Going to Disney April 22-26 how are the crowds going to be?

We will be going to Disney next week from Tuesday, April 22 to Saturday, April 26. Does anyone know how the crowds are going to be? What park is best on what day? We will be taking our three year old and plan on going to MK and Epcot (Epcot only 1 day). Is it worth taking her to see the other parks or would she be bored? Thanks for your help.

Going to Disney April 22-26 how are the crowds going to be?

A three-year-old won%26#39;t be bored at any of the Disney parks, so go to as many as you have time to do. There%26#39;s something at every park, but especially Animal Kingdom.

As for crowds next week, looks like most days are rated ';5'; except for Thursday, which is an ';8'; for some reason.

The suggested park for each day is as follows:

Tuesday--Magic Kingdom

Wednesday--Epcot or Hollywood Studios

Thursday--Epcot or Animal Kingdom

Friday--Animal Kingdom

Saturday--Magic Kingdom or Epcot

Another park you may want to consider is SeaWorld, which is also ideal for a three-year-old.

Going to Disney April 22-26 how are the crowds going to be?

MGM is also a good park for a 3 year old. Playhouse Disney has the characters from Mickeys Clubhouse, Handy Mandy, Little Einsteins and My friends Tigger and Pooh. You can also meet them outside the show. They have Beauty and the Beast and Little Mermaid for the girls and Indiana Jones and the stunt show for the boys. The Muppet 3-D movie is also good for kids of this age. The high school musical show and the Pixar Parade are also good for a 3 year old. You do more sitting at this park for shows etc, it can be good after a busy day at M.K.

MGM is now called Hollywood Studios.

My five year old always LOVED Hollywood Studios. They have the Playhouse Disney show as mentioned and also the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. You could spend an hour just at the playground. Animal Kingdom is great, too. I would plan on spending a day at each of the parks. You may be able to do a half day at Epcot, hitting just the kid friendly things like Nemo%26#39;s Ride (a lot of fun) and the aquarium exhibits. We have annual passes and go all the time. I think you%26#39;ll find that your 3 year old will love it all!

pink hair

At Last !!

On our way to AMI today after a week in Orlando being worn out by the kids and the parks. Time to relax now, can`t wait.

Also going to introduce my brother in laws family to the island, albeit just for a day. I`m sure they`ll fall in love with the place too.

At Last !!

Have a wonderful holiday and relax! :-))

yes, i´m sure the bug will bite again :-)

we´re all waiting for your report!!

At Last !!

Hey Steve, finally huh? Well, you are looking at some wonderful weather here. I know you are going to have a great vacation.

By the way, I love your picture on your post name, great job!

Portofino with hubby and kids - SO SO excited!!

Leaving this Sunday for 5 nights at the Portofino with my husband and two boys, ages 12 and 10. Can%26#39;t get there soon enough! Does anyone have any Portofino tips as far as dining or entertainment? Any Universal tips at all would be appreciated actually. First time there for us! Also, did I read somewhere that Mythos is only open for lunch, not dinner?

Portofino with hubby and kids - SO SO excited!!

yes mythos is only open until about 3:00pm. i find this a very weird decision on their part...as they get tons of business and have been voted many years in a row as best themepark restaurant in the world.

can%26#39;t say about portofino, have never stayed there as i%26#39;ve never wanted to take a trip to my own town...but i do know that it is beautiful inside. it is one of the nicest hotels in orlando.

since you are staying at portofino, you get a free unlimited express pass (front of the line access), so you don%26#39;t need any tips for lines or which rides get crowded first. you are set! i don%26#39;t even need to advise on what attractions to do...with 5 nights, you will have time to do everything. all i can say is don%26#39;t miss anything. universal/IOA are my two favorite parks...you and your boys will have a fantastic time!

Portofino with hubby and kids - SO SO excited!!

Thanks, Orlando Native. Glad to know for sure the hours for Mythos. I guess we will be doing lunch there and not dinner. Sounds like a good place to have a cocktail though and I usually prefer those with dinner and not lunch. Oh well, it%26#39;s vacation, right????

I have stayed at Portafino and it%26#39;s beautiful, They have an italian restaurant there called mama mia%26#39;s (I think) and it was very good, I had the veal and it was yummy.

Great - I just made a reservation for that restaurant on our first night there. I can taste the veal already!!

It was veal marsala I think I had, very good. Also your room keys can be used as fast passes. Regular fast passes only allow you to use them once per ride but room keys allow you go ride as many times as you want. My fav ride at IOA is Dr seuss cat in the hat lol. Yes it%26#39;s a kiddy ride but very cool! Your two boys will love it. Next to the spiderman ride at certain times of the day all the super hero characters come out to sign autographs so try to catch that. Bubba Gump shrimp co. is really good food at universal city walk too.

Bristol to Sanford - anyone done this?

Just wondered if any of you have done this as it will save us going up to London.

First Choice are the airline - slightly smaller aircraft.

Plus how did you get from Sanford to Orlando?

Thanks.

Bristol to Sanford - anyone done this?

Haven%26#39;t done this but with regards to getting to Orlando from Sanford, when you book you can arrange for transfers from airport to hotel so that isn%26#39;t a problem.

Bristol to Sanford - anyone done this?

Have you thought of flying with Continental from Bristol. You have to go via Newark. We did this journey from Manchester (before Bristol opened this route) and it was fine. You could think of having a ';Stopover'; in New York before going home. We could kick ourselves for not doing that!!

I have flown Bristol to Sanford with First Choice.

IMO First Choice flight was great. Seat back TV%26#39;s, meal and snack, and a larger seat pitch than other airlines. Oh and the staff were great too!

The only downside to our flight was that we had to fly to Manchester first to fuel up.

Sanford is a great airport, much easier to get in and out of than MCO.

If you are not hiring a car though, you will have to look at booking transfers.

We have booked with First Choice flying from Bristol to Sanford in September. I think the stopover in Manchester is like 1hr, IMO more than worth it as we don%26#39;t have to drive to Gatwick. We have also booked transfers with First Choice to our hotel from the Airport.

We looked at going with FC from Bristol, two things stopped us, flight was hour or so longer due to refueling and it was more expensive. So Gatwick for us. We normally go with Virgin so will be very interested in finding out what the difference is going to be.

Cash, Credit Cards or Travlers Checks

Okay our first trip to KW is 31 days away. What should we take?? All Cash?? Do the bars take travlers checks?? Use a credit card??

I know there are seasoned KW travlers that will know what is best and easiest to use on island time.

Thanks for your advice.

Cash, Credit Cards or Travlers Checks

Credit Cards all the way. Dont use prepaid cards either, just a regular credit card that you pay off!

The reasoning is very simple, credit cards are the simplest to dispute and charge back charges that are not valid.

Yes, taking a card to a bar is not the most convient thing in the world, but its worth it in my opinion.

Credit Cards give you a level of protection that differs from any other monetary form. Travlers Checks are the same thing as paper checks only with a bit more security, but they really are a pain and more and more places will not take them.

Cash can get stolen, and you dont have any recourse.

Credit Cards (not Debit Cards) are the best way to go.

I sorta kinda have a ton of experience in this field and area so if you have questions let me know!

Cash, Credit Cards or Travlers Checks

Never had a problem with a credit card although I always carry some cash with me.

Well if you%26#39;re going to the Green Parrot, and I hope you do since it%26#39;s the best bar on the island to hear live music, bring cash...they don%26#39;t take plastic!

We usually bring plastic and cash. Why use a credit card if you%26#39;re just going to Kelly%26#39;s for happy hour for a few beers and margaritas?? $20 max, so use cash.

But if you%26#39;re getting a big meal somewhere, or even to pay off the hotel room, use plastic.

cheers!

DFWPhotoguy - thanks for the advice about the prepaid cards. I was thinking about doing that this year but I couldn%26#39;t make up my mind. I think you just helped me decide.

Most people dont realize that prepaid credit cards or online ';virtual'; credit cards are EVIL.

Authorizations can hold weeks if not months. You are in for a much larger headache with them than a regular credit card.

Prepaid Cards to stay away from at all costs:

Green Dot

Account Now

Bank Freedom

Vision

Western Union

BuyRight

CreditSolveUK

I agree cash and credit card all the way. Always book hotels on credit cards, as well as cars and big purchases.

If they are not up to your standards and the hotel is not willing to work with you, just say these magic words ';I will dispute/chargeback these charges, and report you to the BBB'; I promise things change once they hear those magic words.

I could do a entire traveler article on consumer rights and how to note get taken by the man.

A lot of bars in the Keys do not take credit cards and those establishments who do accept them usually have a minimum $20 charge. If you plan on stopping by several bars to have a single drink, the credit card won%26#39;t work. Also, I think most wait staff prefers tips in cash rather than one on a credit card slip.

We always use Credit Cards for the Hotel and gas on the way to the keys. Cash for bar tabs. If we want to buy a larger items or a expensive dinner- credit card. I don%26#39;t want to pay interest on my drinks : )

kim

Was also thinking about the tip side of things... Why tip Uncle Sam? If it%26#39;s documented, it%26#39;s taxed. Take your debit card and a credit card. Each day, debit out the cash you think you%26#39;ll need for food and drink purchases. Tangible items such as shopping, excursion tickets for sunset cruises, attraction etc... Use the CC. Simple solution. This way, if you need to dispute a charge for merchandise or services, you%26#39;re covered and if for some reason, there was a mix-up on the price of a meal or bar tab, you know and can fix it right then and there.

I think a mix of debit cards and cash works fine. I bring a good base of cash that I work off of to make sure i%26#39;m not going beyond the fairly large budget i set for myself as is.

I say a debit card because in the afternoon, I find it nice sometimes to just open a tab and let it run. If you%26#39;re known they won%26#39;t need a card, but most will. So you don%26#39;t even really need to use the card, but have it to run a tab. I personally like tipping off a big tab as opposed to tipping per drink.

Eloquently put seabus! Thats pretty much exactly the right thing to do!

If you want the strong drinks, tip in cash!

colorstay

'Small town America' near Orlando

We are gonna have a car when we go in October and would like a day out to a little quaint ? town/village within driving distance ? May go to Celebration as well.Just looking something something different !!

Thanks in advance.

'Small town America' near Orlando

I would highly recommend going to Celebration and head for the market place. It%26#39;s a lovely little town with bars, retaurants, shops, walks, cinema etc...

You could easily spend a few hours here just relaxing and taking in the atmosphere. However don%26#39;t go on a Sunday as most of the shops will be shut!

'Small town America' near Orlando

Winter Park is also nice. Just north of Orlando off the I4.

Mt Dora has some lovely little shops.

I would also suggest Winter Park, maybe take the boat tour and have lunch.

For a small town america feel you might want to take a little drive to historic downtown kissimmee, although there isn%26#39;t too much there of interest! I think Sanford has a historic district too.

is Celebration south of orlando??

The developers have taken away many of of quaint town areas (don%26#39;t get me started). Having said that, downtown Mt Dora is still nice. There are lots of cool places to eat. Leesburg also still has a small town feel. Celebration is nice, but it seems like it was built on a movie set. Somehow it seems a little fake for me.

Sanford does have an historic district, but its very small. I was just up there Saturday...they have some nice little shops and art galleries on Park Ave (there%26#39;s one in Sanford also!) but many are closing.

Winter Park is better, more to do, more shops and restuarants.

Winter Garden has also recently redeveloped their ';downtown'; with quaint shops and restaurants, but again, its small.

Celebration is nice, but I feel its very manufactured looking.

Celebration reminds me of the film Cocoon lol :)

Surffish: I%26#39;m with ya%26#39; on Celebration! I feel the same way about Baldwin Park (probably because the guy who headed up construction in Celebration also headed up Baldwin Park)

Celebration is nice, and it is pleasant. but it does feel a bit like %26#39;Wisteria Lane%26#39;. With a side of Stepford ;-)

are you responsible

Have you ever met someone famous?

Apart from Mickey and friends have you ever met anybody famous and what was your reaction?

My 2 younger daughters are hoping to bump into Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana) or Zac Efron (Troy - HSM) whilst we are in Orlando and they are already planning what they are going to say to them.

Just wondering if anyone else has had an experience.

RM

Have you ever met someone famous?

well...being a Green Bay Packer fan...Brett Farve was there last week, but we wern%26#39;t...bummer. A lady I know who was there at the time didn%26#39;t get to see him either, but I%26#39;m sure someone on the TA had to have known.

My little 4 year old daughter would love to meet ';Hannah Montana'; and ';Troy'; too!

Anyone else?

DC7

Have you ever met someone famous?

I saw the guy from %26#39;Full House%26#39; at Universal Studios in Hollywood a few years back!!

I know you%26#39;re all impressed really LOL!

I talked to Stone Cold Steve Austin

I thought I saw Tim McGraw at MGM last year, but turns out it was a look alike!! I really did think it was him though!

Yes I have but never at Disney :( The closest was Johnny Whittaker. We saw him at the Magic Kingdom years ago when he was filming Tom Sawyer for Disney.(I can see the google button going now). I did have the opportunity to say hello to Tiger Woods at a function at the Hyatt Grand Cypress eight or so years ago. I have a signed golf ball someplace.

Look-a-likes...wow, when we went to MNSSHP in October 06, wow, the pirate on the ship float sure looked like a dead ringer for Johnny Depp...I almost climbed the float! LOL

DC7

DC7 - How could I forget about that one!! I will say I certainly agree with you because I thought the same thing at the MNSSHP - and almost did the same thing you did!! Enjoy your trip:)

I worked in Hollywood for six years and have met more famous people than I can count. Seriously, I started to keep track of them in a notebook and just got tired of dragging it out every three minutes. When you live out there, you see celebs everywhere. It helped that I worked on a TV show that had a lot of special guests, but you didn%26#39;t have to be in the industry to see the celebs.

On one day in L.A., I saw the woman who played Nelly Olson on Little House on the Prairie at the grocery store, stood next to John Lovitz at the Hamburger Haven when I was getting lunch, and saw Jennifer Aniston at an Irish pub where she had come to see her boyfriend at the time, Tate Donovan, play in an Irish folk band.

My favorite story involves standing on set with two of the cast members from my show. I am around 6%26#39;2'; and the two cast members were 6%26#39;3'; and 6%26#39;5';. John Cleese - who is 6%26#39;5'; - walked up and stood with us while we were talking. After a moment he said, ';It%26#39;s so nice to be among people of proper size.';

Before I went out to Hollywood, I did meet the wrestler Ole Anderson at the Shoney%26#39;s where I worked. He ordered the soup and salad bar. One of the other waitresses - a big wrestling fan who didn%26#39;t like him - told me to tell him, ';We also serve steak, you big pansy.';

Needless to say, I didn%26#39;t.

thanks for the replies - great posts although I don%26#39;t know some of the names mentioned but I%26#39;m enjoying reading them - keep them coming.

RM