Disney & Florida

[MapleLeafBaby 1]

Ok, so the closing on this new house is becoming a headache! Inspection came back, some repairs needed, offer is still not 100% my fiancé is dealing with that.... In the meantime...

My lease expires here June 1st...so I need to be out, my fiancés place is a small 1 bedrm condo, which will never accom all of us...so I have decided to take my son to Florida foe a couple of weeks, until everything is in order back home.

The Disney site is so confusing! Anyone been there with small kids? My son is 5 years old. So many attractions, where do we want to be?

Is there a Disney call centre? Lol'! Also, my mom cannot walk long periods. I wonder if perhaps they rent out scooters? Like the elderly type.

I plan on doing 3-4 days Disney, then a few days at Nickelodeon Hotel (anyone been there?) then perhaps scoot over to St Petes and spend a week on the beach.

Any feedback from people who have been or live there would be appreciated!

I plan in driving down (I know LOL, I'm a road trip gal) so I will book everything individually...

Thanks guys!

Can this be left in Camadian forum for my Can friends to help me out? Thanks guys!

Again sorry for typos, multi tasking on iPhone and tread LOL!

[Tankgurl38 0]

Will you be actually moving your stuff down at that time?

I found out today that you are not actually allowed to travel across the US Border to just visit once you have the Visa in your Passport.

I am a little bummed, but my actual moving day is only a month away now.

[DeadPoolX 9]

Ok, so the closing on this new house is becoming a headache! Inspection came back, some repairs needed, offer is still not 100% my fiancé is dealing with that.... In the meantime...

My lease expires here June 1st...so I need to be out, my fiancés place is a small 1 bedrm condo, which will never accom all of us...so I have decided to take my son to Florida foe a couple of weeks, until everything is in order back home.

The Disney site is so confusing! Anyone been there with small kids? My son is 5 years old. So many attractions, where do we want to be?

Is there a Disney call centre? Lol'! Also, my mom cannot walk long periods. I wonder if perhaps they rent out scooters? Like the elderly type.

I plan on doing 3-4 days Disney, then a few days at Nickelodeon Hotel (anyone been there?) then perhaps scoot over to St Petes and spend a week on the beach.

Any feedback from people who have been or live there would be appreciated!

I plan in driving down (I know LOL, I'm a road trip gal) so I will book everything individually...

Thanks guys!

Can this be left in Camadian forum for my Can friends to help me out? Thanks guys!

Again sorry for typos, multi tasking on iPhone and tread LOL!

I've never been to Disney World with small kids (don't have any), but I've been there several times.

The best attraction really depend on what the kids like. Do they enjoy fast-paced rides or slower ones?

For me, I really enjoy Space Mountain in the Magic Kingdom, but mostly, I like Epcot Center. That seems more interesting to me, although many of the rides are "better" in the Magic Kingdom.

[Tankgurl38 0]

Oh yeah.... a friend at work just took her 4 year old daughter to Disney World and they had a total blast! They did a few Character Breakfasts, went to Typhoon Lagoon, and just hung out in the part in general. Her daughter loved it!~

[JillA 2]

I went to Disney last summer, we stayed at "Pop Century" http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/resorts/pop-century-resort/

It's a really fun resort for kiddies. Lost of attractions at the hotel.

I would recommend spending one day in each park, for example day 1 at Animal Kindgom, day 2 at Epcot, etc.

They definitely have wheelchairs for older people, not sure about scooters but I'm sure you could find out ahead of time...

You can buy a 3 day pass or something if you're not going to do a package deal.... also if your son likes to swim they have some water parks!

Keep in mind that the restaurants on site at Disney are PACKED at this time of year, you usually can't get in if you don't make reservations ahead of time. Just to keep that in mind. The kiddies love the character meals

Edited May 18, 2009 by JillA

[Sprailenes 47]

They rent out wheel chairs when you walk into any park, the same place you get strollers - and I know your son is 5 but he will appreciate a stroller because the walking is hard on little ones, my son was 8 when we last went and by day 3 he just sat in a stroller... they're made for big kids so its not that bad.

If you're going for 3-4 days you have time to go to each park. It takes about a day to do each park. Do you plan on eating at the parks? We always ate in Epcot BUT you have to reserve those before you even get there. We learned that on our last trip, restaurants book up fast there.

Unless you wanted to just stick to one or two park. For a little one I personally suggest Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom, there's also two water parks too.

Have fun.

When we went last time we stayed at the Boardwalk and the time before that Wilderness Lodge, I preferred Wilderness Lodge though.

Edited May 18, 2009 by Sprailenes

[DeadPoolX 9]

I have to question going during the summer. Not only will it be packed (like Jill said), but the heat and humidity in Florida can be awful. Imaging standing outside, in that high heat and humidity, waiting on line for 30 minutes at a time with people running around all over the place.

Personally, I prefer March.

[Sprailenes 47]

Thats why fast passes are your friend.

We usually go in August and it SUCKS because its so freaking hot. I don't really like Disney but its fun to bring your kids when they're small.

[DeadPoolX 9]

Thats why fast passes are your friend.

We usually go in August and it SUCKS because its so freaking hot. I don't really like Disney but its fun to bring your kids when they're small.

What's a "fast pass?" The last time I was at a Disney theme park was in 1993.

[JillA 2]

Thats why fast passes are your friend.

We usually go in August and it SUCKS because its so freaking hot. I don't really like Disney but its fun to bring your kids when they're small.

What's a "fast pass?" The last time I was at a Disney theme park was in 1993.

Fast passes are awesome, we used them the whole time!

It's a card that means you get to skip the line, if you go to the ride at the designated time. So you can go to the ride, see the time, get a ticket from the machine with your fast pass, then you go back to the ride at the time, skip the line!

[Sprailenes 47]

Yep, you basically get a fast pass for one ride and then stand in the line for another. So you stand in line for an hour, and by the time you're finished with one ride you're ready for another sans the line.

[SapphireDreams 71]

Hey Poprocks, not sure if you're open to staying off the Disney property, but we stayed here: http://www.starwoodhotels.com/sheraton/pro...propertyID=5608

And it was AWESOME! All of the rooms are more like mini-condos. They have multiple bedrooms, a full kitchen, living room, laundry! etc. They also have tons of pools and one in particular that went shallow--> deep like a lake/ocean and had a bunch of sprinklers etc. It was perfect for people with smaller kids.

They had a bus to Disney, or you can drive there and park etc. We actually have a timeshare there, which is why we chose it, but I would stay there regardless. The convenience of having a full kitchen and being able to just grocery shop and eat at home whenever possible was nice. We actually did a park with a rest day in between because we got tired and needed a break.

I didn't find waiting in lines that bad to be honest. A lot of waiting happens in air conditioned rooms/line areas. Or, the line areas are shaded.

On our way back to the airport, we stopped to pick up people from the Nickelodean resort and they were telling us that they liked it a lot. They said that there were characters around all the time, the pool was really great for the kids and the lobby and rooms smelled like bubble gum or different flavours.

I can't say enough good things about the Sheraton Vistana though. It's so nice and spacious and we found we were really able to relax because we weren't living out of a suitcase and had living space and a kitchen.

I'm pretty sure I saw scooters for rent when i was there.

[J&K 0]

Another thing to check out is if you are a Borders Rewards Member (it's free to join) you can get discouted tickets and vacation packages at their Borders Rewards Perks site.

http://www.employeeactivities.com/memberb/...;HA=Next%20Jump

Edited May 18, 2009 by J&K

[MapleLeafBaby 1]

Wow great feedback guys!

I am activating my visa at this time and bringing some stuff.....pit stopping in PA and then offto Disney. I have hired movers to bring the rest.

I normally would not do Disney in the middle of summer, but if I stay here or somewhere temp, it would cost $2000 for the month. So, why not spend that money down there is my theory. If it is too hot, we will opt fir water park, or spend more time at Nick Hotel, which us one massive water park. When we go to Disney we do plan on staying off site, but one of the Orlando hotels close by. I assume many offer shuttle services?

If I buy a 3 day pass, can it be used in any park? Like can I do one day Mag Kingdm, one Epcot and one Animal Kingdm?

I know my son will get tired, but I figure if we get wheelchair for my mom, he can sit on her lap, as I will be the only 'pusher' available LOL!

The character lunches sound fun, but busy and troublesome? If we just want to putter around and eat when we feel like it, I assume we can find a quick bite somewhere?

I see some hotels close by are as low as $70/night. The Nickalodeon will run us about $200/night.

Are the parks within walking dist of one another? Or do you shuttle? Do we pick up maps when we get there?

Oh my, I'm getting tired already! I figure judging by the spring we are having, perhaps this summer will not be as sweltering as anticipated LOL!

[Sprailenes 47]

No you don't walk from park to park you take a shuttle, either a bus or a boat. But they run all the time so you never have to wait long.