Heading back for our second time... Things discovered from the first...

[dontknow]

We are heading back to WDW for our second time over the 4th of July (last summer was our very first trip during the same week). Please don't ask "why" that week (crowds, etc...) - simply put - it's when we can make it.

We'll be adding a few new things this time around but some things of mention that we did last year that we enjoyed & plan/hope to do again:

- Stay at Wilderness Lodge. I know people had issues with the pool construction but we dealt with it just fine. Pool was still open / waterfall wasn't. Oh well... We didn't go all that way to have a non working man made waterfall ruin our stay. From what I gather, this year the construction onsite is done (at least for that) and we'll get a new view of it. I've read here about people not liking the "fence"... Again not important to us if it's there or not. All of our food there was really good - Quick Service, Snacks and Full Service.

- Spending most of our days at Magic Kingdom... Our (then 6 year old) couldn't get enough of the stuff happening at MK. Quite frankly we enjoyed it the most as well of any of the parks.

- Spend more time in the various countries at Epcot as well as catch the night / light show.

- Ensure we get back to Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon. We had a great experience with both places.

- Eating at some of the full service restaurants we preferred - whether it was preferred for the Character interactions or food... Cinderella's Castle & Whispering Canyon Cafe at MK / Akershus Hall at Epcot. To each their own on this matter. Food preference (good or bad) is individual based.

- Using the transportation from the Airport to the Lodge and back on departure. It worked fine last year, let's hope it'll work again the same.

Things we don't need to do again...

- Go to Hollywood Studios. Fantasmic Dinner Package was great for sure. Other than that one event, we simply have no fond memories of the park at all.

- Most of the non-country related activities at Epcot. We did several different things outside the countries and other than Soarin' didn't think too highly of them. We'll spend more times visiting Countries...

- Animal Kingdom may not get any time at all, though there's a free day on the itinerary at the moment should we change our minds. Not out of the question, but definitely don't need to do again.

- Not dine at a few places for various reasons - Chef Mickey's & Chrystal Palace being two of them.

Anyways... Thought I'd share. Reservations are made and now it'll be "pay up" time.

 

[mbtohill]

Do yourself and your child a favor and return to Animal Kingdom! We've been going with our DD's for 10+ years and the more times we go the more we appreciate Animal Kingdom. The Safari, the Trails and Treks, Flights of Wonder, The Finding Nemo show, Khali River Rapids, Everest and Dinosaur, not to mention some of the best food anywhere on property, with Flame Tree BBQ and Tusker House (my kids ABSOLUTE favorite lunch buffet).

I think you'd be doing yourself and your child a disservice skipping AK, just my humble opinion.

 

[KLinder7]

Do yourself and your child a favor and return to Animal Kingdom! We've been going with our DD's for 10+ years and the more times we go the more we appreciate Animal Kingdom. The Safari, the Trails and Treks, Flights of Wonder, The Finding Nemo show, Khali River Rapids, Everest and Dinosaur, not to mention some of the best food anywhere on property, with Flame Tree BBQ and Tusker House (my kids ABSOLUTE favorite lunch buffet).

I think you'd be doing yourself and your child a disservice skipping AK, just my humble opinion.

I agree about AK. I've been going to the parks for a long time, but AK was a first on my most recent trip last April. Fell in love with that park and hope it grows to be something even better in the future too.

 

[dontknow]

Do yourself and your child a favor and return to Animal Kingdom! We've been going with our DD's for 10+ years and the more times we go the more we appreciate Animal Kingdom. The Safari, the Trails and Treks, Flights of Wonder, The Finding Nemo show, Khali River Rapids, Everest and Dinosaur, not to mention some of the best food anywhere on property, with Flame Tree BBQ and Tusker House (my kids ABSOLUTE favorite lunch buffet).

I think you'd be doing yourself and your child a disservice skipping AK, just my humble opinion.

As I say, AK is not off the table. We might go for 1/2 day just to get on the the Khali Rapid ride. Safari wasn't too thrilling for any of us to be honest. Everest would only be me riding as I did last year. It was OK but far from great in my opinion. Dinosaur isn't an option as my daughter hates those kinds of things.

We already did Nemo and really didn't think too much of that either. If anyone does Trails and Treks it'd be just me (others aren't interested).

Can't speak to the food but perhaps scheduling a lunch or dinner would fit nicely this year.

 

[CheshireCat12]

Who says you have to go to DHS or AK? If you don't want to, don't. You will have fun focusing on MK, the WS at Epcot, and the two water parks. Sounds good to me, I only do 3-4 hours at DHS and AK anyway to hit our favorites. If you are not heavily into the animal side of AK then you might not want to spend time there. You could easily spend all day at a water park if you are into swimming/lounging/sliding. I recommend the mini-donuts at Typhoon Lagoon for snacking! And as far as I'm concerned, there is enough to ride and re-ride and experience in MK to keep me busy for a couple days at least. Have a great time!

 

[CheshireCat12]

Do yourself and your child a favor and return to Animal Kingdom! We've been going with our DD's for 10+ years and the more times we go the more we appreciate Animal Kingdom. The Safari, the Trails and Treks, Flights of Wonder, The Finding Nemo show, Khali River Rapids, Everest and Dinosaur, not to mention some of the best food anywhere on property, with Flame Tree BBQ and Tusker House (my kids ABSOLUTE favorite lunch buffet).

I think you'd be doing yourself and your child a disservice skipping AK, just my humble opinion.

This is definitely a matter of opinion. Not all kids love animals! We don't care for the trails, safari, and flights of wonder. I don't go there for the animals, I just like the far-away feeling of AK and also we enjoy Everest. While we are there, we also do Dinosaur and Primeval Whirl, Kali if we feel like getting wet. Always eat at Flame Tree. Nemo show is good, as is FotLK. This takes maybe 4 hours at most, less with FP+ strategically used.

 

[dontknow]

Who says you have to go to DHS or AK? If you don't want to, don't. You will have fun focusing on MK, the WS at Epcot, and the two water parks. Sounds good to me, I only do 3-4 hours at DHS and AK anyway to hit our favorites. If you are not heavily into the animal side of AK then you might not want to spend time there. You could easily spend all day at a water park if you are into swimming/lounging/sliding. I recommend the mini-donuts at Typhoon Lagoon for snacking! And as far as I'm concerned, there is enough to ride and re-ride and experience in MK to keep me busy for a couple days at least. Have a great time!

Thanks...and... A full day at each of the Water Parks is what we did last time and plan on doing agin.

This is definitely a matter of opinion. Not all kids love animals! We don't care for the trails, safari, and flights of wonder. I don't go there for the animals, I just like the far-away feeling of AK and also we enjoy Everest. While we are there, we also do Dinosaur and Primeval Whirl, Kali if we feel like getting wet. Always eat at Flame Tree. Nemo show is good, as is FotLK. This takes maybe 4 hours at most, less with FP+ strategically used.

Agreed.

We don't find zoo's in general too thrilling. When we need a wildlife fix, we visit a National Park and see the real thing - not a zoo (which is really what AK is albeit a super fancy one). If it wasn't there would be trouble with the exotic animals having their way with the people.

We don't live far from NYC so we've seen a couple of the Disney shows there. So that provides our "fix" for that as well.

 

[ladydi]

If you do go to AK, you should try festival of the lion king. Our favorite and a different kind of show. After, if you want to try something new, go to Bomas at AKL. My daughter is extremely picky (she basically survives on chicken strips and Cheerios) and she loved it. The lodge is also really neat to walk around.

 

[dontknow]

If you do go to AK, you should try festival of the lion king. Our favorite and a different kind of show. After, if you want to try something new, go to Bomas at AKL. My daughter is extremely picky (she basically survives on chicken strips and Cheerios) and she loved it. The lodge is also really neat to walk around.

Thanks. We saw The Lion King there last year. Also, we saw it in NYC on Broadway not too long ago as well. Great show for sure. Was probably the thing we all liked most about AK overall, actually.

Thanks for the Bomas tip.

 

[smk]

I feel the same way about AK and HS. If we don't visit them, I am okay. Our next trip is with our grandson, so I am sure we will give those parks a try. He is only two, will be almost three in October so maybe he will enjoy the shows. We have gone many times without going to any park beside MK and EPCOT, does not make me think I am missing anything.

 

[wdwfan4ver]

I agree with you on DHS from your view. I do think your family may want to give DHS another shot in the future, but that is years away due to Disney is starting to do a redo of the DHS. The redo is in multiple phases.

The Redo includes adding Toy Story rides, More Star Wars attractions and more attractions where Lights, Motor and Action is.

They are starting the redo now by getting a rid of the hat. Disney actually right now is doing a 3rd track for Toy Story Midway Mania, and will be adding 3 more Toy Story attractions where the Backlot Tour was. The thing the Toy Story land wouldn't ready by the time you are there during the 4th of July.

Disney is going to do more Star War attractions and adding other attractions after the Toy Story land is done.

 

[CheshireCat12]

The Redo includes adding Toy Story rides, More Star Wars attractions and more attractions where Lights, Motor and Action is.

They are starting the redo now by getting a rid of the hat. Disney actually right now is doing a 3rd track for Toy Story Midway Mania, and will be adding 3 more Toy Story attractions where the Backlot Tour was. The thing the Toy Story land wouldn't ready by the time you are there during the 4th of July.

Disney is going to do more Star War attractions and adding other attractions after the Toy Story land is done.

Is this all confirmed? I think Toy Story/Pixar and Star wars would really elevate the park's popularity.

 

[wdwfan4ver]

Is this all confirmed? I think Toy Story/Pixar and Star wars would really elevate the park's popularity.

Remember, I never said I was an insider. I read stuff from the news and rumors message board on this site.

We all know about the hat, but there actually is proof on the 3rd track for Toy Story Midway. There was a permit last year for it.

While Disney hasn't publicly announced anything the permit is good enough proof for Toy Story. The new Toy Story land has been mentioned by this site and other Disney sites. There is no permits nothing else at this time because their time able according to different insiders on this site.

The info is from insiders on the News and rumors board on this site. LMA being gone is by Marni1971, and others on the forums. I did a check a search and I didn't see the time line of LMA and I actually forgot what thread I saw the information on the order of closings. I don't want to go into a spirit thread due to all the pages

There is proof on Star Wars due to the fact Iger did say there will be more of a star Wars presence. The catch is the location of the Star Wars expansion location isn't going to close before 2017/2018 according to insiders on this site and you shouldn't expect any Star War announcements for WDW for a while as a result. I am saying that because of Indiana Jones stunt show is expect to be open through the 2017/2018.