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Disney world/Universal Studios one day in each: What are the must sees?
tomisbored
Cavalier, NDRegistered User regular
Cavalier, NDRegistered User regular
Hello and Howdy,
I am heading off to Disney World (Magic Kingdoms park only) and Universal Studios (Adventure Island only) for one day (park open to close) each. I will be with my 7 year old daughter (50 some odd inches tall if that helps with ride suggestions) and my wife. What are your must sees? I have been there a couple of times myself but it's been over 20 years since I have been and I know a lot of stuff has changed.
I have already booked the munchkin's Disney Princess make over and the wife says we have to do Harry Potter world. Are the meals with characters worth the huge surcharge? If I am only there for a day and not staying at a Disney Resort can I still get fast passes? Does Universal do something like that? Does any one know how to get discounted tickets.
Also any suggestions for hotels in the area? We are are flying into\out of Orlando but actually going to Sanibel Island for a week, so any suggestions for that area too would be nice!
Thanks!
I am heading off to Disney World (Magic Kingdoms park only) and Universal Studios (Adventure Island only) for one day (park open to close) each. I will be with my 7 year old daughter (50 some odd inches tall if that helps with ride suggestions) and my wife. What are your must sees? I have been there a couple of times myself but it's been over 20 years since I have been and I know a lot of stuff has changed.
I have already booked the munchkin's Disney Princess make over and the wife says we have to do Harry Potter world. Are the meals with characters worth the huge surcharge? If I am only there for a day and not staying at a Disney Resort can I still get fast passes? Does Universal do something like that? Does any one know how to get discounted tickets.
Also any suggestions for hotels in the area? We are are flying into\out of Orlando but actually going to Sanibel Island for a week, so any suggestions for that area too would be nice!
Thanks!
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At 50-something inches, your daughter should be big enough to get on all the rides in the Magic Kingdom. Depending on how adventuresome she is, all of the Disney "mountains" (Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, and Space Mountain) are must sees, along with the Haunted Mansion. If those are too much for her, take the railroad from Main Street to Fantasyland (formerly Mickey's Toon Town Square) and work your way from the Barnstormer (roller coaster featuring Goofy) to Ariel's Under the Sea ride, stopping for anything that looks good to her along the way. Even as a kid, I was never a big fan of character dining, so I'd say pass on those; but kids generally love them, and it might just be me. One of the best places for lunch in the MK is the Liberty Tree Tavern (and has the benefit of no characters).
Depending on what the crowd is like, all of Islands of Adventure can easily be seen in one day. The one stinker to avoid is Pteranodon Flyers in Jurassic Park. Everytime I've been there, there's been at least a 45 minute wait for what is essential a 30 second ride in a swing. Unlike Disney World, where you can get fast pass tickets using your regular park ticket, Universal only passes those out to hotel guests, and those that pay an extra surcharge to get in. There are lots of places in the Orlando area that promise discounted tickets, but most (all) are just trying to sucker you into a time-share spiel which can easily eat up half a day.
If you're not looking at staying on either property (Disney resorts range from $$ - $$$, the ones at Universal are all just $$$), the hotels at the Lake Buena Vista area next to Disney World are all nice and mostly affordable. Everything outside of Universal is too touristy. Can't help with Sanibel Island, but I've heard it's nice!
Cool thanks for the heads up about the tickets, I am a big enough sucker I would have probably gone in for the discount tickets and wasted my day!
My daughter can be a bit of scaredy cat about rides so I think we might skip the mountains, I remember being terrified on Space mountain as a wee minihuman because it was so dark. I have heard its not as dark in there any more, any truth to that?
A coworker suggested to skip Jurassic Park completely as it was to scary for her kids but my daughter really loves dino's any thought on the scare level there?
The Jurassic Park River Adventure is essentially a giant floom zoom that includes velocitraptor attacks and being chased by a T-rex, so it might be too much. It's also the best part of Jurassic Park, as the rest of the island is kind of a bust. It used to have a child swap area right before you boarded, where one parent could get on the ride while another one waited with younger children, then vice versa, but it has been a while since I've been.
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The main thing at Jurassic Park is the water ride which is okay, although depending on when you go might be a bit chilly, this week has been pretty okay/warm. There's some dark areas, loud noises, and raptors jumping out at you in that one so it might be a bit scary. There's also a huge visitor's area/lab type building that might be more your daughters speed, has some cool semi-educational little exhibit kinda things for kids, although it's been years since I've stopped in.
IMO the cartoon area is also kind of a skip, it's really cool looking though, especially if you're into older cartoons like Beetle Bailey, Betty Boop, Popeye, etc.
I definitely recommend walking through, maybe snapping some pics and stopping in the shops if you're so inclined but the only rides it has are water rides and the dudley do-right one is well done but basically just splash mountain.
The Harry Potter area is super well-done, I love it. The Dr. Suess area is fantastic overall, and I also like the Poseidon show in the area between Dr. Suess and Harry Potter, could be a weeeee bit scary on account of loud noises and pyrotechnics but is pretty cool. I used to be absolutely terrified of the Great Movie Ride so I get that there's a big range of what can bother kids.
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Awesome thanks. I didn't even think about Dr. Suess, her class is reading all his books and studying about his life. She's gonna be so excited for that I might just let that be a suprise
Lol I don't know how much she wants to meet the princess as so much as she wishes she was one. We are getting her the make over and dress, so I just hoping its not overkill.
According to Universals website, I think she is to short for the dueling dragons but should be tall enough for the rest. So the Monsters Inc attraction is good? The munchkin didn't think the newest movie was all that great so she didn't seem to interested in that, good to know its worth the stop!
Regarding the princess makeover, it's a lot cheaper to buy the dress, shoes, crown, etc., at home before you go instead of getting them at the park. Sneak them into your luggage, then surprise her the day of. You can tell her Mickey dropped them off!
If you are unsure if a ride is too scary, people post POV (point of view) videos to YouTube that you can show her.
And don't forget good walking shoes and socks.
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The Harry Potter ride is neat, but since you are suspended and viewing movie screens, it can also be nausea-inducing. If you are looking to have a nice meal at Universal, the Mythos Restaurant is good and not as horrifically expensive as the fancier stuff at Disney.
ExpressPass eh? do you remember how much it was? There is a certain amount of spend thrift in me that says if it is $20 dollars or more that waiting in line builds character! On the other hand we are only there one day... is it done per ride or the whole park?
I just hope the munchkin has the stamina to stay up for them. We are hitting the park at open and going all day. The fireworks are all that I really remember from my first time as a little kid, but part that was "ohh god am I tired *BANG* holy sheeeet that was awesome!" Its good to know where to sit, because when I was little the spot to be was way out by a lagoon.
Ohh I didn't think of the youtubes! That's a good idea and she's doesn't care about spoilers like her geeky dad!
Since she is gonna go princess it up I wonder if I should dress up too? any suggestions? I think she is gonna be Belle, but I don't think I have time to whip up a Gaston or Beast costume.
at 50 inches she'll be able to do pretty much everything
Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain (or whatever it's called) are both pretty solid kiddy coasters.
Space Mountain CAN be scary if she's never been on a coaster before. I would take her to Frontier Land first and run those rides. If she can make it through those then she's primed for space mountain. I've heard anecdotes that the Right hand side line for Space Mountain is a little more mild, so consider that.
The Lilo and Stitch "ride" scares some children and frankly is pretty skippable. She's 7 so she'll probably be OK but I've seen 5 year olds freak the fuck out in that thing
Investigate and pursue fast passes vigorously, and if she's primed for it, try to stay in the park until the late hours.... because from 11PM-1AM the lines pretty much disappear and you can go on your favorite rides pretty much back to back to back without a wait.
If she really wants to meet characters I concur the easiest way is character dining... just read carefully on what the experience is. I went to "Be Our Guest" character dining and pretty much the Beast just shows up for 5 seconds and you can take a photo with him on your way out and pay for it.
But then at Epcot we did another character dining and we got a free high quality photo with a princess and like four princesses visit your table.
I think it has to do with the price range. Be Our Guest is a $$, and the one in Epcot was a $$$. In my opinion the $$$ was worth every penny for the photos alone.
In Sanibel, I can't recommend that much. Fort Myers is a pretty small place with not much going on, but Fort Myers Beach proper has a nice little area with some good restaurants. Worth a couple of hours. The beach is nice and spacious to walk. Time Square pizza is excellent.
we also talk about other random shit and clown upon each other
You can easily leverage the evening parade (if there is one the day you're there) into a good break as well -- grab some curb 30-60 minutes ahead of time, more or less depending on how busy the park is (I've always had luck finding some space by the barbershop or firehouse at the end of Main Street if you can't find anything else), have a cookie ice cream sandwich or a Dole Whip, people-watch. You'll want to watch Wishes (the fireworks show) from someplace relatively centered on the castle.
Also, everywhere at Disney has free wifi now, and they also have an app that will have wait times and show times -- really handy for when you're standing in line trying to figure out where to head to next.
If you are coming around Christmas time you should definitely stop by the Grand Floridian Hotel for the holiday party stuff they do in the main concourse. Santa photo ops, caroling, shows, it's an event in and of itself.
You can just show up by taking the monorail, no payment needed if you arent staying there (at least, so it was last time I went a few years back), but if you do choose to stay there it is the most expensive, and impressive, of their resorts.
Can we stay in the park past closing? When I made my reservations for everything, I was told the park was only going to be open from 9 am to 10 pm? but now that I think about it, our reservations for breakfast at Cinderalla's castle is at 8:30 in the morning. How does one get into these late hours? do you need to be staying at one of the resorts I wonder? but yea my daughter is a total night owl, and since the next day all we are doing is driving the 3 hours from Orlando to Sanibel it would be the perfect time for her to crash the F out!
What is this "maaagggiiiccK" band you speak of? this is the first I have heard of them? I will have to go search there sight because anything that will let me get to the fastpasses faster sounds like a good thing.
but it may change seasonally or with the weather
we also talk about other random shit and clown upon each other
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/calendars/
The column on the right titled Extra Magic Hours is for folks staying on property.
When you have early breakfast reservations there's a separate turnstile that you use to get in (used to be the right-most one). You rock up, talk to the cast member there who will have a print-out of everyone with breakfast reservations and you'll get let in.
That's a great time to get some relatively people-free pictures in front of the castle / on Main St before you start breakfast.
Several of their hotels have "world class spas" though they are very expensive. Check the hotel websites for each to see which ones are up and running. The parks, notsomuch.
Orlando has a ton of lovely spas, both in the Thorton Park area near downtown and a bunch over in Winter Park (which is the high end retail area of the city). Its a bit of a drive from Disney, but the accommodations are pretty excellent.
I don't know what\where those are, I am assuming that its Thomas Edison and Henry Ford's winter homes? Are they museums? Cause I love me a good museum!
Yep, they're museums based around their winter/retirement homes.
Oh, and let us know how it went!