Oh wonderful DIS folk, I'm in need of your help and advice!

[Windy Miller]

Hi DIS folk

I stumbled across this forum whilst planning for our trip in October and have spent the last couple of nights reading through the many threads. You all seem very knowledgeable and generous in your advice so I was wondering if any of you could spare the time to throw some my way.

We’re travelling over from the UK on 19th October, when we booked I thought this would suit us as it shouldn’t be too hot, too wet or too busy. There’s myself, my wife and our 2 sons, ages 12 and 8 (nearly 9 by the time we arrive). We’re staying at Port Orleans French Quarter for the 2 weeks and it’s very likely that this will be the only time we’ll be able to afford to come as a family so we want to make the most of our time.

The basic plan is to spend a full day at each Disney park as well as visiting Universal x2, Seaworld, Aquatica, Busch and thanks to my generous parents, Discovery Cove for the dolphin swim (still got to book tickets, best option looks to be Discovery Cove Ultimate Ticket Package and Universal 2-Park Bonus Ticket). I know that we won’t be able to do every single thing at each park in that time but not everything is going to appeal to us so we hope to at least do the main things. The boys are very active, athletic and ….. well, boys! Point being, we won’t need to ride things like Dumbo.

It’ll be Halloween when we’re there so we’ll make sure we spend one evening at Magic Kingdom for Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. I’m pretty sure the Halloween at Universal would be too much for the kids so we aren’t intending to do that.

We’re all keen on our food and love eating out so we’ve looked through lots of the Disney restaurant menus to pick out places we like the look of. We rather fancy eating at Hollywood Brown Derby, Coral Reef Restaurant (aquarium seat), Wolfgang Pucks Express (make use of the Quick Service value), Rainforest Café, Le Cellier Steakhouse, Nine Dragons, San Angel Inn. Included in our package is the Disney Dining Plan so we’ll aim to roll over the Table Service Meals a couple of times on days we eat away from Disney to that we can dine a couple of times at Signature restaurants.

So, here’s where you all come in! I’ve already picked up on a few details from you guys such as Dole Whips (had to Google what that was!), Kitchen Sink at Beaches & Cream, Cinnamon Rolls from the Main Street Bakery, ride the front of the monorail, watch the Wishes display from ‘Ohana and experience the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue. But I’m sure there’s a ton more so any general advice, specific advice or answers to the questions below would all be very gratefully received.

A couple of specific questions I have are:

What transport to use for visiting the non-Disney parks, especially Busch Gardens? There seems to be differing opinions on Mears or Lynx and we’re not keen on car rental.

None of us fare well on simulator rides, makes us travel sick, so we’d generally avoid anything like that. I remember feeling very poorly after one such the ride (Inner Space? Back To The Future? – don’t remember exactly) back when my wife and I visited 13 years ago before we had kids. However, the Spiderman ride at Islands of Adventure was fine. There are a number of new rides that look great, such as Soarin’ and The Simpsons but we’re hesitant to go on them. Has anyone else who suffers with motion sickness tried those and what were your experiences?

The rules of the Dining Plan state that kids aged 3-9 must eat from the Children’s menu but our youngest would not be happy with that. Are the restaurants flexible with that or is there any other plan of action you can suggest?

As it’s not peak time when we visit do we really need to make Advanced Dining Reservations for everything?

 

[shalom]

Hi DIS folk

A couple of specific questions I have are:

Before I tackle any of your questions, I'm going to offer a suggestion. This is a great place to lay out your plans, but I'm guessing you'd get more response to your specific questions if you posted them to different boards. Not that no one will respond here, just that a short post with a focused question posted to the "proper" board will usually result in a lot more feedback from more varied perspectives. For instance:

What transport to use for visiting the non-Disney parks, especially Busch Gardens? There seems to be differing opinions on Mears or Lynx and we’re not keen on car rental.

I'd post that one to the transportation board. My son was happy with Lynx in the Orlando area, but that's a whole 'nother thing from going to Busch Gardens. I don't think I've ever seen anyone discussing that route, but the few times I've dropped into the Transportation board looking for information on something I thought pretty obscure, I've been amazed by their knowledge. Not to say they all agree on everything or give the exactly same advice! But they generally know why they prefer this or that, AND they often know about options I've never heard of.

Has anyone else who suffers with motion sickness tried those and what were your experiences?

I know there have been multiple threads in the Theme Parks and Strategies forum on Soarin' (the consensus, if I remember rightly, was that a lot of people who suffer motion sickness on some rides don't on that one, but OTOH, some people do ). If you could post there and list the rides (or types of rides) that bother you, people could give you more accurate advice. For instance, some people get motion sickness from spinny rides, some from simulators when it's rough, some from simulators whether the ride is rough or not, etc.

But people are happy to share general experiences as well, if you don't know exactly what sets yours off. There's also a list in the disABILITIES subboard of the rides that are most problematic...? All the ones people have said set them off? I forget; I've followed links there but pulled the info for my own use and haven't been there in a while. But someone often posts that link to motion sickness threads in the Theme Parks and Strategies that go long enough, or used to.

The rules of the Dining Plan state that kids aged 3-9 must eat from the Children’s menu but our youngest would not be happy with that. Are the restaurants flexible with that or is there any other plan of action you can suggest?

At the very least, you shouldn't count on flexibility. It's not an issue I watch closely, but my impression is that it used to be easier to find flexibility than it has been lately. But things change, so I'd post that question to the Disney Restaurants sub board. Wait, no I wouldn't -- if you see a "Disney Dining Plan" on your main list index, click on that, otherwise click on the "Disney Restaurants' board, there's a "Disney Dining Plan" subboard up at the top. That's where I'd post it. If you post it to the Restaurant board they'll probably move it there eventually anyhow.

As it’s not peak time when we visit do we really need to make Advanced Dining Reservations for everything?

There's actually an interesting discussion on that going on in the Dining forum even as we speak.

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2968351

The answer seems to be, "often no," if by ADRs you mean setting something up weeks ahead; if you're flexible, you can often set them up that day or a day or two ahead of time. If you want a particular restaurant on a particular day, or if you don't want to have to fall back on a Counter Service restaurant, probably better make those reservations. Much easier to make reservations a few days before in the off season than it would be around Christmas or Easter.

Also, although I don't think it's been discussed in that thread, much easier for smaller groups than larger -- I'd make more reservations if I were traveling with my five kids than I would if it were just hubby and I.

Dunno if any of that was particularly helpful, but for what it's worth...

 

[Windy Miller]

Dunno if any of that was particularly helpful, but for what it's worth...

Thank you very much indeed shalom, that was very helpful. I'll post my specific questions on the boards you suggested. This place is a bit of a rabbit warren and very busy so as a newbie it's quite daunting and hard to know where to start!