We're going to Disneyworld! (and universal)

[NirvanaMan]

I'll be in Orlando on business next week and will be hitting some of the parks in my free time. The lady will be joining me for the first few days of the trip.

I think we are going to do 1 day at Disney (so we can hit that new everest ride) and 2 at the universal parks. Then in the additional free time i have the following weekeneds, I may hit some of those parks again. :)

Any recommendations for while we are down there?

[Kevy Baby]

Any recommendations for while we are down there?Have fun

[lindyhop]

Have fun

No. It's a business trip. It's against company policy.:evil:

[RStar]

Wait.

Only 1 day at Disney and two at Universal???

Traitor!


But have fun any way you lucky dog, you! :D

[Stan4dSteph]

Since you're going to Animal Kingdom to see the Everest ride:

I enjoyed the little tea shop there in Animal Kingdom that is on the trail toward Everest. Their chai latte was yummy. They also have a wide selection of loose teas to choose from.

I liked the Nemo musical, which is across the bridge from Everest. It's got a lot of puppetry in it though, so if that's not your thing you might skip it. Also, I think it's something like 40 minutes long, so if you are in a hurry...

Tusker House is a counter service place back near the entrance to the Kilimanjaro Safaris. They have a good deal on a rotisserie chicken meal.

Have a great time. :)

[Matterhorn Fan]

I enjoyed the little tea shop there in Animal Kingdom that is on the trail toward Everest. Their chai latte was yummy. They also have a wide selection of loose teas to choose from.And since their service is a bit slow, that would be a good thing to do while waiting for a fastpass to mature.

The new tea place in China at EPCOT is entirely skippable, though.

[NirvanaMan]

Interesting. We will have to check that out.

Any recommendations on accomodations. We spring for the on-site hotel last time and we were not impressed. The bathroom was not cleaned the whole trip (including before we got there). Since we only go to the hotel to sleep, we might try off-property and less expensive.

THe reason we were thinking 2 days at universal was because we spent a week at DW a year ago...but the woman has never been to the universal park. We'll play it by ear. If we can do Universal in 1 day then so be it.

:)

[Matterhorn Fan]

Where did you stay last time?

[Cadaverous Pallor]

From what I hear, there's no way you can do Universal in one day.

[NirvanaMan]

We stayed at the Port Orleans French Quarter last time.

[Stan4dSteph]

That's very strange, NM. I've never had bad service like that at a WDW resort hotel. I hope you complained about that.

There are user-submitted reviews of some of the offsite hotels at MousePlanet here (http://www.mouseplanet.com/cgi/reviews/do/find.cgi?product-category=Walt%20Disney%20World%20Resort%20%2F%20Ho tels). I've never stayed offsite so I can't comment myself.

I enjoyed my stays at Port Orleans Riverside and Animal Kingdom Lodge.

[Matterhorn Fan]

I've never stayed offsite so I can't comment myself.I stayed at the Radisson on Palm Parkway once. It was...a hotel.

From what I've seen, Port Orleans Riverside is much nicer than French Quarter.

Of course, if you're willing to pay for it, go for one of the deluxe resorts. Animal Kingdom Lodge is fairly easy to access from offsite.

[Kevy Baby]

You can usually find a good carboard box to spend the night in behind the Denny's on 16th Street.

[NirvanaMan]

That's very strange, NM. I've never had bad service like that at a WDW resort hotel. I hope you complained about that.


I probably should have, and normally I would, but I just didn't get around to it. I meant to write a letter but never had the time. I did mention it to the desk staff and they didn't seem particularly concerned and never did anything to rectify it. We always got back too late and too tired from the parks to bother too much at that point. The one time we did request something that late (I think it was clean glasses or towels as they were not provided - maid service was awful) it took them a full hour and a half to show up after telling us it would be 5 minutes. We were tired and ready for bed.

Overal, that was my only onsite experience and needless to say, it was not a great one.

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

I recommend taking me! ;)

[NirvanaMan]

We got in at 5 am this morning. Checked into the pop century and got our tickets. we then changed in our pimp grand marquis rental car. Oh yeah, we JUST rode Everest. Fukin awesome! We are now in line to ride again...this time in the front row!

[Matterhorn Fan]

Pop Century!

I don't know what to say.

[innerSpaceman]

That's why they're spending all their time at Universal: they can't hold their heads up high on Disney property,



On a sad side note - - my October trip to DisneyWorld for Epcot's 25th Anniversary just got cancelled. The Big Ball is going to be closed for rehab ... and that's the last insult to the occassion I can stand. The Big Ball is the icon of he Park, and having it stand closed for the 25th Annersary of Epcot is 12 steps worse than simply not having any official celebration of the milestone.


Bah.

[NirvanaMan]

What's wrong with the Pop Century mr. hotel snob?

Actually it wasn't very good. But neither was the Port Orleans. However, when all you're doing is sleeping there between 1am and 8am then it is rather foolish to piss away a ton of money on one of the super expensive hotels.

Next time we will likely stay off property for this type of excursion. Basically we got a $40 room for the low low Disney price of $120.

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

OMG! Don't tell me the Big ass ball is going to be closed in October????

That's when I'm going. :(

[Clara]

I'm planning a DisneyWorld trip for Feb. 2011, yes 2011. I want my son to be old enough and tall enough to ride things and to remember.

So did you have fun?