Need summation (27 years strong)

[hillg1868]

Hey there, hi there, ho there;

This september is the 27th (yes twenty seventh, thats a two followed by a seven) year going to the WDW resort (i've been going since a wee lad). Ive seen changes; I love the new stuff, the old stuff, and the stuff in between from all the times I have gone. I know what exactly to do at the WDW resort (how to make fast passes, what good dining experiences there are, techniques to getting around the parks, etc.)
What I am looking for is a short summation of what I can possibly do to make my visit this year just a tad better. [In short, are there any WDW veterans that can give a short summary]
Trying to perfect my vacation game

Thanks all, have a great week!

 

[princesstinkerbelle]

Treat yourself to a special experience! I try doing at least one every trip to make things new and fresh. Some things I've tried in the past are:
-rent a boat from GF and take a ride on the Seven Seas Lagoon
-Illuminations fireworks cruise
-Victoria and Alberts
-Wild Africa Trek
-Keys to the Kingdom
-La Nouba

 

[hiroMYhero]

You probably park hop so this is by far a great thing for you to consider:
New Express Transportation: $19/day or $29/week; Schedule: Page 1 - Post #1

 

[DeterminedOne]

Parasailing. The view from up there is something special.

 

[Accident]

If you've never spent time in ft wilderness, it might be a great time to head to the cabins and do your next visit there.. it's a little hidden gem on property to me with a nice list of things to do, 2 of the best places to eat on property. horse back riding, trails, getting around with a golf cart.. If over xmas, there is a holiday sleigh ride..

I personally love the watercraft and a lazy picnic afternoon on the water...
Horse drawn cart around port orleans.
Movie night, especially whatever the dine in movie option is plus some desert around springs is a nice down moment evening.
Bowling at splitsville can be a nice time.
Tea at grand floridian, especially if your mom is with you (or let your kids have an afternoon with mom at tea).
Fireworks cruises can be a great new way to see the fireworks and a refreshing change.
the lounge at california grill for some drinks and fireworks.
the "desert party" which I forget the name of at california grill for fireworks.
the monorail all afternoon pub and food crawl ending at the same desert party in contemporary that disney does I've never done but looking forward to trying it in about a month.

Check out what swan and dolphin have on their schedules.. being on property but not disney owned and operated they have their own independent schedule of events, many of which are better than disney doing similar. Also it's a different food staff so their places to eat are a nice change from disney style..

Bonent creek can be interesting as well but better if you stay there than visit it.. disney property surrounds it so it's a nice why can't disney make a resort like this almost hidden gem.

If your looking for some stuff that is a quick uber/lyft/taxi away from property:
- helicopter tour of the theme parks (not all of disney is a no fly zone and you can get pretty close). It's also surprisingly reasonable in cost and a family of 4 will probably pay less than a ticketed event at disney for a full tour of all the area theme parks.. very close to property and you've seen them flying over Hollywood studios and parks of epcot.. Expensive side is a night tour + watching illuminations from the air.
- airboat tours to see real florida.
- variety of smaller amusement parks, mini golf and lots of other entertainment, dinner theaters, escape rooms very close.
- go to universal for 2 days.
- sea worlds been doing a killer food festival with much better than disney food if they happen to have one at the same time your around. They have the highest and fastest coaster at the moment in the area if your thrill ride lovers.
- gaylord palms has some great places to eat and in december their ICE is a great option for holiday time.
- some great places to eat in celebration and a nice quiet date night setting.

 

[mikepdc]

Just got back from a stay at WL. How about food & drink at their new waterfront Geyser Point bar/grill, maybe with plan to view Electrical Water Pageant?

 

[fla4fun]

I have been going since the first year it was open. What I do to keep it fresh is I don't go to all the parks on every trip. I may focus on MK and DHS on one trip, and Epcot and AK the next. I also do theme days - for example, I may spend a day in MK going to classic attractions from the 70's like Tiki Birds, CoP, and HoP, or doing attractions I haven't done for years (I hadn't visited TSI at all until 2014 on one of my theme days). Tours are fun, if you don't mind the upcharge. The key is not to do the same thing over and over and over. It's so easy to get in a Disney "rut" booking the same three FP+ in each park every time you visit. Throw something in the mix that that you haven't done for a while (or at all) to keep it fresh.

 

[bryanb]

How about a backstage tour? You've seen all of the other sides of the park... if you haven't gone backstage, why not see whats behind and below the scenes?

 

[BuckeyeBama]

We go for 10-14 days at a time, 2-3 times /year. WDW is too big, with too much to do, to hope to do it all every trip. My advice - pick a focus area for each trip. Maybe it will be Resorts or Parades or Shows or Tours. Maybe try Restaurants or Rides or Shops. Pick one thing and try a deep dive on that thing for your trip, rolled into your typical "must dos", and you can have varied vacations every trip.

 

[keepswimming76]

I can't imagine you don't know anything I don't!

My one suggestion is to rent a Sea Raycer. We did this last year and left from the dock at the Contemporary. It was money well spent, even my husband agreed. We really enjoyed cruising around Bay Lake and Seven Seas Lagoon. We got such a different view of the MK area that we had never seen before.

 

[DisneyFive]

Take a day and visit any onsite resorts you haven't been to yet. My wife and I did that a few years back during a conference I was attending at the Contemporary. It was a really fun day checking out all the resorts we've never seen. The purpose was to scout out where we wanted to book the following year, but it ended up being a ton of fun.

After 27 years, maybe you've seen them all, but just an idea.

Dan

 

[hillg1868]

Thank you all for the suggestions! Currently, I am looking at doing side attractions at resorts (ex. Trader Sams @ Poly, Brunch @ Grand Floridian, Taking a side trip to port orleans to get benigets [sounds boring now that i am typing it]). I dont get bored at Disney by any means! But these suggestions are great. @DisneyFive I feel like I have but also I feel like there are new [subtle] things everytime I go! Being a part of these forums and watching the DISUnplugged has revealed things that I would probably like to do.
@BuckeyeBama can you give an example of "deep diving"?
@bryanb and @princesstinkerbelle Ive wanted to do kings to the kingdom FOR-EV-ER! Might pull the trigger on this next trip!!
@mikepdc you can bet your boots that I'll be having a drink or two watching that classic!!
And @princesstinkerbelle we had reservations for V&As one year but we took a step back and said that we couldn't justify spending $600+ on a meal when we can just get the deluxe plan for that and have an awesome time at citricos or Narcoossees :/ hindsight: still shoulda dun it

thank you all...keep em coming if you can