Help, going in Sept., have questions

[chukeee13]

First of all I just want to say, I love this forum!!!! You "experts "are so helpful We are going toWDW from Sept. 24 to Oct 5. and taking 2 granddaughters, ages 9 and 6. We have made reservations through AAA at a great rate, but had to settle for AS Music versus AS Movies which is what I really wanted. Will the girls like it? What would be the chances of me requesting a change to AS Movies closer to our arrival date? Has anyone ever done this? Also, what charachter meals? Is there any way to still get breakfast seatings for Cinderellas castle? I have read alot about making reservations 120 days in advance but we just finalized our plans with only 90+ days to go Sorry this is so long but I have one more question. We bought 5-day park hopper tickets but will be there 10 days. Can we satisfy the girls by doing other things for the other days or will they be so imersed in Disney that they wont be satisfied? Can we trade these tickets or upgrade them to 6 day park hoppers? I'm going crazy!!!!!!!!! Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

 

[hadleybarth]

We will be there Sept 20 to the 29. We are also staying at Music becuase there were no discounted rooms available at the Movies. I think the girls will still like it.

I'm sure there are other things the girls would like in Orlando for a few days, but I don't think they would get bored with Disney if you spent the entire trip on property. Check out www.wdwig.com for info on ticket prices and optoins (and also loads of pictures of the All Star Music). You may want to consider buying annual passes. You generally break even on the eighth day. And there are other benifits like room discounts (All Stars at that time would be $54 with an AP), some meal disounts, parade viewing areas, etc. You could even take a trip next year but just a week of two earlier without having to buy new tickets. It is an option that is at least worth looking into.
Priority Seatings for Cinderella's Royal Table Breakfast are only made 60 days in advance, so you should still be able to get some. Start calling at 5 minutes before 7:00 (EST), and tell them you want a PS at Cindy's as soon as they answer. I suggest making them for your first day as it would be a great way to get the girls into the spirit of the trip. Other meals we love are the Garden Grill at EPCOT and Holywood and Vine at MGM. Also, be sure to make Fantasmic Dinner reservations when you get to the hotel.

I hope this helps. Have fun.

 

[DisneyWorldGuru]

First they will be so hooked you will prob. have to get more tickets. Blizzard Beach is great and it will be a fav. for sure. Changing your hotel in that amount of time is very hard. The Music is nice but try to stay in a building near the lobby. It is a long walk from the Broadway building.

 

[jaimjaim25]

I know if I had only 5 days of tickets, i could surely find plenty of other things to do the rest of the time. Browse the hotels, which could take 2 full days and its fun to do that. Go to sea world, hang out at the hotels, go swimming, etc...

 

[Erika]

If you can afford a few more days, you might want to consider that. You'll probably enjoy yourself more if you can go at a slower pace.

If you can't swing the extra days, though, I am sure you will find plenty of things to keep you busy! Have a great time! Sept is a perfect time to go. :wave:

 

[Disneynutcase]

I don't care how superhuman anyone thinks they are, and I totally go bonkers at WDW, after two full days of touring, I'm usually ready for a day off to rest my tired limbs.

With a five day Park Hopper, if you plan on doing the all-day thing for the five days, you'd be wise to at least use two of your remaining five days to do barely anything at all--maybe an evening at Downtown Disney or a fun meal at Ohanas or Chef Mickeys or the barbecue place at the Wilderness Lodge (can't remember it's name).

As for other Disney things to do, there's always miniature golf. Plus two Disney water parks to choose from. There's also horseback riding at Fort Wilderness.

Away from WDW, your kids might be old enough to try Universal Studios. If not, Sea World is pretty low-key (minus its coaster) and would make a nice day.

And if you think they can handle a bit of reality, Kennedy Space Center isn't too far away.

And for the really adventurous, there's also Busch Gardens in Tampa Bay which is about 90-120 minutes away.

Will you have a car available? Or are you kind of stuck on property? You didn't say.

I don't think there would be a problem adding days to your Park Hopper. Might be worth a call or two to the WDW hotline or to the conceirge at All Star Resorts to ask them how you'd do this. It's far cheaper to get the extra day (discounted quite a bit in comparison to buying a 1 day pass).

Final bit of advice: use as many phones as you can, meaning enlist aid, when you try to make PS reservations for Cinderella's Royal Table. And yes, it's 60 days in advance, not 120.

Everyone needs to be ringing the number on or just prior to 7:00am eastern or you won't get the reservation. My family tried this. I got thru at 7:02 and was shocked to find they were already booked full. Fortunately, my bro-in-law apparently got in before me and got us the rez. They go that fast!

Try to get the reservation for your first morning there, then if that fails, try and try again. And I'm in the opinion that it is worth the effort. We had four kids who were in total hog heaven visiting with characters who can talk back (the other Character Meals, except for 1900 Park Faire, all have fully costumed characters who only pantomime and such). And every character they had on hand in the castle that morning were very into character, hamming it up for the kids. Great fun!

Good luck!

 

[2much2do]

IMO, you need more than five days. I'm pretty sure you can upgrade those. But, unless you want to fly through the parks at an alarming speed, you will miss alot in only five days. Actually, even if you got length of stay passes you'd miss things. I go for two weeks, and I miss things. You need all the time at Disney you can get. IMO, that is.

Did someone say there are other things in Orlando besides Disney??????? I hadn't noticed :animwink: :lol:

 

[Thrawn]

Well, there are things in Orlando, yes. Those do not include Disney though, since Disney is in LBV.

 

[chukeee13]

Help, going in Sept. Have questions

First of all, thanks so much for your help. I know people on this forum would have great info! We will have a rental car for our length of stay. My initial plan is as follows: Arrive Wed. at approx. 2:00 p.m., check in, rest, maybe some sightseeing and possibly a character dinner.
Thurs.: Breakfast at the castle and Magic Kingdom all day.
Fri. and Saturday: Free days (We have friends about 90 minutes away) Maybe visit them one day and a water park one day. Would like to do character meal at Chef Mickeys.
Sunday: Epcot all day, possibly character lunch.
Monday: Animal Kingdom, with character breakfast at Donald's breakffastosaurus. Possibly back to MK in the evening if we are done at AK
Tuesday: Free day, possibly the beach at Clearwater.
Wed.: MGM character meal at Hollywood and Vine.
Thursday: Free day
Friday: MK and maybe back to MGM
What do you think? Too many breaks? Also, how is the calypso building at AS Music? Is this close to the bus, food court, pool, etc?

 

[hadleybarth]

Having seen your plan, I do have to say that it is virtually impossible to do all of Epcot in one day---by the end you'll be counting down how many countries you "still have to see" rather than enjoying them. Try breaking Epcot into two days if you can--or else just plan on not going all the way around wolrd showcase.
Disney will usually let you upgrade any pass that isn't used up yet--but you can't downgrade. Maybe after your first day or two you'll have a better feel for if you want to upgrade.

 

[hadleybarth]

Oh, I almost forgot. The girls may like having tea at the Grand Floridian. This could give you a nice Disney dose on an off day, or a break from a day at MK. You don't have to dress up (most people are there in shorts) but it is fun to do so. It is pretty reasonable about 8 or 9 dollars for a kids "dark tea" (chocolate milk) with tea sandwhiches and parties and around 15 to 20 bucks for adults. You can get enough food to use it as a light lunch or dinner and it is a fun novelty.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Having seen your touring plan I would like to make just two comments -
1) On your day of arrival you mention a character dinner - remember that you need a pass to enter the parks, even for a character meal and it seems a waste of a "day" just for a meal. No problems if the meal is at one of the resort hotels though. You also mentioned a meal at Cinderellas Castle - get it booked asap
2) You have sensibly spaced your free days around WDW - there is much to do in the Orlando area on "free days". SeaWorld - my kids (similar age to your grandchildren on their second visit) loved SW. It is so much more peaceful and relaxed - plenty to see and do and most of the attractions are seated. Universal Studios offer a lot aswell (although not as good as MGM - my opinion) - suggest do US before MGM. Finally, Kennedy Space Centre - I know from experience that although very educational and interesting it is appreciated more by adults - there is alot to see but unless the kids state a preference for it I would wait until they're much older.
Finally, enjoy it :wave:

 

[Disneynutcase]

Re: your itenerary:

I think you pretty much have a great plan. However, I agree that you're short changing Epcot timewise. Not that you need to see everything, but this place is HUGE and actually has a lot to touch and participate in. Also, the majority of the attractions are longer than those in other parks. You can blow by things but you'll really miss the fine details that makes this park so great. I love the street shows in WS. And when I did the park recently with four little kids, they really got into the KidCot craft stations around WS which take up some time. They also liked getting their autograph books signed with personal messages from CMs at every country. It was really neat.

But there's no way you can do everything at Epcot in 1 day. I think we hit about 2/3rds of the attractions going opening til closed. Even when we went back for another evening, we ended up missing at least a half-dozen things we wanted to see and do.

Your other mistake is thinking that you need to do MGM for 1 1/2 days. There is really not that much to do there to merit that much time, not unless you have thrill ride fans who want to go on ToT and RnRC over and over again. The shows are fun but how many do you really want to see?

Two suggestions: 1) since you're talking about doing Hollywood & Vine at MGM, consider doing it as a Fantasmic Dinner Package. This will save you some wait-time headache for the show. 2) Go back and finish Epcot in the late afternoon/evening on either the day you do AK or on your last day (Friday) after revisiting MK. In fact, if you did Epcot to finish up your AK day, then took care of MGM all in one day, that would leave you with all day on your last day (Friday) to revisit MK.

Also, since you indicate a preference for character meals, remember that you're setting yourself up to see Mickey, Minnie and pals again and again and again (Chef Mickeys, Hollywood & Vine, Breakfastasaurus, Garden Grille @ Epcot). There are a few Pooh and pals meals (at dinner at 1900 Park Faire and somewhere inside MK now that Crystal Palace is under rennovation). There's also a junior-league princess thing for breakfast at 1900 Park Faire with Alice and Mary Poppins.

If you're looking for fun places to eat, I'd also recommend trying different restaurants at Epcot. Living Seas is beautiful and affordable for lunch (get pricey for dinner, though). San Angel Inn has the best atmosphere in all of WDW. The Biergarten offers a German-style show. Teppanyaki does the Benihana chop-chop thing Disney-style. And my family really loves Marrakesh, which has a nice belly-dancing show and excellent food. If you're worried about what the kids will eat, rest easy. All these places offer kid meals--usually mac 'n' cheese, pizza, chicken fingers, etc.--so if they don't like the international cuisine, they'll at least have a choice they'd like.

At MGM, your grandkids might also enjoy both the Prime Time Cafe and the Sci-Fi Dine In Theater--although both aren't part of the Fantasmic Dinner Package. Again, two very nicely themed out and very entertaining restaurants.

Around WDW resorts, I'd also recommend Ohanas at the Polynesian (much better and more fun than the Luau) and Whispering Canyon Cafe (offers a lot of cowboy-themed fun and games and interaction with the staff for kids).

Last, I think your breaks/days off are awesome! Trust me, you guys won't be sorry. Everyone will be totally fresher and much more energized going this way. And if you feel the need to do another day at a park and decide to eliminate a rest day, then you can always add another day to your pass and do it.

 

[chukeee13]

Thanks, all youguys are great!!!!! So I can upgrade after I use a day or two? That is awesome although I fell I will need the break days more. The tea sounds great and relaxing for a break day. Dont know if I can force them to dress up though!!!
Actually, Capt. Hook, I WAS talking about a character dinner outside of the parks for the first night. Chef Mickeys? Or what is a good one?
Disneynutcase, you are so supportive! Great suggestions. I wasn't sure about Epcot, but can return there after AK or MGM since you don't think they will take all day. I know the girls will like the craft stations at Epcot. They really don't express much of a desire to see Winnie the Pooh, but I'm very interested in the Princess thing at 1900 Park Faire, I know they would love that. I'm also interested in more info about the Fantasmic dinner package, but how do I know when to make reservations when I don't know what the show time is? More details, please, please, please!!!!. I will re-evaluate my choice of character meals to see if I am drowning them in Mickey. The Whispering Canyon Cafe sounds great too!. Trust me, finding something they like is nnnoooo problem. They eat anything and everything!. I feel better about all of my break days now that I've heard from you. I know I will welcome them. Thanks:sohappy:

 

[DisneyWorldGuru]

For character dining out of the parks try Mickey's Lual. It is great for children.

Epcot is a park that should be done in two days. And I remembered that my nephew loved Kidcot Fun Stops.

Have fun.
For more help try my new website. It will be up in a few days. You will be able to link to it from my old page(www.geocities.com/duquidam/disneyworld)

 

[hadleybarth]

Fantasmic dinner packages cannot be booked until you are there (no more than 7 days advance I think and booked only in person from a Disney hotel or MGM guest services--we always book our when we check in). The deal is you eat at a specified MGM restuant (different options are available at different times. Mama Melroses is almost always an option--Hollywood and Vine and Prime Time Cafe are soemtimes but not always a choice etc--be aware there are no characters during dinner at Hollywood and Vine they are for lunch only), then you get a pass to get into a special seating area for Fantasmic. The seats aren't the best in the house, but they are good and will save you a tremendous wait. But, you must have booked your meal as the package in order to get the voucher.

You may also want to look into the Grand Adventures for kids at The Grand Floridian. These are kids only programs that last 2 to 3 hours at the Floridian (for ages 3 to 10). There is a pirate's cruise, a tea party with Alice and a cooking adventure. I think all include lunch. I have heard nothing but great things about these, although we have never done one (our kids are doing the Pirate's cruise in September).

 

[ConNH]

Although I couldnt handle being in Disney for ten days w/ just a five daypass.. there are pleanty of other things to do..
I myself wouldnt waste a day of your pass on the first or last day.
You could do the boardwalk and rent those cool bike for four...or do Downtown Disney Maybe Planet Hollywood for dinner or Rainforest Cafe.... then that leaves you w/ three days open.
-Resort pool
-Water Parks (recommended)
-Sea World (a must)
-Universal
- The beach if you want to drive an hour
As far as at night during those days there are alot of things to see and do and great places to eat @ Downtown Disney and The Boardwalk
And if worst comes to worst you can always upgrade your pass but I think you'll be fine.

 

[Big Pooh]

Calypso Rooms

The Calypso rooms at ASMu are the preferred buildings, which means they cost $10 more per night, and they are the closest to the lobby, and a short walk from the bus stop if you need Disney transportation, and the main pool sits between the two Calypso buildings.

Cheers:wave: