| Product: |
Walt Disney World Resort Florida in general |
| Date: |
01/03/01 (641 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Heaven for kids
Disadvantages: Expensive
I took a family of five to Disney World Orlando last June. Children's ages were 2 ½ 8, and 10. We took the "safe" route of staying on the Disney Park (hotel Dolphin).
Hotels in the park have considerable advantages; you do not need a car, you get earlier access to the parks and from our we can stroll over to the "Board Walk" evening entertainments area which is easily accessible from the Swan or the Dolphin. The disadvantage is obviously the extra cost.
June was very hot and suffers from some tropical storms; it was predictable that at about 3pm most afternoons the clouds came over and sometimes it rained heavily for an hour or so. It is not like rain over in England in that it is much heavier and as it is so warm the rain dries out almost immediately.
However on some days it can turn into a "proper" thunderstorm and the Americans are careful not to allow many of the rides and entertainments to run with the threat of lightning. If you get caught out in these without one of the very cheap ponchos (a rare Disney bargain) you get WET.
The hotel includes a self service breakfast of the "all you can eat" kind, so if you can face it, it is a good idea to fill up. We took a few bananas or cakes with us as snacks for later.
Lunch is generally taken on the "hoof" around the park, and we had a proper meal either back at the hotel or on the board walk.
You need to drink all the time to avoid dehydration. The big risk is when you go to one of the three brilliant water parks; we had a day at Typhoon Lagoon, which has plenty of shaded deck chairs if you get there reasonably early (say before 10 am). However we all got sun burnt because the water fools you into feeling cool, washes off your sun screen and not ‘till you get back to the hotel do you realise you are as pink as a lobster! Two of us had mild sun stroke and that ruins the next day or so.
M
ake sure you all have head gear to keep the sun off and loads of water. The little ones needed a break from the rides, and we often went back to the hotel for refuge and a swim at the hottest part of the day, say from 1pm to 3.30 pm.
Magic kingdom is good but in my view getting just a little old and tired. It is at its magical best in the evening, with its light parades and fireworks, and best of all on special evenings only available to hotel guests when they keep the best attractions open for an extra couple of "exclusive" hours for an extra $10 per person booked in advance. It is worth doing to enjoy much shorter queues to ride the best rides like big thunder mountain, splash mountain, space mountain etc.
Be prepared to find that younger children (our 8 year old girl) can get intimidated by the rides where there is too much of a thrill anticipated; on splash mountain you can see the huge final splash run and with riders screaming it is too much for the more timid riders.
Eating out at Disney restaurants can be very expensive; even modest food is going to set you back £50 for a family. Buy wine with your meal only if you are feeling very rich; it is not available in much of the park but at the Board Walk it is typically £10 for a (large) glass of house wine- say £45 for a botte of wine I would buy for £4 from a supermarket!
The best tip I can offer anyone staying on the park watching your budget is to stop off at a supermarket on the way from the airport (or soon after you arrive) and fill up with soft drinks, snacks beer and wine, which are either a massive amount more in the hotel / park or not available. We prefer bottled water, and this is a real rip-off. The hotel mini-market was charging over $4 for a medium sized bottle, which was about 0.79c in the-off site supermarket. We discovered this after a few days and the taxi driver said many people do this.
The average American family hope
to go the Disney World at least once and budgets $10,000 for 2 weeks! You have to allow for the fact that your children will want fluffy toys, t-shirts, ride photos etc, all of which soon add up.
We took a folding travel buggy from home, which is light and had a rain cover and sun shade for the little one- much better and admired by all the other "guests" on the park. Although there are buggies provided, these are often old, heavy metal framed ones designed for huge children (our are pint-sized) and they are not as easy to thread through the crowds nor as convenient as your own; we kept supplies of water and snacks along with water-proof clothing in a tray beneath the seat.
We booked through a major tour operator, which was great for finding rooms etc but they forgot to tell us that the under three your old was free to get into the park! She had her own ticket and not until the middle of the holiday did one of the gate attendants say she did not need it! The best part was, I could get a refund of about $280, and this was a huge bonus!
The Dolphin comes with our approval as it has rooms large enough for 5 to share with a balcony (well worth specifying), about 7 acres of various sized swimming pools and was well located for evening strolls to Epcot or the Board Walk. The only disadvantage of the Swan/Dolphin twins is that they are used as convention centres for "suits" from a wide area, and people in suits with mobile phones are the last ones I wanted to share my holiday with, even though they were perfectly polite. I might be tempted to go for a smaller hotel next time, giving up some of the extra facilities it offered (like a 24 hour mini super market, electronic games room, boutique shops and a large variety of restaurants).
If you are going without a car like us, check how well served the hotel is for transport on park, as some of them are on much slower links to the main parks, meaning
a 30-40 minute travel or more each way. The most expensive hotels are generally the ones on the mono-rail or near the Magic Kingdom, like the Grand Floridian (if you have to ask, you cannot afford it.....). The Dolphin had water taxis and great bus links.
Remember that you can use the more expensive hotels; we took one of our complimentary character breakfasts in the Grand Floridian for no extra charge.
Epcot is not as flashy or immediately appealing as say MGM, but it has the best fire works, and great shows worth seeking out (all entrances free with the main ticket). Some of the food was to a higher standard than the middling quality stuff in most of the parks- if you are a "foody" this is not a place to go; it is more of the fuel variety, by and large, than gourmet eating, with one or two limited exceptions.
Epcot had more enduring attractions once the thrill rides have all been ridden. It also has some great places for Disney "Character" breakfasts, such as the land pavilion. At the beginning of the holiday we were a bit disappointed in its attractions, as the only thrill ride is Test Track, but as time went on, we discovered more we liked, such as the huge underground sea world the Living Seas, and unexpectedly good little rides like Norway's Maelstrom (an in door waterslide with trolls to spare). We did not get to see all the exhibits, despite Epcot being on our doorstep, so to speak.
We used taxis (or should I say "town cars") for short trips out to shopping malls - not too expensive if only used for this. They were very clean, with pleasant helpful drivers on the whole. Say $30 plus the usual 15% tip.
Florida Mall is huge, and a new "designer mall" was just opening. At the Nike store we saw an American family buying a sack barrow load of trainers; hard to believe anyone needs so many!
Our best discovery was Islands of adventure and Universal S
tudios. OK, they do not have the romance of Disney, but the rides knock most of the Disney rides for six! The honourable exceptions are Disney's Rock and Roller Coaster (wow,I could ride that one 6 times a day), The Tower of Terror (a free fall in a dark lift falling 13 floors, but as smooth as silk- I was beginning to doubt the claims until I had to catch my sun glasses in my tee shirt pocket which were falling UP!) Splash Mountain and the Dinosaur ride in animal kingdom, and the safari tour,and it has to be admitted several others which are nearly as good....
Islands of adventure is much newer and more colourful, if slightly less well "themed". The duelling dragons ride is awesome, not just the ride but the queue through a dark, twisting mountain creating a huge suspense not disappointed by the thrilling rides! We found the queues shorter, the rides technically superior and food at the restaurants better and more affordable. I was amazed when we decided on a treat; in an air conditioned cave we found an Italian restaurant in mid park, with white table cloths etc, was not too busy mid day and was reasonably priced (about $20 for two of us, two courses with soft drinks and waiter service).
In Universal studios the shows were brilliant and one not to miss is the Terminator 2; 3D which is part 3d film, part acting, and is so real that I had to take my special 3D glasses off to see what was real and what was filmed! Do not miss. I think I will do a separate review on the Universal parks.
If you are thinking of a holiday based on theme parks there are a huge selection; Busch Gardens claims to have many rides and we will check this out next time!
We made mistakes to avoid; keep plenty of small dollar bills for tips; at the hotel everyone seems to be looking for tips. Apparently Florida has 100% employment and the doormen and their kind get grouchy very quickly if not tipped, knowing they are not likely to be sa
cked. One time we came back from the supermarket with some bags of food; the doormen rushed to carry these (expecting a dollar per bag)- we did not need help, and one of them abandoned the heavy trolley, which ran down the pavement, nearly injuring the baby., save only for the fact that my eldest daughter saw it coming and stopped it just in time.
This was an isolated incident and well worth complaining about; I made a quiet but firm complaint to the manager of this 2,000 room hotel (yes, it is HUGE) and he was brilliant- we had chocolates, flowers, a complimentary meal, and all of the "extras" on our bill knocked off, worth £300 or so!
It may sound like I am prone to complain, but I am very "British" in this country I hardly ever complain. However because of a mix -up over tickets at Universal, I found we were waiting well over an hour to see the customer service desk, and when I got there I pointed out that I had been sent to wrong queues, and kept waiting, losing much playtime in the middle of a hot day. I was hoping for a discount of say $20 off the tickets, and was initially disappointed when they offered me a hand-written pass; I thought was a fob-off, until I realised it gave us instant priority to all rides! Wow, if you could buy one of these you would pay an extra £50! We saw every good ride or show and probably had more rides in one day than you would get in two or three without it.
Remember Americans only generally get 2 weeks holiday and consequently they expect everything to be perfect, so if it is not up to their generally very high standards, say so!
This is a must do for anyone with children between 3- 12, and even the adults have fun!
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