Another fence-sitting for Disney

[mamabeca]

We're planning a trip for Feb., definitely somewhere WARM and BEACH would be even better! We bought a little trailer this year, and I'd like to make the trek down to FLA this winter (from NY). If were doing that, are we being CRUEL not to go to disney? We can get discount tix through my dh's union, and can stay in a campground with the trailer...so it's not crazy expensive. And we could take 2 weeks (1 of them vacation) and stay with a friend in Sarasota for a few days, maybe see the Everglades...

So if we worked it into a trip like that, why do I still feel like I'm buying into the commercialism and hype??? I went once, when I was about dd's age (8 or 9?) and don't even remember it that much...I remember Space Mountain and my mom smacking my brother...you know....kid stuff. But I don't remember the awe or anything. and tbh, beach time would probably be better for us as a family. So...any thoughts? How do I decide? And am I likely to get camping IN disney for this???

[snoopy5386]

well.....I loooovvvveeee Disneyworld with all my heart so I am biased. I am not into the movies and my Disneyworld obsession didn't start until I my DH surprised me with a trip there in my 20s (even though I went as a kid). It really is a place that tries to create magic for families if you are able to slow down and enjoy it, ie not running from ride to ride. If you pm me I can help answer more specific questions. I have been 6 or 7 times in the last 10 years. I also highly recommend www.disboards.com. They have a family board with lots of AP parents on it who could also give some more advice.

[EviesMom]

It can be a great family vacation spot even for those not into the commercialism and movies of Disney in my opinion. I loved going many times as a child and staying in a pop up camper at Disney's Fort Wilderness. And we went last November with dd and many extended family members. My dd was much younger than yours, but she loved it. We stayed at the campground (in a tent in November, so I'm sure a trailer in Feb. would be great) and they have a good playground, petting zoo, nice little beach, campfire to roast marshmallows, etc.

Maybe just pick one or two days to actually go into a Disney theme park and spend the rest of the time driving to big beaches in the area or hanging around the campground and taking it easy. When you do go into the parks, the ferry boat from the campground to Magic Kingdom was the most memorable thing from my childhood and dd seemed to agree.

[mamabeca]

Thanks gals! I think that's what I was looking for...some personal experiences. I haven't been in so long, that Disneyworld and Disneymovies are just one blurry reality for me, which isn't probably very accurate. THANK YOU!!!

[saturnine25]

I have lived in FL for 11 years, and have never been to Disneyworld. Neither have my kids. I'm sure we'll go someday, but....there are lots of other things to do, too. If you like, PM me and I'll share some of the places our family has enjoyed over the years.

[mamazee]

I've been to Disney and Busch Gardens and I must say that Busch Gardens is worth a look as well, though you might get bored if you were there more than one day. But there's a great area for young kids called Land of the Dragons that could potentially be a half day alone. I think my daughter liked Busch Gardens better than Disney. But, again, it's more of a one-day thing. We also went to Cocoa Beach and just hung out at the beach and played in the sand for a day. That was great fun for her too.

Disney is fun because almost all the rides are OK for really little kids. But there are a lot of lines and it's hard for really little kids to wait in lines. So there's good and bad to it. The hardest thing for my daughter is that there are characters around you can talk to, but you have to wait in line to see them, and the lines can be really really really long to see the characters. That was by far the worst part of Disney for us. She'd see these characters and want to wait in line, and we'd think, "An hour and a quarter to see three princesses? Hmmmmmmm dunno about that." LOL. It's an expensive place to be if you're actually doing stuff, but to spend that much money and then wait in line to see characters all the time is crazy.

[EviesMom]

Just a tip on seeing the characters. We waited at Magic Kingdom a LOOOOOOONG time to see each individual character (or rather, we waited a long time to see Mickey and decided to skip the rest). At Epcot, it was one fairly short line to see 5 or 6 different characters. (I guess it's not where people think to go to see the characters).

[Ruthla]

I have very fond (though not detailed) memories of going to both Disneyland nd Disneyworld as a child.

[dajones]

I love Disney, and went to Disneyland as a child many times. We planned a family vacations a few years ago when DS was 13 months and everyone told me it would be a waste because he wouldn't remember it. The trip was for me not him.

[bobica]

i was surprised how much fun i had at disney- we went this year. dd was COMPLETELY overwhelmed by the whole experience. she had more meltdowns at the "happiest place on earth" than anywhere ever : but, overall we had a great time, took our time & set our own pace.

if you think of going, check out tourguidemike.com the best $20 i spent for the entire trip!

[mamabeca]

Thanks for the recommendation! MY plan now: get 4day park hopper tix through dh's union (about 200$ cheaper than through Disney for all 4 of us), stay at Fort Wilderness for 6 nights - so one day to totally just chill out, and 4 days of parks. If all goes well, we'll get 2 full days in tmk, and one day in each of 2 other parks. Thanks for all the recommendations and rememberances! I think it'll be a blast, and you all have reaffirmed for me that this is about US - it's easily a wonderful vacation for adults, and the kids can have fun too.

[snoopy5386]

FYI, there are 4 parks, not 3, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, MGM studios and Animal Kingdom. If I had to skip one it would be MGM, but do your research. That is the best advice I can give you, the more research you do the more fun you will have.

[Jessy1019]

I'm another one who isn't into disney movies or "stuff," but the parks are my favorite way to spend a vacation. I grew up going once a year or so, and I would still choose to go there rather than anywhere else most years. It's just . . . the happiest place on earth. Unless you go with your extended family and try to stick together like glue for a solid week. Then it'll make you cry. True story.

[EviesMom]

On the 4 parks: We did Magic Kingdom and Epcot 1 1/2 days each (DD's favorite character is Nemo, and the Nemo ride is at Epcot. She really liked Epcot, possibly moreso than MK.) Then dh, my sil, and I did MGM one day while dd played at the campground with her grandparents. We had fun, but it's really not geared toward small kids in my opinion. We didn't do Animal Kingdom, but I've heard good things about it.

Here are 4 other pieces of advice:
1-Rider Switch. You can get into the line for any ride (even roller coasters), and when you get to a Disney employee, ask them to do a rider switch for you. Then one adult (or the whole party, minus one adult) goes on the ride first, and the second adult waits with the child at the exit to the ride. When the first person (or group) gets off the ride, the second adult (and other people in the party if they want to go again) can get on immediately without waiting in line again.

2-Fast Pass. Figure out 2 or 3 rides you really want to do in each park and use Fast Passes. It's this fairly new thing, whereby you put your park ticket in a machine near the ride you want to do and it gives you a specific time to come back and ride with little, no, or less wait. Everything we did Fast Passes on we waited 15 minutes tops. Many we walked right onto. It's definitely the way to go.

3-Extra Magic Hours. One of the reasons for staying at Fort Wilderness, in my opinion, was that we could use Extra Magic Hours. You should be able to check at the Disneyworld Web Site to see which park is open early and late for people staying at Disney Resorts (Fort Wilderness included). The lines are really shorter then, and it can help you decide which park to do on which day.

4-I got most of this from Birnbaum's Guide to Disney World, which was filled with great info on making the trip more fun. I'd offer to send you my copy even though it's a few years old, but I've already given it away. Those were the most useful overall tips, but there's also good stuff about getting restaurant reservations, key rides if you haven't been in years, where to see characters, etc.

[angela&avery]

Originally Posted by EviesMom

Just a tip on seeing the characters. We waited at Magic Kingdom a LOOOOOOONG time to see each individual character (or rather, we waited a long time to see Mickey and decided to skip the rest). At Epcot, it was one fairly short line to see 5 or 6 different characters. (I guess it's not where people think to go to see the characters).

i second that, also we did character meals with our meal plan and had one meal a day in a park, we got to see lots of characters that way. Also we saw quite a few at MGM. We got to see buzz and woody and just came across them after the muppet 3d. There was no line, also in the art museum at mgm we got to see the incredibles with no lines!! Also saw aladdin and jasmine at mgm walking around.

We did not buy the signature books and just kind of saw whoever, and if there was a line just said, ok we will come back to this we dont want to wait in line all day.. sometimes we would make it back, sometimes we wouldnt. My kids didnt get too upset about it.... my cousin did the signature books and it sounds like htey waiting in line all day to see characters. I didn not want to do this, so we just didnt.. the kids still ended up with a ton of pictures with characters anyhow.

[mamabeca]

Awesome! Sounds like more research would be in order for us. I think we can only do 1 or 2 other parks, there area always reasons to go back for more. We really want some beach time, anyone know of where to go from Disney that's not TOO far? Does Sarasota have good winter beaches? Is it warm enough? Do we need to go FAR south? Like the Keys?

[chicagomom]

We just got back from a week at WDW, and had a great time. Animal Kingdom is just, absolutely, *beautiful*. Aviaries, bamboo forests, tigers and it's got a much slower, stop-and-explore feel about it than the other parks. It was hands-down our favorite. The kids spent at least an hour hanging around the fake "ruin" inhabited by monkeys - dd (4) was fascinated by the mama swingining all over the place with her baby hanging onto her fur and nursing as they went. If you go, you should absolutely try to make it to AK; it's by far the least "commercialized." Oh, and the roller coaster's pretty good too.

Camping at WDW is good too - they have great trails, nightly sing-around-the-campfires, and there is *plenty* for a crunchy family to do without getting caught up in the commercialism of other parts of the place.

If I would suggest the best two other parks I'd say Animal Kingdom and Epcot (the best place for some good food).

Dh said the Magic Kingdom fireworks were far and away the best he's ever seen in his life. I was also pleasantly surprised to find lots of tasty vegetarian food choices (esp Epcot).

[mamabeca]

Oh AWESOME!!! I'm so glad you had a great time! All I remember from the animal kingdom park was driving through the safari, which was cool, but since we're driving down from NY I didn't really want to spend an entire day in the car! But it sounds like there is more there, now (that was oh...30 yrs ago!) - so I'd love to get there with the kdis! Ds is VERY into animals, and dd will love anything hands on (especially if she can swing like a monkey somehow!). Thanks so much!

[hipumpkins]

Go to Animal first thing in the morning and go directly to the safari. (Don't stop to look at the plants or the other very interesting birds and such you can slow down after that ride) The animals get sleepy and hot later in the day and you wont see as many.
It is a very wonderful ride and you will see so many aniamls of Africa.

Epcot is wonderful and very educational in a really fun way. I LOVE EPCOT. The countries can be expensive but if you eat and drink out on the street instead of going inside you can little treats from each country. I love to get a pretzel in Germany and Fish and chips in England. (Don;t forget to stop by Mexico for Fiesta Margarita

We have alos seen Mary Poppins in England but never anywhere in Magic Kingdom.

My dad works in Magic Kingodom so we go a few times a year b/c it's free so we really don't stress about seeing everything.

If you plan on having dinner in the park make your reservations when you first enter the park or better yet make them the day before (you can make them up to a year in advance but you don't need to)

Have a great time!