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@Anagram: Thank you for all your thoughts.. we definitely like to park hop, although I think the parks at WDW are way bigger than what we are used to. It may end up that we don't park hop much, but I had heard from friends that some of the other parks like AK and HS, or even Epcot were "duds" (I guess that's a matter of opinion, we'll see what we think) so we didn't want to be stuck somewhere if we could go to another park. That service you linked to sounds great for park hopping, so thanks!
@looch: that is interesting about Hoop Dee Doo.. if it's not really a kid show then maybe it's not worth it.. although I thought it would be something convenient to do the first night we are there. I will look into it, thanks..
This WDW planning is not for the faint of heart.
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@Anagram: @T-Mom: Unfortunately Disney nixed the express transportation :`(. I was looking forward to trying it out!
http://blog.touringplans.com/2017/08/15/walt-disney-worlds-express-transportation-end/
Just booked a trip for May 2018...so excited!
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@Truth Bombs: awesome! We will have to compare notes later. Lucky you for getting a planner, too...
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@T-Mom: I'm not a fan of HS. I love Epcot for the countries (but not really the rides; Tomorrow Land is in need of a revamp). AK is nice as a one day adventure for me, but something about it just always exhausts me (and it feels hotter for some reason). I've never seen Rivers of Light or the new Pandora land (which is crazy popular since it's new, so be prepared for crowds if you want to experience it, and try to get a FastPass+ for Flight of Passage as soon as your window opens if you plan to ride it).
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@StrawberryBee: oh bummer about getting ride of that option! I'm definitely looking forward to pandora land. Good luck with your planning!
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@T-Mom: I've not stayed at Ft. Wilderness myself, but I think taking the buses there may be a bit more time consuming b/c the campground is so spreadout. I think there may be an internal bus loop that takes you to the main stop where you'd be picked up by a second bus that has usually picked up passengers at Wilderness Lodge first. Again I haven't done it myself, but if that sounds like a pain having your own car may be worth it.
And if you want to eat at Be Our Guest or Ohana, book those as soon as your ADR window opens!! You can figure everything else out later and can cancel up to 24 hours in advance, but those reservations are hot tickets! I would say Hoop De Do is good for all ages. Even if your kids don't get all the jokes, there'll be enough general silliness going on for them to appreciate. And did someone say all you can drink sangria?
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@nanilani: I tend to agree with you about the rental car for Ft. Wilderness. But I have 181 days to think on that, I guess
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And my ADR window opens tomorrow so you know what I'll be doing tomorrow at 5 am Central time ... -
@T-Mom: good luck
We must be going around the same time, our ADR date was a few days ago.
We were able to get everything we wanted by logging on early. Our tentative plan is :
Sanaa
Biergarten
Be Our Guest breakfast
Ohana
Cape May Cafe
Yachtsman Steakhouse
Sci-Fi Diner
Beaches & Cream
Raglan Road
Bon Voyage Princess Breakfast
Via NapoliI'm excited to go back to our old favourites and try a few new ones too
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FYI
Friend booked a week stay buying points through a third party company called
DVC Rental Store
She purchased a $200 travel insurance plan through them. Now with Irma they are refusing to refund or reschedule her trip! Buyer beware!!!!!!!
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@T-Mom: We don't do park hopping at all, largely because if a park is smaller and we feel there isn't much to do, we take the afternoon off and go to the hotel and use the pool.
My view is that WDW isn't going anywhere (and I mean no disrespect to Irma), we're probably coming back and my vacations are also partly to relax. I have zero desire to see everything and cross it off the list all at one time. I want to go back home somewhat relaxed, not needing a vacation from my vacation!
It's also why we rent a car and stay off property, because I do need a little time away from the Disney Magic.
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@looch: That's what we did. On our shorter days (HS and Epcot), we went back to the resort and spent time in the awesome pool. My 4 year old went down the big slide probably 25 times.
But also, if I were with older kids, I could have easily made a full day at any of the parks. I feel like we didn't get to spend near enough time at Epcot (we left at 4 because we got there at Rope Drop and kids were fading fast), but we didn't even get to half the countries and we didn't ride Soarin or Test Track because our kids were borderline for height. I could have absolutely spent the whole day there.
HS--I also could have spent more time. There were several shows I didn't see (Star Wars or Indiana Jones), and we didn't do Tower of Terror or the Aerosmith roller coaster, again because our kids were younger.
AK--my husband and inlaws loved it. They spent the entire day and probably would have done a 2nd day if we had a longer vacay.
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@Anagram: Oh, and additionally, we usually do a day away from Disney. This past trip we spent a day at the Space Center and my son went absolutely bananas over it. He still talks about NASA and how he got to hear a real live astronaut talk about eating food in space. He's extremely worried about how the Rocket Garden is going to fare in the hurricane.
I also wanted to mention one more thing and that's Disney Springs (I think that's what it's called, it's the renamed Downtown Disney). No admission, a ton of restaurants AND it has a Lego Store and a special toy store where you can get Mr. Potato Head pieces that you can't buy anywhere else. We always head there for at least one night too.
All this to say that there are soooo many ways to do WDW. I feel like I fall towards the "WDW Lite" end of the spectrum.
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@looch: We're traveling Sat-Thur and then sending the kids to school on Fri while my husband and I stay home and relax... specifically because I fully expect to need a vacation from my vacation
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@Truth Bombs: That's pretty clever! I have to remember that for our next vacation.
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