Going To WDW for the first time...many questions.

[Freedom_5]

Hello everyone;

We are going on our first trip to WDW. It will be the three of us. Me, my wife and our daughter who is 17. We have made our reservations and will be traveling from Calif. on Aug. 2, 2011 and staying till the 9th.
We will be staying at the Animal Kingdom lodge.

The first three questions are: For all of you have gone before us, The humidity will be a big factor since we don't get above 45% but it does get hot in the summer.
Does taking a shower at night instead of the morning help keep the body cooler thru out the day?
Thanks for advice and we will be asking more questions as the days go by.?

And how bad will the mosquitoes be? Does the Off clip on work?

 

[bapawoo]

Hi! I went to the World from Aug 7-14th in 2009. The humidity and heat is yes, pretty rough. Honestly, taking a shower at any point of the day makes no difference in helping you stay cool. I remember coming back to the hotel (Dolphin) around 3pm some days and having to jump into the shower to RINSE off. Also, I don't remember it being buggy at all. Maybe at mini golf because we were in the trees but I can't remember ever wishing we had bugspray.
A couple of helpful things that we found while we were there in the heat... (i'm used to going in the winter/early spring time) were...


1. Water IS free if you ask for it. Don't bother paying 2.50 for a bottle of Dasani in the parks. It will be warm in 10 minutes. Just ask for a tap water anywhere. It comes in ICE and it's free!!

2. We spent a day at Blizzard Beach and we were looking forward to being in the water and cooling off in the hot weather. While the park is awesome, the water was heated and it was not refreshing in the least bit...

3. We thoroughly enjoyed DisneyQuest on a hot morning. If you get there early at opening, it's not busy at all. It's an absolute blast and it's ACed! (and we are in our late 20's....)

4. The crowds WERE crazy busy but if you follow touring plans and take advantage of EMH the right way, you'll be fine.


Let me know if I can answer anymore questions. You'll LOVE AKL. I did Christmas there, once. It's amazing! Good pick!

 

[princessallie]

Disney in August was crazy hot! I was there at the exact same time last year with my parents and best friend. You'll probably have to shower more than once a day. My dad would sweat bullets being outside for 10 minutes! Those mister-fans they sell are nice but a pain to lug around and mine leaks You can always run into a shop or an indoor ride if it gets too hot. Common sense! I advise going to the park in the morning and returning to your hotel in the hottest parts of the afternoon for a shower or swim, just to relax. Then go back at night or to another park if you have a parkhopper! It was hitting the mid 90s and for someone not used to it (New Yorkers!) it was a bit intense. I don't remember any bugs except on the water/trees (Animal Kingdom might be buggy) but I've never been eaten alive. Feel free to ask any questions I've been to Disney eight times, my ninth trip is in 13 days <3

 

[Freedom_5]

I thank you for the advice. It's all part of our planning. With such great experience's we should be all that better for our trip.

Next questions:

1. We were not able to get the "Club level" status for our room. Has anyone been in a similar situation and still able to get club level status?

2. We do have the park hopper tickets. Our present plan is to arrive and take it easy the first day. On the second day; to do the animal tour. Relax when it gets hot; pool sounds good, it looks huge.
On the third day, we want to go to Universal studios for the Harry Potter adventure.
So what are our options on how to get from WDW to Universal?

Then for the remainder of the week; we want to hit Epcot and the Magic Kingdom. So any tips from what we have planned?

 

[Metro West]

 

[MomiTo2SwtGuys]

Not sure about the answers to all your questions, but it will be hot. Drink plenty of water and you should be good. Don't get overheated though!

 

[minniesmommie]

I love the AKL, but beware that it is quite of a bus ride to all the parks from there, make sure you plan accordingly! Make sure you eat at Boma, it's one of my favorites.
I also believe that they treat for bugs, never been bit (except at the campgrounds, of course) while there so I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Sweets156]

I thank you for the advice. It's all part of our planning. With such great experience's we should be all that better for our trip.

Next questions:

1. We were not able to get the "Club level" status for our room. Has anyone been in a similar situation and still able to get club level status?

2. We do have the park hopper tickets. Our present plan is to arrive and take it easy the first day. On the second day; to do the animal tour. Relax when it gets hot; pool sounds good, it looks huge.
On the third day, we want to go to Universal studios for the Harry Potter adventure.
So what are our options on how to get from WDW to Universal?

Then for the remainder of the week; we want to hit Epcot and the Magic Kingdom. So any tips from what we have planned?

Hello! We were there last year Aug 10th-18th and it was very hot and humid, but not really unbearable as Disney has plenty of inside attractions to cool off in. We would come home from the parks at night, and swim in the pool until about 1-2am, I would take a quick shower, then also one in the morning, but that's just me. But as soon as I walked outside, I wanted to turn around and shower again! I'm not sure if your resort has a fridge, but what I would do is get a water bottle, fill it, and freeze it overnight then take it to the parks in the morning and continue to refill throughout the day. DP also brought a hand towel to put cold water on and cool off with that in the bathroom. I also found that my feet were very, very swollen by the end of the day from walking and also from the heat, and I thought I had my comfiest shoes on! Regarding your family wanted to head to Universal, if you have AAA you are able to pre-order a 1 day, 2 park ticket with FREE transportation by Universal to/from Disney (this is information we received from our AAA TA). Honestly though, when I'm in Disney, I don't care how much I'm sweating or how hot it is, it is just exciting for me to be there, period.

 

[mpetti]

Hi and welcome!! We will be at AKL Aug 1-8 We normally go toward the end of August and it is very hot and humid. My DH usually goes back to the room during the day and swims and then showers. It helps him cool off. We have never had any problem with bugs while in Orlando and can't remember ever getting a bug bite. Just be prepared, but I wouldn't worry about it. Take it slow and take breaks. You are going to have a great time. Enjoy.

Maryann

 

[Freedom_5]

Great advice so far! We will take everything that all of you have shared and make our trip a magical time!

New question:
We are considering the photopass option. We have a four day park hopper pass and want to know if at the end of the day do we have to tell Disney to download that day's adventures onto a disk?

 

[OThopeful35]

Welcome from another Californian! Let me tell you about that humidity. When we stepped into the Florida heat, my hair went LoL. The heat was brutal! We went in August but we had so much fun, after awhile the heat wasn't a big deal after a few days.

We had the photopass last year and all we did was give the photographer our card and the pictures were there at the end of the day when we logged onto the photopass site and entered the numbers on the card.

You will have soo much fun, I guarantee it

 

[Freedom_5]

So what we want to know now is that because we will be park hopping and would rather want to let the photopass build up the collection and have them upload to disk's at the end of the week. Is that possible but then this is Disney and everything is magical! I'm not bringing my laptop.
If any of the families that will be @ AKL the same time as us; we would love to share some time with you.
Time is getting close and we will be shopping for our trip, this next week.
Bob

 

[Freedom_5]

Well it is closer to getting on that jet plane (Virgin Airlines) and flying to go see a Mouse and his friends at their house!
Without looking a detailed map of DW; does anyone know the exact locations of any Wells Fargo ATM's on site? I suspect that we will be tapping into since food is necessary and more shopping than I want to think about!

Thank you.
Bob

 

[SouthJersey]

Well it is closer to getting on that jet plane (Virgin Airlines) and flying to go see a Mouse and his friends at their house!
Without looking a detailed map of DW; does anyone know the exact locations of any Wells Fargo ATM's on site? I suspect that we will be tapping into since food is necessary and more shopping than I want to think about!

Thank you.
Bob

All of the ATM's on Disney World's property are provided by Chase.

If you know a certain amount of money you plan on spending as 'pocket money', you can just buy a greendot debit card and load whatever you want on it. They only charge you $5.95 a month, but if you use everything on the card, they don't charge you, only when theres a revolving amount left on the card.

 

[lovedvc]

We've stayed at AKL a few times and have never had an issue with mosquitoes. My son is allergic to them and they love to bite him but it's never a problem. As far as the heat my dad always say, "It's African Hot" and he is right. You just have to take your time and stay well hydrated. Stay away from the sodas and coffee (coffee is a diuretic). I find that if I cool my arms from the bend of the arm to my wrist it cools me down very well. You can also try to find a misty mate. It's a canister that you wear like a belt that holds cold water that you can mist yourself with throughout the day. Good Luck and enjoy. August is one of our favorite months to go we leave in 2 weeks and will be going on the Dream and then 6 nights in OKW and BLT.

 

[Freedom_5]

new questions:

We will be at the Animal Kingdom lodge in a couple of days!
Will we be able to buy stamps and postcards there or go into down town Disney or on main street in MK?

If there are other family's that are staying @ Animal Kingdom this next week;
we would be thrilled to get together with you. Don't be shy.


Bob & Trina & Theresa