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[disnut8]

OK, boys and girls.  I believe most of us have some Disney experience so let's help Rolando plan the upcoming Disney trip.

First of all, go to your MWR office and ask them what kind of Disney admission media (aka tickets) they have available.  You can get some great deals but it differs from base to base.  After you get that (don't buy anything yet), figure out how many days you will actually be in a park.  Then decide which parks you want to visit.  For a weekend trip, you'll have to pick and choose based on your interests.  You can park hop if you get the correct tickets.  Disney changed their structure last year and there are so many options, it'll make your head spin.  If you let me know what is available and then what you want to do, I can give you more advice.

Then you need to decide on your accommodations.  You are eligible to stay at the fantastic Shades of Green which is on Disney property but run by the military.  It's a beautful deluxe luxury resort on one of the golf courses.  I believe you are an O-1 so it would be $99/night.  Trust me, that's a huge bargain.  However, if that isn't in your budget (and I hope it is), there are tons of offsite options.  Are you a Florida resident?  If you are, that opens up even more possibilities.  Just let me know what you are thinking about for a room and we can go from there.

I think maybe Super, Elmono and Vengeance can supply more offerings on what specifically to do once you are there.  I have my own likes and dislikes based on my *cough* advanced years.  But I do all the Disney thrill rides.

BTW - a Disney translation guide -

Cast Member = employee (even Robert Igor is a Cast Member)
Attraction = ride
Admission Media = ticket
Guest = customer
On stage = any area where guests are permitted
Back stage = any area where only Cast Members are allowed
Resort = hotel

A Disney Cast Member will never point with just one finger.  It'll be two fingers or the entire hand.  Some cultures are offended by a one digit point.

Hope that gives you a starting point.  Everyone else, chime in.

[Supermercado]

Goodness.

I won't be much help at all in this, unfortunately. I've been to Disney World twice: once when I was six and I hardly remember it, and the other time was the last time Rolando went so I probably remember just as much as he does from it.

[RichN]

Shades of Green even has a little Shoppette there.  And it's right on the golf courses withing walking distance of the Polynesian.  Definitely the place to go if you can get in.

[LostArtofRolando]

sounds like a good place to start.  I'll go talk to Travel or MWR (Travel and TMO and the MPF are ALL in one huge office, so I don't know if thats the best place to start) and start looking at prices.  I've narrowed it down to the weekends of Mar 4, 11, and 25th for my options.  $99 a night aint bad at all, I guess the biggest question is if there will be a huge waiting list and I need to get on crazy early (or am too late already).  I remember going in March with my family and it was nice and not crowded at all.

[elmono311]

Don't forget you get free transportation to everything on Disney property if you stay at Shades of Green. So you're not just stuck with the Magic Kingdom (which is the area Shades of Green is in).

[LostArtofRolando]

awesome, i forgot about that.  That's what we did when we were there.  what are the names of all the parks these days?  I remember when i last went the safari park had JUST opened.  It was neat.  That and the world village at Epcot are my favorite.

[elmono311]

Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney Studios, Animal Kingdom

Water parks are Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach

Then there's Downtown Disney with all the shopping and entertainment

Wide World of Sports for sporting stuff. Oh, hey, the Atlanta Braves do their spring training at the baseball field there. You can try to get into that

[LostArtofRolando]

well ill only be there for essentially a sat and part of sunday before having to drive back up here, so i'll prolly only hit the main parks and downtown disney.

[disnut8]

The Shades of Green phone number is 888-593-2242, website www.shadesofgreen.org.  If Shades of Green is full for when you want it, you get "overflow" rates at various Disney resorts at up to 40% off rack rates.  I'd call now if the $99 rate doesn't scare you.

Shades of Green transportation is NOT Disney transportation.  It's every hour on the hour and run by the military.  Disney is much more plentiful.  However, the Polynesian resort (Disney) is just a ten minute walk away (very nice and you'll see lots of animal life).  You can use the Disney transportation from there.

I'd suggest you get your resort set up first and think about tickets later.

For you, figure on Epcot definitely since you said you liked the World Showcase area.  Animal Kingdom is great and (this is a secret), you might be able to do a soft opening with Expedition:Everest.  A soft opening is when they are still testing the attraction and don't advertise that they want people to ride it for the experience.  You can walk between Epcot and MGM (about fifteen-twenty minutes) or take a boat (about thirty minutes) so you might want to consider that.  The new Lights, Action, Motor Car show is there and elmono is a big fan of the Indiana Stunt Show.  A version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire is an option too.  That's where Star Tours is (as Super knows).  I'd rule out Magic Kingdom entirely.  Too many kids, too little time.

And if you haven't done it already, make sure you have a comfortable, broken in pair of shoes.  You will be doing a lot of walking.

[Vengeance]

He's in the military. I'll bet he could walk barefoot around the park all day and not even get winded. hehehehe

[LostArtofRolando]

haha, and bust out my new boots, break em in.  I probably couldnt do it barefoot, but odds are I won't end up with ANY blisters... I didn't get any throughout my training.

[disnut8]

I didn't get any through four weeks of training for ROTC but I did at Disney World in the past couple of years.  Of course, I am a bit older now.  Average day walking at Disney World is about six miles.

[RichN]

He's in the military. I'll bet he could walk barefoot around the park all day and not even get winded. hehehehe

Ummm, isn't Rolando Air Force?  It'll make for one tough walk around WDW with AF training.  I know from experience.

[LostArtofRolando]

i ran 6 miles with a 60lb pack on at OTS.

[Vengeance]

And he's a jogger...you know how those types are. LOL

[disnut8]

Rolando -

Based on the reports I've been reading, you have an excellent chance at riding Expedition:Everest.  It's been open and operating based on the great guest response for the preview week and weekend.  It'll probably be going strong all through February and March unless something major happens.  They will be tweaking the lines and queues but this has to be the most successful openings of any Disney World attraction ever.

Once you get your definite travel plans down, let me know.  I will personally guide you through Animal Kingdom if you want.  Hell, I'll take you to Boma for dinner at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.  Vengeance can give you the scoop on that place.  The Lodge.  Elmono can give you the 411 on the restaurant.  Or RichN.  One of the best on Disney property.

[LostArtofRolando]

Holy Thread Revival!

I'm picking this one back up because my wife and I are planning on hitting the parks when I get back from the desert.  We had a great long roadtrip planned out but a friend's wedding and a sister's college graduation popped up in the middle. So, now we're doin a week at Disney and a cruise. 

We're getting into Disney for free, thanks to that whole Salute the Troops 5-day passes to all the parks.  I looked into Shades of Green, but they are unavailable during our time-frame.  Any other recommendations for lodging?  It's our honeymoon, so we don't mind spending a little moolah, but still want to maintain some kind of boundary on price so we can spend on the cruise as well.  Please let us know whats up.  If there are any Disney lodges you recommend as well as the non-Disney.

THanks!

[disnut8]

Well, I think the best thing to do for you is to give you this very valuable site - www.allearsnet.com.  Just click on "accommodations" for a listing of all available onsite Disney properties.  Along the left side of the Accommodations page, it will list general information and then get into each specific resort with a fact sheet, photos, and reviews.  There are several different classifications of Disney resorts - value, moderate, deluxe, and home-away-from home.  The way I listed them are from cheapest to most expensive.  Each resort has it's own personality so me trying to tell you which one to pick is impossible because you might like an island theme (so you would maybe like Caribbean Beach or the Polynesian), or Southwest (Coronado Springs), or the outdoors (Wilderness Lodge or a cabin at Fort Wilderness), or animals (Animal Kingdom Lodge), or sports (All Star Sports) or music (All Star Music) or movies (All Star Movies), or the seaside (Boardwalk Inn or Villas, Beach Club, Yacht Club), or anything else (the remainder of the resorts).

You can email me at disnut888@yahoo.com if you want my specific experiences with any resort.  There's only about five I haven't stayed at yet.

Good luck!  Most of your vacation will be about this planning!

[LostArtofRolando]

appreciate it much.  I took a look through the various resorts and left it up to the wifey, will let you know what we choose.  Looking to be fun!

[elmono311]

Try the 80s section of Pop Century. Should bring back some memories (I've never stayed at Pop Century, though )

[disnut8]

From allearsnet.com:

"In the 1980s area of Disney's Pop Century Resort, the most "puzzling" toy of the decade, the Rubik's Cube, towers more than 40 feet tall on each building. (Walt Disney Imagineers designed the different cubes to represent different stages of the solution process.) Across the courtyard, one of the original Sony Walkman models, and accompanying headphone set, anchors the building. In the middle of the courtyard is a computer-shaped pool, complete with a spongy keyboard that offers guests an alphabet-filled pool deck area."

But remember - that's just two buildings of the 10 at this one resort.  And Disney World has 26 different resorts.