Going to DW in July for 2 days, which parks? hotel?

[MadtownMama]

We're planning a St. Petersburg vacation July 2010 and decided to go ahead and do 2 days at DW. We have a 4 year old daughter, what park do you recommend for the second day. First day we plan on doing Magic Kingdom, second we can't decide if we should do MK again or check out Animal Kingdom or Universal etc.

Let me add that we just took her to Disneyland and plan on taking her to DW again for her 5th birthday and spend the whole week at DW doing the hopper pass tickets etc. For this vacation we want to make it easy and just do 2 days, since the main part of our vacation will be in St Pete's and we plan on going back 6 months after that for her bday.

Also any hotels recommendation in the area that would be easy access, reliable shuttles, without being a huge disney resort that you recommend? Again just looking for a night or two there. (price isn't a big deal)

One last question! Tell me about Cinderella's Royal Table? Recommend it? Cinderella is my daughter's favorite princess and is of course the only princess we didn't see in DL! We have to make certain we see her this time around LOL.

 

[We_love_WDW]

Since you are going in July...it will be very crowded so if you want to see all of the things at MK - you would need 2 days for all the rides, characters, and parades/shows. If you want to go somewhere else I would say Hollywood Studios...they have Toy Story Mania, PlayHouse Disney, Little Mermaid Show (my girl's fav) and the Beauty and the Beast Show, we also like AK, but HS is a little more fun. As far as hotels, if you want to stay in a smaller resort, do not stay in a value resort. We like Port Orleans French Quarter for the small size and pool, however the rooms do need updating. Also the Contemporary is great bc you can walk to the MK. CRT is just ok. For the $$ the food is not that great and the princesses barely interact with you. The picture you get with the package is nice. The dinner at the GF is nice, it has Cinderella, the PRince, StepMom and sisters. You can also see her in the tent at MK.

 

[MadtownMama]

Thanks for the tips! Quick question what is GF (when talking about the cinderella and character dining)

Please don't remind me about it being busy in July! LOL It is actually my husband's suggestion we do DW with this vacation. We were so spoiled when we went to DL early September. Average wait for a ride was 10 minutes, longest wait was 30 mins to see the princesses but a lot of things we literally just walked right on! We were spoiled! I don't know if I can take the long lines and crowds after our awesome experience

(I've been to DW as a kid during the summer and spring break and remember all to well the waiting... and waiting...)

 

[Petraman]

GF= Grand Floridian, which is an excellent meal, but I think for what you described I would suggest Cinderella's Royal Table ... IMO. The reason is your little princess would get a great photo package of her and Cinderella with the dinner package as well as a short but good face to face time with Cinderella. She doesn't make an appearance in the actual meal, but tough to beat the photo op.

Also, does your DD enjoy pirates? If so, I think I would recommend staying at the Caribbean Beach Resort. They just redid their pool into a sort of pirate/castle design. Definitely one of the coolest pools right now. For a cheaper resort, maybe check into Pop Century Resort. The hotel design is not your typical Disney elegance but the oversized Big Wheel, etc would be amazing to a 4yr old! It is probalby the better of the value resorts.

As far as the parks, keep in mind that MK is almost identical to DL so if she was just there, it will be alot of the same thing (although at 4 she probably won't care )

 

[We_love_WDW]

Please don't remind me about it being busy in July! LOL It is actually my husband's suggestion we do DW with this vacation. We were so spoiled when we went to DL early September. Average wait for a ride was 10 minutes, longest wait was 30 mins to see the princesses but a lot of things we literally just walked right on! We were spoiled! I don't know if I can take the long lines and crowds after our awesome experience

(I've been to DW as a kid during the summer and spring break and remember all to well the waiting... and waiting...)[/QUOTE]


I Know!! We went this past July/Aug - and it was very crowded, but we stayed for 8 days and used ridemax, so we were able to do everything we wanted. We just went Nov 10-17 and it was sooo nice, low crowds and great weather. We got spoiled in Nov, but are braving the summer in June - we just love it - no matter when we go, we know it will be fun! Have a great trip