Walt Disney World

[Brianfo]

My wife and I will be taking 2 small children to Walt Disney World in Florida in 2 weeks. I get to go as a bonus thru my work. We are staying at the Hilton. My question is what is the weather like down there in January? Any good ideas on what to see and do with twins that are 2 years old? I am kind of looking forward to it. A chance to get out of Iowa in January. Oh well, enought blabbing. Any responses are greatly appreciated.

[The Bad Guy]

We are going again for the 2nd straight year in October. I honestly had an incredible time and so did my son and wife even thought it was a humidity of 115 every day we were there last September. I never sweat that much in my life and I hate the heat and I still loved it.

This year, got a local travel agency deal where it's $6k for 6 nights at Beach Club, the deluxe meal plan, direct flight airfare and park tickets. It's a crazy ****ing world where I think 6k is a bargain, but compared to pricing it out myself, it was a good deal for the 3 of us.

[Mosbonian]

Originally Posted by 007

That new fastpass system really ruined Disney for me.

Blame that on people abusing the Fastpass system...

[Mosbonian]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

A 3 year old won't even be tall enough for the majority of the rides, so I'd definitely recommend waiting until they're older (and taller).

It was different when we had the Premium Pass at $239 because kids under 3 were free at the time. My wife would take our oldest down to Disneyland on a Sunday while I watched the Chiefs and she'd go on a few rides (Small World, Teacups, Merry Go Round, Autotopia, etc.), then come home in 4 hours or so.

But to plan an expensive vacation with 3 year olds, when they don't really get the best of what the park has to offer (Star Tours, Hyperspace Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, Rocket Ships, Splash Mountain, etc.) would be a total waste of money.

I don't disagree with the point you are making......but every time I go to WDW it is filled with families where at least one of the kids is under 3 or 4.

And Disney is smart enough to have things that appeal to those kids....Bippidi-Boppidi Boutique for the little girls who want to dress like princesses.....plush toys and meet and greet with all the Disney Characters.

Most smart parents with kids under 6 don't spend all day at the Park....and that is what pools and the resorts are for. Or it's not uncommon to see one parent with the small kids at the kiddie pool while the other parent might take the older kid(s) to a Park in the afternoon. When my son was 6 and my daughter was 3 we would spend the morning at the Park....go back to the resort and relax/eat lunch and then around 3 PM I would head back to the park with my son to ride rides and see some of the fun stuff. My wife and daughter would stay at the hotel, where my daughter would play in the pool for an hour or 2 and then my wife would join my son and I at the front gate of the park we were in and we would stay from 6 until closing.

Yeah I might have to carry my son on my back going out of the park but it was nothing back then.

I won't say that it's an ideal situation, but if you want your kids to enjoy at a young age you just adjust what you do to accommodate them.

[Silock]

Originally Posted by Bowser

Yeah, that's some bullshit. It's not like Disney isn't making a ****ing mint off of their Marvel and Star Wars properties that they have to go and fleece the people flocking to their parks. I get wanting to make money, but let's not **** your customers into the ground for that almighty dollar, perhaps?

Disney makes most of their money off of the parks, so it makes sense for them to do that. Sucks, but . . . capitalism.

[Silock]

Originally Posted by 007

That new fastpass system really ruined Disney for me.

It's definitely worse than the old system, but it can still be gamed.

[Silock]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

A 5 day Park Hopper is $594 dollars.

From where?

Undercovertourist has 10-day park hoppers for $528.52.

A 5-day park hopper is $449.95.

This is why we go for 2 weeks. It's just cheaper per day. We also don't stay at Disney hotels. You can get condo rentals on Epcot property (not owned by Disney) and just Uber to the parks and back for WAAAAAAAY cheaper.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Mosbonian

I don't disagree with the point you are making......but every time I go to WDW it is filled with families where at least one of the kids is under 3 or 4.

And Disney is smart enough to have things that appeal to those kids....Bippidi-Boppidi Boutique for the little girls who want to dress like princesses.....plush toys and meet and greet with all the Disney Characters.

Most smart parents with kids under 6 don't spend all day at the Park....and that is what pools and the resorts are for. Or it's not uncommon to see one parent with the small kids at the kiddie pool while the other parent might take the older kid(s) to a Park in the afternoon. When my son was 6 and my daughter was 3 we would spend the morning at the Park....go back to the resort and relax/eat lunch and then around 3 PM I would head back to the park with my son to ride rides and see some of the fun stuff. My wife and daughter would stay at the hotel, where my daughter would play in the pool for an hour or 2 and then my wife would join my son and I at the front gate of the park we were in and we would stay from 6 until closing.

Yeah I might have to carry my son on my back going out of the park but it was nothing back then.

I won't say that it's an ideal situation, but if you want your kids to enjoy at a young age you just adjust what you do to accommodate them.

Disneyland must be a far different place than Disneyland. We don't have all of the resorts and hotels in the area or in the park.

When we visit, we're at the park for at least 12 hours. Otherwise, the kids will see less than 8 attractions, as most lines are 45-60 minute waits.

My 4 year old is 43" tall so she's eligible for all of the rides but when she was three, at least half the attractions were off limits.

[Mosbonian]

Originally Posted by Silock

Disney makes most of their money off of the parks, so it makes sense for them to do that. Sucks, but . . . capitalism.

The Parks, the Star Wars and Marvel franchises and all the tie-ins, and their Home Entertainment divisions carry Disney.

ABC/ESPN and all their other networks are what appears to drain the well.

[Mosbonian]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Disneyland must be a far different place than Disneyland. We don't have all of the resorts and hotels in the area or in the park.

When we visit, we're at the park for at least 12 hours. Otherwise, the kids will see less than 8 attractions, as most lines are 45-60 minute waits.

My 4 year old is 43" tall so she's eligible for all of the rides but when she was three, at least half the attractions were off limits.

I think you mean WDW is far different than Disneyland....and yes it is.

Where Disneyland is pretty much "trapped"/surrounded by other entities, WDW is pretty much it's own city to some extent. (It has it's own Fire Department, Reedy Creek Fire Department)

Hotels, in some cases are no more than a 5 minute walk.....from Magic Kingdom both the Polynesian and Grand Floridian are a 2 minute monorail ride or a short boat ride, while the Contemporary is 2 minutes the other direction. Only a 5 minute bus ride gets you from the Magic Kingdom to The Wilderness Lodge.

In the case of the Boardwalk Resort or the Beach Club you can actually walk to EPCOT.

The only real resort that seems a bit far (from my experience) is the Animal Kingdom Lodge. On a good day it is only 15 minutes from any one of the Parks.

Having Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney) the shopping center nearby is another thing you can do if you are all "parked" out.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Mosbonian

I think you mean WDW is far different than Disneyland....and yes it is.

Where Disneyland is pretty much "trapped"/surrounded by other entities, WDW is pretty much it's own city to some extent. (It has it's own Fire Department, Reedy Creek Fire Department)

Hotels, in some cases are no more than a 5 minute walk.....from Magic Kingdom both the Polynesian and Grand Floridian are a 2 minute monorail ride or a short boat ride, while the Contemporary is 2 minutes the other direction. Only a 5 minute bus ride gets you from the Magic Kingdom to The Wilderness Lodge.

In the case of the Boardwalk Resort or the Beach Club you can actually walk to EPCOT.

The only real resort that seems a bit far (from my experience) is the Animal Kingdom Lodge. On a good day it is only 15 minutes from any one of the Parks.

Having Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney) the shopping center nearby is another thing you can do if you are all "parked" out.

Oops, yes, I meant to say Disney World must be very different from Disneyland.

[007]

Originally Posted by Mosbonian

Blame that on people abusing the Fastpass system...

abusing it? The old system was fair to everyone because everyone had the same access. Now people that just want to go for a day are left in the dust because people that planned their trip 6 months in advance already reserved the big rides. The new system sucks. It was bad enough having to reserve where you wanted to eat 6 months in advance. No you have to plan all your rides 45 days in advance too. all this did was make all the lines longer. Before there were always the old reliable rides with short lines. Now nothing has a short line.

The new fastpass system sucks ass plain and simiple

[007]

Originally Posted by Silock

It's definitely worse than the old system, but it can still be gamed.

Don't know if this has changed, but the dumbest thing was only allowing you to get your day of faspass reservations at park kiosks instead of the mobile app. Sure lets just create another ****ing line so you can get in line to get in line.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by 007

Don't know if this has changed, but the dumbest thing was only allowing you to get your day of faspass reservations at park kiosks instead of the mobile app. Sure lets just create another ****ing line so you can get in line to get in line.

Yes, the kiosks still exist but as of a few weeks ago, there was no line when we got our Fast Passes.

I don't get reception at Disneyland through Sprint and it's pretty rare if my iPhone doesn't die after 6 or 7 hours while there.

[007]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Yes, the kiosks still exist but as of a few weeks ago, there was no line when we got our Fast Passes.

I don't get reception at Disneyland through Sprint and it's pretty rare if my iPhone doesn't die after 6 or 7 hours while there.

thats good. I wonder if it is improving at WDW as well. The kiosks need to be there specifically for people in your situation. I just feel it was silly to not allow people to use their phones to reserve as well. Anything to reduce lines.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by 007

thats good. I wonder if it is improving at WDW as well. The kiosks need to be there specifically for people in your situation. I just feel it was silly to not allow people to use their phones to reserve as well. Anything to reduce lines.

There's an app (maybe it's the same one) that showed the wait times all over the park. The problem was that while it might be only 15 minutes for a ride, it would take 15 minutes to walk there and the wait time changed.

We went from the Rocket Ships in Tomorrowland all the way over to Small World because SW was only a 15 minute wait. By the time we got to Small World, we waited for 40 minutes.