Which of these are a definite must-do?

[hunter1722]

1) Park Hopper
2) MNSSHP

Ditto!

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

We never go without park hoppers. We do the morning EMH park in the morning (duh), then back to our resort for a rest/ swim. Then out to a different park later in the afternoon.

With your young kids, I might do the Crystal Palace character breakfast with Pooh & friends. Breakfast is not that expensive and the restaurant is quite pretty. As opposed to Chef Mickey's which is massive chaos, noise and confusion.

Considering the ages of your kids, OP, I'd wait a few years for Universal (which is awesome, BTW). We liked Sea World fine, but with younger kids, I'd just stay at Disney.

We like to eat breakfast at Crystal Palace before MK opens (usually an 8:05 reservation). We are done eating by the time the park opens, so we are among the first to Fantasyland. DH said he will never again eat at Chef Mickey's - too loud and bad food, in his opinion.

We always get hoppers, but you can add them if you need them for the same cost as buying them in advance. If you only plan to hop once, you might not find them worth it, but no need to buy them until you need them.

We have not done MNSSHP, but we have done MVMCP and the old Pirate and Princess parties. They are fun, but the price has really gone up since we did them. If I had to choose between MNSSHP and park hoppers, I'd personally go with park hoppers.

 

[jmm476]

Given your option of taking the 2 older kids for a night, I would vote MNSSHP first and then park hoppers. I think the kids would get a kick out of the party and costumes, maybe let them sleep in a little or take a nap that afternoon so they can stay up later and enjoy it.

I always insist on park hoppers, just in case a park is too crowded, but to be honest, we never end up hopping that much unless we have an ADR at Epcot. If I did the math, I would most likely find it hasn't been worth the money. However, as PP have mentioned, you can always add them on at guest services when you're there if you decide you need the hoppers.

 

[humboldthny]

Of the four you listed, my preference would be the MNSSHP....We really enjoy that event and our family loves Halloween, so it's a good fit.

If Halloween is not your thing I might opt for Park Hoppers with a group that big, it would provide you a lot more flexibility if you wanted to split up occasionally.

 

[nkereina]

Now that I see your kids ages, I also would skip Universal even though I mentioned it before. It's definitely geared towards older kids and adults, and some of the best rides/attractions there your kids will be too young/small for. I would definitely plan for it a few years down the line, it's a great place!

I think MNSSHP might be hard to keep your kids out that late but they may get a kick out of it. I'm still sticking with Park Hoppers as the best bet.

Never been to Sea World but it's never appealed to me. Might be too time consuming and hard to do on a short trip though, so maybe save that for next time as well.

 

[hookedonears]

Hopper & Crystal Palace Character Breakfast

 

[snowace77]

We have been to DisneyWorld about 10 times in the last 7 years and a must for us would be park hopper and MNSSHP. The halloween party is a blast, you get to go trick or treating and the fireworks are awesome that night!

 

["Cinder" Ella's Mom]

Just had to chime in about Crystal Palace and say...DON"T DO IT! We have been to Disney so many times and eaten at all of the character meals. Crystal Palace was hands down the worst. It was crowded and DIRTY and we had to wait 40 minutes for our ADR (in September, the least busy time of the year.) The characters never made it around to us at all (I think we saw 2). Chef Mickeys is great fun, but the food isn't wonderful. Great character interaction. The buffet is much nicer than CP though. We really liked Ohana character breakfast at the Poly. I also question the need for park hoppers in Oct (I guess it matters when in Oct. you are going). I don't think you will need to hop to get away from crowds, really. You can always do a park in the morning and return to the same park in the evening. Your 5 and 6 year olds will LOVE MNSSHP, but I would suggest that you take the day off (no other park) and make sure they nap beforehand. Otherwise they will be asleep early (this still happens with DS9 if he spends the day swimming). Happy planning!

 

[smitch425]

unless it's free, though, with a group that large, I'm not even sure the tip would be worth the experience. You get face time with all of the fab 5, but you also get people scarffing down food in your background of the pictures you take. You get better character time and pics at EPCOT's character spot. We never get the hopper option, but we go for several days. As for HS, October is pretty mild crowds, so I would just go there on Fantasmic day and move AK to another day. AK has the most consistency as far as park hours go, so I would focus on the other parks first. MNSSHP is a GREAT evening. Worth the money in my opinion, plus it gets you into MK at 4pm without having a hopper so you could do two parks that day if you wanted to. Good luck with your planning!

 

[photobob]

For me it would be Park Hopper because we generally do one park in the morning and another in the evening. We usually don't stray from WDW once on property so SW and Universal wouldn't rate very high. I have a hard time wanting to pay extra money for MNSSHP or any other such events and not a fan of buffets so Chef Mickeys would be out too. I guess I've shot down everything except park hoppers!

 

[minnie mouse ears]

This yr will be only my second trip to Disney World but I am still going to give you my two cents.

We did the parks a few years ago with a 3 1/2 year old and a 10 month old. We had park hoppers but we never used them at all. My parents used theirs on the same trip for one day only and that was to go back to Epcot while we took the little ones to MK. Park Hopping with little ones is just a lot of work.

Our family looooved Chef Mickeys - so much so that I am trying desperately to get another ADR this time around. It is loud but it is so much fun and many little kids love the Monorail going thru the building. The food was just okay but there was lots of it and we were full going to the park that day. I remember my 3 year old being super happy with the fact that she could get junk food with her breakfast since we do not allow it at home. I know this is probably Disney Blasphamey but I really do not like the Pooh characters so Crystal Palace would be a complete waste for my family - maybe yours would like it.

Sea World might be fun for you and something different. My family is paying over $500 just to do Universal one day this trip because we have a houseful of Harry Potter freaks. I don't necessarily think it is a bad thing to try to fit in a different park besides Disney in a short trip. We did the Universal Studios for one day on our first trip and only 4 in Disney then. Sure it was hectic and we were tired but we had a blast.

So... my vote would be to either do MNSSHP, Sea World or Chef Mickeys. I am leaning more towards the MNSSHP because your kids are at the age where they would probably love it and the photos would be priceless. I would just make sure they got an afternoon nap that day.

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

[QUOTE="Cinder" Ella's Mom;40976234]Just had to chime in about Crystal Palace and say...DON"T DO IT! We have been to Disney so many times and eaten at all of the character meals. Crystal Palace was hands down the worst. It was crowded and DIRTY and we had to wait 40 minutes for our ADR (in September, the least busy time of the year.) The characters never made it around to us at all (I think we saw 2). [/QUOTE]

Sorry you had a bad experience. We eat at CP every trip, most often for breakfast so we can enter MK early. We have always seen all the characters in about 45 minutes so we can still make rope drop. We have had good food and service at breakfast, lunch and dinner, but we prefer breakfast since it is cheaper and we can be in MK before it opens. Although the front porch can get very crowded, we find the interior to be very relaxing and have been fortunate to have not been there when it was dirty.

My DH would rather go hungry than eat the food at Chef Mickey's, though. Good that Disney gives enough choices for everyone.

 

[midnightlouise]

We haven't had Park Hoppers since I was a kid and we've never missed them. Maybe it'll change when they get older, but we always seem to be there long enough to visit everything twice anyway.

We took the kids to MNSSHP at ages 4 and 6 months and it was wonderful! The pictures are some of my favorites of my boys when they were small. (We all dressed up...they were Batman & Robin and DH & I were the Joker & Harley Quinn haha!) If I could do it again I would in a heartbeat!

We did Chef Mickey's last year and we enjoyed it. It was pricey, but the food was decent and the character interactions were great.

Sea World would be fun, but it might be too much with the little ones. We did Legoland w/Disneyland when my boys were 2 and 6 and that was a workout. This year we are doing Legoland FL before we go to Disney, but my guys will be 7 & 11 when we go, so it's a whole different ballgame than trying to wrangle your crew!

 

[tinkgurl]

Okay, for me, I immediately through Option 4- Sea World/Universal out of the way. The other three options are all good ones. Option 1- Chef Mickey's- Eating there is a must for us every trip. We try to book it on our first night there. It's a great way to start off the trip. Option 2- Park Hopper- We LOVE having park hoppers! We can jump around and go to any park, any day. We usually go to one park during the day and end up at a different park at night. Option 3- MNSSHP- While I've never done it, I really want to! It would be a fun experience. Plus, it'd be fun to think of themed costumes for the whole family!

 

[kwdw]

I don't think our families going with us in October (my parents and DH's Mom, sister and neice) are going to be willing to do all this financially (and DH doesn't want to either), so which do you think are musts?

Here is what it would cost my family of 5 for each:

1. Trip to Chef Mickeys (currently we do not have free dining in Oct, we have the 35% room discount) about $140

2. Park Hopper $216 (I want this mainly so we can hop over to HS after AK and watch fantasmic. It looks like HS will be too crowded that day for it to be an all-day thing)

3. MNSSHP $220

4. Sea World one day about $300 (or possibly Universal instead)
Which do you think we just HAVE to do? Thanks!

None of the above..... really. I WOULD do a character meal - and it could be Chef Mickey's - but I think there are others that are better choices. Just go to HS the day you want to do Fantasmic. Do rope drop, get FP's, take a break in the middle of the day when it's packed, and go back for the show. Then you don't need a park hopper. The Halloween party is fun, but with kids as little as yours - you would definitely need a break in the middle of the day or they will be exhausted.

 

[theww228]

I also vote for the park hopper. You never know which park will be busy and the flexibility is well worth the price, especially with small children. I think the extra parties are overpriced and crowded, plus I think you kids are a little too young to enjoy. I would nix the Sea World or Universal trip, if you are already paying for Disney why spend more money? I have never been to Cirque at Disney, but instead we catch Cirque when they come to a nearby city. Why spend money on a ticket and use "disney time", I would rather spend the $ for an adventure when I am at home.

 

[lindsmom]

I just wanted to mention that you can buy the park hoppers at any time in your trip, and since you specifically want to use them for fantasmic, I wouldn't buy them in advance - what if it gets cancelled or rained out that night? You'll have spent over $200 for a feature you won't necessarily need. Wait to buy them till you're sure you'll use them.

If your children like animals, SeaWorld is a great place - we spent almost an hour petting the rays in the tank, then we also fed the dolphins and sea lions / seals. Something we would never be able to do at home. But again, we all love animals a lot.

MNSSHP might be a good idea if you make sure to have a nap in the middle of the day, then you can stay to make the most of it.

So my vote would be (1) Seaworld, (2) MNSSHP.

 

[Mikes:)Mom]

I'll say Park Hopper! Love them, BUT if you pick SeaWorld there are discounts. We ended up going a few years back. We loved it!! I'm not sure if it still works, but sign up for Southwest airline, it's free. Print out your card. We got a huge discount, I think it was 35% off. They accept a lot of cards like AAA, AARP.I would just buy your tickets at the gate and go thru all your cards! Start with Southwest! Good Luck and have FUN!

 

[Tink0812]

My first choice would be Park Hopper followed by Chef Mickey's! I have only gone about one time without Park Hopper and it was difficult but maybe that is because I am so used to having it. Chef Mickey's has very tasty food and is a great experience. I enjoyed Sea World as a young kid but definitely wouldn't pick it over my top 2. I went to Universal once and was not a huge fan; again, this could be because I am so used to Disney and was comparing the two.

 

[PoohsFan1]

1) I would GIVE UP the Park Hopper, it's not worth if for one evening, in my my opinion.

2) I would also GIVE UP Sea World (or universal), especially since you can add days to you MYWT for only a few dollars.

3) MNSSHP is, in my opinion the BEST value you have listed.

I agree with all of these points. Definitely do the MNSSHP, it is more bang for your buck