Planning a Disney Trip (Help)

[Elle]

When I went in January I waited at max....20-30 min in line. And that was for something like space mountain or hollywood tower of terror.

When I went in December, it was more like 30-40 min. of waiting at just about everything. The holiday season down there is a big thing for them, so there was a ton of people there for that.

is the dance party more geared towards the kiddo's or is it an free for all lets have fun? I dont have any kids, so would i just be the creepy dude in the corner? haha.

There is a radio Disney DJ in there - so if the Jonas Brothers and Hannah Montana are your thing then you'll really enjoy it - I happen to like the teeny-bopper scene and have kids so I was ok with it all the way around. It was a lot of fun but the point of extra magic hours is so you can ride rides and enjoy the park with limited crowds, Hollywood Studios has some awesome rides so if this is your once in a lifetime trip you'll want to be sure to ride Tower of Terror, Rock 'N Rollercoaster and the new Toy Story Mania rides that have over an hour wait time normally - if you know how to use fast passes and child swaps to your advantage then you may have knocked them out earlier in the day/your trip so you won't feel guilty about spending 2 hours dancing with the characters (like we did)

 

[Devo]

oh...i think ill pass on the awesome dance party then. thats not really my music...maybe when i have little ones of my own.

id rather spend my time on the rockin roller coaster

 

[SShewbert]

There is a radio Disney DJ in there - so if the Jonas Brothers and Hannah Montana are your thing then you'll really enjoy it - I happen to like the teeny-bopper scene and have kids so I was ok with it all the way around. It was a lot of fun but the point of extra magic hours is so you can ride rides and enjoy the park with limited crowds, Hollywood Studios has some awesome rides so if this is your once in a lifetime trip you'll want to be sure to ride Tower of Terror, Rock 'N Rollercoaster and the new Toy Story Mania rides that have over an hour wait time normally - if you know how to use fast passes and child swaps to your advantage then you may have knocked them out earlier in the day/your trip so you won't feel guilty about spending 2 hours dancing with the characters (like we did)

Which ride did you swap for child for?

 

[Devo]

Which ride did you swap for child for?

do i have to swap child for child or can i swap a big stuffed teddy bear instead?

 

[LusbyMom]

There is a radio Disney DJ in there - so if the Jonas Brothers and Hannah Montana are your thing then you'll really enjoy it - I happen to like the teeny-bopper scene and have kids so I was ok with it all the way around. It was a lot of fun but the point of extra magic hours is so you can ride rides and enjoy the park with limited crowds, Hollywood Studios has some awesome rides so if this is your once in a lifetime trip you'll want to be sure to ride Tower of Terror, Rock 'N Rollercoaster and the new Toy Story Mania rides that have over an hour wait time normally - if you know how to use fast passes and child swaps to your advantage then you may have knocked them out earlier in the day/your trip so you won't feel guilty about spending 2 hours dancing with the characters (like we did)

We didn't do the child swap, but we did use the fastpasses! I wish we had thought to do that for the white water ride in Animal Kingdom. We waited almost 2 hours for that ride and really it sucked Kings Dominions White Water Canyon is better.

 

[Elle]

I was just reading about a camping club membership and it made me think about Disney - if you have the time be sure to take advantage of the Disney Vacation Club tour. We did in April and it was very nice to see the resort and learn about what was offered. You can book a tour and at any of the thousand of kiosks around the park or resorts. They send a van to pick you up from where ever you schedule it (even provide car seats if needed). When you get to the resort where you will be touring they have a kids area for those 2 and up that our 10 year old loved. Our salesman was very low pressure, went over several options with us. The whole thing took maybe 30 minutes – could have taken more if we were more interested but after working the numbers ahead of time since we travel on the cheap now to include the kids it just wasn’t worth it for us – if we stayed at nicer hotels then maybe but for now we’ll pass. Again no pressure - even gave us like 5 days to think it over - and when you are done with your tour they take you to where ever you want to be dropped off at. And the catch – everything has a catch you know – since you gave up your time to tour their resort they give every member of your party you get a special fast pass card that allows you to obtain three fast passes from any machine still handing them out good for the time you insert your card – no waiting to come back hours later and you can use them all back to back if you want - this card is good for up to 5 days after you do the tour - we even got 1 for each of our little kids who were under 3 and didn’t have a ticket to the parks so that meant 15 magic fast passes for our family that only needed 3 per ride. Again we got the extra passes even after saying no to their deal.

 

[cmdmldmom]

If you are military, look into Shades of Green. We have stayed there for the last 5 years. Nice size rooms with Queen beds instead of doubles, busses to all the parks, and you can buy the tickets there. It is a beautiful resort.
We went over Veterans Day last year, and waited no longer than 10 minutes for any ride. It was wonderful!

 

[Beta84]

ANIMAL KINGDOM LODGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That place is fantabulous!

Shades of Green is a good place for military. If you're looking for a slightly 'cheaper' trip, then stay away from the Disney resort hotels. There are some hotels in the Lake Buena Vista area (near Downtown Disney) that are a little cheaper. I used to stay at the Embassy Suites over there, but I don't know what the prices are these days.

If you aren't too bothered with expense, then the Disney hotels are worth it because it'll add to the experience, though the lower end hotels may not be that great outside of the fun theme stuff.

I can't believe you are wondering if a 12 and 9 yr old would like Disney!!! They'll LOVE it. They'll probably like all of it, including the "kiddie" stuff in Fantasyland...heck, everyone loves that stuff. You'll all have a nice time.

There is a very wide price range for the hotels so it's tough to say which one is the 'best' for you and your family.

 

[BS Gal]

Where the hell is Geek?

 

[StrawberryGal]

Where the hell is Geek?

In the line at Wal-Fart waiting to buy "Tinkerbell" movie that's on shelves tomorrow.

 

[Callie girl]

My sis went this summer and she stayed outside of Disney at an AWESOME place. I think next time we go back we might look into staying there.

Next time I want to spend some time doing some other things outside of Disney too.

It was Celebrity Resorts in Kissimmee and was awesome, I will stay there next time to. It was $85.00 a night (summer) but some of the other times it is a couple hundred a night. 2 big jacuzzi tubs, they had 5 pools ( 1 bar one, 1 indoor and the rest outdoor), tennis courts, basketball court and volleyball. The rooms had 2 livingrooms, diningroom, washer and dryer, diningroom and full kitchen. It was nice having the kitchen as we saved money on eating out.
We also went to a dinner theater in the upside down house and it was comedy. Kids and myself had a blast.

 

[Geek]

Where the hell is Geek?

I am here I was updating my trip report



Hey OP, your kids are perfect ages. I would stay at a value resort, at those ages you won't spend any time in the room. Try and get free dining. Pull them out of school and go on the off season. Your lines will be small, which really changes the Disney experience. I highly recommend reading my trip reports. They won't help at all, but they are funny

Booking through Disney. com is fine, but you might want to call instead and speak to a live person, they might be able to hook you up with free dining or upgrades.

PAck comfy shoes, bring a camera, take advantage of photopass, get the cd, GO to 'Ohana, do Chef Mickey's, don't miss Everest.
Stay for the fireworks, eat the fudge, catch the Pirate Tutorial and the HIgh School Musical Stage show. If they have a pirate and princess night, go. Get Princess and Pirate costumes after halloween and pack them, for the adults too. Free dining rocks, rocks, rocks.


And get ready for the time of your life

 

[dawn]

We just got back from Disney this past Sunday. We stayed at Raddison hotel which was about 5 miles from Disney and we paid 95.00 total for 4 nights/5 days, plus we got two tickets to Disney World for free. We had to do a time share presentation for approximately 2 hours, to get that great rate, but it was well worth it, it started at 830 in the morning, so we still had a full afternoon. Plus we were able to trade in our tickets at Disney World and get the 150.00 credit towards park hopper tickets. If you are interested PM me and I will send you the information.

Our son is 3 and he had a blast. It was semi-crowded (at least more people than I thought would be there) and they said they are most busy during christmas and easter break (of course in addition to the summer months).

Animal Kingdom is a total must as well as Magic Kingdom. The only thing my son got super excited about in Hollywood Studios was meeting the characters. They had characters at Animal Kingdom as well and there was hardly any line to get their autographs (compared to all the other parks).

We never saw any of the parades, but the fireworks is a must see. Also in the Magic Kindgom, my son didnt want to leave the Playhouse Disney Live on Stage, I think every kid that saw that loved it, it was alot of fun.

 

[cdsulhoff]

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