Travel Thread

[robbiestoupe]

We're staying at my wife's aunt's house 15 minutes from Disneyland. My wallet thanks me

[nocera]

Disneyland is a different animal. It doesn't have anywhere near the emersion of WDW. It does destroy WDW as far as history goes, though. You can feel Walt's impact in DL whereas the "historic" parts of WDW feel like a cheap recreation.

[DigitalGypsy66]

We did a timeshare 10-15 minutes from Disney World with a private pool two different times we've been with kids. We've looked at the resorts, but can't justify the price. My wife stayed a couple of times in resorts as a kid, I was too po' to afford such luxuries growing up.

We'll go again in a year or two, and maybe we'll do a resort to save on the travel time and whatnot.

[nocera]

You have to consider the perks of staying on property and weigh them against the cost. Biggest in my opinion is the 60+ day fast pass window. If you stay offsite, you can’t select your fast passes until 30 days out which makes it tough/damn near impossible to secure passes to popular rides like Flight of Passage, Slinky Dog Coaster, 7 dwarfs, and soon to be anything in Galaxy’s Edge.

[Dickie Dunn]

You have to consider the perks of staying on property and weigh them against the cost. Biggest in my opinion is the 60+ day fast pass window. If you stay offsite, you can’t select your fast passes until 30 days out which makes it tough/damn near impossible to secure passes to popular rides like Flight of Passage, Slinky Dog Coaster, 7 dwarfs, and soon to be anything in Galaxy’s Edge.

That's a new thing since we last went and would definitely make me prioritize staying on the property.

[robbiestoupe]

You have to consider the perks of staying on property and weigh them against the cost. Biggest in my opinion is the 60+ day fast pass window. If you stay offsite, you can’t select your fast passes until 30 days out which makes it tough/damn near impossible to secure passes to popular rides like Flight of Passage, Slinky Dog Coaster, 7 dwarfs, and soon to be anything in Galaxy’s Edge.

I'm basically a Disney noob, so explain the fast pass thing to me. Disneyland offers MaxPass, which I'm considering (gets you the fast pass app on your phone = choose your next ride in line vs. going to the various kiosks in the park. Plus free download of pictures they take of the fam). But what's this 60 day window you speak of? Perhaps Land/World are completely different in their use of the fast pass system.

[nocera]

You have to consider the perks of staying on property and weigh them against the cost. Biggest in my opinion is the 60+ day fast pass window. If you stay offsite, you can’t select your fast passes until 30 days out which makes it tough/damn near impossible to secure passes to popular rides like Flight of Passage, Slinky Dog Coaster, 7 dwarfs, and soon to be anything in Galaxy’s Edge.

I'm basically a Disney noob, so explain the fast pass thing to me. Disneyland offers MaxPass, which I'm considering (gets you the fast pass app on your phone = choose your next ride in line vs. going to the various kiosks in the park. Plus free download of pictures they take of the fam). But what's this 60 day window you speak of? Perhaps Land/World are completely different in their use of the fast pass system.

Ah I haven't been to DL since MaxPass, but as I understand it MaxPass is a slight charge while Fast Passes are free to everyone with a park ticket. I don't know enough about MaxPass to go into detail, though. For WDW, any guest with a park ticket can get fast passes to any ride/attraction. Guests who stay on property are able to select their fast pass rides/times 60+ days in advance. 60+ because your FP window opens up 60 days from your check-in date, but you can reserve fast passes for the duration of your stay. So if you're there for 7 days, you can select any day effectively giving you 67 days in advance.

Guests who stay offsite get 30 days advanced booking which really limits your options of available rides/times.

[DigitalGypsy66]

Yeah, I didn't know about the 60 days either. Definitely worth looking into then, especially for my wife who loves to plan vacations to the minute.

FastPasses allow you to get in the queue for different rides around Disney parks. There's a limit to how many you get per day etc., but it's a great way to plan your day without having to wait in (many) lines.

[nocera]

Yeah, I didn't know about the 60 days either. Definitely worth looking into then, especially for my wife who loves to plan vacations to the minute.

FastPasses allow you to get in the queue for different rides around Disney parks. There's a limit to how many you get per day etc., but it's a great way to plan your day without having to wait in (many) lines.

That's right. You start with 3 per day. Once you use your third, you can schedule one at a time until the parks close. There are plenty of ways to work the system and get the most out of it. We went in the middle of July, rode everything, and didn't wait more than 20 minutes for any ride. I've found that family and friends who claim they hate WDW hate it because they failed to do their research and spent most of their vacation waiting in long ass lines.

[NTP66]

I would book my next FP while I was walking into the ride after using one of my 3 FP's. Worked out very well for me.

[DigitalGypsy66]

Yeah, my wife is like a FastPass Jedi. On our two visits with kids, we only waited (briefly) for favorite rides at the end of the day. Like my kids wanted to ride Seven Dwarfs one more time before we left Florida, so we used a FastPass and got back in line for one more ride.

[NTP66]

There were times that we didn’t even need to use a FastPass, so I quickly changed it to something else. The only ride we waited more than 20 minutes for was the stupid **** Winnie the Pooh ride, which was both short and dumb.

[DigitalGypsy66]

Oh yeah, they finally banned smoking at all US Disney Parks a few weeks ago. And oversized strollers and wagons are now banned, starting on May 1st.

[nocera]

That smoking ban is going to backfire. Now instead of going to an out of the way reserved area to smoke, smokers/vapers will try to discretely smoke everywhere. It's going to be like a high school bathroom.

[NTP66]

I get the stroller van, even though it only affects a small number of them. The bigger issue is the dingbats pushing the strollers.

[shafnutz05]

That smoking ban is going to backfire. Now instead of going to an out of the way reserved area to smoke, smokers/vapers will try to discretely smoke everywhere. It's going to be like a high school bathroom.

Yeah...you have a lot of very stressed out people in that park. Honestly, I don't know how people can even think of having a cigarette on a 93 degree day, but to each their own.

We've talked about the FastPass thing ad nauseam but I'm happy my wife is such a good Disney planner. It was sooooo nice getting to skip to the front for Flight of Passage.

[NTP66]

**** smokers. Get caught? Get thrown out of the park immediately, IMO.

[shafnutz05]

**** smokers. Get caught? Get thrown out of the park immediately, IMO.

Prosecution too, preferably.

[DigitalGypsy66]

They need a giant slingshot to shoot them out onto International Drive.

[NTP66]

Oooh, I like that idea.

[DigitalGypsy66]

One of my wife's co-workers is 46 and has been to Disney World 33 times.

And yes, she wears custom t-shirts for most recent visits.

And does not have children.

[Lemon Berry Lobster]

How many cats?

[Dickie Dunn]

One of my wife's co-workers is 46 and has been to Disney World 33 times.

And yes, she wears custom t-shirts for most recent visits.

And does not have children.

One of my wife's co-workers is in her mid-50s, has gone to Disney World at least twice a year for the past 20 years, also wears custom t-shirts, and also does not have children.

Women be crazy.

[Gaucho]

How many cats?

[nocera]

One of my wife's co-workers is 46 and has been to Disney World 33 times.

And yes, she wears custom t-shirts for most recent visits.

And does not have children.

We're in our early 30s, no children, and go to WDW every other year. In fact, I think I would hate taking a child to Disney because I don't want to waste time meeting college kids dressed up as Mickey. We don't wear matching shirts, though. I imagine that will happen sometime in our 50s.