1st Timer Intinerary

[tlegray]

We have free air passes to anywhere in the continental US. We've always wanted to go to WDW and so this is how we've decided to use the passes. We're hoping that we haven't forgotten anything. All you seasoned WDW travelers...we'd like your opinion.

Arrive sat 1/10-spend the evening at Universal CityWalk/Hard Rock Cafe...daughter collects pins

sun-Kennedy Space Center

mon-MGM

tues-Animal Kingdom

wed-Epcot

thurs-Epcot, Cirque du Soleil

fri-Magic Kingdom or pick up anything we missed at other parks

sat-Airboat ride and fly out in the evening.

We were Disneyland annual passholder for years before moving to Texas so we aren't going to concentrate too much on MK though we plan on going.

We have our hotel reservations, car rental reservations, already received our passports, and we have our Cirque tickets. We also have our Brita waterbottles and a couple of guide books.

I've also printed out our not to forget to pack list and the addresses of grocery stores in the WDW area. We've researched restaurants in the area and have 5 picked out for nights we will not be at the park or as back up...Girodano's, Bubbalous BBQ, Bahama Breeze, Chevy's, and Garibaldi Mexican Restaurant.

Did I mention we don't go until jan??? Am I getting ahead of myself...this is a dream trip for me more so then hubby and daughter(21).

Have I forgotten anything???

 

[Dan Murphy]

Sure looks great to me, enjoy the Florida parks!!!!! I sure do like 'yours' out there in CA too, the original!!!!!!

 

[jann1033]

we are going to be there the same time (1/6-15) and you are ahead of me, I still don't have our passes! probably going to get APs... have not even thought of what to pack yet...hmm maybe I better stop fooling around with my PS and get cracking!

 

[AZKathy]

I don't know if your DD is interested in video games. If she likes them, you may want to include DisneyQuest in your itenerary.

Are you doing any onsite sit down restaraunts? Some good ones to think about are Bomas, Ohanas, Whispering Canyon, 1900 Park Fare, Prime Time 50's, Teppanyaki, Garden Grille, and Liberty Tree Tavern. I like to do resort restaraunts so I can leisurely explore the resorts on WDW property.

Have fun planning! You will certainly enjoy your trip to Florida!

 

[XStAnt]

I'll also echo AZKathy's suggestion of planning some meals. You're in Epcot 2 days so try eating at two of the restaurants there (either lunch or dinner). I don't know anything about the restaurants outside the park that you have listed. However, if you don't go to a park one day you can still try a restaurant at one of the Disney resorts.

You may also want to hit the shops at DTD. Perhaps on Sunday after KSC or Saturday after the airboat ride.

You have a great plan. Have fun.

 

[Aisling]

tlegray,

at NASA they have a special Lunch With An Astronaut daily, which is a bit pricey, but it made our trip to NASA very memorable. The lunch was delicious, and it was exciting to be able to ask him so many questions. There is info on the KSC site if your interested. Have fun!

 

[tlegray]

Thank you all so much. I'm sure you can all tell I'm a bit excited about the trip. Planning helps me to start my trip before leaving. 2 months and 21 days to go!!!!

We do plan on doing dinner at Epcot one night and ESPN zone the night we go to Cirque....it's a favorite from our Disneyland days. I'm still doing research, but they all sound so good it's hard to decide.

I know we also will do DTD shopping...gotta get my fix at World of Disney. Also suppect with parks closing early in Jan we will tour some of the resorts for future reference.....might want to spend an anniversary at one of the luxury resorts.

DD still lives in California and still has annual pass. She's a movie buff and a film student so she already has her sites set on the AMC theater instead of Disney Quest....allot of good movies coming out the end of Dec.

As for lunch with an astronaut...didn't know they did that and I like the idea...hubby is an aerospace engineer and I use to be one. Lunch with an astronaut seems like a working vacation. Daughter's the only one who hasn't been to Kennedy...KSC is for her.

Thank you all again. I'm afraid I'll miss something.

 

[DisneyWorldDad]

You may want to try Margaritaville at USF. Hard Rock Cafe's seem (to me) to be all the same, but Margaritaville is really different & cool.

For a good taste of Florida, you may also want to check out Monty's on International Dr. Great Stone Crabs!

DTD has some great places to eat as well as to see & do. We always plan for that as much as planning for a park!

At Epcot, we enjoy the Garden Grill. Something about eating food that they grow right there is kind of neat.

So if someone asks you "What are you some kind of Rocket Scientist?" You can say "Yes, yes I am."

DWD

 

[Grumpy92]

Sounds good. You have made it general enough and fit in some flex time. Very good. Plus this is a great time of year, wont be very busy. It sounds like you are staying at an Orl hotel so make sure you factor in transportation time. You are going to be shocked at how large WDW is compared to DL. If you are staying on property go to the parks in the morning and after lunch take an afternoon break at your hotel. The nap or swim in the pool really make you feel like you are on vacation.

If your daughter likes pin trading it has become very popular at Disney. There is a special pin shop at DTD in the older marketplace section. Right behind Spaceship Earth in Epcot is another great pin store & trade location. Guest where lanyards, bring their pin books and have special trading tables at these locations. At MK the location is at the Expedition Hall in Town Sq. They may even have a few short talk about the various pins. CMs where pin lanyards and are always glad to trade. VERY BIG activitiy all over WDW. You might want to check out the Collectors board.

I agree with the other posters. Chevy's is one of my favorites. But why go to chains you can visit anywhere when there are so many wonderful restaurants at Universal & WDW. Plus you are going to spend so much time leaving a park, getting into a car and driving to your meal. Then do the same thing when you are thru it is almost wasted time you could be doing something else. Not to mention the horrible traffic on Idrive, 192 & I4 that exist 24/7. You might find it easier to just eat at the park or one of the nearby resorts.

If you want to save meal money then do sit down restaurants for lunch. The menus are pretty much the same as dinner but the price is cheaper. Then do a quick bite dinner.

Menus for WDW can be found at www.wdwig.com/menu/menus.htm

 

[tlegray]

Tell me if I have this wrong....because we are going in Jan., we are assuming with the exception of Epcot, most parks will be closing early so our thinking is that we will have to find other places to eat dinner be it DTD, resorts, or off-site. We are 7:00 p.m dinner eaters and with the time change especially for daughter we are expecting not to be hungry until later so our off-site dinner places are for a late lite dinner. We do plan on eating lunch/dessert on-site.

We like to try the local restaurants, but ESPN zone is a Disney staple for us, that's where we always ate at Disneyland and we don't have one in Houston...kinda gives "us" the Disney magic.

Chevy's is also on our list as a back up because everyone on this board seems to rave about it, but our first choice for Mexican is Garibaldi's which is suppose to have good carnitas...I'm mexican and good carnitas are hard to come by in my neck of the woods. Anyone heard about it???

We are really trying to do this trip on a budget. This is an extra vacation because we got the free air passes...we've already taken a big vacation this year and we have another planned for the coming year, plus daughter's college graduation in the coming year, that will require we go to California...I wonder if I could get to Disneyland???

Hubby can say he's a rocket scientist but it doesn't impress anyone these days....anyone remember the song. I'm retired as I like to say, but unemployed is a better word.

Thanks again for all your help. I'm looking into some of the restaurants mentioned above. I hope I can return the favor when I become a WDW veteran. <-- ears in training

 

[AZKathy]

Originally posted by tlegray
Thanks again for all your help. I'm looking into some of the restaurants mentioned above. I hope I can return the favor when I become a WDW veteran. <-- ears in training

I think you are doing a great job with preparations! I remember the first trip we took. Boy, we were so dumb! We really missed out on a lot because we did a lot of wheel spinning. I did not know of these boards until 1999....wish I found them for our first couple of trips!

Happy planning!!!!!

 

[jordanyosh]

I visited WDW in January 2000 and had a great time. Just be prepared for any kind of weather. There was a record cold snap when we were there and temperatures never got above 40. Never thought I'd be wearing a heavy jacket at WDW. The day after we left temperatures were back up to the upper 70's. Keep a close eye on the Weather Channel.....

Just FYI, ESPN Club and Cirque, while close to each other, are still not right next to each other. Depending on what transportation you are using to get around, allow yourself time to get to DTD. Wouldn't want you to miss any of Cirque.

Being a native Californian, I would never suggest Chevy's to anyone. While decent, I think the Cantina outside the Mexico Pavillion at the World Showcase would be a better, more authentic, affordable choice and they will be open til 9pm. Just my opinion.

 

[disneefamily]

Disnee Dad Says...............................................I'd try Teppanyaki in Japan, or for a real bargain and a surprize, try Akershus in Norway for a late lunch around 3:30, good prices , great food, and it is not all fish!!! Roast beef and pork, but mmmm smoked salmon!
I'd try sci-fi at MGM, old movie clips, set in a drive in set up. And the food was good too. If you see Mark Parch, say hi for us, he got an E award on our last trip. E as in excellent, E as in Elizabeth, the inventor of the E award!
If you can, try to get to BOMA at AKL. It's not as wild as some would say, plenty of safe choices. They had oxtail stew when we were there! Not known well in California, it's a great meat. You cook it for a couple years and it becomes soooo tender. So tender that I didn't eat it, I think I drank it!
At city walk, Emeril's is it. Being SoCal you probably eat at nice places all the time, but Emeril was fantastic! The food burst in your mouth with flavor, not spicy, just full flavor. Warning though, $$$$$$$. lol

 

[Grumpy92]

You are correct about the park hours. All three parks with the exception of EC will close around 7pm ,while EC is open until 9pm. As many on here will tell you EC has the best park restaurants and the resort restaurants are not your normal hotel fare.

Chevy's is good and close. Margaritaville is another fun restaurant. The Espn club is just a short walk out the back of EC and it is fun too.

Think you will really enjoy KSC. AK will not take you the whole day. So you will find some extra time there.

You didnt mention tickets and you can get a sm discount if you purchase them before hand. If you havent already you might want to go to the wdw website and order the dvd/vhs planning video. The one comment I always heard from DL vets who were visiting wdw for the 1st time was that they could not believe the size and variety of things to do compared to DL. Hey this will just give you the chance to start planning your next trip.

Hang in there you are doing a good job and you cant find better planners then on this board. Forgive our enthusiasm, many of us have been so many times we just want to you experience some of our faves and get the most out of your trip.

 

[tlegray]

Grumpy92 nothing to forgive...I love the enthusiasm and this board...these are my people....keep any and all ideas coming. I'm a Disneyland fanatic so going to WDW is like hitting the lotto...nothing could be better.

We have purchased our passports...I'm copying them today just in case we lose them...a board tip. We also have our Cirque tickets. 2 hotel reservations, plus hoping that WDW will have a special, car rental, and reservations for Boggy Creek airboat tours. I've mapped out the different grocery stores and shopping off-site, along with several restaurants for Orlando and Cocoa Beach. Everythings neatly typed and printed in my WDW folder...can everyone say obsessive compulsive??? Still need to get KSC tickets. And we don't go for 2 months yet.

I think the only thing left to plan is where to eat. So many choices and only a week. I'd really like to do a character meal...so how old is too old to hope that Mickey and Goofy will come to our table? It would be for me...hubby and daughter are rolliing their eyes over this one.

I'd also like to do an illuminations cruise, but it's suppose to be a budget trip. I guess we'll have to go back...hehehehehe

 

[bjakmom]

tlegray - you're never too old for a character breakfast!! - yeah, tell that to my DS (15)!! I'll be having my birthday breakfast at Chef Mickey's without a doubt - and my whole gang is already rolling their eyes, too (45,26,24,15,5mos)! But it's my big day and they'd better all smile and pretend to be having fun - Mickey and Goofy come to all the tables - regardless of your age!!

I think your plan looks great - we'll be there the same time in Jan -I hope you enjoy KSC as much as we have - my son has been to space camp there several times - it's awesome!!

 

[QuickGold]

As a first timer, you may find this helpful in planning your trip to MGM: http://www.mgmstudios.org/board/viewtopic.php?t=181

 

[tlegray]

Once again, thanks so much