Got ?'s about WDW - ask away

We just got back from a week at WDW (2/24). If you have any questions - send them this way.

I can comment on wait times and FAST PASS, staying at Port Orleans Riverside, Hoop Dee Doo Review, PhotoPass, 3 diff character meals, Magical Express, The table service meal plan, Illuminations, Wishes, Spectro magic parade, touring plans, favorite podcasts to help you plan, using the busses, how to dress, renting a scooter and more.

We%26#39;re so grateful to the folks on this board we%26#39;d love to keep the good karma rolling. Just be patient on a reply - I%26#39;m only on here a few times a week.

Got ?'s about WDW - ask away

Welcome home! Hope it was a wonderful trip.

Got ?'s about WDW - ask away

Hope you had a great trip! A trip report would be great to read - sharing all of your good and bad experiences - is always enjoyable:) Restaurant/meal reviews are especially helpful for everyone planning their vacation. thanks!

This is not exactly a trip report but a copy of an advice email I sent out earlier today....

advice?

Best $20 I spent was on The Unoffical Guide To Disney. Read it cover to cover, highlight it etc.. With the purchase you get access to a cool website with specials. One thing it has is touring plans to get the most of your day and avoid lines - we used those and they did work. We did just about everything and rarely waited more than 15 min in a super busy week. It%26#39;s all about being organized. Skipping a sit down breakfast and bringing a box of donuts with you. If you fart around in the morning you end up waiting a lot and getting on half of what you hoped to. Several days we were dressed and out the door by 7.

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Port Orleans Riverside. I have a new review of the hotel here on TA. We loved the Disney bus system and never waited more than 15 minutes to get to a park. Home was another matter - heading home after Wishes we had to wait in a long line. It took 45 minutes and 4 bus loads until our spot in line got to the front.

One of our first stops was to get a few pins at Downtown Disney. Get the cheapest ones or the 2 pin grab bag for $10 - these will be the ones they%26#39;ll trade away later. Any cast member at WDW will trade a pin if asked. He loved doing that and a few times we helped him ask.

For keepers we let our son buy a new one each day. He picked the pin for whatever he decided was his favorite ride of that park.

He also loved a book we bought that gave clues to all the hidden mickeys - he read this whenever we were online.

The umbrella stroller we brought along was a lifesaver - Gracie slept in it everyday for a nap around 2. I would not rent the Disney ones. If it%26#39;s busy those poor people can%26#39;t go 5 ft without stopping - I thought they seemed too big to navigate.

For a fun break take the Railroad in front of MK.

In Hollywood studios - don%26#39;t bother going to Toy Story Mania unless you%26#39;re there at open during magic extra hours. It was so mobbed they sold out of fast passes by 10 am. People who got to standby line by 9 had a 70 minute wait - not worth it in my opinion. We got our fast passes at 8:15 and got on no prob later.

We loved two of the 3-d shows, Muppet 3d and Philharmagic. We also enjoyed Beauty and The Beast, Little Mermaid and Lion King stage shows - Tommy even enjoyed them and he%26#39;s and old 11.

If they%26#39;re staying at Disney we recommend the travel mugs. $12 sounds steep. But with a soda or coffee costing $2 ea, we payed for it with 2 drinks a day pretty quickly.

If you do the dining plan, we had great character meals at 1900 Park Fair and Chef Mickeys. Getting these saved hours of waiting on line for just a photo and an autograph.

About the meal plan: If a family wants to eat nothing but chicken nuggets and hot dogs for a week straight I%26#39;d say skip the plan. But if you intend to have any decent sit down meals you want to get it. Things are so expensive paying cash. Here%26#39;s an example. The plan cost us $40 a day for adults, for a cafateria meal, a table service meal and a snack. On Thursday we ate lunch at cafeteria place near Space Mt. That was $14. Great dinner at the Liberty tree Tavern was $36?, and I got a pretzel for a snack that day that cost $4. So my food for the day cost $54, and we paid $40 with the Meal Deal. For all 5 of us that saved roughly $60 on food a day.

We did not have much luck with meals at Animal Kingdom. Not very many options and most of them were mobbed. I%26#39;d pack a lunch there or avoid 11 - 2. We stood in line 25 minutes just to order.

Look on the net for Disney schedules. Here%26#39;s a great page with them http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/hours.htm

A great combo is to go to secure a good spot for the Spectomagic parade, and stay there for the wishes fireworks 20 minutes after. I think the best view is just to right side of the loop in front of the castle ( Space Mt side). If youre on the bridge Tinkerbell flies right over your head.

We thought the meal at Liberty tree Tavern was delicious - but $$$

Hoop Dee Doo review was fun, food was average. Really what you%26#39;re paying for is the show and atmosphere.

Our family did not care for the meal at Asherkus Hall in Epcot - this was the princess meal. Wonderful photo opps and great attention from ';the girls.'; It%26#39;s not the foreign aspect - I%26#39;ve eaten all over Europe - it just seemed lukewarm and blahh.

If you get the meal deal, you can use the snack credits to sort of put together a meal. A soda, a hot dog and a pretzel would be 3 snack credits.

We thought the meals at 1900 Park Fair and Chef Mickeys we%26#39;re quite good - lots of options for different tastes. The only thing odd about a character meal is that it%26#39;s not very relaxing - you%26#39;re little princess is waiting for to see Cinderella etc... Camera%26#39;s primed and ready - and no one is eating. You don%26#39;t even get up to try the buffet for fear you%26#39;ll miss something.

We did photo pass, but I%26#39;m not sure we would again. (90% of the pictures were mediocre, washed out). Plus those photographers don%26#39;t mind shooting a few shots with your camera for FREE. I made the edits online and ordered the cd - hopefully they look better than they do onscreen.

One thing I wish I did was take more creative photos. We have all the typical ones you%26#39;ve seen a million times. But if you do a search for Disney photos on Flickr you can see some really clever ideas people came up with for angles, lighting and composition.

Another long wait ride was SOARIN at Epcot. We got there at 9 am and still waited 45 minutes. But it was worth the wait. For me the one of a kind rides are worth a decent wait, at least to try them once. Rides like Tower of Terror, Everest, Test Track, Soarin, Mission Space. Others like the 3 mountains, Rockin Rollercoast, Toys Story Mania were cool but not totally unique - I wouldn%26#39;t wait over a half an hour for them. Toys Story is almost exactly like Buzz Light Year Spin in MK only it%26#39;s in 3D.

A word of caution about Dinosaur: lots of fun but it jolts you quite a bit. My wife was sore in the back after it for a few days.

Some things you can get into very easily most any time with little wait:

Muppet 3d and Philharmagic, Pangori Jungle walk (AK), Monster Inc Laugh floor(Mk) , Imagination with filament (Ep) Tower of Terror was always less than 20 min (DHS) Any stage shows except Nemo, Cinderella Carousell, Malestrom (EP).

Downtown Disney is fun for a rainy day or night time. We took the Ferry there from Port Orleans.

Our best strategy at park open was for 4 of us to go get in line for 1 ride, then I would take all the park passes and run ahead to Fast Passes for later. This worked beautifully since Bonnie, Erica and Grace generally didn%26#39;%26#39;t want to do the headliner rides anyway. So for instance at MK, they would get in line for Dumbo or Peter Pan first thing, and I would get FastP for Tommy %26amp; I for Space Mt, Thunder Mt or Spalsh Mt. By the time we were done Dumbo, we were eligible to get another 5 passes.

Speaking of Dumbo, I had a weird reaction to this one. We took our kids because it was a tradition of sorts - I rode it 30 years ago. Everyone insists you have to do it. But really it%26#39;s just like a any number of carnival rides you have back home. I kept saying isn%26#39;t this great and they kept looking at my like ';what%26#39;s the big deal?';

My 11 year olds top 20 Favorite Rides

(multiple times we rode it)

1. Expedition Everest

2. Rockin Rollercoaster (3)

3. Space Mountain (3)

4. Test Track (3)

5. Hollywood Tower of Terror (3)

6. Dinosaur (2)

7. ThunderMountain (2)

8. Toy Story Midway Mania

9. Mission Space

10. Splash Mountain

11. Soarin

12. Killimanjaro Safari

13. Buzz Light Year Spin (3)

14. Kali River Rapids

15. Star Tours

16. Peter Pan%26#39;s Flight (2)

17. Winne The Pooh

18. Barnstormer

19. Pirates of The Carribean

20. Alladin%26#39;s Magic Carpet

Honerable Mention: Mickey%26#39;s Philarmagic, Muppets 3D, Wishes fireworks, The Hoop Dee Doo Review, monorail rides

Fabulous tips!!!! Thank you!

Wow, sounds like fun.

Great tips.

Hi noday- I was wondering what you thought of POR. What area did you stay in? Is the pool finished? Did you try the restaurant or counter there? We leave in 50 days!!

We liked it plenty. We stayed in bldg 14 really close to everything. I would STRONGLY reccomend you try to get 14, 15, 16, 17 18 because POR is quite spread out, and adding 15 minutes to your walk time may be the difference to getting to park on time or waiting for the next bus.

The food was fine - we did not eat at Boatwrights because it looked gloomy to us and usually we were in a park at dinner time. We ate in the food court 3 or 4 times and liked the variety.

I have a review online if you do a search for Port Orleans Riverside.

We requested building 18, want to be close to a quite pool. Did you request that building? I assume you used the south bus stop? How busy does that one get? Thanks

We did use the south stop a lot.

South stop was not too crowded. Only on the way back at night. 18 is still pretty close and a good choice. Pool reopened the day we left. I%26#39;d call the hotel 2 or 3 days before you arrive and remind them again.

Good Morning NDB2D - Thoroughly enjoyed the trip report! I relived several of my past trips while reading yours....makes one want to start making plans and reservations! Sounds like you had a great time, and I concur with your Akershus remarks...one does not go there for the food but for the fun and atmosphere! Also, thanks for the photo tips!