WDW Must & Must Not Do's

[missym]

Just a quick bump... hoping some folks can chime in with suggestions or updates!

[123LuckyMom]

We went the first week in March. DS is 4.5, and DD was 11 months.

We LOVED EPCOT! I don't get why people think it's a snooze. We loved everything in the Land and Seas pavilions. We liked Figment. The energy ride (which I had remembered loving in trips past, was sooooooo long and not at all worth it! We liked Test Track, and enjoyed eating our way through the world showcase. Illuminations was by far our LEAST favorite night time show.

We skipped Conservation Station and affiliated stuff at Animal Kingdom and did everything else. We loved the afternoon parade at AK. We brought water shoes and ponchos for Kali River Rapids, it was COLD when we were there, and we didn't want to be wet all day.

We loved dinner at Boma. We did this on our night of arrival, and the food was really excellent. Also great was the sushi at the Polynesian.

We ate breakfast in the room and brought food into the parks every day for the children. It saved us a lot of money and time.

We arrived every day at rope drop and followed our touringplans plan updating with the app Lines as we went. It was fantastic how little time we spent in lines!

DHS was our least favorite park. I absolutely agree to get to Toy Story Mania IMMEDIATELY!!! It's the best ride in the park, IMO, and the crowds definitely reflect that! Aside from Toy Story, the Muppets Movie was great. DS loved Tower of Terror. The grownups enjoyed the Rock 'n Rollercoaster, and Fantasmic was great! Otherwise, meh. The Beauty and the Beast show was hilarious without meaning to be. There was a female performer whose only job seemed to be to shimmy her chest as much as was humanly possible for no reason. We were doubled over with laughter!

The electrical parade, Celebration, and Wishes at MK were SPECTACULAR. We saw them three times! A great place to see the electrical parade (though not the projections on the castle or the fireworks) was Frontier Land.

Speaking of Frontier Land, we loved the Country Bear Jamboree, so everyone's taste is different.

We had 6 days in the parks. We did 2 days at MK, a day each at EPCOT, AK, and DHS. On the last day, we spent the morning at MK, the afternoon at EPCOT, and the evening at MK again for the parade, projections on the castle, and fireworks.

We didn't do any character meals, and we only met characters at the spur of the moment if the lines were short. We preferred encountering them from afar!

Your schedule sounds great, but I would be careful of scheduling meals too far away from where you'll be. Travel time will be longer than you think. You don't want to waste too much time in transit.

[Fairy]

This thread is just the epitome of different strokes for different folks. That's why WDW is just so spectacular, what one loves another won't and the third will decide is the reason to go. There is no wrong answer here, there just isn't. The common thread is that Disney has this DOWN. They know how to cater to every single kind of person that has a need in their park, and the cast members take pride in providing the service. I've never once had a negative interaction with a cast member, tho I do know someone who has. More recent observations from me:

* The line for Be our Guest is INSANITY. I mean, it's nuts like you would not believe. It was a two hour wait to get in for lunch, standing in line. I think that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard of. Word to the wise, if you're cool with lines, then this place is supposed to be magnificent. I have yet to see it cuz I won't wait in a 2 hour line.

* I was not overly impressed with the new Fantasyland, but then again it's STILL under a bit of construction, like road construction in Chicago, it doesn't seem to end. I love Fantasyland, I just didn't see that much hullabuloo over the newness of it. I did ride Pooh, and it was perfectly nice. Same as Snow White in concept, really. But the line is great for little ones, so much to do.

* There is a wrong way there, I take it back. Going to Hollywood Studios and NOT running your ass as fast as you can to Toy Story is the wrong way if you have any inclination to go on it. You must get the fast pass. We got ours at 11am, and 20 minutes later they were out for the day. This was a non-crowded day.

* We liked the Cape May Cafe. It was very expensive, but if you like seafood you won't be disappointed. If you do not like seafood SKIP IT.

* I had to get one of those motorized scooters when we went in August of lat year cuz I injured my leg while we were at Universal the say before. I was crying, I didn't wanna be in one. I felt so self-conscious I can't tell you. It was a fantastic perspective on the disabled and what they deal with. I will never look at those scooter folks the same way again. If it's crowded, like when watching the light shows, you can't see over the people around you,k and it's very claustraphobic.

* The hot dog place, Casey's, at the front of MK sucks. Don't do it.

* Google for hidden gems at disney world, and go prepared to find some of them, bring the list with you. It's amazing what they've got hidden there that no one knows about. I don't have the site handy, but if I find it, I'll come back and post. It's so fun, not jusst hidden mickeys, but LOTS of hidden Easter Egg kind of gems.

* i do dislike Epcot, I'm sorry. But i agree that The Land and all the front park pavillions are wonderful. They really are worth going, and I love them. It's the back at the countries that bore me. There's just not that much to do other than shop and eat, and I don't care for the shows, mostly. But I think Epcot should not be skipped, as the front of the park is really wonderful.

* That said, Captain Neo or whatever that Michael Jackson show is was embarrassing. I don't get why it's still there. It's outdated like I was blushing at the badness of it, both in SFX and in 80's'ness. I wonder if they put it back in after MJ died as a tribute? I dunno, but my parents LOVED it, and DH and I were snickering and giggling the whole time. We just couldn't help but bust up laughing.

* I have mixed feelings about the photo packages they get you with. We bought the Donald package they showed up to our table at Tusker House with. I think it was $29.99. Expensive, but ya know what? The pix were fanstastic. DS looks so happy I could die. Yes, I took my own pix, but these WERE special. I say if you have the $$, and you wanna splurge, it's not a terrible thing.

* I used to pine for Disney dining, which we'll never have cuz we never stay on property cuz we alawys stay for free with the points DH gets from travelling. But now not so much. It IS alot of food, and we always eat at the park all day long. We could't eat all that food with Disney Dining if we tried. I think for alot of people, you're better off without.

* We went to the Volcano Mexican restaurant whose name I forget in Epcot for dinner, and for the very first time ever, I was really unimpressed. T he food was totally average, the waitress was unfriendly (not a bad experience, and not mean, but she was NOT Disney, AFAIC), and I didn't like the kid choices.

* On the other hand, the French bakery in France was TO DIE FOR. I wish we'd done that for lunch, i could have eaten the entire building.

[Fairy]

Wow. I just read my original post of opinions. My how things change with time and age of your kids ...

[gummibear]

Really appreciate the update on this thread, as we are planning a trip very soon to WDW. DH has been there but DS and I have not. As always, this forum is an appreciated wealth of information.

[elbenn]

This thread is really good, but most of the information is pretty old. Is there a newer thread similar to this?

[mikala]

This thread is really good, but most of the information is pretty old. Is there a newer thread similar to this?

Yeah, I was just wondering the same thing. Maybe time to put out a call for updates? Us Disney newbies would really appreciate it!!

[missym]

I've created a new thread.