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Old 10-31-2021, 10:14 PM   #41
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Fast pass has been discontinued - there is now a paid version called Genie+.
I saw this, brutal...and doesn't include the top two rides of the park. You need to pay for those per ride if you want the "lightning lane"
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Old 10-31-2021, 10:29 PM   #42
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I went in 1996.

I can give you tips for 1996 Disney World.
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Old 11-01-2021, 04:43 AM   #43
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I’ve been with my family a couple of times in the last 5 years. We have stayed at Allstar Music Resort and Boardwalk Hotel. One trip we were exclusively at Boardwalk and the other we split between the 2 with a Disney Cruise in between the 2 stays. Significant difference in price - Boardwalk hotel is “boardering” ridiculous now. But we far prefer that area due to the convenience.

The Boardwalk & neighboring hotels are <10 minute walk to Epcot, and a 15-20 minute or 5 minute boat taxi (free) to Hollywood Studio’s from the hotel. Animal Kingdom & Magic Kingdom are a 10-15 minute bus ride, frequent departure intervals from the hotel.

We would get park hopper passes and spend the days at Animal/Magic/Hollywood, and spend most of our evenings at Epcot. Epcot has fewer rides for the kids and much better food options so it made sense for us to spend our evenings there. You can also drink alcohol in the park which is nice change of pace.

The restaurants around Boardwalk Hotel and outside of the parks are pretty average, and pretty sub par around Allstar Music. Epcot I found the food to be better than other options in the other parks. With that said, I find the formal meals to be pretty crappy across all of Disney. A couple of times we ordered pizza and other take out from neighboring restaurants - delivered directly to the hotel lobby. This was a great option as it’s less expensive than Disney options and better quality.

Universal Studio’s is about a 30 minute taxi, which we did on both trips. 2 parks there with more rides that cater to older kids. We did these parks each in a day, which isn’t enough time but I’d struggle trying to spend 2 days there back-to-back.

One year we did one of the two Disney water parks. One of the 2 water parks is typically closed when it’s less seasonal. It was a bit cold but the kids really enjoyed it.

Both years we went at Christmas and the crowds were absolutely crazy. It takes very good planning and the ability to be quick on your feet to get the good rides in without having to spend 2 hours in line. I’m not sure how the new genie program works, but this is what is replacing the fastpass program.

As someone else also mentioned, the Disney Magic Express now ceases to exist and Mears (the tour bus company) is now facilitating bussing from ORD directly. Magic Express was always a nice touch, particularly with the luggage service - after you drop your bags off for your Calgary flight you next saw them in your room. Not anymore I guess.

One year, I made a very silly financial decision and decided to pay for private tour of all 4 parks. Basically front of the line service for up to 10 people at about $450 per hour, not including park passes, and not including tip. This was super interesting as you get picked up in an SUV by your tour guide, and you enter all of the parks through cast member entrances and ride access is often through a back door. We managed to get on to every single “busy” ride in a day over all 4 parks over one of the busiest days of the year (Christmas week). Pretty amazing actually, considering how much ground you have to cover. The only exception was Star Wars Rise of the Resistance, which had just opened. The only private access to that seemed to just be granted to high profile celebrities with Disney or ABC affiliation. Our guide told us that he had toured Neil Patrick Harris and his family the week before, and that NPH was the only one that he knew of that got access to that ride via a private tour. Our guide told us that Bob Iger had to authorize that one.

This experience was good to do once, but I wouldn’t repeat it. if we had not had lots of normal experiences in the parks I would feel that I’m missing a significant feel of the disney magic that you get by touring the park, waiting around and just soaking it in. You lose all of that when you’re coming into the park via service entrances and into the rides often via service and office corridors. And the cost is absolutely not justifiable unless you’ve got the money to burn. But it is something my family will remember forever.

Hoping that Disney Tokyo will one day be next for us. From what I hear the Disney Sea park at Disney Tokyo is the best out of all of the worldwide parks.

Last edited by newts; 11-01-2021 at 04:54 AM.
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Old 11-01-2021, 07:48 AM   #44
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If you are set on staying on resort rent out some DVC points from somebody. You can usually save a lot of cash this way and you will be able to get a room with a full kitchen. You can use a rental company (eg. David’s, DVC Rental etc.) or you can contact an owner directly. Going through the owner directly will usually save you $2-$3 per point but using a middle man gives you a bit more safety in terms of them not cancelling your reservation. The amount of money you can save using DVC points is pretty drastic.
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Old 11-01-2021, 07:54 AM   #45
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I went in 1996.

I can give you tips for 1996 Disney World.
If it's anything like the Stampede, nothing has changed since 1996.
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Old 11-01-2021, 08:45 AM   #46
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If you are set on staying on resort rent out some DVC points from somebody. You can usually save a lot of cash this way and you will be able to get a room with a full kitchen. You can use a rental company (eg. David’s, DVC Rental etc.) or you can contact an owner directly. Going through the owner directly will usually save you $2-$3 per point but using a middle man gives you a bit more safety in terms of them not cancelling your reservation. The amount of money you can save using DVC points is pretty drastic.
This will be hundreds of dollars per night cheaper. Maybe many hundreds per night depending on the resort/time.

Check the cancellation rules though - its probably not cancellable, especially through a broker.
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Old 11-01-2021, 09:04 AM   #47
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Is there a most ideal time to go when considering things like busyness and ride closures? I’d hate to go when it’s slow to find out splash mountain and half of the other rides are down.
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Old 11-01-2021, 09:37 AM   #48
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In what ways is Disney World better than Disneyland? Generally, the California one is easier to get to and cheaper so just wondering what makes the Florida one seen as better. I have a three-year-old daughter.
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Old 11-01-2021, 09:41 AM   #49
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Is there a most ideal time to go when considering things like busyness and ride closures? I’d hate to go when it’s slow to find out splash mountain and half of the other rides are down.
With the 50th Celebration going on right now (and for the next 18 months or so), they'll likely have minimal downtime for rides at any time.

I've heard that Disney has been doing a lot of work in recent years to try to reduce the massive swings in attendance throughout the year, but the rule of thumb is always going to be, if your kids aren't in school, it likely means that most kids aren't in school either, so the crowds will be bigger. Conversely, when kids have just gone back to school after a break, the crowds tend to be smaller.

I have gone in mid-January and it was great. Most rides were open and the weather was pleasant, plus crowds were minimal.

I did Disneyland one year during the two weeks after US Thanksgiving and it was perfect. Everything was decorated for Christmas and all the rides were open, but the parks were virtually empty.
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Old 11-01-2021, 09:44 AM   #50
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In what ways is Disney World better than Disneyland? Generally, the California one is easier to get to and cheaper so just wondering what makes the Florida one seen as better. I have a three-year-old daughter.
Four parks vs one.

More space and more attractions.

More reliably warm weather in the fall/winter.

Though I doubt the first two would matter to a three-year-old.
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Old 11-01-2021, 09:48 AM   #51
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In what ways is Disney World better than Disneyland? Generally, the California one is easier to get to and cheaper so just wondering what makes the Florida one seen as better. I have a three-year-old daughter.
The way I always look at it is to me California Disney is more of something you do as part of a broader trip to California/LA that's going to be 2-3 days of your trip.

Where as in DisneyWorld it's more of an entire experience and it's going to be your entire trip and you need the entire week to get the most of it.

DisneyLand you have the two parks, and really you're going to get more of the classic Disney experience. Most of the classic rides are there, California Adventure has some great stuff you don't get in Florida, and you'll get all the character interactions that you want.

DisneyWorld is more of an entire vacation. You have 4 different theme parks, Disney Springs, and Two Water Parks. Plus a whole variety of resorts that can be an experience in themselves.

Really you need a full week to truly experience DisneyWorld.

My take has always been that if you have young kids, and really just want to get a taste of Disney to see if it's something you enjoy, or if you want to just get some of those Character interactions in with your kids then go to DisneyLand.

Then if you enjoy that go to DisneyWorld when the kids are a little older and will be able to enjoy all the different rides across the 4 theme parks and the water parks.

And if you don't have kids then I think DisneyWorld is the better option too. Just go for the Food and Wine Festival and there are a bunch of great drinks and other experiences you can have as an adult.
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Old 11-01-2021, 09:52 AM   #52
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In what ways is Disney World better than Disneyland? Generally, the California one is easier to get to and cheaper so just wondering what makes the Florida one seen as better. I have a three-year-old daughter.
Disney World is massive. It has 4 different parks plus two water parks, a whole bunch of themed hotels, and many other things to do. The Disney property in Florida is twice the size of the island of Manhattan. Most of that land is undeveloped wilderness, but the part that's developed is still huge.

Disneyland is two parks (both of which are smaller than the parks in Florida) and three hotels with a small entertainment district. It's in the middle of a highly-populated area, with cheap motels and gift shops right across the street. There really isn't such a thing as "across the street" from any of the parks in Florida.

If you're looking to do it to entertain a 3 year-old, Disneyland should be more than enough. If she's into seeing the Disney princesses, I've always felt they're a little better in California (I assume because of so many aspiring actresses).
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Old 11-01-2021, 09:56 AM   #53
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If you are set on staying on resort rent out some DVC points from somebody. You can usually save a lot of cash this way and you will be able to get a room with a full kitchen. You can use a rental company (eg. David’s, DVC Rental etc.) or you can contact an owner directly. Going through the owner directly will usually save you $2-$3 per point but using a middle man gives you a bit more safety in terms of them not cancelling your reservation. The amount of money you can save using DVC points is pretty drastic.
Thanks for this information. I'll have to do some digging to figure out what this is all about and to see what is available.
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Old 11-01-2021, 10:10 AM   #54
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I went in 1996.

I can give you tips for 1996 Disney World.
Pleasure Island on Thursday nights....

It was so not Disney.
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Old 11-01-2021, 10:34 AM   #55
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Four parks vs one.

More space and more attractions.

More reliably warm weather in the fall/winter.

Though I doubt the first two would matter to a three-year-old.
There are 2 parks in California not one.

And "more space" is a downside when going with a 3 year old. To go between the parks in California you push the stroller like 100m across a plaza. In Florida transportation is required.
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Old 11-01-2021, 11:07 AM   #56
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I went in 1996.

I can give you tips for 1996 Disney World.

You’d be even less use for me.

I went in 1993.
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