More for Less: A Theme Park Planning Strategy

[wisblue]

Except for the trip offsite for lunch, your day 3 agenda looks a lot like one of our typical days at WDW. Thank you for highlighting why a lot of guests (including us) like FP+ because it works very well if you aren't planning on spending all day in one park.

I'm also glad to see that you now realize that, with an efficient use of FP+, you can do a lot more than 3 attractions in a day with short waits. In your case, if you do arrive at Epcot at 9 AM you should be able to do quite a few things with short lines by 11 AM, like we did on our trip in November. Using the single rider line at Test Track helps if you are willing to skip the car design.

 

[Laketravis]

Except for the trip offsite for lunch, your day 3 agenda looks a lot like one of our typical days at WDW. Thank you for highlighting why a lot of guests (including us) like FP+ because it works very well if you aren't planning on spending all day in one park.

I'm also glad to see that you now realize that, with an efficient use of FP+, you can do a lot more than 3 attractions in a day with short waits. In your case, if you do arrive at Epcot at 9 AM you should be able to do quite a few things with short lines by 11 AM, like we did on our trip in November. Using the single rider line at Test Track helps if you are willing to skip the car design.

I wouldn't start gloating just yet, Wis. Sure, hopping from one WDW park to another on one day offers some distinct advantages but they quickly run out over the span of several days. Having AP's to another theme park right down the street has a lot to do with "doing a lot more than 3 attractions in a day with short waits" and if you notice that portion doesn't require a lot of planning if any at all other than showing up.

I wouldn't feel like we were getting nearly as much accomplished if we only had half the options available to us.





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[wisblue]

I wouldn't start gloating just yet, Wis. Sure, hopping from one WDW park to another on one day offers some distinct advantages but they quickly run out over the span of several days. Having AP's to another theme park right down the street has a lot to do with "doing a lot more than 3 attractions in a day with short waits" and if you notice that portion doesn't require a lot of planning if any at all other than showing up.

I wouldn't feel like we were getting nearly as much accomplished if we only had half the options available to us.
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Who's gloating? I'm just pointing out that FP+ works well for park hopping and that the opinion that some people have that FP+ only allows you to do 3 attractions in one day without long lines is patently false. I thought I was complimenting your effective Day 3 plan, but I guess you don't want to see it that way.

As for advantages running out after several days, I agree. That's why we don't take trips of any longer than a week and, when we stay that long, we usually do something offsite like visiting Universal or Sea World.

 

[DisneyKidds]

Mmmmm.....find the cheesiest tourist trap or go to the Golden Colon. Combine that with dealing with I Drive aggregation and spending as much time in parking lots and driving between DisneyUniWhatever as you do in a WDW park each day.

Hey, I admire the willingness to save a buck, but I'll hang up my Mickey ears before I let my Disney vacation become that. With the PD conditioned response in me, I like passing the WDW signs at the berm and never leaving Neverland, my escape for a week from the everyday that I-Drive represents. To each his own, as they say!

Of course the proposed plan works better for those that have previously decided that they were really looking for more of an Orlando area vacation than a WDW vacation anyway.

Enjoy!

 

[Laketravis]

Mmmmm.....find the cheesiest tourist trap or go to the Golden Colon. Combine that with dealing with I Drive aggregation and spending as much time in parking lots and driving between DisneyUniWhatever as you do in a WDW park each day.

We'll see.




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[ArwenMarie]

LT has piqued my interest. Are there any great local offsite places to eat? We don't typically eat at national chains at home, and so they really hold no appeal for me on vacation, either.

I'm sure there are good local places, but we realized that even chains have the same quality food as many of the regular Disney table service places for half the price. So that made us happy. We were really excited one night at Steak n Shake when the bill was about $20 lol. And no ADRs was a plus.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

I'm sure there are good local places, but we realized that even chains have the same quality food as many of the regular Disney table service places for half the price. So that made us happy. We were really excited one night at Steak n Shake when the bill was about $20 lol. And no ADRs was a plus.

OMG I LOVE STEAK & SHAKE! I know it's a chain, but we don't have them so whenever we go somewhere that does, we always seek them out. I'd take S&S over pretty much any Disney burger any day!

 

[grimley1968]

I'm sure there are good local places, but we realized that even chains have the same quality food as many of the regular Disney table service places for half the price. So that made us happy. We were really excited one night at Steak n Shake when the bill was about $20 lol. And no ADRs was a plus.

We got a Steak & Shake in my little town of 11,000 people about a year ago. As you can imagine, it could just about use ADR's to handle their traffic. It is definitely nice to have one close by, though.

To pretend to get back on topic, I'll say that S&S's food is much better than most Disney CS places, for half the cost. Definitely a wise strategy to eat there when possible vs. in the parks.

 

[erc]

Sometimes experiencing a chain that is not located near your home is one of the fun things about traveling. A couple of years ago I traveled to Texas and discovered Whataburger. Laugh if you will, but I have yet to find a burger that beats that place, and down there it is just another fast-food chain. I wish they would locate to New England.

 

[MrInfinity]

Sometimes experiencing a chain that is not located near your home is one of the fun things about traveling. A couple of years ago I traveled to Texas and discovered Whataburger. Laugh if you will, but I have yet to find a burger that beats that place, and down there it is just another fast-food chain. I wish they would locate to New England.

In-N-Out Burger! Mostly Cali /Az /Nv, and a few stragglers.

And for the Midwest, of course, White Castle. Not that it's good, per se, but definitely... unique.

 

[clsteve]

Sometimes experiencing a chain that is not located near your home is one of the fun things about traveling. A couple of years ago I traveled to Texas and discovered Whataburger. Laugh if you will, but I have yet to find a burger that beats that place, and down there it is just another fast-food chain. I wish they would locate to New England.

Very true......

In October '85, we stopped in this Italian place in Kissimmee called Olive Garden. First time I'd ever seen one and it was awesome! Yep, I'll admit it.....

 

[dawgsgirl]

Make sure you use Turkey Lake Rd to travel to Universal/Sea World!! Much less traffic!

 

[Planogirl]

There are certainly good restaurants in the Orlando area that aren't part of chains. We do tend to gravitate to the chains though, I'll admit it.

As for travel, it's no big deal to me. I enjoy the break from the parks and I actually like driving even in Orlando. I have to fight the urge to explore because that takes too much time but I enjoy seeing new areas. There are no tolls between WDW and Universal or SeaWorld.

As for Express Passes at Universal, I can only comment on how it was prior to the second Harry Potter land. Just like in the old days at WDW, you plan your day correctly and normally there is no need for Express.

 

[Jennasis]

If we're talking about off site eating...I LOVE having our own car with us JUST so we can hit Giordano's on 192.

 

[cakebaker]

Sometimes experiencing a chain that is not located near your home is one of the fun things about traveling. A couple of years ago I traveled to Texas and discovered Whataburger. Laugh if you will, but I have yet to find a burger that beats that place, and down there it is just another fast-food chain. I wish they would locate to New England.

I won't tell you the number of donuts I consumed years ago after finding my first Krispy Kreme on the way to WDW. But once I'm inside the gates, the rest of the world goes away for a week or so.

 

[scrapjacks]

I think your plan could work out pretty well. We were at MK this past Wed and a malfunctioning monorail added about a half hour to our planned time.

I see you have Texas de Brazil as a possiblility on Day 2. I love that place!
So good but it isn't cheap and it isnt QUICK. The way the meal progresses with the meat brought to your table takes longer than other places and the traffic in that area of I-drive is terrible most days. If you choose that restaurant plan on a longer than some of the other places on your list.

 

[ConnieB]

8pm - 8:30pm: Potty break (just seeing if you're paying attention)




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Work on getting a FP+ for that and it won't take 30 minutes.

 

[Disney Khi]

Celebration has some good restaurants. We've eaten at the Thai restaurant and at Celebration Town Tavern, and they are both good. This is a chain, but Cafe Tu Tu Tango in Orlando is good, too.

 

[fbb]

If you can ride Mission Space after Texas de Brazil, then you did something wrong at Texas de Brazil.

 

[johde]

That's what I want to get to. See what you have going against you tho, is you are presuming APs to Disney, Uni, and possibly also other area attractions. As you get past just a few days, you're going to be adding in this or that to make up something to do w the extra time. See, I've often wanted to pick up Uni on a trip... but with Disney World being our priority and LEGOLAND a close second, the price to incrementally add Universal ends up being costly for us. We need a 6-person room, which puts us in a suite, and every time I've run it, I end up finding that adding 3 days at Uni ends up costing us like $3000. There is this strategy of doing Disney and Uni on the same day, thereby maximizing the # of days you can do Fast Passes on, but I think this will end up being overall less efficient than spending a day at Uni, and a day at Disney, plus would not allow us to do what we really want, which is to enjoy everything about Uni, including its hotels, pools, etc. Splitting them half and half on two days mandates twice as much time parking driving, entering parks, leaving parks, etc.

In your example, since you are offsite to Uni too, are you buying a FOTL pass there? And if so for all 3 of your guests? Or waiting standby? This strategy is contrary to the split-days, since a FOTL pass is good for a day. If you buy it, you're almost surely going to come out ahead spending a whole day at Universal to get the most out of your pass. Do you do Power, Preferred, or Premier? With only Power, you don't get parking so that'd be costly... and without Premier, you don't get Express Pass.

For those that aren't Universal savvy, it you wanted to add Express Pass into the mix you would probably upgrade from Preferred Passes to Premier Passes for an extra $110. It would require rearranging your days but the premier pass gets after 4:00 p.m. Universal Express (one trip per ride), Preferred or Valet parking (quicker into the park although you should tip if you use the valet), 8 free bottles of water during the year, and a free HHN ticket (non premium night).


Fuzzylogic, If your willing to go without Express Passes, Cabana Bay can be had for 3 weekday nights in Mid December for $156 a night in a suite. That rack rate with stay more save more. So about $500 for the hotel and about $1200 for the tickets. So, about $1,700. If you wait and book through Orbitz, or travelocity etc. with a coupon code. you could possibly get 20% or 25% off the hotel.