Disney World

Paleocon wrote:
sheared wrote:
LouZiffer wrote:

To me it's removing myself from the world for a time in the same way as I would with a game, book, movie, or stepping on a cruise ship. Real life doesn't happen at Disney. It's a make-believe land you take part in.

It's one of the few places I can go and actually feel like I felt in the '70's when I was a kid. What LouZiffer said really hits home for me. When I'm there (and I rarely get to go now-a-days) it's one of the few places where all my cares are forgotten. It's just me and my family.

Lol. My "kid in the 70's" experience was mostly about trying to escape the ignorant behavior of racial violence.

Mine was escaping my father, and a bit later (early 80s) lending some sense of a childhood to friends in Durham (same apartment complex) who experienced racial violence while my brother and I were being raised by a single mother. Disney trips were reasonably cheap in those days (ex). Nothing like today's inflated prices, though mom still saved all year so we could get away for a bit because extra money wasn't something we had at the time. We even were lucky enough sometimes to take a friend.

Strewth wrote:

What's the real difference between the table service and quick service restaurants? I'm looking at the two dining plans trying to compare them, and I don't know enough about the restaurants to make an educated decision about it. There will only be the two of us adults going this trip.

There's some debate about the cost effectiveness / convenience of the dining plans but I personally come down on the side of "not worth it", especially for two adults. They lock you down into feeling you have to eat certain meals or snacks to get your money's worth and reduce your ability to do things like eat a larger breakfast and skip lunch.

What I would recommend is making a couple of good table service reservations and plan on eating counter service for most of the rest. You may want to make a bit of a plan for counter service meals since some places are definitely better than others.

LouZiffer wrote:
Paleocon wrote:
sheared wrote:
LouZiffer wrote:

To me it's removing myself from the world for a time in the same way as I would with a game, book, movie, or stepping on a cruise ship. Real life doesn't happen at Disney. It's a make-believe land you take part in.

It's one of the few places I can go and actually feel like I felt in the '70's when I was a kid. What LouZiffer said really hits home for me. When I'm there (and I rarely get to go now-a-days) it's one of the few places where all my cares are forgotten. It's just me and my family.

Lol. My "kid in the 70's" experience was mostly about trying to escape the ignorant behavior of racial violence.

Mine was escaping my father, and a bit later (early 80s) lending some sense of a childhood to friends in Durham (same apartment complex) who experienced racial violence while my brother and I were being raised by a single mother. Disney trips were reasonably cheap in those days (ex). Nothing like today's inflated prices, though mom still saved all year so we could get away for a bit because extra money wasn't something we had at the time. We even were lucky enough sometimes to take a friend.

Hmm. So I guess there is no correlation between Disney and an idyllic 70's childhood.

Demyx wrote:
Strewth wrote:

What's the real difference between the table service and quick service restaurants? I'm looking at the two dining plans trying to compare them, and I don't know enough about the restaurants to make an educated decision about it. There will only be the two of us adults going this trip.

There's some debate about the cost effectiveness / convenience of the dining plans but I personally come down on the side of "not worth it", especially for two adults. They lock you down into feeling you have to eat certain meals or snacks to get your money's worth and reduce your ability to do things like eat a larger breakfast and skip lunch.

What I would recommend is making a couple of good table service reservations and plan on eating counter service for most of the rest. You may want to make a bit of a plan for counter service meals since some places are definitely better than others.

My wife is an avid planner and agrees with this mindset completely. The convenience doesn't really seem to factor in to it in our experience... and the freedom of restrictions is a big benefit when you just want to randomly change something due to a crowded place or a suddenly nearly empty line you notice walking by.

Demyx wrote:
Strewth wrote:

What's the real difference between the table service and quick service restaurants? I'm looking at the two dining plans trying to compare them, and I don't know enough about the restaurants to make an educated decision about it. There will only be the two of us adults going this trip.

There's some debate about the cost effectiveness / convenience of the dining plans but I personally come down on the side of "not worth it", especially for two adults. They lock you down into feeling you have to eat certain meals or snacks to get your money's worth and reduce your ability to do things like eat a larger breakfast and skip lunch.

What I would recommend is making a couple of good table service reservations and plan on eating counter service for most of the rest. You may want to make a bit of a plan for counter service meals since some places are definitely better than others.

I'm on the "not worth it" side of the dining plan, too. It's only worth it if it's free with a room, because the amount of food you have to eat to make it seem worthwhile is enormous. Friend after friend has ended up planning their entire vacation around meal times, which isn't so bad if that's your focus... but for many it isn't.

When we do full service meals (very rarely) we usually split meals or order an appetizer and dessert. Portions at Disney full service restaurants are typically very big, so splitting gets us normal sized meals at fair prices for the most part. There are also really good appetizers at many of the restaurants which are large enough for a meal.

Most of the time we bring our own food in or eat off-site. Even when Kayc and I vacationed there as a couple in the 1990's we'd often bring in sandwiches we'd make in the room and water bottles with flavor packs. Water fountains offer cold refills (and Disney finally has anti-Florida-taste filters in all parks). Also, all counter/quick service places will serve free water if you ask.

What is the verdict on whether to stay on or off campus?

My coworkers all say off campus is the way to go to avoid the on campus rent premium. Does on campus afford you that much more convenience?

Paleocon wrote:

What is the verdict on whether to stay on or off campus?

My coworkers all say off campus is the way to go to avoid the on campus rent premium. Does on campus afford you that much more convenience?

It's complicated. If you're looking for a themed Disney experience, you're not going to get that from a non-Disney hotel. Also, *most* Disney hotels make access to *most* parks more convenient (Animal Kingdom throws a monkey wrench into this). On the other hand, you can get a 4* hotel or suite for the cost of a Value Disney hotel, barring other discounts. If you're already bringing your own car down, it's a really attractive proposition, but if you add in the costs of a rental, it adds another expense to the balance.

If you also want to visit Universal, or other attractions, being off site, and having a car becomes more attractive again.

That said, having done both, I'd rather stay on site, pay the premium, and get the full Disney experience. The service and customer care are a wonderful experience IMO.

Paleocon wrote:

What is the verdict on whether to stay on or off campus?

My coworkers all say off campus is the way to go to avoid the on campus rent premium. Does on campus afford you that much more convenience?

My preference is off. Just south of 192 there are whole neighborhoods of houses for rent, many of which are 5 bedrooms or more with a pool and hot tub. One of those is easily less than a room at a Disney Moderate resort. Splitting the weekly rent on a house with friends or family makes it a heck of a lot cheaper, especially during slower times of year.

We've done both as well, and I think there's a time/place for both to be honest.

Off-site was nice when we were travelling with a large group (this summer we had 13 people). It was way cheaper, especially when considering the ability to eat least least one meal a day outside the parks. We mitigated the additional stress of driving into and out of the park every day with rest days scattered through a longer vacation.

On-site was nice for shorter trips with just the immediate family. It allowed us to relax a bit more not having to worry about a drive after coming off a crowded ferry from Magic Kingdom at the end of the night. We don't worry a ton about getting off campus since the girls are still too young for Universal Studios.

For food: Our impression of the meal plans is figuring out how to use them optimally was more stressful. When just the two of us went recently, we planned two table-service meals and did the rest ad-hoc. That kind of freedom was really nice for example when we decided we didn't need to eat a bit meal after being at the Food and Wine festival at Epcot all day.

because SCIENCE!

Out there, beyond the anthropomorphic mice and never-ending queues is a man who is quietly trying to disrupt your next vacation to Disney’s Magic Kingdom. His name is Len Testa and his annual subscription-based service, Touring Plans, will predict how long you’ll wait at any ride, any time of day, any day of the year for $14.95—less than the price of a giant turkey leg and a Dole Whip.

With statisticians, programmers and data scientists among its eight full-time staff members and dozen part-time employees, Touring Plan upends trips to Disneyland, Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando resorts with customizable itineraries centered around how to smartly skip the lines at every single theme park. In addition to optimizing which time to board each attraction with its Touring Plans itinerary guides, their free-with-subscription app, Lines, says how long you’ll actually wait in every line, and the freakishly accurate Crowd Calendar recommends the best times to book a trip, even displaying how busy each theme park will be in advance.

Paleocon wrote:

Hmm. So I guess there is no correlation between Disney and an idyllic 70's childhood.

Yeah -- Ha! I never said anything about idyllic, but as an adult, wanting to feel like a kid again is nice -- especially when it can happen a little bit. But, no, I did not grow up in an area of constant violence (thankfully), and if that was my existence during childhood, I'd not want to relieve it either.

I do not begrudge small town life or the chance I had at living it at all, but I'm sure others can point out all the problems that existed with it in the 70's.

Paleocon wrote:

because SCIENCE!

Out there, beyond the anthropomorphic mice and never-ending queues is a man who is quietly trying to disrupt your next vacation to Disney’s Magic Kingdom. His name is Len Testa and his annual subscription-based service, Touring Plans, will predict how long you’ll wait at any ride, any time of day, any day of the year.

I've been a subscriber to Touring Plans for years. In my experience, it works. There's no way to avoid lines entirely, but using the app I never have to wait in hour-long lines at any Disney park.

Just walked in the door ten minutes ago from my return trip from the most magical place on earth that isn't Stonehenge or Easter Island. It lasted from December 30th though January 5th. I rented a house near the park with my family (older sister w/ husband and 2 kids (10 and 4), younger sister w/ husband, parents) My older sister and parents both drove down so they took luggage from myself and my younger sister so we could fly out with only carry on bags. Stuff we did (I will be including our wait times against listed wait times when we were there):

*=Fast Pass

December 30th
Flew in
Walked around the boardwalk area next to Yacht Club
Ate a Beaches and Cream

December 31st
Chilled
Played a sh*t ton of board games (mostly Ticket to Ride)
Dinner at Grand Floridian's 1900 Room ($$$$)

January 1st
Epcot day
Frozen ride (20m/90m)
Soarin'* (20m/120m)
Soarin' (50m/60m)
Lunch in Moracco
Garden Ride (15m/15m)
Let the kids meet Mickey and Co. (45m/30m)
Abandoned dinner plans for France
Split the party (men went home to swim, women stayed to ride more stuff)

January 2nd
Animal Kingdom day
I abstained
Played more board games
Swam in the pool

January 3rd
Magic Kingdom day
got rained on a ton
Space Mountain (30m/175m)
Speedway x3 (20m/20m)
Big Thunder Mountain* (15m/50m)
Big Thunder Mountain (25m/30m)
Splash Mountain* (0m/5m)
Haunted Mansion (25m/25m)
Haunted Mansion (20m/20m)
Buzz Lightyear ride (20m/210m)
Winnie the Pooh ride (5m/10m)
Little Mermaid ride* (5m/30m)
Big Carousel (5m/5m)
Carousel of Progress (naptime)
Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor* (15m/15m)
Stitch's Escape (10m/10m)
Dinner at Ohana'

January 4th
Hollywood Studios day
Rockin' Roller Coaster (60m/75m)
Tower of Terror* (20m/150m)
Toy Story Ride* (20m/230m)
Star Tours* (20m/75m)
Star Tours (65m/90m)
Star Tours (30m/35m)
Met Kylo Ren (10m/10m)
Others met BB-8
Lunch at Sci-Fi cafe
Watched my niece and nephew become Jedi

January 5th
Flew home

I my humble opinion, we kicked Disney's ass. Got lucky with some Speedway and a Star Tours time. The takeaway from this trip more than last trip here? Invest in the time it takes to set up fast passes. They are the key to doing anything there unless your vacation dates are in the middle of a dead zone. Sure it was f*cking freezing the whole time and it rained a couple of days, it was still peak numbers because of New Years.

It was awesome!

That's a great trip report! I concur as to your conclusion in reference to ass-kicking; you guys did a lot during a super-busy time. Did you receive any reviews of Pandora from those who toured Animal Kingdom?

Grenn wrote:

Animal Kingdom day
I abstained

Your loss (Animal Kingdom might be my favorite park currently)

They seemed to like Pandora, but they were also herding a 4 and 10 year old. Also, I don't think any one of them has seen the movie.

Pandora completely blew my mind wide open when we went in mid-November...just an unreal experience (that you should never even think of considering without a fast pass for it - it was a 3-4 hour wait).

I live in a small town of about 22,000 people. It’s divided up into several communities that have 7,000 people here, 5,000 people there, and are separate enough (a few miles apart) that they are really little villages that just banded together.

We made reservations for the sci-fi drive-in last night at Hollywood Studios. We got to talking to the family seated in front of us and it turns out they live in the next community over, and the Mom went to the same schools growing up as my wife, just a few years different.

IMAGE(http://www.disneydining.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/its-a-small-world-stand-by-entrance-fantasyland-magic-kingdom-walt-disney-world.jpg)

Great, now I've got that song stuck in my head again

shoptroll wrote:

Great, now I've got that song stuck in my head again

I was stuck on the ride at WDW for 45 minutes. They didn't bother to turn off the music in the one room we were stuck in. I was ready to start punting those little anamatronic dolls after the first 10 minutes.

We take off in just a few hours!!

Landed, woooo!

Flight, just like I like it... boring

Wink_and_the_Gun wrote:

Landed, woooo!

Flight, just like I like it... boring :)

Have fun!

Yes, have fun. . . and give us poor sods a trip report!

Hollywood Studios Star Wars Fireworks show. Trust me.

Grenn wrote:

Hollywood Studios Star Wars Fireworks show. Trust me.

Absolutely.

It probably makes me a bad person that I've been to Disney several times, but never seen any of the fireworks shows, right?

Maybe?

We’ve been several times but I think we only stayed and watched them a few times. My wife and I hit it pretty hard and early so we are beat by the end of the day. Add to the throng of people you have to fight with on transportation back and we’ve just said screw it a lot of times.

Also add young kids to the last several trips and it compounds the problem.

That's always been my problem. I hate waiting around for stuff, so we usually try and be hitting rides all the time. By the end of the day, we're already pretty tired, and we usually miss the whole "stake out your spot an hour or two early and stand there waiting" thing, so there's nowhere left to actually watch, and even if we did, the whole transit thing seems bad, plus we're usually beat at the end of the day.

Once, we kinda tried to watch. We didn't stake a spot early, so were wandering around trying to find somewhere. We weren't having any luck, and they just kept hustling everyone through the walking path, so we couldn't even stop and try and figure out where to go. Eventually, they started, and they were hustling people even more, so we just bailed. I'd like to see them, but can't square it with standing in one of the viewing areas for an hour or two.