1. The Grand Floridian is very close to the park. You can take a small boat to the Magic Kingdom and you may even see the fireworks show from your hotel window.
However, the Grand Floridian is very pricey. It's about $500 a night. Port Orleans: Riverside is very nice and not as expensive as the Grand hotels (The Grand Floridian, The Contemporary, and the Polynesian).
Port Orleans: French Quarter is the sister to Riverside. The Caribbean Beach Resort is also a very nice hotel. If you like the beach and that Caribbean feel, go there.
It's about a 15 minute shuttle ride to any park from there. If you're looking to not spend a lot of money, resorts like the Pop Century Resort would be the way to go. 2.
The crowds will probably be dense because you are going around Christmas and New Year's. Disney has special fireworks shows during this time, so be prepared. The Magic Kingdom, like always, will be the most packed with people.
Other parks should be a little more full than usual, but don't expect it to be shoulder to shoulder just trying to get to Space Mountain. 3. Avoiding the crowds can be fairly easy.
If you're looking to go to a night show, usually there are two times. Go to the later show. A lot of people bring little kids to Disney World, so there are less likely to be parents and kids at later times in the night.
For the Fantasmic! Show in Hollywood Studios, you can reserve a spot in one of the restraunts for prime seating for the show. You only need to arrive a half-hour early!
That's very good because usually, you need to wait probably an extra 2 hours before the show starts! I am not sure what the price is. I would recommend seeing Fantasmic!
It's a fantastic show! The other night shows are the fireworks in Magic Kingdom and IlumiNations in Epcot. IllumiNations only had one show and that is usually at 9:00 pm.
Another way is the Fast Pass. You may want to arrive at a park early, also. Either arrive very early to a park, or stay very late.
If you stay on Disney property (like the Caribbean Beach Resort or the Polynesian) you can get Magic Park Hours. On select days, you can stay later at a certain park until a certain time. In order to find that, consult a guide map or a Cast Member.
All that you need is your room key to prove you are staying on Disney property. I've seen The Haunted Mansion, which is usually a 45-90 minute wait be only 15 minutes during Magic Park Hours! It's a great way to beat the crowd and get to the rides you want to do.
4. Fast Passes work fairly simplistically. If you want to go on Splash Mountain (which I recommend you do, it's a great ride!) you go to the Fast Pass machine and put your admission card in.
You put it in like your credit card in an ATM machine and out pops your Fast Pass. It will give you a time on your ticket. You can return to the ride at the time to use your Fast Pass.
You are not allowed to have more than one Fast Pass at a time. You cannot give the Fast Pass to the Cast Member before your designated time. However, if you get a nice Cast Member, they usually let you use the Fast Pass after your designated time.
If your Pass said 1:40-2:40, and you got to the ride at 3:00, they usually let you in. 5. You carry your Fast Pass with you until your designated time and then you arrive at the Fast Pass entrance to the ride, a Cast Member will take it from you.
So put the Pass some place safe! 6. It is very possible to go to other parks.
When I stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort, we also wanted to go to Universal Studios. We walked out of our hotel to where the regular Disney shuttle would pick us up and a Mears bus picked us up and brought us to Universal Studios. It was $16 round trip and there was no hassle.
You would need to make reservations for the shuttle to come pick you up and bring you to your desired destination. 7. I have been to Universal Studios once and Sea World once.
Unfortunately, I do not know much about either of the parks. 8. It simply depends on how many days you can spend in US and SW.
I, personally, could only spend one day in either park. So one day for SW, one day for US, and then nine days for Disney should be good. You'll go to Disney with a check-list of what you want to do, but you'll find other things not on your list that you will wait in line for.
I would split it up so I got nine days in Disney. 9. One day in Universal Studios, one day in Sea World, nine days in Disney World.
Have a nice trip!
1. You really cant go wrong with a Disney resort. Whether you choose a value, moderate, or deluxe they are all close to the theme parks and have free transportation.
If you want to stay closest to the Magic Kingdom though, then the Polynesian, Grand Floridian, or Contemporary are the ones to choose. 2. I have been there from Jan 4-10 and it was not that crowded although it was really cold!
We got to do everything we wanted and waited in hardly any lines at all. I am sure New Years and Christmas are crowded though. 3.My biggest advice for avoiding crowds would be to use the extra magic hours in the morning for sure!
Get in the parks early and hit the most popular rides. Between doing that and using fastpasses, you will should have a majority of things done by late afternoon. 4 & 5.
You do need to get the fastpasses from a machine. You put your ticket in and it will spit out a fastpass with times on it. You can only get a new fastpass every so often so you may not be able to get one for every ride that you want.
Also, it will say what time you have to be there by to ride the ride but if you are over your time they still let you go. You'll want to get one for the most popular rides because they can go fast and then the return times can get later and later. 6.
Yes! You could easily do 7-8 days at Disney and leave the rest for Universal and Sea World. 7.
Definitely buy the express passes for Universal! They are basically a fastpass that you have to pay for. With express passes you will not have to wait in long lines and you get right on EVERY single ride!
It is the greatest thing because the lines there can be crazy. I haven't been to Sea World in years so I don't have any advice on that. Hope all this helps and If you need ANY help in planning, feel free to email me [email protected].
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