We are very lucky to have no less than 4 WDW experts on this board! Now, to plan another trip..........

Once again, I'm totally in agreement with Matterhorn Fan (how can one person be so cool?). Here's a bit of a conversation I just had with CP:

MousePod:
let's say, for example, you wanted to sample food at every official on-property WDW restaurant...

Cadaverous Pallor:
I don't have to eat everywhere.
I mean ride all the rides.

MousePod:
well, then I'd say 8 nights. That's how Heather and I do it.We set aside one full day for each theme park, giving ourselves time to be leisurely.

Cadaverous Pallor:
Ok, there we go.

MousePod
At least 1/2 day for a water park, at least 1/2 day for shopping. 5 decent dinners (you'll skip lots of great restaurants, though - necessitating multiple visits); at least one night at Pleasure Island (expect to spend most of your time at the Adventurers Club);at least one good round of mini-golf

Cadaverous Pallor:
I enjoy a good meal but experiencing every restaurant is basically at the bottom of my list. All that other stuff sounds fantastic though.

MousePod:
...an evening to experience Fort Wilderness (one of my favorite "secrets");and at least 1/2 day to visit all of the resorts - to see the theming. Some people make a game of it, like: play a game of air hockey in each resort's gameroom, have a drink in each resort, use the bathroom in each resort...

Cadaverous Pallor:
Heh, you said that on the 'pod...

MousePod:
Yeah, one of my fave honeymoon memories is getting a 25th anniversary pressed quarter in each resort.
And of course, you have to make sure you chat with as many CMs as possible - they run the gamut from temp locals, to college hopefuls to retirees - tons of great stories. But like I said in my post, it's the little things that stick with you.

Cadaverous Pallor:
There's too much to do. It's very daunting. Part of the reason why we're going to Paris first...

MousePod:
I remember hanging around EPCOT - being thrilled to spot all of these tiny little lizards everywhere. Then we spent a half hour watching birds eat said lizards.
The one thing I love about being a hardcore Disney fan at WDW is the 'inversion' - by which I mean that the "major attractions" for most tourists become the wallpaper,
and the Disney atmosphere becomes the major attraction.

Cadaverous Pallor:
That happens for us at DL. you go for the atmosphere, the little things.

(thanks for letting me post this private conversation, CP. This converation belongs in this thread).

Aww, Mousepod was kind enough to take out the part where I so rudely said "well, duh." ;)

It IS the little things!

Two of my favorite memories of WDW are: feeding the turtles outside of that grill whose name I can't remember and talking with a VERY nice and knowledgable maintenance about birds; and sitting on a balcony at AKL after a fine meal at Boma, watching a terrific lightening storm in the distance in the company of wonderful friends .

Which is why I'm so happy about how the timing worked out for our Paris trip. Our plane lands at something like 8AM Paris time on the first day, giving us nearly a full day to start (I'm never one to get off a plane and go to sleep, no matter how long the plane ride...I'm always amped to go). Then 2 full days. Then on the 4th day, when we're moving to Paris, we don't have to be in the city until late afternoon, giving us the morning to say a lesirurely goodbye. So we really have 3+ days there which I hope will give us the luxury of doing a lot of lounging around and enjoying the atmosphere.

Week and a half to experience every ride show, etc.

It's a matter of mutal coolness. :cool:

Ohh, I just remembered one important question...

Do your teacups spin?

Certainly.

And they don't have to close down in the rain, either.

I'm guessing (since we're arriving the day after Thanksgiving - so not Christmas by any means) that we may not NEED to have PSs for anything except for the Candlelight dinner package. One person on another board tried to get LeCellier for a different night for 2, and they were sold out of the package (and they called the first day packages were available, but not first thing in the morning). As a group of 4 adults, though, we aren't too interested in character meals - and one seafood eating vegetarian makes 'Ohana a no-go (all she could eat would be the shrimp).

We're only making PSs for (goes to check the spreadsheet with the agenda) 3 dinners of the 8 nights we'll be there. If they do the 'free dining' thing while we're there, we may up that so we can eat at some other sit-down restaurants, because I think that will increase the people trying to eat at those places. From what I can surmise, even the $35 dining plan is causing restaurants to book up more (hmmm, I wonder if that's why Disney is doing it?)

CP - we like to do 8 nights as well - ESPECIALLY if you're coming from the West coast, you really lose that first day. My sisters are leaving Bakersfield and Portland at 6:40 and 6:25 am - and don't arrive in Orlando until 4:20. By the time you get baggage (if you don't carry on), get to the hotel, check in, and find your room - you really don't have time to go to the parks (unless you come during busy season when they're open late, and then you have a whole bigger issue with the crowds). You might be in better shape coming from LAX, since you might be able to get non-stops - but it's still 3 hours for time zones plus flight time.