Disney vacation?

highcj5

highcj5

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2005
Location
dry fork, va
thinking of doing a 4 or 5 day trip to Orlando. want to hit Disney 2 days, universal a day, and seaworld a day. where is the best place to get tickets? want to find the best deal. guessing we would just get a hotel in Orlando. :beer:
 
go in the winter time.......unless you have butt loads of patience, tolerance for rude non English speaking people, enjoy rubbing (shoulders, arms, knees, butts, elbows, hips, ect.) with thousands of strangers, and absolutely love 98 degree days and 99.9 percent humidity. Disney Equals Earthly Hell In my book! At least in the winter you get by without the heat! :D

But if you go spring for one of the in park hotels, shuttle service, themed stuff, come and go as you please ect. ect. Meal plans aren't a bad thing either unless you like trying to carry in some nabs or plan on retreating to your hostile to re-energize and eat. Other than that START early, chill in the mid-day to beat the heat and stay until they push you out the gate! If you go blow a bunch and make the most of it. If your like me you'll never go back.
 
appreciate the info. have vacation the second week of june and third week of august. planning on going in june. talked to travel agent this afternoon. the better deal seems to be staying in Disney and the meal plans. yea, its going to suck, but the kids will love it. I would rather just stay at the beach for a week. :beer:
 
Tiple A arranged our trip a few years back. Seemed like the best deal at the time. My secretary is a disney crazed nut and gave us some good tips. For instance, entering the magic kingdom, once you get to the end of the first throughfare, turn left not right. Everyone turns right out of habit, we had a good 45 min of attractions all to ourself as a result. Also some strategies for the meal plans. Used our 'snacks' as breakfast and make reservations in advance. Plan your parks out so you can eat close to where you plan to be. Just little shit like that made it a much more pleasant visit. SHe went a little overboard and had every minute planned out for my family but we made good use of our time. Not sure I want to go back again (been about 3 years) but my kids are putting on the hard sell for an October visit for us again this year. Thinking about dragging a camper down this time around.
 
We used AAA for our trip. Didn't see much of a benefit and virtually NO Savings.

Since then my wife has become very keen as to how to make the best of the vacation. She could go on for hours (and has worn my ear off doing it).

First thing, if you plan to spend most of your time at Disney, then stay at Disney. You get "Magic Hours" when you do. Certain parks will open early and close late just for guests of their hotels. It's amazing how much more you can get in during those hours.

Sorry, but June-August is the worst time. It's Hot... DAMN HOT! And crowded!!! Look into the magic hours. Go to the parks during those times and then hit the hotel pools (all of them are at your disposal) during the heat of the day.

That's the number one tip! Second, do not think you will get it all in. There is way too much to do and you can't do it all. Pick what best interests your kids and family and hit those during the magic hours and save your fast passes for during the busy hours.
 
How old are the kids? If you can swing it, bring a stroller. My oldest was 5, and we still put him in one (and the 3.5 yr old twins in a double stroller). You can load up a soft side cooler, stash it under the stroller, then eat your own food anywhere in the park (this was true at sea world too, contrary to what their website said). Plus once the kids get tired, just plop them in the stroller and push on. There is stroller parking everywhere.
We went in late January, stayed off campus at a golf resort townhouse. Being offseason, it was very empty, really close to the Hollywood Disney, and extremely affordable, I'm thinking like $100/night.
We did 2 days at sea world, 2 Hollywood, one magic kingdom, and one animal kingdom, not in that order. We did a little research online, then just ended up buying our tix at the townhouse, prices seemed comprable to what we had found online.

We're going next jan/February, kids will be 10 & 8.5, gonna have to do without the strollers. Staying with sister inlaw at her timeshare. We'll have to hit Epcot this time; we were told 5yrs old might be too young.
 
Stay on property. Take advantage of the buses and even the cheap hotels are nice and clean. Fall and winter are obviously the best times to go but do NOT go the week after thanksgiving or Christmas.
 
If you dont buy some kind of hotel package that includes tickets check out the ticket places that advertise discount tickets.Basically people will sell unused tickets to them and they resell at a discounted price.We did Universal last year and Disney in CA the year before.Were goin to Europe in a couple of weeks and are gonna try to go one day to Euro Disney.Sit everybody down and decide what you want to do the most cause there is no way you can see/do it all.Oh yeah and they have a gay pride week too so you might wanna check the calendar of events or you might have splainin to do.
 
kids are 10 and 8. man, I forgot about the gay week thing. happened to a guy I work with years ago. said his kids didn't know what was going on.
just googled that and it is the week before the week we are planning on going. hahahahaha. thanks for the heads up. :beer:
 
"Nothins worser" than goofey humpin micky in the parade while snow white compares muffins with tinker bell!!o_O

Been two times, once stupid hot, once stupid hot and crowded. A bunch of people love it but I guess I got older, grumpier, and too tight to go back. Lots of good advice on this thread.
 
Weve been twice.

id stay on Disney property. The buses alone make it worth it. Literally you can save 1.5-2 hours a day just in travel/walk time.

Look into extended hours. After hours magic kingdom is cool and we hit space mountain like 3 times in an hour (my son was all about it..so why not)

You will probably know this, but I didnt the first time...Sea World is not owned by Disney and your park hopper wont get you in there.

Fast pass is the tits. Use it wisely.

The turn left suggestion is very valuable we did that one as well.
 
Ron said:
The turn left suggestion is very valuable we did that one as well.
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Strange. I remember that advice from when we went to Disney and Epcot 20-25 years ago. You'd think by now that everybody would know about it, and it wouldn't make a difference anymore.
 
Ron said:
Weve been twice.

id stay on Disney property. The buses alone make it worth it. Literally you can save 1.5-2 hours a day just in travel/walk time.

Look into extended hours. After hours magic kingdom is cool and we hit space mountain like 3 times in an hour (my son was all about it..so why not)

You will probably know this, but I didnt the first time...Sea World is not owned by Disney and your park hopper wont get you in there.

Fast pass is the tits. Use it wisely.

The turn left suggestion is very valuable we did that one as well.
Click to expand...
alright, share. What's the Turn Left thing?
 
mbalbritton said:
alright, share. What's the Turn Left thing?
Click to expand...

The park is essentially a circle. Apparently, everybody goes the same direction... counter-clockwise in the Magic Kingdom, and IIRC clockwise at Epcot. So you go the other way.
 
Best advice I have is just keep a kid with you at all times, otherwise you feel like a creeper. Did Disney World last January for 10 days, stayed at the Grand Floridian for 5 days and something in the French Quarter for the other 5...I'd always vote to go with the cheapest room possible, you'll get the 'Disney experience' regardless, and save a chunk of change. I hate crowds and waiting in lines, so Disney is pretty much my hell...but the fast passes made it tolerable. A buddy of mine used his military discount and everything was 10-15% off.
 
Did this for our Honeymoon in May and yet, there's a "Human Funnel" ride at the front door of every ride. I'd imagine especially in the Summer time. And I'm claustrophibic.

Besides that, "The Simpson's" ride in Universal Studios was awesome but it got the best of me... I couldn't ride any more or much less eat the rest of the day.
 
2 days in disney isnt enough. Went in June 1995 and January 2000 with my parents. Went in November 2011 just me and my wife. I wont go again for less than 5 days. 1 day per park, 1 day to hit the highlights. Summer SUCKS. Winter is best. Jeans and tshirt during the day, have a hoodie to throw on at night.

It may be boring for the kids, but in the heat of the day, take the monorail or busses and check out the other hotels.
 
mbalbritton said:
huh... ya, Epcot is clockwise, but I've never noticed MK being counter clockwise.
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I didn't know he left rule either. First thing we did when we got to MK was head right...to space mt. The sign said 5-10 min wait, but we literally walked right up to the coaster car and hopped on (probably took 5 mins to snake thru the line railings I guess).
As mentioned before, know what you want to hit and when, planning is key. Be familiar with the maps.
Get your fast passes first thing in the morning.
 
DisneyNut said:
Stay on property. Take advantage of the buses and even the cheap hotels are nice and clean. Fall and winter are obviously the best times to go but do NOT go the week after thanksgiving or Christmas.
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The week after Thanksgiving is one of the best times to go. Not crowded that badly.

Go to these two places:

Mousesavers.com

Undercovertourist.com

Skip Seaworld, IMO, and go to one of the other Disney parks. All 4 Disney parks are much better than Seaworld. If you have 3 days for Disney, I'd go to Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot, in that order. Animal Kingdom is pretty decent, esp. for kids, but I like the other 3 better.

Universal is really nice, too.
 
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