Just back.....

[disfamily2]

Just back from five fun filled days at WDW. My daughter and I stayed at the Polynesian Resort and LOVED it. The weather was hot and humid and only rained on Sunday afternoon. No rain at all the rest of the week. This was the first time I have ever traveled in the summer and the crowds were high. If you get to the MK right at opening, you get about one hour at Fantasyland before it starts to get crowded. To get on major attractions such as Splash, fast pass is the way to go. Wait times were over an hour for the mountains. Also we did e-night on Wednesday night and that is worth the money. Waits were only about 5-10 minutes. Plus you don't have the hot blazing sun to deal with. FW in Epcot is actually a good place to keep cool because all the main attractions are inside and nice and cool except for TT which has a long line outside. We did character breakfasts at the castle and Ohana's. The food was much better at Ohana's than the castle. All in all it was a great trip, even though I don't think I would visit again in the summer. Any questions ? Just let me know......


Jo Ann

 

[HauntedMansionFreak]

What is e-night? How much does it cost and where can I get info on purchasing it?

 

[dbail2]

Read this:

http://allearsnet.com/tp/etik.htm

 

[bubba's mom]

hi JoAnn..... we are going to MK in aug and are planning the early entry. if we are there when it opens, do you think it's possible to do fantasyland AND toontown fair? i already know we are doing dumbo first, then pooh rides. i'd like to do mickey and minnie's houses before it gets too crowded.....also, did their houses open later than rest of park? i know early entry is 8am, rest of park opens 9am. i do remember reading some attractions open later than rest of park, are mick & minn's house included? we have 1 kid-5yo...thanks!
Barb

 

[swilphil]

Barb--Great minds think alike! We were at MK's EE exactly one week ago. We did Dumbo, Pooh, and then headed to Toontown. But it was closed!!! The sign said until 10 a.m. (but could have been 9). We were going to see some characters and then take the train over to Frontierland, which was closed too! I think that was just for that particular day though. Big Thunder was closed most, if not all, of that day and Splash Mountain opened a little late. It all worked out though, but we probably should have just stayed in Fantasyland until 9 a.m.

Definitely use Fastpass, and take advantage of afternoon breaks. It is hot!!

FYI: E-night costs $12 and lets you stay in the parks an extra 3 hours after closing. The cool thing is they only sell 5,000 tickets, so there's not a wait for anything! It's only open to onsite guests.

 

[bubba's mom]

Sherri--
you're right!! great minds think alike! thanks for the info.... i think we will probably do most, if not all, of Fantasyland and get to and houses at opening. then i think the plan is to do indy speedway (my son is a car freak!)....still working on the rest, but wanted to get Fantasyland done first! (the boy is 5 1/2). we are only going to be there 1 and 3/4 days (only park we're doing--on our way to our annual visit to my in-laws) so, i am trying to plan most of the first day to make the most of our time there. i think the second day will be to do what we miss the first day and do whatever we liked the most from the first day. again, thanks for the tip!!
i'm always looking for tips/advice!!

 

[swilphil]

Barb--One thing we did this trip that we had never done before was Tom Sawyer's Island. My 4 year old son loved it, so I think your 5 year old will like it. Plus the caves were nice and cool and there was tons of shade. A great break on a sweltering hot day!

 

[bubba's mom]

Sherri....
unfortunately, it's going to be in rehab and closed. we were all (including Ry) looking forward to that and i had planned that about early afternoon as a "rest and recharge" time.....we found some really good websites with awesome pictures of disney and when my son saw the pics of the "air rifles" he went crazy! so, i haven't mentioned it to him in hopes of him forgetting about it!
but, thanks for the tip!! much appreciated!

 

[clutter]

We just got back, too!

E-Ride nights rock!!!! We went Wednesday and Friday, and Friday was even less crowded. It was worth the money just to walk around without all the people around.

It wasn't as hot as I was afraid it was going to be, there were nice breezes most of the time (we were there during a heat wave one May, that was memorable!). We never made it to an EMH, the earliest we got to any park was 10am (once), but the crowds weren't as bad as I thought they would be. We actually walked on to a couple of rides during the day. By 5 or 6, the parks really started emptying out.

 

[sugermouse]

Yeah... We did 3 eride nights last week. Its the only way to do it during the summer. We did the rides more times in one night than some people do in a life time

 

[CharlesandCamilla]

Originally posted by swilphil
Barb--Great minds think alike! We were at MK's EE exactly one week ago. We did Dumbo, Pooh, and then headed to Toontown. But it was closed!!! The sign said until 10 a.m. (but could have been 9). We were going to see some characters and then take the train over to Frontierland, which was closed too! I think that was just for that particular day though. Big Thunder was closed most, if not all, of that day and Splash Mountain opened a little late. It all worked out though, but we probably should have just stayed in Fantasyland until 9 a.m.

When MK opens at 9 toontown doesn't open until 10 even on EMH. That's etched in stone.

We also did eride wed 7/14. Had a blast and because I used it as part of my touring plan we saw everything we HAD to see before midnight having arrived at 3 p, taking a 2 hour break, eating a nice dinner at CP. Still went back yesterday to do some things over. Should have done eride friday night instead.

 

[bubba's mom]

since we are only spending 1 and 3/4 days at MK (actually at Disney itself), i am hoping to see and do things at that ~magic~ time everyone seems to go to hotel for their nap...anyone notice lighter crowds around "naptime"....and what time was it? do most nap at 1ish or 3ish?? Thanks!