Staying POFQ 26/5-9/6 any advice?

[stephensmum]

Hi, new to Dis, although been looking through since Aug 06, so I feel like I know some of you already. dh,ds9 & I went Aug 05, staying at AS movies and although I had my Brits guide (Thanks Simon) it was still quite overwhelming. We did Disney & 1 day trip to Seaworld and plan on doing the same this year. We rushed around & feel we missed a lot. We are doing the DDP. What differences will we find ie weather, crowds?
Sharon

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Hi Sharon.

Cannot comment on the DDP as we have never done it.

End of May through to early June is not a bad time to go, crowds shouldn't be too heavy as the US schools do not break up until mid June (they start their summer holidays earlier than we do in the UK).

The weather will just be starting to hot up for the summer, I would imagine generally temps. in the mid to high 80s with the odd day in the 90s - though naturally it's difficult to predict somewhat.
Certainly not as hot as it will be in July/August.

Be prepared for the odd heavy shower in the afternoon.

 

[Lizzybear]

Hi! We're staying at POFQ too (this September) and I think it looks like a lovely hotel, i'm sure you'll enjoy staying there. I think the main difference is you may find you're planning around meals more with the dining plan than if you were eating 'on the fly' which we're seeing as a good thing as it means we have some chillout time from the hot parks. If you do TS lunches especially you won't be as tempted to rush around the parks, also since you've been once I guess you have an idea of things you liked first time around and things you could bear to miss out on
Some of the southern states do break up in May so there may be some crowds but I think it will be less busy than the first half of August.

 

[stephensmum]

Thank you for the replies. We are doing dinners at around 6pm most days & also hoping to go back to hotel mid day for rest/swim, so this time it should be more relaxing. Are we fools not doing US/IOA? It's just I don,t want to over do it again. Also, 28/5 is memorial day and I' ve heard you should avoid all parks due to the crowds, can any one suggust what we could do. We thought maybe shopping! We don't have a car.
Sharon

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Are we fools not doing US/IOA? It's just I don,t want to over do it again. Also, 28/5 is memorial day and I' ve heard you should avoid all parks due to the crowds, can any one suggust what we could do. We thought maybe shopping! We don't have a car.
Sharon

Avoiding IOA/US? Well they are brilliant parks and have the advantage of being a couple of minutes walking distance apart, so in theory you could do both in 1 day.
However, the one thing I always say about any visit to Orlando in the summer is to plan plenty of rest days and not do too much around the parks.
I guess it depends on how much Disney you are doing and whether you can plan US/IOA into your schedule without overdoing it?

As for memorial day everywhere will be packed, so maybe that could be one of your days for a bit of relaxation, just chill for a day perhaps?
Shopping is an option maybe although the Malls will be busy too.

 

[Richard Bruvofetc]

We did POFQ with the DDP last May. The weather is excellent and the crowds are relatively small. With good management of the FastPass you should easily do all the rides you want.

The DDP is a great way to get you food when on site. It allows you to eat at places that you may have avoided because of price. A couple of things I would suggest:

Get some ADRs booked. Some of the best restaurants get booked up very early and you may not be able to get in on the day.

You get LOADS of food.....and I mean LOADS. I would suggest that you take your Counter Service meals at approx 11.00am as you are eating Table Service at 6.00pm. We ate at about 6.30pm and we were finding it difficult to eat the food put in front of us because of the amount we'd eaten at lunchtime - until we started eating at around 11.00am that is. This also means that you will miss the lunchtime queues at the restaurants and be able to go on the rides while others are eating. Also, consider booking up a couple of 2TS events. This will give you a break from the large amounts of food you will be eating. A few days DW and myself were just sharing one Counter Service meal in the day and using the "balance" for the evening meal in the gaps made by having a 2TS meal (and we were still stuffed!!).

For memorial day, why don't you take a "tour" of the Disney hotels? They are almost resorts in themselves. Also take a special trip on the monorail and ask the CM if you can ride up front. You may have to wait for a couple to go through, but the ride is fantastic and they'll also give you a special voucher to say you've been up front.

You can also take a "cruise" on the riverboat down to Downtown Disney and back. It's a great way to relax away from all the hustle and bustle.

 

[stephensmum]

Thanks guys. Not decided on US/IOA yet. ds9 will love it but dhdoes'nt see the point of leaving Disney when we're staying there. We could take mem day as a rest day but it's only our 2nd day & we'l be raring to go. Not thought of the shops been busy & don't like shopping but ds wants a DS lite & some Heeleys so we'l perharps go early for half a day then do a tour of the resorts. I have booked ADR's but these need some fine tuning. Thanks again, so glad I joined you.
Sharon

 

[CharleyUK]

Hi

We stayed at POFQ in 2004 and in November last year. I just love It. One our favorite things we did last time was hire a boat at POR it was great, we ended up soaking wet and laughing our heads off. I think we may be banned from doing it again. We are deffinatly not the worlds best sailors. You can also rent surry bikes and regular bikes and ride around the resorts and along the river. In the early evening you can take a horsedrawn carriage ride. One of the things we felt on our first trip to WDW was that we didn't make enough use of the hotel so we now try and spend a full day in resort relaxing.

 

[stephensmum]

Hi

We stayed at POFQ in 2004 and in November last year. I just love It. One our favorite things we did last time was hire a boat at POR it was great, we ended up soaking wet and laughing our heads off. I think we may be banned from doing it again. We are deffinatly not the worlds best sailors. You can also rent surry bikes and regular bikes and ride around the resorts and along the river. In the early evening you can take a horsedrawn carriage ride. One of the things we felt on our first trip to WDW was that we didn't make enough use of the hotel so we now try and spend a full day in resort relaxing.

Thanks. This is the problem we have about doing us/ioa, it will take us away from the resort. Maybe we'l do everything & rest when we get back.

 

[highlander447]

hi at MGM you will have the Star Wars weekend also not sure when the gay day events are you may find some of the parks a bit busier on those days, one way to enjoy USO & IOA is to splurge on staying onsite for a night that way u get FOTL access for 2 days plus u can relax at Universal hotel pool and u are a 10 min walk away from their parks

 

[stephensmum]

Thanks - We all love Star Wars so looking forward to this and although I like the idea of staying at US for the fast past, I think it will take us over budget,
as we are already booked for disney, have 14 day passes and DDP. Great idea for next time though.
Sharon