Travel: USA - Florida/Orlando
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Hi Dnls_mum,
We (2 families of 4) will be visiting NYC, DC & Florida/Orlando from 25/11 to 13/12. :rahrah:
We hope you can advise us the following:
1. Is it necessary to opt for Park Hopper tickets?
2. Is worth to purchase the Mickey's Merry Chrismas party 2012 tickets?
TIA. :grphug: -
RAmom:
How many days do you intend to spend in WDW? Do you plan to visit Universal as well? My answers will be dependent on how much time you haveHi Dnls_mum,
We (2 families of 4) will be visiting NYC, DC & Florida/Orlando from 25/11 to 13/12. :rahrah:
We hope you can advise us the following:
1. Is it necessary to opt for Park Hopper tickets?
2. Is worth to purchase the Mickey's Merry Chrismas party 2012 tickets?
TIA. :grphug:
-
Dnls_mum:
Hi, We intend to spend 4D3N in Universal & 7D6N in WDW. :rahrah:
How many days do you intend to spend in WDW? Do you plan to visit Universal as well? My answers will be dependent on how much time you haveRAmom:
Hi Dnls_mum,
We (2 families of 4) will be visiting NYC, DC & Florida/Orlando from 25/11 to 13/12. :rahrah:
We hope you can advise us the following:
1. Is it necessary to opt for Park Hopper tickets?
2. Is worth to purchase the Mickey's Merry Chrismas party 2012 tickets?
TIA. :grphug: -
RAmom:
Hi, We intend to spend 4D3N in Universal & 7D6N in WDW. :rahrah:[/quote]To enjoy the park at a leisurely pace, you will need 2 days each in MK and Epcot and one day each in DHS and AK. You have enough time for that so you don't really need park hoppers in my opinion.
How many days do you intend to spend in WDW? Do you plan to visit Universal as well? My answers will be dependent on how much time you haveDnls_mum:
[quote=\"RAmom\"]Hi Dnls_mum,
We (2 families of 4) will be visiting NYC, DC & Florida/Orlando from 25/11 to 13/12. :rahrah:
We hope you can advise us the following:
1. Is it necessary to opt for Park Hopper tickets?
2. Is worth to purchase the Mickey's Merry Chrismas party 2012 tickets?
TIA. :grphug:
We did MVMCP in 2007. We did not think it was worth it. For the price you pay, you can easily pay for one more day ticket. At the party, they have mainly photo ops with characters in Christmas costumes and lines were long. But to be fair DSs did the Tomorrowland speedway several times. The line at some rides were manageable. The shows were extremely crowded, you need to squeeze and push! We don't intend to go this time round, especially since the kids were extremely tired. How old are your kids? My DSs were 10 and 8 when we were there and they were flat out!!
The problem with the period you are going is that MK closes early on 3 to 4 nights for MVMCP. That means if you do not attend the party and want to watch the fireworks you will need to plan one of your MK days on a non-MVMCP day. But pls bear in mind that these will be more crowded days at the park since the opening hours of MK are longer on these days.
What we do to overcome these are:
1. We stay onsite at the Contemporary Hotel MK View room. We can see the fireworks from our room with music piped in from the TV.
2. We are on the onsite dining plan and have planned many character dining experiences so we don't queue for photos in the park, albeit these characters will not be in special holiday attire.
3. If you are prepared to splurge, dinner at the California Grill on the 15th floor of Contemporary provides an excellent view of the fireworks, and have piped in music too.
If you do not stay at the Contemporary, you can watch the fireworks at the beach at the Polynesian for free or you can book a fireworks cruise that leaves from the Contemporary. I can't remember how much it cost.
Where will you be staying, will you have a car and do you plants have mid day breaks? All these will also determine your touring patterns and how much you can do as the period you are going, the parks generally close early. The general rule if you do not stay onsite is to avoid a park with AM EMH.
In the case of Universal, will you be staying onsite? We always stay onsite for the Express Pass and so one day for each park was more then enough in 2007. Now with WWoHP at IOA, we plan to give ourselves 2 days at IOA even though we will have early entry to WWoHP. We want to be fully immerse in WWoHP! :rahrah: :imcool: We have a breakfast per-booked at 3 Broomsticks too!
Not sure if I have answered all your questions, but if you still need any more info, just ask and I'll try to answer as best I can. -
How many days do you intend to spend in WDW? Do you plan to visit Universal as well? My answers will be dependent on how much time you have :)[/quote]
Hi, We intend to spend 4D3N in Universal & 7D6N in WDW. :rahrah:[/quote]
To enjoy the park at a leisurely pace, you will need 2 days each in MK and Epcot and one day each in DHS and AK. You have enough time for that so you don't really need park hoppers in my opinion.
We did MVMCP in 2007. We did not think it was worth it. For the price you pay, you can easily pay for one more day ticket. At the party, they have mainly photo ops with characters in Christmas costumes and lines were long. But to be fair DSs did the Tomorrowland speedway several times. The line at some rides were manageable. The shows were extremely crowded, you need to squeeze and push! We don't intend to go this time round, especially since the kids were extremely tired. How old are your kids? My DSs were 10 and 8 when we were there and they were flat out!!
The problem with the period you are going is that MK closes early on 3 to 4 nights for MVMCP. That means if you do not attend the party and want to watch the fireworks you will need to plan one of your MK days on a non-MVMCP day. But pls bear in mind that these will be more crowded days at the park since the opening hours of MK are longer on these days.
What we do to overcome these are:
1. We stay onsite at the Contemporary Hotel MK View room. We can see the fireworks from our room with music piped in from the TV.
2. We are on the onsite dining plan and have planned many character dining experiences so we don't queue for photos in the park, albeit these characters will not be in special holiday attire.
3. If you are prepared to splurge, dinner at the California Grill on the 15th floor of MK provides an excellent view of the fireworks, and have piped in music too.
If you do not stay at the Contemporary, you can watch the fireworks at the beach at the Polynesian for free or you can book a fireworks cruise that leaves from the Contemporary. I can't remember how much it cost.
Where will you be staying, will you have a car and do you plants have mid day breaks? All these will also determine your touring patterns and how much you can do as the period you are going, the parks generally close early. The general rule if you do not stay onsite is to avoid a park with AM EMH.
In the case of Universal, will you be staying onsite? We always stay onsite for the Express Pass and so one day for each park was more then enough in 2007. Now with WWoHP at IOA, we plan to give ourselves 2 days at IOA even though we will have early entry to WWoHP. We want to be fully immerse in WWoHP! :rahrah: :imcool: We have a breakfast per-booked at 3 Broomsticks too!
Not sure if I have answered all your questions, but if you still need any more info, just ask and I'll try to answer as best I can.[/quote]
Thank you very much for prompt reply! :udawoman:
We will not be staying onsite and will plan for WDW accordingly to the parks operations hours. We will be staying onsite at the Universal Hard Rock to fully immerse in WWoHP too!
Heehee, now we are speaking to an WDW n WWoHP expert, I have more questions for you :oops:
1. Is is convenient to transfer from Universal to WDW? Distance?
2. Does Hard Rock Orlando Hotel provides any airport transfer?
TIA :please: -
RAmom:
Re my earlier response, I just notice my mistake. The California Gril
Thank you very much for prompt reply! :udawoman:Dnls_mum:
3. If you are prepared to splurge, dinner at the California Grill on the 15th floor of MK provides an excellent view of the fireworks, and have piped in music too.
We will not be staying onsite and will plan for WDW accordingly to the parks operations hours. We will be staying onsite at the Universal Hard Rock to fully immerse in WWoHP too!
Heehee, now we are speaking to an WDW n WWoHP expert, I have more questions for you :oops:
1. Is is convenient to transfer from Universal to WDW? Distance?
2. Does Hard Rock Orlando Hotel provides any airport transfer?
TIA :please:
Is at 15th floor of Contemporary, not MK.
We rented a car after we left WDW previously, and intend to do the same this time round as well. Taxi is very expensive. One other alternative is book a town car to pick you up and drop you off. But I'm not sure how much that cost. The car is convenient and allow us to go elsewhere for dinner shows and also outlet shopping :rahrah: . We rented from Alamo, picked car up at Disney Car Care centre and returned at Airport. Which hotel will you be staying? Some have arrangements with certain car rental companies. I don't recall Hard Rock having airport transfer. Only Disney has it.
If you are staying offsite, how do you intend to move to and around Disney without a car? Some hotels provide shuttle but these may be infrequent and you may not be able to get there early. So you may wish to check their shuttle frequency and timing. The advantage of staying offsite is perhaps also eating cheaper outside WDW. But without a car, you may have problem getting to restaurants outside WDW.
If you have time, I suggest visiting one of the Disney water parks and Disney Quest. If you plan to visit both, then you can add the water park and more option to your Disney MYW ticket it cost only slightly more than a single entry to these minor attractions. If you have time only for one, then forget about the option and just pay separately for the ticket. -
it is really amazing how you guys can remember the details so well..
i used to be able to but now i cant...... :sad:
i can remember some places but places like restaurants, malls etc or even shops, i just cant. -
:[/quote]
Re my earlier response, I just notice my mistake. The California Gril
Is at 15th floor of Contemporary, not MK.
We rented a car after we left WDW previously, and intend to do the same this time round as well. Taxi is very expensive. One other alternative is book a town car to pick you up and drop you off. But I'm not sure how much that cost. The car is convenient and allow us to go elsewhere for dinner shows and also outlet shopping :rahrah: . We rented from Alamo, picked car up at Disney Car Care centre and returned at Airport. Which hotel will you be staying? Some have arrangements with certain car rental companies. I don't recall Hard Rock having airport transfer. Only Disney has it.
If you are staying offsite, how do you intend to move to and around Disney without a car? Some hotels provide shuttle but these may be infrequent and you may not be able to get there early. So you may wish to check their shuttle frequency and timing. The advantage of staying offsite is perhaps also eating cheaper outside WDW. But without a car, you may have problem getting to restaurants outside WDW.
If you have time, I suggest visiting one of the Disney water parks and Disney Quest. If you plan to visit both, then you can add the water park and more option to your Disney MYW ticket it cost only slightly more than a single entry to these minor attractions. If you have time only for one, then forget about the option and just pay separately for the ticket.[/quote]
:thankyou: for your reply.
We will be booking the 2012 Magic Your Way Package and the hotel will provide shuttle to the various theme parks. The kids are between 10 years to 13 years of age and we will stay put at the theme park through the day. We will take your suggestion to book a town car/mini van to make the transfer from Universal to WDW.
Please keep us posted on any new infos in the months to come. TIA :celebrate: -
RAmom:
If you have decided to book a town car, check out Mears. (link below) It is one of the more popular and well known ones in Orlando.
:thankyou: for your reply.
We will be booking the 2012 Magic Your Way Package and the hotel will provide shuttle to the various theme parks. The kids are between 10 years to 13 years of age and we will stay put at the theme park through the day. We will take your suggestion to book a town car/mini van to make the transfer from Universal to WDW.
Please keep us posted on any new infos in the months to come. TIA :celebrate:
http://www.mearstransportation.com/
Which hotel will you be staying? If you can, it is best that you check the shuttle timing from the hotel that you will be staying. I stayed for a few days at Holiday Inn resort between my Contemporary and Hard Rock stay previously, and I recall the shuttle timing was really bad and infrequent. We were really glad we had a car then. This time round, we will just be staying Contemporary and Hard Rock but will still get a car for the Hard Rock days.
If the hotel shuttle timing does not get you to the gates of the parks at openning, you will need to be prepared for slightly longer queues. But don't worry, the period you are going is considered low season and so queues should still be manageable. Only problem could be Toy Story Mania at DHS. So you should make it your first stop at DHS if you can. Also, at DHS, if your kids want to take part in Jedi training, you need to be on hand at Park openning to register your kids.
Since you are staying offsite and will not have a car, then Park Hopper will definitely be a waste of time and money. Disney transportation does not do inter park transfers and moving from park to park will require a transfer at the Transportation Centre or a resort and so will be very time consuming.
Also, regarding MVMCP, if you wish to attend it, you need to check if your hotel shuttle will have pick up time for the party. It is a hard ticket event not open to public, so regular shuttle may not be available.
Also, be prepared that your kids may be tired even if they are between 10 and 13. Our friends went with kids that age and they needed to find a quiet corner in the parks to catch 40 winks each afternoon too!!
The parks are really very big!! My son says that EPCOT means \"Every Person Comes Out Tired\"! :rotflmao:
We'll be going around the same time as you. 27 nov to 8 dec at Contemporary and 8 dec to 13 dec at HRH. Hope we get good weather during that period!! :xedfingers: -
it all seems so complicated to me… i dun thk i can do a F&E … any simpler version for like a week stay ? chim chim…
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