My wife and I will be taking 2 small children to Walt Disney World in Florida in 2 weeks. I get to go as a bonus thru my work. We are staying at the Hilton. My question is what is the weather like down there in January? Any good ideas on what to see and do with twins that are 2 years old? I am kind of looking forward to it. A chance to get out of Iowa in January. Oh well, enought blabbing. Any responses are greatly appreciated. [Reply]
On "bus vs. monorail": the last time we went, we did not have a great experience with the buses. It was Animal Kingdom Lodge in early December, and it seemed like every bus took 15 minutes to arrive (while buses for other destinations kept going by). Don't get me wrong, buses beat driving. But they're not great. As for the monorail, you have three choices: Grand Floridian (very expensive), Polynesian (expensive), or Contemporary (expensive). Both the Polynesian and Contemporary have their advantages. For the Polynesian, you can monorail or boat to the Magic Kingdom, OR you can walk to the Transportation and Ticket Center to monorail to EPCOT. (The monorail system consists of a loop from the TTC to the Polynesian to the Magic Kingdom to the Contemporary to the Grand Floridian. Then there is a spur that runs from the TTC to EPCOT. The Polynesian is close enough to the TTC that you can walk there in a few minutes.) The Contemporary is close enough to the Magic Kingdom that you can walk it in 10 minutes; nothing beats leaving the park at the end of the night and watching the crowds queue up at the monorail, boats, and buses, while you take a leisurely stroll back to the Contemporary.
As for the rainstorms: go to your local dollar store or big-lots store. Most of them sell a $1 plastic poncho (complete with drawstring hood and elastic-cuffed arms) that is folded up in a small ziploc bag. Carry one around, and wear flipflops: if it starts to pour, you can unfold your raincoat, let the rain fall, not have to worry about your wet legs and feet, and save $10 from not having to buy Disney's heavy rain ponchos. [Reply]
Originally Posted by JD10367:
The Contemporary is close enough to the Magic Kingdom that you can walk it in 10 minutes; nothing beats leaving the park at the end of the night and watching the crowds queue up at the monorail, boats, and buses, while you take a leisurely stroll back to the Contemporary.
Seriously? I remember it being fairly close, but not leisurely stroll close. You still have to go accross that lake right? [Reply]
Originally Posted by Deberg_1990:
Seriously? I remember it being fairly close, but not leisurely stroll close. You still have to go accross that lake right?
No, the Contemporary is next door almost. Call up Bing Maps and zero in on Disney World, you'll see what I mean. [Reply]
Originally Posted by JD10367:
On "bus vs. monorail": the last time we went, we did not have a great experience with the buses. It was Animal Kingdom Lodge in early December, and it seemed like every bus took 15 minutes to arrive (while buses for other destinations kept going by). Don't get me wrong, buses beat driving. But they're not great. As for the monorail, you have three choices: Grand Floridian (very expensive), Polynesian (expensive), or Contemporary (expensive). Both the Polynesian and Contemporary have their advantages. For the Polynesian, you can monorail or boat to the Magic Kingdom, OR you can walk to the Transportation and Ticket Center to monorail to EPCOT. (The monorail system consists of a loop from the TTC to the Polynesian to the Magic Kingdom to the Contemporary to the Grand Floridian. Then there is a spur that runs from the TTC to EPCOT. The Polynesian is close enough to the TTC that you can walk there in a few minutes.) The Contemporary is close enough to the Magic Kingdom that you can walk it in 10 minutes; nothing beats leaving the park at the end of the night and watching the crowds queue up at the monorail, boats, and buses, while you take a leisurely stroll back to the Contemporary.
As for the rainstorms: go to your local dollar store or big-lots store. Most of them sell a $1 plastic poncho (complete with drawstring hood and elastic-cuffed arms) that is folded up in a small ziploc bag. Carry one around, and wear flipflops: if it starts to pour, you can unfold your raincoat, let the rain fall, not have to worry about your wet legs and feet, and save $10 from not having to buy Disney's heavy rain ponchos.
Actually the Disney ponchos are 7 bucks and worth every penny. This is coming from a cheapskate by the way. [Reply]
My brother left for Disney today. He's proposing to his girlfriend down there since it's her favorite place on earth. Me, I hate Disney World with a passion and the only time I will ever step foot there is when my son is old enough to go. [Reply]
You must be walking slow if it takes you 10 minutes to walk to MK from the Contemporary....and I'm over 50.
Not sure why your experience with the buses was so bad, but for all the times I have gone, the buses have been very prompt. The Monorail is nice fun, but it too can be as cumbersome as riding the ferry's over.
As I said earlier, the Polynesian offers nothing for me but proximity to MK. It's feel is outdated and the only appeal is the Luaua....
Originally Posted by JD10367:
On "bus vs. monorail": the last time we went, we did not have a great experience with the buses. It was Animal Kingdom Lodge in early December, and it seemed like every bus took 15 minutes to arrive (while buses for other destinations kept going by). Don't get me wrong, buses beat driving. But they're not great. As for the monorail, you have three choices: Grand Floridian (very expensive), Polynesian (expensive), or Contemporary (expensive). Both the Polynesian and Contemporary have their advantages. For the Polynesian, you can monorail or boat to the Magic Kingdom, OR you can walk to the Transportation and Ticket Center to monorail to EPCOT. (The monorail system consists of a loop from the TTC to the Polynesian to the Magic Kingdom to the Contemporary to the Grand Floridian. Then there is a spur that runs from the TTC to EPCOT. The Polynesian is close enough to the TTC that you can walk there in a few minutes.) The Contemporary is close enough to the Magic Kingdom that you can walk it in 10 minutes; nothing beats leaving the park at the end of the night and watching the crowds queue up at the monorail, boats, and buses, while you take a leisurely stroll back to the Contemporary.
As for the rainstorms: go to your local dollar store or big-lots store. Most of them sell a $1 plastic poncho (complete with drawstring hood and elastic-cuffed arms) that is folded up in a small ziploc bag. Carry one around, and wear flipflops: if it starts to pour, you can unfold your raincoat, let the rain fall, not have to worry about your wet legs and feet, and save $10 from not having to buy Disney's heavy rain ponchos.
Not sure where you are buying your ponchos, but I've never encountered one that was $10.....are you sure you bought it from a Disney vendor?
Originally Posted by The Bad Guy:
My brother left for Disney today. He's proposing to his girlfriend down there since it's her favorite place on earth. Me, I hate Disney World with a passion and the only time I will ever step foot there is when my son is old enough to go.
Originally Posted by mmaddog:
Just for grins...what makes you hate it so much?
mmaddog
********
I'm not a big ride fan, hate roller coasters because I'm deathly afraid of heights.
I think every time I went as a kid with my parents, there was an issue. We drove down there when I was in 8th grade. My brothers were in 3rd and 1st grade at the time. They both were sick on the ride down and threw up everywhere.
The other time we went, I had chicken pox. They were everywhere - worst part was they were on my tongue.
I just never had a pleasurable experience there. It has a lot to do with the fact I'm a dud when it comes to rides, but a lot of the shit that happened plays a large role in my hatred.
I will like it a lot more when my son can experience it. [Reply]
Originally Posted by The Bad Guy:
I'm not a big ride fan, hate roller coasters because I'm deathly afraid of heights.
I think every time I went as a kid with my parents, there was an issue. We drove down there when I was in 8th grade. My brothers were in 3rd and 1st grade at the time. They both were sick on the ride down and threw up everywhere.
The other time we went, I had chicken pox. They were everywhere - worst part was they were on my tongue.
I just never had a pleasurable experience there. It has a lot to do with the fact I'm a dud when it comes to rides, but a lot of the shit that happened plays a large role in my hatred.
I will like it a lot more when my son can experience it.
Not all of them are rides. There are great places that involves without rides. The Bug Life is one of them that I had a good experience with. Pretty funny. The zoo is another good place to check out animals and go on one of those big trucks that ferry you around their zoo lot to see upclose on some of the animals they have to offer. [Reply]
Has anyone been in July/August? Is it as horrible as I'm thinking it is?. My current plan is to skip it, but if enough people think otherwise... [Reply]
Has anyone been in July/August? Is it as horrible as I'm thinking it is?. My current plan is to skip it, but if enough people think otherwise...
I had a friend that went around the first of August and said it was brutal. He still had a good time but said the weather really took it out of him. [Reply]
