/17 at 1:53 pm to oreeg
exactly. Im just looking at ways to cut costs for when we go back.
Lowering our hotel, going for just 2/3 days, and dropping park hopper would reduce it big time.
Lowering our hotel, going for just 2/3 days, and dropping park hopper would reduce it big time.
Posted on 11/9/17 at 2:15 pm to oreeg
We ditch the park hopper. Especially with young kids as we don't really hit Epcot with them. Without the kids, Epcot would be my big reason for the Park hopper to hit the nations and drink and eat.
Posted on 11/9/17 at 2:16 pm to dallastiger55
we usually lower down to the art of animation. It saves money, bigger property, not as nice, but again not there much. I like 4 days with young kids. 2 at MK, 1 at animal kingdom and 1 at Hollywood studios. Though, Hollywood studios is not at that level for a day currently with all the renovations going on.
Posted on 11/9/17 at 2:26 pm to dallastiger55
quote:
we loved our hotel but in the future we might drop down to an entry level resort. we literally just slept and showered there. We left at 7am for the bus each day and returned at 10/11pm. Curious how much that would save us?
I'm glad you popped your Disney cherry! This can save you anywhere from 50 to a couple hundred per day. We used to go this route when we would hit the parks commando style from rope drop to close. Pop Century used to be our favorite resort for many years.
Now, some things that you will give up:
1. Elbow room. The values are some of the largest resorts and they can pack them in on the buses.
2. slightly softer bed. In our experience, the beds seem harder the lower down the scale you go.
3. convenience. The buses can fill up quick and leave you waiting longer.
4. lower noise levels.
5. a table service restaurant
6. longer walks to everything at the resort. You get in the wrong building and you have a 10 minute walk to the bus each morning.
7. you get a curtain separating the vanity from the crapper instead of a door(this seems to be an issue with some)
8.no water slide
Some of these things can be a deal breaker for some people. Like i said, the Pop was our favorite for years until we stayed in a deluxe. Now we are ruined. lol
The Biergarten in Germany is a big favorite with all of my group. SO is German and LOVES the Bavarian cheesecake there. It's hard to get that in the states.
Park Hopper is one of those things that you need or don't. We park hop almost daily, since most of the better restaurants are in EPCOT. Also, if one park seems crowded, we hop to another. You can get a good feel for crowd levels at other parks by looking at the wait times on your MDE app.
Welcome to the Disney addicts club!
Posted on 11/9/17 at 3:31 pm to convertedtiger
thats good stuff.
i loved the location of the Boardwalk but i know thats a premium
i loved the location of the Boardwalk but i know thats a premium
Posted on 11/9/17 at 4:19 pm to dallastiger55
Epcot is kind of underrated.
It was kind of out dated for awhile but they've made it better.
I like how it's spread out more and you don't feel like you are wall to wall people like Magic Kingdom.
Castle meal is one of my favorites and you really have to do it if you have a little girl.
Kind of waiting to go back once Star Wars opens but I have a feeling that's going to be a madhouse.
I always find it better to hit Animal Kingdom in afternoon, less crowds, not sure how Avatar has impacted Animal Kingdom though.
It was kind of out dated for awhile but they've made it better.
I like how it's spread out more and you don't feel like you are wall to wall people like Magic Kingdom.
Castle meal is one of my favorites and you really have to do it if you have a little girl.
Kind of waiting to go back once Star Wars opens but I have a feeling that's going to be a madhouse.
I always find it better to hit Animal Kingdom in afternoon, less crowds, not sure how Avatar has impacted Animal Kingdom though.
Posted on 11/9/17 at 4:24 pm to dallastiger55
quote:
Looking back, we loved our hotel but in the future we might drop down to an entry level resort. we literally just slept and showered there. We left at 7am for the bus each day and returned at 10/11pm. Curious how much that would save us?
On our upcoming trip we wondered the same thing. I forgot the actual dollar amount, but we went from 5 park days / 6 night stay at the same resort to 7 park days / 8 nights at Pop for about the same money for a part of 4 with the two kids at age 4 and 8 months at the time of travel.
quote:
Also, not sure we got our moneys worth with the park hopper. we went to Epcot twice at night to listen to bands and eat during the F&W festival, but other than that i dont think we got our moneys worth.
The park hopper is best used for trips 4 days or less. It would also be useful to someone without kids.
quote:
we learned our lesson with the food. i wasnt impressed with majority of lunch and dinner spots other than Epcot and Disney Springs. the Beast castle dinner was very good and so was dinner at Epcot in Germany, but other than that we learned to bring a whole backpack of snacks next time. It was the same snack selection throughout every park and they sucked.
I agree with you that most of the snacks are the same at each park. However some places have snacks they other parks dont, and those snacks are typically pretty good. The same can be said for "quick service" meals. Be Our Guest is a good one in Magic Kingdom. Flame Tree BBQ in Animal Kingdom is a really good quick service meal as well.
The only way to really know a good bit of this info is to have a really good travel agent that will suggest these things and not just make ADR's and FP+ reservations. The other thing to do is to spend a lot of time reading Disney sites like the DIS Boards or for food you can watch YouTube videos made by the Disney Food Blog DFG.
Posted on 11/9/17 at 6:32 pm to mgdtiger
quote:
Epcot would be my big reason for the Park hopper to hit the nations and drink and eat.
The World Showcase is great. Especially when the weather is nice you can walk around, grab a drink from each country and just enjoy life.
Hell, I have an annual pass and tomorrow off. Think I will go tomorrow. 75 degree high lol might as well.
Posted on 11/9/17 at 8:20 pm to dallastiger55
Good information. We'll take all that we can get. We're taking our only son next December for the first time, when he turns 4, and we haven't been since we were kids.
Posted on 11/9/17 at 10:12 pm to nicholastiger
Avatar turned AK into a madhouse.
Posted on 11/9/17 at 10:45 pm to dallastiger55
Park hopper works best on shorter stays but also for when you can stay really close to a park. Bay Lake/Contemproary, yacht and beach club, boardwalk... especially with a young kid where you can nap mid afternoon then walk to the closest park regardless of where you started the day.
This post was edited on 11/10/17 at 6:00 am
Posted on 11/10/17 at 4:47 am to oreeg
With small kids, my experience has been to still get the park hopper but use them differently.
We will hit one park during the day then take a mid day break somewhere..sometimes at the resort, sometimes mini golf, Disney Springs, Resort lunch but something to break it up.
Nothing offered more flexibility than park hoppers, not even more days of tickets. IMO, flexibility is key for a WDW vacation.
If you go to Hollywood Studios and rock n roller coaster is down and it’s raining so outside events are cancelled, you’ve got like 5 things to do.
We will hit one park during the day then take a mid day break somewhere..sometimes at the resort, sometimes mini golf, Disney Springs, Resort lunch but something to break it up.
Nothing offered more flexibility than park hoppers, not even more days of tickets. IMO, flexibility is key for a WDW vacation.
If you go to Hollywood Studios and rock n roller coaster is down and it’s raining so outside events are cancelled, you’ve got like 5 things to do.
Posted on 11/10/17 at 6:43 am to LSUfan4444
quote:
Nothing offered more flexibility than park hoppers, not even more days of tickets. IMO, flexibility is key for a WDW vacation.
I 100% agree with this. Our plans change daily while there. I usually schedule my fast passes early so that we have the freedom to hop parks later if things go bad at the one we are at or if the mood strikes to do something else.
Posted on 11/10/17 at 6:46 am to theronswanson
quote:
Hell, I have an annual pass and tomorrow off. Think I will go tomorrow. 75 degree high lol might as well.
We have annual passes as well but its a 9 hour drive to get there.
Posted on 11/10/17 at 6:57 am to convertedtiger
Anyone have good experiences with staying offsite?
im assuming there isnt much of price different, no?
im assuming there isnt much of price different, no?
Posted on 11/10/17 at 7:43 am to dallastiger55
You’ll generally find cheaper options off site. If you’re in a hotel awards program or Wyndham timeshare, it would save you even more. Closest hotels are around Disney Springs and a few offer their own shuttles to the parks.
Posted on 11/10/17 at 8:59 am to dallastiger55
quote:
Anyone have good experiences with staying offsite?
There are several near Disney that are Walt Disney World Good Neighbor Hotels that offer decent value. So far, the downside of staying offsite is no extra magic hours and only a 30 day fast pass window instead of 60 for Disney World Resort guests. This can be a deal breaker if you want to get a fast pass for the newest/hottest rides. Currently, if you aren't staying onsite and don't book your fast passes 60 days +10 out, you will probably not get a pass for Flight Of Passage( THE BEST RIDE EVARRRR! by the way). This could get worse as Toy Story, Star Wars, and NEW EPCOT opens up. Although, rumor has it that Good Neighbor guests may be included in this soon.
There is also the convenience factor of staying "in the bubble". There is also the cost of buying from the company store, as it were.
At the end of the day, you just need to find a balance of cost vs VALUE. We pay a lot more staying in the higher end resorts than we could get by with at the values or offsite. For us, the VALUE of the convienience, extra amenities, peace and quiet etc, makes it worth the extra cost. Everyone is different though, so read read read every bit of info that you can and then decide where your family sees the most VALUE.
This post was edited on 11/10/17 at 9:01 am
Posted on 11/10/17 at 9:14 am to convertedtiger
congrats on the great vacation.
I really enjoy Disney World. I plan on returning in 2020 after Star Wars land opens.
Probably need to start saving now.
I really enjoy Disney World. I plan on returning in 2020 after Star Wars land opens.
Probably need to start saving now.
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