BPC: Pics from Disney in FL

[Nate Crisman]

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The kids had an absolute blast. Had to ride "it's a small world" 5 or 6 times, it was Josh's favorite. Alex went nuts for Buzz Lightyear ride, the racecars, and Pirates of Carribean. Had to meet every character we saw too.

I was pissed becuase the Alfredo's of Rome resturaunt is not there anymore in the Italy Pavilion at Epcot: replaced with a generic italian....literally got up and left after being seated and seeing the menu change.

Weather was freaky, even for FL. 86-90* w/ blazing sun all morning till lunchtime, then MONSOON rain every afternoon untill the last day (that was perfect). Rain & lightning was so bad that 3 out of 5 nights all the rides were closed and the parks were useless with everyone crowded into the shopping/food/indoor rides. Usually the daily rain storm comes and goes, but this week the rain was non-stop from afternoon till late at night.
F'd up the nighttime fireworks and parades too..sucked.

[atc250r]

Nice pics Nate. It looks like the kids had fun. When my son gets a little older we're going to take them down there. Maybe next summer, he'll be almost 3 by then.

John

[Nate Crisman]

Nice pics Nate. It looks like the kids had fun. When my son gets a little older we're going to take them down there. Maybe next summer, he'll be almost 3 by then.

John

Try to go just BEFORE he's 3. at 3 years old they need a ticket ($60-$80 per day), while a 2 year 363 day old is a freebie. anyone 2years and older needs a plane ticket.

I think we are going to go back again fall 2009 when Josh is just under 3 yo. Alex got so much out of the trip, he's asking every day to go back and he watches the camcorder video and pictures every day since. (And sleeps with his new buzz lightyear toy). 1.5 years from now they should be able to get along without a stroller all the time and no mid day naps making the whole trip more effective.

The stroller situation was my biggest gripe, having to fold both of them up to get on the bus and unfold each time. you can rent a stroller in the park, but they are plastic. Not suitable for Josh's "on the go" naps at only 1.5yo.

[gtluke]

awesome

[Hinz]

Try to go just BEFORE he's 3. at 3 years old they need a ticket ($60-$80 per day), while a 2 year 363 day old is a freebie. anyone 2years and older needs a plane ticket.


what did they do, ask your kids for ID???

[blcknspo0ln]

Awesome pictures, looked like a good time :twisted: I especially love epcot. My girlfriend and I spent 2 seperate whole days there just walking around and eating shit. Fish and chips FTW!!

[Nate Crisman]

Awesome pictures, looked like a good time :twisted: I especially love epcot. My girlfriend and I spent 2 seperate whole days there just walking around and eating shit. Fish and chips FTW!!

We went to epcot twice for "half days" each time. Usually we spend more time there doing the countries and bigger rides, but the kids were more interested in Magic Kingdom.

I did get on Soarin over California and Mission Space, but to be honest, it's not as much fun doing it all alone. Testtrack was closed both times due to rain. Wait time for Soarin was well over 2 hours both days (I waited 45 min with a fastpass).

The kids did like the boat rides in Mexico and Norway, but coudn't care less about international food and alchohol unfortunatly. :P

[Nate Crisman]

Try to go just BEFORE he's 3. at 3 years old they need a ticket ($60-$80 per day), while a 2 year 363 day old is a freebie. anyone 2years and older needs a plane ticket.


what did they do, ask your kids for ID???

For the airline, yes, birth cirtificate or SS#.

For the disney parks, nothing required. You could probobly get away with a small 4 year old so long as they still look small and you instruct them to shut up at the gate. Then again, you may get hassled trying to get a kid who walks alone fine, talks alot, and is 45" tall in for free as a 2 year old. Alex is really big for a 2 year old and we were asked for his ticket a few times, but just saying "he's only 2" got him through.

Not sure if Disney ever asks you to "prove it" with 2 year olds? :lol:

[hindle]

while a 2 year 363 day old is a freebie.

I'm guessing 2 years and 364 days old is free too? :lol:

[Nate Crisman]

while a 2 year 363 day old is a freebie.

I'm guessing 2 years and 364 days old is free too? :lol:

Likely so. 8)

[atc250r]

The stroller thing is a big PITA but I'd highly recommend one of the two up ones. We got a Joovy stroller that the little guy can sit in a normal single type seat with belts up front and in the back is a bench type with a foot rest so they can either sit and look backwards or stand and look forward over the canopy of the front seat. Your kids here:

http://www.joovy.com/images/caboose/caboose_with_boys.jpg

:lol:

Emily is pushing fairly hard for a trip down there. She'll be 6 in December but the little guy will be 2 in September so we've got some time before he's too big for the discount. Maybe around this time next year we'll head down there. Any suggestions on getting a good deal on the whole package?

John

[steveVR4]

Those pics are freaking ridiculous awesome. Love the 1st one. Whats up with the 3rd one? The kid is lit up nicely but the ground isn't. Looks cool.

[Nate Crisman]

Those pics are freaking ridiculous awesome. Love the 1st one. Whats up with the 3rd one? The kid is lit up nicely but the ground isn't. Looks cool.

That's called effective use of a gobo. (go between). I just blocked the lower part of the flash so it didn't light up the ground as much. Plus the flash power is pulled down -3 stops so it isn't as obvious as the picture after it and don't change the color temp nearly as much. My first 2 attempts at that shot looked quite stupid with the flash to strong and spilling all over the ground in front of him that changed the color (shifted to blue) and looked "obviously flash". My third attempt I got the finger over the flash in the right spot. About as natural looking as I could get it without pissing everyone off waiting for the parade.

[steveVR4]

Interesting. :)

Go between/gobo is an actual piece of hardware or literally just your finger?

[Nate Crisman]

The stroller thing is a big PITA but I'd highly recommend one of the two up ones. We got a Joovy stroller that the little guy can sit in a normal single type seat with belts up front and in the back is a bench type with a foot rest so they can either sit and look backwards or stand and look forward over the canopy of the front seat. Your kids here:

http://www.joovy.com/images/caboose/caboose_with_boys.jpg

:lol:

Emily is pushing fairly hard for a trip down there. She'll be 6 in December but the little guy will be 2 in September so we've got some time before he's too big for the discount. Maybe around this time next year we'll head down there. Any suggestions on getting a good deal on the whole package?

John

That stroller is exactly what we will need for next time. Josh will still be small enough to not walk alot of the time, but Alex will be old enough to walk and just have a small place to sit down for a bit when he gets tired. Great. Much cheaper to buy one than to rent for a week at $31 a day for a double stroller rental. only pita is taking it on the bus.

As for discounts...Disney keeps a tight reign on pricing becuase that don't do any outside booking really. The way to get the cheapest deal is to go during one of thier "Magical Weeks of Disney" that are off-season and less crowded. Everything is at the best price you will find at that time.

Definalty stay on property. The All-Star resorts as well as Pop Century are about $90 a night, you won't find anywhere significantly cheaper off property and the savings is gone once you pay $10 to park your car and Gas going from hotel to the parks. Transportation is free within disneyword between the resorts and all attractions, it's great and totally work staying in The World.

Im a disney fiend, I can answer anything you want to know about the world.

[satanpez]

Maybe around this time next year we'll head down there. Any suggestions on getting a good deal on the whole package?

John

If you have AAA, get pricing from their free travel agents. My parents went last year with my little brother. AAA was by far the cheapest place and included many added things the other places did not. (Meal Cards was the one I can think of at the moment). The only thing I'd say to watch out for is they didn't realize until the day before that AAA forgot to give them a bunch of the added stuff. They had it set aside for them but failed to call.

Oh, any German restaurants up by you? :)

-Steve

[atc250r]

You know there's some good German eating up here. Ask Rene, Luke, and Maria. Anytime you guys want to come up again I'm down for it.

Nate,

My wife picked that stroller because it folds up just as small as the single seat models of a similar style. Its still clumsy when folded (they all are) but at least it isn't too wide to fit through stuff like those damn side by side strollers. I'll have to look into AAA for the trip down there.

John