I'm going to DISNEYWORLD...
 

Just found out!!! For a business seminar with my husband's business. In February. To Orlando. Don't know which hotel yet, waiting to get the details from my husband. We are 50 somethings and I have never been. Kids are very jealous.

So, hot damn, I'm gonna go to DW!!! Any tips, advice, not to miss?

Heavens, we go every fall and are your age. I suggest going to www.amazon.com and ordering Birnbaum's book "Disney without Kids". They have a used 2005 edition for $2.45. It really gives you an overview of the parks and activities and will help you decide what to do. If you want to cover a lot in little time, you might want to get a several day park hopper pass so you can visit 2 parks in a day. I love EPCOT and could easily spend 2 days just there. Magic Kingdom is definitely for kids, but it's something that you should probably see for a couple hours, if only to see the castle, the Haunted House and Small World! In Feb, you shouldn't have many crowds, but definitely get fast passes for really popular rides, such as Soarin in EPCOT, or anything else that you must do.

Escargot is going soon too. Here's her thread for more info: http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34889482

Be sure to check out
mousesavers.com
www.disboards.com
allearsnet.com

That last link should be allears.net

Not sure if you have been or even want to go to a Cirque du Soleil show but the permanent one at Downtown Disney, La Nouba is quite good. I was pretty anti-Cirque for no good reason and really liked the show.

Have a great time! February should be great weather.

BayouGal:

You were right the first time. It is allearsnet.com

WOW, quick responses. Thanks a bunch. Since we have both been do Disneyland a few times with our kids, so unless it is something hugely different and special from this, I would prefer to skip and see the special things one can only experience in DisneyWORLD. Is that a good plan??? And any restaurants that are good food but not overpriced tourist traps would be very helpful too.

Thanks all. I am SO excited about this. Amazing how we Fodorites perk up when we learn of our next excursion. Yahoo!

Heavens,
Oh you are going to have such fun! Start with EPCOT -- before our baby (and even on our most recent trip with baby) that's where we spend most of our time. The World Showcase is great for food-each country has both "fast" food booths and at least one sit down restaurant. Our favorites are the Cafe de France and the Tepanyaki restaurant in Japan (which may be closed for renovations at that time). Outside of EPCOT, splurge for dinner at the California Grill on top of the Contemporary Resort-great food and book your reservation far ahead for the time of the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom -- they turn off all the lights in the restaurant and pipe in the music so you can watch from either the windows or the outside deck. We also like Jiko at the Animal Kingdom Lodge (try the filet in a wine sauce served on top of homemade mac and cheese and their great South African wines). Other favorite restaurants of ours are the Flying Fish on the Boardwalk, Yachtsman's Steakhouse in the Yachtclub and Artist's Point at the Wilderness Lodge. Aside from EPCOT's world showcase restaurants, our experience has been that the food is better in the hotels than in the parks. As you can see we are frequent visitors so post if you have more questions.

LoL, Mikesmom! Guess what, they both work! :)) I had no idea until just now.

Woo-hoo - another Disneyworld Fodorite! We're also frequent visitors, kids at heart. You'll love it.

I'd be glad to answer any questions, but right now I've got this Texas football game to watch. So more later!

Hook 'em!

The best tip I ever got was for Disneyworld attractions with two lines is to get on the line to the left. Even if it looks longer you always get to the front first (don't know why but this always works).

I absolutely agree with nytraveler on that stay to the left tip! I read that in a guide books years ago and it's so very true. Unfortunately we have just shared that bit of information with a lot of people, lol. ;)

That is funny about the left line. I have never heard of this. Anyone know why it would go faster? Odd...

You also may want to get the unofficial guide to Disneyworld.

Heavens -

I have no idea why the left line thing works, but I can absolutely vouch for it. I first read that tip many years ago in the Birnbaum book.

I second LLindaC's recommendations about the parkhopper pass. It's good to be able to jump over to another park for a minute and jump again when it gets crowded. I also love Epcot the most. It's always where I start, and most of the time I find myself going back for another afternoon run-through.

Have a wonderful time! February will be just perfect.

Well, I am patiently awaiting the hotel info from darling husband. And since all of this is not on HIS priority list, could be a while before I know. So, some patience on my part is required here. But I am not good at it. I WANNA KNOW NOW!!! Wahhhhhhh! So, then Fodorites, I can really get down with ya'll and the planning...

Definitely make use of the "Fast Pass" options for the more popular and crowded attractions. The wait times are posted for both standard and Fast Pass so if an attraction is less that 20 minutes, don't bother with the fast pass. I don't know how many people are aware of this,but you can get as many Fast Passes as you like and save them for the end of the day. It works like this-get a Fast Pass for an attraction and it will print a one hour time to return to that attraction to enter without much of a wait. If you go to another attraction within the one hour time frame from the first pass you can get another one for the second attraction and so on. We had as many as four Fast Passes at on time and saw the attractions with shorter waits,then went back and used the passes for the hot rides! You do not have to enter the attraction in the designated hour,but any time after that is also acceptable.

We are staying at the Leows at Universal Orlando...is that a good location? Haven't even had time to look it up. Have sick kids, sick husband and a meeting tonight. Ugh!

There are three Loews Hotels at Universal Orlando. The Hard Rock Hotel, the Royal Pacific Resort, and the Portofino Bay Hotel. By staying at any of those hotels you will get automatic express access to all the attractions at Univeral Studios and Islands of Adventure. I love those parks as much or nmore than the Disney Parks. Universal is a small area and you can actually walk to the parks from the hotels there.
You will be about 15-20 minutes from the Disney parks depending on traffic.

Thanks. It is the Royal Pacific...

about the left line theory.... we had always used this too, even when we entered the park - going to the left rather than right b/c it just seemed most people veer towards the right - but this link is something else (all the new things I'm learning researching our first 'adult' trip to disney...)

http://tinyurl.com/ya4qz
and scroll down to # 7 - which debates the left line theory -

this site is something else - and while I was reading it all I could think of was, if everyone uses this, and prints their 'touring plans' and all, then wouldn't it make more sense to do the opposite of what they say?

their 'park attendance' chart for each day of the year was interesting - that made more sense to me -if I am an adult and want to see MK and know that day is a huge special parade/party/activities for families, then I am better off visitng a different park that day -

I did have fun on that site though !

oops, left a letter off my tiny url link:

http://tinyurl.com/ya4qzl

this should work !

www.disboards.com will give you information on everything Disney. Then scroll down further to the Universal Forums. There is a section for the parks and a section for the resorts. We love the Royal Pacific. It's an easy and beautiful walk to City Walk and the Universal Parks from that resort. If you want some fine dining, make a reservation in advance to eat at Emeril's Tchoup Chop at the Royal Pacific. YUM!!!! You can book them on www.opentable.com

Thanks all. It really helps to plan this now knowing our location. Can't wait to go. I hadn't really planned on going to Universal. We went to the one in LA and wasn't that impressed. Personally I am not a theme park person. More of a city gal, museums, monuments, and all of that. But this will be a fun trip, bc it isn't a place that we would normally choose. And we will be there with friends. Thanks again.