WDW still amazing?

[nighneve]

Hi I've been lurking on this forum forever and am starting to get a little concerned over the 'vibe', so I just wanted to ask - is WDW still worth visiting?

I'm a 34 year old mother and wife from Sydney, Australia and I've been obsessing over an amazing "once-in-a-lifetime" family trip to the world with my family in Sep/Oct 2016.
Our kids will be 8 and 5 at the time of the trip and our plan was going to be 7 nights @ AoA (with the first 2 days set aside for visiting Universal), then 7 nights at POFQ. Over the two weeks we want to attend MNSSHP (my daughter is crazy for halloween, which is only mildly observed here in Aus), visit the waterparks, a full day of fun at Fort Wilderness (inc HHDR), and as much time in the 4 parks as we can handle, then on the way back home stay 4 nights at the Paradise Pier hotel, spending 3 days in the DLR.

This is a dream family holiday for me. My husband and I got married in Las Vegas 10 years ago, and I've been dreaming of going back to the U.S and taking the kids, and I don't know - with all the changes and refurbs etc, do you think it will be work the $25K and 20+ hours flying (with kids!)? Bearing in mind I've never been before and have no nostalgia or anything to compare it to.

Thanks in advance for your opinions

 

[nighneve]

thanks everyone for your replies my mind has been put at ease and I'm even more excited than ever - as if that were possible!

expect to see a lot less lurking from me as the actual date approaches. Thanks again for your help site-wide, it's really helped me plan a dream trip

 

[BrerJon]

thanks everyone for your replies my mind has been put at ease and I'm even more excited than ever - as if that were possible!

expect to see a lot less lurking from me as the actual date approaches. Thanks again for your help site-wide, it's really helped me plan a dream trip

Make sure you post a trip report on this site when you get back and let us know how it went!

 

[DisneyDaver]

Regarding your plan to visit Uni for 2 days at the beginning, you might want to consider staying on Uni property for those days though because it will give you early park access and express passes for all the days of your stay.

I second this recommendation. I suppose we don't know if Universal will still be offering early park access and express passes for those staying on-site, but if they are offering those perks to on-site guests, I would spend 2 nights at a Universal Deluxe (which are currently much more reasonably priced than the WDW deluxes). Even if those perks are not being offered, I still think Universal is a much more enjoyable experience when staying on-site instead of commuting from Disney.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

As much as we all might complain about things, it's because we love it there. Make no mistake. A day at WDW is one of my favorite things in life - and always will be.

 

[TXDisney]

Disney is always going to be improving. I recommend booking your trip in advance like you want so you get to do everything you want. If you're going for 2 weeks you should be able to. Kids will love it. That should be the least of your worries. I absolutely think it's worth it bc if you wait too long your kids might not be as excited to go. If like you're saying it's a once in a lifetime trip for you, those are perfect ages for your kids.

 

[david treutelaar]

i complain when our vacations are $6,000 to $8,000....id cry if it costs me $25,000!.....but like you said its a once in a lifetime thing

8 days of Disney and were pretty sick of it......weve gone 7x now and just booked our 8th....last time was only 2 days and it was just right.....this time were back to 8 days (Jan 2015).....weve gone so many times we can recite all the words to all the shows....we even know the Jaminators by name and remember what cities they originally came from.......

we always go in the winter, so no water parks.....maybe i could see 10 days until your sick of it if you did the water parks...we always go on the off season, so getting on rides is easy/fast...if you go during the busy season that may extend of shorten the # of days you will be able to handle there.....

get ready for the people pushing ahead of you at the bus stop and the people suddenly stopping in front of you at the park(where you almost fall over them)....after 8 days of this stuff it really drives you crazy...seeing human nature at Disney is very annoying after a few days

im sure you will have a blast being your first time...your kids are the perfect ages

 

[Baldy]

This summer two of my co-workers took their families (separately) to Disney World for the first time (we are all teachers). When I went and saw all of the refurbs I just cringed and thought "how awful for a first-timer". Once school started back up, I found out that they had both had an amazing time and had not even noticed most of the things that I was worried about them seeing (or not seeing in some cases). One of the families is even in the process of panning their next trip.

Do your research and plan ahead, but don't let what you read on the boards deter you.
Have a magical vacation!

 

[disneydoug]

sounds like an awesome trip. my parents took us there when i was 17 and i fell in love with the place.my wife and I were married at the wedding pavilion and are DVC owners. Halloween is one of my favorite times and the
beginning of the parade is the BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! don't listen to the nay sayers. go and enjoy

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

Just wanted to add my 2 cents worth First of all, welcome back to America! One of my biggest dreams is to visit Australia and New Zealand! We are going in 3 weeks, and I have been upset over fp+, all the changes, etc! BUT, my daughter in law, son, and 2 grandkids ages 5 and 7 went in April for the first time too, and they had a GREAT time. They didn't get to eat where they wanted, but made do and had a wonderful meal! They didn't get to ride all the headliners, but the kids didn't mind and they loved what they did get to do. They say that it was magical and they loved it. So, I guess you can have a very magical time as first timers, and as many timers such as us Have a blast and am looking forward to your trip report