advice for auusies going to wlat Disney World

[gregpso]

We have just returned from 8 nights at WDW.

1. A fantastic place full of fun things to do.

2. NEVER GO IN THE PEAK SEASONS !! we went in sept (supposely the quiet time) There is no quiet time at WDW Even in this "slow time" there are people every where and lines. Most of the time no more than 20 to 30 min wait (using fast pases cuts the time .. but you can only have one fast pass every hour) So if you think you will be able to walk on every ride quick because its the slow season.. it will not happen !!

3. HARRY POTTER RIDE AT UNIVERSAL WS A ONE HOUR WAIT !!!!! (slow season.. your kidding !!)

4. Its a great deal getting the free dining. We stayed at a budget resort Pops century (a good cheap resort) but!!! be warned the free quick service meals are very very average!! Small portions hot dogs fried chicken etc a drink and small desert. After 8 days we were tired of the quick service meals. but hey it was free !! As Disney has no competition for meals at the world the meals are very basic. You can spend more going to the sit down dining but they are very expensive. Food every where else in the USA is quite cheap.

5. Going in Sept like we did its quite hot and humid so avoid sept if you hate the heat.

6. Repeating a fun great place with friendly staff every where. great attractions .. just be ready for th lines and basic food.

7 Hope this helps other Aussies going soon or planning to go.

 

[Travel Mum]

Wow, thanks so much for your advice! We are booked to spend 9 nights at POR next year starting from 29 September so that we get there in time to get free dining for our whole stay. As it's a moderate, we will get the regular dining package which I wasn't actually that fussed about since QS sounded much easier but now it sounds like I might appreciate it! That's really good advice to go prepared for the queues and then hopefully, if we get any short queues, that will be a bonus surprise

 

[kiwigirl]

Thanks for some good advice.

 

[gregpso]

Wow, thanks so much for your advice! We are booked to spend 9 nights at POR next year starting from 29 September so that we get there in time to get free dining for our whole stay. As it's a moderate, we will get the regular dining package which I wasn't actually that fussed about since QS sounded much easier but now it sounds like I might appreciate it! That's really good advice to go prepared for the queues and then hopefully, if we get any short queues, that will be a bonus surprise

The queuses are bearable as said 20 minutes most of the time.. if you use fast pass only about 5 minutes. (I had the impression being the slow season that the parks would be very quiet.. but thats not the case.) Also in sept there are not many school age kids there but a stack of pre school age kids and parents (to take advantage of free dining) Be prepared for sceaming kids on the buses afer a hard day touring theme parks. (kids do not worry us and of course at Disney you have to expect kids. Most of the time its only about a 10 minute buss trip back to your resort. Buses are very well organised as is everything at WDW

Good decision to stay moderate and get the sit down dining once per day.. trust me the quick service gets boring in about 2 days. You will love the place the staff are great. Its tiring being at theme parks for 10 hrs or more but fun. Every thing is well organised.. it starts as soon as you hit Orlando airport. Unfort they do not send the luggage tags to international guests so you collect your luggage yourself and it travels with you on the magic express bus. When you leave the resort they take your luggage to the airport for you and give you your boarding passes

Remember to make your sit down dining reservations well in advance. We had Sci fi theate booked (we had one night away from quick service). When waiting for our table I watched folk who did not have reservations being turned away (and thats the "slow season ")

You will have a great time 9 nights is about right. You need about 5 days to see the parks. You may wish to visit Universal one day and may be Kennedy space centre another day.. helps to have a rest from theme parks. Then of course there is the water parks as well. It would be easy to spend 2 weeks there although I was done after 8 nights (we went to vegas for 4 nights after WDW)

Enjoy your trip
Enjoy !!!

 

[Travel Mum]

Thanks again for more great advice! We actually have to stay at POR for budget reasons as they are have the least expensive rooms that can accommodate our family-of-five. We will spend our first 9 nights in Orlando onsite and then we move off-site for another 7 nights during which time we will have a rental car so that we can do Universal, IOA, Seaworld, Kennedy Space Centre and shopping After that we do our 7 night Caribbean cruise which will hopefully be a relaxing time

 

[dollarmite]

We stayed at POP for 12 nights last November (2-14) and loved it! I would definitely stay there again. This was off season and we found the crowds at the parks to be very manageable, so I'd definitely try and go at that time again. The only really busy day we had was one of the Saturdays, but I guess that was to be expected. It did show though just how quiet the parks are/were on weekdays at that time.

We visited Blizzard Beach water park and it was practically empty, which was great.

We had free dining (I don't think it's normally offered at that time so we really lucked out), but we paid to upgrade from quick service to the standard plan and it was worth every cent. We had at least one sit down/buffet and/or character meal every day and the small difference beween the QS and DP quickly paid for itself.

I loved the Pop bus service as it was non-stop between the hotel and park. We visited some of the other resorts and found it a rather tedious experience bus wise as they made multiple stops between the parks and hotels.

POP also seemed to have the best gift shop of all the hotels we looked at.

We didn't receive our paperwork before we left but were still able to take advantage of the luggage service at the airport. When we checked in at the bus counter we just told the clerk our name and she (somehow!) arranged for our bags to be collected for us. We never had any contact with our bags during either arrival or departure. Being able to check in our bags at the hotel rather than the airport was wonderful. Talk about stress free.

Next time I would stay in FL for 3 weeks - maybe a week at WDW, then a few days at Universal and Miami before going back to WDW for another week or so. We did a day trip to Kennedy Space Centre, but felt it was a bit rushed as the bus left just on closing time (5pm) so I think we missed out on a few things.

ETA: This was also a good time weatherwise. Most days were nice enough for shorts and t-shirts, with a jacket/sweatshirt for later in the day. The only miserable day we had was my birthday, where it was rainy and cold for most of the day. The Blizzard Beach day was overcast but still warm enough for swimming. On the few days we made it back to the hotel before 9pm, it was warm enough for the kids to swim in the hotel pool.

 

[gregpso]

We stayed at POP for 12 nights last November (2-14) and loved it! I would definitely stay there again. This was off season and we found the crowds at the parks to be very manageable, so I'd definitely try and go at that time again. The only really busy day we had was one of the Saturdays, but I guess that was to be expected. It did show though just how quiet the parks are/were on weekdays at that time.

We visited Blizzard Beach water park and it was practically empty, which was great.

We had free dining (I don't think it's normally offered at that time so we really lucked out), but we paid to upgrade from quick service to the standard plan and it was worth every cent. We had at least one sit down/buffet and/or character meal every day and the small difference beween the QS and DP quickly paid for itself.

I loved the Pop bus service as it was non-stop between the hotel and park. We visited some of the other resorts and found it a rather tedious experience bus wise as they made multiple stops between the parks and hotels.

POP also seemed to have the best gift shop of all the hotels we looked at.

We didn't receive our paperwork before we left but were still able to take advantage of the luggage service at the airport. When we checked in at the bus counter we just told the clerk our name and she (somehow!) arranged for our bags to be collected for us. We never had any contact with our bags during either arrival or departure. Being able to check in our bags at the hotel rather than the airport was wonderful. Talk about stress free.

Next time I would stay in FL for 3 weeks - maybe a week at WDW, then a few days at Universal and Miami before going back to WDW for another week or so. We did a day trip to Kennedy Space Centre, but felt it was a bit rushed as the bus left just on closing time (5pm) so I think we missed out on a few things.

ETA: This was also a good time weatherwise. Most days were nice enough for shorts and t-shirts, with a jacket/sweatshirt for later in the day. The only miserable day we had was my birthday, where it was rainy and cold for most of the day. The Blizzard Beach day was overcast but still warm enough for swimming. On the few days we made it back to the hotel before 9pm, it was warm enough for the kids to swim in the hotel pool.

Sounds like early November is the go September was hot and humid.

A side note I have never seen so many fat people in my life it seeems as thought half the population thee are greatly over weight. the friendest people you will ever meet though. Thanks Disney thanks USA !!!