Went to Disney in October of 2011. It was like we'd rented the parks out for a private event or something.

When NOT to go to Disney World: Christmas week to New Years; Thanksgiving; Easter week; February school vacation; July and August.

When TO go: any time that isn't those times.

My favorite time is early December, because you can get the Christmasy feel without the crowds. I also like from mid-September to early November, as well as March and May.

we're going from january 1-7... we went a bit before xmas a few years ago, it wasn't too bad. only issue is that it got a bit chilly in the evening, but it was great nonetheless.

Did the midgets bad touch you?

Well yea of course. All great times to go if you have no kids. Or if you have kids and don't mind them missing any school.

I would never go, kids or not, between March and September. I would go at nearly any time in October-February, excluding holidays.

we went in April last year. It wasn't too bad

thinking about taking another trip here this summer. Anyone ever stayed at the Contemporary resort there or other hotels? Still trying to decide between Florida or Cali.

The upside to the Contemporary is that it is close to The Magic Kingdom, is was just recently renovated, is right off the Seven Seas Lagoon, and you can see the fireworks of the Magic Kingdom every night without having to go into the Park. One additional benefit that some like, some don't is that Chef Mickey's is there. Chef Mickey's is like taking your kids to Golden Corral only it is Disney-themed and the food is better prepared.

The down side is the structure of the place....with the high ceilings and how it is built, every sound in that place echoes and at night some people complain you hear every noise more than the other resorts.

I've stayed at every resort there, but the newest Animation Resort....what would you like to know about the rest?

yea, i would if you dont mind.

Can I amend your point of view a little....mostly you are correct.

When TO go: If you go from the Saturday before Thanksgiving and stay till the day before Thanksgiving you can pretty much have your own personal Cast Member to show you around. Also if you go the week before most Fall Breaks in October you pretty much have the same benefit. Anytime the first 2 weeks of December is less crowded, but the closer you get to Christmas the crazier it gets. One last one, odd as it may sound.....anytime during the Hurricane Season people get antsy if they think it is going to be prime time for a hurricane so some reservations get cancelled. One time I took my family the 2nd week in October....it was between hurricanes and Disney had a lot of cancellations. We went because it was a convention I was attending and we staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and not the Contemporary where the convention was booked. Because of all the cancellations, I got moved from a regular room to a Savannah suite all at no extra charge.

When NOT to go: Anytime during the Star Wars Weekends in May-June and Spring Break weeks in March/April.

The Grand Floridian- overpriced and for those who feel like throwing good money away. You can get most of the same feel at any one of the other resorts without paying for what you have to at this place. Don't get me wrong...it is nice but not worth the money unless your last name is Gates, Buffett, Trump or Rockefeller.

The Polynesian- Nice but a little older, even with the renovation. It's great to visit, but not to stay. But the Luau (sp) is a great thing to to there...the food is good and the entertainment is worth it.

Contemporary-one last thing I didn't mention before. It is a convention hotel also, so you are going to share it with conventioneers.

Wilderness Lodge-Honestly the best that Disney offers in WDW if you are taking teens and older children. The location is perfect, the ambience is timeless, and rustic cabin mentality is just...well, cool. The Whispering Canyon Cafe serves up good food (a little pricey but worth it), the other restaurants are good, and even the 'fast food' diner in there is worth it. The pools are perfectly set, the beach is right off the Seven Seas Lagoon and you are just a short boat ride to either the Magic Kingdom or EPCOT. As you can tell it is my favorite, but there is more to it than just that. Once you've been there you know it's the place you want to stay again.

Animal Kingdom Lodge- A close second to the Wilderness Lodge...with it's only drawback being that it really isn't close to any Park. You have to take a long (well long by standards) ride to get to anything. But the ambience is cool, the staff there is always courteous and overly helpful. All the restaurants are great, even the fast food portion, the Savannah view is a plus, and the campfire on the back patio replete with rocking chairs make it a late-night must. And honestly, it and the Wilderness Lodge are the most fun to do the Hidden Mickey's search you can do at most all resorts on WDW.

Boardwalk- Nice but again, not worth the money if you are taking a family. IMHO, the only thing that makes this a place to stay is the Boardwalk and the ESPN club. The rooms are nice, but nothing you can't get at any other mid-price resort.

Or during Disney's "Gay Days" unless that's your thing, NTTAWWT.

thanks.....i will have to look into the Wilderness Lodge too. Sounds like Great Wolf Lodge.

We stayed at Disneyland Hotel in Cali a few years ago and loved it. It was so nice to be close to things. I like the idea of being able to catch the Monorail from the Contemporary hotel.

The Carribean Beach, Coronado Springs and Port Orleans- the first place on property I ever stayed was at the Carribean. All these are good mid-priced accomodations, but the best is The Coronado Spring Resort. It is newer and seems to have learned from the mistakes of the other resorts at this price range. The one problem that it didn't learn is that the food courts and Front Desk seem too far away to be useful for the average guest, which is a problem at these and the Value Resorts. If you don't care about room size and the proximity of the Food Court to the room, then these will work fine for you. All the pools are nice and present their own form of ambience.

The All-Star Resorts- These resorts are themed (Animation, Movies, Sports, Pop Century) and come with their own charm. What makes them attractive is the price....if you are only looking for an inexpensive way to stay at Disney and have 2 adult/2 small kids, these are primo. Nothing wrong with them, it's just not going to wow you with anything big. You have the same decent food courts, the pools jammed with kids and moms while dads play golf, and kids-themed mentality. But, being the largest of all resorts (number of rooms-wise) it is mostly crowded from the pools, to the food courts to the buses to the parks/Downtown Disney. If these things don't bother you and all you are looking for is Disney on the inexpensive stay at one of these.

Let me know if you have any other questions....I'm not Birnbaum, but I know alot about Disney.

being a broke-ass grad student (and when I was an undergrad), my wife and I generally always stayed at port orleans (french quarter once, riverside a few times) when we go to disneyworld. we've had nothing but good experiences when we've stayed there... we need to try coronado spring apparently.

They should make a Disney that's adults only. It'd be cheap for them too, because all they'd have to build is Fantasyland.

They do. Its called Las Vegas

That will be very cool.

Yeah, I'm not a fan of avatar, but I don't think that matters. As long as the attractions are good, it doesn't matter what they're based on.

Hell, if they can even come close to emulating the size and scope of the planet in the movie that would be very cool to see.

They do, it's called Las Vegas

Say what you will about Deberg_1990, he has a consistent train of thought. Commas and periods notwithstanding.

The water ride looks awesome. Also, having night time stuff at Animal Kingdom will be good. We went there on our first disney trip and it seemed like a waste of money since it closed so early and so few attractions that we didn't go there our second trip. We're going back to Disney World during spring break next year and the kids really want to go to Animal Kingdom so I guess we'll go there our last day so we can be done early. Animal Kingdom needs more attractions. Everest and the Safari are really the only awesome things they have. The river ride and Dinosaur are OK.

Animal Kingdom has plenty of attractions. You just have to spend some time there. If you only care about rides, then that's one thing. But there is PLENTY to do.

Most people blow past the Maharajah Jungle Trek without really appreciating the theming or anything else. Flights of Wonder is a great show, and there are plenty of trails to explore that people don't even know about, like behind Dinosaur.

Oh man, this makes me miss Disney! My wife and I are Disney nuts and spent 2011 as cast members. Get in the parks free, tons of discounts, it felt like a year long working vacation! But, the hours are bad and the pay is even worse so we had to return to reality. Can't wait to go back though!

I didn't dislike it but it was way behind the other three in terms of stuff to do. And it closes so early. This expansion should remedy that. Now if they could fix future world at epcot....

I find Hollywood Studios to have by far the least amount to do. The stunt shows suck, Movie ride is a bust, and there aren't any rides after you've done Toy Story, Rock'n'Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror and Star Tours. The animation class is cool, but it's easy to do every thing there in 3 hours.

Toy Story ride is overrated as hell too. not worth the line people wait in at all. We get there first thing in the morning and get it out of the way fast.

Rumor has it there is going to be a whole Star Wars land at hollywood studios

I love it, but I won't stand in line for longer than twenty minutes for any ride, no matter how good it is. Just not worth it.

That one is just so popular because it's the only thing in the park that the whole family can do. RNR and ToT are too "scary" and have height requirements.

My fiance and I are Disney Vacation Club members!!!!

We seriously looked into that but the only time it really seems worth the money is when you are going to the World and that is just not something we want to do every single year. Using the points toward other locations in the US had too much drop off in value for our taste.

Usually, it can pay for itself if you travel every other year. Yes, if you go to other locations, you take a hit on your points, however, most people sell their points, and then use the cash to go somewhere else. You can sell your points at any given time for that year, and then you get them again next year. You can also bank points from previous year or borrow from next year.

Kristen and I go every year, and sometimes 2 times a year. We just bought into the Grand Floridian Villas.

If you would like to get more info, PM me and I can put it all onto paper to show you exactly how much it would cost and at what point you'd break even. It doesn't take long if you typically stay deluxe as all DVC resorts are deluxe.

I'll buy DVC when the secondary market prices come down.

Escape from Tomorrowland just showed up on VOD. I'll have to check this out. its the Disney renegade flick that was filmed there without permission.
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I haven't even tried a moderate yet. The jump in price doesn't seem worth it to me since all I need is the bed.

I need to track that down.

We are going back end of March/beg of April. Anyone been recently and have any suggestions? We last went feb '12

We r goin n June. U stayin on property? They've changed the fast pass concept to a reservation style approach. Disney resort guests get to reserve n advance, otherwise hv to do it that day at kiosk n the park.

You can do three passes in one park per day. We were there recently for four days and I made advance FastPass reservations for each park. In hindsight, I would've done it differently. In Hollywood Studios you need it for Toy Story and it's helpful for Tower Of Terror and the Aerosmith Coaster. In EPCOT you need it for Soarin' and it's helpful for Test Track (but the third pass is kind of useless there). In the Kingdom it's useful if you want to ride something popular like Peter Pan, Big Thunder, or Splash/Space. In Animal Kingfom you could use it for Kilimanjaro Safaris or Everest but sometimes it's not necessary. So you might want to double book Hollywood (to get Toy Story twice) and EPCOT (to get Soarin' twice).

I've seen mixed opinions online about the new Fastpass+ system. alot of people don't like how resort guest get first dibs, and you can only do a max of 3 fast passes per day. Alot of people would race around and get 5 or 6 per day under the old system.
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Yeah we are staying at Coronado Springs. Booked my fast passes the other day

Epcot and hollywood studios have tiered fast pass

Trust me guys...there is still a way to beat even the new system.

For those who have been lately....how did you like using the new bracelet?

Walt Disney World
 

Trust me guys. There is not a way to beat the new system. WDW closed all loop holes around a month ago. Not to mention all the old FP machines are now covered.

Source: I own DVC and have been to Disney Parks over 50 times.

If you think real hard, yes there is still a way.

Source: I don't own DVC but I have been to Disney over 50 times and that's not counting all the times I have been there for business conventions, one of which was no less than a month ago.

I can assure you - there is not. I am familiar with every loop hole this system has had. Including that two months ago you could insert ANY card that had a magnetic strip and receive a fast pass.

Think Guest Assistance Card....and yes I am very aware of the change in the system for GAC. Since I have a Special Needs son I make sure I am very aware...

But, all you have to do is go to Dis.com and see how all the others figure ways around the system.

Are you honestly saying that a GAC is a workaround for FP+??? If you have a legitimate reason for a GAC, then that's one thing. Even now, at the current time, GACs are not allowed to bypass attraction queues.

The new policy for GAC is that one guest from the party is to wait in the queue and once they arrive, the rest of the party is brought through the exit.

I wonder how Long it is before Disney starts charging extra for Fast passes like Six Flags, Universal, and Sea World do?


They have to be leaving money on the table. Or maybe that's why resort guests get first dibs?

Rumors are - that it's right around the corner.

You said there is NO WAY around the system....I showed there was. You didn't place parameters.

And BTW, if you think that the policy is completely enforced at each attraction every day faithfully by Cast Members then you should know better.

FP+ is how they control the majority of the normal visiting public. Are you saying that in the case of a Special Needs they make someone from the family wait in line and when they get to the front of the line they let the rest of the family in? Because it ain't working that way.

Talk has been around for sometime of allowing tiered Fast Pass beyond the normal policy, but they have never been able how to figure out how not to piss off those people who can barely afford park tickets now.

I don't see Disney doing pay-per-Fast Pass anytime soon contrary to what GoT says. Disney needs attendance to stay at high levels to help pay for the updates to the Parks. You start making people pay for the privilege of riding and watch how park attendance drops.

Of course that is what DVC members would love to see, since they see themselves as privileged.

Universal has had people pay for their Express Pass since day 1 and their numbers have constantly increased year to year. Disney is a business, their goal is to make money.

I have no concrete information as to whether it'll happen or not, but it wouldn't shock me. As a shareholder, i'd love to see them charge more for everything.

DVC members don't care about park attendance.

That Harry Potter stuff saved Universal IMO. Attendance has skyrocketed with that.

Harry Potter is INCREDIBLE. I can't wait to see Diagon Alley later this year.

Any plans to do the Fastpass+ At Disney California? That's where I'm headed this summer sometime.

As a shareholder your concern should be that Disney holds down expenses to bring better profitability. It isn't the park that needs to perform better, it's the media division outside of ESPN. It's dragging the numbers down...

And, while Universal has had growing attendance, (as has Disney) it doesn't really mean that more people are paying for their Express Pass. I would have to see their numbers before I would acknowledge that charging for Fast Pass makes sense. Universal may have growing attendance but that doesn't mean more people are paying for Express Pass.

And....the option I use to avoid the new Fast Pass, one you aren't thinking of.....go to the Park at times that you don't need them. You as a DVC member should know that if you go at certain times of the year you can pretty much walk right up to most all the attractions but Space Mountain, Splash Mountain and Thunder Railroad at MK, Star Wars in DS, It's Bug's Life and Kilimanjaro Safari in AK and Soarin' and Test Track in EPCOT.

Admittedly - I do not know much about Disneyland/Disney's California Adventure (DCA). I read on the disboards that there are no current plans to transfer FP+ there and get rid of the Legacy FP.

I feel this is largely due to that FP+ is still in it's infancy, and they've had a fair number of bugs. It wouldn't shock me to see it there eventually, but I don't think it'll happen this year. But that's just my opinion.

I will be out in LA in April to record some stuff for Marvel, I know a few Imagineers personally and will ask them.

This is not a true work-around for FP+. This is merely going at a time when the numbers are in your favor. The most popular time for DVC is the first two weeks of December. Point costs are lower and the crowds are almost non-existent.

If you want some of the best up-to-date information about what is going on at either WDW or Disneyland I would go to the dis.com website. Those people have more information than some of the Cast Members.

As is the week before Thanksgiving and MON-TUE-WED for park attendance.

As is the week before Spring Break and the Week before Fall Breaks in October.

In that case, so is January 21st.

I asked this earlier....but you didn't answer. What do you think of the new Bracelet's that act as the all-in-one for your visits to WDW?

Cool, thanks. Yea, I looked at some Dis boards a few years ago before I went on a trip. One of the best tips I got was that you didn't have to use your FP in the exact return hour. I remember using a few FP at rides hours after the return time and they honored them still.

I would never go, even if I was a DVC holder during Spring Break, Mid-May to September, Thanksgiving Week, and December 20th to Jan 1.

The other times have different levels of attendance that make it feasible to go. Some still require use of the FP+ but for the most part you have pretty easy access.

I don't mind them. The Key to the Kingdom cards were a bit of a pain, but they weren't horrible. The nice part about the Magic Bands is that your park tickets, room keys, FP+, and room charging ability is all right there on the band.

The whole customization is neat. Of course, Disney found their niche to sell things to decorate them.

Overall....I like them. I like the new FP+ system as well.

Here is a cool LIVE webcam of Disneyland.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2694546


The thing with DVC, is it's based on points. December is the slowest time for WDW, so it requires the least amount of points to go....which is why those first two weeks are THE busiest for DVC.

DVC point chart.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-vacati...m#gfvillas2014

I didn't mind the KTK cards, but they could also magnetize issues. For me I love the wrist bands because you don't have to worry about Credit Cards, Room Cards/Keys and it also is re-usable.

I'm not one to worry about decorating mine....I'll leave mine as dull gray. My daughter on the other hand....blings hers.

I like the FP+....but the jury to me is still out on the GAC program. You can thank that travel agent who abused the system by hiring Handicapped individuals to go on trips with families for that.

I'm at WDW now. FP+ sucks.

We stay offsite but booked a campsite and linked our tickets so we could book FP in advance. Only one night at the campsite (which we won't even go to) and it lets you reserve for all your ticket days.

Workaround found. The system still sucks. Only 3 FP and no park hopping is ducking lame.

Which of the DVC's do you normally stay at?

How many times have the points changed over the life of your purchase?

I love that cam on the disboards.....I've been a member over there for about 10 years (maybe more).

It's very common for Offsite guests to book a room to be able to do FP+ in advance. Otherwise, being there are rope drop to stand in line to book them is a huge pain. The 3 FP is rather lame, and the 'no PH' is even worse - however, for those who didn't go to the parks regularly, they likely wouldn't be pulling more than 3 FPs anyway.

We own at Grand Floridian. We just bought into DVC last year.....every other trip was paid out of pocket. I proposed to the fiance at the Polynesian and we decided to buy as a present to ourselves. We've stayed at the GF and the AKL.

As far as the actual resorts, we've stayed at nearly every one.

EDIT: If you enjoy going to the parks, buying DVC is the way to go.

I am guessing you are just purchasing the primitive campsites. I often wonder if Disney checks to see if people actually stay at those.

But you have shown how some beat the new FP+ system to some extent.

Congratulations on your proposal at WDW. Did you get Disney involved in it in any way? Surprised they didn't try to sell you on having the wedding at the Pavilion.

How do you compare the GF to the other resorts? Like you I have stayed at all resorts but fancy the Wilderness Lodge more than the others with AKL a close second. I have made the mistake of staying at every one of the All Star resorts....never again.

I need to look into the DVC. Never looked into it that deep.

Our favorite is the Polynesian. The GF is a close second and we've stayed there quite a number of times. We usually stay club level or MK view at the GF, but we prefer the more 'relaxed' feel of the Poly. DVC is currently adding on to the Polynesian, so we intend to buy more points there.

The GF compared to the others.....it's certainly their flagship, but I think it has a feel that you either love it, or hate it. It's very common to see businessmen sitting at the pool on laptops doing business. So it certainly can lose some of the vacation feel. For us, we like it a lot.

We really like the Wilderness Lodge as well - but with buying the DVC, we wanted to be somewhere on the Monorail line. Since GF just became available for sale while we were there, we thought "why not" and went with it.

The nice part about the DVC is that we can stay almost wherever we want, so it's going to be fun to try some new resorts that we haven't stayed at before (like the Beach Club). The other nice part is we can bring some friends or get more than one room and not have to charge whoever comes with us.


As far as the wedding....I really wanted it to be there. The fiance didn't want a destination wedding, so she ruled it out. She also ruled out a honeymoon there because "We'll be going enough anyway". I didn't get Disney involved, I just took her out to Sunset Pointe and did it there.

If you'd like, I would love to give you more information about it. It's truly a great way to enjoy the magic....!