Brand New to Disney World!!

[xMandy]

Hi everyone! My name is Mandy and I'm from Houston, TX. Unfortunately I've never been to Disney World , BUT I am hoping to change that next February!! The plan is to surprise my 13 year old cousin with a trip to Disney World. It will be me, my mom, my aunt and my cousin (13 y.o. boy). It would be a first trip for all of us so any and all tips are very welcome! I'll be taking lots of notes from you guys . I'm so excited and it's still a year away.

 

[Dead2009]

Hello and welcome!

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

It would be a first trip for all of us so any and all tips are very welcome!

Welcome aboard

Where are you proposing to stay (on or off property), how long are you going for, and, park hopper tickets or not ???

 

[xMandy]

Where are you proposing to stay (on or off property), how long are you going for, and, park hopper tickets or not ???

Thank you for the welcome.

I am looking at the All-Stars Sports Resort for 6 nights mid-February 2017. I've talked to a couple people at work who have gone and one suggests the hopper pass and the other disagrees. Not much help there . I think I'm leaning towards getting it though. What is your opinion on the hopper pass?

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

What is your opinion on the hopper pass?

It really depends on how you're going to attack the parks. Here in the UK the Hopper option is automatically included into our tickets - we have it and use it occasionally. Its nice to have it for "spur of the moment decisions".

With a 6 night stay you may find that you don't really need it (or the extra expense to obtain it). As first time visitors, two full days at both MK and EPCOT and one day at both AK and DHS will give you plenty to do each day. For the AK day you also have Disney Springs to visit that evening.

 

[MOXOMUMD]

Howdy!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Just my opinion re: Park hopper pass:

Pretty sure years ago it was not much more expensive, but now it seems to be a good bit more expensive than regular tickets.

We actually have annual passes – which has park hopper included – but we have learned to try to avoid park hopping. The reason for this is it takes a surprisingly long time, and sometimes even longer, to get from one park to the next. That time is better spent just staying where you are, in my opinion.

If you were only going for two or three days, I might have different advice because you would almost have to park hop in order to fit everything in.

But since you are going for six days, you can give each park a full day plus go back to two parks twice! I would recommend Magic Kingdom and Epcot for twice. Probably most would agree.

And without park hopper, you can still take a break and go back to the same park – so, go to Magic Kingdom in the morning, take A break if and when you get tired, and then go back later on.

Also – generally speaking – avoid Magic Kingdom on Monday, because so many people go there first on their first day of vacation that it tends to be more crowded. You can Find Disney crowd calendars online that will tell you which parks to go to on which days for hopefully the lowest crowds.

 

[ratherbeinwdw]

When we don't buy AP's, we always add park hopper and always use it. It's a must if you can't get an ADR in the park you plan to spend the day or find the park you picked for the day is too crowded to enjoy. We also love to hop over to Epcot in the evening. Additionally, if rain sets in, you might want to hop to MK, which we find to be more rain friendly.

 

[britdaw]

Hey and welcome to the forum!! This place will be absolutely invaluable to you while you're planning your trip. I have learned so much from this place!

 

[xMandy]

Thank you all so much for the warm welcome. I have been reading through the message boards and have already taken some good notes. I appreciate the feedback on the hopper pass. I'm going to talk to the rest of my crew this weekend and hopefully by next week I can start making reservations! I am so excited!! Now, how do I wait a whole year?? haha

 

[Disneydreamer23]

Are you planning on using the us system>? If so I suggest POP and not All Stars, there busses were not very friendly when I stayed at Sports years ago, not sure if it changed can any one chime in??

 

[xMandy]

Newbie question...What is POP? I'm still learning all of the abbreviations lol

 

[Tony the Tigger]

It's the POP Century Value resort.

We actually just stayed there for the first time last month. It was fine for the price, and I liked it better than All-Star music, but I haven't stayed at All-Star music probably in over 15 years, so I don't know if it is the same as I remember it.

Personally I would agree with the recommendation of the Pop Century resort over the other value resorts, unless you booked the sports one because you guys are particularly into sports. But even so, I am particularly into music and liked pop century better than the all star music resort.

 

[xMandy]

Thank you for all of your replies. I'm going to have to check out the POP Century Value Resort. I really do appreciate all of the suggestions. As someone who has never been to Disney, I welcome any and all help so please keep it coming.

 

[NiarrNDisney]

Hi Mandy and Welcome!

 

[Mrs. Piglet]

Welcome Mandy. You are so going to love WDW.

 

[ALEmber]

Welcome Mandy! Sounds like you are on the right track for planning your trip. You're going to love it. And February is typically a beautiful time of year here. Best of luck with your planning and see you on the boards!