Only if you are a little kid....:p

You really need to get to know EPCOT and what is enjoyable. I have just as much fun in the World Showcase at each particular exhibit. If you do nothing in the World Showcase you ned to do the American Pavilion. There are several things to enjoy there. And you should strike up a conversation with the people who work at the Country's Pavilions. I got to know a couple of the people in the UK Pavilion while I was looking at their selection of Imported Teas. After spending sometime talking about the different Teas one of the ladies handed me a free box of my favorite kind, Apple Cinnamon. The next morning I tried it out....liked it so much I went back and bought 3 more boxes. I had them deliver it to my room so I wouldn't have to carry it around the park with me. When I got back to the room that night, they had stuck an extra sampler box in the bag for me. That's the Disney Touch!

mmaddog
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Yep.. the different countries are great and Canada's Off Kilter rocks!

My Teenage son has started being "too big" for Disney too.


I've been to WDW countless times and never gotten the opportunity to be Grand Marshal. Lucky you...

And BTW.....like your wife, I am a Disney nutcase, in a good way.

mmaddog
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QFT...and rep for you!

mmaddog
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Another QFT!!! And rep for you too.

mmaddog
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If your daughter rode either the Wooden Horse Carousel or Dumbo's Ride you were close enough to spit on it.

mmaddog
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Whatever you do...always eat your veggies and keep your elbows off the table or "Mom" will embarass the absolute hell out of you.

mmaddog
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She's real...trust me...

mmaddog
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We have been there several times during Thanksgiving Week....and On Sunday afternoon-Wednesday afternoon it will feel like they opened the park to you and several thousand of your close friends. When I have gone there were virtually no waits at any ride, and sometimes, if you are staying "on property" you can get a "bump" in the room that you are staying in. One time we stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge and got bumped to a Savannah View Room at no extra charge. Plus we got a meal comped....

mmaddog
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One of the guys working at the Canadian Pavilion got me to sing "Oh Canada" with him....we drew a crowd....and everyone got a kick out of it.

mmaddog
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Yes, the heat and humidity was almost unbearable. It was low to mid 90s all week. Halfway through that first day, I had to buy a Disney hat to keep the sun off my head. I thought I could get by with just sunscreen. Wrong. However, I don't think the heat and humidity is any different than Kansas summers. Hell, just yesterday it was mid 90s and humid here. Unfortunately, we don't have any other choice but to go down there in summer. Kids are only out of school at the end of May through mid August.

Early June is not bad at all. Now July and August, just kill yourself.

Pic? I want to see if it was the same hat I purchased. heh

This one.

Nope. Mine was a straw golf hat. I was stylin' I tell ya. ROFL

If hes into roller coasters, the drive down to Busch Gardens in Tampa is only an hour away. They have some quality rides and its a nice park. All the Busch parks are nice. 2nd only to Disney. :)

Busch Gardens is my favorite park in Florida. Disney is great, but I love the coasters at Busch & the free beer.

For the state of FL, I'd rank:

1. Busch Gardens
2. Epcot
3. Universal Islands of Adventure
4. Sea World
5. Magic Kingdom
6. Animal Kingdom
7. Universal Studios
8. TPFKA-MGM

Florida definatly has some nice parks. No Six Flag parks which attract the "ghetto" crowd.

LMAO If you go to Universal or some even at Busch Gardens you definitely get some WT. Disney doesn't attract nearly as much.

What?!?!?!?!? :eek:

Got a pic?

Busch Gardens, owned by Anheuser-Busch, has a Anheuser-Busch Brewmaster's Club located in the park where you can sample complimentary adult beverages.

You get something like 2 free cups of beer per person when you go to the brewery part of the park. I don't know if you can actually tour the brewery anymore, but they still have the complimentary beer.

Oh, it's just Budweiser. I should have known. Still, free beer is good. :)

What he said. :hmmm:

Pains me to put you all through this.....

:evil:

The one photo I forgot to take the hat off for. heh

The other guy had the exact same hat behind his back. The pussy.

That hat cooled me off by 10 degrees though.:thumb:

Dude, did you gain weight? or lose it?

Gee thanks. :harumph:

Technically, neither, since you last saw me. Weigh the same but my belly protrudes more than it did. Damn beer and candy!

Obligatory bump. Went last December. Where do I look to see what's changed since then? Going back this January.

Go to each park's website. They should have what's new. Off the top of my head Sea World and Universal both opened new coasters.

In the mid 80s. Check accuweather closer to time and it should give you a better idea.

Damn Gay Days.

June 1-7, 2010

Weird how Budweiser isn't American anymore.

em ok? Whats the correlation here?

The FL theme parks mentioned in the thread. And AB-Inbev sold the theme parks.

...

http://www.hoppsy.com/wp-content/upl...ser-budvar.gif

Looks like I have to do some creative scheduling again to work around that spectacle.

Those things are expensive in the Czech Republic. Like 20 some cents a bottle.

:D

Used to buy them when I lived in the Azores. They were only available for about six weeks out of the year. But it was a good six weeks...

Yep, I'd walk into Tesco. Buy about 4-6 of them off the shelf (room temp). Walk right out of the store and immediately crack one open. The bud budvars were one of the "premium" brands and they cost some pennies more. hehe

:D

Only 1 more month 'til I'm there.

So looking forward to it.

How convenient that you seem to always be at Disney World during Gay Days. Things that make you go hmmmmmmm.......

Nope. It has nothing to do with me. Not my fault that the best time for us is as soon as school gets out. Don't like going later in June because it gets too hot at that point. The perfect time to go is the first week of June. always has been.

After dealing with it 2 years ago, I have a better idea of what needs to be done to avoid it now. Thought about Disneyland but the appeal to DW and the fact I would never need to rent a car pretty much trumps it. The overall value is better at DW.

Do you stay on property or off?

On. I have tried to find better deals off property and it just can't be done once you throw in car rental and consider the extra benefits you lose by staying off property.

There is no better place to stay but on property.....

mmaddog
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Hmmmmmmm.....

FYP

After several attempts at trying to beat their rates, I am with mmaddog on this. Overall, on property is much more bang for the buck.

For many years, when there were fewer of us (total of 6 now), we stayed on property for the exact same reasons. Essentially free transportation to any of the parks.

But, we went 2 years ago and stayed off property. After looking at what it was going to cost us (2 hotel rooms), it was more cost effective to stay off property and rent a car. I really didn't think we would like it, but it turned out pretty damn cool. We rented a 3 bedroom home with a swimming pool and we were less than 5 minutes from the Magic Kingdom. We stopped at a grocery store on the way in, bought some sandwich stuff, pop, cereal, etc for the week to stock the kitchen.

Honestly, it was the worse weather I've had when going down there, but it was the most relaxing time we've had. Got up, had breakfast and then hit the parks. Some days we would leave and have a late lunch back at the house, and then back to the parks. When it got too late for the little ones, we came home and had supper - then we all sat around swimming and drinking. It was a blast.

I've always stayed on property before and never had any complaints - and I still don't - but it was really nice to get away from all of it for a little bit on our vacation.

Holy crap, I still have the place saved in my favorites. This is where we stayed:

http://www.aplusvacationhomes.com/ca...land%20Harbor#


$140/night for when you are going to be there it looks like.

If we were taking the entire family, I would definitely look into that. We are just 3 though right now.

Also, I got to thinking, since I will be one adult with 2 small children are there any rides I won't be able to ride at all because I obviously cannot sit with both of them at the same time unless the seating allows for 3. Thinking about the roller coasters more than anything. I know Aerosmith is out but what about the others?

I don't know much about where to stay but I suggest smuggling a shotgun into the It's a Small World ride would be a riot.

Bump..

Might be headed there in about a month. still pricing things out. Trying to decide between Cali and Florida...

Anyone been lately or this summer?

I think we are going to try to take everyone again either next year or the year after. I know that information helps you about as much as running into a wall, but...well....

I'd save that money and take your kids whenever they're 8-9 yrs old.

They would be able to appreciate the trip more.

Cali for a short trip, Florida for a longer one. Disneyland blows balls compared to Disney World.

thats a valid point....mine are 7 and 5. It frustrates me at times that i dont feel they appreciate things i give to them. I know they are still young though....

My 4 year old absolutely loved Disneyworld. It was well worth the money spent.

Spent 9 hours in Disneyland a week ago with a 2 year old. She had the time of her life. I was worried it wouldn't be worth it with her being so young, but it was definitely worth it.

what's the weather like in florida in mid to late december? the wife and I are booked for dec 17-24 for disneyworld--we went there for a few days on our honeymoon, and it's time to get out of town again before we both go into grad school.

Upper 60's during the day, 50's at night.

sweet. thanks, brah.

more rain than normal?

usually rains every morning. at least it did when i was there. Clears up and is humid as shit by 11am-noon.

It's awesome. That's a busy time of year, though. If you can, go a week or two earlier.

I think Disneyland is teh suck compared to Disney World. If I didn't live here, I'd never go to Disneyland.

EPCOT is amazing. If I lived in South Florida, I'd go a couple of times a year.

We took our kids when they were 2 and 4, and they loved it. They still talk about it. We just did the rider swap with the lil ones on rides they weren't big enough to ride.

heh...yea,...ive been to Disneyland...but its been like 8 years. That Indy Jones ride was the bomb.

eh, can't with finals ending december 16th. plus, I got a killer deal (paid the same rate for 8 days as I'd have paid for five). hell, we've been during the 'on' season during the summer--we're staying on property, so we'll just have to take advantage of the extra hours available to on-property 'guests.'

Personally, I had more fun at EPCOT than any other Disney Park in Orlando. I mean, you can't beat that walk around the park. The fireworks show can't be missed, either. It's like a break from the regular hustle and bustle, get off one ride and jump on the next feel of other Disney Parks. This could be because I outgrew most of the rides at Magic Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios' rides are almost all at least 2-hour waits by 10:00 a.m. (fast-passed Tower of Terror, but that was it)

Now, Islands of Adventure combined with Universal Studios is, in my opinion, the best theme park in that entire city. Cannot WAIT to go back for Harry Potter, nerd that I am.

Eh, I've lived in Florida for almost 6 years now and have yet to go to Disney World. But I have been to IOA/Universal tons of times; I had season passes a couple years ago actually. I think they definitely need some new rides, the Hulk is starting to get lame. I guess that's why they put in the Potter World. When I had season passes you could look through the fences and see a little bit of it. I can't wait to go see it

Take the final early :)

But you'll be happy either way.

Just a forewarning bud. That is one of the busiest weeks of the year at DisneyWorld. Might want to get on Disboards and Tour Guide Mike to get prepared.

Or you could just ask me....:D

And I'm not sure I necessarily agree that is the busiest time....well, not from Sunday afternoon to Friday afternoon. Usually the busiest time is after December 23rd till Jan 2nd or 3rd.

I've been there during almost any month you can name...with my favorite being just before Thanksgiving.

mmaddog
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Yeah, I have heard very good things about the week before thanksgiving.

Last time we went we almost had our very own personal Cast Member to guide us around...the Parks were that slow from Sunday afternoon till early Thursday morning.

mmaddog
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If I didn't have to pull my kids out of school I would give that week a try. I don't know that I will ever get a chance to see Disney at Christmas though.

I disagree. They've made some vast improvements in Disneyland, starting with eliminating the parking lot and turning it into another theme park (California Adventure).

Some rides are also better in Disneyland, namely Pirates Of The Caribbean (longer, more rooms, two drops, and an entry-area called the Blue Bayou with a restaurant, very similar to the inside of EPCOT's Mexico pavilion's boat ride), It's A Small World (the outside architecture), and Space Mountain, not to mention the difference in The Haunted Mansion (New Orleans theme instead of horror-castle). The whole New Orleans Square area kicks ass on Florida's Liberty Square, IMO. Plus they have the Matterhorn. (However, Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain are better in Florida.)

The thing about WDW that makes it special, though, is the whole separation from reality you get. Walt was horrified to watch gas stations, motels, and restaurants pop up all around Disneyland, ruining the ambience with giant signs you could see from the parking lot. When he built WDW he purposefully wanted to separate the visitor from reality with multiple barriers (long highway with no signs, then parking, then a tram to the ticketing, then a monorail/boat to the park).

Just thought I'd add, Animal Kingdom is pretty cool if you've never been. Love those park hopper passes where you can hop from park to park.