Need help planning 1st trip...

[latina44870]

We are taking our first disney world trip april 19th-24th. Staying at movies resort. I have a few questions and would appreciate some opinions. thanks in advance!

1. Movies resort- what is the difference between standard and preferred rooms? are preferred better? Are they decorated in more character? We would like the toy story section if possible will theyhonor our request?

2. our first day there we are going to magic kingdom. Would like to do chef mickeys for dinner. how do we get there? is there a bus? would it be too time consuming to leave MK to go there and come back?

3. I'm taking a tote bag to carry around will I be able to take it on rides? or will I have to stay off and wait? I cant just sit it down somewhere as it will have my camera, wallet , etc. in it.

4. When we are in Epcot.. for lunch we want to go to downtown disney to trex cafe. it was the only time we could get for reservation. do you think it will be too hard to leave epcot and go to downtown disney have lunch then come back? Too time consuming? how do we get there, is there a bus? I'm really lost on the bus system. like how long to leave to make sure we make our reservations.

5. Has anyone done the Aloha Dinner Show? How was it? :wave:

 

[JillC LI]

Thank you everyone is so helpful on this board! My family and I are so very excited to go to disney! 72 days and counting!

I have asked the travel agent the price difference if we did reg dining vs. the deluxe dining and since we had a pin to use the savings was only $10
So we kept the deluxe dining.

Hubby loves dinosaurs and I really wanna have lunch for him at the trex cafe since he is willing to eat at cinderellas castle.

This is our dining plan:

4-19-12
arrive at disney about 2pm going to Magic Kingdom park
dinner at chef mickeys 6:55pm

4-20-12
Epcot
breakfast at resort
lunch trex cafe 1pm
akershus- 6:55pm

4-21-12
hollywood studios
breakfast hollywood and vine 9:05am
lunch was thinking of doing pizza planet
dinner- aloha dinner show

4-22-12
Magic Kingdom
breakfast crystal palace 9:25am
lunch cinderellas castle 1:30pm
dinner crystal palace 7:10pm

4-23-12
Animal Kingdom
breakfast tusker house (;10am
lunch ?
dinner rainforest cafe 6:45pm


I thought the aloha show would be neat but no one has any good reviews about it. So now I'm worried about doing it.

For a ten dollar price differential, yes you should definitely stick with Deluxe dining. HOWEVER, I must say that you have so many sit-down meals booked that you are going to lose a LOT of time in the parks. If dining takes priority over park time for your family, then you've set it up perfectly. However, if it was me, I'd choose many more Signature restaurants (i.e., 2 credits because they're more expesive and supposed to be better food) for dinner and keep the other meals counter-service. For example, instead of doing breakfast at Crystal Palace, lunch at the Castle, and dinner back at Crystal Palace, why don't you consider just doing breakfast at the castle, lunch at a counter-service place in the MK, and dinner at the Contemporary Grill (which you can walk to or take the monorail to in the Contemporary Resort) where you can maybe watch the fireworks from there.

On the DHS day, I would recommend a quick breakfast and then lunch at a sit-down place in the park (rather than Pizza Planet which isn't so hot). Maybe you can move your T-Rex reservation to 4/22 so you have more time at Epcot.

Also- we wont be doing any of the *big rides* as our daughters are 10 and 4 and both are scared of heights. So any roller coasters or scary attractions we wont be doing. I'm sure that will cut down on some time.

That will certainly cut down somewhat, but keep in mind that alot of the non-thrill rides can have extremely long lines as well (i.e., Dumbo, Peter Pan, Prince Charming Carousel, Toy Story Midway Mania, Soarin', etc.), and the shows (i.e., Nemo, Lion King, Beauty & the Beast) can take a long time too and are only at certain times of day so your dining schedule may impede you from seeing some of these.

 

[mrshoag]

Hi , we've been to the Movie resort, preferred rooms are usually just on the pool side of the bldgs near the pool and closer to the main bldg..we asked for a room "near" the main pool, but not a preferred room,worked out great.
I wont comment too much on your travel time b/c I drive my own car so its never an issue, I personally do not like to leave the parks until Im done there for the day, but you can use it for your "break" (Epcot to DTD for your TRex), but you may want to just grab and go for bkfst and get to Epcot early, allow at least an hour I suspect.
Also we've been to the Aloha show, it was really nice and the food was plentiful and tasty!..Definately try it, your on the deluxe plan so live it up!!!
Im with the others on Pizza Planet, heard "so so" reviews on it, but since your having a big bkfst you could just grab a snack in the afternoon and save some room for those ribs at Ohana!! Ü

 

[bsmartin2000]

We went to the Aloha show in September. It was kind of cheesy and I don't know if kids would be very excited about it. I would not go again but I did enjoy the second half of the show when the REAL dancing started.

 

[NeedMoreMickey]

Like a lot of other people I would rethink the T-Rex lunch day. Instead of going to Epcot in the morning I would go over to DTD, do some shopping and pin trading. The flower show will be set up and if you are like us it will take you longer then you planned to walk thru the countries to the back exit so you can walk over to BC for the bus. I think with a 3 yr old it would be easier to go to DTD for lunch then head over to Epcot. And don't forget once you are ready to leave T-Rex take the bus to BC and use the back entrance into Epcot. They have strollers here in case you need to rent one.

 

[CaptainShortty]

For a ten dollar price differential, yes you should definitely stick with Deluxe dining. HOWEVER, I must say that you have so many sit-down meals booked that you are going to lose a LOT of time in the parks. If dining takes priority over park time for your family, then you've set it up perfectly. However, if it was me, I'd choose many more Signature restaurants (i.e., 2 credits because they're more expesive and supposed to be better food) for dinner and keep the other meals counter-service. For example, instead of doing breakfast at Crystal Palace, lunch at the Castle, and dinner back at Crystal Palace, why don't you consider just doing breakfast at the castle, lunch at a counter-service place in the MK, and dinner at the Contemporary Grill (which you can walk to or take the monorail to in the Contemporary Resort) where you can maybe watch the fireworks from there.

On the DHS day, I would recommend a quick breakfast and then lunch at a sit-down place in the park (rather than Pizza Planet which isn't so hot). Maybe you can move your T-Rex reservation to 4/22 so you have more time at Epcot.

I definitely agree with this. Most people on their first visit underestimate the true amount of time needed to see the parks and with all of your dining reservations you're seriously cutting into that time. Since you really seem to want to go to T-rex (although IMO there are much better restaurants on property) why not try to get a later reservation and head there on your first day after MK? Also, keep in mind that with the DDDP you're going to get A LOT of food so you can afford (and often want) to have your reservations stretched pretty far apart. You also have all your snack coupons incase you're in a pinch and get hungry! So with my suggestions it might look something like this...

4-19-12
arrive at disney about 2pm going to Magic Kingdom park
dinner at chef mickeys 6:55pm (Have a 8:00 or so reservation at T-rex)

4-20-12
Epcot
breakfast at resort
lunch trex cafe 1pm (Quick-Service at Sunshine Seasons or in WS)
akershus- 6:55pm

4-21-12
hollywood studios
breakfast hollywood and vine 9:05am
lunch was thinking of doing pizza planet (Not a fan of PP, My favorite are the QS stands across from entrance to the Fantasmic Theater)
dinner- aloha dinner show

4-22-12
Magic Kingdom
breakfast crystal palace 9:25am (Quick-Service at the hotel or the Main Street bakery, my personal fav)
lunch cinderellas castle 1:30pm
dinner crystal palace 7:10pm (Late dinner at Chef Mickey's or Cali Grille depending on the number of dining credits you have left).

4-23-12
Animal Kingdom
breakfast tusker house (;10am
lunch ? (Quick-Service in AK...Dinoland is fun if the hubby loves Dinosaurs)
dinner rainforest cafe 6:45pm (Fun but you can go there in lots of places...maybe make a later reservation after the park closes and head to Boma or Sanaa at AKL?)

Hope you found some of it helpful!

 

[obrienIII]

Just commenting on the T-Rex day.......I would definitely go to Epcot early to avoid the longer lines later in the day. If you are set on going to T-Rex, which my family always enjoys, just grab a cab from Epcot to Downtown and back. I hate the bus system, so if I'm not driving I'll always catch a cab. Sure it will cost at the most $20 one way, but the time saved is well worth the cost. Also, they can drop you off right near the entrance to the restaurant if you ask them. Hope this helps! Have fun!

 

[hiptwinmama]

Sounds like you have a great plan....just remember that table service meals can take up a lot of time. Having 2 or more a day and you'll end up spending more time at restaurants than riding rides.

Example.
Breakfast Crystal Palace 9 am ( you won't be out of there until 10 or 10:30)
You only would have time to squeeze in 3-4 rides before heading to a lunch reservation.

The same with dinner. A lot of people over schedule, in the past it was no big deal because you were not penalized for not showing up to most ADR's. But, these days if you don't cancel at least a day in advance you'll be charged $10 a person

 

[amykissangel]

I don't even know you and I'm so excited for your first trip!

We've been staying at the All Stars for the past 17 years and loved them. Toy Story was my little sister's favorite - the giant Woody and Buzz got her so excited every time we walked past

I would keep working on a different T Rex reservation - new ones pop in and out of the system at the most random times, so keep checking! I'm just worried you will leave Epcot at 11/11:30 at the latest to get there, eat from 1 to 2, and from 2 to 4, go back to Epcot, have an hour and a half and eat dinner - I don't know if you'll even be hungry that soon???

The Aloha dinner was amazing - different food for us Wisconsin-ites at first (this was about 8 years ago), but since then we've learned to appreciate EVERYTHING food-wise Disney has to offer!

Have a BLAST! )

 

[addcogulf]

I go to WDW every year. The Movies are a nice resort and they will try to honor your request for Toy Story. I dont know if Toy Story is a pereferred location or not. I always request pereferred rooms, closest to the main building. All of your dining reservations are good except for leaving Epcot, which is a huge park and trekking off to DTD and then coming back. It will eat up much too much time. It isnt worth it. Epcot has plenty of great resturants. T-Rex isnt that great. Dont waste such valuable time. Leaving the MK to go to Chef Mickeys is easy. You just leave, get on the resort monarail and get off at Contemporary. When done eatting, get back of the Monorail and go back to the MK.