[DDreamer]

Hi Everyone,

I've been lurking for a few days. I love this forum! You guys are awesome!

A little about myself. Wife, Mother of 3 kids, 1 grown and two in tow. Grew up in Fl. now living in the NW. Dying for a chance to get back to the sunshine state;) .
Grew up visiting Disney World so many times I've lost count. The last trip my family had there was 10 years ago. Our last child wasn't even born then. DS was only 4. I'm getting very excited to be able to take them to DW. I have so many memories there!

This is where I could use some help and advice. I'm planning this trip on short term notice. The main reason is avoiding the summer crowds. We were blessed with some extra $$ at the last minute and thought Hey, were going to DW! We're planning on leaving 5/19-5/29. Or would we be better off going the week before?

I have a ton of questions, I understand if all of them don't get answered.

Thinking of staying at SpringHill Suites at the Marriott Montage.
Does anyone have any experience with this Hotel?

Park Planning~:cry: We plan on doing some non-disney parks as well. I'm having trouble trying to decide If AK or MGM is really going to be a good use of time and $$? Kids are 9/14. We could bypass AK because we plan on doing the SanDiego zoo later in the year. Not sure about MGM? Forsure doing MK for 2 days and Epcot for 1 day. Does anyone have any advice on MGM?

Other locations~ I just heard yesterday that many of the Highways in the area have changed names and are not updated on maps yet. Is this true and what roads/highways have changed?
We were thinking about heading over to the Clearwater area for some beach time. Caladesi Island to be exact. I remember reading on this board that there is some construction taking place on the interstate leading to Tampa. Should we avoid this trip and just head East instead? We were planning on just making it a day trip and staying in the same hotel.

I'll stop here for now with the questions. They were some of my biggest concerns for now as far as getting a plan together.

TIA

[maguilart]

Hi Tia,

Im so happy you get to go to Disney so soon...

About the parks I can say MK is a must, Im glad you are making it in two days... fireworks, small world ride, splash mountain, the parade... oh so many things you all wont want to miss... Dont forget Turkey Legs, find them in Frontierland... hehe that's where I used to work... hehehe

I cant say much about MGM cause I was there only once(yes, once in 3 months!!) I went with my little nephews and niece cause they were visiting me and Mickey :D, in MGM you can make Tower of Terror if you like lots of excitement, Indiana Jones ride... the parade is very very very nice... and Fantasmic is such a dream, if you decide to go make sure you get front seats!!

AK, I cant say a lot either... I was never there :cry: :cry: now I think that was HUGE mistake... however, my friends did the jungle ride and got lots of cute pics with the animals... they said it was different but good one too...

Hope it can help... Im a Magic Fan, hehehe

"Have a nice day!!"

[sjpurple]

Welcome,

It's great you are doing the MK but I think with the ages of your kids you might want to do at least 1/2 a day at MGM.

My DGD is 10 and she loves it. Especially TOT and RRC.

Leave a little down time if you can.:) :heart

[maguilart]

I forgot, you do have the Muppets in MGM... sjpurple is right, half of a day would be good... maybe later afternoon so you can watch Fantasmic...

[dznygrl]

Hi DDreamer! Welcome to DC! :D You've definitely come to the right place, because we looooove :love: to share our advice, lol.

Here's what little advice I can give you (however, when I say "little" I still tend to blab a lot!) LOL :laugh Here goes:

The time (and specific week) you are going is good. I've been to WDW during that same week, and the weather & crowds were both moderate.

I unfortunately can't give you any info on the hotel you have picked. However, I do wonder how much you're paying per night? At this time of year, it's very possible you could get a great rate at one of the cheap Disney Resorts--like one of the All-Stars. Staying on-site would double the Magic & make transportation a lot easier, too! :) Just my tidbit.

As for AK & MGM, with the age of your kids, I would definitely go with MGM. It's a shame that you can't do both, because AK is wonderful! But it is only a half-day park in my opinion...so if you ever find yourself bored or too crowded at MK one of those days, maybe you should think about hopping over to AK (if you have hopper passes)!

MGM is a great park, especially for the age of your kids...well, I am assuming, of course, that they like "thrill" rides. Maybe that's a big assumption. :nervous But Tower of Terror and Rock n' Roller Coaster are both incredible! There's enough of a balance that thrill-seekers and non-thrill-seekers can have a great time there.
These are just a few suggestions...

THRILL MUST-DOS:
1) Rock n' Roller Coaster
2) Tower of Terror
3) Star Tours

TAMER MUST-DOS:
1) Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular
2) Muppet Vision 3-D
3) Beauty & The Beast Show

You absolutely MUST (I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH!) MUST MUST MUST see Fantasmic! It is the single best thing in all of Walt Disney World! :heart So if you're going to the Studios, make sure you stay 'til the end of the day so you do not miss this.

My tip that I always tell people going to WDW is don't overplan. There is no need to stress yourself out by attempting to stick to a rigorous schedule. Go with the flow and have fun! :D Please post anymore questions if you have them...I will answer what I can!

P.S. You're living in the NW now? Me too! Actually, I was born and raised here, but I'll be moving to Florida at the end of the year and I CANNOT WAIT! I was never born to be an Oregon Girl, I guess. I love camping & the beach, but other than that I despise cold/rainy weather!

[DDreamer]

Thanks for the great advice!


I unfortunately can't give you any info on the hotel you have picked. However, I do wonder how much you're paying per night? At this time of year, it's very possible you could get a great rate at one of the cheap Disney Resorts--like one of the All-Stars. Staying on-site would double the Magic & make transportation a lot easier, too! Just my tidbit.

I personally would love to stay at one of the resorts. I went to the website of the Hotel and they have a special with coupon for $69/night. I'm still keeping my options opened though.

Ok, kids really did want to do the TOT. May have to consider just doing the full blown WDW trip :D . Nice to know AK is just a 1/2 day park. That would leave some room for pool time.

I misspoke myself when I mentioned the road names being changed. What I meant to say was the EXIT # have changed. Anyone know about this?

Thanks again for all your help. I'm in Oregon too! We have talked about moving back to Fl. I can only hope ;)

[dznygrl]

Glad I could attempt to help you out! Good luck with your planning! Oh...and if you are looking for good discounts on Disney resorts, always check www.mousesavers.com

Shoot, maybe I shouldn't be endorsing other sites here on DC. If so, forgive me! :o

I'm sure you'll have a great trip. Just keep an account of what you do, so you can write a trip report when you get back! :D

[MagicalMoments]

Just got back from WDW. We went with friends who had never been to WDW and only had 3 days. So we thought that we could show them some of the highlights at both parks in one day. And this is how we did it. Got to MGM shortly after opening. Went to get a FP at RNR. Then went to the Great Movie Ride. Then rode RNR, awesome. Got a FP for TOT. Went to see Beauty & the Beast. Then back to TOT. Walked around a bit while we decided where to eat. Ate at MGM, then off to AK. First stop was It's a Bug's Life, then to Kali River Ride. The wait there was 60 mins. After that, our friends were done for the day but we were not! Raced over to Dinosaur, we love it!! And then to Primeval Whirl. The park closed at 7pm and we used up every minute of that time.
What ever you decide to do, enjoy every minute! It goes by too quickly!

[Dana]

Originally posted by DDreamer


Park Planning~:cry: We plan on doing some non-disney parks as well. I'm having trouble trying to decide If AK or MGM is really going to be a good use of time and $$? Kids are 9/14. We could bypass AK because we plan on doing the SanDiego zoo later in the year. Not sure about MGM? Forsure doing MK for 2 days and Epcot for 1 day. Does anyone have any advice on MGM?

TIA

Hi and welcome to DC! I am so glad you found this forum! You will get top-rate help here from experienced WDW travelers.

Now as for MGM, definately take a day to go to this park. It's me and my DD's (10 year's old) favorite park. It's perfect for your two. There you will find Rock N rollercoaster, Tower of Terror, Star Tours, Voyage of the Little Mermaid and Muppets 3-d + much more to do. They have the best night show...Fantasmic! but make a Priority seating at either Hollywood and Vine, Momma's or the Brown Dereby to get a Fantansmic! package. This will give you special seating in the show and that alone is worth the price of admission to me. You won't need more than a day to tour this park, but it's a "must-do". AK isn't one of my favorites, but many on here love it. I can tour that park in a few hours and find myself bored with it. It depends on your personal preference. I suggest grabbing a copy of the Passporter Guide book to see what is new and interests you since your last visit. Excellent guide book with maps and worksheets for planning meals and budgets...worth it's weight in gold. Happy planning to you. Don't hesitate to ask all of your questions here. We love to plan!

[cahogbin]

If the hotel you mentioned is $69 a night you really need to look at one of the All Stars or Pop Century. I know the seasons make the difference in price and my books are on loan right now to a friend. But I got AS Movies for $69 a night INCLUDING taxes with my AAA card for Sept. So you should definitely consider staying on site. We're doing Universal and NASA too but it's still cheaper to stay at WDW.

You get the extra magic hour and Disney transportation by staying onsite. Plus everyone talks about the MAGIC that I can't wait to experience.

I have not been yet so I can't give really any other advice but I would recommend trying to stay on property if you can.

By the way - Welcome to DC. You're right everyone here is very friendly and will help with any questions you have.

[DDreamer]

Cahogbin,

Thanks for that bit of encouragement! I went ahead and got reservations at POR. I wanted CBR but they were already booked.
I figured the EE would be worth it plus the "magic" the kids will love.

I've been so busy going over all the fine details I almost forgot about this thread.

I'm pretty excited because today I scheduled 4 PS. Ohana's, Kona Cafe', Teppanyaki and Boatwrights.

Big hugs to everyone for your knowledge and helpfulness!:)