[QUOTE=Dogzilla]
October is really really nice in Florida. What’s your kid going to miss, rocket science?
[QUOTE]
Or do in early December. Usually great deals on the resort hotels, bearable weather, uncrowded and the resort is decked out for Christmas.
True Story:
I went to the Magic Kingdom once in early December. Went to Space Mountain. There WAS NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON IN LINE! Went in , went around the disney maze, and right into a capsule.
Orlando resident since 1969 checking in…
My favorite theme park is SeaWorld. Not so many lines to stand in and I like the shows more than the Disney stuff.
Second favorite is Universal Studios parks incl. Islands of Adventure and Universal City Walk. YMMV
If your heart’s set on the Disney theme parks the advantage to having a hotel in the Disney complex is being able to leave the park after 3 or 4 hours, take a much needed break and then go back later. Trying to hang at the park for 10 hours because you paid big $$ for the ticket can get miserable. You don’t want to miss anything so you’ll stick it out way after you’re too tired and hot to enjoy it.
Extra emphasis on what’s been said about comfortable shoes and sunscreen.
Wear sunscreen even if it’s cloudy, the sun here is brutal and a bad sunburn will make you miserable (and a bad sunburn on the 5 year old will make everyone miserable) . Even your most comfortable shoes will hurt like a bastard after walking on burning concrete all day so don’t forget to sit and relax now and then.
Screech-Owl’s posts have good information. Listen to her. Relax and have fun.
Kennedy Space Center is well worth the trip if you rent a car.
Hope you enjoy your vacation!
Thanks again for all of the advice. I’m going to advise them not to go in August. How’s the weather in Anaheim in August? Perhaps they could go to Disneyland instead?
Seriously Dewey, nearly every school system has a few random days off. I’d recommend pulling the kids for the rest of the week. We have MEA weekend. Pull the kids Monday, Tuesday Wednesday and they have Thursday and Friday off anyway (and often Wednesday as well) in the middle of October. They miss three days of school. Columbus weekend (when we arrive) is usually pretty crowded, but nothing compared to the summer months. And we get far more done in a week off season with much less effort. Hotels are cheaper. Rental cars are cheaper.
If they HAVE to go during the summer, first week of June and last week of August (different states start school early or late) is better.
Note that the weather in December/January/Feburary in Orlando is spotty. Sometimes its swimable, sometimes it isn’t.
As far as I can recall, there was a perceived bit of flack between Disney and KSC, the latter being afraid that folks would not go to KSC to see the real stuff.
Artistic talent runs in my family. As far and as fast as it can. Put it this way, I draw emaciated stick figures.
Actually, I worked as an artist’s model. Definitely some great folks who used to work for Feature Animation, phenominal artists. Believe me, I was quite torqued at not only the loss of income, but also the fact that several hundred talented folks ended up out of work. :mad:
But I digress.
As far as the monorail, the nosecone can hold four (mebbe five small people). If you have children, ask very nicely if they have a Junior Monorail Driver’s License. No, they will not let you drive, even if you ask nicely.
To sit in the front, ask the person directing the flow of people if the front is available; in high season (summer, holidays), there may be quite a bit of a wait. If the front is available, they will direct you to a spot, and stay there (at the Transportation and Ticket Center [TTC], there is a bench with a 4 symbols (monorail? butt?). Sit yer butt there and DO NOT MOVE until called. At EPCOT and leaving the Magic Kingdom, they will direct you to the front of the train. People may try to push ahead of you, but for the most part, the cast members (they are not employees!) are pretty good about getting the folks who asked on the front of the train. Sometimes errors happen. Remember the mantra of screech-owl: It’s only a vacation. It’s only a vacation. It’s only a vacation.
Oh, and for the young and young at heart, most of the parks have a playground or two for the little ones to run off some energy. Yeah, you didn’t pay $50 for the kids to play on a playground, but remember, sometimes the kids need to blow off some steam, and that gives the parents some time to sit and relax. And remember, these are still themed areas, so you’ll find lots of stuff to do beyond the swings and teeter totters.
Magic Kingdom: Mickey’s Toontown (including the Barnstormer - a smaller roller coaster) - I don’t normally hang around the kids’ area here, so I do not know what sort of play areas.
Animal Kingdom - Dinoland area - rocks and rope bridges for climbing. Sand pit for digging ‘fossils’. And a casting of “Sue”. the largest T. rex dug up (so far), currently in the Chicago Museum.
EPCOT - no real play areas, but a few spitting fountains the kids can run through. EPCOT does have KidCOT, where the kids can decorate a mask with symbols from all the different countries in World Showcase, and other activities.
MGM Studios - Honey, I Shrunk the Kids playground. Oversized grass and weeds (all fiberglass and plastic, not the real stuff!), and things to crawl through, over, and around. Just like the kids in the movie. [NOT to be confused with “Honey, I Shrunk The Audience” 3D attraction in EPCOT!]
Universal Studios - multiple play areas surrounded by Animal Planet Live show, A Day in the Park with Barney, and E.T. Adventure, also a character meet & greet area. Includes: Fivel’s Playland - just like out of “An American Tale” - oversized cans, and ‘junk’ (all safe, no sharp edges!), slides, climbing places, etc.; Curious George goes to Town (water themed area); Woody Woopecker Nuthouse Coaster - made for the smaller kids.
Islands of Adventure - 3 playgrounds - Me Ship, The Olive (three story interactive boat with slides and other stuff - Toon Lagoon area); Camp Jurassic (dinosaur nets to climb, amber mines to explore. Pteranadon Flyers is a very slow loading ride, made for kids 36 to 54 inches [adults must be accompanied by kids within that height range] - Jurassic Park area); If I Ran the Zoo (water themed area - Seuss Landing - right next to Green Eggs and Ham - yes they really are green and yummy! No food coloring! Write me off board and I’ll tell you how they are done!)
SeaWorld - Shamu’s Happy Harbor - nets, slides, ball crawls, water mazes - very large area! Right behind Shamu Stadium.
Phew. I think I got you some more information. [I’m going to give my fingers a rest and get back to writing a pamphlet that I can just link to anytime any one asks!]
Cheers,
screech “it’s only a vacation it’s only a vacation it’s only a vacation” -owl
Epcot also has the ship near Norway, which provides hours of entertainment to young pirates.
We had the pleasure of visiting Orlando in June 2000 followed by Anaheim in August 2002.
In general: Anaheim wins on the weather front, hands down. It’s warm (maybe hot), dry, and quite bearable. Florida weather is just plain hot sweaty and sticky.
We found that Disneyland was smaller, but less crowded. They had pretty much the same stuff there. They don’t have all of the additional parks, though; nevertheless, there’s lots of other cool parks and stuff around that part of California so that shouldn’t be an issue.
The fireworks show was far better at Disneyland.
Can’t speak about hotels since we stayed at my aunt’s house.
Happened to us quite awhile ago on The Haunted Mansion. Not a single person in line with us, and even the loader** was quite surprised. We checked and there was no one around us. Either side. We were utterly alone in the ride. A slow-moving ride.
(former)Roommate snuggles up to me and whispers in my ear, “I’ve always wanted to do this.”
I snuggled in closer and wondered.
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.And he pulls out his mini MagLight.
The flashlight, ya pervs!!!
Yup. We went through a dark ride with a flashlight. They have a hairy conniption (and so do I) if someone uses a flashcamera, but they didn’t seem to say anything to us while we were on the ride. There is some really, really cool stuff in the attic, and lots of stuff you reall miss on the ride because it is so dark (the flower arrangements on the coffin are actually quite nice!). I’ll have to check the video I made later (with the night vision setting), but I seem to remember a sewing machine, some swords and shoes in the attic. Lots and lots of shoes. Evidently, when someone transfers out of this attraction, it is tradition that they leave their shoes in the attic. Dunno how true it is, but there seemed to be lots of shoes.
Yup, defintely some cool stuff in there. But don’t try it unless you are completely positive you are alone on the ride. And don’t try anything else. Too many cameras in the park. And security is watching everywhere.
** the person who barely conceals his/her tolerance for the question, “How many miles a day do you walk on the conveyor belt?” This is the Disney version of the “What is the third word that ends in ‘-gry’?” question. Don’t ask it. Ever. You think Unca Cecil and the Teeming Millions would lambaste you and rip your head off in print if you asked the ‘-gry’ question? Ask the loader the ‘how many miles question’ and he/she will shoot silent multihued laser beams of death out of of his/her eyeballs while lifting one eyebrow so far that it disappears into the hairline, all the while still giving you the proper THM sneer of disdain (here and Tower of Terror are the two Disney attractions where they are trained NOT to smile!) at the utter audacity and ignorance of you asking the question that they have heard about 40 gazillion times already. Today. Alone. In effect, they have the perfect “Teacher Look” down pat.
Forgot about Norway playship. Thanks. And in the main shop, there is a 7 foot wooden troll. Gotta have a picture taken with the Norweigen troll.
Magic Kingdom changed its fireworks show a few months ago. I haven’t seen it yet. Basically, I hear “boomboomboom” and think, “eh, more fireworks”, roll over, and go to sleep.
They did stop the dove/homing pigeon releases during the shows and pre-fireworks. Too many hawks learned what time the flying buffet was and would snag one or two and munch down on the birds, in front of the guests. Pretty horrifying to a kid, understandably.
One other thing that is cool around here is seeing a KSC launch from your backyard: priceless. KSC is about 60 miles (by road) from my house, but I can see shuttle and Atlas rocket launches from my backyard. Night launches are spectacular - lights up the whole sky. And if I’m not mistaken, there is an Atlas launch next week. Cool. And yes, you can see them from Disney and the other parks. And yes, for now, you can usually drive along 528 (the Beeline) and park on one of the bridges nearby to watch a launch. KSC is closed during shuttle launches (when they have them) - not sure if it is closed during Atlas and other satellite launches. I’ll check on this tomorrow. Any East Coast FL dopers know?
And tomorrow I will scrounge up my list of hidden Mickeys. Contact me off board and I can mail you a copy. (C’mon, you knew SOMEONE had to dredge this up! 
)
Oops!!! Two parting words: La. Nouba.
Cirque de Soleil at Downstown Disney/Westside. Expensive (IIRC max $80/adults, $60/kids, depending on where you sit, all seating is reserved, very cushy seats, too), but if your bladder and the kids’ attention spans (and the kids’ bladders) can handle one hour and 40 minutes of awe, it is worth every penny. The words 'totally unbelievably completely phenominal" do not begin to descibe the show. Take the kids to watch the video of the show loop-running in the gift shop, and watch the amazement. The German Wheel, the Chinese girls with the string ans spindles, the X-track and trampolines, the guy balancing on the chairs, the ballet in silk, the costumes, the singing, the live band - just phenominal! I had to go to the bathroom halfway through the show, but refused to get up because I was going to miss something (the trapeze artists were okay, but of course they were at the end of the show). Expensive, but put this on your must-see/must-do list. And it’s air-conditioned.
Screech thanks for all your insite to the Mouse.
I have a question:
How thorough are the security people when it comes to bringing in your own water and snacks?
I’m thinking on the first day of our trip to just buy some Disney Cup/bottle thingie and then the rest of the time there use it from park to park filled with water.
Off hand, how much is a cart rental to pull kids around?
Another great ‘playground’ area is Tom Sawyer Island. I like it too. It has caves to explore and great bridges to cross and a Fort. Your kids will love manning the towers and when the river boat goes by they can gleefully shoot the people on the boat with the rifles mounted in the towers.
Does anybody besides me find it strange that almost every gift shop in the park sells toy weapons? I mean there are arsenals of toy weapons all over the park.
Once I saw, I should have snapped a photo, a real ‘family of four’ all selecting what sort of flintlock to buy. Dad of course had the long rifle. Mom and the older girl were looking at the pistol varieties. The young son wanted the long rifle but it was too much for him to handle. It was kind of surreal. Now don’t get me wrong. I loved toy weapons as a kid and I don’t see a problem with them but at the park they seem to be really put out front.
It just seems a little strange.
Shirley,
Disney doesn’t care about dragging food into the park, provided you can carry it. Lots of people bring in sandwiches and their own snacks and water. They don’t like big wheeled coolers. The security guard will make a crack like “yum, looks good. I might have to conficate those Twinkies.” We always haul in our own frozen water (we have a Disney timeshare, so we’ve spent a little time in WDW - and we have a kitchen in our room) as well as fruit snacks and granola bars for those “low blood sugar on a four year old” moments.
Strollers are $8 (or near that) for a single. $13 (or near that) for a double. The double will hold a four year old and a five year old (from experience).
For your brood, you might want to consider a timeshare rental (either a Disney Vacation Club owner which will put you onsite, or a much cheaper offsite place), or the Ft. Wilderness “cabins”
Don’t bring in the entire fixings for a meal, like one family I saw - bottles of catsup, mayo, mustard, loaf of bread, sandwich meats. Remember, you need to carry the stuff around. The parks advise you to carry nothing more than some fruit and canned drinks (no glass containers!). Yes, the food in the parks is expensive, but remember two words:
Food. Poisoning.
Not a good thing at all. Nice way to ruin your vacation.
Thinking of putting the food in a locker? Do you like the thought of bacteria growing all over your sandwiches, even with the cool packs and ice? This is Florida in the summer: it’s hot out right now, and those lockers get even hotter.
If your cooler is too large (I’ve seen people try to bring in those 55 quart wheeled coolers!), you will likely have to leave it at lost and found and pick it up on the way out of the park. The parks do set the rules. You are a guest, but purchasing your ticket means you have agreed to abide by park rules and regulations.
In addition, as far as I know, the common areas of all the theme parks in the area are now non-smoking. This means the walkways, play areas, queuelines (boy, that is redundant), shows and restaurants (all restaurants are non-smoking thoughout Florida, with some VERY limited exceptions). There are many designated smoking areas all throughout the parks. Check your maps or ask an employee.
Dang, I think I have covered pretty much everything with all of my posts. Heck, even in my off-hours, I am still at the parks! Yikes. I am taking some time off!.
Sigh. One more thing. Rides.
If you have kids, please check the height requirements (if any) ahead of time - they are listed on the maps and also in the special needs booklets. If the child is too short to ride, PLEASE do not take it out on the ride attendant. They hear this day in and day out. The height minimum is there for safety - you do not want your child slipping out of the restraint. Bad. Very bad.
Use child swap if the child is too small. This is not the same as FastPass or Express Pass: most of the party will still have to go through the regular line. Ask the attendant how it works at that particular ride, since each ride is different: in some cases you can wait inside the attraction, in other cases you must wait outside the attraction. Just because you waited inside at one attraction does not necessarily mean you will wait inside at all of them.
If someone in the party has an special medical conditions, please read the signs posted outside each ride, attraction, and show, or better yet, get a guide from guest services when you enter the park. This will give all sorts of information, such as at which attractions a guest may remain in a wheelchair or must transfer to a different vehicle, which rides employ fog or pyrotechnics which may aggravate asthma or any other pulmonary conditions, which rides are not recommended for pregnat women, which ones to avoid if you have neck and back conditions, heart conditions, which ride vehicles may not accomodate persons with larger body configurations, which rides are not good for folks with claustrophobia or fear of dark areas, which rides have closed or reverse captioning available, which rides will accomodate service animals (and areas where you can take them to relieve themselves), etc. These booklets are free, and provide not only extra information about the particular attraction, but also make some nice extra reading material while you are standing in line, eating a meal, or using the facilities.
Phew. Now I AM done. If I am back in this thread tonight, would someone please tell me to go away for the night (nicely, of course!).
Update: I returned from Florida earlier this evening and am back home in Chicago.
I also went on Mission:Space again this morning and it still RULES!! Love that G-force.
Hey screech-owl, how often do you go to the parks? I work for the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World.
Len
As often as possible.
Worked in the tourist industry in one capacity or another for most of the last 13 years (never sold time shares, however: even I have some self-pride).
Thanks Dangerosa andScreechOwl.
I will bring loads of non-spoiling snacks to keep everyone happy and us less poor.