OT: Disney World
- Thread starter tom1944
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Totally, I get that and agree. Just something about a famous dude who made 8 figures annually complaining about it was a bit lame.
As I said maybe he was doing it to show his kids? My wife had a very wealthy uncle former top exec with RCA and later NBC . Though he was worth millions he was very gracious and spread his money to his family . If he gifted a child for college / schooling he sat them down to explain the value of his gift and how it was intended to help make their lives easier. Being born poor and during the depression taught him the special things money could buy.
Our 6 year old granddaughter was was able to enjoy all the adult rides . The only ride she did not go on was at Animal kingdom Expedition . Just too fast she did all the others my son and his wife said “ next time”. She has been riding horses in LI since she was 4. Learned to swim at 4 at the Levittown Swim club. Dance classes since 2 1/2 and gymnastics and Acrobatics since 5 and begins Baseball this coming spring . So the rides didn’t phase her at WDW. She goes to Adventureland ( near them) weekly with her parents so maybe that is why the rides were easy.
Just believe 6 -8 is a good age for them but all things are dependent upon the child ‘s size and maturity levels. Don’t suggest under 5 but most will remember the experience . My 50. and 47 year olds both remember their first trip in 1980. Eastern Airlines WDW promo “ Kids Fly Free” air/ Hotel ( stayed at the Dutch Royal Inn) and tix into park with a car rental inclusive . No wonder it was such a hit… those days are long gone.I think for everything it 6 days - 7nites around $ 2300.00 . We stayed then for 3 weeks and visited all our relatives living in Florida. Today that’s for 1 day .
At least! Unless he is going ultra-cheap. Our weeklong WDW trips cost $13-14K. Room/villa, plane tickets, park tickets, food, extras.
Yes, actually the rider reaching the end the Yeti destroys the track is where I draw the line at my age.
For WDW, you get what you pay for! We normally get a 2BR villa at BLT, but use a DVC point rental service, which saves a lot of money.
And I would add that things like Peter Pan's Flight.. if the 5-year-old knows what peter Pan is.. or Pooh, etc.. can get long lines with lots of kiddies in the parks in the summer. Not sure
Not sure how tall the 5-year-old is.. but 7 dwarves is a roller coaster-type ride that is well within the average height for a 5-year-old. And that can get a long line too.. the thing about Genie plus is that is far more restrictive than the old (and free) FastPass system.
You will need to look up RECENT videos on use of Genie Plus and Lightning Lane to gauge its value and your ability or willingness to utilize it. I had seen something recently about a lacked cheat-sheet card for cast members controlling the lines about how many LL guests to let through to how many STANDBY guests depending on ride and whether it is peak time or off-peak, etc. Cannot seem to find it now.. but it was enlightening.
There are 7 attractions at Magic Kingdom with height requirements:
Height Requirements at Magic Kingdom
| ATTRACTION | HEIGHT REQUIREMENT |
|---|---|
| Tomorrowland Speedway | 32" |
| The Barnstormer | 35" |
| Seven Dwarfs Mine Train | 38" |
| Big Thunder Mountain Railroad | 40" |
| Splash Mountain | 40" |
| Space Mountain | 44" |
| Tron Lightcycle Power Run | 48" |
All I can tell you is we never waited in any line more than several minutes at the most. It was for us well worth the 15 per person extra on the rides we really wanted to get on.
Our grand daughter , age 6 is 47 1/2 “ tall . Not small , not a giant . She is however a real competitor when it comes to everything. Very athletic, very smart and fearless to a fault . The gym teachers say she can teach her male constituents about running, throwing a baseball and actual the girls in her class put the boys to shame in many areas of sports. Now that is funny.
Went on The 7 Dwarfs Mine Train 3 different times with the Genie Plus. No waits in Mid August.
Up to $750 per hour for minimum 7 hours for up to 10 people. Does not include tickets, food or anything else. . Not on my bucket list.
The backwards section can really throw people.. I love it! Favorite ride in all of DW, I think. I may be wrong.. but it seems there is some variation in how it goes.. a few times it seemed to be the backwards part went much longer than expected.
A ride I do not like.. guardians in epcot.. grrr... I honestly do not get the appeal. And Space Mountain.. I feel every bump and twist and turn and it is like a torture device... that goes a max of.. get this.. 27 mph. An older cast member I met before a recent Thunderbirds flyover there told me he was a tester when they put in the photo-taking devices. Said after the 10th run they asked for the lights to be put on.. and the lack of speed and hairpin turns became very obvious.
8 Facts You Didn't Know About Expedition Everest - The Mouselets
8 facts you didn't know about Expedition Everest - and this is more than the Yeti being in "B mode", or that it travels 50 mph.
themouselets.com
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Just enjoy.. when you go back when she is 10 you will remember this one too. At 15 she'll be there with her soccer team or cheer team etc. and you won't have to tolerate it... or you can just hang at a resort while she and her friends do the parks. 5 won't come again. Good luck!
The blog below has good info/strategy on Genie+ and ILL, but things could be different by the time you go in August 2024. Those links have plans/strategies for all of the parks.
www.disneytouristblog.com
www.disneytouristblog.com
www.disneytouristblog.com
Lightning Lane & Genie+ at Disney World Guide & FAQ
This guide to Genie+ and Lightning Lanes at Walt Disney World explains paid FastPass, with answers frequently asked questions about ride reservations, line-skipping, and itinerary tools for Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios.
www.disneytouristblog.com
Speed Strategy for Genie+ Selections
If you're visiting Walt Disney World during peak season when attendance and crowds are higher, you're going to face more "competition" for popular rides with the new Genie+ service. This means Lightning Lane ride reservation
www.disneytouristblog.com
My Day Using Lightning Lanes at Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom is the best park for buying Genie+ at Walt Disney World, something that's true even during peak season 2022 dates. To confirm this, I tested my strategy on what I thought would be
www.disneytouristblog.com
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Looking at these posts and reading all the information it really seems that going to Disney is a lot of work
They make it seem that if you don’t overly plan even while you are there you will have limited access to the rides/shows and you will pay a lot to stand in lines
They make it seem that if you don’t overly plan even while you are there you will have limited access to the rides/shows and you will pay a lot to stand in lines
Thanks for these.The blog below has good info/strategy on Genie+ and ILL, but things could be different by the time you go in August 2024. Those links have plans/strategies for all of the parks.
Lightning Lane & Genie+ at Disney World Guide & FAQ
This guide to Genie+ and Lightning Lanes at Walt Disney World explains paid FastPass, with answers frequently asked questions about ride reservations, line-skipping, and itinerary tools for Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios.
Speed Strategy for Genie+ Selections
If you're visiting Walt Disney World during peak season when attendance and crowds are higher, you're going to face more "competition" for popular rides with the new Genie+ service. This means Lightning Lane ride reservation
My Day Using Lightning Lanes at Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom is the best park for buying Genie+ at Walt Disney World, something that's true even during peak season 2022 dates. To confirm this, I tested my strategy on what I thought would be
One post in the links stood out to me. A person using the GENIE option said they saved about 2 hours of wait time but to do that they had to scurry back and forth all over the park so they added about an hour of walking
The prevailing thought was the parks are so popular it is having a negative impact on the experience
Is that a result of coming out of the pandemic if so it might get better
Sadly, you can't be too spontaneous any more at WDW. You need reservations and a plan for rides. Of course you don't need to plan out every step of a park visit, but you need a general sense of what you want to accomplish and prioritize. FYI, the Genie+ app for ride reservations kicks in at 7am for WDW resort guests. You need to be ready to go to start booking around this time for the super headline rides. I bet your GD will love the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. You may need to book this one early.
You're welcome. You definitely save hours of wait time if you plan ahead and use those strategies with booking Genie+ and ILL. You'll also walk a ton, depending on how many rides your granddaughter wants to go on and how often. Like others suggested, definitely build in a full day of just pool and no parks, and some days just go to the park in the morning, chill mid day at the hotel, and then go back to the park at night. We just went in April 2022 during Spring Break (peak travel time with no park reservations available unless you booked months prior) and it was mobbed, yet we got on everything multiple times and didn't have to run, since we planned well and used those Genie+ and ILL strategies. For instance, we were at Hollywood Studios a few minutes before opening for Disney property guests and booked an ILL for Rise of the Resistance and Genie+ for Tower of Terror or another long wait ride while walking to Slinky Dog Dash and doing that 1st at rope drop. We also took Lyft everywhere because it was faster and it's all about managing your time well.
Pretty much this.
We have some pokey family members as well. Sometimes you need to grab the little one and just go while the others figure it out. I've done this many times to use a Fastpass at the Magic Kingdom or during our Disneyland trip. However, you have flexibility with the ride times. First, you are given an hour window with a formal 15-min buffer. Second, in reality, it is highly likely you will be able to use your Fastpass/now Lighting Lane reservation even after that. Disney cast members are not in the business of being dicks.
In general, you can't use reservations early, but being a little late is fine, including to restaurants.
Speaking of the loss of spontaneity, this is why we LOVED our Disneyland trip in June 2019. DL never adopted the advanced Fastpass reservation system like WDW. It used day of Fastpass with an app called MaxPass which allowed you to get FPs on your phone without walking to each attraction.
Add to this, that we were on East Coast time (at least partially) and were ready to kick butt at 8am every morning. You didn't need FPs in the morning, so we just kept banking FPs for the evening. We would do the DL park until lunch, chill at the resort, then go back to DL park or California Adventure with FPs stacked up all night long. It was shocking how well it all worked out.
This was one of the best Disney vacations we ever had. Spent a full week at the Grand Californian. Also, we got lucky it was the week Star Wars Land opened up to Disney resort guests!
Add to this, that we were on East Coast time (at least partially) and were ready to kick butt at 8am every morning. You didn't need FPs in the morning, so we just kept banking FPs for the evening. We would do the DL park until lunch, chill at the resort, then go back to DL park or California Adventure with FPs stacked up all night long. It was shocking how well it all worked out.
This was one of the best Disney vacations we ever had. Spent a full week at the Grand Californian. Also, we got lucky it was the week Star Wars Land opened up to Disney resort guests!
There are many ways to make it easier but you need to plan which parks, rides or shows you want to really do.Also , things such as eating at Cinderella ‘s Castle ( characters and meet Cinderella) Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo ( finally re-opened 3-4 th week of August ) a place the little girls and sometimes little boys get made up ( hair, clothes , make-up) Also , all the other private things available but once again expensive.You do what you can afford and just try to enjoy with your family .
Failing to plan is planning to fail 😃😂. It seems like a chore now but well worth it when you're there and it didn't take away from the fun. Disney exceeded my expectations. I was thankful I planned ahead and was ready each day, when I'd hear people screaming at each other at night that they only went on 3 or 4 rides all day and waited 8 hours in lines 😬. Meanwhile, I got on everything at least 2x or 3x times during that same time. Another good tip, if you're granddaughter is still awake, is to hit rides at MK during the fireworks show. We got on Thunder Mountain 4x-5x back to back during the show. We lucked out that our kids were never really interested in character breakfasts or meeting them, so it was mostly rides and maybe a show to relax.
I love to plan and if I controlled everything my plan would be great and implemented to perfection but
A long time ago I had a sit down with my wife and made sure she knows that I will make all the major decisions
So I am working on how we handle Ukraine
What the Fed should do with interest rates
How to improve Medicare and a myriad of other major issues.
She handles the small stuff which includes where we go on vacation and what we do when we get there. She does allow me spending decisions like how we handle the federal deficit but she controls the minor spending issues like how much we will spend at Disney.
A few more tips:
- There are after hours parties for an additional fee that limit the attendance dramatically (or so I’m told, never been to one). But look for these once you book your precise dates and see if there are any available.
- getting in early at “rope drop” is important if you want to be most efficient. Not as efficient as it used to be but still worth it. Getting in early to get some big rides as walk ons, then hit some genie plus ones. Before you know it it’s hot and time for lunch so go back and swim and take a nap. Then back at it towards dinner time.
- go see “Yeehah Bob” perform at the port orleans riverside (also a great place to stay if you want to save a few bucks and don’t mind the buses). No charge other than you should buy a cocktail and give Bob a big tip. You won’t regret it. Whole family will love it including your little one
- There are after hours parties for an additional fee that limit the attendance dramatically (or so I’m told, never been to one). But look for these once you book your precise dates and see if there are any available.
- getting in early at “rope drop” is important if you want to be most efficient. Not as efficient as it used to be but still worth it. Getting in early to get some big rides as walk ons, then hit some genie plus ones. Before you know it it’s hot and time for lunch so go back and swim and take a nap. Then back at it towards dinner time.
- go see “Yeehah Bob” perform at the port orleans riverside (also a great place to stay if you want to save a few bucks and don’t mind the buses). No charge other than you should buy a cocktail and give Bob a big tip. You won’t regret it. Whole family will love it including your little one
True pro tip: Look up Marvelous Mouse Travels. It is a 100% free service and they will do all the work for you. They keep track of your deadlines, so when 60 days hits, they book your meals for you. When our hotel price dropped, they rebooked at the lower rate. Our rep, Brittany, met with us over zoom to go over how the app works. This was absolutely the best $0 I've ever spent.
Unfortunately that is reality with Disney parks today. Planning planning planning. I am fortunate in that I live 16 miles from Disneyland and have an annual pass, so I go in and mostly just wander around and get on rides with shorter lines. No need for Lightning Lane, no pressure to see all the best rides in a day, no need to pick the right hotel and get between hotel and parks quickly. It's a 100% different experience and very enjoyable, and only $450 per year. But the once-in-a-while trip where you would just show up and go in unfortunately has changed a lot and become very expensive.
To be honest we worried about the heat and walking the parks in our 70’s but we averaged walking 6-7 per day other than our chill pool day. We had a great time and being with family was a nice way to re-visit something from our childhood.
FYI - meeting characters in the park is a MASSIVE time suck and normally not worth it. The few exceptions are Enchanted Tales with Belle (which is kind of like an attraction) and also Elsa/Anna in Epcot (since I don't think you can see them elsewhere). If your GD is into characters, book character dining experiences. So much better, so much easier, and you check off the meal box as well.
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