What's worth checking out at Disney?

[Wil_i_am_not]

Hey everybody!

Later this year (in September) I'm lucky enough to attend Disney World while on a trip to the USA. The bad thing is I'm only going to be able to attend this park and this park only and for just 1 day . Well, at least I'm going, right? Anyways I'm definitely going to be attending Epcot for half a day and another park for another park (only two parks, this trip is full of disappointments). This is my first overseas theme park trip and I'm wondering what you guys think? I love thrill rides and stuff, but I'd also like to focus on the Classics, you know. So help me out here! What rides should I check out at Epcot and another park. 

Thanks everyone! (Oh and P.S., I have some O'Neils Adventureland pics if anyone wants to see, don't worry, I didn't break into anything xP)

 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

DisneyTouristBlog (DTB) do what they call DailyTripBlueprints(DTBs) that might be of great help. I've not yet made it to Florida, but i've done a lot of research on how many days you need for certain things when the DTBs came up. I found them a very good read, and definitely the best way to fit in as much as possible. They have other DTBs for some of the other parks there too so i'd recommend starting there to get a feel for how much you might get done.

http://www.disneytouristblog.com/1-day-epcot-plan/

September isn't necessarily a quiet period though, so just be prepared for that... TBH theres never a quiet period, but September isn't really 'low season'...

[Zanstabar]

In all of my trips to Disney, I've always made sure that I have a copy of the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World or Disneyland. This is like my bible. It gives touring plans, as well as details about each ride, such as queue times, age group ratings and tips and tricks for each attraction. I would really recommend it just to know a little more about each ride. It can make decisions on the fly so much easier. 

They also provide all the information online at Touring Plans. Ride descriptions, touring plans, it's all there. If you subscribe to their service, you can also get a personalized plan. I haven't used this service before, however, I will definitely be using it on my next trip. 

 

As for must do's, this is my picks for a mix between classics and thrills:

Magic Kingdom

• Haunted Mansion
• Pirates of the Carribean
• Jungle Cruise
• Space Mountain
• Splash Mountain
• Big Thunder Mountain

EPCOT

• Test Track
• Soarin'
• Mission: Space
• Spaceship Earth

Hollywood Studios

• Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
• Star Tours
• Rock 'n' Rollercoaster
• Toy Story Mania
• Great Movie Ride

Animal Kingdom

• Expedition Everest
• Dinosaur
• Killaminjaro Safaris
• Kali River Rapids

Depending on what parks you decide to do, those are my picks. Hope you enjoy your time!

[iwerks]

The Unofficial Guide is the bible. It's great reading irregardless. The first time I went to Disney World I stayed for 5 days, the second time, 12 days. Stay at a Disney property if you can.

[Wil_i_am_not]

Thanks everyone for the help! 

Stay at a Disney property if you can.

​I'm staying at a hotel nearby, about 5 mins walk

[Gazza]

Have you been to Disneyland in LA?

With Epcot, get a Soarin FP first, test track via Single Rider, do Mission Space and Spaceship Earth via Standby. Eat somewhere in world showcase, the rides there are pretty forgettable.

Edited June 11, 2015 by Gazza

[Mort]

This is a hard question.

If i was only going to disney for 1 day i would actually ride minimal rides. Disney for me is all about the atmosphere and soaking everything up.

 

Here is what i would do.

 

Start your day at Magic Kingdom.

Depending on your preference go straight to space mountain or seven dwarfs

then i would go to peter pan for a classic dark ride experience.

then i would go to haunted mansion then to pirates of the carribean (this actually might be down for refurb in september if memory serves me right) then to splash and finish with big thunder

Then i would spend some time walking around the park just having a look before jumping on the monorail to epcot.

I would not book any fastpasses for Magic Kingdom and would book them all for Epcot

I would book fastpasses for saorin (you can only get a fastpasss for soarin or test track not both, i say soarin because it is a more family friendly ride therefore lines are usually longer than test track) spaceship earth and mission space.

I would then spend the rest or your time in epcot going around world showcase and watch the illuminations fireworks.

 

For lunch or dinner options at epcot i can recommend via napoli or teppan edo but i would book these NOW as reservations at Epcot book out months in advance.

now if you are crafty, you can watch illuminations from near the international gateway and as soon as it finishes walk to hollywood studios from the international gateway and catch fantasmic and if it happens to be a hollwood studios Extra MAgic hours night you could potentially ride star tours, tower of terror and rockin roller coaster.

 

best of luck, you'll need your skates on!

[JacobSibbald]

 

​I'm staying at a hotel nearby, about 5 mins walk

There is no offsite hotel within 5 minutes walk of Epcot. I'm assuming you would be a 5 minutes walk from Downtown Disney ​from which you can get Disney transportation to the park. September gets quite quiet at the end of the month - what date are you planning?

If you only have one day, Magic Kingdom and Epcot would be the two I'd choose. Epcot can be done very quickly in the morning without the need for fastpasses, Soarin' -> Test Track Single Rider -> Mission Space (wait times don't get too bad)  -> Spaceship Earth on the way out.

I would personally do Epcot first, just because whilst Illuminations is incredible, Wishes has more of the Magic. Also, September marks the start of Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and if you choose one of the first nights/your visit happens to fall on one of these nights (September 15, 18, 20, 22, 25, 27) the lack of people in the park will astound you and you should be able to do a lot of the rides, and the Happy Hallowishes fireworks - featuring perimeter bursts (amazing!). Entry is permitted into Magic Kingdom with party tickets after 4pm, so you can spend all of the morning and a good part of the afternoon in Epcot and then hop over on the Monorail for the party - you will get 8 hours in Magic Kingdom from 4pm-12am, making it totally worth it!

Good luck and have fun!

 

EDIT: If you do choose to do a Halloween party, use the fastpasses for Epcot.

Edited June 12, 2015 by JacobSibbald

[Mort]

 

If you only have one day, Magic Kingdom and Epcot would be the two I'd choose. Epcot can be done very quickly in the morning without the need for fastpasses, Soarin' -> Test Track Single Rider -> Mission Space (wait times don't get too bad)  -> Spaceship Earth on the way out.

 

​I would defintely avoid MK in the afternoon.

 

When i was just there (in an off peak period mind you) wait times were 45 to 90 mins in the afternoon so we spent that time doing Meet and Greets and fastpasses because the stand bys were a little long.

 

If you go in the morning you shouldn;t wait any longer than about 20-25 mins. and things like splash will be walk ons.

 

EPCOT doesn't have that many attractions that get long waits.

 

Other than the test track, soarin, mission space and space ship earth, the others arent must dos and have small waits.

 

I would say living with the land is really cool but not a must do. And Journey through the imagination is only worth doing if you have excess time......its like an acid trip....but with out all the good parts.

 

The last thing you want to do is do all the rides and then leave because World Showcase really needs some time to get the most out of it. Its such an amzing experience and you can get some really one of a kind disney merchandise from the pavilions. and specially seeing as Epcot is your main focus you will want to end up there and have that as your last experience.

 

In terms of Wishes vs Illuminations. I personally prefer wishes just because im a disney movie fan and love the music, however i feel if you see Mickeys Philharmagic and illuminations you ge tthe best of both worlds as illuminations has much better fireworks and pyro.. However celebrate the magic is amazing.

 

Seeing as you have such limited time i would seriously consider putting together a custom touring plan from touringplans.com. It will let you figure out what is doable and the expected wait times and the best orer to do everything. I used them on my trip and they were pretty damn accurate.

[JacobSibbald]

I was mainly talking in terms of the Halloween party - if it coincides with his dates, it's a no-brainer, especially due to the limited amount of guests in park and subsequent extremely short waits.

All of it is pretty subjective though, all of the above was my own personal preference anyway

[Adam C]

Hi Wll, (not)

I went to WDW last September.  Albeit for 15 days.  All of the advice you've seen is good.  However, if you're specifically looking at a 1 day flying visit, I'd suggest the following.

firstly, decide on the specific day you intend to do your visit.  Different days have different opening hours.  The WDW website will tell you.

 A 2 day pass is the cheapest option at $96 but you'll have to pay an extra $64 to have the park hopper option.  A 1 day pass doesn't allow park hopping.    The reason I suggest buying your ticket early is that you can pre book fast passes to get on to 3 popular rides without queuing.  For a flying visit, fastpass is essential.  

Anyway, if you're happy with visiting from 9am to 10pm,  I'd suggest starting with the Magic Kingdom and get there for 8:30am.  The reason I say this is that the Magic Kingadom goes bananas after 12 noon.  We went strait to the left side of the park and walked on the Thunder & Spalsh mountains, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle boat ride and Haunted mansion with no queue.  We also booked the 7 Dwarfes mine train and Space mountain on our fast passes just after lunch.  These 2 rides have regular huge queues.  Sleepy hollow diner is very American.  Try the famous presidential sweet and or a funnel cake with ice cream.  The dining area is under the shadow of the Cinderella Castle.  Next door is the hall of presidents. Worth it for the very American experience.

In light of time, I'd leave the MK by 1or 2pm and head to EPCOT.  Book Test track for your fast pass.  I'd avoid Universe of energy (unless your an Ellen DeGeneres fan) as it takes about an hour to go around.  Spaceship Earth, Soarin & Mission space are the better rides in future world.  As for world showcase,  take time to experience all of the countries.  China,   France & Canada have short movies on show.  The American adventure is a 30 minute theatre show about American history,   although the war of 1812 doesn't get a mention anywhere. I'd recommend Germany for eating.  It has a BBQ buffet with chicken, hamburgers and sausages with salads & side dishes etc. and very nice beer. You don't need to wait 30 mins for your food to arrive.

Now as for time and how long the parks are open until, you may want to squeeze in Hollywood Studios.  The 3 main rides are Star Tours, Tower of terror and rock'n rollercoaster are the 3 main draws.  They are much quieter towards sunset.  Also the Fantasmaic fireworks & lazer show is much better than the EPCOT fireworks and you get to sit down in a giant arena opposed to standing.  Finally, if MK is open until 11pm or midnight you may want to return to see the night parade.  It's really empty as all of the kids have long left.  Don't forget your camera.

I hope this helps.  Have a nice day!

 

[iwerks]

Let's not forget that these parks are massive in size. You'd be lucky to visit MK in the morning and take the monorail to Epcot. If you're catching a shuttle from a non Disney hotel they might just drop you off at the Epcot parking lot - you may not have a lot of choice.

[Adam C]

Let's not forget that these parks are massive in size. You'd be lucky to visit MK in the morning and take the monorail to Epcot. If you're catching a shuttle from a non Disney hotel they might just drop you off at the Epcot parking lot - you may not have a lot of choice.

I weeks is correct in stating that the WDW parks are very big.  You won't do everything but the question is whether you want to do as much as possible. Just get a good nights sleep before and after the event.

[Wil_i_am_not]

I am staying at the Lake Buena Vista Hotel. I found out that they do shuttles to Disney rather than a walk, my bad xD

[Wil_i_am_not]

Oh and I'm attending Space Camp up there for anyone who is interested! I've heard some of the simulator's down there make some of Wittinglow's old rides look like nothing!

[iwerks]

Sounds like fun. I presume that's out at Cape Kennedy. Mears runs a good bus service from Downtown Disney to the cape, but I assume you've got that transport covered.

[Wil_i_am_not]

Yeah, have the transport covered

 

[Wil_i_am_not]

Ok, so here's the plan so far!

 

Rides: 

Epcot: Mission Space, Test Track, and (hopefully) Soarin.

MK: Haunted Mansion (if it's not down for annual maintenance), Space Mountain, Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain.

Food

Epcot: I'll have brekky here, probs at one of the world showcase's.

MK: Lunch and dinner here. Might have some Corn Dogs for lunch. Still haven't decided on dinner and definitely some snacks. Overpriced churros anyone?

Souvenirs:

Epcot: I'll figure it out.

MK: Lots of little things, oh and pins... You can't forget the pins.

Both Parks: Mounds of ride photo's!

 

I have had a look at the Unofficial Guide To Disney World and I took a lot from that. I will be attending the 'Kiss Goodnight' and getting the best spots at the Fireworks!

Thank you everyone for the help and I'll report back once my trip is done!

THANKS! Wil_i_am_not

[JacobSibbald]

What date are you travelling? The Kiss Goodnight, whilst small, is unmissable for any Disney fan - loved it.

[Wil_i_am_not]

Yeah, so I've heard! I should be there on around the 5th of September.

[JacobSibbald]

Bugger - you'll be battling with the crowds. Good luck to you and have an awesome time!

[Wil_i_am_not]

Thanks

 

[Mort]

Still think you are doing it the wrong way with epcot first. If you want to do MK at night i would go MK in the mroning then shoot over to epcot and then go back to MK.

You will minimise your wait times this way.

[Wil_i_am_not]

The only problem with that is that I'm travelling with a group . I would do it that way.

[iwerks]

I think Mort is right - you need to do the mountains first up. Keep it simple and convince your friends to reverse their park order if you can.