WDW vs. DL/DCA for 8 y/o boy?

[Gpaul]

Hola again! First, we had a GREAT 2 FULL days at DL/DCA 1/11,12. Plenty of time to see/do 100% of desired attractions, rides, shows, etc. Stayed at Desert Inn, nice, big comfy room, no view, ok indoor pool, lousy brekkie, FANTASTIC "less than 5 min. walk" to entrance gate. BTW, I walked up to gate before opening time, no security, no questions....

And walked 2 mornings ALL around the exterior of both parks (excercise) at 7a.m., a brisk 65F, and a beautiful street that one on far end of DCA.

Anyway, planning for WDW 2007, probably TH-SUN 3/22-25.

For an 8 y/o tough, cool kid, is 4 days enough, or is it too much?

We'll be staying outside the Park, at some cheapo Best Western, Comfort Inn or similar, hopefully with shuttle service to Parks. Would Int'l. Drive in Orlando be the ticket, or other location better?

Gracias!

 

[AFMom]

If you plan on doing 1 day at each park, and no days off, with no water parks, etc - you could see quite a bit in 4 days. My ideal trip with my kids (8 and 9) would allow for 1.5 days at MK, 2 days at EPCOT, 1 day at AK and 3/4 day at MGM, With one day sometime in between for a break. But sometimes we can't do what's ideal! Our next trip we're going to try to squish AK and MGM into 1 day (there isn't as much my kids like at MGM).
4 days will be great and will leave you looking forward to your next trip! I really recommend getting a book if you haven't gone there before and try to determine what you want to do the most so that you save time when you get there - worked great for us!

 

[jenimay]

When we went, we arrived late afternoon day one, did nothing, day 2 hit Magic Kingdom, didn't get to see everything in the park, day 3 did Epcot Center, day 4 Animal Kingdom, day 5 MGM, but left around 2 to go back and get ready for the Halloween Party, at the Halloween party we hit the stuff we missed and stuff we wanted to ride again. It was extreemly rushed for us. We stayed on site but had a rental car. Part of the "problem" was that we went during the free dining plan and I felt like we spent alot of time eating. I won't complain though, the food was pretty good, and free! Next time I will plan 2 days for MK(to allow for some down time), and try and do a waterpart and Disney Quest. I think I maybe would do a parkhopper too. It's alot of money though and we wouldn't have used it our first trip. We didn't park hop on our DL/CA trip either, even though we had park hop tickets. I guess I like to finish one, start another. Oh well, I can't even think about my next Disney trip or dh will divorce me so shhhh. One of these Disney trips he's gonna catch the Disney bug I just know it.

 

[jakoky]

hi there, we went to WDW in dec 04 and it was amazing...we were there 9 nights and had 5 day hopper plus passes...this meant 5 days in the parks and 2 days at the waterparks...first, if went again, we would do 7 day plus passes...it just wasnt enough time....it was sooooo big that we feel we could have used more time...we also went when it was very quiet and had hardly any waits, i cant imagine if we had huge waits in there...the waterparks were a must...my kids absolutely loved them and wanted to go back there just for those....we stayed on site and got an amazing deal at the pop century...we paid 75 dollars a night and the convience was perfect...my DH has actually commented that being on site made that trip and if we had stayed off it wouldnt have been nearly enjoyable...one afternoon we couldnt remember if we locked our safe...the kids and i headed into the park, and he hopped a shuttle and was there and back in the park in half an hour...anyways, have tons of fun...we are on a countdown to DL-40 more days!!!
sharon

 

[Gpaul]

Thanky all! The in-park Hotels, like the Pop Century one mentioned, really worth the extra $ for convenience? Do they receive regular shuttle service?

No mention of Universal, should we do this 1 day? We enjoyed the CA Universal, but for less than 1 full day.

Is a visit (or stay) in Orlando a MUST? That is, if we stay inside the Park, can we forego Orlando totally and just stick to all Disney, for 4 days?

We live in the caribbean, our son is on a swimming team, so water-things are readily available. Should we still go to one of the Water Parks?

Gracias!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Thanky all! The in-park Hotels, like the Pop Century one mentioned, really worth the extra $ for convenience? Do they receive regular shuttle service?

No mention of Universal, should we do this 1 day? We enjoyed the CA Universal, but for less than 1 full day.

Is a visit (or stay) in Orlando a MUST? That is, if we stay inside the Park, can we forego Orlando totally and just stick to all Disney, for 4 days?

We live in the caribbean, our son is on a swimming team, so water-things are readily available. Should we still go to one of the Water Parks?

Gracias!

At WDW, you must stay onsite (IMHO)! Unlike Disneyland, staying onsite at WDW adds so many perks, namely Extra Magic Hour (EMH), theming, transportation to the parks, Downtown Disney, and the water parks. And yes, the WDW transportation is very reliable, not perfect but pretty amazing considering how many people they transport each and every day. I have never heard of the offsite shuttles being that reliable. You might save a few bucks but they would probably be a very few given the great pricing the value resorts at WDW offer. I think for an 8 yr old boy, any of the Value resorts would be great. My son is 11 and loves the All Star Sports Resort as well as Pop Century and All Star Movies. They are very fun, very clean, have wonderful food courts, pools, gift shops and of course the WDW transportation that is right there. I really recommend going to: www.allearsnet.com and checking the information on resorts, parks and dining. WDW is huge, much more to do and see than Disneyland and therefore requires more planning. I don't think 4 days is enough for WDW, especially given that is spring break season. Its still worth doing but even adding one or two extra days could make a big difference. We have been to WDW five times, for a sum total of of 32 park days and still feel like there are things we have not done. Park hopping is not nearly as easy at WDW since the parks are spread out, not connected like they are at Disneyland. I would think a week is much better if you can do it. I have only been to Typhoon Lagoon and not Blizzard Beach in my five trips to WDW. We love water parks but just love the four main parks so much we don't have much desire to venture beyond those. And we have never done Universal, there is a Universal (for Orlando only) board on disboards, you might check that out. In fact, I really recommend you post over on the Theme Parks Attractions and Strategies as well as the Resorts board on disboards. Those boards have a huge following, you will be able to get many answers to your own questions as well as see the many, many threads on everything pertaining to WDW. Good luck, I would really recommend WDW given that you feel you saw and did everything at Disneyland. Yet Disneyland is wonderful too, and if you only have 4 days, than it might be the better option. I don't think you can go wrong with either Disney vacation, just do a little research and see what you can learn to make a great decision. Good luck!

 

[jakoky]

Originally Posted by Gpaul
Thanky all! The in-park Hotels, like the Pop Century one mentioned, really worth the extra $ for convenience? Do they receive regular shuttle service?

I think they are 100% worth it....disneyworld is huge, like a small city almost....from the pop century, some parks were 5 minutes, others about 15 minutes away....whenever we wanted to go or leave a park, it was a 1-15 min wait at most...most times only be 5 minutes..the shuttles made our trip, had we been further away, u could never go back to your room...we didnt even do this much, but we did park hop a lot, and liked the option of a rest mid day or dinnertime if we wanted....for the price we got the pop, i dont think we would have found much offsite for the same, esp since the pop was so clean and well taken care, and with 3 pools.....

No mention of Universal, should we do this 1 day? We enjoyed the CA Universal, but for less than 1 full day.
never did this in orlando, we had 7 day hoppers and never dreamt of leaving the world


Is a visit (or stay) in Orlando a MUST? That is, if we stay inside the Park, can we forego Orlando totally and just stick to all Disney, for 4 days?
???

We live in the caribbean, our son is on a swimming team, so water-things are readily available. Should we still go to one of the Water Parks?
The water parks were a favourite on the whole trip of all 3 families who went, so a total of 14 people...my husband and kids want to go back to WDW just for the water parks...they were awesome, unlike anything we had ever been to.....i highly recommend doing at least one....both parks were great...

38 days til we leave for DL!!!

Gracias!

 

[karylrocks]

Walt Disney World is 40 square miles in size. The convenience and time you will save by staying on-site is priceless. It is well worth staying at one of the value resorts. Blizzard Beach is my son's favorite park at WDW, but we don't have many water activities where we live. I can't imagine staying less than a week. There is so much to do that unless you are staying for over a week, I would not bother with Universal. We usually go straight from the airport to WDW and do not leave the property until we head back to the airport. There is complimentary bus service to/from the airport (another benefit of staying on-site), and bus service throughout the property, so there is no need for a car.

 

[mAlien13]

We have spent a lot of time 'learning' WDW, and I can honestly say that you will miss quite a bit with only four days at the parks, IMHO.

You can stay off-site and still be within a very close proximity. The traffic from the local hotels is nothing like So. California, and we have stayed at two places that are within 5-10 minute drives and they saved us so much money that the cost of the rental vehicle and the parking was offset and a balance remained.
However, it is far more benificial to stay at an on-site hotel at WDW than it is at DLR, IMO. And off-site, you really want to consider renting a vehicle because the transportation to and from the parks can be a real pain. If you are not on a tight budget, stay on-site! The experience there is tremendous. Unlike DLR, there is nothing but Disney as far as the eye can see when you are on-site, so the feeling of being completely submersed in Disney culture is great.
WDW also has 3 fairly inexpensive on-prop hotels now, although they are very limited in creature comforts. But be aware that there are on-site hotels that are far less centrally located than some of the on-site.

Epcot has an enormous amount of activity and displays to enjoy. Less than two days, you will miss a lot. However, when my kids were very young, we only spent 1/2 a day to a day there, because there was no way they would enjoy all that it had to offer.

MGM can easily be seen in one day, with time to revisit favorites (our tradition is to get to MGM first thing, then leave early and go back to MK for fireworks/night time shows).
The same can be said about AK, although the hours there are often shorter than the other parks. (We use the AK day on our trips to have an off-site dinner and shop or swim).
Although it is possible to combine these two parks into one day of touring, the experience would be more rushed than I would want to have. AK is so magnificant and so wonderful to wander through at a nice easy pace, just enjoying the surroundings. Plus, there are a couple of rides my kids have to ride at least twice (Kali and the Safari).

MK can be 'done' in 1 to 1 1/2 day(s), but is better enjoyed at 2 full days.

Ideally, we try to have 6 days in the park and 1 day rest. We have done it in 5 days with no rest, and it certainly beats the same five days anywhere else, but it was much more fast paced and we definately needed a vacation from our vacation!!

 

[mAlien13]

Oh, I forgot...I disagree about Universal, but if time is a consideration, beware that it is larger than USH by far. You want at least a full day to get in the major rides, 1 1/2 to 2 full days to see it all. I think it is great myself. To have the best chance of seeing everything and having a bit of rest as well, 9 days for all Disney and Universal parks as well as a day at the water parks or just hanging at the hotel.