July 2011:Calling all planners-Post your dates & Resort

[P13]

OH my! I might have to re-think my planning!! I went onto easywdw & was going to follow their suggestions on which day to visit what park, now I'm not so sure I should! We have my DD (16) & her DF (16), so getting them up in the early AM is going to be a struggle, but may be worth it in the long run??

Sorry for all the questions, just found this thread & being allot has just gotten back, I figured you all would have more insight on my panicing issues

Thanks again,
Paula

 

[juliebug1997]

OH my! I might have to re-think my planning!! I went onto easywdw & was going to follow their suggestions on which day to visit what park, now I'm not so sure I should! We have my DD (16) & her DF (16), so getting them up in the early AM is going to be a struggle, but may be worth it in the long run??

Sorry for all the questions, just found this thread & being allot has just gotten back, I figured you all would have more insight on my panicing issues

Thanks again,
Paula

It's generally just 8 AM. I'm a teacher and I like to sleep in too but I also like being able to experience a fairly empty park. We went back and napped every afternoon after lunch or went swimming and then went back in the late afternoon/early evenings.

 

[Khokhonutt]

We are leaving the 27-3rd...can anyone that just came back let me know how the crowds were & line wait times?? We've only been to Disney once in the summer & that was 19yrs ago for our honeymoon. We now have a DD(16) that is VERY Irish in every way, very fair skin, reddish hair, doesn't do the greatest in the heat. Trying to come up a plan that will suit us all. TIA!

I'll echo what others have said, our plan is to hit the early EMH at each park each day and head back to the resort by noon or so. Pool and/or nap in the afternoon, then head back for our dinner reservations and hang out in the evenings. Avoiding the heat of the day is one of the best things to do.

If you're not going to go back to the room, duck into the A/C (and shade) whenever you can. Try to save rides with A/C'd queues for the afternoons and cruise the shops, even if it's to play, find the A/C vent and bask in the cool air game.

For sun, I recommend the spray on sunscreens. I typically hate sunscreen and refuse to use it because it's like smearing grease on myself. Florida is the one place I make an exception. The spray on stuff is not as greasy, to me. We always spray it on before we get dressed, so there's less risk of missing a spot.

 

[P13]

It's generally just 8 AM. I'm a teacher and I like to sleep in too but I also like being able to experience a fairly empty park. We went back and napped every afternoon after lunch or went swimming and then went back in the late afternoon/early evenings.

I'm thinking we may have to re-think & do this also. We have always done the parks (what some people on here say commando) We would go from morning till night, but when we had our DD there it was 'off season' & the parks weren't open that late. We/I have agreed to try & take it 'slow' this time w/ breaks back to the hotel to swim & cool off...So, I'm thinking this strategy may work better. DD & DF..will just have to coroperate
Thanks so much for your help!

 

[P13]

I'll echo what others have said, our plan is to hit the early EMH at each park each day and head back to the resort by noon or so. Pool and/or nap in the afternoon, then head back for our dinner reservations and hang out in the evenings. Avoiding the heat of the day is one of the best things to do.

If you're not going to go back to the room, duck into the A/C (and shade) whenever you can. Try to save rides with A/C'd queues for the afternoons and cruise the shops, even if it's to play, find the A/C vent and bask in the cool air game.

For sun, I recommend the spray on sunscreens. I typically hate sunscreen and refuse to use it because it's like smearing grease on myself. Florida is the one place I make an exception. The spray on stuff is not as greasy, to me. We always spray it on before we get dressed, so there's less risk of missing a spot.

Oh my...sunscreen is OUR friend We should own stock in the company. DD is so fair, it must be applied all day long & we use the highest SPF we can find.
Thanks for your help, I'm slowly calming down!!

 

[disney*mom*82]

Just wanted to add a note on sunscreen, for those that havent found one in particular that works good.

I use Huggies sun screen on the whole family and nobody had EVER gotten burnt (we are talking babies to adults, 5 trips to WDW, zoo trips, baseball games, and LOTS more) If we use the spray stuff our DD11 and DD3 get burnt, but Im telling you since I found Huggies (it comes in an orange bottle usually in baby department) no one has gotten burnt. HTH!

Oh my...sunscreen is OUR friend We should own stock in the company. DD is so fair, it must be applied all day long & we use the highest SPF we can find.
Thanks for your help, I'm slowly calming down!!

 

[disney*mom*82]

Well, we made it back from our week at Branson. It was nice, not my kind of vacation, but we had a good time and kids had a blast! We have 11 more days until we spend 5 days at a waterpark resort in the Smoky Mountains, then we are off to WDW! Our DD3 has no clue we are going to WDW I cant wait to see her face!

She asked me yesterday when we will go back to WDW, I said maybe when you are 5, she said, nooo, I said, ok maybe when you are 4, she said nooo, I wanna go when Im 3 1/2 LOL! She just doesnt realise that is gonna happen!

 

[P13]

Just wanted to add a note on sunscreen, for those that havent found one in particular that works good.

I use Huggies sun screen on the whole family and nobody had EVER gotten burnt (we are talking babies to adults, 5 trips to WDW, zoo trips, baseball games, and LOTS more) If we use the spray stuff our DD11 and DD3 get burnt, but Im telling you since I found Huggies (it comes in an orange bottle usually in baby department) no one has gotten burnt. HTH!

I will have to look for that brand! Thanks!

 

[courtneylauren]

Having an awesome time here at BLT.

Did Magic Kingdom and Downtown Disney yesterday.

Went to Blizzard Beach this morning. Heading to a late lunch at Le Cellier (2:45) and Hollywood Studios tonight.

Read about it / see pictures here: http://www.disneyworldlive.com/2011blog.htm

 

[disneywatcher]

I'm glad he got home safely! Have fun at the World. We'll be there on Saturday! Maybe we'll run into each other.

Cheers,
Indy

I'll be the red head with the short hair, 3 little girls, one tall dirty blonde guy and a mint green stroller that has a Snow White license plate on it....will also have my LGMH on my back pack

We get a free bag each with Delta, so it's not a big deal... except that we have more stuff to carry now. On the upside, I'm not on crutches, so it's less of a problem!

And we plan to do some laundry if we have to change. We'll have to change, he just doesn't realize it yet!

YAY for no Crutches! I'm thinking DH will take one look at my packing job and re-do it though and we are taking 2 bags

I'm baaaaacccckkk! Did you miss me??

We got in around 3 this morning. I've been doing like mad so DH has clean clothes for work tomorrow, looking at photopass, etc. I'm going to do a TR, but have to sit down and think about it, load pics, etc. first.

Yes, it is hot. It's FL. in July! Thurs. it started raining heavily shortly after lunch, and didn't stop until Friday morning - tropical depression. We had a few hours of a break, started again Friday around 1 and rained until 6 or so. Otherwise, not a drop!

Yes, tour groups are there. Not too bad. Take up lots of space, go to opposite attractions from them, and they do camp out really early to get good fireworks/parades spots. If you don't like singing, dancing, and cheering, they will bother you. Only had 1 instance of trying to pass. They weren't in our resort, so no problems there. Fastpass and attraction lines and parade viewing spots were the main issues, just because of their numbers.

Any other questions?

Welcome Back! During fireworks and parades, we will be in attractions doing our best to avoid the BTG's. Glad to hear you had a great time! When do we get to see pictures?

3 Days until we leave! I can't believe it! I need to get the pictures off the camera and into photobucket (also I don't want to go to Disney with pictures on the Memory Card )

Thank you to everyone who welcomed DH home!

 

[carrie6466]

Having an awesome time here at BLT.

Did Magic Kingdom and Downtown Disney yesterday.

Went to Blizzard Beach this morning. Heading to a late lunch at Le Cellier (2:45) and Hollywood Studios tonight.

Read about it / see pictures here: http://www.disneyworldlive.com/2011blog.htm

You have some great pictures on your blog Sounds like you guys are having a lot of fun

 

[grandmadebby2]

courtneylauren your pictures make me want to go today. Glad you are having a good time. Sounds like it has been very raining there, is it doing much to effect parades and such at the parks.

Sure wish next week would get here so I could get on with vacation. Been terribly hot and dry here and we are all ready for a break from the everyday hum drum.

 

[Disny4girls]

What is the weather down there now at Disney World? We leave Friday morning they the 15th. Any body know the forcast for the weekend thru Tuesday? Thanks

 

[RHMH]

Welcome Back! Glad to hear you had fun



1st bag free on Jet Blue So I can take 3 bags if I want to, but I think we're going to try to do it in 2. I agree with changing. He'll realize it around 7 the second day, after his run

Have a great trip!










Sounds like a great day, Bob. Was it crowded at Extra Magic Hours?

It did not seem crowded to me. I forgot to mention that Space Mountain broke down for the evening - morning around 1:20 AM.

Someone asked me to research the Monorail schedule for the 11th of July after Magic Hours. No one seems to know anything about it. I asked many CM'S, they all said that Disney would not approve something like that to happen.

Thanks and I will put our report on Hollywood Studio's later this evening.

Thanks - Midori, DD - Bob, Me

 

[Mbacherfhd]

July 22nd - July 31st. AKV

 

[IndyDisney]

I'll be the red head with the short hair, 3 little girls, one tall dirty blonde guy and a mint green stroller that has a Snow White license plate on it....will also have my LGMH on my back pack

I'll be the guy in the backwards blue Penn State hat with a green camelbak-type backpack with my LGME attached pushing a somewhat matching stroller with a ridiculously large 4 year old blond princess aboard. DW has the same blond hair as her Mini-me (DD). Check out my PTR in my sig for pics.

Cheers,
Indy

 

[RHMH]

July 11th – Hollywood Studio’s – Arrived at the bus stop at 7:30 AM and was picked up with in 10 minutes. Got to Hollywood Studio’s at 7:45 AM for Magic Hours, but they did not have it scheduled today. Must have been our mistake – they have Magic Hours tonight. Guess we will go back to Hollywood Studio’s tonight.

We rode Areosmith Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror 6 times each today. Did 3-D Muppets, Toy Story and the new Star Wars 3-D.

Ate at Sci-fi today for lunch. Reservations at 12:45 PM – got hungry around 11:30 so decided to swing by to see if we could get in. Talk to Omar and asked him if we could get in earlier and he took us in immediately. We ordered Double dip for two, Angus Cheeseburger (Midori) – Ruben Sandwich (Bob), Vanilla milk shake and iced tea. Sarah our servers was excellent, great personality and attention to details. Sung happy birthday and gave me a very large chocolate sundae with candied Mickey sprinkles. Spoke to the Manager and complimented the service of Omar- Reservations, Karen – Hostess / Car Hop and Sarah our server.

We left Hollywood Studio’s at 4 PM, swam for about an hour until rain, thunder and lightning surrounded the area. Resting now and will go back to Hollywood Studio’s for extra hours tonight only to ride Aerosmith Coaster and Tower of Terror only.

Edited 5:30 AM Orlando time ...We'll Magic hours at Hollywood Studio's was really fun. We added 4 more rides to our total for Aerosmith and Tower of Terror making it a total of 10 times each.

As you can see by the past 2 days - I like Ruben Sandwiches - OK, I will eat something else at Epcot.

July 12th - Epcot

 

[Amunet]

We are leaving the 27-3rd...can anyone that just came back let me know how the crowds were & line wait times?? We've only been to Disney once in the summer & that was 19yrs ago for our honeymoon. We now have a DD(16) that is VERY Irish in every way, very fair skin, reddish hair, doesn't do the greatest in the heat. Trying to come up a plan that will suit us all. TIA!

You will be there when we're there! We're going July 26th - 31st ^_^

As for your daughter, I am exactly like her ... I also hate the sun (direct sunlight) because it hurts my skin. You've got some great reccomendations but I'd like to add one more thing: SPF 100.
Yes, 100! I used this when we went to Orlando for Universal ( harry potter baby!) and I never got burnt. It's also great because it's for 'sport' people so it has the sweatproof/waterproof bonuses
I forget the brand but it comes in a 3.4 or 4ounce bottle (slightly small) and can be a tad pricey (I found it at a walgreens), but for me, worth every penny. We plan to buy some more if we can find it

 

[carrie6466]

It did not seem crowded to me. I forgot to mention that Space Mountain broke down for the evening - morning around 1:20 AM.

Someone asked me to research the Monorail schedule for the 11th of July after Magic Hours. No one seems to know anything about it. I asked many CM'S, they all said that Disney would not approve something like that to happen.

Thanks and I will put our report on Hollywood Studio's later this evening.

Thanks - Midori, DD - Bob, Me

Oh, goodie, I'm hoping next week won't be over-crowded then either

I read an article about the whole monorail thing the other day and it's been all over the Theme Park strategy board since then. Interesting that none of the cm's seem to know about it!

July 22nd - July 31st. AKV

 

[miprender]

We are leaving the 27-3rd...can anyone that just came back let me know how the crowds were & line wait times?? We've only been to Disney once in the summer & that was 19yrs ago for our honeymoon. We now have a DD(16) that is VERY Irish in every way, very fair skin, reddish hair, doesn't do the greatest in the heat. Trying to come up a plan that will suit us all. TIA!

Three days until we leave!!!!

Have a good Monday, everyone.

Cheers,
Indy

Well, this is the crazy day - last minute laundry, cleaning, packing, dropping the dog at "camp" and looking for lost items (DH is missing his Ipod at the moment). Probably will not be on here much today. But, in 24 hours will be at the airport!!

Have a safe trip and see you on the 20th

She asked me yesterday when we will go back to WDW, I said maybe when you are 5, she said, nooo, I said, ok maybe when you are 4, she said nooo, I wanna go when Im 3 1/2 LOL! She just doesnt realise that is gonna happen!

She is going to be so excited.

Having an awesome time here at BLT.

Did Magic Kingdom and Downtown Disney yesterday.

Went to Blizzard Beach this morning. Heading to a late lunch at Le Cellier (2:45) and Hollywood Studios tonight.

Read about it / see pictures here: http://www.disneyworldlive.com/2011blog.htm

Gotta check it out right now.

July 22nd - July 31st. AKV

Oh, goodie, I'm hoping next week won't be over-crowded then either

I read an article about the whole monorail thing the other day and it's been all over the Theme Park strategy board since then. Interesting that none of the cm's seem to know about it!

Actually after reading some of those threads I'm a little afraid to ride the monorail. Things are falling off the tracks and some of the monorails are being towed back. I might be taking the boat to MK this trip