What to avoid/not worth the price?

[ebjjst]

My sister and I (both mid-50s) are going to Walt Disney World at the end of September, and are planning what activities, dinner shows, tours, etc., to spend our extra money on. (First trip to Disney; everything seems so expensive!) I'm sure everyone has suggestions on what to do, but does anyone have advice on what to avoid? Something that ended up not worth the money that was spent?

 

[lilclerk]

Hmm, well is there anything you're particularly interested in doing?

For dinner shows, if you two are into really fun, corny humor, I definitely suggest the Hoop Dee Doo Revue at Fort Wilderness. It's a hoot

 

[zurgandfriend]

Cirque du Soleil was worth the extra money, Hoop de Doo Revue was also a lot of fun. Something we like to do is visit a water park, usually in the middle of our trip, that gives us a rest from theme park touring routine.

 

[bamillerpa]

I agree that Cirque du Soleil is worth the extra money. It's absolutely fantastic! We buy the park hopper with water parks fun and more so pretty much everything else we want to do is included. If you are going to be there during MNSSHP you might want to consider spending the extra money to attend the party. We LOVE it! Seeing the characters dressed up and the decorations all around the MK is soooo worth it to us.

Things I would avoid? I'm not sure I would avoid anything, I would just include the two listed above.

 

[bamillerpa]

One other thing, I know they have a lot of different tours that take you behind the scenes and that kind of stuff. I've never actually done them but heard they are really good but on a different thread I saw that someone suggested not doing them if you are new to Disney because it kind of takes the magic out of it all.

 

[CamiLyn227]

We never find it worth it to get the Park Hopper. We think that it wastes a lot of time transfering from one park to the next. We just schedule our dining reservations according to the park we are at that day.

 

[WDWmazprty]

Definitely Cirque Du Soleil is awesome! :sohappy:

 

[tink65]

We never find it worth it to get the Park Hopper. We think that it wastes a lot of time transfering from one park to the next. We just schedule our dining reservations according to the park we are at that day.

I agree 100%! We have always gotten the park hopper option with our tickets but last year we were able to squeeze in 2 trips within 3 months of each other thanks to a pin code offer through the mail for free dining! But....we did have to look at ways to cut costs a little bit on the 2nd trip. One thing we did not do is add park hopper to our tickets! Ended up saving our family of 3 about $170! If you are on the regular dining plan you do have to plan a little more carefully. Looking at EMH, restaurants, etc. I can honestly say we didn't miss having that option one little bit.

 

[cowanfamily]

We never find it worth it to get the Park Hopper. We think that it wastes a lot of time transfering from one park to the next. We just schedule our dining reservations according to the park we are at that day.

I skipped the park hopper and water park options for the first time in June. I thought I waould miss the freedom of moving around. Truth is I didn't miss it at all. Our group of 8 saved $900 doing this. I'm going back the week of Thanksgiving and I am not getting again.

 

[Goofycanuck]

Something that ended up not worth the money that was spent?

I think The Spirit Of Aloha dinner show falls into that category.

 

[wizards8507]

On the Cirque note, the tickets are worth the money... the "front and center" seating is decidedly NOT worth the money.

"Behind the Seeds" at the land pavilion in Epcot is fairly inexpensive and one of my personal favorites.

 

[WDW 3]

And we love park hopping. Spending the AM at Epcot and take a boat to HS. That is part of the fun for my family. We don't do many ADR's and just roam as we like.
We would really miss hopping!

 

[disney4life2008]

Everything is good at WDW and I will pay no matter what.

However, my qualm is on table service resturants. Please do your research before hand and make sure you pick correctly. Many resturants are not as good as they use to me or should be. If you on free dining - it prob wont matter. But if your paying out of pocket, do your research

 

[dorothy_l]

I would have to differ in my opinion about the park hopper option only because of the time you are going. I think it is worth getting especially during a low month like Sept. Lines are not long, you get through the parks a lot faster than say a more crowded month. You are more flexible on your options especially if you want to go to the Magic Kingdom during the day, relax at hotel and then have dinner at the world.

Dont get the water park add on.....especially in Sept.....you never know what the weather will do in Hurricane season. If you want to go just pay day by day.

I 2nd the motion, Dont spend the money on Spirit of Aloha, the food is not worth the money...

Also, avoid DisneyQuest not worth it.
-in my opinion, if you are staying on property at a moderate, avoid the sit down restaurants not worth the money, either use the food court, or go out to the parks or Downtown Disney
-buying ponchos or umbrellas...easy bring your own poncho that costs $3 compared to $15

Musts besides the attractions...
-have lunch at 50's primetime cafe or sci-fi at HS
-if you are staying on property (which I highly suggest) refillable mugs...not only do you use it there but consider a usable souvineer at home.
-if you like margaritas! I highly suggest you go and visit the La Cava de Tequila in Mexico....worth the $Margarita!
-visit the Christmas shop at Downtown Disney
***worth the extra $$ Disney will ship purchases to your home, so that you don't have to packem on the plane***
-eat dinner anywhere in the world, EXCEPT Morocco!

Thats all I can think of right now. Again this is just my opinion!

 

[fosse76]

I skipped the park hopper and water park options for the first time in June. I thought I waould miss the freedom of moving around. Truth is I didn't miss it at all. Our group of 8 saved $900 doing this. I'm going back the week of Thanksgiving and I am not getting again.

Personally, I couldn't live without the park hopper. Not so much that I need to visit more than one park in a day...but I like the variety. PEspecially when I visit DAK...I'm not nearly ready to be finished with a park at 5pm (when it closes).

 

[JustInTime]

I think the Park Hopper is a waste of money, personally. It would probably take about 45 mins or longer just to leave one park and totally get into another. Thats over 6 hours I would waste on 1 trip. AKA over half a day in one park when you think about all the extra travel times added up. It is a stupid idea and not worth it at all. Not to mention, on the days the parks close early are the only times to squeeze in Downtown Disney. Also, Cinderella's Royal Table was slightly over rated and can take a couple hours away from you on your trip. Good for one time only to say you have been in the castle. And the food is so-so.

 

[Lisalyn]

We annually do a trip over Thanksgiving week. We opt for no park hopper. Saves money plus it gives us the opportunity to soak in each park on its respective day to the fullest! Ok so on the day we go to AK the park usually closes at 7..we will usually schedule a nice meal at one of the resorts then or something to that effect - something to prolong the day. Or if tired, and that does happen, trust me!!! - we'll head back to the resort for a swim and early night...by early I mean 10 or 11 p.m. ha ha! :lol:

 

[zurgandfriend]

I love park hopper and I enjoy Restaurant marrakesh evey time I eat there.

It just goes to show that we are all Individuals.

"I'm not" sorry don't mean to start another line from a movie thread.

 

[bamillerpa]

I disagree. We love the park hopper. It gives us a lot more options to make the most of our stay. We normally do one park until it gets too crowded in the afternoon and then head back to swim at either the resort or the water parks. Afterwards we head to a different park for something new. Spending opening to close at one park makes us tired & cranky and I like starting fresh after a swim in a new park. We like eating in Epcot the best too so it's always nice to be able to hop over there for dinner.

On our next trip our first day is going to be spent at Epcot until mid afternoon. We will head back to our resort (the Poly) to relax and swim and then head over to the MK for the evening to enjoy the extra magic hours. We have never found that it takes that long to transfer but we don't use the buses. We either drive or take the monorail which I feel saves time. Since the MK and Epcot are our favorite parks the monorail really works well for us.

 

[WDW 3]

I disagree. We love the park hopper. It gives us a lot more options to make the most of our stay. We normally do one park until it gets too crowded in the afternoon and then head back to swim at either the resort or the water parks. Afterwards we head to a different park for something new. Spending opening to close at one park makes us tired & cranky and I like starting fresh after a swim in a new park. We like eating in Epcot the best too so it's always nice to be able to hop over there for dinner.

On our next trip our first day is going to be spent at Epcot until mid afternoon. We will head back to our resort (the Poly) to relax and swim and then head over to the MK for the evening to enjoy the extra magic hours. We have never found that it takes that long to transfer but we don't use the buses. We either drive or take the monorail which I feel saves time. Since the MK and Epcot are our favorite parks the monorail really works well for us.

Agree completely! Park hopping is not Stupid, just a preference