Disney World Suggestions

[Appa23]

Apparently, I will be heading to Disney World in the middle of June for a week. Any thoughts on things to do, not to do, etc. We are looking at one or two character meals. I am wondering about what rides are fine for 7-9 year olds.

Luckily, it will be four adults to three kids.

I am hoping that Princess Pudding is not over 40" by the time that we hit Florida, as that is the height limit for the toddler play area.

[MarleysGh0st]

I don't know how adventurous your older two are, when it comes to the big rides. Toy Story Mania, in Hollywood Studios on the former site <sigh> of WWTBAM Play It! is a very cool 3-D video game/ride that is safe for all ages and all thrill-seeking comfort levels.

AllEars.Net is a terrific unofficial site for all things Disney. If you want to know what the kids could or couldn't ride on, they've got a convenient full list of Ride Restrictions.

[Mini the Ignorant Slut]

Apparently, I will be heading to Disney World in the middle of June for a week. Any thoughts on things to do, not to do, etc. We are looking at one or two character meals. I am wondering about what rides are fine for 7-9 year olds.

Luckily, it will be four adults to three kids.

I am hoping that Princess Pudding is not over 40" by the time that we hit Florida, as that is the height limit for the toddler play area.

Run for cover! I may be there at the same time. No guarantees, though.

Your child would not be the only one over 40" in the play area, believe me. I run out stray teenagers when they get too rowdy but it's usually Live and Let Live there...

Theme park character meal that my kids always like is Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom, and resort character meal they like best is Chef Mickey's in the Contemporary. But these have zero princesses and your princesses outnumber your prince. Crystal Palace is the Pooh set and Chef Mickey's is the classic characters.

I'll think on the ride suggestions. I'm sure Tower of Terror wouldn't be on the Must-Do list just by the name alone. It's great if you can get The Boy to do it, though....

[MarleysGh0st]

Run for cover! I may be there at the same time. No guarantees, though.

Awesome!

Make it happen.

[Mini the Ignorant Slut]

Run for cover! I may be there at the same time. No guarantees, though.

Awesome!

Make it happen.

We usually go the second the kids get out of school. I'm not sure if the January trip satisfied the craving, but Erin was dragging around her case of Barbies and saying she was packed for her trip to Disney World today.

The s-i-l is taking Demon Child to Miami tomorrow and it's about 40 there now, so I'll wait until June if I can't go in the next two weeks, before Erin's buddy who works at Epcot has to go back to Mexico.

[starfish1113]

I know when I brought my kids when they were that age, almost any ride was ok. My girls were five or six when they first went on Space Mountain and they loved it. It might be a little scary in line as the kids anticipate it, but the ride is fun for even kids that age. The beauty of going with kids that age is that they will enjoy both the "kiddie" rides and the grown up ones, so Toon Town (a section of Magic Kingdom reserved for children) will go over very well. Character greetings are there, as well as Goofy's rollercoaster (the one complaint I have about that ride is that you wait in a long line for a ride that lasts about 45 seconds). Let me list by park what I think is good and not so good for kids:

Magic Kingdom -

GOOD - almost everything. Fantasyland offers a whole host of rides designed for kids and adults alike. If your kids like flume rides, Splash Mountain is fantastic. The above-mentioned Space Mountain and Toontown are must-do's. Also, that age range usually loves Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, an interactive show that allows kids to submit jokes that the characters will then deliver. The Buzz Lightyear ride is also great for kids. It's basically a shooting gallery on steroids.

NOT SO Good - I remember being very excited to learn that my girls barely made the height requirement for a ride that was then called the Extra Terrorestrial but is now themed with Stitch. Big mistake. All three of the kids (my son was 7 or 8 at the time) were scared to death. The retheming took some of the scariness away, but I think kids below ten might have a real problem with it.

Epcot

Good - Soarin'. Fun for every age. The kids and the grown ups will love it. Turtle Talk with Crush is another interactive show where Crush talks to the kids, who are sitting on the floor in front of the screen. The first time I saw this, I was amazed. And the kids were mesmerized.

NOT SO Good - I love World Showcase, but kids that age might get bored. There are few rides (only the Mexico and Norway pavilions have them) and going there requires lots of walking.

Hollywood Studios
Good - If they are American Idol fans, the new AI attraction is a lot of fun, but they will be required to sit still for about an hour. There is a Star Wars show just outside of Star Tours that kids seem to love (I personally don't get it, but that's me!). And Toy Story Mania, as long as you can get a fast pass or get there early enough so that the line isn't too bad, is great. It's basically a giant 3-D video game in which everybody plays and everybody gets points.

NOT SO Good - There are three rides that are basically hit or miss. My son, who is 13, still won't get on Aerosmith's Rock n' Roller Coaster or Tower of Terror. He promises to do it next time, but we'll see. Also, believe it or not, the Great Movie Ride, can be scary for kids of a certain age. There is a gun battle in the middle of it and the alien from Alien pops down from the ceiling at one point. Pretty tame stuff, but potentlially scary for kids.

Animal Kingdom
Good - If they meet the height requirement, I think they'd love Expedition Everest. The "scary" parts aren't that scary and it is basically a pretty thrilling roller coaster. One added bonus: You can see all of the other parks from the apex of the coaster just before you go into the moutain itself. There is a section that we now rarely frequent (but did when the kids were younger) that is themed like a carnival. The kids really liked that. Also, the safari could be interesting if they are into animals.

NOT SO Good - I would think that Dinosaur is a bit too intense for the under 10 crowd, but again it depends on their fear tolerance.

This is just a very small sampling. There are other Goods and NOT SO Goods out there, so if you have any quesitons on rides I didn't mention, let me know.

As for character meals, if you can get a reservation at the castle, do it. There are character breakfasts and lunches there (not sure about dinner) in which the princesses and princes come by and visit. Also at Magic Kingdom, we liked the buffet at Crystal Palace. The Pooh Bear characters are there. Non character meals are plentiful and each restaurant is themed well enough to be a great experience in its own right. The only one that I have eaten at that I wouldn't go back to is in World Showcase's Morocco. The food wasn't that good and it was very highly priced (even for Disney standards) for the amount you got. I don't think you can go wrong anywhere else. The Mexico Pavilion's food isn't the greatest, but the ambience more than makes up for that.

That's all I have for now!

[T_Bone0806]

I love the nighttime shows: Fantasmic! at Hollywood Studios (my favorite overall attraction at Disney), Illuminations at EPCOT (close second), The Spectromagic parade and Wishes (fireworks behind the castle) at Magic Kingdom. These are all "take your breath away" excellent. Only problem: they involve getting a seat early. If your kids are the active, fidgety type, the waiting may not fly. If this is the case, maybe a return trip when they're older. These attractions should be experienced.

Adding a couple to the recommendations--

Magic Kingdom: Mickey's Philharmagic. A 3D movie starring Donald Duck. Hilarious and the 3D effects are state of the art. I usually see this twice on our Magic Kingdom day.

EPCOT: Do not miss Turtle Talk With Crush. Delightful. They also have a cute update in the Living Seas which now features the Finding Nemo crew. Very cool effect at the end of the ride.

Hollywood Studios: Your kids should enjoy Voyage of the Little Mermaid. Blend of puppets and live actors. The Beauty and the Beast live stage show is like a 30-minute mini-Broadway production.

Animal Kingdom: We LOVED Finding Nemo:The Musical. Excellent. Also, Festival of the Lion King is a CANNOT MISS. Live performers (fire juggler, "tumble-monkey" acrobats, Dancers suspended way up high) and characters and audio-animatronics on platforms. Kilimajaro Safaris will take you to see the hippos and giraffes and lions and so on. There's a bit of business in which you go over a rickety bridge, but it's a mild scare.


I concur with the Crystal Palace Buffet at the Magic Kingdom. If you have lunch there with Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Piglet, it's cheaper than dinner, the menu is practically identical to dinner, and you're pretty much good to go for the rest of the day. Plus, the offerings are a bit fancier than typical buffet fare (although there are plenty of standard items for non-adventurous kids).

You'll find princess buffets at Cinderella's Royal Table in the Magic Kingdom, but it's awfully hard to score a reservation. The Norwegian place in EPCOT has a princess buffet, but I'm not crazy about the food there anymore. Breakfast, though, is standard fare..but pricey. Still, it may be your best bet if you must see some princesses. Or try 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian Hotel, off the Monorail line that includes the Magic Kingdom. Classic characters can be found at Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary resort, but again, it can be tough to get a reservation. There's a breakfast buffet at the Animal Kingdom with Donald, Daisy, Mickey and Goofy that's not bad at all.

The Ohana in the Polynesian resort (also off the monorail line) has a breakfast buffet with Lilo & Stitch, but we love their dinner buffet. No characters but good food and activities Polynesian style for the kids (hula lessons, coconut races, etc)

Take Marley's suggestion and visit the allearsnet website. It's a massive amount of resources to help plan your trip. You can see menus for every restaurant on Disney property and see pictures of resorts and attractions, etc. I'd also visit the official Disney site when you get within a couple of months of the trip to get park and parade hours for the dates you'll be down there. Have a plan..a flexible one, but a plan, with a general itinerary that allows for some adjustments on the fly. Going in without ANY game plan is a recipe for disaster. Making dining reservations 90 days in advance is recommended.

[Vague Mini]

I seem to remember hearing that Space Mountain will be closing in either March or May (yeah, vague) for a rehab, so it's probably going to be closed in June. I hope they make it like the one in California.

Magic Kingdom has many rides the whole family can do together and enjoy. The ones with height restrictions are mostly still tame enough that even my motion-sick husband can ride (Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain) but for some reason we can't get Mini-me on Splash Mountain even though he loves the other thrill rides.

In Epcot Test Track is a big hit despite the intimidating noises coming from the track. It's just a fast convertible. Mission Space is fine on the green side and extremely challenging on the orange side. It's the side that teenagers eat up but it eats up adults. Soarin' is a major hit and you need to get your FastPasses as soon as you enter the park. Erin is now tall enough and rode it with no problem. You cannot escape riding Nemo. You will love it anyway, even though it's a kiddie ride. Then go to Turtle Talk. Imagination is a good fallback--never a line for the ride and a free-form exploration area afterwards, but it's not anything can't-miss. My kids hate the Shrunk the Audience movie in the same pavilion. The only enjoyable 3-D experience in Disney is the Philharmagic. The rest are too scary for kids.

The Wonders of Life pavilion is closed for good and the Universe of Energy was closed in January and may not be open in June. It is loud in parts, but Erin can handle it by covering her ears and it's a good lesson taught through Jeopardy! Spaceship Earth is a must-do, also. This covers Future World.

My kids like World Showcase even though there are only two rides, but my kids are oddballs. Mini-me will not ride Maelstrom in Norway even though there is no height restriction and Erin loves it. Go figure. The Mexico boat ride is cute and Erin is treated like a princess in that pavilion and gets us put on a boat to ourselves if her buddies are there. The other pavilions have movies or displays, but my kids watch the Discovery Channel and don't make us do the mask thing or passport thing, but it's available if your kids need to be distracted so you can do stuff. Stay for Illuminations. Norway has a good view near beer. So does Germany. These things are important to some dads. Germany is closer to the back exit if you're in the Boardwalk resorts and Norway is closer to the front exit for all others.

The Studios are challenging for us because the bulk is either extreme thrill rides or scheduled shows, and kids and schedules don't mix very well. Mini-me will only ride Toy Story and the Great Movie Ride there. He'll see the Indiana Jones show, the American Idol show, and the stunt show, and that's it. Star Tours is cute and non-challenging and he refuses. The backlot tour was closed last time but will probably be open. The Animation Courtyard will entertain the littlest one with the Little Mermaid show and the Playhouse Disney show. That's Erin's stomping grounds while I take the big boys on Tower of Terror (the bigger kids might like it, but the drops kill my husband) and Rock N Rollercoaster. That one launches you at the start and goes upside down three times in the dark, so it's no kiddie ride.

I'll do Animal Kingdom separately, since this might be getting too long to post....

[MarleysGh0st]

Mission Space is fine on the green side and extremely challenging on the orange side. It's the side that teenagers eat up but it eats up adults.

Speak for yourself, Squeamish Mini; the orange ticket ride is awesome!

I'll second your vote for Soarin', though. Outstanding ride, even for cautious grandmothers who won't believe their own son but will accept the word of another cautious mother.

Any idea what they're going to do with that corner of Epcot, if Wonders of Life and Universe of Energy are both closed?

[Vague Mini]

I forgot to mention that Erin is not scared by the alien on the Great Movie Ride. But there is a warning at the entrance. It all depends on your kids. Mine can watch the LOTR movies and easily separate fantasy from reality, but Mini-me freaks out over the troll on the Norway ride in Epcot. And he's 10. Erin has no fears.

Animal Kingdom is huge. And hot. The big boys love it because the Dinosaur attraction is fantastic but frightening. The motion itself is no biggie, but dinosaurs pop out from all sides and try to eat you and you have to escape before the meteor hits. Expedition Everest is a blast if you love coasters but not if you don't. One segment has you spiraling upwards in reverse and it makes my stomach hit my shoes. That's the one you get your FastPass for first thing. In AK you can get a pass every hour instead of waiting two, also. We get our Everest passes, then an hour later get safari passes. Do the safari in the morning before the animals fall asleep in the heat. Kali River Rapids will either get you wet or soaked. There is no merely splashed on that one. The raft spins so you never know which two will be the ones that go backwards over the falls and get drenched, but with all the humidity you won't dry off and I had to buy a new outfit before I mildewed. Even underwear. The shop does a booming business in women's clothing.

The train to Conservation Station is something Erin and Mini-me do when I take the big boys on the thrill rides. Also the dinosaur boneyard and all the shows are good (Nemo and Lion King). Chester and Hester's Dinorama is just my favorite place in all of Disney because it's so tacky and un-Disney. It's a parking lot decorated with license plates. The coaster there is Mini-me's favorite and Erin loves the Dumbo-style dinosaur ride. There are carnival games to blow your dollars on, so be prepared to say 'no' a lot.

The Tree of Life houses the singularly most frightening 3D show in Disney. I see a bunch of crying kids being carried out. We've done it once or twice and they never want to go back again.

Go first thing in the morning and you'll probably run out of things to do by 2, so take a nap and a swim and go to another park in the evening. Obviously there will be no fireworks there to keep the animals from stampeding.

I forgot--MuppetVision 4-D in the Studios is tame and hilarious. The kids will want to go to Pizza Planet next door, so be prepared to say 'no' to requests for arcade quarters there, too.

[mntetn]

If you have not already made up your mind about accommodations, give some thought to one of the vacation homes. You can get one with 4 or 5 bedrooms and most have swimming pools. We had 4 adults and 4 kids, and it worked great. This assumes of course that you will have a car down there.

Along that line, you should build in at least two down days into your schedule. The pool will help with that. Days in these parks are intense and tiring. We were there in late December and it will be worse during hot and busy season. If you don't pace yourself, the tendency for both kids and adults is to want to sleep in later and later each day.

[Vague Mini]

Mission Space is fine on the green side and extremely challenging on the orange side. It's the side that teenagers eat up but it eats up adults.

Speak for yourself, Squeamish Mini; the orange ticket ride is awesome!

I'll second your vote for Soarin', though. Outstanding ride, even for cautious grandmothers who won't believe their own son but will accept the word of another cautious mother.

Any idea what they're going to do with that corner of Epcot, if Wonders of Life and Universe of Energy are both closed?

I love the orange side, but only once a day. The big boys can do it over and over... My husband will never do it again.

I don't think Energy was closed for good, but Wonders of Life was only open the week after Christmas to take some overflow crowding. It hasn't been open any other time I remember in about 5 years. I think there's work going on inside, but we didn't stray over there because Energy was also closed and the smoking section is outside the health-related pavilion. Go figure that one. My kids loved Cranium Command.

[Appa23]

Thanks for the info, and keep it coming!

Apparently, my wife and MIL already have made reservations for the Port Orleans(?) hotel. We will arriving June 12th and will be leaving the morning of the 20th.

We will be celebrating my son's birthday that first Saturday. As part of Disney's birthday promotion, since we already will have a package for park tickets, he will get a special FastPass for five others and himself. I have seen conflicting info on how it works.

Anyway, it raises the question: if you had an unlimited or nearly unlimited FastPass, which park would be the best to hit on that Saturday? (I guess that I could look at what park is the busiest on Saturdays.) On the other days, we will work out our strategy for getting FastPasses for the rides that we want.

We also got some meal plan with two meals and two snacks each day.

I imagine that the nightly parades will be hard for the 2 year-old, so one adult will have to miss out each night.

[astrnomr]

Overall:
June isn't too bad of a time to visit. Many of the southern school may be letting out, but northern schools are still in session, keeping the crowd at a reasonable level. Character dining is expensive, so be sure to have your cameras and some excited kids before investing the money. The Polynesian Resort (located by the lagoon in front of the Magic Kingdom) has some good food, but the character breakfast is expensive, and the dinner is outrageously expensive. One of our favorites is The Land, located at EPCOT. It is a revolving restaurant that gives you views of some of the rides below. Food is served country style (aka - "here's a big pile of food, help yourself") and usually includes mac & cheese, catfish (from the "Living with the Land" ride below), potato wedges, and some other main course I can't remember right now -- chicken, I think. I believe dessert was included as well. Four characters will come through as you dine. Last time we ate there, I think it was Mickey, Minnie, Chip, and Dale, although I seem to recall Minnie replacing Pluto or vice versa. Wherever you choose, try to make reservations as soon as you possibly can as some of the places will fill up quickly, even for later in the week.

As mentioned above, rental homes are a good option. You can usually find one for about the same price as what you would pay for a hotel, you'll have a LOT more space, and they usually have a private pool.

Depending on how crowded the parks get, you might want to get to the parks as early as you can, go back to the home/hotel around lunchtime for cheaper food and a swim, then return in the afternoon when the crowds start thinning out again. Because you'll be going right around the summer solstice, the parks will all stay open very late.

Magic Kingdom:
There should be plenty for your kids to do there. Be sure to use your SpeedPass as much as possible. Some rides simply do not get a lot of people through per hour just by the nature of the loading/unloading process. If your kids want to hit the Dumbo ride, do it as early as you can or else you will be waiting at least 30 minutes, much longer on busy days. (There are only 16 elephant cars, and the loading/unloading process is as bad as it gets for a ride.) Aladdin's Flying Carpet ride, although similar, doesn't seem to suffer the same way from long lines. Good rides for FastPass are Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Space Mountain, and Jungle Cruise as those usually have very long waits. The Buzz Lightyear ride usually has long lines, but the loading/unloading process is as fast as it gets.

EPCOT:
Given the ages of your kids, they might find the World Showcase area to be a bit boring. However, there are some rides hidden inside the Mexican and Norwegian attractions. The Mexican attraction has a boat ride which is kind of like It's a Small World, but with a slightly different theme. The Norwegian ride is like a flume (with a little surprise), leading to a 360-degree movie theater. Canada and China also have 360-degree theaters. I think the other countries just had restaurants or shops. The Innoventions area and the rides up front are probably where your kids will want to spend most of their time. My kids always loved the Journey Into Imagination ride (although it was so much better originally than it is now, even after two redesigns) and the World of Energy ride (with lots of dinosaurs).

Hollywood Studios (formerly Disney MGM):
I haven't been there since the American Idol attraction opened, so I don't know how that is. I'm assuming that the WWTBAM attraction is still there. This park is mostly simulator rides, so it depends on how your kids feel about that. There's also a 3-D Muppet movie which is very funny. Another great place to eat is the Sci-Fi Drive-In. When you get inside, it looks like you're at a drive-in theater, eating in a car-shaped table. You'll be facing a gigantic movie screen (so I hope you don't need to face each other as you eat), and it plays a 50-minute cycle of sci-fi movie clips and animated shorts (including Tom & Jerry).

Animal Kingdom:
Honestly, every time we've gone here, we've been bored by lunchtime. There's a good dinosaur ride which is slightly scary and throws your around quite a bit in your seat. Other than that... eh.

[MarleysGh0st]

Apparently, my wife and MIL already have made reservations for the Port Orleans(?) hotel.

Cool. Port Orleans Riverside or Port Orleans French Quarter? We stayed at the Riverside during Thanksgiving week and liked it.

[MarleysGh0st]

Hollywood Studios (formerly Disney MGM):
I haven't been there since the American Idol attraction opened, so I don't know how that is. I'm assuming that the WWTBAM attraction is still there.

<sigh>

Where have you been, astronomr? WWTBAM Play It! was closed down in August '06.

They've got Toy Story Mania in there now, which is a nice 3-D video game, but the lines for it are long and the Fast Passes are exhausted quickly. And it will never, never match the attraction of Play It! for me.

[Appa23]

The best intel that I have on the Birthday FastPass is that you get to pick 2 E-Ticket (Donald) rides and 2 C-D ticket (Daisy) rides. However, there apparently is no consistency with the various parks, as some allow for 4 of the same type rides.

I want to get a more definitive answer, so we can decide if it makes more sense to do the "special" FastPass or the gift card (in whatever the amount is for a park entry).

However, we really did not know if we would use the gift card that much in one day. (Unless we use it to get those monogrammed Mouse Ears, as I have been told that we MUST get the ears.)


P.S. Yes, Space Mountain will be closed when we are there.

[Vague Mini]

Apparently, my wife and MIL already have made reservations for the Port Orleans(?) hotel.

Cool. Port Orleans Riverside or Port Orleans French Quarter? We stayed at the Riverside during Thanksgiving week and liked it.

I've stayed in both. The downsides are no elevators to the second level (they'll bring your suitcases up and down for you, but wrestling the stroller every morning and night can be an issue if you bring your own, so you might want to ask for ground floor if you don't mind folks above you at night ) and the food court at Riverside had different stations for different types of food, so unless that has changed in two years gathering breakfast was a hassle. You even had to stand in a line for cold cereal rather than grab some pre-packaged, and it was the same line as for the yogurt and fruit parfaits, and some of these people took forever on their creations.

French Quarter was so long ago I only had two kids, so I don't remember the food situation.

[Appa23]

Apparently, my wife and MIL already have made reservations for the Port Orleans(?) hotel.

Cool. Port Orleans Riverside or Port Orleans French Quarter? We stayed at the Riverside during Thanksgiving week and liked it.

I've stayed in both. The downsides are no elevators to the second level (they'll bring your suitcases up and down for you, but wrestling the stroller every morning and night can be an issue if you bring your own, so you might want to ask for ground floor if you don't mind folks above you at night ) and the food court at Riverside had different stations for different types of food, so unless that has changed in two years gathering breakfast was a hassle. You even had to stand in a line for cold cereal rather than grab some pre-packaged, and it was the same line as for the yogurt and fruit parfaits, and some of these people took forever on their creations.

French Quarter was so long ago I only had two kids, so I don't remember the food situation.

Good info.

I am not as worried (right now) about the stroller issue. Ours folds us real easily, plus I have gotten very adept at taking it up and down stairs, opned up, through various trips to malls and dance competitions (rather than search out and wait for elevators).

[Vague Mini]

The stroller deal was only an issue when it was just me and Erin. I can get a stroller and a sleeping girl on and off a bus by myself, but upstairs would have been pushing it. I could have gotten a good discount on Port Orleans, but shelled out for Boardwalk for convenience when I was alone.

Extra hands are always a plus...

[MarleysGh0st]

Apparently, my wife and MIL already have made reservations for the Port Orleans(?) hotel.

Cool. Port Orleans Riverside or Port Orleans French Quarter? We stayed at the Riverside during Thanksgiving week and liked it.

I've stayed in both. The downsides are no elevators to the second level (they'll bring your suitcases up and down for you, but wrestling the stroller every morning and night can be an issue if you bring your own, so you might want to ask for ground floor if you don't mind folks above you at night ) and the food court at Riverside had different stations for different types of food, so unless that has changed in two years gathering breakfast was a hassle. You even had to stand in a line for cold cereal rather than grab some pre-packaged, and it was the same line as for the yogurt and fruit parfaits, and some of these people took forever on their creations.

French Quarter was so long ago I only had two kids, so I don't remember the food situation.

There was an elevator in the building we stayed in (Parterre Place in Magnolia Bend).

The food court is still as you described and it was very busy at breakfast time. I like the yogurt parfaits, though; a decent value for the money and a good food choice, too. And they had some scrumptious fresh raspberries for those!

There are the Disney buses that take you to the parks from Port Orleans, but there's also a boat that can take you to Downtown Disney. I don't know if your family would be interested in that, Appa; it's mostly shops and restaurants, plus the Cirque du Soleil show, which is great but expensive.