Help - My very first time :)

[Thiago Acquaviva]

Hello guys, I'm Thiago and I'm from São Paulo, Brazil!
Since I was a little kid, my BIGGEST dream is to go to Walt Disney World.
and I truly mean it, BIGGEST OF THEM ALL, ABOVE EVERYTHING!
I grown up hearing about it, and I have some cousins that ALWAYS go to WDW every single year, but unfortunately I could never
Here in Brazil, our money is not that much valued comparing to US dolar and that what's make it most difficult for us to be able to go.
But now I'm 26, college graduated, working in 2 jobs and finally I got a chance to go!

I'm planning my trip for early november, cuz I'm gonna be on vacations and I'm going with my best friend, plus I heard about not been crowded, which I loved! haha is it true?
I grown up searching and gettin' information about WDW, and also I'm a theme park LOVER crazy insane addicted since I was a kid, so, that's make this adventure of just gathering information, to be a huge fun activity for me to do during all those years
I can say pretty much I know almost every single attraction inside WDW theme parks even without been there lol

I'm here cuz I need some help and specially some tips. I have a lot of doubts and I want my first trip outside Brazil (I freak love USA culture and also is my dream to be in the USA lol) to WDW to be as perfect as I can! *-*

Well, first let me explain what I'm planning to do and then if you guys could help me, I would be veeeery grateful


It's a 13 days trip in Orlando (11 nights).
I'm planning to get a plane from São Paulo to Orlando in november 1st, arrive november 2 in the morning and go to have lunch and go shopping before go to the hotel to rest and sleep for the 3rd (and kinda first) day.
I'm planning to stay inside WDW cuz I want to experience Disney magic in full time! But my budget is not that good (main reason is that US dolar is very expensive for us here in Brazil (U$1 dolar = R$0.40 real) so I'm planning to stay at All Star Movies resort or Art Of Animation. cuz I won't use the hotel at all lol, just for bath and sleep so.. I don't care about luxury.
Btw, about renting a car, we both don't drive so.. that's not an option lol

well, after day 2 (my arrival in Orlando) then, I planned so far:

DAY 3 (sunday)
Magic Kingdom

DAY 4 (monday)
Epcot

DAY 5 (tuesday)
Animal Kingdom

DAY 6 (wednesday)
Hollywood Studios

DAY 7 (thursday)
Shopping in premium outlet

DAY 8 (friday)
Sea World

DAY 9 (saturday)
Universal Studios

DAY 10 (sunday)
Island of Adventure

DAY 11 (monday)
Busch Gardens

DAY 12 (tuesday)
get back to a WDW park

DAY 13 (wednesday)
free day + shopping + airport and get back to Brazil

is it a good plan, guys?


My doubts are:

1) Is it best for me to buy all ticket here before I go to Orlando?
I'm planning to get 5 days WDW parks ticket combo + Universal pack combo (Universal + Islando of Adventure) + Sea World + Busch Gardens combo

2) Can we trust in WDW free transportation? What about the other non disney parks how can I do to get there?
I know staying at a disney hotel I can get free transportation for all disney parks and hotels plus DTD, but as soon as we wont rent a car cuz we dont drive, how can we do to go to the other parks and the outlets outside WDW?

3) How much (in U$) I have to plan to spend with food & drinks during a whole day? (just considering fast food all day lol)

4) There's any walmart or target store near WDW that we can reach without a car or taxi just to save some money buying cheap snacks for the hotel/day?

5) How cheap (or expensive) is to buy souvenirs from WDW? I mean plush toys, pins, figures, hats, etc.

6) About the Disney Transportation again, is it fast? is it easy to use? just taking a bus to the parks and the hotel is enough?

7) What I have to bring to the parks besides my room card key and money?

well, I think that's it.
Any help and/or tips I reall really appreciate it.

Thank you so much guys for taking your time and for your attention to help me, and I'm very grateful I discovered that website and forum cuz it's been helping me a LOT with my first time trip planning

 

[Thiago Acquaviva]

now with EPOCT, this one makes me confused
I don't know anything about WorldWide Showcase attractions. is there a lot of attractions there? are they good? worths it?

The attractions I listened as "MUST GO" are:

-Spaceship Earth
-Universe of Energy
-Mission: SPACE
-Test Track
-The Seas with Nemo and Friends
-The Land

and of course to make a quick visit in all those "countries" in the showcase
Am I missing something? What about the "hidden" world showcase attractions? :S

 

[Thiago Acquaviva]

Me too! Illuminations is so powerful, it's my favorite night show. The music is amazing.

I always read about Wishes, I thought it was the most emotional one lol
But I think my fav is gonna be Fantasmic *-* idk.. haha i'm SO EXCITED

 

[Figgy1]

now with EPOCT, this one makes me confused
I don't know anything about WorldWide Showcase attractions. is there a lot of attractions there? are they good? worths it?

The attractions I listened as "MUST GO" are:

-Spaceship Earth
-Universe of Energy
-Mission: SPACE
-Test Track
-The Seas with Nemo and Friends
-The Land

and of course to make a quick visit in all those "countries" in the showcase
Am I missing something? What about the "hidden" world showcase attractions? :S

Good start get them done and see as much of World Showcase as you can later!! You must eat at Sunshine Seasons in the Land it's cs and quite good!

 

[Thiago Acquaviva]

Big thanks!
Gotta eat at this place! nice menu as I could saw on allears.net haha

What about the World Showcase attraction? where can I find them? are they good? any must go?

 

[Figgy1]

Each country has shops. Canada France China all have movies. Norway and Mexico both have a ride. Morocco has the most amazing cs called Tangerine Cafe! Lots of adult beverages abound France has slushies at Les Vins, Mexico has Margaritas at La Cava and lots of beer and wine! Some people even make a game of it called drinking around the world by getting a drink in each pavillion! The street performers are definately worth catching if you have the time!

 

[Thiago Acquaviva]

Each country has shops. Canada France China all have movies. Norway and Mexico both have a ride. Morocco has the most amazing cs called Tangerine Cafe! Lots of adult beverages abound France has slushies at Les Vins, Mexico has Margaritas at La Cava and lots of beer and wine! Some people even make a game of it called drinking around the world by getting a drink in each pavillion! The street performers are definately worth catching if you have the time!

ohhh, that's veeeeeery interesting! I didn't knew any of that! thank you veeeery much
Love that shopping thing in each country and that drinking around the world! haha gotta try some of them! lol

thank you very much!

 

[Thiago Acquaviva]

now my Animal Kingdom MUST GO attractions list:

-It's Tough to be a bug
-Festival of the Lion King
-Kilimanjaro Safari
-Kali River Rapids
-Expedition Everest
-Finding Nemo Musical
-Primeval Whirl
-Dinosaur

any other MUST GO for the park?
any interesting thing to do besides these attractions and of course to take awesome wild life animals pics?
Idk, looking at maps and attractions list it seems to be such a small park..

 

[Figgy1]

ohhh, that's veeeeeery interesting! I didn't knew any of that! thank you veeeery much
Love that shopping thing in each country and that drinking around the world! haha gotta try some of them! lol

thank you very much!

The drinking can get a little pricey and you can get woobly if you have too many so be careful!

 

[Thiago Acquaviva]

The drinking can get a little pricey and you can get woobly if you have too many so be careful!

Yeah, for sure!
I'll be careful! I'm thinking about tasting just a couple of drinks, nothing more than that, I don't want to spend a lot of money with this and of course I don't want to get dizzy or bad. lol

 

[Figgy1]

now my Animal Kingdom MUST GO attractions list:

-It's Tough to be a bug
-Festival of the Lion King
-Kilimanjaro Safari
-Kali River Rapids
-Expedition Everest
-Finding Nemo Musical
-Primeval Whirl
-Dinosaur

any other MUST GO for the park?
any interesting thing to do besides these attractions and of course to take awesome wild life animals pics?
Idk, looking at maps and attractions list it seems to be such a small park..

You have got to find Divine she's a performer who dressed like a vine can't explain her but she's magic. Flights of Wonder is interesting also and I reccomend either Flame Tree or restaurantsaurous for cs food I know your watching the budget! The rest is great!

 

[Thiago Acquaviva]

You have got to find Divine she's a performer who dressed like a vine can't explain her but she's magic. Flights of Wonder is interesting also and I reccomend either Flame Tree or restaurantsaurous for cs food I know your watching the budget! The rest is great!

Thanks once again!
Gotta try to find that Divine! seems to be pretty interesting!
Flights Of Wonder, gotta add it to my list! big thanks!
about cs food, I was thinking about Flame Tree, I heard a LOT of GREAT reviews about it! and the menu looks PERFECT to my food taste

 

[Figgy1]

Sound like things are going well! When are you going?

 

[Thiago Acquaviva]

Sound like things are going well! When are you going?

I'm planning to go in November! 2nd-13th
something like that.
I can't wait. It's been my biggest dream since I was a little kid, and now that I'm kinda close of this dream and trying to get some extra money to make it happen, all I can do is plan and plan and plan and plan.
I can't wait, it's stronger than me lol
it's kinda silly cuz it's very far away, but I want to be as magical as I can

 

[Figgy1]

Might I suggest for your splurge meal the Fantasmic! Dining Package! You can book it 180 days out and you get dinner and tickets for Fantasmic! so you don't have to wait on line! For you I think Mamma Melrose would be the best! Brown Derby is very expensive and Hollywood and Vile is just that vile! if you don't believe me post a thread in dining called Hollywood and Vine is it any good!

 

[Thiago Acquaviva]

Might I suggest for your splurge meal the Fantasmic! Dining Package! You can book it 180 days out and you get dinner and tickets for Fantasmic! so you don't have to wait on line! For you I think Mamma Melrose would be the best! Brown Derby is very expensive and Hollywood and Vile is just that vile! if you don't believe me post a thread in dining called Hollywood and Vine is it any good!

I didnt know about that dinning package for Fantasmic! I've just google it after you mentioned and WOW I LOVE the idea! thank you very much! it's for Hollywood Studios park, right?
Seems to be very interesting! Mamma melrose looks nice! gotta try that one! thank you very much for the tip!

 

[Figgy1]

I didnt know about that dinning package for Fantasmic! I've just google it after you mentioned and WOW I LOVE the idea! thank you very much! it's for Hollywood Studios park, right?
Seems to be very interesting! Mamma melrose looks nice! gotta try that one! thank you very much for the tip!

Think your getting this whole planning thing down quite nicely! Yes HS

 

[Thiago Acquaviva]

btw, here it goes my "MUST GO" list for Hollywood Studios!

-The Great Movie Ride
-Muppet Vision 3D
-Studio Backlot Tour
-Toy Story Mania
-Voyage of the Little Mermaid (is this similar to the new fantasyland one in MK? :S)
-Beauty and the beast live on stage
-Rock'n'Roller Coaster
-Twilight Zone Tower Of terror
-FANTASMIC

that Star Tour is a must go? what about indiana jones?
any other tips or attractions to add to the must go list?

 

[Figgy1]

btw, here it goes my "MUST GO" list for Hollywood Studios!

-The Great Movie Ride
-Muppet Vision 3D
-Studio Backlot Tour
-Toy Story Mania
-Voyage of the Little Mermaid (is this similar to the new fantasyland one in MK? :S)
-Beauty and the beast live on stage
-Rock'n'Roller Coaster
-Twilight Zone Tower Of terror
-FANTASMIC

that Star Tour is a must go? what about indiana jones?
any other tips or attractions to add to the must go list?

Studio backlot is so so Star Tours is a MUST DO!! My boys do it a couple of times each trip it's 3d and different every time you ride it! Your really getting the hang of this!

 

[Thiago Acquaviva]

Studio backlot is so so Star Tours is a MUST DO!! My boys do it a couple of times each trip it's 3d and different every time you ride it! Your really getting the hang of this!

AWESOME! thanks for mentioning that! gotta add it as one of the first rides for HS park! haha
huuuuuuuge thanks once again! you've been helping me a lot! I'm happy I found this board cuz I don't have any close person to talk and ask all those things about Disney World

 

[Figgy1]

AWESOME! thanks for mentioning that! gotta add it as one of the first rides for HS park! haha
huuuuuuuge thanks once again! you've been helping me a lot! I'm happy I found this board cuz I don't have any close person to talk and ask all those things about Disney World

Your doing great! I think it's time for you to start hitting restaurants and dining so you can plan your food options. There are a couple going now about counter service restaurants you might be interested in!