Disney Newbie... please help :)

[jodie3134]

We are planning a trip to Disney 11/25 - 12/2. We Marriott Vacation Club members and staying at Cypress Harbour. Our family consists of me, my husband, my two boys (ages 13 and 10) and my daughter (age 8). This is the first trip for everyone except me (was there as a kid and teen). I am so overwhelmed with making a decision on the parks to attend. I know we want to do the Christmas party and another day at the Magic Kingdom. I'm thinking we also want Epcot and Animal Kingdom. I'm on the fence about Hollywood Studios. I'm trying to justify if the cost is worth it since there is so much change going on. Trying to decide between a 3 day pass or 4 day pass. Any advice you can provide is much appreciated. This is all so overwhelming!!

 

[Klayfish]

You're going to be there for 9 or 10 days by my calculation. Why just a 3 or 4 day pass? Once you pay for 3 or 4 days, adding extra days costs very little.

There isn't that much "change" going on...a lot of that is drastically overblown, IMO. Hollywood Studios is getting a lot of additions, but there isn't a lot that's closed, except Great Movie Ride (which was pretty stale anyway). Still tons to do there. If your boys like thrill rides, HS has two of the best thrill rides in all of WDW...ToT and RnR. Worth the price of admission by themselves (my boys are also ages 13 and 10...and my 10 year old has a twin sister).

Yes, MK is a must, IMO. But if you can swing it, do the other 3 parks. Each one has so much to offer. Not sure what your plans are for the other days, but I'd spend as much time in the parks as you can...without running yourself to the literal point of exhaustion...since it's everyones' first trip.

 

[GlennN]

Depends on several things. For one, will you be getting the Park Hopper option? My family still enjoys DHS, but we only stay there for a few hours these days, then hit another park. As noted above, adding days to a ticket gets more inexpensive as they add up - you may simply want to add a few more days. I know some folks love DHS and would spend at least a day there. You may want to peruse this thread, which has pros and cons of DHS these days: https://www.disboards.com/threads/a...g-to-anyone-else.3636326/page-3#post-58247613

 

[pitpat]

Another vote for adding more park days.

 

[Janet-TX]

If you are not going to any other parks other than WDW, I would definitely add more park days. If any of you are Star Wars fans, DHS is a must. Also Tower of Terror (my favorite ride in all of WDW) and Rock N Roller Coaster are awesome. If you can only do 4 WDW park days, I would suggest doing park hoppers. It will give you more flexibility.

 

[gap2368]

yes add more park days the more you play the less you pay.... you can easily do 2 or 3 days at all the parks but HS this one you can do in a day. a 4 day one perk is $350 a 10 day one park is $440 so you are adding 6 days for $90 seem like a no-brainer to me.

 

[dkrauss]

We are planning a trip to Disney 11/25 - 12/2. We Marriott Vacation Club members and staying at Cypress Harbour. Our family consists of me, my husband, my two boys (ages 13 and 10) and my daughter (age 8). This is the first trip for everyone except me (was there as a kid and teen). I am so overwhelmed with making a decision on the parks to attend. I know we want to do the Christmas party and another day at the Magic Kingdom. I'm thinking we also want Epcot and Animal Kingdom. I'm on the fence about Hollywood Studios. I'm trying to justify if the cost is worth it since there is so much change going on. Trying to decide between a 3 day pass or 4 day pass. Any advice you can provide is much appreciated. This is all so overwhelming!!

If you are doing a Christmas party then you essentially have another day added to your tickets..........the party ticket gets you into the MK at 4pm so you don't have to use a regular ticket Another issue is..........Are you planning any sit down meals (ADR's) during your visit? If the answer is yes you'll need to create a "My Disney Experience" account so your party is in the system. After that you need to consider what you're looking for, since your about 70 or so days out...........you do have options but some of the more popular restaurants such as "Be Our Guest" may be difficult to get. The 3rd consideration is FP's. Given you're staying offsite you won't be able to make FP's until day 30 and keep in mind you need tickets to book them also. I suggest looking at the FP FAQ found at this link within the DISboards: https://www.disboards.com/threads/fastpass-frequently-asked-questions.3491680/


As far as where to visit.....that really is personal but some general info from my point of view is..............MK is a must! Since you have a Christmas party you'll see it but usually a full day in MK is best. If you're kids are thrill seekers than HS is a good 1/2 park. Tower of Terror and Rock'in Roller coaster are fabulous attraction........and Toy Story Midway Mania is a ton of fun. For my wife and I we can now do a full day at Animal Kingdom. The addition of Panadora and later closing make it so. Given you 30 FP situation you'll need to get to AK at rope drop to experience "Flights of Passage" which truly is the best ride at WDW. Also the two walking tours are just wonderful. We especially enjoy the Gorilla Falls tour as we love the gorillas AK has 2 additional rides that are pretty much must do's for us.........Kilimanjaro Safari is the safari ride and its awesome (in the morning......the heat does affect the lions)....and Expedition Everest which is the best roller coaster on WDW property in my mind. Epcot is a huge expanse of a park with a varying list of attractions. There's Test Track for the car lovers........and Soar'in the pre-cursor to FoP. The World Showcase is a great place to get a taste of different cultures both emotional and from a dining perspective. Worth a visit in our mind.

A 4-day ticket, if that's a limitation, would be the pick for me. Adding the Christmas party you could do HS that morning..........and MK that afternoon/evening. Then you have 1 day at Epcot.....1 day at AK.........and 1 additional day at the MK. No hopper required. Since its Christmas time I would also suggest taking a day and tour the resorts. Each of the deluxe resorts does some special........our favorites are Wilderness Lodge with its lobby and huge tree.......then take a boat to the Contemporary where you can take the Monorail to the Grand Floridian to see the Gingerbread house........the Poly is also beautiful this time of year.

What ever you decide I wish you a magical vacation

Doug

 

[jodie3134]

Thanks for that info... I never thought of pricing out the extra days... Its only $300 more to add 3 extra days for my entire family. Probably something we will do. We did consider hitting Universal too... but that adds a whole other level of planning so I think we may just stick with Disney.

I would like to hit Disney Springs and the other resorts and also have a resort day to enjoy our place.

 

[TIS Grandma]

Don't know if I can say this here but check out undercover tourist for tickets. I got hopper tickets for 4 days with 3 days free. There are 9 of us so it was a huge savings.

 

[Klayfish]

Thanks for that info... I never thought of pricing out the extra days... Its only $300 more to add 3 extra days for my entire family. Probably something we will do. We did consider hitting Universal too... but that adds a whole other level of planning so I think we may just stick with Disney.

I would like to hit Disney Springs and the other resorts and also have a resort day to enjoy our place.

Yep, price it out, you'd be surprised. It may be $300 to add 3 days, and only $400 to add 5 more days. The price per day goes down significantly to where days 6-10 are extremely cheap.

I'd also recommend what TIS Grandma suggested above. Look at Undercover Tourist website. You may be able to get a 4 day park hopper ticket with 3 days free. That'll get you 7 days for far less than you'd pay at the gate or on WDW website. Once you buy that and get to the park, you can upgrade to add another day or two if you want...you'll only pay the difference between the gate price of a 7 day ticket and an 8 (or 9) day ticket. Undercover Tourist is a perfectly legit website, no worries about scams. Many of us (myself included) use it for our tickets. They're an authorized Disney ticket seller.

You'll enjoy Disney Springs. Make sure the boys only bring a limited amount of money...LOL

 

[ArwenMarie]

SeaWorld might be a nice addition if you are staying at Cypress Harbour, it's right there Might be a nice change of pace to break up the Disney days. SeaWorld has a really nice holiday selection of shows and decorations. https://seaworld.com/orlando/events/christmas-celebration/

 

[Micca]

As it's essentially a first-time trip for your family you will have more than enough to do at WDW without going off property. Also it appears you're arriving Thanksgiving weekend, just know that the parks will be super busy on Saturday & Sunday. It should taper off during your week there. If you were going to have non-park days I'd vote for staying out on those two days but that's going to be a huge temptation, I don't think I could muster the discipline.

I will echo the comment from @Janet-TX --TOT is a contender for best attraction on property, Toy Story Midway Mania is also a big attraction and then there's all the SW stuff. Also the Frozen Singalong is a LOT better than you might think. If you can't twist the arms of your boys to see it you should at least take your DD.
It's very entertaining. So there are some good reasons to visit Studios.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

Thanks for that info... I never thought of pricing out the extra days... Its only $300 more to add 3 extra days for my entire family. Probably something we will do. We did consider hitting Universal too... but that adds a whole other level of planning so I think we may just stick with Disney.

I would like to hit Disney Springs and the other resorts and also have a resort day to enjoy our place.

I love Universal (especially the Harry Potter sections), but it adds a lot of cost. While visiting either Disney and Universal, it doesn't cost much to add more days, you basically double your theme park ticket price if you do both.

At your kids age, they are going to want as much park time as you will let them have! Assuming the 25th and 2nd are travel days (you may be able to use parts of these days to do another park), I would probably do something like this for the full days, not necessarily in this order:

Day 1 - MK
Day 2 - Epcot
Day 3 - Animal Kingdom
Day 4 - Disney Springs, resort hopping, and Christmas party (4:00+)
Day 5 - Hollywood Studios and back to the resort to swim/enjoy the resort
Day 6 - Vote for the park to visit again OR if you have park hoppers, park hop and visit everyone's favorite 1-3 rides again.

 

[Wlrobinson]

Went last October and we actually did a day at universal( much less crowded) and were able to do both parks in 1 day and rode several rides many times
Love love Disney but universal was nice for the older adventurous kids in our party

 

[CynBeth]

At Epcot will be storytellers in WS plus the Candlelight Processional.

 

[LilyJC]

I just got a deal yesterday on Get Away Today - 7 for the price of 5 days park hopper .

 

[chalee94]

Don't forget to swing by the Grand Floridian and/or Animal Kingdom Lodge (pictured below) for a meal and to enjoy the ambiance....

 

[srwarden1928]

The people who say DHS is a half day park don't do the SHOWS. DHS was ALWAYS more about shows than rides. Granted, RNRC, TOT, TSMM, and ST are four of the best rides on property as PPs have said. But Indiana Jones, Beauty and the Beast, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Muppet Vision 3D, Fantasmic are all excellent shows, and I'm looking forward to seeing Frozen Sing Along for the first time (and likely the second as well) this year. I will catch those others at least once and most of them twice in my travels this year. Shows can actually take quite a bit of time and are IMO an important part of the experience, especially for newbies. Also 50s Prime Time is a must do for me every trip and I am looking forward to trying Sci Fi Dine this year.

 

[MAYNARDS99]

Only two pieces of advice...Rope Drop and mid afternoon breaks. Yes it is awful getting up early on vacation, but you will get so much done before the parks fill up. Afternoons, whilst everyone else is getting super cranky and sweaty, you and your family will be relaxing by the pool, or napping in the room. Have a great time!

 

[Klayfish]

Only two pieces of advice...Rope Drop and mid afternoon breaks. Yes it is awful getting up early on vacation, but you will get so much done before the parks fill up. Afternoons, whilst everyone else is getting super cranky and sweaty, you and your family will be relaxing by the pool, or napping in the room. Have a great time!

Remember, they're going to be there around Thanksgiving. So decent chance it won't be "hot" out. Warm, yes, but not sweaty/cranky hot.

Learn the FP+ system and use it to your advantage. I completely agree with MAYNARDS99 that getting up early on vacation is awful. For us, it's beyond awful...it's simply not going to happen. We don't rope drop (i.e. show up 45 minutes before park open) ever. Earliest we hit the gates is right at park open or 10 minutes after. We have learned to use the FP+ system to allow us to ride anything we want...even during the busiest holidays. We really don't feel like we lose anything by not doing rope drop.