Larry Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 What kind of group? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinfan2k Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 just 4 adults in my family Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 OK, then the cabins MIGHT appeal to you. (More room. Beds in two rooms.) but might not. (Bunk beds? But you wouldn't necessarily be using them.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinfan2k Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 we prefer 2 queens but if there are bunks we wouldn't mind Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 I will mention that at the deluxe resorts, the swimming pools are REALLY heated. As in, you can swim when it's 55-60 degrees out. It's only cold when you get out of the water. But then, you probably aren't going to be doing that. That seems to be mostly a kid thing. ---------- Post added June-2nd-2011 at 07:19 PM ---------- we prefer 2 queens but if there are bunks we wouldn't mind The cabins have: A bedroom, with a queen (king?) bed, and a bunk bed. (And a TV.) And a fold-down queen bed in the living room. (Which also has a TV.) (And a full kitchen, and dining room.) I consider them to be a heck of a deal, for the right group. They cost about the same as a room at, say, Wilderness Lodge. But you get a lot more room. The "beds in two different rooms" might appeal to you, I don't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickalino Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 I was just looking at the Crystal Palace at the magic Kingdom. That place is expensive. $43.56 per adult and $21.99 per child. I'm thinking that will be the only high end place we eat at mainly because my 19 year old and my 12 year old nephew have the tendacy to play over food. Whoa, I'd be looking for the nearest Chuck E Cheese if I were you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88Comrade2000 Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 I went to Disney World for the first time in 25 years for a little bit on Tuesday. Only got to spend 4 hours but I liked it. Plan to go back of course, since I live here and have that annual pass; it's easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 Taking Mom again, this weekend*. Leaving Sat, return Wed. Contemporary Hotel, Magic Kingdom view. * Subject to change if Mom changes her mind, which could happen at any time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoSkins561 Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 Prepare to be financially raped by Mickey and Co. If you eat out, plan on getting royally screwd, especially if you feel like having a glass of wine or beer with your meal. My buddy was just telling me earlier, a 6 pack of Miller Lite costs like 12 bucks. If I were you, I would check out a tree house vacation in Costa Rica. There are some kick butt canopy rides that will make you're entire family poo twinkies. You could spend 7 days living in paradise with beautiful birds, monkeys and water falls to wake up to vs millions of people scarfing down their breakfast at 6:00 am just to make sure they get in line first for a ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickalino Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 Prepare to be financially raped by Mickey and Co.If you eat out, plan on getting royally screwd. Reminds me of that joke about Mickey and Minnie Mouse's divorce. Something about Mickey wanted the divorce because Minnie was ****ing Goofy. Did I remember it right ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoSkins561 Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 Reminds me of that joke about Mickey and Minnie Mouse's divorce.Something about Mickey wanted the divorce because Minnie was ****ing Goofy. Did I remember it right ? All I know is my buddy said he is never doing it again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 Thanks, folks. I don't know about everybody else, but I know that when I come to ES to check in on a thread about Disney, what I'm looking for is mental images of people being raped by Mickey Mouse. Yep, when I think of Disney, I don't think of this: (Crystal Palace, on Mom's birthday, around 3 months ago.) Nope, I think of someone using the term "rape" to describe their assertion that the price of a six-pack of Miller Lite (a product which I'm not certain, but I suspect isn't even sold at Disney. Although, being a non-beer-drinker, I could easily be mistaken.) is higher than they consider appropriate. ---------- Or at least, when I think of Tailgate, I think of people using hyperbole and offensive imagery to try to make a point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mississippi skinsfan Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 when we go there my wife always reads this message board before we go. www.disboards.com. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rictus58 Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 Larry what do you know about All star Movies Resort? We are looking to stay at one of the more cheaper disney resorts in dec? any suggestions Any of the All Star resorts are going to be crowded. Which, if you have your own car isn't really that much of an issue. But if you are going to rely on Disney busses to take you to/from theme parks, expect to wait. Especially when leaving the parks. The rooms there are very basic. Like a holiday inn type room. Also, scour the internet for deals. They do often run promotions which could include free dining or free theme park tickets for Kids. Some people will swear by the value resorts. Not me. I wouldn't stay in one. Mostly because of crowds and the type of people that tend to stay there. I know that makes me a snob and I'm ok with that. Some of the Disney resorts do sell beer at their on-site grocery stores. I couldn't tell you the prices on them though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt. Kaos Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 Larry may want to string me up for what we do when we go but for the record here it is: We stay off site, we rent a nice BIG house which costs way less than anything Disney has to offer. The farthest we've been from the front gates is 10 minutes, which is still quicker than Disney busses on a busy day. Alot of the time the rental car is included, if not they can offer really nice discounts on car rental. We get the house, pool, jacuzzi, and everything else all to ourselves. We go to the grocery store and buy breakfast foods and snacks. We'll eat breakfast at the house before heading to the park(s), head out to the park until 1:00(ish), maybe grab lunch on the way back to the house, take a dip in the pool, relax, watch some TV, then head back over to a park around 6:00(ish). Works out great, we usually end up buying one meal a day (either lunch or dinner) in the money pits they call food establishments and everyone is in a good mood with little to no wear to enjoy the closing show at the park. We go in 2 day cycles at the parks, every 3rd day we take a break and go someplace non-park, Daytona is my favorite vacation day from our vacation destination. Works for us and our budget. That's my 2cents Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 Larry may want to string me up for what we do when we go but for the record here it is: Oh, I'll wholeheartedly agree: Staying in a Disney hotel, especially their upper tier, can cost Big Bucks. (Once had a family Disney vacation that involved three hotel rooms, at Polynesian, with a view of the castle, Christmas time, for 9 days. Cost like $6K per room. Plus meals. Plus airfare from Oregon for two of us.) Even the money-saving things I recommend, like the cabins, are still Big Bucks. I just think that they might be slightly smaller Big Bucks. I think that it can be worth it. But that's a decision for the individual consumer. (And I don't think it's possible to be off-Disney, and be 10 minutes from the parks. But then, often, when you're on-Disney, you're more than 10 minutes from the parks. Being within 10 minutes from a park is an exception, even when you're in a Disney hotel.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt. Kaos Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 (And I don't think it's possible to be off-Disney, and be 10 minutes from the parks. But then, often, when you're on-Disney, you're more than 10 minutes from the parks. Being within 10 minutes from a park is an exception, even when you're in a Disney hotel.) Maybe I should have said 10 minutes to Disney Property. It still takes 30-45 minutes (on a good day) to get into a park. I only mention the time because I've had many a 1st timers tell me that part of the reason to go with an on-site room is for the park convenience. Other than the extra hours that the parks are open for Disney guests only I just don't see that to be the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 Oh, to me, the difference with Disney property is one of theme and atmosphere. To compare the differences, I'll pretend that I just exited Magic Kingdom, and I'll contrast the experience between staying at Wilderness Lodge, probably my favorite Disney hotel, vs the all suite hotel that the family used to stay at, before we started staying at Disney. If I'm staying at Wilderness Lodge, then my experience upon leaving the park is: I walk a short distance to a boat dock. After about 10 minutes, a boat arrives. I get on the boat, and the boat then makes a trip of about 10 minutes, carrying me across the lakes, to the boat dock at the hotel. (Depending on the time of day, the boat might go to Disney's RV campground first, or it might go to the hotel first.) I then walk 200 yds or so, on their wooden walkway. Through the woods. Past their Old Faithful replica. (Unlike the real one, Disney's replica goes off every 20 minutes, as opposed to every 75 minutes. And it shuts down at night, so it doesn't disturb people's sleeping.) I then arrive at an entrance to the hotel. I can enter the hotel, or continue on the path, which goes past the hotel's three swimming pools. The main pool is decorated to look natural. Springs come up out of the ground (in the hotel lobby, actually), run over rocks, merge with other waters, and eventually become a waterfall which lands in the swimming pool. When I arrive at my room, depending on whether I chose "woods view" or "courtyard view", I can open the patio door and my balcony (or patio, if I'm on the ground floor) will have a view of, and the sounds of, either 100 kids having a great time in the swimming pool, or of the quiet of the woods. If I'm staying at the all-suites place we used to stay at, my departure consists of: I can walk a short distance to the monorail platform, or a short distance to a ferry boat dock. Either way, I will wait a short time (maybe 5 minutes), and will then be taken either across or around the lake, to the Ticketing and Transportation Center. (travel time will be like 5 minutes, either way.) Once there, I will walk across a large concrete area, to the tram stop. After 3-4 minutes, a tram will arrive, and I'll get on. The tram will drive through the TTC parking lot, stopping every 100 yards or so. Estimate 5 minutes to get to the stop that's near my parking place. Walk a few hundred yards to my parking place. Get in my car (which has been sitting in a Florida parking lot all day). Start it up, start heading towards the parking lot's one and only exit. (The parking lot is really well designed. Much more pleasant than most parking lots.) The traffic stream, after a few minutes, merges with other streams, and you're on a 2-3 lane, 35 MPH or so, small road. After 5 minutes or so, you've left the Magic Kingdom area. The road becomes more like an interstate. Limited access, 50 MPH, four lanes each way. But it's a Disney road. The areas beside the road are landscaped. Everything is well decorated and clean and Disney-fied. After about 10 miles, you pass through the archway that says you're leaving Disney property. Now you're on a limited access county road. But the property on both sides of the road is still Disney. Things are still landscaped and pretty, just not quite as fancy as being officially inside the park. After about 4-5 miles, you get to an overpass that goes over I-4. I-4 is one of the borders of Disney property. You go uphill, and pass over the interstate. On the other side of the interstate is . . . Tyson's Corner. At rush hour. 5-6 lanes going each direction, with frontage roads paralleling the main road. Traffic lights every 100 yds. More big, illuminated, signs than the Las Vegas strip. Now, when we were staying at that hotel, (7-8 years ago), there was a lot of road construction going on. I'm going to assume that it's finished, now. After about a mile (which may take 5 minutes or 20, depending on the will of the traffic Gods.), you arrive at your hotel. Drive into the parking lot. Drive around, over, and through the parking lot until you get as close as you're going to get to your room. Park, get out and walk. Short walk (shorter than the walk from the boat dock to the hotel at Wilderness Lodge, but nowhere near as decorated), you're at the room. If you decide to go out on your balcony, you will have a view of another hotel building, or of the parking lot. The sounds you will hear are the sounds of the traffic, going past the hotel, 24 hours a day. Now, the Disney option may cost $200-$400, a night. Whereas the all-suites place was more like $80 a night, and your room was much larger. The suite had a front room with a fold-down queen bed, in the middle it had a kitchen and bathroom. (But the kitchen didn't have dishes or utensils. They rented dishes and utensils to you, by the day, for an additional charge). And a bedroom with two queen beds. It wasn't decorated at all, but it sure was a lot bigger, and a lot less money. To me, being able to stay in that magical Disney "head space" for 3-4 days is worth a lot. Me, I consider the sounds of 100 kids having a blast in the swimming pool to be a really pleasant, relaxing, sound. Others might not like it, but they have rooms that face the woods, instead. (Although, wherever you are, you'll be able to hear the geyser go off, and the whistles of the boats going back and forth on the lakes. And you'll be able to hear the fireworks from the castle, but very few rooms in that hotel can see them, and I don't even think you can offer to pay extra and get one of those few rooms. But is ambiance worth paying several hundred dollars a day? For something that may well only happen once a day? As the saying goes, the only time you'll be in the hotel is when you're asleep, right? I can see people deciding it's not worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rictus58 Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 And if you are staying at the Boardwalk, Beach Club, or Yacht Club, Swan or Dolphin you can walk to either MGM Studios or Epcot. No car. No bus. No crowds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt. Kaos Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 I get the "magic", I really do, but you lost me at 100 kids in the swimming pool. I like to use the swimming pool and there is no way I'm getting in that one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slateman Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 Universal is where you'll want to spend most of your time. Universal has two adjacent parks with the Hard Rock Cafe in between. They have most of the adult rides in the area. Disney World is mainly for kids. Worth going to once, but worth way more if you have kids. As for cost ... uh ... prepare your wallet to be raped. I'd say counting gas and food, 100 bucks a day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 I get the "magic", I really do, but you lost me at 100 kids in the swimming pool.I like to use the swimming pool and there is no way I'm getting in that one At least some of their hotels (I know Contemporary, don't know about others) have a "quiet pool", for adults only. And I know that Wilderness, my example, in addition to the main pool, also has a Jacuzzi, and a hot tub. (And I was probably exaggerating about 100. But yeah, the main pool has a bunch of kids.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoSkins561 Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 Universal is where you'll want to spend most of your time. Universal has two adjacent parks with the Hard Rock Cafe in between. They have most of the adult rides in the area. Disney World is mainly for kids. Worth going to once, but worth way more if you have kids. As for cost ... uh ... prepare your wallet to be raped. I'd say counting gas and food, 100 bucks a day. Haha, you said raped, my buddy used other words that are not appropriate for ES, but he put it more in the terms of Mickey being the same thing as Bubba in prison and he was Mickies toy. $100 for food and drinks is pretty cheap if you're talking about a family of 4, he said dinner with drinks usually ran them between 2 and 3 hundred for the entire family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bnacpa Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 Universal is where you'll want to spend most of your time. Universal has two adjacent parks with the Hard Rock Cafe in between. They have most of the adult rides in the area. Disney World is mainly for kids. Worth going to once, but worth way more if you have kids. As for cost ... uh ... prepare your wallet to be raped. I'd say counting gas and food, 100 bucks a day. I disagree with this on several points - 1st. You can do Universal (both parks) in 1 day. If you really like the louder noise (gives me a headache by the afternoon), then this is your place. Yes some of the rides are very good - Hulk, Spider Man, Harry Potter (Islands of Adventure) and Rip Rock-it and Mummy (Universal). Also, Universal Citywalk has a better vibe then downtown disney at night on the weekends with small bands and live music. Conversely, there are a lot of great things for Adults to do at Disney. Some rides are just fun even if they aren't an iron-giant coaster (Toy Story Mania). Some rides are made for teens and adults (Mission Space @ Epcot, Everest @ Animal Kingdom, Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios). 2nd Disney prices out their packages since it is impossible to do all parks in just a few days - so they have built in discounts the more days you book. If you book a one day at either Disney or Universal you are paying 82. If you book 3 - 4 days, you will have much lower rates. The difference is that you can still do new things at Disney by day 2/3. Universal you will be doing the same stuff over again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DM72 Posted July 7, 2011 Author Share Posted July 7, 2011 Just got back from Orlando. We had a great time. We did five days at Disney and three days at Universal. The first park we did was Epcot. The highlights there was Test Track and Mission to Mars which is still the most intense simulator ride on the planet. Then we did Hollywood Studios. There you have Tower of Terror and Rockin Roller Coaster, neither of which I rode. But the highlight of that park is the show Fantasia at the end of the night. It's a must see. Then we did Animal Kingdom. I'm an animal lover so I enjoyed this park. Last we did The Magic Kingdom. It's the most beautiful theme park in the world and it's not even close. They're currently building a new themed area inside of the Magic Kingdom called Fantasyland. I saw the construction and it's gonna be pretty big. There's gonna be a castle.and atleast one roller coaster. Then we took a short drive to Universal Studios. We stayed at the Portifino Bay resort. This is where Universal have Disney beat. At Universal, if you stay at one of their three hotels, you can use your room key to bypass the regular lines. We did Universal first. I swear I could ride the MIB Ride everyday. The Simpsons ride was great also. The next day we did The Islands of Adventure. The Spiderman Ride wad great as usual but it will be getting a much needed upgrade. The Jurassic Park ride delivered also. But now it's time to cut to the chase. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was "OFF THE CHAIN!" Universal got it right. It looked just like it did in the movies. They even have english people working that area. I didn't care for the butter beer though. As for the Harry Potter ride itself, simply amazing. You see talking and moving portraits and newspapers just like in the movies. What will they think of next? But I must say, if you have a fear of spiders, this might not be the ride for you. I think management of other themed parks should go to Orlando to see how it's done. The people who work in Disney and Universal are first class. They're more than happy to help you out for whatever reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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