Got back Saturday from our week long trip to Orlando. It was a blast, I had pretty high expectations and it beat them. Here was our itinerary: Saturday - Landed at 7:30am, went to Royal Pacific and dropped bags off, walked over to Universal Sunday - Royal Pacific, Islands of adventure Monday - Ubered over to Polynesian and dropped bags off, hit up MK Tuesday - Polynesian, had Halloween tickets so no parks till we could get into MK at 4pm. Did Chef Mickey's for breakfast, big hit, and then disney springs to kill time before doing some pool time at Polynesian Wednesday - Polynesian / hollywood studios Thursday - Transferred our bags over to Beach Club and then monorailed to Epcot Friday - Transferred bags over to Animal Kingdom lodge and took the bus over to AK Random thoughts for whoever cares. Almost anyone here's that we stayed at 4 hotels would think that's way too much and a pain in the ass. It really wasn't though and I'm glad we did it. Thursday for example, as we are walking out for the day just drop the bags at the bag desk and fill an info ticket out for the Beach Club resort and how many bags we had. Took all of 5 minutes. Took the monorail over to Epcot. After we were done with Epcot we walked over to Beach Club, was already checked in with the app and had a room number. Stopped at the desk and had them send the bags up to our room. Maybe I added 10 extra minutes to my day, I guess you have to be a little more thoughful with your suitcase but it wasn't a big deal for us. It was fun though getting to see 3 different disney resorts. Beach Club is pretty clutch for visiting Epcot and their pool is bad ass. My daughter was obsessed with their huge pirate ship slide. On that day we actually left Epcot at about 4pm and went and did the pool for a couple hours, showered and then walked back over to Epcot to hang out and grab dinner. Some other meals we did were "Be our Guest" at MK (pretty damn solid meal and was really cool the set up they had with being like Beauty and the Beast castle), Ohana at Polynesian (so damn good, probably my favorite meal), Sanaa (bread service was great, honestly didn't enjoy rest of meal though, I'm not the biggest Indian food fan though), Luau at Royal Pacific (food was just OK but the show was damn good) I had a bunch of other reservations that I ended up canceling. Like at Epcot we had a lunch reservation at Akersus but after seeing basically every princess before lunch time plus it being so damn expensive, just felt like overkill. Ended up grabbing a lot of meals just were some food blogs were saying to stop. Like Sleepy Hallow in MK and got the chicken and waffle sandwich, which was great. My 6 year old daughter ranked Beach Club at #1 due to them having the best pool. Personally I think I would rank AKL as my top choice. We had a Savanna view room at Jamba house. Polynesian was right there though but I just enjoyed the vibes at AKL a little more.
Annual pass holders, any of you out of state? How many trips makes it worth it? With free flights, we're entertaining the idea of an AP in the next year or two. Just wondering how many 2 day trips we'd need to make to justify it.
I’m not but I know some people that are. They’ve told me you’d need to spend 10-15 days there a year for it to be worth it
Just do the math on it. But it used to be 10 park days made it worth it. Haven’t don’t the math in a while since all the price increases
I have AP. We usually do two 5-7 day trips and we do just better than break even and that doesn't include resort stay discounts from full rack price and the food and merchandise discounts while on site.
I woke up today with no future Disney plans. Before 8AM my wife has one booked. I don't even know when it is but it will be my youngests first time to a park (Magic Kingdom). Super stoked.
I might be late on this, but I've always recommended David's DVC to people but this site seems to have a lot more inventory https://rentals.dvcshop.com/confirmed-reservations/
What website do y'all use for dining reservation finder? I used to use Touring Plans and it worked great because you could set two items and it would shoot you an email and a text once something popped up but it seems to be down.
It's a haul for sure, but AK is probably my favorite to just hang out at. The pool is rad. Savannah view is great but there's so many places to hang out and watch the animals that you really don't need it. DVC Animal Kingdom is probably the best overall bang for your buck on property (imo)
just in case its not clear, that's the view, not the room. but yeah polynesian is awesome. The studio DVC rooms are big too. Two bathrooms which makes them much more tolerable for families to share.
as in you're saying its better than Disney World? For someone that's never been to the Land, can you help me understand your take?
Disneyland is the best theme park in america. DCA is kinda whatever, but Disneyland is just taken care of much better than what disney does with WDW.
Just seeing the food blogs makes me know that Disneyland is better than WDW. And I’m a WDW stan and only been here.
Disneyland food/snacks are lightyears ahead of WDW. WDW's issue is they try things and then get rid of them 6 months later for generic food. It's why Docking Bay in Star Wars and Satuli in Pandora stand out as such good quick services. Bengal BBQ & Rancho Del Zocalo in Disneyland are incredibly good quick services.
Coming up on our trip in January… Doing Wilderness Lodge through Dave’s Vacation Club. Day 1 MK Day 2 Hollywood and Epcot Day 3 MK just booked Hoop Dee Doo Revue for the Day we arrive. Breakfast reservations for both days at MK to get in early. lunch reservations at Oga’s for Day 2. Have a few dinner reservations at Epcot but not sure if I will keep.
Reminder Oga’s doesn’t serve meals. I think they have a charcuterie board and maybe chips but that’s it.
I know Disney food culture has become a thing, but there’s currently a 30 minute wait to buy spring rolls in magic kingdom. Come on.
Anaheim recently unveiled their Holiday food and I just know some of the waits for this stuff is going be crazy https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...-guide-to-holidays-at-disneyland-resort-2023/
Garden is meh. San angel is good but not really kid friendly. Try to do dinner at whispering canyon. 6 year old should love it
Wife and I are going to Jollywood Nights next weekend. Looking forward to that, but really looking forward to a week at new years. Gonna be our first extended trip with the little guy (he will be about 5 months). Taking my mother as well to help with the kid and allow for more one-on-one/date night stuff with the wife. Staying in a 1 BR villa at the Riviera. Here’s our itinerary thus far Trattoria Al Forno meal is only if my wife’s family are able to swing by for dinner since our party would be large.
The time is finally almost here. First stay at the Poly starting next Wednesday. Have a 7 year old and a 4 year old having her 5th birthday during the trip. Prime time Disney ages.
Going on the WDW VIP tour with the wife’s family tomorrow. 8 hrs for 10 people (six adults, four kids 10 and under). The plan is currently to skip AK but hit the other three parks. anyone ever done one? Tips or tricks?
. My understanding is that we will be hitting 3-4 of the major attractions at each park, and they give you transport between parks. Seems doable to me. my only demand is that I get to ride guardians.
yeah but don't they just use the LL lines to get you on rides (with the bigger rides they still have a little wait) and you still have to go from one side of the park to the other to get to the rides? Im sure your guide will make it work but that seems like its going to be hectic especially with kids under 10. Are you going to do a regular day at the parks aswell to take your time and actually see the parks
I don't think that's right. Several times saw park people with a badge using the like handicap line, would walk up to the person running the ride and tell them how many they had and were to seat them. I'm assuming this is what was going on and sure seemed like they were skipping the entire line and hopping straight on.