Disneyworld - 1st timers. Please advise.
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Anonymous
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OP here.
Booked our hotel, dinner plans and flights. Very excited!!! Thank you everybody on this post for the invaluble info and advice. Now for the restaurant recommendations: we are staying at the Contemporary and have 3 table service credits, 3 quick service credits and 3 snack credits. What places would you recommend to use them? Also, we would like to rent a car on the last day to drive to Miami Beach for a few days. Can anyone recommend a service that will drop-off the rental @ the Contemporary? TIA. |
Anonymous
| Chef mickeys for breakfast, narcosees at the grand Floridian if you like seafood, steak, pretty view on water, with a Nantucket feel, for dinner. If California grill is open while you're there it's an absolute must! |
Anonymous
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Narcosses and California Grill are 2 TS credits each. All signature dining is 2 credits. (So is Cinderella's Royal Table.)
I like Crystal Palace and Tusker House for breakfast. Terrific character interactions and good food. Get the Dole Whip at Aloha Isle for a snack (Magic Kingdom). I haven't found a counter service meal I like yet... |
Anonymous
NP here. While you are correct, usually someone referring to a single park as Disneyworld means the Magic Kingdom. They don't realize that Disneyworld =/= Disneyland in Florida instead of California. My parents have lived in Orlando for 30 years now and I've long since stopped correcting people about this. |
Anonymous
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If it fits your budget, you might want to consider getting a VIP guide at the Magic Kingdom. We did this last summer with two other families (7 adults with 5 kids between 2-11). It's expensive but splitting costs across the families helped justify the expense and we all agreed that it was worth it when they got us into the park before the gates officially opening, we stood in line no more than 10 mins for any ride, and were finished with all of the major attractions and then some by 2:30 pm without feeling rushed or tired. They were amazing, covered everything, and we didn't look at a map once!
This is the company we used: http://www.michaelsvips.com/ Also to the PP who commented on the park being dirty and run down, we didn't experience that at all. I was also impressed by the healthy snacks they offered throughout the park (fresh fruit everywhere). Plus, Disney is constructing a totally updated Fantasyland, which was a nice change since the last time we visited. Several of the rides were operational when we visited last June so I would think it's further along by now. |
Anonymous
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I don't have advice on hotels, but would like to add that it is very cheap to add more days if you can. We were planning to do a 3-day pass, but then realized that it wasn't much more to get a 6-day pass! I think it was cheaper to do 3 more days at Disney than one day at Seaworld! We did all the parks and didn't feel rushed.
make sure you figure out the fast pass situation before you go. It's changed since I was there 5 years ago. I believe there's an app now. We constantly had one adult making a run for fast passes to the next ride. Not sure when you are going, but if it will be hot, just let your kids wear swimsuits/board shorts. There are splash pads everywhere and it helps A LOT! the character dining is worth it if you are interested. But you have to book waaay in advance for most. They sell autograph books and my kids LOVED having those signed by the characters. If yours are interested in the meet and greet, there's a number you can call to get the character times and locations for the day. Try to be there for the opening ceremony and the fireworks at closing at least once. And the electrical light parade. Have fun! |
Anonymous
Tangierine Cafe in Epcot and Columbia Harbour House in the MK are two of my favorites, even compared to many table-service restaurants. Actual vegetarian and healthy options! |
Anonymous
Agree. MUST eat at Columbia Harbour House for MK counter service. There really isn't good table service at MK, is there? |
Anonymous
| NP here-For everyone who used a travel agent what did you think we're the biggest benefits other than time saved? Did they find you better deals? Thanks |
Anonymous
| We're=was |
Anonymous
I'm interested in trying the new table service in Fantasyland. It is supposed to be better. |
Anonymous
I'm the OP from the Boardwalk Villas post. Currently planning our trip and using an agent. She has been a wealth of information, steering me in the right direction based on our preferences, ages of kids and budget. When I first contacted her a couple weeks ago, she alerted me to an upcoming promotion that kicked in this week. She will make all our dining reservations for us. I feel it has saved me a lot of time and research at no additional cost. In fact, we're saving money because she knew about the promotion before it was available to the public. http://www.piratesandpixiedustvacations.com/index.html |
Anonymous
I really like Crystal Palace for breakfast and Tony's for lunch. None of us liked Liberty Tree Tavern. |