mcsluggo Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 no... we didn't. I know that is a huge thing at disney, but it really is aimed most at teh littlest ones, and my youngest (6) was sick, and not really feeling that. Like i said... we HAD a reservation for the castle restraunt (Cinderella's table?) but cancelled it. I think that was teh right decision. The one thing that surprised me was that the 8-y.o. didn't want to go back to the park after hours... but what she DID want to do was go swim in teh volcano pool, so everyone was happy. (except for the barfing 6-y.o.---- she wasn't overly happy with THAT arrangement!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skins4Life6388 Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Going with my family in March and i cant wait; the last time ive been to Orlando was March 2008. I have a few questions for those that have been there recently. Is the Harry Potter section worth all the hype? Are there any new, can't miss attractions at any of the major parks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chipwhich Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Going with my family in March and i cant wait; the last time ive been to Orlando was March 2008. I have a few questions for those that have been there recently. Is the Harry Potter section worth all the hype? Are there any new, can't miss attractions at any of the major parks? Depends if you like Harry Potter My kids thought it was the coolest thing they had done in a them park in a long time. We also got there early and got out early. I imagine Harry Potter world in the summertime is like going to hell. We went in October. The crowds and the lines weren't bad then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skins4Life6388 Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Yeah we usually go in March or October and it's not crowded at all. And yes I did like the Harry Potter movies and read all the books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DM72 Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 The Harry Potter ride is off the chain. That area looks exactly like the movie. Moving pictures and all. Even though I didn't care for it, but if you're interested, they have the butter beer that they drunk in the movie. On a sidenote, there's already plans to expand the Harry Potter world from the Islands of Adventure to Universal Studios. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Never done Harry Potter. Never watched a Harry Potter movie. Never read a book. Magic Kingdom is opening a new expansion of Fantasyland. I think it's scheduled to open in March. I think that the first part they open is going to be a new castle, for Beauty and The Beast, with a new restaurant in it, and I think a new ride. They've also remodeled two of their hotels. The Caribbean beach resort now has rooms themed after the Pirates movies. And they've remodeled another hotel after Princesses. I think the pirate rooms are available now, and the princess rooms become available in March. Link to a story about the new rooms. (Which also covers the new hotels they're building, which will open later in the year.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Link to a page about their new hotel, the Art of Animation resort, most of which will be opening in May. From the descriptions, it sounds like it's more of a campus than a single building, with courtyards designed after various Disney/Pixar films: Cars, Lion King, Little Mermaid, and Nemo. I assume that they're targeting customers who want their lower priced hotels. (The pools don't look as fancied up as their deluxe resorts, and they reference a food court rather than a selection of fancy table service restaurants.) But, the first three buildings, the ones opening up in May, are all suites, designed to sleep 6 people. (The fourth area, patterned after Little Mermaid, is scheduled to open in December '12, and has normal, single, four-person rooms.) Each suite will have two bathrooms, a bedroom with a queen bed, mini kitchen (microwave and mini fridge), a four-person dining table, (the dining table is also a double sized fold-down bed), a double sized sleeper sofa, and some other furniture. Just looking at prices, they say that on weekdays in August (normally at WDW, their cheapest time of the year is when school is in session, and in August. June and spring break seasons cost more, Thanksgiving weekend costs more, and their most expensive time is the Christmas/New Years weeks.) the nominal room rate would be $250 a night. (A quick check says that taxes and things would make the actual cost $280 for a one-night stay.) Looks to me like that would be one heck of a good value for a lot of families. Heck, that's $200 a night less than the normal hotel room that I get when I take Mom to Disney. (I have to get Mom to Contemporary, and a room with a view of the Magic Kingdom, which makes it one of the most expensive "plain old hotel rooms" at WDW.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rictus58 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Just got my confirmation of my reservations for disney aug 4-11th. Staying at the wildnerss lodge villas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Me, I think Wilderness Lodge is the best place to stay at Disney. (And the Cabins at Fort Wilderness are great for larger groups). I like the "American" restaurants. I like the sound of the place (Or rather, the quiet.) I think that the boat ride from Magic Kingdom makes a great segue from the bustle of the park to the quiet of the hotel. I like the decor. I like the pool. I like the sound of a bunch of kids having fun in the pool. Rictus, there's a bunch of fun things to do, over at the Campground. You might want to make some reservations and head over there for, say, Mickey's Backyard BBQ or the Hoop de Doo. And I think that the Contemporary hotel is just a boat ride away, where at Chef Mickey's, you can eat breakfast or dinner and have Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto come around to your table for autographs and pictures. (But I'd check and see what time the boat starts running. Chef Mickey's opens at 7:00, and I don't know if the boat runs that early.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Friend recently took her daughter, age 3, to WDW. Said that her daughter asked her "Mommy, how does everybody here know I'm a princess?". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rictus58 Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Me, I think Wilderness Lodge is the best place to stay at Disney. (And the Cabins at Fort Wilderness are great for larger groups). I like the "American" restaurants. I like the sound of the place (Or rather, the quiet.) I think that the boat ride from Magic Kingdom makes a great segue from the bustle of the park to the quiet of the hotel. I like the decor. I like the pool. I like the sound of a bunch of kids having fun in the pool. Rictus, there's a bunch of fun things to do, over at the Campground. You might want to make some reservations and head over there for, say, Mickey's Backyard BBQ or the Hoop de Doo. And I think that the Contemporary hotel is just a boat ride away, where at Chef Mickey's, you can eat breakfast or dinner and have Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto come around to your table for autographs and pictures. (But I'd check and see what time the boat starts running. Chef Mickey's opens at 7:00, and I don't know if the boat runs that early.) Well...i cancelled my reservation at the Wilderness Lodge Villas and re-booked at Bay Lake tower. VICTORY! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bliz Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 Well, I realized very belatedly that I never came back to this thread with an update. So here it is, in brief. We ended up staying at a condo, which was great for us. Saved about $1k on the room, and had a separate bedroom, full kitchen and plenty of space. Hotel was only a 10 minute drive from the Magic Kingdom, and the park was not too crowded so getting in and out was no hassle. Our friends who were there stayed at the Coronado. Gorgeous resort, with a really great pool, but the room was cramped. We'll try to stay on a property one day when the girls are older, but for now we were very happy to have the extra space. We did several character meals, and without a doubt the best one far and away was the princess breakfast at Cinderella's castle. Really well done, the princesses were great, and it was the only one to include extra things in the price of the meal, including the group photo from their pro with Cinderella at the entrance, and a wand. Every where else charged for those group shots. My daughter was in absolute heaven the whole time. Dinner at Chef Mickeys was good. All the big names were there and the girls had a great time. Only complaint is that we were a big group, so they threw an 18% gratuity on the check. I don't mean to sound cheap, but an 18% gratuity at a buffet is high, and more than any server should reasonably expect to get. Particularly since it's not a cheap meal to start out with. Breakfast at the Grand Floridian was a great value. Only like $15 a person, I think. It's a gorgeous hotel and the food was pretty good. It's cheaper because they have 2nd tier characters (winnie the pooh, tigger, mary poppins, alice (in wonderland) and the mad hatter). This was another buffet with an 18% gratuity due to the size of our group, but less burdensome since the meal was only 1/3 the price of Dinner at Chef Mickeys. The vacation itself was really fantastic. Disney really has it all together. It's not a cheap vacation by any means, but one that you look around at the end and feel like it was totally worth it. Thanks Larry for all the advice. Can't wait to go back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skins4Life6388 Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 I'm leaving Friday. Cant wait! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 FWIW, people with larger families? They've opened up a new hotel. (Well, part of it. It's opening in sections.) The Art of Animation resort will have four areas, themed after different Disney/Pixar films: Lion King, Nemo, Little Mermaid, and Cars. The reason I mention it is because the first three sections to open (I think the first has opened now) will all be what they call a "family suite": There's a master bedroom with a queen bed and it's own bathroom. The living room has a sleeper sofa that sleeps two more. It has a mini kitchen (microwave and mini fridge), and the dining table folds down to make another bed for two more. There's a second bathroom off of the kitchen. So you get a "hotel room" with a mini kitchen, sleeps six, two bathrooms. I suspect that it might be a really good deal for people with larger families. (Obviously, I've never stayed there. I can personally recommend their Cabins at Fort Wilderness. They also sleep six (although the arrangements are slightly different), full kitchen (microwave, full oven and four-burner stove, full sized fridge, dishwasher). (But, only one bathroom.) There's a ton of activities and entertainment at the campground.) Also, seems a good place to insert this: (From a few years ago.) b95oyhSd5ls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DM72 Posted December 17, 2012 Author Share Posted December 17, 2012 Disney World's New Fantasyland Expansion. www.foxnews.com/travel/2012/12/05/disney-world-new-fantasyland-paves-way-for-more-impressive-guest-experiences/ Can't wait to go back next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD_washingtonredskins Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 Disney World's New Fantasyland Expansion.www.foxnews.com/travel/2012/12/05/disney-world-new-fantasyland-paves-way-for-more-impressive-guest-experiences/ Can't wait to go back next year. We got a sneak peak of it in November and it's pretty cool. The area that resembles Beauty and the Beast looks awesome and there's a tavern and shops. Also, there are some rides like The Little Mermaid (which was open to us) and a Snow White mine ride (which was not open to us). All in all, I think it's a nice, newer addition to the Magic Kingdom! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DM72 Posted December 17, 2012 Author Share Posted December 17, 2012 Yeah, the Snow White and Seven Dwarf mine ride won't be completed until 2014. That's the only letdown I can see since we're going in Dec 2013. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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