It's A Small World

[MGrage]

Hi Howdy Sports Fans,

Well, this might be a tad early but I'm going on vacation at the end of July. Yeah, I know. Big surprise, huh? At least this time I won't be alone. I'm going to Disneyworld with one of my neices and nephews. The problem is that I haven't been there since the Reagan administration and I was hoping to get some tips or pointers of where to go/what to do while down there. I got a room inside the park so we can hit the theme parks early. We'll be there for 6 full days and I got 4 day tickets for each of us. The girl is a princess freak and is 8 years old and the boy is 10 and a White Sox fan but I'm hoping to flip his allegience. So if any of you family men can help, I'm all ears.

*obligatory CFCL news* This means I'll probably be incommunicado from July 25th through August 1st. When's the trade deadline again? At least I won't be half a world away like last year. Mahalo

Matt

PS. I see they have a cool new character counter on the forums. That would have been useful back when I would spend a couple of days on one of my mega-posts. Only 58877 more to go ....

[Demreb]

Matt -

You are going to love Disneyworld. We were there a couple of years ago. Didn't get anywhere other than the Magic Kingdom, so here's what you should do.

#1 Near the teacups and Dumbo ride there is a movie called Mickey's Philharmagic. IT IS AWESOME!!! Great for kids, great for adults. It was so good, Kim and I kept getting back in line even after the girls were tired of it.

#2 There is a Lunch with the Princesses in Cinderella's castle that's pretty fun. Your nephew may not enjoy it, but it's a cool experience anyway. The kids get to have their picture taken as a portrait with Cinderella and then various Princess characters come around during lunch to take pictures and sign autographs. You have to sign up for this before you arrive.

#3 In Liberty Square there is a production featuring all the former presidents. That's pretty cool too, especially if your nephew is into history. Even if he isn't, the show only lasts 20 minutes, so it's pretty tolerable even for youngsters.

#4 Parades. There are a number of parades throughout the day, but there is only one where Tinkerbell is part of it. You niece may get a kick out of that. You'll have to check the park schedule to see when that parade is.

#5 Futureworld is chocked full of cool stuff for your nephew. The Buzz Lightyear ride is a ton of fun. The Barney Oldsfield Cars are fun to drive and that's also where Space Mountain is. I wasn't a big fan of the Stich ride, but he may enjoy it.

#6 In Wildernessland/country there is a pretty wild roller coaster. Tame by Great America standards, but pretty moving for Disney.

I'm sure there's a ton of other great things to do in the other parks, we could never get the girls to leave the Magic Kingdom.

Enjoy and don't worry about running the Bulls. I'm sure they'll be fine while you're gone. In fact you should probably stay there for a couple of extra weeks. Show the kids you really love them.

[Copperfields]

Small world indeed! We've never been to Disney World, but just booked our first trip there a few weeks ago. We're not going til this Fall, so I can't share any first-hand experience, but there's a very busy message board with some insanely fanatical people offering advice and "expert" tips, shortcuts, etc. You can find it here: www.disboards.com/

My wife is doing most (ok, all) of the research and prep for our trip, and she recommends these sites:

www.mousesavers.com
www.allears.net

I appreciate the notes from Rich -- good pointers!

[MGrage]

Thanks for the help Rich. I've already told them we were going to eat with the Princesses. I'm sure you can guess both their reactions. We're staying in the Wilderness Lodge so I'm sure we'll be spending alot of time in Wildernessland. And thanks for those links Dave. If I can pry myself away from Grand Theft Auto long enough, I'll have to check them out.

Do you know if they sell tickets that you use to go to the head of the line? I think they have those at Six Flags but I haven't even been there in years. If you'd like, maybe I could try to get a little of my old mojo back and write up a megapost like the old days. Mahalo

Matt

[Copperfields]

I'm told by the family expert that Disney has something called a "Fast Pass". It's a free and automatic feature of your standard ticket. Basically you go to the ride you want the fast pass on, scan your ticket at the fast pass booth, then you'll be given a ticket with an assigned time to go on the ride.

A couple notes:
- Each ride has a limited number of fast passes, and they're usually gone by early afternoon

- Not every ride has fast passes (though most of the biggies do) The website for each park lists the rides that have fast passes

This is what I remember from what Michelle told me. May not be gosple. Google "Disney" and "Fast Pass" and I'm sure you'll get the info you need straight from the mouse's mouth.

- I believe that you can hold only one fast pass at a time (you've got to use one before you get the next)

[MGrage]

Well, I haven't had much time the last couple of days to play GTA but I finally got my first deal of the year done yesterday. I also spent about 2 hours on the phone with various Disney Operators during the Cubs/Sox game. It was time well spent because I was able to schedule 7 different meals/shows/etc.

- Dinner at Cinderella's Castle, sure to be a hit with my neice and my sister in law says it should be a treat for me as well due to the, ahem, revealing nature of their costumes. :-D

- Some sort of breakfast @ the Animal Kingdom, I forget the details but I think both will get a kick out of it

- Later the same day, we go back to our hotel where they have some kind of show at the Whispering Canyon Cafe, the operator said my nephew should get a big kick out of it

- At Disney's Hollywood Studios, we're going to the Phantasmic Package. Again not quite sure of the details but the Operator seemed excited and surprised it wasn't fully booked

- More Princessy fun at the Grand Floridian Hotel by the Magic Kingdom, though I think the dwarves and Prince Charming could hold Brandon's interest somewhat this time

- Dinner by the Coral Reef in Epcot center, three level of fishy fun and when we're done eating we're near a prime spot for the fireworks show

Those fast passes must work differently from what I remember how Six Flags did it. From what I remember, you bought a book of like 10 passes and you could use them all on the same ride if you wanted. On nice side effect of staying on the Disney reservation is that they let you go to the parks early and/or stay later. So if we get up early and they get ready fast, we can hit a few rides before the masses hit the parks. It's not hard getting kids ready, right? Or should I plan on waking the little b*stards up at like 3am? I've got to go to my brother's house soon to get a detailed briefing on their "special needs". For example, my niece always waits until her bladder is bursting to go to the bathroom so if she says she has to go, I have about 60 seconds to get her to a bathroom.

Well, this quick reply hasn't been so I'll bid you all adieu. Thanks again Dave. Mahalo

Matt