First Timer

[JohnnySharp2]

Hi again Burt.

It doesn't really matter whether Clearwater beach gets busy, it's a brilliant beach, pure white sand but it's very wide and covers a few miles of coast so you should be okay.
The only possible problem is that it's about a 2 hour drive from Orlando and with possible extra traffic on the roads it may take longer, suggest if you go set off fairly early in the morning.

 

[Netty]

Sorry burt for jumping in on your thread
Johnny sharp just noticed that you stayed at cumbrian lakes, please can you pm me with your opinions, as we were thinking of going there next aug.
thankyou!

 

[burt]

Hi Johnny, thanks for the info, are there any beaches worth a visit any closer, and have you been to clearwater and do you recomend it, we heard a few shops there aswell, should keep the better half happy!!!!

I will only expect a reply if the telly is junk again tonight johnny!!!

thanks m8
burt

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Hi Johnny, thanks for the info, are there any beaches worth a visit any closer, and have you been to clearwater and do you recomend it, we heard a few shops there aswell, should keep the better half happy!!!!

I will only expect a reply if the telly is junk again tonight johnny!!!

thanks m8
burt

Hi Burt,
Cocoa Beach and Daytona on the East Coast are closer, probably both just over an hours drive.
There is a RonJons surf shop at CB but apart from that there is not a lot there really.
Obviously Daytona is famous for the Speedway, to be honest it's several years since we have been.
However, the beaches such as Clearwater and St.Petes on the west coast although further away are much nicer, cleaner and just all round a lot better.
The beach at Clearwater is very wide and is pure white sand - it is always our 1st choice.
Guess the only problem is the extra distance involved.

There is also a fantastic bridge that spans St.Petes Bay - called the 'Sunshine Skyway', it's brilliant and almost worth the trip alone.

See you mate - and actually the TV wasn't too bad last night

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Sorry burt for jumping in on your thread
Johnny sharp just noticed that you stayed at cumbrian lakes, please can you pm me with your opinions, as we were thinking of going there next aug.
thankyou!

Hi Jeanette - just sent you a PM

 

[disneyholic family]

regarding TL vs BB....TL now has the Crush and Gusher slides that are FANTASTIC.....it ruined us for all other slides...

 

[fizz13]

Hi Burt! Just wanted to say welcome to the DIS It sounds like you have been getting some great advice and everyone is making you feel welcome I hope.
Just thought I'd give you another opinion on how I do my trip.

Magic Kingdom: 2 days
Epcot: 2 days
MGM: 1 day
Animal Kingdom: 1 day
Disney kids choice park near end: 1 day
Universal Studios: 1 day
IOA: 1 day
Seaworld: 1 day
Water park: 1 day

That leaves 3 days to spread through the holiday for rest and shopping. I normally throw in 2 or 3 character meals as well at Disney to save time standing in a line to meet them. This way they come to me. Crystal palace is great for food and Winnie the Pooh and friends. Really nice for any meal I think.
Chef Mickeys is another favourite but breakfast does seem to be nicer than dinner. The third one would probably be a princess one if you have girly girls in the family. Its a real thrill to meet them even when you're in your 20's!

I think the disney water parks are nicer than Wet and Wild because of the theming and gentler rides (not to say there aren't some wild ones too) but if you have a 2 year old there are some great areas in the disney water parks that are scaled down just for them, with their own slides and splash pools. Wet and Wild just do not have this attention to detail.

Anyway, you have found the right place for all your questions and have a real poke around all the forums. i found great info on the restaurant board, theme park attractions and strategies and all the uk boards of course. Trip reports are highly addictive BTW, so watch out!

Much love and pixie dust,
Claire xx

 

[burt]

Thanks for the info claire, character dining sounds great although its hard enough getting our kids to eat at anytime let alone when they have tigger and Pooh Bear to distract them!!! How do we go about booking the character meal do we do it before we go, or as soon as we get there, i would imagine they are very popular especially at easter when we are going.

Claire that pic of your little one with Tigger is superb

 

[fizz13]

They can be very popular, especially the princess meals, which have an exact science to how to book them ( seriously, have a look over on the restaurant board. At the top of the page is a sticky thread all about how to book breakfast in the castle!!)
Basically, you need to work out your plan first, of where you want to be on which day so you can figure out when you want to eat where, Then, you need to ring 90 days before the meal to book. the phone number for disney dining is 00-1-407-939-3463. They open at 7am their time, which is midday our time. You will be asked multiple choice questions that you won't be able to answer, like your phone no but it won't recognise it because you are international . Here's what to do, when it connects, press 1. When you hear the next prompt, press 1 again. Don't wait for the beep at the end of the question because then you get sucked in to the system and tis very frustrating. Have a practice call before you need to book so you know what i'm talking about and hopefully it will be clearer.

If you need to work out what day to call, then try this handy link:dining calculator It sorts it all out for me.
Definately have a read over at the restaurant board because someone always has an opinion on which meal is best. i think basically they are all ok with the exception of Donald's breakfastasaurus in Animal Kingdom. Food not really edible, characters don't spend nearly enough time with anybody and the staff are slow/ can't be bothered.

Thankyou about the picture. It was my son's first birthday and we took him to Crystal palace for lunch. they wre so good to him, with a signed birthday card from Pooh, piglet, Tigger and Eyeore, a birthday parade round the restaurant and a cupcake with lots of butter icing and sprinkles. It was a truly special day.

feel free to ask away and hope I've helped,
Claire xx

 

[MazdaUK]

If you have trouble getting kids to eat then I'd recommend a meal where the food comes to you as well as the characters - e.g. O'Hana's breakfast. We found it quite stressful trying to get food and make sure we didn't miss the characters (particularly at Chef Mickeys - never saw Goofy or Minnie at all), and so ended up going up in two shifts so there was always an adult and child at the table with cameras ready!

the character interaction is good though - especially at Crystal Palace - and you do get more one-to-one time than when queuing up for pics and autographs.

 

[burt]

Thanks again for all the replies folks, im learning things already!!! i think the character meal with pooh and friends is going to be a must so will be booking that when the 90 day period starts.

Ok time for another question - spending money - 2 Adults 3 kids all accomodation, car hire, park passes paid for before we leave uk, How much do you guys think we need (although always got cards with us in case of spend out!!!) also how do you take your spending money some changed into dollars and the rest travellers cheques or all T/C?? and another quickie how much are the toll roads, after a long day travelling and the stress of driving in a foreign land last thing i need is to not have right amount of dollars for the toll

Thanks in advance

burt

 

[carolfoy]

Can't answer re the tolls but for spendies we usually budget $60 a day, this is quite a lot but if you average a breakfast at $10 lunch at $20 and dinner at $20 then $10 for snacks, we NEVER get through as much as this but we find that for one day when we eat cheap another will have a character or special meal,
as for kids spendies my son has a 'chore board' and everytime he does something around the house for me he gets money put on there, I change it to dollars and he's happy 'cos he then feels he's earned his dosh. I usually give him £1 for every time he helps with the wash/iron/change the beds or to sort rubbish to recycle and put the bags out and he'll earn a bit more for doing a really big job.
This year he'll have about £130 worth of dollars and he'll spend it all (he's the king of plastic crap!)

 

[MazdaUK]

We took some in Dollars, some in TC and cards - we tended to use cards on Disney and Universal property, and in WalMart, cash or TC elsewhere (so we could be sure our cards weren't being cloned). We were staying onsite so charged everything to our room and settled up every few days - that meant we didn't have to carry a lot of $ with us, but equally we could keep a track of how we were doing and not get whopped with a huge bill at the end.

I can't remember exactly how much we took, perhaps £1500, plus we put about another $1000 (£500) on the cards. But that included all souvenirs, food, trip to Kennedy and a couple of major shopping sprees (including a new suitcase ;-) ) - the hotel, car and tickets were all purchased in the UK.

The clothes are such good value I think its criminal NOT to buy them! We got new school shoes for DS(5), proper wide fitting, for $20, I paid $22 for a pair of Levis, and things like T-shirts (off site) were only a few $. Only thing not a bargain IMHO was trainers - not much of a range and no cheaper than buying online from somewhere like M&M Sport at home.

Don't worry about the tolls - the ones that are a couple of dollars are manned and will give you change (try to get some $5 or $10 though!) - make sure you keep different values of $ apart as they all look the same, and after a long flight (and driving in the dark on the wrong side of the road) its easy to get them confused. I kept them in different sections of my wallet.

The other toll is an automated bucket which you toss 50c into. If you don't, or don't have enough then lights flash and a siren goes off and........... that's it. No armed cops, no helicopters, just . We did have a few cents, but not quite enough. Once DH realised there was no-one watching for transgressors he tended to drive right through (slowing down to make sure no-one was watching first of course!)

 

[carolfoy]

cash or TC elsewhere (so we could be sure our cards weren't being cloned).

Very good advice! will remember that myself

 

[MazdaUK]

Especially in restaurants - many of the staff are transient and its very easy for them to do it for a week or so then move on before anyone discovers.

 

[Shooby doo]

Burt seems that you have had a load of replies,I haven't been on for a few days but here 's my advice:Take your own buggy or hire a stroller every day,your little one may be very indepedant but you're probably averaging 6-7 miles (more in some parks) a day.Go to a supermarket & stock up on water/drinks & take your own into the parks-water can be filled up at the water fountains dotted around the parks.Last year drinks were around the $2.50 mark which although doesn't sound alot you'll be surprised on how much fluids you will go thru!Comfortable shoes,blisters are not funny!Don't bother taking loads of warm stuff-even when it's raining it's still warmer than here! Yet to find a restaurant that doesn't allow you in in shorts. You are allowed to take cool boxes into the water parks -no glass- you can pick a cheapie up for @ $5,which gives you the option of taking in your own food & drink.
We prefer TL to BB,BB is good but it's hard work,everything is up hill!
Here's how we would normally do WDW: Mk-1 day + a return day after visiting everywhere else. MGM - 1 full day.AK 3/4 day + hop to EP.EP - 1 full day + hop from AK.TL -1 day.
Depending on which other parks you are visiting then it may be worth checking out a 4 park flex-this covers US,IOA,SW & Wet'n'Wild( the 5 park includes BG but you will be hard pressed to fit that in to 2 weeks!!)
There's loads more just PM me if you have any other Q's
HTH SD aw:

 

[burt]

Ok folks youve been a great help so far but i told you there would be more questions!!! ive been looking on this site reading numerous things and my next question is regards to food. I have already decided to book a character meal at CP as the kids love Tigger and Pooh (so do i but we will keep that a secret ) do you think we need to book PS anywhere else before we leave or if when we get there we think we fancy a certain restaurant would we be able to go in on say the sunday and book ps for the following thursday or does it really need to be booked before we leave. Also looking at some pics on here the portions look huge and i noticed people mention sharing portions - do the restaurants not mind you ordering 1 meal and asking for extra plate so that you can share it ( cant imagine to many places in england doing this!!) and finally on the subject of food are there any places you would consider a must to dine in whilst on our visit

thanks again
burt

P.s are you impressed im even learning some of the abbreviations on here!!

 

[MazdaUK]

You definitely need to book any character meals before you go - its a very busy time, and even non-character meals are busy.

The Crystal Palace meal is buffet-style - eat as much or little as you want, it'll cost you the same price (so because I was I paid $17 for two bananas, orange juice and iced water!). Meals where you choose from a menu, whether counter service or sit-down, are happy for you to split meals. Top tip you might not have seen yet - if you're not very hungry you can get a burger meal which has 2 burgers in it and ask for an extra bun -about 50c - and split the meal between you. The drinks are often a lot bigger than you're used to in McD over here (except for the beer ) so again you can split them. One thing to watch for - if you get your tickets in the UK and they come with a "free character meal" option, this is only valid for Donalds Breakfastosaurus in AK - something you don't find out about until you get your vouchers just before you travel. We managed to get yours changed to CP but it took a lot of discussion and meant we didn't get to CP as early as we would have liked (luckily they were running behind anyway!) I've seen poor reviews of Donald's so I didn't book it, but my sister and BIL went with their family and really enjoyed it.

For non-character meals you can often get in to even popular restaurants if you go before 12 or after 2.00 - we got into HBD as a walk-up at 11.45 (although we still had to wait about 15 mins for a table as not all staff were on duty yet). So if you come out of a show or off a ride and think you might want to eat soon - go immediately to your restaurant of choice!

 

[disneyholic family]

since this is your first time, it's probably a very good thing to do a lot of advance planning....so that you know which park you'll be in each day...
so since you'll know which park you'll be in on a particular day, you can go ahead and make reservations for particular restaurants.....
if it then turns out that you change your mind and don't want to eat there or don't get to that park that day, it doesn't really matter....only for the restaurants that you have to put a guarantee on does it matter...and those are very few (cinderella's breakfast for example)..

by the way, we did the Chrystal palace breakfast this year as a birthday surprise for my mom (78 years old)....it was really nice...much nicer than i expected.....and the characters were very nice......i wasn't expecting much since it's huge and so many people were there, but it was lovely, with a very nice food selection....my mom, who is very picky and very upper crustish, had a great time....and she loved it when the characters got all the kids in the restaurant up to dance around the room for her birthday!...

another fun restaurant is the 50's Prime Time Cafe in MGM ....if you get a good waiter/waitress it can be loads of fun....it's supposedly set in the 50's and the CMs are your cousins, uncles, while the person in the back cooking is supposedly "mom".....the CMs yell at you for things like putting your elbows on the table, not taking your hat off, checking your hands to see if you washed before eating, etc....
my sister wanted to order desert but hadn't eaten all of her chicken.....well....that got a very big response from several of the staff....even my sister, who hates everything disney, was laughing hysterically and having a good time...

another fun restaurant - Whispering Canyon in the Wilderness Lodge - you can eat breakfast, lunch or dinner there...you can order family style or a la carte.....the name is the opposite of what goes on there....the CMs yell and carry on.....lots of fun...

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Ok folks youve been a great help so far but i told you there would be more questions!!! ive been looking on this site reading numerous things and my next question is regards to food. I have already decided to book a character meal at CP as the kids love Tigger and Pooh (so do i but we will keep that a secret ) do you think we need to book PS anywhere else before we leave or if when we get there we think we fancy a certain restaurant would we be able to go in on say the sunday and book ps for the following thursday or does it really need to be booked before we leave. Also looking at some pics on here the portions look huge and i noticed people mention sharing portions - do the restaurants not mind you ordering 1 meal and asking for extra plate so that you can share it ( cant imagine to many places in england doing this!!) and finally on the subject of food are there any places you would consider a must to dine in whilst on our visit

thanks again
burt

P.s are you impressed im even learning some of the abbreviations on here!!

Hi again Burt,
A lot of the restaurants (offsite) will be buffet style, all you can eat type.
Even staying in a villa like we do it's nice to have breakfast or dinner out.
They are good value for money too.

Would recommend Golden Corral for breakfast and the Outback Steak restaurant for dinner - the OB do take out so I tend to go on my own have a drink at the bar whilst awaiting our tea!

On another less adventurous note, Chick-fil-a is a popular fast food hang-out of ours, much nicer than anything available in the UK, also KFC is much better over there too.
Again it is just to have further options that eating in all the time, to be honest we eat out about 50% of the time.