What Would You Not Miss??

[floridafluff]

Hi Guys, back after a years break, went to Orlando June 04 and had the most fantastic time.

So, booked for August 06 (last two weeks) for international drive again. What would have changed in two years? What are your "must not miss" moments?

Any new advice would be greatly appreciated.


Regards
FF

 

[carolfoy]

Good post as everyones answer will be different, for me,
1 Have to stay on site (first time last year and it changed my opinion for ever)
2 Character meal (at least one or two)
3 Opening ceremonies (they gear you up and get you ready)
4 Campfire at Fort wilderness (a wonderful end to a day)
5 typhoon lagoon (love to swim with the sharks)
6 Soarin', test track, fantasmic, FOTLK, Philharmagic, BTMRR

thats my starter for 10, will probably think of a few dozen more

 

[ely3857]

My top 3 would be .....

Soarin'
Rope Drops
Chef Mickeys



Jodie

 

[Claire L]

Hmmm not to be missed -

Illuminations
Soarin'
Rock 'n' Roller Coaster
Tower of Terror
Hulk
Spiderman
The Mummy
Popeye and Bluto
Duelling Dragons
Kraken
Blue Horizons
Muppet 3D
Kilimanjaro Safari's
Shrek 4D
Montu
The Penguins and Sealions at SW
Clyde and Seamore at SW plus the mime artist

Oh the list could go on For shopping Premium Outlets

As for new things -

Blue Horizons dolphin show at SW
Soarin' at Epcot
Expedition Everest at AK, open April 2006
Mickey's Philarmagic at MK
Light, Motors, Action at Disney Studios
The Mummy at USF
SheiKra at Busch Gardens


Claire

 

[Miffy2003]

Hello, Florida Fluff!

Great question!

My "don't miss" list includes:


Magic Kingdom
Wishes
Big Thunder, Splash & Space Mountains
Mickey's Philharmagic

Epcot
Test Track
Soarin'
Eating my way round the world showcase and finishing with Illuminations
If you have children, I recommend the KidCot Fun stops. Ask for more info if you want

MGM
Fantasmic
Lights Motors Action gets thumbs up from nearly everyone that sees it
Rock N Roller Coaster
Tower of Terror (not for me! But most love it)

Animal Kingdom
Festival of the Lion King
Kilimanjaro Safari
Dinosaur

 

[Claire L]

Oppps nearly forgot Festival of the Lion King

Claire

 

[gilld]

MK
Thunder Moutain
Philharmagic
Wishes
Spectromagic
Keys to the World Tour

Epcot
Test Track
Soarin'
Eating at Tangierine Cafe

MGM
Fantasmic

AK
Festival of the Lion King

Dining at
Jiko's
Cape May Clam Bake
Spoodles

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Spiderman
Shrek 2
In my opinion the 2 best rides in Orlando.

The majority of our theme park visits are aimed at Joshua really, so we tend to concentrate on his favourites : ET, Woody Woodpecker, Jaws , Popeye's Barges at Universal and Winnie The Pooh/Peter Pan/Snow White/Goofy's Barnstormer at Disney - all the above tend to be ridden several times especially Woody and ET....as you will gather we are big Universal fans.

We do like shopping at the Florida Mall/Festival Bay and Mall At Millenia..plus seeing Josh play in the pool at the rented Villa.
I guess ultimatley anything that makes him happy makes us too.

 

[paulh]

The flight
eating at the outback
Paulh

 

[traceycooper]

Great thread

MK
Mickeys Philharmagic
Wishes

Epcot
Test track

MGM
tower of terror
Rocking roller coaster

Animal Kingdom
Festival of the lion king

Universal
the mummy
back to the future

IOA
spiderman
dudly doo rights rip saw falls
jurasic park ride (the one with the t-rex & big water drop!!)

Seaworld
Kraken
Atlantis

Not forgetting:
DISCOVERY COVE & DCL!!

FOOD
Boma at AKL
Mythos at IOA
Hard Rock at Universal
sci fi diner & 50's prime time at MGM's
Rainforest cafe at AK
Dine with Shamu at Seaworld
Anything on the DCL, but especially brunch at Palo's & Animators palete.

Cant wait to try:
soarin at epcoy
Expedition Everest at AK
crusher gusher at TL
- proberbly forgot a few too!!!

 

[JohnnySharp2]

The flight
eating at the outback
Paulh

Oh my the Outback yes, brilliant - love sitting at the bar with an ice cold beer waiting for our take-out.

 

[disneyholic family]

At this point, we've been so many times that if we miss something we take the attitude that it's not the end of the world. That way we can be relaxed about everything.

but if i have to narrow it down:
--Splash Mountain
--Tower of Terror
--Wishes

that's probably it for the absolute musts...

the next level down would be:
--Rock N Roller Coaster
--Tarzan (at AK)
--Soarin
--Segway tour at Epcot

The next level down from that would be everything else in all 4 parks (with a very few exceptions of the few things we don't like or can't do). It also depends on the time of year. We love Tom Sawyer's Island, but not in the summer. In the fall, first thing in the morning before anyone else goes out there.

Outside of the 4 parks it would be:
--TL's Crush & Gusher, wave pool and lazy river
--BB's tube slides and lazy river
--Guided fishing excursion
--renting bikes at WL and riding over to FW

It's actually easier to say what we don't do at WDW, then what we do like to do. Since the don't like list is much shorter.

 

[mandymouse]

What a great thread, I wouldn't miss the following

Mk

Splash/Big Thunder Mountain
Mickey's Philharmagic

Epcot

Soarin'
Mission:Space
Test Track

MGM

Tower of Terror
RnRc
Beauty & The Beast Show
Lights, Motors, Action stunt show

AK

Kilamanjaro Safari
Jamming in the Jungle Parade

IOA

The Hulk (the best rollercoaster ever IMO)
Duelling Dragons
Spider Man

US

The Mummy
Men In Black

Character Breakfast

Chef Mickey's
Princess Storybook (Norway, Epcot)

Have fun with your planning

 

[florida sun]

Ooooh what a great question, Ive had to get my books and maps out just to make sure I dont miss anything, ok here go's

Magic Kingdom:
Exposition Hall - Great for Photos.
Splash Mountain
The Haunted Mansion
Mickys Philarmagic
Space Mountain
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin.
TTA

Epcot
Test Track
Soarin
Tutle Talk With Crush
World Showcase

MGM Studios
Rock N Rollar Coaster
Tower Of Terror
Fantasmic
Writers Stop - A little book and coffe shop that sells the best cookies ever.

Animal Kingdom
The Lion King
Dinosaur
Kali River Rapids.

And I have to throw in a quick mention to The Earl of Sandwich Shop at DTD,which has to be the best sandwich shop ever lol.(Isnt that right Karen)


Sue

 

[floridafluff]

Wow ! what a great response ! I can feel a major planning activity coming on. I'm going to get the update Orlando Brit guide, as there are some items on here I don't recognise. Thanks a lot guys, i'll be in touch again !!

FF

 

[Amyrlin]

A new resturant has opened on Internaional Drive called Texas de Brazil, an adult place a bit pricey, but very very good.

other new things since you last went;

Mikeys Philharmagic at MK,
Soarin' at Epcot,
The Mummy at Univerisal,
Blue Horizons at Seaworld
In adition to this I would not miss fantasic,
Dinner at Ohana to watch wishes,
If it is affordable then the wishes cruise.



A lot of peeople like the lights motors action show, but I don't think it is as good as Paris.

 

[cazzie]

Mine would have to be:

Spectromagic
Splash Mountain
Soarin
Fantasmic
Blizzard Beach

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Sorry - not trying to change the subject here - just that many of you have just put Disney attractions/rides on - is there nothing at Universal you like?

Just that in my opinion, Shrek and Spiderman (plus others) are not to be missed.
There has always been , to a degree , the feeling that there is not much for children at Universal, something that bearing in mind it is Joshua's favourite park I strongly disagree with.

We never over-do the Disney parks and have always regarded our holidays as Florida one's rather than just WDW.

 

[disneyholic family]

Sorry - not trying to change the subject here - just that many of you have just put Disney attractions/rides on - is there nothing at Universal you like?

Just that in my opinion, Shrek and Spiderman (plus others) are not to be missed.
There has always been , to a degree , the feeling that there is not much for children at Universal, something that bearing in mind it is Joshua's favourite park I strongly disagree with.

We never over-do the Disney parks and have always regarded our holidays as Florida one's rather than just WDW.

We really hate Universal and IoA, thus it makes sense that nothing from those parks would be on my list.
As you know (since i so boringly say it again and again) the only reason we go to Orlando is for WDW. We're not really intersested in anything else (we certainly don't need it for the weather, since where we live is warmer and has much nicer weather).

Getting back to Universal/IoA. The first time we went was about 5 years ago. We really disliked it immensely and thought the staff was not at all of the quality of WDW. Two years ago we decided to give it a second chance. But this time I decided we should stay onsite so that we would have FOTL (since we would be there on the fourth of July).
We were there for 2 nights, giving us 3 days in the parks....so we could give it a good long liesurely look. What can I say, we didn't like it. Regarding specific rides, the Hulk was good, but no way would i consider it a don't miss. There are much better coasters (if you're into that) at Cedar Point. RNRC is better because it has the theming around it (what generally differentiates a good Disney ride).
Dueling Dragons was terrible for DH and DS. They are both extremely tall (6' 7" and 6' 5") and somehow the chair isn't built for a head that is that high...their heads weren't held in place properly and they both said it was the worst ride they had ever been on....
none of us liked Spiderman...we all thought twister was the most stupid ride ever....

ok..i'll go about it the other way...the rides we liked...
we enjoyed MIB, except for the spinning....but it wasn't a don't miss...we enjoyed it once...that was enough....we liked that horror make-up show....we saw it the first time we were at universal...but that was enough...we don't have to see it again...
jaws was cute.....but i have no need to see it again...
earthquake was nicely done...but again, we have no drive to see it again...
the mummy was nice, but again i have no interest in a second time (and the need to put bags in lockers makes me nuts...i hate having to do that)...
that's pretty much it for universal...

at IoA, we enjoyed Dudley Dooright - we love all log flumes. It's fun, but the theming is pretty weak....so i could go on any log flume anywhere....we have log flumes here where we live....so that's certainly not a don't miss...

and we enjoyed the Jurassic Park log flume type ride.....in my opinion, that's the best ride at IoA....but it's not a don't miss for me....certainly not in the way that Splash Mountain is....a ride that always makes me smile and gets me singing - Zippity doodah...zippity eh....etc etc..

so...nothing against you...we just don't like universal or IoA.....and wouldn't go there again....we're not sorry we went....but we have no need to go ever again...on the other hand, we pretty much can't live without WDW....however, i'm not a missionary.....if you don't like WDW, that's perfectly fine with me (fewer people to have to get in line with )....

 

[JohnnySharp2]

I know you do not like Universal Beth - I disagree, but that's nothing other than a friendly difference of opinion.

We are very much driven by our son's likes/dislikes and the fact is the only Disney park that he likes is MK , he loves Universal Studios and ET/Woody Woodpecker/Barney/Jaws are his favourites...we have APs for US/IOA and the fact that we can renew them for $100 is excellent value for money.

Personally we love the Universal theming and actually Twister is a ride I like a lot, and I said earlier personally for 3D/4D Shrek is superior (in my opinion) to anything Disney can offer and Spiderman is just my favourite of all.
I also think the Citywalk restaurant and shopping area is brilliant and is a great link between the 2 parks, although we do spend probably too much time buying clothes
The fact that you can easily walk from US to IOA (or vice versa) is a great plus point too.

I think there are things Disney could improve on , as I am sure you do, the car parking facilities at WDW theme parks are poor and outdated, they should take a leaf out of Universal and build multi-storey (at least they keep your car cool) - having said that we have a disabled badge for Joshua so we are okay I guess.....
I am not critical of Disney in any way, if it wasn't for WDW we would never have been to Florida. So for me it's not a competitive thing, we like them both.

Haven't been to Sea World for a couple of years so we are looking forward to going back there next August too.

We love our yearly visits but for us it's a Florida holiday - not a WDW one - seeing Joshua play in the pool at our rented villa or walking hand in hand with us on the beach gives us as much pleasure as any theme park attraction.