nonnigrace

Wilma wrecked our beach vacation - - -so they're dropping us in Orlando for the week.

Who said "vacation"????

Disney?????

It's supposed to be fun - right?

I am sooo exhausted - I need a month of Sundays to read up on Disneyworld - figure out what's where - how you get around....how to park...how to find your car later......not to mention how to configure your ticket purchase. How many days? One park or multi? Add on a water park? Expiring or not expiring?

Finding out last minute that we are going to Disney is cruel and unusual treatment!!! --especially for a vacation research junkie like me!

I'm overwhelmed just looking at the web sites - - and forget about the message boards!
I've spent several hours - I'm definitely overwhelmed!

This is a WHOLE NEW WORLD to me.....I had NO idea......
People are obsessed by this place - after exploring what is there........ I can see why.
There are Disney junkies out there that spend ALL their money going back to Disney over and over and over....

They post messages and list what years they stayed at which hotels within the park (there are about 30)....
They rack up the entries like girl scout badges.

They have acronyms and abbreviations that seem like a magic code - I don't even know what they are talking about half the time!

This is what happens when you're 53 and never been to Disney when you were young enough to handle it. Now I feel like I need a private guide
or a seeing eye dog! What if I get lost?? How long will my feet last? Where's the parade and the giraffes?? I just want to see a parade and a giraffe!

Why am I up at 4 AM on my day off? I was having anxiety dreams about Disneyworld - I am not kidding!

girlonthego

Don't worry!!! You will have a good time! Think of yourself as 10 years old in Disney only you have money to spend. What do you want to do? Where do you want to go? Get a map and wander the parks!

gail

Just keep telling yourself there is no prize for seeing the most stuff in the allotted time. Ignore all people who insist they saw everything at all Parks in 3 days - it does not matter - and no vacation should be a competitive event.

Get ONE guidebook. Skim it - stick post-it notes on the few things you feel you must see/do and plan your trip around that. You should have no more than 10 post-its.

If something has a short line - go on it. The reason people go to Disney repeatedly is that it takes many trips to see everything. Very little there stinks - so it does not matter if you see something you would rate a "9" versus something you would rate a "10". Waiting in line makes you hate Disney.

Plan some non-Disney Park time - like sitting at a pool, etc. The big Mouse gets old after a while. If you are anyplace where there are whining children, just go someplace else. Don't plan on spending entire day into evening touring various Parks - your feet will hurt and you will get nasty.

My personal roadmap involves getting there when it opens, heading to farthest corner from entrance and working backwards.

Keep telling yourself the idea is to have a nice vacation - if you were headed for the beach, then you likely wanted some good amount of down time - no reason you can't sit by the pool and read just like you would have done at the beach - just because you are at Disney, does not mean you need to race around your whole trip.

donco

There's a book "out there" about how to get the most out of Disney-it's very detailed as in "turn left at the ... to avoid crowds". I'll see if I ever wrote down the title-in meantime, any Fodorites know what I mean?

sfamylou

Ha ha...I heard someone with a Tinkerbell tattoo say once that there is one doll in the Small World Ride in Florida who is NOT smiling, and that it is fun to try to spot it. Is that the kind of thing that is overwhelming you? People do go crazy, don't they?

schmerl

Just get to the parks early and decide what you want to see before you get there. You have a week, so there's not need to rush around. Where are you staying? Plan some time at your hotel's pool to relax.

lolfn

your post has me LOL!

i remember looking at the disboards once and having the same reaction as you did. what is up with those freaks?!? and, my husband's two sisters are right in the mix!

since marrying into this family, i've been to disney 5 times in 5 years. i had never been before. it really isn't overwhelming once you get there. and if you are going sometime between now and christmas, the parks will be quiet which is so much nicer.

enough people on these boards have been to disney, so if you have questions, we'll help out---without acronyms and bragging rights.

JJ5

You have some shows, technical displays and lots of fun rides ahead of you- especially if you are going right now- this is the best time of year for DisneyW, IMHO. So just turn left, go for the short line or show that starts in 10 minutes- and enjoy.

You may like to hear this. I have one son who refuses to read one piece of information, even as small as a flyer, about any place before he goes there. He's just perverse that way; wants total serendipity and lack of preconceived ideas about what's "the bomb" and what isn't. And I, as most Fodorites, like to research and know where I am going and why.

Well he's been more places than any of my other kids worldwide, and he and his wife (no kids) go to DisneyWorld about every other year. He figured it out fine, and has been to more good restaurants there (Swan, Dolphin and California Grill, Victoria/Albert etc.) than I have.

DisneyWorld isn't my first choice because I feel I don't need to see it again after so many kid and grandkid visits, but if you have NEVER been. Well, just ignore the "dis" and go where your interests and imagination lead you.

As an Adult, do not fail to roam in EPCOT beyond the countries. The Land and some of the other science based exhibits are interesting. MGM has a lot of thrill rides.

Good roaming.

amwosu

I became the obsessive planner that I am today thanks to my first trip to Disney as a parent. Because I hadn't read up on the early entry days at the various parks and had not made ressies in advance of the trip for some of the most kid-popular restaurants in the park I didn't feel like we got the most out of the trip.

The next time I was the crazy person who knew just where to turn left and at what time you could squeeze through the gates.

The more recent development of the fast pass to enter rides is also great. We usually go to MGMs Tower of Terror immeidately upon arrival(and we go super early because we found the gates often open earlier than posted times to all of the parks)then if they are offering fast passes to Tower of Terror or Rockin Roller Coaster as we exit the ride we scoop one of them up. Then we go do more minor attractions and come back and do the fast pass ride.

Good luck!!!

nonnigrace

Thanks to all for all the calming words! We both hate rides so that will rule out alot of the lines.
I'd like to do the safari ride in Animal Kingdom but my husband has health problems and gets motion sickness. Do you think this would bother him or is it mild?
We plan to just try AK one day and Epcot a different day and spend lots of time by the pool (weather permitting). If we LOVE it - we'll head back for a thrid day.

Nikki

If I were going to buy just one guide book it would be the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World. Very, very helpful, especially if you have never been there before.

Don't ignore Universal Studios, which is a great place. Last time I was in Orlando, which is now several years ago, much of Disney World was looking tired compared to Universal.

Lee4

I second Nikki's recommendation for the Unofficial Guide to Walk Disney World. It's the only book you'll need b/c it gives great information and tips on "doing" Disney. It also rates the various attractions based on how different age groups liked them, so that might give you a better idea of what you and your husband would enjoy.

For the Safari ride at AK, you ride in a jeep/bus thing and it's just like riding in a truck--it's not on a track or anything like that. The driver is in control of the vehicle and follows the road around the area. I don't recall it having any big bumps or really curvy parts; it's just driving around to see the various animals. Try to go early in the morning to see more animals out and about.

ajcolorado

The Unofficial Guide is a great choice - you really don't have to read it. There are cut-out touring plans in the back. Just find your self (adults, no children) and cut out the plan and follow it.

There is also an online service called Tour Guide Mike - tourguidemike.com - that cost about the same as the unofficial guide and you can print out touring plans if your bookstore doesn't have the unofficial guide. We used Tour Guide Mike this summer and never waited more than 20 minutes for anything - and that was during peak season.

There are so many shows and wonderful things at each of the parks.

You're sure to enjoy Epcot. The important thing is to pick up a show schedule - they're readily available everywhere at Epcot. If you get an idea of the shows you want to see, Epcot is fantastic. I've been there 4 times and have yet to take everything in. But if you don't, it can feel like going from gift shop to gift shop.

And remember that Disneyworld is a "theme" park, rather than a "thrill" park. They do have rollercoasters etc. but it's mostly about the story. My mom is pretty anti-Disney but we made her go to Epcot for a day and she really enjoyed it. She also really enjoyed the Safari ride. Oh! I absolutely recommend the "Festival of the Lion King" show at Animal Kingdom - it's fantastic.

You might want to eat at Boma's, which is at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. That's one of the Disney hotels, not a park. The food is good and the hotel has its own giraffes. It's just a lovely setting.

You're going at a non-peak time...you'll do fine.

socialworker

HI--as a "double agent", ie one who likes Disney World and *real* traveling, I recommend the Birnbaum guide. To me, the Unofficial Guide makes me think of the spoofs of that famous 70's book, the "Joy of Sex", that was called the "Job of Sex". I realize I may stand alone here, but the Unofficial guy makes his way of negotiating WDW sound like strategies for managing a root canal!! That is, of course, strictly my opinion, but it is rendered after more trips to WDW than I care to admit.

schmerl

I second the recommendation for the Festival of the Lion King show in Animal Kingdom. LOVE IT! Also make sure you see Illuminations in the evening in Epcot. We also really enjoy the Fantasmic Show in the evening at MGM.

JJ5

As long as you are going to AK anyway, do not miss "It's Tough to be a Bug" show within the big tree in the middle.
It's priceless!

Also the safari is extremely mild. You will not get car sick in any way.

padams421

You should visit Seaworld. It's calmer than the Disney and Universal parks. You can see it all in a day.

kamahinaohoku

Just a thought: Disney keeps records about all sorts of things, one of which is this: when approaching one of the Disney attractions remember that the lines on the left move faster than the lines on the right. Something about 70% of the people in the world being right handed makes them go to the right hand side. There are less people waiting for the attractions on the left lines, so they move faster.

nina

"There's a book "out there" about how to get the most out of Disney-it's very detailed as in "turn left at the ... to avoid crowds". I'll see if I ever wrote down the title-in meantime, any Fodorites know what I mean?"

That would be the unofficial Guide to DisneyWorld, best reference out there for WDW.

Disboards is for freaks, sorry, but I went there too.

Best advice I can give you is;

1. Stay onsite and take advantage of early openings.

2. Get up early, you are on a mission, the words you snooze you lose could not be more meaningful than at WDW, you can see more in the first 2 hours than you can in an entire day if you sleep-in.

2. When the late-risers start piling in around 11:00-12:00, leave. Go back to your hotel, have lunch, relax, swim, take a nap.

3. Go back to the parks around 5:00 when all the day-trippers are leaving, the parks start to empty out again.

Remember, WDW is NOT a relaxing vacation, however, it can be a lot of fun and it really is a must-see at least once. Sounds like you're going during low season though, so you should come out of there without any visible twitches or scars, good luck!

Ryan

"they're dropping us in Orlando for the week."

Please tell me who "they're" so I can avoid these roaming bands of thugs forcing people to take a Disney Vacation.