Hi All.

I'm not much of a disney person. For example, went with DH to Anaheim and Disneyland was right next door to hotel but I never made it in. Well, this November I'm doing a poster presentation at conference held in WDW (orlando). We're staying at the Swan and Dolphin (Swan tower, particulary) and a group of us are planning to see La Nouba. I'm also thinking of getting one of the conference deals of after 4pm discounted tickets to one of the parks (probably Epcot since that's what I remember enjoying the most when I went there when I was 13). I'm usually the one to pick restaurants but how does it all work? Do you need a ticket to get in to the restaurant areas too? What's there to do for a non so much disney lover? Any great info or suggestions are appreciated.

Oh, and DH isn't coming along for this one. We're there for 5 nights.

Will you have a rental car?

no rental car. the conference is on site.

Hmmm....that limits your options somewhat. So LaNouba one night, Epcot another (you only need one ticket for Epcot, but it's a good idea to make dinner reservations as soon as you can). Downtown Disney has a House of Blues which often has good concerts. There are some excellent restaurants on the Disney property: Spoodles at the Boardwalk, Jiko or Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge, Citricos at Grand Floridian to name a few.

Great dining information can be found at www.allearsnet.com

You're staying in the Boardwalk / Epcot resort area and there are a lot of restaurants there that don't require a ticket. This link might help: http://www.buildabettermousetrip.com...boardwalk.html

You can also dine at the restaurants in Downtown Disney - allearsnet has information about that too. I highly recommend Raglan Road - we enjoyed that.

Look into dining at Animal Kingdom Lodge, maybe at "Boma", because the resort is beautiful and the animals are lovely.

Head over to the Magic Kingdom resort area to see the Electric Water Pageant. See: http://allearsnet.com/tp/ewp.htm

I also really love the Adventurer's Club (Pleasure Island). See http://allearsnet.com/btp/faq_adv.htm

the electrical water pageant looks great! is there a particular restaurant with views to this you can recommend for a nice dinner?

maria, there are so many wonderful choices; it all depends on what kinds of things you like. Look at allearsnet as ajcolorado suggested and you can find out anything you need to know as far as your options (including menus for all the restaurants). You’re staying in the best area of the resort in my opinion, and I love the Swan. If I were you I’d probably go into Epcot for dinner somewhere in the World Showcase (you can walk there from your hotel). Where to eat depends on what kind of food you like. If you eat at the Rose & Crown (and time it right) you can sit outside and watch the Illuminations show which is fantastic. I wouldn’t make a special trip to the Magic Kingdom area to see the Electrical Water Pageant – it’s VERY old and really not that exciting. But I WOULD make a special trip there to eat at the California Grill in the Contemporary Resort and watch the MK fireworks from there. You need reservations, and try to time it so you’ll be there when it’s time for the fireworks show (Wishes). After dinner you can go out and see the water pageant if you want.

Oh, I didn’t notice that you have five nights – you lucky thing.

I don’t think not having a rental car limits you at all since there is no need to go outside the WDW resort – there are so many things to do there, and Disney transportation can get you quickly and easily to anywhere you need to go.

On your La Nouba night (you’ll love it btw), I’d eat in a Downtown Disney restaurant prior to the show and go to the Adventurer’s Club in Pleasure Island afterwards – it’s a hoot. There is a fee to enter Pleasure Island though (it’s free to go to the other areas of Downtown Disney).

One night I’d visit the Animal Kingdom Lodge and eat at Jiko or Boma. Then go outside and see the animals.

One night you could just stay in the Boardwalk area to eat. There are several fantastic restaurants around there (including in your hotel).

The other two nights I’d do Epcot & MK area as I suggested above. While you’re in Epcot go on some rides in Future World! Especially Soarin’ if you can get on it. Walk around World Showcase and visit the countries. There are wonderful IMAX-type movies in France, China & Canada and cute boat rides in Mexico and Norway.

I could go on and on but I won’t! Come on back and ask as you think of more questions.

I've stayed at both the Swan & the Dolphin & both are nice hotels; the Swan is a Westin. I'd recommend spending one afternoon just relaxing by the pool; the Swan/Dolphin have a beautiful grotto pool w/ a bar/grill open till 5 pm, I believe. A couple of nice dinner options within walking distance of your hotel that we've tried - The Flying Fish Cafe - great food! & Blue Zoo in the Dolphin hotel. We've tried Spoodles (on the Boardwalk) for both brunch & dinner (liked breakfast/brunch better). For meat lovers, you might enjoy Shula's in the Dolphin hotel or the Yacht Club Steakhouse, again, both within walking distance. You could walk over to the Beach Club to Beaches & Cream for light fare (burgers) & great ice-cream. Whatever dining options you decide upon, try to reserve as far in advance as they book up months ahead. You can always cancel if you change your mind. I second looking at allearsnet.com where all of the menus for the various restaurants are listed. Oh, one other activity we did was to book an Illuminations Cruise into Epcot & that would be fun with a group.

Hi All! Getting ready for the trip. So far, this is what we have scheduled.

11/15 (Sat) early dinner at portobello yacht club @ 5:30

La Nouba at 9pm

11/16 (Sun) wishes fireworks at 6pm.
7-midnight Mickey's very Merry Magic Christmas
Question: We have the schedule for the electrical water show but wondered if we can watch this show without tickets into Magic Kingdom for another night? We'd really like to just concentrate on the rides and stuff that night and come back another night for a nice dinner at California Grill or something?

11/17 (mon). Watch fireworks at Epcot around 9pm. Early night. Have presentations at conference the next day so getting beauty sleep and rest.

11/18 (Tuesday) No idea
11/19 (Wednesday) No idea.

So first, any of the fireworks shows or the electrical water shows, do you need to have a ticket into the park to see them? Same with the restaurants in the different areas?

Saw that Pleasure Island was disolved on October so we were thinking of checking out the comedy show but is no longer available.

Any ideas of what to do? We're not getting any other park tickets besides the Mickey's very merry magic christmas because we won't have much time in the parks what with being in conferences all day, etc.

Any suggestions for the last 2 nights would be great!

thanks all!

I find that one night at the Boardwalk is a really nice night. The brew house is nice for a casual meal, Spoodles and Flying Fish are very good more upscale. It is a beautiful resort area.

A monorail tour of resorts is also a fun evening. You can watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks from the beach at the Polynesian, as from the Contemporary. They all have nice bars/lounges. They might also have their Christmas decorations up which are truly spectacular. The Grand Floridian has a huge gingerbread house. Even a non-Disney person can appreciate the attention to details in the Disney hotels. Have a great time!!

I was there at Christmas time several years ago and my sister and I did the monorail tour of resorts one day and had a ball. We had Christmas Eve dinner at an Italian place in the Swan and the Dolphin (which somehow always reminds me of the Third Reich) and it was lovely.

I'm going in February as part of a family get together and even though I'd rather be in Paris, I enjoy being there every once in a while. Staying at the Polynesian for the kids but I've stayed at the Grand Floridian and the Yacht Club and both were nice.

We watched the electrical water show from the pool area in back of the Contemporary.

JellyRolls at Boardwalk is a must! Dueling pianos has never been better. Ray and Scotty are the best! This is a great place to spend an evening. Write your requests on a napkin and take it up to the guys with a couple of bucks and you are sure to get it played.

Do any of you scuba dive by any chance? You can buy a dive in the giant tank at Epcot. My husband has done this twice and still talks about it.

Sometimes you can see the fireworks if you are near the entrance to Magic Kingdom.

You can walk through Animal Kingdom Lodge, go out the back door, and see some of the animals from the Animal Kingdom park. If the guard stops you at the gate out front, just tell them you are dining at the restaurant.

Spend an evening shopping/browsing at Downtown Disney/Disney Marketplace.

Ask some of the employees for ideas. DH1 worked as a bus driver for awhile, DS2 as a bartender at Pleasure Island. They knew all kinds of things you could do that I never knew about.

If you are adventuresome, you might try parasailing and/or renting the small power boats (used to be called water mice) by the Contemporary Resort. We sometimes like to take the monorail from the front of Epcot over to the monorail hotels & just look around & see what we like - the Kona Cafe at the Polynesian is a nice place for lunch. We've also done a morning Segway tour at Epcot which was great fun. Lastly, for a lovely splurge, the Dolphin has a very nice spa, the Mandara Spa, that I've enjoyed on a previous visit. I've also heard great things about the spa at the Grand Floridian.