101 Questions

[aarya_ss]

Hi... my fiancee & i are planning to visit Disneyworld from December 9 to 21... that's me, think i'm happier tho! I have some questions, if anyone has suggestions / experiences to share.

1] Is 11 days enough to see all of Disney [incl. Downtown & 1 Water Park] & all of Universal... we're relaxed travellers, unlikely to get up at 7am to be there for the park opening. It is after all a 'vacation', so we should probably get to the parks by 11am or so.
2] Are the crowds manageable in this period? We wanted to avoid Pop Warner's, hence the later dates. What are the wait times on the headliners?
3] I have a choice between a suite at the Sheraton Safari, or a standard room at the Hilton... they're both the same budget range... yes, i know that the Hilton offers EMH, but a Suite seems so much better! The only thing i'm icky about is cleanliness, Is the Sheraton Safari clean?
4] How important are ADRs, considering my travel dates? I haven't made any yet... planning sit downs only for dinner.
5] And finally, what is DH? Seem to read it a lot on this site...

Thanks!

 

[alldiz]

Hi... my fiancee & i are planning to visit Disneyworld from December 9 to 21... that's me, think i'm happier tho! I have some questions, if anyone has suggestions / experiences to share.

1] Is 11 days enough to see all of Disney [incl. Downtown & 1 Water Park] & all of Universal... we're relaxed travellers, unlikely to get up at 7am to be there for the park opening. It is after all a 'vacation', so we should probably get to the parks by 11am or so.
2] Are the crowds manageable in this period? We wanted to avoid Pop Warner's, hence the later dates. What are the wait times on the headliners?
3] I have a choice between a suite at the Sheraton Safari, or a standard room at the Hilton... they're both the same budget range... yes, i know that the Hilton offers EMH, but a Suite seems so much better! The only thing i'm icky about is cleanliness, Is the Sheraton Safari clean?
4] How important are ADRs, considering my travel dates? I haven't made any yet... planning sit downs only for dinner.
5] And finally, what is DH? Seem to read it a lot on this site...

Thanks!

WELCOME TO THE DIS...

I don't think 11 days is enough.....There is so much to see....
I would do your plan of relaxed vacationing....
Just don't worry about seeing "everything".....You'll be back

Crowds should not be bad.....The beginning of your vacation will
be less crowded....closer to xmas....and it will start piling up....

If your offsite already....I would go with the suite.....there is a board
here for offsite info....should help you a lot.

I think ADR's are necessary all the time....It's nice knowing where
your going and not stress about getting in.

DH....Disney husband.....DD..disney daughter...DS...disney son...and so on.
Happy planning
Kerri

 

[nurse.darcy]

We saw the parks in 7 days. ..not 11 and it was quite relaxed. . .we even had time to visit a water park. As for your choice of hotel, I would pick a disney themed one due to the onsite services available. Transportation being among the top service.

 

[mbcary]

I think 11 days is plenty of time!!! I would love to have that many days there. Especially during the time you are going, you should be able to see pretty much everything. It should be pretty relaxed as well. I would definitely make ADR's today! I can't help you with the hotel. I have always stayed on property.
Have a great trip!!

 

[brightspark]

Hi there,
I think that 11 days is a pretty good length of time. August last year we did all the WDW parks and Sea World with our neices and nephews in 7 days, and except for 1 trip Dh and I this coming trip of 9 days will be our longest and we always have time to do everything we want to do.

Are you having car hire? If not I'd go with an on-site property. The buses run every 20mins or so to all the parks and it makes such a difference. On my first trip my sister and I were off-site and relied on the complimentary bus from our hotel... trouble was we had an option of one departure in the morning, and then a choice of 2 return times in the evening... It's so much easier staying on site!

You'll have a wonderful time whatever you choose, so don't worry too much!

 

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

1] Is 11 days enough to see all of Disney [incl. Downtown & 1 Water Park] & all of Universal... we're relaxed travellers, unlikely to get up at 7am to be there for the park opening. It is after all a 'vacation', so we should probably get to the parks by 11am or so.


:

I was just wondering if those that have responded to OP about being there 11 days realized she was talking about all WDW parks, a water park, DTD and Universal Orlando??

I know you won't see everything but it is a good amount of time to see a lot of what you want. I would get an idea of what your 'must-dos' are and try to hit those first and everything else is extra.

I would personally choose the Hilton near Dtd because it is very close (walking distance) to Dtd. My DH works at our high school and the kids on Senior trip stayed at Sheraton Safari. They were not impressed with it and told him that it didn't look anything like the photos on the internet. Check out the Orlando Hotels and Attractions board here on the Dis for more on the Hilton and Sheraton Safari.

 

[disnut8]

1. When people ask me a good length of time to do Disney World and "see everything", I recommend 10 days. I've done 18 days and didn't see everything. I've gone over 50 times and still haven't seen everything. But you'll see a lot in those 11 days. Even with Universal thrown in. The only thing I would suggest is that you do Universal first and then Disney. You'll see why when you get there.

2. Crowds should be very manageable. And you'll get all the Christmas stuff too.

3. I don't know anything about the Sheraton Safari but if the only difference you are looking at is the EMH, go with the Sheraton. From how you describe yourself, I don't see you getting up at the crack of down for the morning ones and I don't think you'll be out that late at night for the evening ones (which are really night ones).

4. Make your dining reservations as soon as you can. Top restaurants with peak dining hours will get full very fast. If you want to make sure you have a sit down dinner every night, start dialing for your choices.

5. DH refers to a husband - Disney, darling, devoted, dumb, dweebish, whatever you want the D to stand for.

 

[fla4fun]

ADR's are more important if staying on property than off. If you decide on Sheraton Safari, there are literally dozens of decent restaurants within an easy walk of the hotel (and typically, a little cheaper than Disney as well). Even staying at the Hilton at DTD, you would be within a reasonable walk of several off property restaurants. It is a good idea to make ADR's for meals you plan to eat on Disney property, so if you decide to go with one of the Disney hotels, you'll have to get busy. But if you're staying off property, you won't need to make them for every day.

 

[aarya_ss]

Thank you! That's a lot of replies in 24 hours... it's amazing that people are willing to help you out for no reason, except that you asked... maybe Disney does that to you... plus my fiancée finally understands that all the Disney 'gushiness' & obsession is not unique to me.
To quickly answer some questions, I am not hiring a car, we would need an international drivers’ license for that, right? So cabs are good. BTW, has anyone seen the Mears Homepage, link from Mousesavers, you can select any two locations in Orlando & they’ll give you an approximate fare calculation… cant seem to post the link, but one can go thru Mousesavers... very impressive… here’s to not being cheated again…
Sparky [love the name] & Nurse Darcy, thank you, we can’t stay onsite since we require a ‘smoking’ room… we were very keen on staying on Disney property, actually… there’s another reason to quit…
Kerri, thank you, I did visit lots of offsite boards, the Sheraton Suites is still seeming like a good choice… I read somewhere that a new Hyatt Place shall be opening up on November 08, at the Convention Center… the homepage site seems really nice & great rates too… but there’s something about that Zebra print bedcover…
JC & Ali’s Mom, thank you, I do have a list of must do… now only if it didn’t run into 5 pages…
Disnut8, thanks for all the DH interpretations… it’s incredible that someone can be all those things all at once…
Fla4fun, thanks, I will be making ADRs shortly, I do mostly want to eat in the parks…
I’ve made a small plan, with a breakdown of days, keeping in mind the EMH days at each park, which I want to avoid… the show times etc…


§ December 09, 2007 – Sun – Arriving at 3.40pm, after a 24 hour journey, so it depends on how tired we are.
§ December 10, 2007 – Mon - Downtown Disney
§ December 11, 2007 – Tue - Magic Kingdom [+ Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party]
§ December 12, 2007 – Wed - Magic Kingdom
§ December 13, 2007 – Thur - Animal Kingdom
§ December 14, 2007 – Fri - Disney MGM Studios [2 shows of Fantasmic!]
§ December 15, 2007 – Sat - Epcot Center
§ December 16, 2007 – Sun - Epcot Center
§ December 17, 2007 – Mon - Water Park / Sea World
§ December 18, 2007 – Tue - Islands Of Adventure [have express plus]
§ December 19, 2007 – Wed - Universal [have express plus]
§ December 20, 2007 – Thur - Universal / Islands Of Adventure OR Florida Mall
§ December 21, 2007 – Fri – Leaving on the 6.10pm flight.

Any suggestions would be great. Thanks again...

 

[mickey2minnie1]

I think it sounds wonderful! Have a fantastic time!!

 

[brightspark]

Hi there, what a good plan... my only suggestions for an alteration would be that if you want to see all the shows at Sea World you'll need the whole day, due to the timings... but I think that you could add a water park into the morning / afternoon of your Downtown Disney day.. and slot another short visit into Downtown later in the week if you want to!

You're going to have such an amazing time!

PS I like my name too!

 

[wilda]

Welcome to the Dis! Florida weather in December can be iffy; you may need some flexibility with your plans based on the temperature. And it's possible you may not have warm enough weather to spend the day at a water park.

As for ADR's, I think it's a personal preference. We only get them for what we consider the 'must-do's' (such as Hoop-De-Doo). Otherwise we usually find a sit-down restaurant where-ever we happen to be (parks/DTD/Boardwalk). That way we are not basing our activities on where we're eating and when!

 

[AllyGirl_79]

I think 11 days is a great length to see the highlights at the places you mentioned. You won't see everything, but even people who have been dozens of times will tell you they haven't seen everything. Also, I'm a big fan of ADRs. If your plans change or you simply change your mind, call and cancel the ADR and book something else. It never hurts to have them, and they're great to fall back on, particularly if you really want to visit a certain restaurant.

My real reason for replying is in regard to the hotels. This sounds like a big and important trip for you, and you're obviously traveling a long way. I don't smoke, but I'd still suggest you stay in a Disney resort if you don't have a car. There are smoking areas at the resorts, just like the theme parks, so your resort time would be much like the rest of your day. Also, you will probably spend very little time at the resort, given your schedule. The extra cost and hassle of cabs in and around Disney property would not be worth the chance to smoke in the room in the morning/evening to my way of thinking. I think you miss out on a lot by not staying on property - my dad smokes a pipe, but we would never consider moving off property just because of the convenience.

 

[aarya_ss]

Well, three anyway! Liberty Tree Tavern... Tony's Town Square... Brown Derby... DOING THE VERY HAPPY [BORDERING ON MAD] DANCE ... Tried for Le Cellier, but that's all booked out till forever... Oh, is it normal to be demented with joy just coz i spoke to someone who knows someone who can get me to eat at Disney???... Is that normal?
Anyone who has any other suggestions on where I should eat at the Parks? Not really planning to venture into Resort Dining. As mentioned I’m visiting between December 09 – 21, 2007, just my fiancée & me…
Gosh, I’m happy…

 

[aarya_ss]

Someone enlighten me on a smart way to locate a post here… I posted something about the Rainforest Café a week ago, but can’t seem to find it…

Lots of rambling actually… Does everyone know that Disney has altered its value season for December? It now ends on December 15, 2007… which effectively means that the Disney also realizes that crowds shall be colossal after Dec 15… I’m going Dec 09 to 21… Shudder!
I had asked in a previous post for various opinions on the Rainforest Café? According to our touring plan, we shall be in Africa around lunch on Dec 13… does Rainforest, at AK, merit the walk to & fro to the entrance, to pick up where we left off?… we are late dinner eaters, bout 9pm, so I cannot make a dinner reservation… and the RC at DTD has terrible reviews so I’d rather not eat there… Suggestions?
Also, just to let all know that Confisco Grille, at the IOA, no longer takes reservations… have reserved Mythos tho…
Have also made the ADRs for Liberty TT, Tony’s TS, Hollywood Brown Derby, & Marrakech… can you see me patting my own back … and this from someone who was not keen to make ADRs to begin with…
On a personal note… I’m getting to the stage where my Disney obsessed brain no longer feels like working… at my job, that is… it’s been 15 years since I last visited… and I’m becoming increasing delirious… so any calm down tips shall also be appreciated…. Maybe I’m asking at the wrong place tho…

 

[BarleyJack]

As far as ADRs go, here are a few suggestions: on your DTD try for Raglan Road or Wolfgang Puck; at Epcot: Biergarten, Coral Reef. These seem to get pretty good review consistantly

 

[kimsuenew]

We were there in September for 12 days/11 nights and missed a bunch! Until we began planning our September 2008 trip, we did not realize what all we missed. We never even seen the Boardwalk! Just plan what you want to do/see the most, and go from there! Hopefully you can go back again and do what you didn't get to do last time! Enjoy!

 

[MinnieGal]

Your plans look great!

You will see alot, but you won't see everything...that just means you have to go back

Definately make those ADRs. One year we didn't make ARDs and that will never happen again...we ate lots of CS meals.

Have a great time, it will be here before you know it

 

[drew64]

Definitely do ADRS.

Arriving at 11 at the parks will put you in as crowds build to high levels and it will slow you down as lines are longer for all attractions.

I would choose the Hilton for 2 reasons:
Location- traffic in that area is horrid and Hilton makes for much shorter commute to disney parks. also, you cna take advantage of evening EMH ad get 3 more hours in the parks to balance out late arrivals.

Have you looked at the Dolphin. Because it is aSheraton , they still fairly and sensibly offer smoking and non smoking rooms to meet the needs of everyone. You woudl then be on-site, able to use Disney transportation, walk to Epcot and MGM, have EMH, and package delivery back to the resort.

 

[frdeb1999]

I think that 11 days is a very good length of time. We don't like rushing either and you can go to WDW a million times and honestly still never get to do everything on each trip. Have you considered staying on site at one of the values or mods? That would make transportation while on site so much easier. And you will deffinately need a whole day for Sea World and Universal. No matter what you choose you'll have a wonderful time!