Help us find something new to do at WDW!!!

[MichiganDVC]

I've found the "secret" to a great trip is not only enjoying old favorites, but trying new things each time.

We also would do the same things each time: Stay at Boardwalk, sleep til 8, coffee on balcony, pool at 10:30am, lunch at 1, Epcot by 5pm. (Wow, that sounds wonderful....)
And it was, but the only way I can get DW to agree to return 3-4 times a year is to promise to "do new things" each trip.

During our trip in August of 2012, I promised to slow down and do TS restaurants, since we had free dining. We did Fulton's, Sanaa and the Wave (among others) which have now become our favorites. We also stayed at a new place: Wilderness Lodge.

Last summer we stayed at another new place: Animal Kingdom Lodge-Kidani (because we fell in love with the resort after eating at Sanaa the year before.) And we went to DTD for an evening and did DisneyQuest.

Each trip we try to plan something new, and we always say, "We're not going to spend a lot of time at Epcot...we're always there!" And we always end up spending a lot of time at Epcot anyway.....

 

[crazydaisy00]

Disney at Christmas is amazing.....MVMCP, Osborne lights, pirates cruise from contemporary, Cirque du solei
I'm not sure you can recreate the feeling of your 1st trip it's so special! One of my favorite trips was not having as much planned and taking time to discover new stuff on our own, seeing more of the shows and some things we were too busy and overlooked when we were on a schedule.

 

[chrismb22]

OP please let us know what you decide. This is one of those where I (and I am sure others) are very curious to know what you wind up doing.

Whatever you do, have an awesome time!

 

[Bluegrrl]

OMG: There is SO much more to do!!

Tours:
Keys to the Kingdom - awesome and reasonably priced tour
Animal Kingdom tour - forgot the name, but it's supposed to be great. You get to rope climb over the Crocs, and there is even a private lunch that looks over the safari

Animal Kingdom Lodge has fantastic activities, plus Boma is a great place to eat. If you want a more adult eatery, then check out Jiko. AKL has activities like wine tasting, cookie decorating, safari night viewings, African drumming, animal rubbings - great cultural interpreters - so much to do there.

Mini golfing!

Pontoon boating and mini speed boats. Love the mini speed boats!

Going to the top of the Contemporary hotel and eating either dinner or just going for drinks and appetizers in the lounge. Caveat: dress up a little for this, since Disney now has CM "gate keepers" on the fourth floor who makes sure that people are neatly dressed and not just slumming it up from the pool.

Going to any of the eatery lounges for drinks and appetizers. I am not a drinker, but I love going to the lounges for snacks and stuff with my family - we have a great time.

Grabbing fish and chips and eating by the Beatles cover band in England.

Playing the Sorcerer's Apprentice game at MK, playing the Agent P game in Epcot, decorating Duffy at Epcot. One year, I sent postcards signed by CM from each county at Epcot to my BF back home. You can also get autographs signed by CMs in each country - I did it, of course I was in high school and I picked out super cute guys to sign them. Idkw, hey, I was in high school!

Get a "Happy Birthday" pin, but write "Un-Birthday" on it. See what happens.

Actually go swimming at your pool instead of looking at it! Spend a whole day at your resort - we always forget to stop and stay at our hotel, you know?

Watch the Electrical Water Pageant. Preferably from the top of the Contemporary resort. Watch wishes from the Polynesian beach. Or do the Wishes dessert party. That is a great party!

Visit the Rose and Crown in England - the pub and the restaurant are good.
Get margaritas in Mexico, pretzels in Germany, a Dole whip in Adventureland, climb the Swiss Family treehouse, get some brew and a lambshank at Gaston's, listen to the piano player by Casey's!

Take the pontoon boat from PO to DtD and back again. Get beniets, gumbo and po'boys at POFQ

With regard to Uni - London and Diagon Alley are going to be AWESOME!!! Unless Diagon Alley and London aren't open or don't appeal to you; there will be a need for at least a parkhopper. London is in Universal Studios and Hogsmeade in Islands of Adventure.

Gosh, there are lots of things to do!

Have fun!!!

 

[DisneyFive]

Thanks for the replies everyone!!! I'll try to respond to as many as I can!

We won't be going back until fall of 2015 most likely. After four years in a row, we've decided to do a family cruise this year instead. I'm just looking ahead and planning for next year.

A few come to mind...

Wishes Dessert Party - although the desserts are just okay, IMO, I really loved having somewhere to seat, away from the crowd for wishes. A really nice treat.

Boat Rentals - haven't done this yet, although we intended both of our last trips to do this because it looks so fun!

For a new TS restaurants, I would recommend Biergarten. Such a fun atmosphere and pretty decent German food as well.

The dessert party might be an option. I'm not a big dessert guy, but my wife and kids would definitely go for some desserts!

Yeah, it would be nice to try a new TS location in Epcot. We like fun locations, and the Biergarten sounds like a good time. We've done Coral Reef four times now. I've had my best meal in all of Disney there, Chef's sustainable catch. Problem is, the Chef's sustainable catch changes all the time, and I haven't been able to get the same entrée as I did in 2011 when it was amazing. ...but also a couple of meals there that rate below par.

Water parks!

Both are excellent.

Definitely a great option as many of you have mentioned. We haven't done these yet, and I'm guessing our next visit will be our first to include water parks!

Are you interested in Cirque at DTD? That's on my list for some trip.

Forgot to list that we did that on our first trip in 2010. We great to see. Added it to my list in my first post.

Definitely a day or two at Universal!

Universal is definitely on our list, just trying to figure out when is the best year...

Dan,

If your last trip was in 2011, how did you do Be Our Guest? It didn't open until the end of 2012.

That said, if your original dates were correct, then all of New Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom will be new to you. I'd make Be Our Guest, Seven Dwarves Mine Train, and Enchanted Tales with Belle a priority for sure (that's what we're doing). Be Our Guest, however, I'm finding to be completely booked the seven days we're there already. You may have to settle for a lunch, rather than dinner and meeting Beast.

Since you mention Universal, there are LOTS of new attractions over there. Transformers, Despicable Me, the new Simpsons area ... not to mention Diagon Alley opening at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. (Note that you'll need a two-park pass, since the Hogwarts Express ride requires it, and you'll want to try it.)

Have fun! My wife and I will be there for our 3rd anniversary around the same time!

Thanks!

Didn't mean to give the impression that 2011 was our last trip. We also went in 2012 and 2013. We haven't done the 7DMT yet, since it wasn't open last Sept. We've done BOG three times, for lunch though.

Dan

 

[DisneyFive]

Fort Wilderness has numerous opportunites. Archery, Horseback riding, Water Sports. They also have a smores marshmellow roast with Chip and Dale and show a movie every night (weather permitting). Plus fishing of course. You could easily spend a day or two there if you like outdoor activities.

Love the Chip and Dale campfire idea. We do a lot of camping here and doing a campfire here "Disney Style" sounds fun.

Sounds like your kids are PERFECT age for Universal right now.

What about a different hotel or something like that -- lego land (I forgot if that was on your been there done that list)

Forgot about another resort! We've done POP twice, and Port Orleans Riverside Twice. I was thinking about Coronado Springs Resort next trip!

Another idea... go to DisneyLAND! Go to California Adventure park at DL.... it is an entirely different theme park.

Well, I would love to visit, but the plane tickets are quite a bit more, and I doubt I could fill 8 nights or so with DL.

Dan

 

[DisneyFive]

I was going to mention FW, too. We just go over there and look at the horse barn. No fee for that. We do a lot of resort hopping, which includes eating at the respective CS. Mini golf and Disney Quest coupons have been added to resort packages. My DD and I took advantage of those in September.

WDW has 2 minature golf courses as well.
At some point you may want to hold off a few years as well (if I interpret what you said correctly you went 2010, '11 and then 2 more times).
This gives Disney some time to add some more attractions, while at the same time give you a little more urge to do some of the things you really liked.

Mini Golf may be an option. Yeah, we are taking this year off. (updated my first post). I'm getting ideas for 2015.

Take the Keys To The Kingdom Tour. It's really, REALLY good and only about 5 hours long. You get lunch and a chance to learn some very interesting facts about WDW and Walt Disney.

Sounds like a fun tour, but 5 hours seems like a long time to be away from the park attractions?

Last trip we went during F&W and loved that experience (for the food - not drinkers).

Oops, forgot to mention that we've done F&W (2011, 2013)

Dan

 

[Silvermist20]

These are just the things that pop into my head right away.

~Disney Quest in DTD
~Chef Mickey's (At Contemporary, best to go during breakfast)
~Rainforest Cafe (either DTD or AK)
~Via Nappoli (at Italy in Epcot, great pizza)
~Garden View Tea Room (at Grand Floridian, the afternoon tea, not the princess one unless you have really young kids)
~Good resorts to stay at or even visit are AoA, GF, Poly, WL, and Boardwalk
~Anything else other people said

 

[cedricandsophie]

Old key west...great activities, tennis, pool, shuffleboard, boat ride over to Downtown Disney.

California Grill...fab food and view

Brown derby at Hollywood Studios for lunch. Set outside if you can.

Splitsville at Downtown Disney. Bowling and good food.

Dine in movies at the theater at Downtown Disney. Lots of fun.

Just sitting at the outside bars at Downtown Disney and people watching.

Out of 10 days we go to parks once...more than enough. Love trying all the restaurants and hanging out at pool.

Hanging around Boardwalk at night with the magicians and other street performers.

Dueling pianos...great fun.

 

[Chuckers]

Sounds like a fun tour, but 5 hours seems like a long time to be away from the park attractions?

Dan

The time flies... it starts first thing in the morning. We rode Haunted Mansion, Pirates, and Jungle Cruise during the tour.

Although I didn't realize you had kids with you.. there may be an age limit.

Another thing you can do, only if you are staying at AKL, is you can take the Sunrise Safari.. which was GREAT. It's starts at 7am and you go directly to Animal Kingdom and you ride the Safari ride before the park opens. This is the best time to ride because the animals are just released from their pens and are very frisky. The tour guide gives information about the ride and the animals. You then have a private buffett breakfast at Pizzafari.

There's an age limit on that tour, but I remember a really young girl on the trip.. I think she was about 6.

 

[dvc cruiser]

We did the surf lessons at typhoon lagoon on this last trip it was me and my DS 9. He loved it and did great my DW came too but just watched there is no cost for spectators. The only problem was being there so early. I would do this again for sure.

 

[Kristina4109]

I second the poster who said "Disneyland!" It's a charming place and I'm fortunate enough to live within easy driving distance.

Maybe you'd like to try visiting at a different time of year. There are so many special events that happen only in certain times. You could see the Candlelight Processional at Christmas time, Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, the Flower and Garden Festival, Epcot Food and Wine Festival, etc.

 

[DisneyFive]

Thanks again everyone! I'll have to update my first post with our top contenders soon!

Characters in Flight
Blue Man Group
Chip and Dale's campfire sing along

Where is Blue Man Group at? That sounds cool. Always wanted to see them!

I might be speaking for the others when I say we need a bit more info:

1. From avatar, I assume you have three kids: 2 girls, 1 boy? Yep, you got it!

2. When are you going? We typically go late Sept for the low crowds and lower cost, but would consider all options. Keeping in mind that we're kind of spoiled by low crowd level. We do like going when it's hot enough to use the pools in the evening.

3. Where have you stayed...where are you staying? POP twice, POR twice. Thinking of CSR next... Deluxe resorts are more than we want to spend though, since we're typically not at the resort much. We spend most of the day at the parks, and come back to chill and swim at night.

4. What is your budget? Honestly, I'll spend the $$$ if I feel it's worth it. I had no issues paying $500 for our one Sea World day in 2012. It was well worth it to experience something fun and new.

Without knowing anything else, here are my suggestions.
A. Stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge. There is plenty to do there without having to go to the parks. My sister just took her three kids (who have probably been to WDW 15 times each) to AKL to stay and they LOVED it. Couldn't get enough of the animals, etc...

Love AKL, but it's more than we want to spend on a resort for the reasons I mentioned above. We saw AKL the two times we've been to Sanaa, and it is BEAUTIFUL. Thanks for the suggestion though!

B. As PP said, do something on the lakes. Rent a boat, do a fishing excursion, etc... Bay Lake, especially, or Crescent. Good options, but we do a lot of camping, boating and fishing back home in MI.

C. There are always new restaurants, of course
Always keeping my eyes open for other options. Next is probably a new TS in Epcot, and in the Beach/Yacht Club area...

As for going to Universal, you could. Beware (regardless of what others tell you) that it will be more expensive than just staying at Disney. I've priced it out, just for comparison purposes, and for me it was tough to justify getting another set of theme park tickets for $100 per day when on the 4th-5th days of WDW tickets, the price per day is like $20-30. Hotel costs might even out, depending on where you'd stay. Transportation there and then to the airport or vice versa will not be free.

Yeah, that is tough, especially since you almost need 2 days to do Universal and IoA from what I've read. I'm mostly o.k. with the cost, but it does hurt almost more to miss out on two Disney park days!

Have fun!!

Thanks!

Was also going to add the water parks. Where have you stayed? We always like to dine in a resort we aren't staying in & then enjoy the resort after. Stroll around the boardwalk, Bob the piano man at the Riverside, mini golf by the swan & Dolphin , the awesome sights at AKL, The electrical water pageant from one of the beaches, etc.

Like the idea of walking through the Boardwalk area! That is such a beautiful area. Fell in love with it the first time we went to Cape May's on one of our HS days.

We also would do the same things each time: Stay at Boardwalk, sleep til 8, coffee on balcony, pool at 10:30am, lunch at 1, Epcot by 5pm. (Wow, that sounds wonderful....) Dang, that does sound wonderful!
And it was, but the only way I can get DW to agree to return 3-4 times a year is to promise to "do new things" each trip. Ah, like minds.

Disney at Christmas is amazing.....MVMCP, Osborne lights, pirates cruise from contemporary, Cirque du solei
I'm not sure you can recreate the feeling of your 1st trip it's so special! One of my favorite trips was not having as much planned and taking time to discover new stuff on our own, seeing more of the shows and some things we were too busy and overlooked when we were on a schedule.

Maybe a Nov trip is in order for us? Still warm enough, but get to see MVMCP and the lights right? When does that begin?

OP please let us know what you decide. This is one of those where I (and I am sure others) are very curious to know what you wind up doing.

Whatever you do, have an awesome time!

Thanks you! and will do! I'll have to bookmark my own thread so that I remember to reply back after our trip!

OMG: There is SO much more to do!!

Tours:
Keys to the Kingdom - awesome and reasonably priced tour
Animal Kingdom tour - forgot the name, but it's supposed to be great. You get to rope climb over the Crocs, and there is even a private lunch that looks over the safari Will have to look into these

Going to the top of the Contemporary hotel and eating either dinner or just going for drinks and appetizers in the lounge. Caveat: dress up a little for this, since Disney now has CM "gate keepers" too funny on the fourth floor who makes sure that people are neatly dressed and not just slumming it up from the pool.

Grabbing fish and chips and eating by the Beatles cover band in England. I've read about this and have wanted to see them but the timing was never right. We'll have to try to find time to be there....

Get a "Happy Birthday" pin, but write "Un-Birthday" on it. See what happens. Sounds very interesting! I'll have to remember this one!

Actually go swimming at your pool instead of looking at it! Spend a whole day at your resort - we always forget to stop and stay at our hotel, you know? We love swimming in the pools, and so do the kids (well, I guess pretty much all kids do )


Watch the Electrical Water Pageant. Preferably from the top of the Contemporary resort. Watch wishes from the Polynesian beach. Or do the Wishes dessert party. That is a great party! Sounds cool.

Visit the Rose and Crown in England - the pub and the restaurant are good.
Get margaritas in Mexico, pretzels in Germany, a Dole whip in Adventureland, climb the Swiss Family treehouse, get some brew and a lambshank at Gaston's, listen to the piano player by Casey's! I'd love to drink around the world with my DW, but kind of tough with kids in tow.

Take the pontoon boat from PO to DtD and back again. Done it, like it. Get beniets, gumbo and po'boys at POFQ

With regard to Uni - London and Diagon Alley are going to be AWESOME!!! Unless Diagon Alley and London aren't open or don't appeal to you; there will be a need for at least a parkhopper. London is in Universal Studios and Hogsmeade in Islands of Adventure.

Gosh, there are lots of things to do!

Have fun!!!

 

[DisneyFive]

The time flies... it starts first thing in the morning. We rode Haunted Mansion, Pirates, and Jungle Cruise during the tour. Didn't realize that you got to go on rides during the tour! That's pretty cool. I'll see if the kids would like to spend the time on a tour...

Although I didn't realize you had kids with you.. there may be an age limit.

Another thing you can do, only if you are staying at AKL, is you can take the Sunrise Safari.. which was GREAT. It's starts at 7am and you go directly to Animal Kingdom and you ride the Safari ride before the park opens. This is the best time to ride because the animals are just released from their pens and are very frisky. The tour guide gives information about the ride and the animals. You then have a private buffett breakfast at Pizzafari. Sounds awesome, but AKL is more than we want to spend on our resort...

There's an age limit on that tour, but I remember a really young girl on the trip.. I think she was about 6.

We did the surf lessons at typhoon lagoon on this last trip it was me and my DS 9. He loved it and did great my DW came too but just watched there is no cost for spectators. The only problem was
being there so early. I would do this again for sure.

We would LOVE this. I'll look into it. Thanks!

I second the poster who said "Disneyland!" It's a charming place and I'm fortunate enough to live within easy driving distance. Perhaps someday, and we'll turn it into a grander California/West Coast trip.

Maybe you'd like to try visiting at a different time of year. There are so many special events that happen only in certain times. You could see the Candlelight Processional at Christmas time, Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, the Flower and Garden Festival, Epcot Food and Wine Festival, etc.

Would like to see the Christmas lights and MVMCP sometime. Must be amazing

Dan

 

[Barbydoll8]

Get to MK for rope drop. They do a ceremony for the opening. Better yet, go to CP for breakfast before the park is open. We did this last year for the 1st time and it was amazing.

Take an animation class in HS or at the AoA resort.

Go to the Poly for the tiki lighting ceremony.

Do a hidden Mickey's tour. Most hotel front desks have maps.

Go on a tour of Wilderness Lodge and roam the grounds there. Walk over or take a boat over to the camp ground and go canoeing.

 

[FPminusCommando]

1) Tour Epcot then walk through International Gateway and take the boat ride to the Studios.

2) Go a different time of year. I've taken the crew once in Oct and five times for Spring Break. I would use around 10 FP's a day in MK. With the change to FP+ I was concerned about wait times so this year we are going the week before Thanksgiving. Low crowds and Christmas lights. We will be sure to tour the deluxe hotels to see all the decorations.

3) Stormalong Bay. If you don't want to pay to stay there whole trip, you could switch to there for the last two nights. I admit, four years ago we crashed the pool and had a great time, but I believe they have the pool gated now.

4) Bar hop. We get an ADR for GF Cafe and arrive an hour early to tour the hotel and hang out in the bar. The bar at the top of BLT is amazing but I believe you have to be staying there. We watched Wishes from there one night and then went inside. The adults enjoyed a few drinks while the kids enjoyed playing games on their iPhones.

 

[Chuckers]

They do a ceremony for the opening. Better yet, go to CP for breakfast before the park is open. We did this last year for the 1st time and it was amazing.

This. It is SO cool... Main Street looks like the morning after the Zombie Apocolypse. It's so empty and clean. You can get a picture of the castle with no one in front of it...

 

[DisneyFive]

Get to MK for rope drop. They do a ceremony for the opening. Better yet, go to CP for breakfast before the park is open. We did this last year for the 1st time and it was amazing. The opening show is a must do! Didn't know about it on our first trip, and were totally wowed by it. I actually got a little choked up, yeah I admit it. Regarding the breakfast before MK park opening, the Steam Trains tour gets you in before park opening too, and you are the very first guests in MK that day. I think we had to be there around 7am. It WAS awesome, I agree. Great photo op! So weird seeing main street empty except for some CM's walking around.

Take an animation class in HS or at the AoA resort. Done it. Love it. A must each trip.

Go to the Poly for the tiki lighting ceremony. Will look into it!

Do a hidden Mickey's tour. Most hotel front desks have maps.

Go on a tour of Wilderness Lodge and roam the grounds there. Walk over or take a boat over to the camp ground and go canoeing.We love checking out new resorts, and haven't seen this one yet. Good suggestion.

4) Bar hop. We get an ADR for GF Cafe and arrive an hour early to tour the hotel and hang out in the bar. The bar at the top of BLT is amazing but I believe you have to be staying there. We watched Wishes from there one night and then went inside. The adults enjoyed a few drinks while the kids enjoyed playing games on their iPhones.

One of these years we'll have to bar hop. Right up our alley. We will have to do it on a year that a set of our parents go with; so they can watch the kids and the parents have a night out!

This. It is SO cool... Main Street looks like the morning after the Zombie Apocolypse. It's so empty and clean. You can get a picture of the castle with no one in front of it...

Agree, very cool, and weird

Dan

 

[caselaw3]

Dan,

If your last trip was in 2011, how did you do Be Our Guest? It didn't open until the end of 2012.

he was there in 2012 and 2013 it said

 

[richmo]

I believe there is also an age limit on Keys to the Kingdom...I would imagine 16, maybe even 18.

If you have a car:
- Go to the beach. Both coasts.
- Sea World
- If you want to splurge a little, Discovery Cove
- NASA