Please note that I VERY CAREFULLY excluded my oh so undeserving self from inclusion in my original post. I would never take on such airs as to include myself in such things.

;) back at ya.

OK, remeber that these are my picks and in no way may be yours once you visit them. These are the things that I LOVE about WDW

#5: Leave a Legacy- I love this thing at EPCOT! I have spent two hrs, there just looking at all the different faces. I have even bought one with my friend Adam for our senior trip. I'll post a pic later.

#4: Hall of Presidents- I love this because of the realness of it. It makes you think that all of the presidents are really there. When the attraction first opened, Ppl actually believed that CM were up there in costumes and they were playing the parts of the presidents!

#3: Animal Kingdom: This is one of my favorite parks. The major reason being because it is a lazy park. With lots of shade and very few REAl things to do. Its a nice place to just take a leisurely walk and slow things down a bit. I suggest doing DAK on the middle day of your vacation. Its nice to get a good relax and take things slow day amongst all the chaos that is my WDW vacation. its lets you rest.

#2: The fairways Course at Fantasia Gardens- Are you ready for some uber hard putt-putt golf? This is the place for it. It actually has sandtraps, water hazards and it easy to put your ball in the rough. Its just like real golf, but its putt-putt. I love playing this course!

And finally...

#1: The World Showcase @ Epcot- Enough said here. I love checking this place out because I am a somewhat poor man. I may not even get to visit a foreign country and this place brings a little piece of thirteen countires right to my favorite place on Earth. I love to take my time and explore the different countries. But beware this is a major sunburn zone. No trees and not a lot of shady areas to sit and "smell the daisies."

Hope this helps you out!

BDK

Uhm, which bank should I rob to pay for our trip out there next year? I know, it depends on where we want to stay....We're leaning toward the Grand Floridian- so should I go after Wells Fargo, or our local credit union? They seem pretty flush these days.....;)

(Seriously, I will be asking questions about the resort as soon as we figure out our travel dates).

Sounds good. I would take Wells Fargo. The GF is pretty expensive but VERY, VERY nice!

We'll be there for a week+ at the end of August '06... hopefully we can arrange a meet (I mean, one year should be enough time to plan something like that...)

Yep, I don't live down there, but that is about the time that I take one of my trips every year. Hopefully we can get together. Maybe even do a mousepod from WDW. That would be great!

Your body must have built-in air conditioning if you think AK is shady and cool.


Things WestCoasters Shouldn't Miss: All of it. Things are different at WDW--why skip stuff just because it has the same name? Show up and experience it all.

Hear, hear!

Even when we lived in NY and made multiple multi-week trips every year we never crossed off every experience from our "to-do" list.

In my mind, I look at WDW like a favorite restaurant with a huge and fabulous ever-changing menu. I always go with anticipation for the favorites that I'll enjoy, I get to sample some new treats while I'm there, and I always leave sated.

Now that my visits have been averaging every 18 months, I find that I'm longing for the "little things" even more - like sitting in the bandshell savoring an early morning latte outside the WOD or lingering maybe a little too long around the naked mole rat colony at DAK. These are uniquely special experiences that I treasure and can't wait to share with my loved ones on our next visit.

Ok, here's a good one. How many days would it take to decently experience ALL of WDW? I'm not talking about a leisurely pace, but not a horrific rush either...

Hmmm...define "decently."

I'd say:

1 day for Animal Kingdom
1 day for the Studios
2+ for EPCOT
1-2 for Magic Kingdom

So that's about a week. And you could fit DTD and a little resort-hopping in there.

You'd have to add more days if you wanted to go to the water parks, miniature golf, regular golf, etc. And even more if you wanted to venture off-property (Universal, Sea World, Kennedy Space Center, beaches, etc.).

I wouldn't recommend you schedule a trip for fewer than 5 days. Stay more than a week (especially in the heat), and you'd want to move at a leisurely pace--that is, if you wanted to move at all. ;)