• Welcome to OGBoards 10.0, keep in mind that we will be making LOTS of changes to smooth out the experience here and make it as close as possible functionally to the old software, but feel free to drop suggestions or requests in the Tech Support subforum!

Disney World Tips and Tricks

I really like the Gaylord Palms. older kids will like seeing the gator feeding in the atrium and the water park is nice, your older one may like it or not. Def want a car if you're going back and forth although there are places to take a stroller and let them sleep in the stroller without leaving the parks too.
 
Thanks - yes probably looking at renting a car

So how about this- two things I think are musts are meeting Mickey and the Frozen princesses - what’s the best way to do that? Anything beyond that probably doesn’t matter. I haven’t been to Disney in 25 years so forgive the ignorance
 
Yeah, the characters are all socially distanced from the guests. Usually just standing on a stage with a handler close by.
 
Anyone used Genie yet? We're heading to Disney in 2 weeks.
 
Nice. We'll be there the weekend/week leading up to Thanksgiving. Staying at Ft. Wilderness with family. I would love to hear some feedback from people who have recently been to the park.

my mom used it at Hollywood Studios yesterday, sounds like it worked well. she's an annual passholder and was there with my aunt and uncle who were using their DVC points for a few days. but that's the only park they went to.
 
We are making a January trip to Orlando. We'll be there Wednesday through Tuesday morning. We did magic Kingdom a few years ago but at 9 and 12 we're looking at the other options.

Looking for thoughts/recs on which parks 2 days here, 1 there etc.
 
Consider spending some time at Universal. My 9 and 12 year old and their friends prefer it to Disney.
 
We are making a January trip to Orlando. We'll be there Wednesday through Tuesday morning. We did magic Kingdom a few years ago but at 9 and 12 we're looking at the other options.

Looking for thoughts/recs on which parks 2 days here, 1 there etc.

Oh shit. I'll be there 17ththrough 21st. go deacs
 
Ships passing in the night. I'm there the week after.

Absolutely up for universal. 2 or 3 days enough/too much time?
 
Ships passing in the night. I'm there the week after.

Absolutely up for universal. 2 or 3 days enough/too much time?

Two days at Universal is plenty, but you need to get their Fast Pass for the first day.
 
Two days at Universal is plenty, but you need to get their Fast Pass for the first day.

Yeah. Two days at Universal is plenty IF you have Express Pass. Your best bet would be to do Universal on the last two days of your trip. Book your last night at one of the Premiere Universal hotels (Portofino Bay, Hard Rock, Royal Pacific). They're about $300-400 or maybe less in January, within a 10-15 minute walk or boat ride of the parks, and most importantly come with Express Pass included. One night stay gives you two days of Express Pass. I've stayed at all of them multiple times and they're great. They're on a level between the Disney moderates and deluxe with much better location and perks.

Start your first Universal day by getting to the hotel and check-in. Do this early enough and you'll be able to get into the park an hour early. That should be enough time to go to Islands of Adventure and ride Velocicoaster and Hagrid's. They're the best two coasters in the parks and neither uses the Express Pass yet. From there, you'll be free to do whatever with little wait. The Express Pass line is about 5-10 minutes for most attractions. King Kong and Gringotts tend to be 20+ minutes.

The first time we went, we rode every ride in Islands of Adventure except Dr. Seuss land on the first day and every ride at Universal Studios the second day without a problem thanks to Express Pass. One more thing, if you want to ride Hogwarts Express between the parks, you'll need the two-park pass. It's a good ride, so YMMV in terms of paying extra to go between parks.
 
We're staying in an air bnb so no luck getting the express pass that way.
 
Doing Universal without the Express Pass would take much longer. The Express Pass is $129 per person per day straight up. So it would be worth it to stay in the hotel just for the Express Pass. You could keep the AirBnB and just use the hotel to take a break on the first day.
 
So one night at 3-4 bucks gets two days of ep and park access? Is that 129 for ep and access per day. Or ticket cost + ep cost per day?
 
Park tickets are separate.

$129 per person per day gets the Express Pass. Or book one night at a premiere hotel to get two days of Express Pass and one hour early access each day.

So for a family of four, it's over $1000 to buy the passes or $300-400 to book the hotel for the passes.
 
Now you've got me wondering if it'll be cheaper to book a hotel for some EP access for two days even if we don't stay there lol. (though in the distant past I really enjoyed staying at the Portofino)

We always book two days for Universal parks on disney trips.. with EP you can hit everything and then some. Get our roller coasters fix there for sure.
 
I hadn't really thought about booking without staying as a local, but it makes perfect sense if you don't want to leave your other accommodations, especially if you can find a good rate. We always book a hotel and do two days. We started going during COVID when even the top hotels were going for around $130 a night. We've stuck with it since.
 
Back
Top