Hey guys visiting Disney in a few weeks any tips or advice would be appreciated. We have magic kingdom Tuesday, universal Thursday and Friday. Is it advantageous to purchase tickets online before hand? Is the genie + worth it? Is the park hopper pass worth it (planned on just visiting magic kingdom)? Also to note we are staying off resort not in a hotel package
Disney next week
- Thread starter cjrgrb1993
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I can't answer your questions but when we lived in CA my wife took a lot of people to Disneyland there. If she took a young girl up to age 12 she swore by the Bippity Boppity Boutique. As I recall it was around $100. They put the girl in a chair and do hair and makeup and put her in a princess costume and take pictures. The staff basically pampers the girl for an hour as if she were a princess. They take pictures and the parents of the girls always seem to treasure them. I'm not making a recommendation, just sharing a thought.
Not sure if changed, but Disney(I assume you’re going to FL) makes you pick one park, and you can’t visit other parks until after 2. So if you do magic kingdom, you can’t go to Epcot or Hollywood studios until after 2 pm.
Make sure you set your alarm for 7am so you can reserve your virtual queue spot for Tron.
Definitely buy your tickets ahead of time. I would still go with the hopper and do as much as you can.
Best Disney Rides:
Guardians of the Galaxy (Epcot)
Tron(Magic Kingdom)
Tower of terror (Hollywood Studios)
Rise of the Resistance (HS)
Rock N’ Roll Roller Coaster (HS)
Soarin (Epcot)
Yeti Roller coaster (Animal Kingdom)
I haven’t been on any rides in the pandora (avatar) area, but it’s pretty cool - animal kingdom
Universal has passed Disney in my opinion.
Velicoaster is the best ride in Orlando.
All the Harry Potter rides are great as well
Spiderman, hulk are must rides
Have fun
Make sure you set your alarm for 7am so you can reserve your virtual queue spot for Tron.
Definitely buy your tickets ahead of time. I would still go with the hopper and do as much as you can.
Best Disney Rides:
Guardians of the Galaxy (Epcot)
Tron(Magic Kingdom)
Tower of terror (Hollywood Studios)
Rise of the Resistance (HS)
Rock N’ Roll Roller Coaster (HS)
Soarin (Epcot)
Yeti Roller coaster (Animal Kingdom)
I haven’t been on any rides in the pandora (avatar) area, but it’s pretty cool - animal kingdom
Universal has passed Disney in my opinion.
Velicoaster is the best ride in Orlando.
All the Harry Potter rides are great as well
Spiderman, hulk are must rides
Have fun
We went to Disney over Thanksgiving last year. For sure do the Park Hopper pass. And as much as I think it sucks and is just a money grab do the Genie Pass. Otherwise you’ll spend your entire days just waiting in lines. Don’t waste your money on food. Just eat at the parks and skip the “restaurants.” It’s all the same and tastes like garbage you just pay more at the restaurants. If you want a good meal go off property or go to the downtown Disney area.
If you only plan one day at DisneyWorld I wouldn't bother with a park hopper pass. Magic Kingdom is large enough that you won't even experience all of it in just one day. You'll spend too much time traveling between parks rather than just enjoying where you are.
Whatever you see and do at Magic Kingdom, take your time and appreciate the incredible level of detail that the Disney Imagineers have created.
If you're going to eat in the park eat at very off times otherwise you're likely to spend a lot of time waiting to be seated.
Rather than purchasing bottled water you can ask any size food vendor for a free cup of water.
Enjoy! Whatever you see & do, take your time and see & do it well.
Whatever you see and do at Magic Kingdom, take your time and appreciate the incredible level of detail that the Disney Imagineers have created.
If you're going to eat in the park eat at very off times otherwise you're likely to spend a lot of time waiting to be seated.
Rather than purchasing bottled water you can ask any size food vendor for a free cup of water.
Enjoy! Whatever you see & do, take your time and see & do it well.
As far as Universal goes, you can buy Express Pass day of, in the park. Judge how busy it appears and buy or do not buy them. There are a limited number of passes sold per day, so keep that in mind. Also, get the Universal app, youll be glad you did.
Cant help you with Disney as I pray I never have to go back. But, ive read they are struggling and have lowered prices on kids tickets which is nice
In the future, check out silver dollar city. Rated #1 in the US this year. I can vouch for how good the roller coasters are.
Cant help you with Disney as I pray I never have to go back. But, ive read they are struggling and have lowered prices on kids tickets which is nice
In the future, check out silver dollar city. Rated #1 in the US this year. I can vouch for how good the roller coasters are.
SeaWorld is underrated.. five solid roller coasters and way cheaper than Disney
We just went back before school got out.
Definitely get the express pass at universal. Every ride, no time limit you are basically ushered to the front. It was awesome. My family loved the Harry Potter stuff. Great time.
Disney we did the park hopper. Not sure how old your kids are - but we would use it go ride the busy rides before close and early in the morning at open. Nice thing too was you close Avatar (the 3D ride is awesome and animal kingdom closes earlier than the other parks). Then we could go do Star Wars and close Hollywood studios Late night but a great time.
Rise of resistance and guardians galaxy were hands down the best rides/experiences.
For Tron / Guardians / Rise of Reistance. There are virtual ques. But as someone mentioned you have to be on point with logging into them. They log in at 7:00 am and 1:00 pm and will set a time to come back.
Genie was alright but keep in mind it only allows you to sign up for 1 attraction at a time, so basically that means you can get one of the big ones in the morning and one in the afternoon. Compared to Universals fast pass system - it wasn’t even close.
It’s expensive - it’s long days - it’s tons of walking but we had a blast. Very fun times. Enjoy.
Definitely get the express pass at universal. Every ride, no time limit you are basically ushered to the front. It was awesome. My family loved the Harry Potter stuff. Great time.
Disney we did the park hopper. Not sure how old your kids are - but we would use it go ride the busy rides before close and early in the morning at open. Nice thing too was you close Avatar (the 3D ride is awesome and animal kingdom closes earlier than the other parks). Then we could go do Star Wars and close Hollywood studios Late night but a great time.
Rise of resistance and guardians galaxy were hands down the best rides/experiences.
For Tron / Guardians / Rise of Reistance. There are virtual ques. But as someone mentioned you have to be on point with logging into them. They log in at 7:00 am and 1:00 pm and will set a time to come back.
Genie was alright but keep in mind it only allows you to sign up for 1 attraction at a time, so basically that means you can get one of the big ones in the morning and one in the afternoon. Compared to Universals fast pass system - it wasn’t even close.
It’s expensive - it’s long days - it’s tons of walking but we had a blast. Very fun times. Enjoy.
We loved SeaWorld. Went on a weekday and didn't have to wait in line. Then went and got right back on. And the shows were great.
Been to Disney twice. Don't care to ever go back.
Everything Disney is now managed by the park app, so get that installed right away. It has a park map, shows wait times for all of the rides, allows you to reserve restaurant tables, etc. Some of the most popular attractions are on a reservation system that can fill up five minutes after the day's slots open early in the morning, so pay attention to that.
We went in December, 2020. I was dreading it like a colonoscopy, but ended up having more fun than my wife who insisted we go. Magic Kingdom skews a little younger, but the rides are good for the whole family. It definitely has more to offer than the other parks. We didn't get much out of Animal Kingdom other than Expedition Everest (including the Avatar stuff). Hollywood Studios has the Star Wars area, which is amazing, but overall we didn't get much out of it either (including vastly overrated Tower of Terror).
Epcot was just dumb, though many of the new rides were not opened when we went.
Avoid Disney Springs (shopping area) like the plague. Worse than Christmas Shopping at the Mall of America. Even with police attempting to direct traffic to the titanic parking structures, it is still a mad house. There is nothing there you can't see or do at any other large suburban mall.
Sorry, thought of a few other things. We had tickets for seven days, two at each park except Epcot. Even two days at Magic Kingdom was not enough. There is no need for a Park Hopper pass, because you will never squeeze everything at Magic Kingdom in one day, let alone the other parks. Unlike the other parks, Magic Kingdom has more small rides and kitschy attractions to fill your time (like the It's a Small World, Carousel of Progress, Hall of Presidents, etc.) that have shorter lines but air conditioning and places to sit.
Magic Kingdom opens at 8:00. Get to the property an hour early, park, walk to the gate, and be ready to go before they open. Magic Kingdom has a built-in time waster in that you have to to take either the monorail or riverboat ferry to even pass through the entrance. Even then you have to walk down Main Street USA, another time waster. So at best it might be 9:00 before you board your first ride. That early arrival could net you a 20 minute wait for Space Mountain instead of three hours.
You didn't list of the ages of your party. Late in the day, the families with little kids peter out. That makes it easier to hit the more popular rides. We managed to get on Space Mountain five times in the final hour of the park, and would have gone more if they didn't design the exit so far from the entrance.
You can buy wristbands that have chips in them that act as your ticket. It can be linked to a credit card for purchases, but we used it for the photo pass. The photo pass allows you to scan the wristband at every ride and get photos linked to your account. However, that didn't work well, and my wife spent hours with tech support to identify and save our photos. They really push add-ons like that, but in retrospect we wouldn't have done either.
Magic Kingdom opens at 8:00. Get to the property an hour early, park, walk to the gate, and be ready to go before they open. Magic Kingdom has a built-in time waster in that you have to to take either the monorail or riverboat ferry to even pass through the entrance. Even then you have to walk down Main Street USA, another time waster. So at best it might be 9:00 before you board your first ride. That early arrival could net you a 20 minute wait for Space Mountain instead of three hours.
You didn't list of the ages of your party. Late in the day, the families with little kids peter out. That makes it easier to hit the more popular rides. We managed to get on Space Mountain five times in the final hour of the park, and would have gone more if they didn't design the exit so far from the entrance.
You can buy wristbands that have chips in them that act as your ticket. It can be linked to a credit card for purchases, but we used it for the photo pass. The photo pass allows you to scan the wristband at every ride and get photos linked to your account. However, that didn't work well, and my wife spent hours with tech support to identify and save our photos. They really push add-ons like that, but in retrospect we wouldn't have done either.
I like how Disney said their theme park attendance is down, hurting profits. So their solution is to raise prices by about 21 percent. I guess they figure the diehards will pay anything and to hell with the people on a budget.
Yeah.. delta is doing the same thing .. these corporations are ran by moronsI like how Disney said their theme park attendance is down, hurting profits. So their solution is to raise prices by about 21 percent. I guess they figure the diehards will pay anything and to hell with the people on a budget.
Ha funny. I consider tower of terror one of the most underrated rides but to each their own
You didn't mention the ages of your kids, but prepare for them to be disappointed. After a couple hours of standing in hot, humid ride lines and getting jostled around, most kids just want to go back to the hotel and jump in the pool. I'd save some money and take them to the Ramkota Inn in Sioux Falls. Great indoor water park
Name something that isn't up by about 21%.I like how Disney said their theme park attendance is down, hurting profits. So their solution is to raise prices by about 21 percent. I guess they figure the diehards will pay anything and to hell with the people on a budget.
For anyone looking at going to Disney, I suggest either going to EuroDisney or Tokyo Disney. My kids had such an awesome time at both and didn't have to wait near like you do at either Disneyland or Disneyworld. A few years back plane tickets were actually more expensive to Orlando than they were to Paris. Hotels around both are cheap and you get a good bang for your buck at the park. Didn't seem near as inflated.
Make sure to wear polyester socks rather than cotton. I had so many blisters after the first day I was walking like a 90 year old the rest of the trip.
Fake an injury or disability, and get a motorized scooter. You and your entire group will be ushered to the front of every line. Problem will be that probably half of the rest of the folks there have also figured this out already so….
You will never again witness such a high % of folks faking disability. You think I’m being sarcastic here… post back here when you get back. It’s stunning.
You will never again witness such a high % of folks faking disability. You think I’m being sarcastic here… post back here when you get back. It’s stunning.
I would put the design of the abandoned hotel exterior, lobby, and mechanical room used as waiting areas to be the best in all of the Disney parks. The problem is the ride itself. The whole "Twilight Zone" theme was outdated and dumb. It's like the "Imagineers" couldn't decide what to do with it. The elevator drops happened so fast they felt more like bounces than drops. I waited for two hours while my kids went through the Toy Story rides, and felt ripped off. There are drop rides in Walmart parking lot carnivals with more thrills.
Disney Sea was nice. Wouldn't really say the Hotels near Tokyo Disney are cheap though. You can get some decent ones in the Maihama area that have shuttles cheap, but not the ones near/on property.
Funny because when I went to Disney World as a kid the only thing that I actually enjoyed was the day we went to the water park. It definitely isn't a place I'd take my family. There are so many exciting places in the world that are more memorable.
lol.. yeah because carnies put it together and you might die.. guess you can call that a thrill.
We’ll make sure they slow the drops down for you next time grandpa
Given all the good advice you have received, I recommend Cedar Point in Sandusky Ohio. Best roller coaster and true amusement/ride park in the US. Was there recently and it's insane, even for those -- like me -- who hate all things Disney and Florida.
I said the drops were lame, not too exciting. The ride was boring, unless you like riding in a cart while old Twilight Zone scenes run on TV screens. It's a sucky ride.
