A Mix of tips and recent experience...

[jenny-pooh]

Thanks for the info. We leave for our first trip in 19 days any info is good info!
I was thinking of sleeping in but all indications are it is best to go early. I will certainly be dragging my sleepy-heads out of bed. I look forward to more posts! Thanks again.

 

[Jollean]

Ok so we skipped Adventure Island today. Everyone was too tired and wanted to sleep in. Tomorrow will be our first visit to Hollywood Studios.

We did sneak out to Walmart today and found some great bargains!

The Walmart had a whole section dedicated to tourists. Disney Suvenirs and Florida Suvenirs. It was really nice to get some Florida Suvenirs for a change as you do tend to see the same Disney Gifts in every Disney Gift Shop. Some change from store to store but guranteed you will see mostly everything again.

So here is some price and info on things found at Walmart:

T-Shirts
These ranged from $5.00 - $12.00. They had great Disney ones with this years dates, all the Characters etc. They also had a great selection of Florida T Shirts. These were the ones that were mainly $5.00.

Beach Bags
These ranged from $5.00 - $14.00. They had Disney and Florida ones. All very nice.

Pens
$5.00 for a pack of pens (These are $11.00 in the park)

Mugs
All the same ones you will see in the park $4.00

Shot Glasses
$2.97 (6.95 in the park)

Key Chains
$1.97

They had some cheesy Florida Frogs on shells for 2.97 which I loved as well.

Now I am not sure we saved anything as we took a cab there and it was about $50.00 there and back with tips. But it was fun and we were able to pick up snacks and stuff. If you are renting a car or driving down I would highly recommend a stop there. It has full grocery outlet as well.

Weather Update:

It has cooled off today. For a cold weather Canadian it is still warm to me. But for Florida residents they say it is cool. It rained a bit today not much and it is cloudy. The pool is much quieter today and not too sure what it is like at the parks. The weather is supposed to be like this all week. We have Typhoon Lagoon this week so I hope it is a little brighter on that day. But even cloudy you dont need a coat.

 

[Jollean]

Ok so we made a visit to Disney's Boardwalk area. From All Star Restorts you take a bus to MGM and take the boat to the Boardwalk. It was a nice way to make the visit to that area while giving you some views of some of the other pretty large resorts.

Boardwalk is a good area if you have a Sports Fan in your family. My husband hates to miss his Calgary Flames hockey so we went to the ESPN restaurant so he could watch it. They were kind enough to put on the game for him on one of the TV's and we ate slowly and watched.

On the boardwalk it is quieter than Down Town Disney which is nice but does have less shops. They had street vendors putting on little shows which our daughter liked. In Addition you could see the Epcot fireworks fromthe boardwalk as well.

It was a nice evening ....

 

[debsters41]

I am really enjoying your real-time tips! You rock!

 

[Chedstro]

Me too, thanks!

 

[Jollean]

Thank you! I hope the information is somewhat useful and adds to your enjoyment of pre planning!

We are off to MGM today so stay tuned

 

[KayLuvsMickey]

This is so much fun...I feel like I am there already!

Thanks!

 

[Happyathome]

this thread is SO MUCH fun!!! Thanks for including us in your vacation!!

Can't wait to read more!!

 

[javamommy]

Love this thread! Thanks so much for posting! Hope you are still having a magical time

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[jenny-pooh]

I too, am looking forward to the next post. This thread is exciting and informative. As a fellow Albertan, I have a question about weather and what to pack. We are going May 2-11 and am wondering if the evenings are cool for an Albertan and if I need to pack a few sweaters? Thanks!

 

[gracefor5]

thanks for this thread. We are still so far away, but I need a fix every now and then. Knowing that you are there is very exciting. At least I get to tell the kids in 5 days and then it will only be..........100 DAYS aargh

Kim

 

[Jollean]

Jenny for an Albertan even when it is cool it is not bad however after 8 days you climatize a bit so when it cools off you do feel it. I would recommend a zipper sweat shirt or something. I say zipper as I dont find it cool enough to have a pull over.

We had a week of HOT and now we are on a week of COOL. Both are nice and even when cool the sun is still shining!

 

[Jollean]

On to MGM night!

Hollywood Studios
This was our only day that we slept in. We just couldn't get up early after 2 days off and figured MGM would be the best park to sleep in at. We had a lunch resevation at SCI Fi and had to be there by 11am.

When we got to the gates I thought to myself...what a mistake why didn't we come early. It was packed! BUT...the crowds at MGM (or Hollywood Studios as they are calling it now) are very deceiving. It was crowded but not overly busy. How can that be? I think it has to do with their shows. I have some good tips for this park.

1. Make this park in your weekly plans on a day after EPCOT or Magic Kingdom. The park is filled with lengthy shows that are really easy on your legs and feet. And sleeping in works just fine for this park.
2. This is the only park that we needed to watch the show times closely otherwise we would have missed out on some of their best shows. Indiana Jones and the Lights, Action and Motors show are two things you should not miss but they do not play fequently. Plan your day around these shows and line up early! They usually seat you early but again it is easy on your feet.
3. The rides all had reasonable wait times even in the mid afternoon.
4. Tower of Terror my daughter liked (8 years old) I was a bit worried and didnt want her to go on but she wanted to and hubby took her so what could I do. I waited to watch for her to come out in tears and she came out saying it was one of her favourites. Go figure.
5. Fantasmic is NOT to be missed. Line up early. We were there 2 hrs early and again they seated early. Once you have your seats you can go buy snacks for the show which makes fun and helps pass the time.
6. They are selling all the fun lighted things for Fantasmic and it is very noticable to kids who has cool lighted things. If you are bringing glow sticks this is the night to do it. But honestly Disney's glowing items are very cool we brought glow bracelets from the dollar but still ended up buying Disney Items.

We really enjoyed MGM in fact it was my second favourite (MK is #1). It was easy to Navigate and had great Disney Magic feeling to it. We still have Animal Kingdom to go so we will see how they all stack up.

Dining

I really recommend dining at one themed restaurant a day if it is in your budget. The Coral Reef and now SCI FI were great experiences. SCI FI a little more reasonable in price but both were excellent. It is also a very big break when you dont have to wait in a line for food, wait in line for a table and eat in a few minutes to hurry. In addition the experience at these restaurants are as good as a ride itself. We have one more at Rainforest Cafe and wish MK had something as well.

Not all the restaurants are perfect your guranteed to hit either a poor waiter/watress, meager menu, over priced whatever. But I have not found there to be all three at once. SCI FI great food Black Angus Burger was awesome! Waiter was meh... but the ambiance and experience awesomel. Coral Reef, waitress awesome, food awesome, over priced and ambiance AMAZING. In the end go for the break and the experience.

Weather
It has cooled of significantly which is too bad as we were supposed to do Typhoon Lagoon today and it is too cold. If it warms up a bit we will try tomorrow.If it stays cool then we skip the water parks and maybe do EPCOT again to try and see the parts we missed. I am glad we did not pay for the water parks in advance now. Do recommend a light zippered coat. Disney made a lot of money at Fantasmic on people buying sweatshirts and blankets. Even if it is cool fo4r those of you getting away from a colder region you will still enjoy the sun and greenery. Do not worry it will not ruin your trip.

Ok we are headed out shopping today and tomorrow is up in the air.

 

[Dawn68PA]

Joellean, this is a wonderful thread! Thank you so much for keeping us up to date on tips and things to know.

We stayed as ASMu in '96 and experienced the same atmosphere you are describing. We were very happy there.

 

[Jollean]

I am enjoying sharing! As I go to each park or through the day I think "oooh I gotta remember this tip to share." haha.

And when it comes to your trip attitude is EVERYTHING. Keep your expectations in check and things will be magical! But if you expect that cooler temperatures will ruin it, or that a poor meal etc will ruin it then hate to say it but it just might do that. Your better off focusing on all the little things that are just awesome and watch how when they all come together in the end it will be the trip of a life time guranteed!

 

[Disneymomof3princess]

Thank you for all your wonderful tips! We will be there in 16 days (it's hard to contain myself), I was wondering if you could tell me more about this delivery service you used. We'll be there for 12 days and were not renting a car as of now, and buying a bottle of water at WDW is like buying a bottle of gold.So any info would be helpful, and enjoy the rest of you trip!

 

[Jollean]

We used Garden Grocer I think there are many posts on here for it. It was so easy and so nice.

Go online order your food in advance to get a booking time.
Order enough food for your stay.
They deliver the date you choose, if your not there they deliver to the front desk.
I had a message advising that our food had arrived to come to the front desk.
Went to the front desk they got it out of the back and gave me a cart to take it to my room.
They forgot my fridge items so back to front desk I went. Didn't bother me I was so happy that I did not have to cab to Publix that night we could swim instead.

It really was sooooo easy and great. Highly recommend them as many people do on here.

 

[JoanieS]

This is great!!! Thanks!

 

[MousekaMaddi]

nice job

 

[jenny-pooh]

Great tips! Good advice. Attitude is important.