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HPanda
Sep 5, 2008
I'm gonna have to disagree with people saying toddlers can't have fun at Disney or that it's inviting disaster. Our now two-year-old daughter has been going since she was two months. Granted, she didn't really perk up at things until seven months, but she's had a blast ever since (that first trip was more for us, admittedly, but she did like the pretty colors). She even gets super excited when a Disney World commercial comes on TV. Sure, she won't remember all this when she's older, but that really isn't the best metric to gauge whether or not it's good to take them.

We went just a couple weeks ago, and the memories that my wife and I will have from that trip are priceless, it was a great bonding opportunity, and it definitely stimulates their brain cells in all the right ways.

For the Flower and Garden Festival, they've set up three themed playgrounds for little kids. I didn't see the Cars-themed one, but the Oz and (I think it was) HGTV-themed ones are a bunch of fun.

The new circus addition to Fantasyland is absolutely awesome for toddlers. There's a big indoor playground while waiting for Dumbo now which we spent a couple hours in over the trip. Hollywood Studios has the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground, and from what I understand, Epcot has an indoor playground, as well, though we haven't seen it yet. We haven't visited Animal Kingdom since she was old enough to play on playgrounds, so I'm not sure of any there.

Seriously, toddlers can have crazy amounts of fun all over Disney. My wife and I went all the time before we had kids, and while it is a different experience with different considerations and priorities (the character meet and greets are must-do's now, for one thing), Disney did a great job creating parks for all types of families.

But just a list of things off the top of my head that are great for toddlers in the Magic Kingdom: Carousel, Mickey's Philharmagic, Dumbo, Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Little Mermaid, Tomorrowland Speedway, People Mover, Jungle Cruise, Tiki Room, Winnie the Pooh, Barnstormer, Flying Carpets, character meet-and-greets, and parades. These are just the things my two-year-old got super excited about on our most recent trip, so it's by no means even a list of all things that are alright to do with a toddler. Mickey's Philharmagic is only really good once they learn to not take sunglasses off, and two other rides with height requirements are obviously only good once those requirements are met.

We've managed to have a full day of activities at each of the four parks, but I definitely think Magic Kingdom is built the best for toddlers. You just need to remember to keep the little ones hydrated, fed, and properly napped. Know the locations of the baby centers. Keep a slow pace. Realize that any plans you make are going to need to be much more malleable than going with older kids. Learn the areas where it's safe to let them run loose every so often (may not be possible in busy times of the year).

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HPanda
Sep 5, 2008

Fluffy Bunnies posted:

While the new Be Our Guest restaurant doesn't have characters wandering around (I don't get the appeal of that either)

That's not completely the case. The Beast does come through every so often. They have a big fanfare while he greets his guests, then he goes back to the room where he's available for pictures. I just bring this up because when we went in December, we had a three-year-old with us who was absolutely terrified of him the first time he walked through. She did warm up to him his second time through, though. I think that might have had something to do with her seeing our 20-month-old give him a hug.

The food is quite good. It's not my favorite in Disney World, but probably the best sit-down restaurant in the Magic Kingdom (Orlando, anyway; California Disney Land has several great sit-down options). Honestly, though, we generally avoid the sit-downs in the Magic Kingdom because they're not great cost-for-quality, at least not compared to the resort restaurants and the restaurants in the three other parks. The recent opening of Be Our Guest changes that a bit, but I think reservations are still needed well in advance. Oh, it's also the only place in the Magic Kingdom to get beer and wine, so there's a novelty factor for that, as well.

If anyone is going to Downtown Disney, I highly recommend Raglan Road. The food is excellent and the live band they have six nights a week is a lot of fun. They have many good food options, but my current favorite is the heavenly ham. For dessert, get the bread and butter pudding. Cut a hole in the top of it and pour the sauces in.

At Hollywood Studios, The Brown Derby is a great restaurant. We've had several really great experiences there, mostly due to the servers. The Cobb salad is excellent. I also recommend the Sci-Fi Dine-in. My wife hates it, but I thought it was a really cool atmosphere and they have about an hour-long loop of old sci-fi trailers playing on a big screen. The dark atmosphere is nice on a hot day.

At Epcot, The Coral Reef has a great atmosphere with the giant glass wall and view of the aquarium. Epcot has great counter service everywhere, too, especially Sunshine Seasons in The Land pavilion.

We really don't visit Animal Kingdom much, so I can't comment much about that park.

HPanda
Sep 5, 2008
A few years ago, the boat that ran between WL and MK also stopped at Ft Wilderness. Probably still does. Another boat ran between WL and at least the Contemporary (might go to others as well).

I would not recommend walking between WL and MK, but it is possible.

In a theoretical sense, it is possible to stay at any Magic Kingdom or Epcot resort and never use a car or bus (or walk along roads) to reach three of the parks.

HPanda
Sep 5, 2008
I think it comes down to the kids. Parents should assess their kids on an individual basis. For us, our two-year-old can't get enough Disney World and every trip we take is magical for her. If we had a kid that was prone to temper tantrums, sickness, or otherwise had a high stress level, we would need to reconsider. As she is, we would have missed out on some incredible vacations if we had waited until she's older.

It is an extra challenge and set of considerations than when going without toddlers, and some parents just aren't capable of pulling it off, but don't write it off right away.

HPanda
Sep 5, 2008
Yes! This was especially jarring with Busch Gardens. My family always used to go to Busch Gardens when I was growing up and I loved it. Then, when I went off to college at UCF, my now wife and I would go to Disney parks all the time. Years later, we went to Busch Gardens for the first time in years and it was like a completely different experience than what I remembered. The customer service was horrible, the employees had that same sort of vacant stare that teenagers at fast food jobs get, and everything just felt dirty. Even the other guests at the park just seemed more rude. We've gone a few times since and I've learned that I can only really enjoy it if I take it as a completely separate sort of park. It does have an awesome Sesame Street area.

The Universal parks (Universal and Islands of Adventure) aren't too bad, especially IoA. I could be biased on that one, though, since I worked at Universal for a couple months during busy season. I was able to see the attention they put into everything there. It's not quite up to Disney, but definitely higher than parks like Six Flags.

HPanda
Sep 5, 2008
Yes. At either Universal park, leave the very second you feel tired. You don't just have to walk back through the park, but also back through all of Citywalk and the parking garages. If you make the mistake of starting to leave when you're exhausted, that walk sucks so much. And every time we go, we always forget this.

Regarding extra magic hours, we generally skip the morning ones but like to stay for the night ones. The extra crowds earlier in the day seem to be worth dealing with for the drastically reduced crowds at night. I haven't seen them do this in a while, but a few years ago, my wife and I stayed for the extra magic hours that went until 3 am at the Magic Kingdom. The park was like a ghost town. When we were leaving, there were maybe three other people on all of Main Street. It felt like we had the park completely to ourselves for the last hour. This isn't really a regular thing, unfortunately, but incredible when it happens.

HPanda
Sep 5, 2008
Yeah, at the point where you're gonna spend a couple hundred on dinner, Victoria and Albert's. It's not even a contest at that point.

If you want to drop it down to around $100 total for two people, this question becomes much more interesting.

HPanda
Sep 5, 2008
Get reservations at Le Cellier 180 days in advance if at all possible! They will fill up insanely quickly. But yeah, dipping the pretzel bread in their beer cheese soup is reason enough to go.

HPanda
Sep 5, 2008
I wouldn't call it over-hyped. It's not a romantic atmosphere, but when my family went, it was a cool place with cool scenery. Roughly the same cost/quality ratio of food as most other Disney sit-downs. It also has the fun novelty of being the only place in the Magic Kingdom to drink alcohol.

HPanda
Sep 5, 2008
I normally would have recommended California Grill, but they're closed for rehab right now, so I'm not sure if it will be the same sort of vibe when it reopens. But yeah, California Grill at least was incredible a few years back. The prices have gone way up since about 10 years ago (it seems like more than other Disney restaurants), but it was still worth it.

Ohana is great for when you want meat, and lots of it. Good meat, too.

One place I forgot to mention before is The Brown Derby. My wife and I have some great memories there. The cobb salad is incredible, and if you go for lunch, it's not all that expensive.

HPanda
Sep 5, 2008
I haven't been on the new Test Track yet, but I loved the old one. Everything leading up to the outdoor section was a lot of fun, even if a bit cheesy. I never saw it all as a thrill ride, just a ride. Even the outdoor section was set up in such a way that it was fun. Not really thrilling, but fun.

That being said, I wouldn't wait more than about 20 minutes for it.

As for the nostalgia stuff, I would absolutely love it if they brought back the original Dreamfinder version of Journey Into Imagination. I can see why they sell the merchandise, though. People buy that stuff for the same reason they buy nostalgia versions of sports shirts.

HPanda
Sep 5, 2008
Carousel of Progress might be a ride that sticks around as long as Disney World itself. I remember a few years back when it was only open seasonally, but they still wouldn't close it completely. It's just too closely associated with Disney's legacy.

Besides, it might still fill up during the super peak times. It's an attraction that only needs a couple cast members to run and can handle a pretty huge number of guests. Of course, I've never seen more than about one row's equivalent of people in each section of the theater.

On a side note, it is outstanding for hot days.

HPanda
Sep 5, 2008
The Peoplemover is absolutely awesome, but I still laugh when people get angry because they thought it was the line for Astro Orbiter.

We usually make 2-3 rounds on it each trip.

HPanda
Sep 5, 2008
I think parking is the only extra discount that the full-on annual pass has over the seasonal one. Whether that cost difference is worth it is up to how often you go (and how willing you are to bend the rules).

My wife and I have weekday passes since we typically don't want to go on Saturdays and Sundays anyway, and blackout days are a definite no-go. We valet park at one of the monorail resorts because of our huge stroller, so the free parking wouldn't help us as much, and we don't go all that often anymore.

HPanda
Sep 5, 2008
I think it's because Epcot just has so much space. That's probably also the park that would still have the most breathing room even if it did hit capacity.

It's the only park I would ever even consider going to on a peak day.

HPanda
Sep 5, 2008
I love walking through Epcot after closing when no one is around. Totally worth just hanging out at a fountain in the countries while everyone filters out. They give a surprisingly long time for people to leave before kicking people out.

HPanda
Sep 5, 2008
I do love their Christmas hats. Yeah, they're seasonal, and Florida heat even in December means they don't get much use due to their surprising insulation, but dammit they're festive!

HPanda
Sep 5, 2008
Yeah, but I always thought MLK day was, like, always oddly busy. I'm not really sure why, especially since you'd figure that just a 3-day weekend this close to the December holidays would lose some of the usual allure.

I loved Fastpass+ when we went in December, but that might be to do with lower crowd levels. Maybe the system breaks down quickly as more people are added to it. It's freakin great with little ones wanting to meet the princesses, though. We generally don't get to the parks until afternoon at the earliest, so this system probably helps us more than the early arrivers.

HPanda
Sep 5, 2008
We went on a Disney trip yesterday to the Magic Kingdom, and I thought I could give a good perspective on the Fastpass+ system.

Our group was myself, my wife, our almost three-year-old daughter, and our one-year-old daughter (yesterday was her birthday, the purpose for our trip).

As always, we didn't get to the Magic Kingdom until the afternoon. We're not morning people to begin with, and two toddlers makes getting out of the house even trickier. My wife made some Fastpass+ reservations reservations a few weeks ago, so we already had our three (one for Winnie the Pooh, one for Rapunzel Meet and Greet, and one for Peter Pan). Due to our late arrival and the Monorail being down, we would have missed our first Fastpass+ time. Luckily, we have Smartphones with the MyDisney Experience app and so could change that first time, even just before it expired. Seriously, if you can, use the app instead of the kiosks. It's so much more convenient.

The park was kind of on the high side of low attendance, so lines weren't too bad and there were always many options for Fastpasses. We had one other situation in which we had to change a Fastpass time and could do so easily, letting us avoid a 40-minute line. Because of Fastpass+, we were able to see both sets of princesses with less than 5 minute waits each.

So for low attendance, Fastpass+ is fantastic since it lets you avoid the few long lines. For moderate attendance, the only difference would probably be less ability to change attractions and times. Since we usually get to the parks late, we used to be lucky to get even one Fastpass. Now we get a guaranteed three. If you plan ahead, a guaranteed three Fastpasses for a high attendance day seems like a good deal, but we avoid the parks on those days, anyway. Yeah, they can mess with the standby lines, but with a good selection of times, it saves guests like me significantly more time than it costs.

So, that's my little dissenting opinion.

HPanda
Sep 5, 2008
I think Mousesavers is pretty good about the deals they list, so not sure it's much of a risk. Just be sure to read the fine print to make sure it's not something weird like "must be used within 14 days" or something. Also be sure the price is good for you since it needs to be a park hopper. My wife and I were perfectly content devoting each day entirely to each park by themselves, but with the free day anyway, might still be cost-effective. And have fun in Disneyland! It's a different experience but a lot of fun.

On a side note, has anyone else been noticing a definite increase in quality at the counter service restaurants lately? I was kind of assuming it was over the last couple years since we didn't hit them up much for a long while, but it seems like every time we go to one now, each place has at least one new specialty item worth checking out. I looked at the menus on allears, and all menus from early last year don't have the new stuff but the ones from December do. Not sure when these changes went down, but it seems to be all over Disney World.

The counter service at the Polynesian has a great pulled pork sandwich, French Quarter has some really good po' boys, and the Grand Floridian has a weird but good burger that, while I can't remember the name exactly, was some kind of play on The Great Gatsby.

EDIT ^^^^

I'd recommend planning your stuff 180 days out if you want to hit the high demand stuff (Le Cellier, Be Our Guest, Fireworks Fastpass+ seats, etc.). I'm not sure about your budget, but if you're looking into the Contemporary, I'm assuming cost is less of a factor for hotel. In that case, I'll put forth that The Wilderness Lodge is absolutely awesome for couples. It's not on the monorail, but there are boats to take you to the Magic Kingdom or any other monorail connection. The atmosphere is just really great for unwinding. Otherwise, if you're looking for something "elegant," that's the Grand Floridian. Its lobby and the live music they have is pretty cool. For the best pools, look into the Beach Club (Yacht Club?) resorts. The Contemporary has some nice features, but it lacks a lot of the themeing that make the resorts fun to stay at. I would recommend the Polynesian, but I'm not sure how long the construction around it is gonna last.

We generally always take a trip in late October ourselves, so you're pretty much right about the crowd levels. It's nothing too bad except on the weekend at Epcot because of the Food and Wine Festival, which you absolutely must do. Just go to it on a weekday.

I'm not sure how soon you should try booking if you're using a travel agent, but if doing it yourself, definitely start booking the stuff 180 days in advance just to be on the safe side.

HPanda fucked around with this message at 05:37 on Jan 26, 2014

HPanda
Sep 5, 2008
Do this ^^^

Disney can be so much more phenomenal with some know-how, and if you're not into an absurd amount of research, a specialized agent would be the way to go.

HPanda
Sep 5, 2008
Don't do drinking around the world except during Food and Wine. Then absolutely do drinking around the world.

HPanda
Sep 5, 2008
I was able to avoid the collectible pin thing because I can't think of anything to do with them. I am extremely happy those Vinylmations didn't start just a few years earlier, though, because early-20's me would have spent so much money on them. I lost interest in that hobby just in the knick of time. Still, that doesn't stop me from browsing the sets at the stores wistfully.

Oh god, my wife would kill me if I started buying little collectible figures again.

HPanda
Sep 5, 2008
That sounds like a good time to hit up the less visited theatre attractions (Carousel of Progress, Hall of Presidents, Country Bear Jamboree, Enchanted Tiki Room, Philharmagic). Most of these even have covered waiting areas and don't dump into uncovered areas. Even if there's a long line or a long wait, the queues hold a lot of people.

Or just ride the Peoplemover endlessly. Even with a crowd, they tend to let people stay on as much as desired.

HPanda
Sep 5, 2008
If it's anything like a few years ago, strollers need to be folded on the boats. There are some boats throughout WDW which will sometimes allow strollers to remain open (I don't know boat type names, but the ones with flat floors and rows of benches under a covering), but I think that even then, the cast members will require it to be folded if the boat is full. All transportation, as far as I know, allows strollers on if they're folded. Of course, if the stroller absolutely needs to stay open, say for a disability, this could be a case-by-case thing.

One of the monorail resorts may be your best bet if it needs to stay open.

HPanda
Sep 5, 2008
Get a glass of champagne, just for the novelty of alcohol served in the Magic Kingdom.

You really can't go wrong with any of the desserts.

The French Onion soup is quite tasty.

Otherwise, I've only had the one entree (Thyme-scented Pork Rack Chop), which was really good. My wife got something that I thought was pretty forgettable, but unfortunately, I don't remember what it was to tell you.

All of that said, I really love getting lunch there now. The quality is still way up there, but the cost is much lower.

HPanda
Sep 5, 2008
If you like water parks, Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach are about as good as they get. The theming is phenomenal and they each have an awesome signature attraction.

HPanda
Sep 5, 2008
We got the bands in December as resort guests and used them again in late January as annual passholders. They're reusable in at least some situations.

HPanda
Sep 5, 2008
Self-serve Dole Whips. I recently went there and saw what could only be described as the leaning tower of Dole. No idea how they price that.

HPanda
Sep 5, 2008
That article says the menu offering will be similar, sans Dole Whip of course, so hopefully they really do stay pretty similar. Their pork sandwich is very tasty after a long day at Magic Kingdom.

HPanda
Sep 5, 2008
Two months is the minimum age for us since that's after they get vaccinated a bit, but anything before about a year is just gonna be for the parents wanting to go to Disney anyway. One to two years is the age where they start having lots of fun there, but just keep in mind that they won't remember it long term.

Our almost three-year-old adores Disney World and there's plenty for her to do.

Basically, if it's super important for you to have your kid remember the trip, wait until after 3 years old. If you just want them to have a wonderful time in a magical fantasy world as part of their development, go earlier. Disney has things in place for all ages. I wouldn't break the bank to go earlier than 3, but your parents live in Florida so you'll be down here anyway.

HPanda
Sep 5, 2008
I attended the first one, but now with two little kids, it would not be a great idea. I wish they started doing these back in 2008. Back then, I would have done the challenge of staying in the park for 24 hours straight.

HPanda
Sep 5, 2008
I really can't recommend hiking in central Florida in June. I've done it and it is awful.

You may like Downtown Disney and Citywalk for places to hang out. Downtown Disney's night life is pretty much dead and I can't speak for Citywalk's, though. Everything else I can think of has already been brought up. Depending on your hotel, though, you could have an awesome pool.

Off topic to this, just saw the new parade today. Some of those floats are impressive.

HPanda
Sep 5, 2008

TheBigBudgetSequel posted:

I can't remember if they put a CM outside to say "Hey Soarin is in here!" or not.

No, but there is sometimes an attendant telling people not to bring strollers into The Land. I do not envy that person.

I know that there are a lot of attractions which only have one person standing outside, though, and even those are mostly in the shade, I think. The ride in the Mexico pavilion has everyone inside, too, as far as I know.

Oh, and if you count Disneyquest, I think all of those positions are inside. I don't know if that counts as "attractions" or not.

HPanda
Sep 5, 2008
Every time we've gone to dinner close to park closing, they've always been awesome about not rushing us. The parks are actually "open" for a surprising amount of time afterwards for stragglers. The only exceptions to this I can think of are special events and particularly late open hours, in which they typically try to get everyone out within 30 minutes or so.

For a normal night in Epcot, an extra hour is nothing.

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HPanda
Sep 5, 2008
The original intent of EPCOT was for it to be an innovative city. Since that's obviously not the case, I'm really not sure what he means. Apart from getting rid of the thrill-type rides and characters (both of which there's no way in hell they'd do), I can't think of much else that would take the park back to its early planning stages.

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