Disneyland/Disney World questions.

[ALStensby]

So...I'm sure SOMEONE on here has been. My wife and I never have and have always thought it'd be kind of fun to go. We're thinking of going with a couple friends some time next year. We're kind of leaning towards some time in September so that (hopefully) there will be less kids! We're all right around 30 and a bunch of goofballs. What are the better ones to go to? Anaheim or Orlando? Best times to go? Is a week a good amount of time? Best to stay in the park or at a hotel off the grounds? Any other helpful input?

[Utah Motorcyclist]

Disneyland has two parks. Disney world has 6. It all depends on how much time you want to spend.

I've read somewhere that all of Disneyland could fit in Disney worlds parking lots.

[NCDave]

A week is plenty of time and you're right to go off-season. It's pretty warm down there most of the time. In the fall, hurricane season doesn't end until the end of October, so it would be POSSIBLE for bad weather. you just have to look out for that.

[brokenrod]

My family and I go to Disney Orlando about every other year. We always stay in the park ( off site hotel, but still on the grounds).We put together a package plan from the website. Last time we went we stayed at Pop Century hotel. Very nice- even the hotels are themed. I do recommend paying for the meal plan. We ate in the nice restaurants every day we were there and ate what we wanted at much less than the price of the plan. Even in Sept. you are still gonna have lots of kids. You have to watch the fireworks from main st. at least once while you're there, i feel like a little awestruck kid with the fireworks and soundtrack playing. Tower of terror, Space mountain, and Soarin are must rides. if you like science, the beginning section of Epcot is for you( my fave).Go with a park hopper pass, this way if you get bored, you can just hop the bus or monorail and switch parks at no cost.

[brokenrod]

Oh, and i forgot to mention....its gonna rain at about 3:30 in the afternoon for about 5 minutes everyday. At least it does whenever we are there

[JacksonW]

Disney in Orlando still rates up there with our best, most memorable, vacations. I'd recommend staying in the park. Yeah, you can save a few bucks doing things different, but, for a complete experience, treat yourselves.
The Wilderness Lodge was the coolest. Being in the park allows you to come and go as you please. Early park, pool in the afternoon, run back in to catch something you may have missed, or dinner, it's a blast. The water parks are great too! The place can make a person of any age forget how old they are!

[jeffs99vulcan]

My wife is the world's biggest Disney fanatic! We went for the first time as adults just as we turned 30 too, in 2000... we tied in a combo 3 days on the grounds and a 4 day Disney Cruise (the ship was 6 months old at the time!)

We also went two years ago with the kids for the first time, and stayed in a rental vacation home. This time there were four other couples along with us, and we got a three day Disney "hopper" pass.

We went again last year, not necessarily for Disney, but to visit with my parents at their house, and just went to Disney for a day.

Three completely different trips, three totally different experiences!

Based on all that, if it were me, I'd say a four days, on the grounds. You can get into something like the Caribbean Beach Resort reasonably economically, or up to the Grand Floridian if you want to go all out...

Transportation is free and very good all throughout the resort, four days will easily give you enough time to see everything without being there too long to get bored, or feel like you've spent too much to be there 6 or 7 days when it came be done in four.

They have three day hopper passes as well, and Disney is not stupid, they know three days is about average, so with four, staying on the grounds, it works out nice. You can use an extra day to see MGM studios, or Universal, or both too... a lot of adults prefer Universal, but if you've never seen either, MGM is pretty good too!

And DEFINITELY try for the off-season if you can... I hear that the week after school starts is pretty quiet... We've been the first week of January (perfect, very quiet), and the other two times were the the middle of February... not bad either, although the one time was the first week of Feb, and it was cool. No big deal, but it was long pant and short sleeves weather.

Good luck, have fun, and let us know what you decide!!! And if you have any more questions, ASK AWAY!!!

[B-Bob]

The Magic Kingdom at Disney World is much the same as Disney Land, plus you have all of the other parks at Disney World to choose from. Orlando also has another big theme park besides the Disney parks.

Go while school is in session, on week days.

Plan your days ahead of time.

Get to your destination park early, beat yourselves up standing in line for a few hours, then go back to your hotel for an afternoon siesta and lollygagging by the pool. Go back to the park in the evening and close it down. You'll get to go on more rides between 9:00 PM and closing than at any other time of the day, because all of the people with little kids will be wore out and heading home.

Don't forget to go to the Kennedy Space Center while you are in Florida.

[TriXie]

We took the kids to Disney World about 10 yrs. ago when they were 10 & 11. We wanted to wait til they were old enough to remember it. We planned our itinerary around the kids and their interests, but we had a blast also!! Disney World is definitely for all ages!!

I bought the book and researched it for months beforehand. Wanted to be well informed so we could decide ahead of time, what we wanted to see and what we could do without.

Definitely do the park hopper pass, and stay in Disney. It's a little more, but well worth it!! A week is plenty of time to see everything. We went for 4 days and were satisfied. And I agree...The fireworks on Main St. are awesome and The Tower of Terror is a MUST!! Have fun!!

[ALStensby]

Good point on the hurricane season, Dave! Might have to slide it a little bit to avoid that. I wish we could go right now. There's a package that if you go between now and some time in April, it's under $1600 for four people for seven nights! Flights are cheap enough to there from here (under $300 easy). That package included park admittance and such and could just add the food thing you mentioned. Only issue is PTO. Crysti has enough, but I'd be cutting it close with the two weeks we took last September and the week coming up in April for Cancun! Ah, nuts! Honestly, I'd almost rather do Disney but the mom-in-law has been bugging us to go to her condo in Cancun for YEARS now. Ugh.

[Tod]

Besides, everyone knows that it's the hurricane that'll wreck the containment system on the dinosaur pens.
Then the screaming starts...

[TriXie]

Originally Posted by alstensby

Honestly, I'd almost rather do Disney but the mom-in-law has been bugging us to go to her condo in Cancun for YEARS now. Ugh.

I guess that depends on if the mother-in-law is going or not!!

[Mick327]

Originally Posted by jeffs99vulcan

My wife is the world's biggest Disney fanatic! We went for the first time as adults just as we turned 30 too, in 2000... we tied in a combo 3 days on the grounds and a 4 day Disney Cruise (the ship was 6 months old at the time!)

We also went two years ago with the kids for the first time, and stayed in a rental vacation home. This time there were four other couples along with us, and we got a three day Disney "hopper" pass.

We went again last year, not necessarily for Disney, but to visit with my parents at their house, and just went to Disney for a day.

Three completely different trips, three totally different experiences!

Based on all that, if it were me, I'd say a four days, on the grounds. You can get into something like the Caribbean Beach Resort reasonably economically, or up to the Grand Floridian if you want to go all out...

Transportation is free and very good all throughout the resort, four days will easily give you enough time to see everything without being there too long to get bored, or feel like you've spent too much to be there 6 or 7 days when it came be done in four.

They have three day hopper passes as well, and Disney is not stupid, they know three days is about average, so with four, staying on the grounds, it works out nice. You can use an extra day to see MGM studios, or Universal, or both too... a lot of adults prefer Universal, but if you've never seen either, MGM is pretty good too!

And DEFINITELY try for the off-season if you can... I hear that the week after school starts is pretty quiet... We've been the first week of January (perfect, very quiet), and the other two times were the the middle of February... not bad either, although the one time was the first week of Feb, and it was cool. No big deal, but it was long pant and short sleeves weather.

Good luck, have fun, and let us know what you decide!!! And if you have any more questions, ASK AWAY!!!

No way is your wife the biggest Disney fan in the world. That honor would go to my wife. When she calls over there to make reservations, they tell her Mrs. -------, you have visited our park in excess of 700 times. Yes, that's right, seven hundred times. She is a true Disney fan, her nickname is goofy.

[jeffs99vulcan]

Originally Posted by Mick327

No way is your wife the biggest Disney fan in the world. That honor would go to my wife. When she calls over there to make reservations, they tell her Mrs. -------, you have visited our park in excess of 700 times. Yes, that's right, seven hundred times. She is a true Disney fan, her nickname is goofy.

Ya well, when MY wife calls, they say "Hello Minnie!"

[ALStensby]

Originally Posted by Mick327

No way is your wife the biggest Disney fan in the world. That honor would go to my wife. When she calls over there to make reservations, they tell her Mrs. -------, you have visited our park in excess of 700 times. Yes, that's right, seven hundred times. She is a true Disney fan, her nickname is goofy.

Maybe you should change your name to Mickey327.

[ALStensby]

Originally Posted by Tod

Besides, everyone knows that it's the hurricane that'll wreck the containment system on the dinosaur pens.
Then the screaming starts...

I don't know why...but that sounds familiar. Maybe you should write a movie script about that, Tod!

[coach51]

I have been the last two years in a row (during March) Orlando. Took a girls High School softball team down to compete in a Spring Training Tournament. Stayed at the Caribbean which is a middle of the road hotel and is part of the Park. Stay at one of their hotels and you can use your room key as a fast pass to most rides. Get the park hopper pass!!!!! We got park hopper passes to Epcot, MGM, Animal Kingdom, and The main park. Make sure you ride the Aerosmith Rockin Roller Coaster, and Tower of Terror, also take in the stunt show at MGM. At Epcot don't miss the Mission Mars ride it is awesom. Animal Kingdom - Mt. Everest. At the main park ride all the roller coasters and the log ride. You will love it, take a week and enjoy as much as you can. We only had limited time at each park because we were playing ball most of the mornings we were there. Also, get the meal tickets they will save you a ton of money. If you stay at one of their hotels, they have a common food court that has alot to choose from. Your first meal will be very expensive because you are paying about 20.00 for a plastic cup, but you get free refills on your drinks from then on with that cup. Then all you have to do is use your meal card and you get a free drink. Like I said you will have a great time just take your time and take in as much as you can.

[jeffs99vulcan]

Originally Posted by coach51

I have been the last two years in a row (during March) Orlando. Took a girls High School softball team down to compete in a Spring Training Tournament. Stayed at the Caribbean which is a middle of the road hotel and is part of the Park. Stay at one of their hotels and you can use your room key as a fast pass to most rides. Get the park hopper pass!!!!! We got park hopper passes to Epcot, MGM, Animal Kingdom, and The main park. Make sure you ride the Aerosmith Rockin Roller Coaster, and Tower of Terror, also take in the stunt show at MGM. At Epcot don't miss the Mission Mars ride it is awesom. Animal Kingdom - Mt. Everest. At the main park ride all the roller coasters and the log ride. You will love it, take a week and enjoy as much as you can. We only had limited time at each park because we were playing ball most of the mornings we were there. Also, get the meal tickets they will save you a ton of money. If you stay at one of their hotels, they have a common food court that has alot to choose from. Your first meal will be very expensive because you are paying about 20.00 for a plastic cup, but you get free refills on your drinks from then on with that cup. Then all you have to do is use your meal card and you get a free drink. Like I said you will have a great time just take your time and take in as much as you can.

OMG... this trip is a near DUPLICATE of our 2000 trip!!! LOL!!! Plastic cup, Caribbean Resort and all!!! Not to mention, my wife used to be and coach cheerleaders, so we went to the cheerleader shows too!!! Too weird!!!

[Hilts]

I've been to both. Most recent was Orlando in 2000. We rented a house in Kissimee <sp> and rented a van to get around. We were about 20 mins from Disneyworld. We went in mid April and got the park hopper pass for 7 days. April weather was really nice...very warm. Parks were busy but not real bad. We used the fast track passes which basically give you a window in which to show up for the more popular rides. I would definitely go back to Orlando before going back to LA.

[flbiker]

Disney World.Orlando?never heard of it