Need advice ANY and all!

[SkcMom]

I have been a self confessed lurker for a month or so. You guys are all so great and informative! I have about 100 questions so I guess I'll just put some out there and see what happens. We (myself DW 28, DH 30, and DD 9) are leaving for DisneyWorld on Jan 21st. We are staying at ASM. None of us have ever been to Disney before (I have never even flown before) We have 3day park hopper passes in addition to 1 day at SeaWorld, 1 day at Universal and 1 day we are going to Clearwater Beach to see the Gulf. So with only 3 days at Disney what should we do? Which parks should we see? We are not big on roller coasters at all. My daughter is a girly girly but pretty mature for her age so she doesn't really care about princesses any more. We would like to have a Character breakfast or lunch once but which one is best? Am I insane to not have any reservations or anything. We are not on the dining plan. I hope this is not too much info. I really do just want opinions from you guys that have been and know what to do. Thanks in advance!!

 

[Windy City Heather]

I would skip Animal Kingdom unless you are really into animals. It is really just a glorified zoo with some rides. It is a really nice park but if you have to skip one I would skip that. Another option would be to park hop, spend your morning at Animal Kingdom and your afternoon at MGM. Then spend one full day at Magic Kingdom and one full day at Epcot. Downtown Disney is fun too if you have an open evening on a non-disney day (after the gulf?). As for food, our not to miss is Crystal Palace great buffet food and Pooh and the gang. I also loved 1900 Park Fair, it is an increadable buffet. I have heard rumors about a change in characters but right now it is Mary Poppins, Alice, Mad Hadder and a few others. I heard something about it becoming the Fairies??? Chef Mickey's is fun with an o.k. buffet. Have your daughter pick her favorite characters and see where they are.

 

[staci]

I have been a self confessed lurker for a month or so. You guys are all so great and informative! I have about 100 questions so I guess I'll just put some out there and see what happens. We (myself DW 28, DH 30, and DD 9) are leaving for DisneyWorld on Jan 21st. We are staying at ASM. None of us have ever been to Disney before (I have never even flown before) We have 3day park hopper passes in addition to 1 day at SeaWorld, 1 day at Universal and 1 day we are going to Clearwater Beach to see the Gulf. So with only 3 days at Disney what should we do? Which parks should we see? !!

Definitely 1 whole day at MK. EPCOT is a big park; if you have any interest in exploring the World Showcase (which is really neat) take a whole day for EPCOT as well. MGM has some neat stuff, but I would probably combine MGM and AK into one (really long) day, just so you can see them both.

We are not big on roller coasters at all.
!!

Neither am I. WDW is the best place in the world for you. Do try Splash Mountain in MK though. (the log ride thing). It looks scary, but the drop is over very quickly. The inside of the ride is so cute and wonderful, I would ride this 10 times in a row and the carousel has been known to make me sick Also make sure to do Kilimanjaro Safaris at AK; you go on a 'safari' ride to see the animals. Do the Great Movie Ride at MGM as it is really great. And of course you have to ride Spaceship Earth (in the ball) at EPCOT.

My daughter is a girly girly but pretty mature for her age so she doesn't really care about princesses any more. We would like to have a Character breakfast or lunch once but which one is best? Am I insane to not have any reservations or anything. We are not on the dining plan.
!!

Yes do a character meal. Crystal Palace (in MK, Pooh characters) would be fun if you could get a ressie before the parks open, so that you could be done eating and already IN the parks by the time the crowds showed up. If you plan on doing a character meal but dont want to take out of your park time, schedule one at Chef Mickeys (in the Contemporary-no park tickets required, Mickey and friends) on your arrival day or a day you are not doing the parks. GET AN ADR RESERVED ASAP!!!! I know it isnt a busy season, but when we were there in Oct there were signs in MK saying that there were NO table service reservations left at ANY restaurants for the entire day. Call asap and make one so you have it. You can always cancel.

I hope this is not too much info. I really do just want opinions from you guys that have been and know what to do. Thanks in advance!!

Hope I helped you! You will have a great trip!

 

[3littleHalls]

Agreeing with the others...must do MK! I can't remember if you have park hoppers? If so....you can do all 4 parks. I would do MK a full day, Epcot, MGM, and AK can be done in half days if you know what you want to ride/see. Then go back and hit your favorite for half a day. A guide book might help you decide what rides and attractions you would want to avoid or must see. That way you could have a game plan. A character meal is a great idea. IF princess isn't her ideal, maybe 1900 Park Fare has Alice in Wonderland, the Mad Hatter(very funny) and Pooh, Eyore, or Tigger. Very good food! GET a ressie(ADR) asap! I would also take advantage of the extra magic hours to see more. BTW, we really enjoyed Dine with Shamu at SW. Have a magical trip!!

 

[SkcMom]

Thanks to all! Everything sounds great. I am thinking maybe we should skip AKL if there is so much else to do at the other parks. We do like animals, but we have some great zoos here in Missouri and we will see some animals at SeaWorld anyway. That safari thing does sound neat though. My daughter (and me) love Alice in Wonderland so that 1900 Park Fare thing sounds great. Excuse my lameness, but is that a restaurant? If so where is it? Is it a breakfast or lunch thing? Thanks again to everyone!!

 

[debbiedoo]

1900 Park Fare

Breakfast and Dinner

you would have to call for advance ressie--I recommend doing now--

1-407-WDW-DINE

 

[Grumpy24]

I would definately suggest the top priority be MK for a full day, maybe a second one as well. For your third day it is hard to recommend another park. I do agree that AK is out. . . Bor-ing! And while both Epcot and the Studios need some major rehab, both do have a few things for your daughter worth seeing;

Epcot: Test Track, Mission Space, and Soarin.

Studios: Extreme Stunt Spectacular, Tower of Terror, and Indiana Jones.

 

[Showe]

we always go to MK...no question.
Then for second day we do morning at Epcot and evening at MGM

after that its all gravy to us.

Definitely do a character lunch/dinner if possible.

as far as making resv. Twice we have had the good fortune of calling the same day for priority seating and gotten in w/o much of a wait. Maybe 30 minutes tops. (those were not character meals though)

Good luck

 

[fofinia]

I would also agree if you have to skip a park, skip Animal Kingdom. But if you don't have to skip- try and go. The lion king show is good. The safari ride is fun. Dinosaur ride is fun too. I personally don't like to spend a whole day there. A fun character meal I like is Liberty Tree Tavern in Magic Kingdom. Minnie, Mickey, Chip and Dale. The food is Turkey dinnerish (couldn't tell you the exact menu, but you could look it up- Allearsnet.com) Another of my favorite restaurants, actually two are at MGM. 50's Prime Time cafe- Picture sitting in the kitchen of a 50's sitcom kitchen with Mom, Bro and Sis the waiters, they are very funny, tell you to keep elbows off the tables. And The Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater- you sit in a car shaped booth and old 50's(?) sci fi movies are up on a big screen just like you are at a drive-in. Neither is Disney Characters but lots of fun.

1900 Park Faire- is in the Grand Floridian hotel. So if you don't have a car you can take the monorail from MK or Epcot and just get off there and the restaurant is located off the front of the lobby. It is a very pretty restaurant as well.

Even though your daughter is mature she will feel like a kid at Disney. And unfortunately you will probably miss some things in 3 days. But that will just give you a reason to go back!!!!

Have fun and get on the phone and make an ADR don't leave it to chance.

 

[wendypooh]

I would do one entire day at MK - with a character meal. We love Chef Mickey's and Crystal Palace. I would also suggest getting an ADR ASAP!!!!!!!!!!
1-407-WDW-DINE

You can check on allears for menus and decide, but I'd make ADR's as soon as possible, regardless of where you choose.

Since you aren't really into roller coaster type rides, my suggestion would be to skip MGM.

I would do this;
Day 1. MK - character meal
Day 2. Epcot
Day 3. AK / MK

As another suggestion, I'd see what day MK has the EMH's and alter the days to that, making the "entire" day, the day with the EMH's. Trust me, you never have enough time at MK.

Have fun ~ enjoy your trip!!!

 

[SkcMom]

Thanks to all again! You guys are awesome. Like I said we arrive on Sat. Jan 21st in the afternoon. We will have a rented car from the airport (Sanford). We plan on checking out our hotel and then driving to Super Wal-Mart for stuff. On Sunday the 22nd should that be our day for trying to get an early reservation at 1900 Park Faire for breakfast then going to MK for that whole day? What park is the Grand Floridian closest to?

 

[txgirl]

pretty mature for her age so she doesn't really care about princesses any more.

I'm not so sure about this statement. My daughter was 10 when we went and wore nothing princess (is a girly girl, though) and hadn't watched a Disney princess movie (besides the Princess Diaries ) in many years. Also very mature for her age and not a believer in Santa or the tooth fairy for quite some time. I was SHOCKED at how "in love" she was with all the character interactions, *especially* the princesses. They make you feel so special.

Let me tell you that as an adult woman I was quite smitten with those princesses! You are transported back to the place in time when you were all about the prince/princess fairy tale and the whole *it's magical* finally makes sense!

I'm telling you, you can't imagine how you'll feel till you get there! If anyone goes to Disney and doesn't get a chance to meet with the princesses, especially in the castle I am always disappointed for them. It is incredibly special. As my girls climbed the winding staircase for our breakfast reservations it was like a fairy tale for us! (i know-cheesy ) but it is soooooo true!!!!

I'm not sure why but the characters seem real and when I read that before I was like yeah, whatever....but when you see Mickey you are instantly 5 years old again. I have pictures of my husband (the pictures are of the kids with him just in the background) and when the kids are interacting with the characters, he is just grinning away with his eyes glazed over!!!!! It always cracks us up when we look at them.

 

[wendypooh]

As for the Grand Floridian, it is right next to MK. Once you get to MK, you can get on the monorail and just ride it around to the GF, then once you are finished eating, hop back on the monorail, and ride back over to MK. It takes all of about 5 min. I'm not sure which resort you are staying at, but it's really easy to get around using disney transportation. Actually, on our first day, (check in day) we rarely do a park, we tour all the hotels on the monorail, you can go "look" around all the other resorts, which is actually very fun!! We also sometimes go over to Y&BC, and walk along the boardwalk, if you do this, you must go to Beaches and Cream and get a kitchen sink!!!! Awesome, but trust me, only get 1!!! Sometimes, we even go to DD, it's fun to walk around, the toy store over there is fun. Someone suggested one time, that you could also go over to Ft. Wilderness and do the movie and smores......... we haven't done it, but it sounds fun. It's free, unless you get the smores....... I think the price for them is very minimal, but the movie is free, and usually chip & dale show up. There is soooo much to do, it's really hard to get it all in............ even when you have a week!!!! LOL


Do you have a map of MK or the resorts? If not, let me know and I'll try to find one, that should give you some perspective of where things are located.

 

[SkcMom]

Thanks Wendypooh! That all sounds great! We are staying at All Star Movies and no I do not have a map. Do you reccomend driving our rental car to the Grand Floridian and parking it for the day while at MK or just using the Disney trasportation for that whole day? Any help is so appreciated!

 

[SkcMom]

Got another one for you guys. I found out that the Extra Magic Hours are in the evening on Sunday the 22nd at MK. Would it be a good idea to try and get the reservation at 1900 Park Fare for that morning for the character breakfast and just spend like that entire day at MK? Thanks again for the help and I guess time is of the essence with this. We are getting so close to the 21st already.

 

[wendypooh]

NO-- don't drive your car!!!! Take the bus from ASmov. to MK, then hop on the monorail, go over to GF, have breakfast, then hop back on the monorail to MK, then enjoy your ENTIRE day there. ( To be able to park at the GF for a meal, you get a pass, you cannot leave your car thier the entire day unless you are staying there.) I"d suggest parking your car at ASmov. and the entire time you are doing "disney" parks, use disney transportation!!!!!!!! I'll see if I can locate a map for you, but you can also look at these two websites, they have a TON of info!!

www.mousesavers.com
www.allears.net


Let me go look for that map!

 

[wendypooh]

Here is the MK map....... http://www.touringplans.com/UG/freerefills.php?pic=302



Here is a link to ALL the maps - http://www.touringplans.com/UG/freeorganizer.php?showtripplanner=


Just scroll down the page, and you'll see all the maps listed.

 

[staci]

Got another one for you guys. I found out that the Extra Magic Hours are in the evening on Sunday the 22nd at MK. Would it be a good idea to try and get the reservation at 1900 Park Fare for that morning for the character breakfast and just spend like that entire day at MK? Thanks again for the help and I guess time is of the essence with this. We are getting so close to the 21st already.

That sounds like a good plan. If you cant get into breakfast you could maybe see about dinner the night of the 21st when you arrive?