Just Went To Disney World!!!

[Mr Light]

I got back a couple weeks ago... I got to spend an entire week at Disney World! It was my first actual vacation since I was a kid. Great stuff.

Has anyone else been to Disney World lately? What's your opinion on the parks and experience overall?

THE HOTEL: I stayed on-site at All Star Sports. My GF wanted to just stay at a Days Inn but I insisted! I didn't want the hassle of being off-property. And while it was more expensive, I'm really glad we stayed at Disney. The convenience of the shuttles and the free transportation to/from the airport was so great. The Disney shuttles cycled about every 20 minutes, but at park closing they come like every 5-10 minutes.

I'll tell you this though. The room was very average, and the bathroom / sink was poorly lit. But apparently we were in an old room and they were in the middle of refurbishing them all; we kept seeing them installing brand new flat screen TVs in other rooms!

The food court was great too. The food was of course expensive but the portions were large and it was quite delicious! Some of the best spaghetti and meatballs I've ever had in my life. The pizza was pretty good, and at $15.50 for a large pepperoni it wasn't ridiculous, and it was a big pizza.

But the best thing of all? You spent $14 once on a commemorative cup... and you get free refills for your entire stay. Since we were there a week it worked out to $1 per person per day for all the beverage we could want!

MAGIC KINGDOM: Spent two days here. Loved it! I'm a total roller coaster wuss but I braved it out and rode Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain. Space Mountain was the limit of my tolerance but Thunder Mountain was totally tame. My stomach barely lurched and there were no big drops. Thanks to light crowds I rode it a dozen times over all!

Monsters Inc Laugh Floor? Absolutely amazing. Live-action CGI and live-action improv comedy interacting with the audiences. What an achievement. This goes for Turtle Talk in Epcot too.

EPCOT: Loved it! Test Track was tons of fun. The updates to the old rides they've done in the past decade were great too. I really liked the Nemo-themed Seas. Unfortunately we ran out of time and basically briskly rushed through World Showcase in the dark and we missed the fireworks.

Soarin' was very disappointing to me. I was at least expecting a digital quality screen. It wasn't as immersive as I expected it to be. Also this was the only long wait we suffered the entire visit; about an hour.
American Adventure? 30 minutes of patriotic boredom!

HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS: this park was more about scheduled show/performances then it was for rides, so we spent a lot of time waiting on things. And Star Tours was closed for remodeling The ending Fantasmic firework/show was an amazing technical achievement. But unfortunately we were in the front rows and were constantly sprayed with water mist the entire time and we didn't realize how cold it was going to be that night

The car stunt show was absolutely amazing. It was like watching a huge action movie car chase stunt live and in person. I was completely blown away!

ANIMAL KINGDOM: this was the one park I had never been to, and I was a little disappointed by the lack of attractions. Didn't help it rained that day either The Dinosaur ride was a lot of fun though. And the Lion King and Finding Nemo musical shows were absolutely amazing from a technical perspective. I didn't think I was going to enjoy these stage shows but they were surprisingly amazing!

Do you guys know about this Fast Pass system? You get a ticket, it gives you a time to come back later, in an hour or more, you come back and they whisk you right on the ride with almost no line at all! It was absolutely amazing. We went in the beginning of February so the crowds weren't terrible to begin with, but on some rides where it was an hour wait, we only waited five minutes with Fast Pass!

If you're going to go to Disney, I have three sage suggestions:
1) Wear Comfortable Shoes
2) Bring snacks with you like granola bars
3) Know what order to tour the park in to avoid crowds

 

[auntiehill]

Comfortable shoes is a MUST for any theme park adventure.

I love Disney World--haven't been in over 10 years, though. I loved the World Showcase and Epcot; Animal Kingdom had just opened and didn't have that much but I did enjoy the Safari Ride, as I'm a big animal-nut. Did you go to Pleasure Island or the Downtown Disney area at all? DisneyQuest was a TON of fun, especially on a rainy day.

 

[Mr Light]

We went to Downtown Disney one night and ate at Planet Hollywood. The place was extremely loud and cramped and jammed full of people, didn't really like it. Definitely did not go to DisneyQuest as I understand it costs almost as much as the real theme parks for a glorified Chuck E Cheese

Oh yeah the Safari ride at Animal Kingdom was very cool. You really get to see them up close and with no visual barriers/walls between you and the animals. I don't know how they do it; that cheetah probably could have jumped the truck and killed us if she wanted to!

 

[Kestra]

I think I remember you starting a thread about this awhile back ... was that you? If so, I'm glad that everything turned out so well! I love Disney World despite the high prices and many other issues. I've been more times than I can remember and I would happily go back. Really glad you had a good vacation and I hope your wife enjoyed it just as much!

 

[Mr Light]

Yeah I did a thread a few months back when I was thinking about going. We ended up signing up for it with just two weeks notice!

 

[trekkiebaggio]

yeah DisneyQuest isn't really worth it.

Did you get on Toy Story Mania 3D? That was my favourite ride.

Shame you missed the Epcot fireworks, but I'm glad you got to see Fantasmic that was my favourite thing in the whole of Disney.

The American Adventure made me laugh .

Soarin' I thought was overrated as well.

 

[Holdfast]

Glad you had a fun time; I vaguely remember the thread you were planning the trip in, and your excitement at the prospect.

 

[Mr Light]

Toy Story Mania is the Hollywood one right? It was great. I got a really good score. Only got to ride it once, though. The Buzz Lightyear ride at Epcot is basically the exact same thing only with a laser pointer instead of 3D holographics, so it's a decade behind technology wise and a little less fun.

 

[jeskawest]

I've always wanted to go to Disney World. I'm a Southern CA native and spent my high school -early 20s pretty much at Disneyland. I even worked there for a couple years right when California Adventure opened. Even working there didn't ruin it for me, I still love it. My husband is not as into it though, so I haven't been much since getting married, and now we live in Washington, so . . .
Anyways, glad you had fun, I've always wanted to check out Animal Kingdom - I would totally stay in that hotel if I had my choice.
Anybody been to California Adventure? The Lodge there is super nice, and the park really does have a lot to offer, although it's hard to say if you could spend more than a day there. I miss it, I'll have to plan a trip soon.

 

[J.Ashmore]

Disney World was the best time of my life! Typhoon Lagoon was amazing and I'm a big rollercoaster fan so I went on all of them at least 5 times each. Rockin' Roller Coaster is fun, but my favorite was Expedition Everest. I also loved the Tower of Terror (is that what it's called? I forget.)

Fast Passes are a Godsend! We went in May (very busy time of the year) but with the Fast Passes the wait was less than half of the normal wait time. We went on Expedition Everest 3 times in about 20 minutes.

We stayed in the All-Star Music resort and the rooms were fine, not fatastic, but livable and we had meal plans (those are available so I suggest if anyone is going to DW to do that!) and I think it was 2 meals a day. The food place in the All-Star Resorts is amazing with great food as the OP said, but it was a really long walk from All-Star Music resort to the food place. I particularly loved the fruit things you could buy, it really helped cool me down after walking around all the Kingdoms in 95F degree heat.

I'm going again next summer and it's going to be FANTASTIC. I'm glad you had such a great time I think I'm a Disney World fanatic.

 

[Mr Light]

^^ The three All Star hotels are all linked to each other with a food court in the center. I was blessed that my room was in a building up against the food court. But sometimes the walk to the neighboring hotel's food court could be quicker.

 

[B.J.]

I've been to Disney World the last two Octobers for a week each, and planning on taking the family again this year. We're trying to make this a yearly trip. It is more expensive staying on site, but the convenience of the buses and the occasional "Extra Magic Hours" more than make up for it.

Fast Passes are an absolute must for anyone with kids, especially young ones like mine (two elementary age and one toddler). Try telling a two year old to be patient! I'm just glad Disney doesn't charge extra for them like some other parks do.

I would also definitely recommend the Disney Dining Plan. For us, it turned out to be cheaper in the long run, and a *lot* more convenient. We didn't have to worry about individual bills (just tips), all we had to keep track of were how many meals we had left. Oh, and you can make reservations at the sit-down restaurants months in advance.

Two years ago we stayed in the All Star Movies, and last year was Caribbean Beach. Since we spent most of our awake hours in the parks, the quality of the lower tier hotels didn't bother us at all.

Crap, I've got another 8 months to go, and you've got me all excited again!

 

[B.J.]

^^ The three All Star hotels are all linked to each other with a food court in the center. I was blessed that my room was in a building up against the food court. But sometimes the walk to the neighboring hotel's food court could be quicker.

Er, each All Star resort has its own food court.

 

[T'Bonz]

Love Disney. We'll be going this fall, probably. It's one of the only things I love about living in Florida. And staying on property is great now that they have reasonably-priced hotels. The convenience can't be beat.

 

[tomalak301]

I was at Disney World maybe 2 years ago and loved it. Didn't go to Magic Kingdom (You go to Disneyland, you see MK) but as for the other

Epcot: Love Epcot. Really liked what they did with Spaceship Earth and Mission Space is one of the most nauseating rides I've been on. It was cool though. As for Sorin' yeah it's a bit disappointing now. I'm not sure if Disney is willing to do this, but if something should be in 3D, it's that. I think it might add more to the experience, especially on the big IMAX screen.

My favorite bit of Epcot though was Off Kilter, which was the Celtic rock band at the Canada Pavilion. It had tons of energy and felt like going to a concert. I saw them twice and had a blast each time. As for Illuminations, nobody does fireworks shows like Disney. Best Firework show at Disney World.

Hollywood Studios: It was alright Liked the Rockin' Roller Coaster (Is it still Arosmith?) and the Indiana Jones thing was nice too. The line was too long for Toy Story Mania, but the Parade was fun. The Movie ride is great, but I think it needs to be updated and other than that, not much else to say. If Illuminations is the best Firework show, Fantasmic is the best Lazar show at Disney World. It was absolutely amazing and told a great story.

Animal Kingdom: I'd never been to this theme park before but I think it's something worth visiting once and that's it. It was ok, and the two best things was the Safari and Expedition Everest. I also loved the interaction for the Lion King Show, but like you, Mr. Light, I wish there was more attractions.

This summer I'm probably going back to Disneyland and looking forward to riding the revamped Space Mountain (And did they revamp something else? Pirates of the Caribbean?). Also, talking about my favorite Firework shows, I remember being there for Disney's 50th anniversary, and that was the best firework show I've ever seen. They took different attractions around the park and just told the story through Fireworks and it was awesome. I remember when they got to Haunted Mansion and they had like flairs shooting up all around the Area to immolate the elevator part of the ride, and it almost felt like the Park just dropped. It was really really cool.

 

[tomalak301]

Anybody been to California Adventure? The Lodge there is super nice, and the park really does have a lot to offer, although it's hard to say if you could spend more than a day there. I miss it, I'll have to plan a trip soon.

Sorry for posting twice in a row, but I wanted to give CA Adventure some love, because the last time I was there it seemed like the animosity towards it was still strong. I know it was built on Disneyland's Parking lot, but I didn't have problems with parking and I think it really enhanced the area. Also, California Screamin' is one of Disney's best rides throughout both parks and the shows (It's tough to be a bug, and the Electrical Parade especially) are great. It's an under appreciated theme park, and it also has the sorin' ride, which has the California theme. In fact, I was surprised going on the Sorin' Ride at Epcot that it was the exact same thing. I would have though it being in Florida would have taken on more of a Florida theme.

 

[Mr Light]

Oh yeah, Mission Space. I went with the non-spinning version after hearing all the horror stories about it and all the people it killed. And it was a combination of being lame (you just look into a little screen?!) and extremely claustrophobic. I don't care about tight spaces but I was not expecting to be wedged into a tiny cabin with a console that extends forwards to right in front of my face while something holds my head down. Yeesh! I love simulators but I did not care for that.

I know each All Star has its own food court. I was saying that if you get a room at the far edge of one All Star hotel, it might be a faster walk to the adjacent hotel's food court than it would be to your own. That's what I read in my guide book, anyway.

 

[B.J.]

^Ah, okay.

As for Soarin', that disappointed me too. Not only is it pretty boring, but I was very annoyed by the fact that it only features California. I've never been to the LA area or Disneyland and don't ever plan to go, so nothing they showed was familiar to me. I've heard they're going to update it with imagery from around the world, but I don't know how reliable that is.

But, one ride is *not* going to discourage me from going to WDW again!

 

[Spot's Meow]

Anybody been to California Adventure? The Lodge there is super nice, and the park really does have a lot to offer, although it's hard to say if you could spend more than a day there. I miss it, I'll have to plan a trip soon.

I love California Adventure. Not as much as Disneyland, but CA has its own advantages. Have you read about or seen pictures of the changes going on there lately? We are in the middle of a years-long effort to revitalize CA and "fix" some of the problems people have had with it since opening. The boardwalk area has been completely redone with a new Victorian theme, with rides such as Toy Story Mania and Silly Symphony Swings being added, and the giant orange being done away with. A Little Mermaid ride is also going in that area. There is of course the new light/water show over the lake, and a new park-like area along the front of the water for viewing it.

There are other changes around the park, but the biggest is the redoing of the entire front entrance. The giant California letters and the ceramic mountain backdrop has been taken out and they are replacing it all with a 1920s Los Angeles art deco style, with a replica of the Carthay Circle Theater just inside the entrance as California Adventure's own version of the Sleeping Beauty castle. A red trolley system will connect the entrance to the Hollywood area of the park. Artwork for this stuff can be found online.


Anyway....I have been to Disneyland many times but have only been to Disney World once. It was a lot of fun and I'd love to go back, but I doubt I would stay at an on-site hotel, the price just wouldn't be worth it to me. I am there for the in-park experience, I couldn't care less about my hotel room, though I would make sure it had a microwave so that I could buy stuff at the grocery store to have as breakfasts or lunches. Knowing that I am saving money makes my vacations a lot more enjoyable! I guess that can be seen as either a really sad or a really good thing.

It's too bad you had to rush through the World Showcase, that was probably my favorite part of the whole trip, even though it was rainy and windy that day!

 

[tomalak301]

^I was just reading up on some of the changes and glad they are taking some concerns people had into consideration. Not entirely happy that they took out the Mickey Face though on California Screamin' but I guess it's a way to go with the new theme. Looking forward to seeing what it looks like when I'm there in May.