PiratesMansion
Well-Known Member
I think the new itinerary will be better.
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Strongly Considering a Trip to WDW: Please Help me plan or talk me out of it
- Thread starter mickEblu
- Start date
No Name
Well-Known Member
Well I didn’t see this thread until now unfortunately. I’m just going to be completely straightforward and say I have a hesitation about going right now. The big hold off for me is the fact that shows, fireworks, parades, and other entertainment is gone. For example, the last time I went to DHS, we saw four shows, plus fantasmic and the galactic spectacular at night, and had a spontaneous push up contest with Mr. Incredible, which I won. On the plus side, just about all of the rides are open, which is great. But when the parks are reduced to rides, WDW’s parks do fall short of those out west, as TP2000 points out every so often.
That being said, I have no doubt you can still have a great time, and it’ll be a nice way to get out of the house and do something fun. Plus, it balances out with all of the cheaper prices and discounts they’ve got going on now. I certainly hate to make you feel any more conflicted, but I hadn’t really seen that mentioned and wanted to make sure you are aware. Enjoy your trip! And maybe I can help answer certain questions if any more come up.
That being said, I have no doubt you can still have a great time, and it’ll be a nice way to get out of the house and do something fun. Plus, it balances out with all of the cheaper prices and discounts they’ve got going on now. I certainly hate to make you feel any more conflicted, but I hadn’t really seen that mentioned and wanted to make sure you are aware. Enjoy your trip! And maybe I can help answer certain questions if any more come up.
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Thanks! I’m ok with the lack of entertainment as I rarely do any shows and parades at DLR but the I do realize that lack of these things going on even as a passerby will be felt. Seeing the fireworks once would have been nice though. The lack of streetmosphere / small band playing (which from what I understand are fewer in WDW anyway) will also be felt. There’s a few videos that I’ve seen that have kind of made me sad like seeing socially distanced Dapper Dan’s singing 30 feet away from people. These kinds of things make me hesitant but then I’ll see people walking around Animal Kingdom on a beautiful day or see people enjoying a nice ride on Slinky Dog Coaster and I realize there is still a lot of fun to be had.
Would you happen to have any input on my itinerary in the last page?
No Name
Well-Known Member
Yeah the revised one looks good, I agree with your reasoning.
mlayton144
Well-Known Member
Your DVC options this close to your stay dates are problematic - you would probably be limited to Saratoga , OKW, and maybe animal kingdom lodge Kidani (Jambo much nicer but everything closed there except rooms) , plus you would have very limited cancel options. The problem with all 3 of these are transportation- all buses , which is fine if you don’t mind that. If I were to rank these 3 options I would pick Saratoga , then AKL, then OKW. Personally , I would chose Coronado springs given those choices since it’s still beautiful and you can cancel easily , could you not find a non-pirate room at CBR?
CaptinEO
Well-Known Member
So it's the same company that owns it, but Via Napoli is way better than Naples in both food and service.
Naples undercooks their pizza every-time (ever since I first went in 2005). Via Napoli ended up being one of my wife and I's favorite restaraunts.
Naples has a dozen servers dressed in jail uniforms that don't actually do anything but are supposed to be tending to all tables at the same time. Instead of assigning a waiter to your table they follow this model. We've never gotten a refill or bread.
Via Napoli on the other hand is the best Italian food I've had in my life and zero complaints on the service. You have representatives from Italy serving you as well (and it's an actual waiter assigned to you, not an uncoordinated crew wandering around).
Naples has failed to impress me and I've been there at least a dozen times. Via Napoli was absolutely fantastic. Just because it's the same parent company doesn't change how different the restaurants are.
CaptinEO
Well-Known Member
My experience planning WDW:
6 months of freaking out because I read how you need to plan each and every aspect. I planned each meal, fastpasses, etc all in advance.
My actual experience upon arriving: This is just as laid back as Disneyland. We ended up having so much free time, I felt dumb for planning it.
You're gonna show up and it's gonna be fun and relaxing. It won't be stressful at all and I'm sure your whole family will have a great time
.Enjoying Disney World is no different from enjoying Disneyland.
Guess what, you don't HAVE TO see each and every ride / show / restaurant. Don't go on your trip to meet a quota of rides. Go there and have fun and go on your must dos.
You've been to a themepark before, you go on rides, eat food, and go in shops. Nothing challenging about that. The park is not stressful, same thing as Disneyland. Have fun : ).
@mickEblu to try and save some money you can always look for the Disney hotels on hotwire hot deals, but it's still a gamble (slightly).
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I don't really know which room I have. I booked a Water/ pool view room and requested to be close to the skyline station. I heard those pirate rooms are only in one building so I doubt we got one of those.
Yeah I checked briefly for DVC yesterday. Dates are limited and they re pretty expensive. I would be better off booking a deluxe with the 35% off with Disney. Its a lot cheaper though just to make sure I don't get the pirate room. lol
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mlayton144
Well-Known Member
pretty sure pirate room are it’s own category , so if it doesn’t say pirate room on reservation than it won’t be pirate room
I’m laughing at the whole pirate room concept LOL
My experience planning WDW:
6 months of freaking out because I read how you need to plan each and every aspect. I planned each meal, fastpasses, etc all in advance.
My actual experience upon arriving: This is just as laid back as Disneyland. We ended up having so much free time, I felt dumb for planning it.
You're gonna show up and it's gonna be fun and relaxing. It won't be stressful at all and I'm sure your whole family will have a great time
Enjoying Disney World is no different from enjoying Disneyland.
Guess what, you don't HAVE TO see each and every ride / show / restaurant. Don't go on your trip to meet a quota of rides. Go there and have fun and go on your must dos.
You've been to a themepark before, you go on rides, eat food, and go in shops. Nothing challenging about that. The park is not stressful, same thing as Disneyland. Have fun : ).
I agree with the sentiment and love the optimism but did you go with the three young children post COVID? lol
Thats good advice. I need to be ok with just not seeing everything. I think with my itinerary, I've given myself a great shot but its ok if it doesn't happen. As long as I do all of my Must Do's which admittedly is a long list. Maybe I have to highlight Must Do's on my Must Do list. haha
Must Do's: Super Must Do's are bolded
MK
Astro Orbiter : This gets a half bold because of its still up high like the old Rocket Jets
Thunder Mountain
Country Bear Jamboree
Hall of Presidents
Haunted Mansion
its a small world
Jungle Cruise
Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Mickeys Philharmagic
Peter Pans Flight
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Space Mountain
Splash Mountain
Swiss Family Treehouse
Carrousel of Progress
People Mover
Of course ill have to do some flats like Dumbo and the Tea Cups for the kids but they aren't Must Do's for me.
Animal Kingdom
Flight of Passage
Dinosaur
Expedition Everest
It's Tough to be a Bug
Kiliminjaro Safaris
Na'vi River Journey
Kali River Rapids will be closed
Hollywood Studios
Mickey & Minnies Runaway Railway
Rock n Roller Coaster
Slinky Dog Dash
Tower of Terror
Not Must Do's but would like to do TSMM and Star Tours with my son. Maybe even Smugglers Run if time permits. Im going to try to get a ROTR boarding pass since I can do that conveniently from the hotel.
Epcot:
American Adventure
Frozen Ever After
Gran Fiesta Tour
Impressions
Journey into Imagination
Living with the Land
Mission Space
Nemo n Friends
Soarin Around the World
Spaceship Earth
Test Track
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LOL, ok good to know!
rreading
Well-Known Member
This list looks perfect. Only comments are that Star Tours rarely has a wait - is normally a walk-on - so I would put it on your list. Like many other rides at WDW its setting is nicer than at DL. Without FP, TSMM is also usually pretty efficient as well.
Especially with the kids, Winnie the Pooh would be worth a brief wait. It's much better than the DL version and WDW can't say that about many rides
Gran Fiesta Tour is more atmosphere than ride - but it's worth doing once for sure.
FP+ can definitely be a boon for a certain number of secured rides with limited waits assuming that you get the FP you want. FOP and 7DMT are commonly difficult to book so no FP will probably help you out altogether. It's probably the silver lining to balance out wearing masks and no fireworks/limited shows.
This list looks perfect. Only comments are that Star Tours rarely has a wait - is normally a walk-on - so I would put it on your list. Like many other rides at WDW its setting is nicer than at DL. Without FP, TSMM is also usually pretty efficient as well.
Especially with the kids, Winnie the Pooh would be worth a brief wait. It's much better than the DL version and WDW can't say that about many rides
Gran Fiesta Tour is more atmosphere than ride - but it's worth doing once for sure.
FP+ can definitely be a boon for a certain number of secured rides with limited waits assuming that you get the FP you want. FOP and 7DMT are commonly difficult to book so no FP will probably help you out altogether. It's probably the silver lining to balance out wearing masks and no fireworks/limited shows.
Sweet! Thanks for this! So the no FP may be a benefit as I thought it was when I first started planning. As I got into the weeds it started sounding like it may be a negative. But between what you said and the fact that the second child switch party will be able to walk right onto attractions as opposed to waiting in the FP line it sounds like a benefit. There are a lot of rides we ll have to child switch my bro and sister in law and those 10-20 minutes waits would have added up.
EPCOTCenterLover
Well-Known Member
Yes, do DVC renting. We used David's and it was great. Saratoga Springs at minimal cost. Fairly quiet and close to Disney Springs by boat. I'd choose DVC rental again in a heartbeat.
Little Green Men
Well-Known Member
Great list! I recommend doing Muppet Vision if you have time at DHS and Walt Disney Presents is a great exhibit full of Walt memorabilia. Although Nemo isn't a must do I highly recommend going into the pavilion for the aquariums, you can enter through the exit and just visit the exhibits. I'd say the new films Awesome Planet and Canada Far and Wide are worth seeing as well if you have time. Canada is a circle vision film. Honestly your list looks like you have more to do in Epcot than DHS, but you are correct that Epcot is much easier to get into so you can just decide by which park has more attractions you wanna do. I'd say if Alien Swirling Saucers isn't a long line it's worth doing as well. At DAK you should try to do Rafiki's Planet Watch, it's a train to animal exhibits with a petting zoo, hospitality center where they take care of animals, and even have drawing classes.
Thanks!
Yeah, my Must Do attraction list is longer at Epcot but the lines at DHS will be longer right? Outside of Test Track and Frozen, do any of the other attractions at the park have long waits? DHS also has more attractions that I’ll probably want to do more than once unlike Epcot that seems like a lot more one and done’s. Do you think I should be able to knock out the Epcot list in an 8 hour day?
Little Green Men
Well-Known Member
Yeah I think you probably could do it all. SSE and Soarin’ can have longer lines but you prob don’t care about Soarin’ since it’s at DCA. Mission: SPACE might have a longer line too, you should try the green version first just incase the orange is too intense. I’ve personally never done orange, but green is fine as long as you aren’t claustrophobic.