Want to plan a trip to see the fat rat in FL,any suggestions?

Derick Freese wrote: If you can't find enough sit-down restaurants on property to use up your dining credits, you're not trying very hard.

Dining credit? berkeley that. That just guarantees you spend it there. Dollars work everywhere.

I had Club access on the concierge floor and I could not make same day reservations unless I wanted to secure it with a credit card. I don't mean those stands where you snag a giant turkey leg or the fake sports bars - I mean a real sit down place where you order a bottle of wine and park your ass for 4 courses. Like the place upstairs in Epcots French area. Part of the issue was I did not want to plan to be somewhere at 7PM on thursday on tuesday afternoon. That just isn't how I vacation - we wander and figure dinner out in the afternoon on the day we eat it. I found it easy to just ask the door man to hail me a cab to town where there is no tuesday dinner crowd or false sense of urgency.

+1 on Fastpass. That really saves ones patience. Park Hopper is also great - because after about 2hrs of crowds in the Magic Kingdom you can bail for something else and come back later. This is useful when a beer seems like a good idea as there is none anywhere in that park.

You have to have a card on file to make any Disney dining reservation, even one for 30 minutes from when you place the reservation.

The dining plan works well for people that don't want to leave property during their vacation. There's nothing but chain restaurants in the immediate area. Anything that's better than you'd find on property will require the use of a car or public transportation. The theme park area is filled with tourist traps and "familiar" food. You're going to have to drive to at least the Mall at Millenia for anything approaching "good" food.

Park hopper passes are also good for parks that close early for either a hard ticket event or during low attendance periods. Animal Kingdom always closes early, sometimes as early as 6PM. I feel it's a waste of a ticket, especially if they have other parks running for another 6 hours that night for the same ticket price.

Derick Freese wrote: You have to have a card on file to make any Disney dining reservation, even one for 30 minutes from when you place the reservation.

Not exactly true - they will not take a reservation at the hotel concierge within an hour at all. Some are unsecured and you can make it - then not show. Some places require a credit card and bang it for a fee if you are a no-show.

I am sure if you are a frequenter of the place and know all the inside stuff you can get what you want with less hassle - but I am not. I had a good travel agent, stayed in a Club room on the concierges floor with some nice perks and for the most part had a good time... But for the sake of the OP - I am offering a 1st hand example from the first week of this month, this year and telling ya... as a guy who does not want wait in line ever for anything on my own vacation - it can be a frustrating week if ya aren't feeling the magic and there are cabs right out front so instead of blowing a gasket - hand the doorman $5 and say "I need a cab to a nice restaurant in town".

My personal opine is that my kids went, they enjoyed themselves and now I never, ever need to do that again. Some people love the place. I'm not E36 M3ting on anyones parade but I bet there are a lot of dads in the same boat. In fact, I drank a whiskey in the hotel bar around 11PM with quite a few of them most nights when the wife and kids hit the hay.

Mazdax605 wrote: Want to plan a trip to see the fat rat in FL

They are now in the Florida Keys...

Sorry, no helpful suggestions to Disney World...

You want a really all inclusive, really expensive Disney vacation? Try a Disney cruise. I've been on three. I hate to think about how much I've spent on them.

Like I mentioned we want to do a split trip in the park and a short 3-4 day cruise as I have a close friend that has been on maybe 10 of them. It just dosn't seem to be in the budget this time however. I have never been on a cruise but it sounds like it is right up this fat guys alley if you know what I mean. I was thinking 3-4 days at the park and then a 4 day cruise, but when we went to a local vacation show at Gillette stadium a few weeks back it looked like it was going to run aroun $6000 for us to do that. You know how many E36 M3box, err, I mean quaility cars I can get for that amount?!!

Mazdax605 wrote: Like I mentioned we want to do a split trip in the park and a short 3-4 day cruise as I have a close friend that has been on maybe 10 of them. It just dosn't seem to be in the budget this time however. I have never been on a cruise but it sounds like it is right up this fat guys alley if you know what I mean. I was thinking 3-4 days at the park and then a 4 day cruise, but when we went to a local vacation show at Gillette stadium a few weeks back it looked like it was going to run aroun $6000 for us to do that. You know how many E36 M3box, err, I mean quaility cars I can get for that amount?!!

It is about $6k for 5 days w/o the cruise by the time they have held you captive and fleeced your pockets empty. That is about what a week in Hawaii, Germany (...) or rafting the Grand Canyon runs with some actual adventure involved give or take a bit. Some battles I lose though... chock one up for the missus and the rat. We went to an amusement park with that dough.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: My personal opine is that my kids went, they enjoyed themselves and now I never, ever need to do that again. Some people love the place. I'm not E36 M3ting on anyones parade but I bet there are a lot of dads in the same boat. In fact, I drank a whiskey in the hotel bar around 11PM with quite a few of them most nights when the wife and kids hit the hay.

You're not alone. I've been there three times, 2 1/2 too many. The last time I went was for my honeymoon. The wife had never really been anywhere outside New York and wanted to see Disney, as some of her friends and family go all the time. We had fun, and neither of us needs to go back.

I live in Florida. Went to Disney once, 25 years ago. That was enough. I dislike what The Big D has done to Central Florida, the way they intimidate politics, the power they so happily throw around. Plus, it's all plastic and fake. Busch Gardens is MUCH nicer. Cheaper, good food, short or no lines. We just take short trips to the Keys.

I am a dork. I like Disney. That's the only "vacation" we ever did as kids, so I guess maybe I'm just all sentimental about it or whatever. Wife and I went there when we were first dating (and under 21...) got a room at the "Carribean Resort," which was really pretty cool. They had their own pool, waterslide, bird sanctuary deal, etc. "Fort Wilderness" is a bunch of little cabins, still really close to the park. The Contemporary (???) is the big A-frame right next to the park. The "Cheap guy" way to go is get a hotel outside of the park the night you get down there, on morning one, head to the park and check into hotel, go to Disney all day, stay at the park, hit the park the next day, spend the night, head home.

Seems like that'd about do it for me. Then again, we never got to do the "week long" thing when I was a kid. My dad was lucky to get two or three days off.

Assuming Wet & Wild is still there, it's better than the disney water park, and probably cheaper. There used to be a Malibu Gran Prix and a HUGE putt-putt place near Wet & Wild too. We'd always stay at a big round hotel right near Malibu.

Derick Freese wrote: Make sure you ride the Carousel of Progress. Do it in the middle of the day so it serves as a nice air conditioned break (even in December). Make note of the brand new flat panel TV and LED Christmas tree lights in the last scene. The last scene is supposed to be the future, which was about 12 years ago. The new equipment almost matches the rest of that set.

A few years ago, my wife and I took a quick trip to Disney for our 10th anniversary. We had an early morning flight, so I was tired by mid-day, plus it was hot outside. We went into the Carousel and I fell asleep somewhere after the 1950's.

Yes, Disney is expensive, no way around it. Last time we were there was 2010. We stayed for 11 days, 10 nights. Between airfare, food, Disney tickets (which is the killer), spending cash, etc... I'd say we spent $5000. There were 6 of us. We were going to go again this summer, but decided to postpone until next summer when the Magic Kingdom expansion project is done. We try to save money where we can. We're probably going to drive this time instead of fly. Having the rental house lets us save a lot on food costs too, as we pack most meals. We don't buy much souveniers inside of Disney, a lot of it is stupid expensive. Tons of shops outside the park to get that crap.

Park Hopper option on the ticket is definitely worth the cost. FastPass is also a great tool to use whenever possible.

We go to Disney now for our kids, but I'll admit that I really enjoy it too.

You know what was killing me on the Disney cruise? I paid all that money partly so we could eat anything we want. The buffet spread was incredible. One of my kids ate nothing but toast for breakfast and rice for lunch and dinner. The other ate salad and chicken nuggets.

+10000000000 on staying at a Disney hotel and using the meal plan. I have stayed at the All-Star resorts before, and they are great. Just a quick bus ride to the park of choice, decent food, great pools for the kids, and a clean, no-nonsense room. Disney staff also bend over backwards to make your day great. (I questioned the surliness of the desk clerk at check in... and got a free room night. Not a complaint, just an offhanded comment that was overheard).

The meal plan is a massive bargain, but be sure to maximize it all that you can. It is good at Downtown Disney, so go eat one meal at Wolfgang Puck's place. And whatever you do, make reservations for every meal. We ate in an indoor restaurant that was an outdoor drive-in movie at night! 2-hour wait without a reservation, but we walked right in. Same at the Crystal Palace to see some characters. Same at the Disney Castle. Oh, and if you want breakfast with the Princesses, call at 7:00 am exactly 6 months to the day that you want to eat. They book up in 10 minutes EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR.

Don't rent a car either, let Disney pick you up at the airport, deal with your bags, and bus you to the resort right from Orlando International. Just put swimsuits in your bag and hit the pool or eat while waiting for your bags to show up.

In reply to cwh:

I like the Sea World and Busch Garden parks. Don't expect much out of Universal, though. That place is a ghetto compared to the rest of the top-level parks in the area. I won't go at all.