Walt Disney World

[pilotank]

Just back from 3 days at Walt Disney World.

Not to bore you with specifics, but if your planning a trip,

you can do all of Magic Kingdom in less than 3 hours.

The secret, stay at a resort inside the Park.

They have extended hours on certain days for all 4 parks,

for the guests staying in the resorts.

The Magic Kingdom utilizes Fast Pass for the extended hours.

The Magic Kingdom was on a Sunday night and started at 11:00.

We started at the Haunted House, then went and got Fast Passes

for the major rides. We then went to Splash Mountain, by that time we then

used our first FP for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Next it was

Pirates of the Caribean, Jungle Cruise and Magic Carpet of Aladdin.

Then it was off to Astro Orbit and Tomorrowland Speedway.

Space Mountain would have been next,

but it is closed until Winter 2009. After that, it was Petrer Pan's Flight,

Snow White, Winnie the Pooh and finally It's a Small World.

We were done by 1:15 AM and did some repeat rides.

The next night was The Animal Kingdom from 8-11PM.

They don't use the FP and only had time for 3 rides:

Expedition Everest, Dinosaur & Primevil Whirl.

The final night, Epcot from 9-12PM.

No FP and only time for 3 rides:

Mission Space, Test Track & Soarin.

One more piece of advice, purchase the Dining Plan!

You don't have to worry about meals and it pays for itself in one day.

Also take rain gear!

pilotank

[coaster_junky]

i leave saturday morning for one week at disney, can't wait!!

[DeLorean Rider]

Just back from 3 days at Walt Disney World.

Not to bore you with specifics, but if your planning a trip,

you can do all of Magic Kingdom in less than 3 hours.

The secret, stay at a resort inside the Park.

They have extended hours on certain days for all 4 parks,

for the guests staying in the resorts.

The Magic Kingdom utilizes Fast Pass for the extended hours.

The Magic Kingdom was on a Sunday night and started at 11:00.

We started at the Haunted House, then went and got Fast Passes

for the major rides. We then went to Splash Mountain, by that time we then

used our first FP for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Next it was

Pirates of the Caribean, Jungle Cruise and Magic Carpet of Aladdin.

Then it was off to Astro Orbit and Tomorrowland Speedway.

Space Mountain would have been next,

but it is closed until Winter 2009. After that, it was Petrer Pan's Flight,

Snow White, Winnie the Pooh and finally It's a Small World.

We were done by 1:15 AM and did some repeat rides.

The next night was The Animal Kingdom from 8-11PM.

They don't use the FP and only had time for 3 rides:

Expedition Everest, Dinosaur & Primevil Whirl.

The final night, Epcot from 9-12PM.

No FP and only time for 3 rides:

Mission Space, Test Track & Soarin.

One more piece of advice, purchase the Dining Plan!

You don't have to worry about meals and it pays for itself in one day.

Also take rain gear!

pilotank

I believe you mean, stay at a resort "On Property."

Remember it's the Haunted Mansion, not the Haunted House .

Also all the rides at use Fast Passes during the extra magic hours, they simply run out very quickly. If you're getting a Fast pass that would be used during the extra magic hour window, the cast member will require you to show your room key before obtaining the Fast pass

Also, not to be rude, but I think we differ pretty severely on what our opinion of "all of Magic Kingdom." There are quite a few attractions that are well worth experiencing that you did not experience. Also rushing your way through the Magic Kingdom simply to accomplish everything as fast as possible greatly goes against how Walt Disney would have wanted you to experience his parks. Same with EPCOT and the Animal Kingdom. Both EPCOT and Animal Kingdom have SO MUCH to offer outside the realm of major rides.

Did you go to the Hollywood Studios?

Also did you only go to the parks at night during EMH? What about the rest of the days?

[Touchdown]

Plus you defiantly violated a core Disney Park rule: Never, under any circumstances, miss a night show.

[DeLorean Rider]

Plus you defiantly violated a core Disney Park rule: Never, under any circumstances, miss a night show.

Indeed! (unless of course you've seen Spectromagic over a hundred times from working the parade route, then you can miss spectro)

Both Wishes and Illuminations are absolute musts!

(currently listening to the 30min pre-illuminations loop)

[Reclaimer]

Plus you defiantly violated a core Disney Park rule: Never, under any circumstances, miss a night show.

Indeed! (unless of course you've seen Spectromagic over a hundred times from working the parade route, then you can miss spectro)

Both Wishes and Illuminations are absolute musts!

(currently listening to the 30min pre-illuminations loop)

Gah..I just can't get into Illuminations for some reason. I've tried to love it, but I just can't. I definitely can appreciate it, though. Wishes is definitely a must, and never gets old. Watching the show basically every night for just under six months has spoiled me. July 4th fireworks at home just didn't do anything for me. Another show that shouldn't be missed (though it's easy to miss nowadays) is Fantasmic! A great show with a great soundtrack and a fantastic cast!

[coaster_junky]

when did disney change the name of mgm studios to hollywood studios?

[DeLorean Rider]

Gah..I just can't get into Illuminations for some reason. I've tried to love it, but I just can't. I definitely can appreciate it, though. Wishes is definitely a must, and never gets old. Watching the show basically every night for just under six months has spoiled me. July 4th fireworks at home just didn't do anything for me. Another show that shouldn't be missed (though it's easy to miss nowadays) is Fantasmic! A great show with a great soundtrack and a fantastic cast!

Ahh, I LOVE Illuminations! I have all the music that plays in the loop before Illuminations, the announcements before, the opening spiel, Reflections of Earth, We Go On, and all the music played afterward (Promise, Celebrate the Future, and Tapestry of Nations)

Still to each their own.

Just out of curiosity Reclaimer, have you ever seen "Remember Dreams Come True," Disneylands nightly fireworks? Where Wishes is more of a tribute to Disney Movies, Remember Dream's Come True, is a tribute to all classic Disney Rides.

From my apartment I'll be living in this fall, I can see wishes every night. It never really gets old for me.

[DeLorean Rider]

when did disney change the name of mgm studios to hollywood studios?

January 7th, 2008

[goofywdw]

Fantasmic! is my all time favorite show! The music gives me chills and it is just a great family friendly show! We get to the arena 1 hour before the show starts and get good seats and every time the crowd starts to do the wave and it is a blast!

Check out my video.

[coaster_junky]

when did disney change the name of mgm studios to hollywood studios?

January 7th, 2008

for what reasons did they change the name?

[Touchdown]

They didnt want to shell out $ to MGM to keep the marketing agreement, boy what other park is about to do the same thing???

[coaster_junky]

ahh, i see.

p.s. bring on the peanuts characters.

[cassie_KY]

I think you crammed as much as you could into the time that you had. Yes, Disney is enjoyed better at a more relaxed pace, but when you don't have time it sounds like you chose the "must-dos" and hit a big percentage of them.

BTW, thanks to everyone who posted there with your suggestions. I am looking forward to a Disney trip in the future and have so much to plan and look forward to!

[XGatorHead 8904]

Gah..I just can't get into Illuminations for some reason. I've tried to love it, but I just can't. I definitely can appreciate it, though. Wishes is definitely a must, and never gets old. Watching the show basically every night for just under six months has spoiled me. July 4th fireworks at home just didn't do anything for me. Another show that shouldn't be missed (though it's easy to miss nowadays) is Fantasmic! A great show with a great soundtrack and a fantastic cast!

I agree with you exactly about Illuminations. I frequent a Disney site from time to time (not nearly as often as this one), and they just love Illuminations. But, like you, for some reason I can't get into it. It's decent, but I like Wishes and Fantasmic much, much better.

[pilotank]

Just back from 3 days at Walt Disney World.

Not to bore you with specifics, but if your planning a trip,

you can do all of Magic Kingdom in less than 3 hours.

The secret, stay at a resort inside the Park.

They have extended hours on certain days for all 4 parks,

for the guests staying in the resorts.

The Magic Kingdom utilizes Fast Pass for the extended hours.

The Magic Kingdom was on a Sunday night and started at 11:00.

We started at the Haunted House, then went and got Fast Passes

for the major rides. We then went to Splash Mountain, by that time we then

used our first FP for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Next it was

Pirates of the Caribean, Jungle Cruise and Magic Carpet of Aladdin.

Then it was off to Astro Orbit and Tomorrowland Speedway.

Space Mountain would have been next,

but it is closed until Winter 2009. After that, it was Petrer Pan's Flight,

Snow White, Winnie the Pooh and finally It's a Small World.

We were done by 1:15 AM and did some repeat rides.

The next night was The Animal Kingdom from 8-11PM.

They don't use the FP and only had time for 3 rides:

Expedition Everest, Dinosaur & Primevil Whirl.

The final night, Epcot from 9-12PM.

No FP and only time for 3 rides:

Mission Space, Test Track & Soarin.

One more piece of advice, purchase the Dining Plan!

You don't have to worry about meals and it pays for itself in one day.

Also take rain gear!

pilotank

I believe you mean, stay at a resort "On Property."

Remember it's the Haunted Mansion, not the Haunted House .

Also all the rides at use Fast Passes during the extra magic hours, they simply run out very quickly. If you're getting a Fast pass that would be used during the extra magic hour window, the cast member will require you to show your room key before obtaining the Fast pass

Also, not to be rude, but I think we differ pretty severely on what our opinion of "all of Magic Kingdom." There are quite a few attractions that are well worth experiencing that you did not experience. Also rushing your way through the Magic Kingdom simply to accomplish everything as fast as possible greatly goes against how Walt Disney would have wanted you to experience his parks. Same with EPCOT and the Animal Kingdom. Both EPCOT and Animal Kingdom have SO MUCH to offer outside the realm of major rides.

Did you go to the Hollywood Studios?

Also did you only go to the parks at night during EMH? What about the rest of the days?

Actually, not to be rude but you missed the whole point of the posting..

We started Disney at 10:00 AM and enjoyed the total ambiance of the park.

However, the park was extremely crowded with an average wait of two hours

for most rides and over a 3 hour wait for Peter Pan in Flight!

People were alredy lining up for the 9:00 SpectroMagic Parade at 7:30.

And of course the fireworks display Wishes was so packed,

you were stuck at the place you were located at 9:30 with no place to move.

So the whole point of this, in 12 hours we were able to get on 3 rides

and see two shows. With the extended hours, you can enjoy the whole park in a timely fashion.

And I wanted to convey this to people who are planning a trip in the near future.

Especially those who may have kids and don't want to wait hours on end in 90+ degree heat.

While waitng two hours for Dumbo, they had three children in line pass out.

So this is a very good option.

pilotank

[DeLorean Rider]

Actually, not to be rude but you missed the whole point of the posting..

We started Disney at 10:00 AM and enjoyed the total ambiance of the park.

However, the park was extremely crowded with an average wait of two hours

for most rides and over a 3 hour wait for Peter Pan in Flight!

People were alredy lining up for the 9:00 SpectroMagic Parade at 7:30.

And of course the fireworks display Wishes was so packed,

you were stuck at the place you were located at 9:30 with no place to move.

So the whole point of this, in 12 hours we were able to get on 3 rides

and see two shows. With the extended hours, you can enjoy the whole park in a timely fashion.

And I wanted to convey this to people who are planning a trip in the near future.

Especially those who may have kids and don't want to wait hours on end in 90+ degree heat.

While waitng two hours for Dumbo, they had three children in line pass out.

So this is a very good option.

pilotank

Did you try to use the fastpass system?

The Fast pass system can allow you to do every ride with a fastpass regardless of park attendance, especially if you got there at 10am.

The Fast pass system, always allows you to get a fastpass every 2 hours no matter what. You are never expected to wait longer than 2 hours to get another fastpass. That doesnt mean that the fastpass will always be ready in 2 hours, but you can always get another. For those rides who's fastpasses are ready in less than 2 hours, you can get one as soon as you reach the first time.

For example: Right now, Space Mountain is closed so the rides with fast passes, organized into two groups are:

Rides that run out of fastpasses and who's fast passes take more than 2 hours to come up.

Big Thunder

Splash

Peter Pan

Rides who's fastpasses do not run out during the day and who's fastpasses are ready in less than 2 hours

Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin

Jungle Cruise

Whinnie the Pooh

Stitch's Great Escape

If at 10:00 you get your fastpass for Big Thunder Mountain, even if the fastpass is for more than 2 hours from then, which at 10:00 it will not be, you can get your fastpass for Peter Pan at 12:00. Now Peter Pan's will probably be for like 7:30 because of ride popularity but still, you will be able to get another fastpass at 2:00. Splash is the last of the E-tickets that runs out of fastpasses so go there third. Sure It may be for 5:00 but you'll be able to pick up another by 4:00. At 4:00 go to Buzz Lightyear, who's fastpass will likely be for about 5:30. At 5:30 you can go to Winnie the Pooh, who's will probably be about 6:30. At 6:30, you can go to Stitch (if they're running fastpasses), and it may be for 7:30 or 8:00. Finally get a Jungle Cruise fastpass (which is probably unnecessary because it becomes walk on after about 9:30).

In the interval's between when the fastpasses are becoming ready, you can do the rides that typically have very short waits: Tiki Room, laugh floor comedy club, Hall of Presidents (new show is amazing), Tom Sawyer, Country Bears, Liberty Belle, Snow White, Carousel, Train; or one of the two people eaters, Haunted Mansion and Pirates.

Another hint people rarely take advantage of is that you can always come late with a fastpass, just not early. When looking at a fastpass what matters is only the first time, not the second.

Finally, on a night that has 2 parades, always see the second, way less crowded, plus all the crowds will be at the first parade giving you the chance to enjoy short lines .

Hope these hint's help for everyone planning a future trip.

[Touchdown]

There is no doubt that MK ERT is fantastic, especially if you realize that 90% of the people are going to hit Tomorrowland. Go instead to Fronteirland and you should be able to marathon the BTMRR and Splash Mountain as much as you want after the first hour. Also, if you go to Fantasyland at the end of the night you can walk on to Dumbo, and quite possibly get to ride with a character, thats what happened to my family the last time we were there. It was July 2nd at 3 am and Dumbo had a mix of teens and adults, two chipmunks, a dog, a female mouse and a duck with not a little kid in site. Such good memories.

[DaveStroem]

I did not see the dates of your trip, but disney is crazy busy around any holiday. There is also a method to riding with out long waits at Disney. While you enjoyed the EMH hours, I normally avoid those days as that park is the most busy on the day with an EMH.

Here is a link to some tips that I put together for friends that are going to the world.

http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?...;hl=disney+tips

[MarketingExpress]

Fantasmic! is my all time favorite show! The music gives me chills and it is just a great family friendly show! We get to the arena 1 hour before the show starts and get good seats and every time the crowd starts to do the wave and it is a blast!

Check out my video.

I have to agree with you there. Fantasmic is my favorite show at Disney. Wish KI would have some kind of show incorporated with the nightly fireworks. I think if Timberwolf ever had to be replaced with a similar venue, that would be a great type of attraction to place there.

[HTCO]

Were going to WDW next year hopefully. I absolutly love that place. I am excited! This will be my... 6th trip there.

[Diamondback FOF]

...The Fast pass system, always allows you to get a fastpass every 2 hours no matter what.

Are you sure about that. I'm pretty sure I had to wait more than 2 hours to get another one .

[DaveStroem]

...The Fast pass system, always allows you to get a fastpass every 2 hours no matter what.

Are you sure about that. I'm pretty sure I had to wait more than 2 hours to get another one .

You can get a fast pass at least every 2 hours. Sometimes sooner if you FP return time is less then 2 hours, you can get another FP at that time. You can also use your FPs anytime after the return time, but never before.

[DeLorean Rider]

...The Fast pass system, always allows you to get a fastpass every 2 hours no matter what.

Are you sure about that. I'm pretty sure I had to wait more than 2 hours to get another one .

100% Positive. Believe me, I spent 7 months last year trying to explain the in's and outs of the Fastpass system to guests at the Jungle Cruise.

The times you always need to worry about are the one on the top and the small one in the middle toward the bottom.

As you can see this fastpass was obtained at 9:03 in the morning. Since 10:05 is less than 2 hours away, the two times match. However if the fastpass was still obtained at 9:03, and wasn't ready until say 1:05, the time in the bottom middle would be 11:05 (because in this case the system rounds up to the nearest 5 min. However rides like Sorin' work in 3 minute intervals)

[Touchdown]

Exactly the rule is that you can get a new fastpass when your window for riding starts or 2 hours later, what ever comes first.

[pilotank]

I did not see the dates of your trip, but disney is crazy busy around any holiday. There is also a method to riding with out long waits at Disney. While you enjoyed the EMH hours, I normally avoid those days as that park is the most busy on the day with an EMH.

Here is a link to some tips that I put together for friends that are going to the world.

http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?...;hl=disney+tips

It was June 30th, right before the 4th of July weekend. The problem with FP is that there was a 5 hour time frame

by noon and all FP were distributed for the day by 2:30.

The good thing about EHP is that FP started fresh for the guests at 11:00PM.

pilotank