Orlando-Disney Theme Parks

Need some information from experienced travellers to Orlando...

I'd like to visit some of the Disney theme parks (most likely alone
unless I can talk someone into coming with me).

Do you think 3 days is enough time to see most of the parks? What's
the best time of year to go (as in, where it's not incredibly busy)?
Is there a time of year in Florida where it's not swelteringly hot? (I
went to Tampa in February and was sunburnt to a crisp... Even in
California I've never gotten a sunburn). How much money does a person
need for themselves inside the themepark (excluding admission) for
food stuffs and other minor things? Yes, I know souvenirs cost more, I
will factor that in after.

There's quite a few advertised discounts to Florida, and I wouldn't
mind going, just not over "Spring Break" or Christmas.

S.

Do you think 3 days is enough time to see most of the parks?

Disney World is huge, but you can certainly see a lot in 3 days if you
pick a time when they aren't super busy. I'd suggest one day in the
Magic Kingdom, one day in Epcot, and on your third day choose either
Disney-MGM Studios OR Animal Kingdom (or spend a half-day at each).

Keep in mind that if you go at a busy time, many rides & attractions
will have long lines.


What's the best time of year to go (as in, where it's not incredibly busy)?

According to the Disney World site's FAQ, these are the least busy
times:

1) January (except New Year's Day) until just prior to Presidents'
week in February
2) The week following Labor Day until just prior to Thanksgiving week
3) The week following Thanksgiving until the week prior to Christmas

Their FAQ pages also list moderately-busy times and most-busy times.
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw...FAQLandingPage


Is there a time of year in Florida where it's not swelteringly hot?

Last time I was at Disney World was in January and we had days in the
low 70s and cool evenings. On this page you can find monthly averages
throughout the year:
http://www.weather.com/weather/wxcli...graph/USFL0372

Buy a good Disney World guidebook before your trip. They give lots of
advice on how to make the best use of your time. At Amazon.com you can
read customer reviews of the various guidebooks.

James

Thanks for such a detailed response. I saw on one of the websites I
bargain hunt my holidays that they have very cheap airfare to Orlando.
This is one I'd have to go at alone, one of my travel pals doesn't
like to go too far from home, but was very happy to show me everything
in California (almost) when I was there. We thought Disneyland sucked,
so we thought we'd give Disneyworld a shot after my dad spent
Christmas there. But it looks like I'm now on my own for this one... I
had thought of going down in summer when my friend in Macon, GA is on
summer break, but I don't know if I could handle Florida in summer. I
almost died trying to handle Mississippi in summer (and it was only
June).

I like these 4-5 day adventures, so I had hoped I could fly down there
fairly cheap and see some other things too. I get more holidays than
my spouse since I work contract, so he can't come with me on most of
my adventures.

S.

On Jul 24, 12:10 am, wrote:
Do you think 3 days is enough time to see most of the parks?

Disney World is huge, but you can certainly see a lot in 3 days if you
pick a time when they aren't super busy. I'd suggest one day in the
Magic Kingdom, one day in Epcot, and on your third day choose either
Disney-MGM Studios OR Animal Kingdom (or spend a half-day at each).

Keep in mind that if you go at a busy time, many rides & attractions
will have long lines.

What's the best time of year to go (as in, where it's not incredibly busy)?

According to the Disney World site's FAQ, these are the least busy
times:

1) January (except New Year's Day) until just prior to Presidents'
week in February
2) The week following Labor Day until just prior to Thanksgiving week
3) The week following Thanksgiving until the week prior to Christmas

Their FAQ pages also list moderately-busy times and most-busy times.http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw...FAQLandingPage

Is there a time of year in Florida where it's not swelteringly hot?

Last time I was at Disney World was in January and we had days in the
low 70s and cool evenings. On this page you can find monthly averages
throughout the year:http://www.weather.com/weather/wxcli...graph/USFL0372

Buy a good Disney World guidebook before your trip. They give lots of
advice on how to make the best use of your time. At Amazon.com you can
read customer reviews of the various guidebooks.

James

In article . com,
Sapphyre wrote:

Need some information from experienced travellers to Orlando...

I'd like to visit some of the Disney theme parks (most likely alone
unless I can talk someone into coming with me).

Do you think 3 days is enough time to see most of the parks? What's
the best time of year to go (as in, where it's not incredibly busy)?
Is there a time of year in Florida where it's not swelteringly hot? (I
went to Tampa in February and was sunburnt to a crisp... Even in
California I've never gotten a sunburn). How much money does a person
need for themselves inside the themepark (excluding admission) for
food stuffs and other minor things? Yes, I know souvenirs cost more, I
will factor that in after.

There's quite a few advertised discounts to Florida, and I wouldn't
mind going, just not over "Spring Break" or Christmas.

This is the perfect question for the rec.arts.disney.parks newsgroup.
Suffice it to say, three days is nowhere near enough time to see
everything that Disney offers, or even close to it. You could easily
spend a full day in each of Disney's theme parks and not see everything
there.

To avoid the worst of the heat, visit between October and April, which
works out because that's off season too. High season for Disney World
and the other Orlando theme parks is the end of May to Labor Day because
that's when schools are out. Note that you can get sunburned any time of
year; the sun doesn't quit just because the weather is warm.

As for a budget, it depends a lot on what you want to do. Food costs
more in the theme parks, so if you plan on eating main meals there, add
more to your budget.

This topic has been discussed heavily in the newsgroup I mentioned in
the first paragraph.

We thought Disneyland sucked

If you hated Disneyland, you might not like Disney World either as
there are many similarities. Can you be more specific about why you
disliked Disneyland?

James

On Jul 24, 9:34 am, wrote:
We thought Disneyland sucked

If you hated Disneyland, you might not like Disney World either as
there are many similarities. Can you be more specific about why you
disliked Disneyland?

Tiny themepark with not too many different attractions and hoards of
people trying to cram into a small space. My dad went to Disneyworld
at least twice in the past five years, he took my grandmother along,
and they loved it. I found Disneyland had more for children than for
adults, and many rides were not even suitable for me. There weren't
many "roller coaster" type rides (not that I like anything too scary,
but the Rocket Rods were cool, unfortunately Space Mountain or
whatever it's called was down when I was there). I'd much prefer to be
scared with friends, so we shall see how brave I am. We waited in line
twice for over an hour for one ride... and then we waited almost 2
hours for food, and to get into the park, it was 90 minutes (we
arrived too late in the morning because of fog on the highway, we came
down overnight to arrive first thing from where we were staying on the
Central Coast).

So tally that up, five and a half hours to do a few very simple
things, would be one reason I could say I hated it so much.
Unfortunately I was there on a weekend, which didn't help, but it was
in April, so I'm not sure if time of year matters as much this time
around, nothing special happening that weekend.

Everyone I know who has been to the theme parks in Florida has had
good things to say about them, and told me that I should have gone
there instead of spending $42 for Disneyland to go on a handful of
rides. Even Pirates of the Caribbean was a 30 minute wait. I didn't
think it was worth it at all... I do like rides, but more "family"
type than "scare yourself silly" type.

S.

Thanks very much, I'll do a little lurking over there to see what I
can glean. I've already decided on a short holiday for the fall, so I
might wait until it's really cold to consider Florida. (I want to
visit a National Park when the leaves are changing colour, so I'm
thinking of going not too far from where I live... which is Southern
Ontario).

I do know it's impossible to see everything, but I'm one of those, "I
don't need to see it all, just see as much as I want". I figured after
three days (one day at each park that I choose), I could see enough.
I'm into things like getting my picture taken with Mickey Mouse,
watching the Disney Parade (the only thing I liked at Disneyland, I
loved the parade, even though it wasn't enormous, the characters I did
see were very well done).

As for the sun... I think I've gotten sunburnt maybe twice in the past
five years... once being in Los Angeles (waiting 90 minutes for the
park to open to buy sunscreen was a bit long, I hadn't known I even
needed that in California). Don't remember the other time, but it's
generally the result of sitting outside for a full day. It's something
I actually have to think about when travelling... I don't even burn
when I spend 12 hours in my car driving on a clear day.

S.

On Jul 24, 6:57 am, Shawn Hirn wrote:
This is the perfect question for the rec.arts.disney.parks newsgroup.
Suffice it to say, three days is nowhere near enough time to see
everything that Disney offers, or even close to it. You could easily
spend a full day in each of Disney's theme parks and not see everything
there.

To avoid the worst of the heat, visit between October and April, which
works out because that's off season too. High season for Disney World
and the other Orlando theme parks is the end of May to Labor Day because
that's when schools are out. Note that you can get sunburned any time of
year; the sun doesn't quit just because the weather is warm.

As for a budget, it depends a lot on what you want to do. Food costs
more in the theme parks, so if you plan on eating main meals there, add
more to your budget.

This topic has been discussed heavily in the newsgroup I mentioned in
the first paragraph.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Can you be more specific about why you disliked Disneyland?
..
Tiny themepark with not too many different attractions and hoards of
people trying to cram into a small space...

Disney World is much bigger than Disneyworld, but it can be just as
crowded. The key is to visit it at a good time.


There weren't many "roller coaster" type rides...

You can find a wide variety of rides at Disney World. Be sure to do
some research before going. Many of the Disney World guidebooks can
point you to the kinds of rides you like, and suggest strategies to
make the best use of your time.


I'm not sure if time of year matters as much this time around

Be sure to check the Disney World faq page I mentioned earlier, as it
lists the best times to visit.


Even Pirates of the Caribbean was a 30 minute wait.

By the way, I've heard that they've just updated that ride; added the
Johnny Depp character and so forth to make it more like the movie.

James

James Step:
Disney World is much bigger than Disneyworld ...

Yeah, it has one more space in it. grin
--
Mark Brader, Toronto "... people are *always* doing stuff ...
that I wish were typos" --Marcy Thompson

Disney World is much bigger than Disneyworld ...
..
Yeah, it has one more space in it. grin


It's even bigger than that -- its full name is "Walt Disney
World".

James