Armed Polite Society
Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: MillCreek on July 02, 2023, 07:12:43 PM
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Can two people in their mid-60s with no children have fun at Disney World in Florida? Or is it so geared towards children that unaccompanied adults would be bored? My wife and I would not be doing many, if any, rides or the waterpark. We have read about the Epcot international festival, and Harry Potter would be up the road.
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Yes.
The one thing the Disney operation can do better than (arguably) anyone else in the world is run a resort. A sixty year old couple will have plenty to do and see and you wont regret it one penny.
Stay in one of the park resorts. We stayed at Animal Kingdom. The food was EXQUISITE, all guests were treated like royalty, the view out of the rooms over the grounds looked like the Serengeti and you can hop a bus to wherever you want - Epcot, Magic Kingdom, etc. Stay two or three nights, four wouldn't be too much, but 5 days might.
And I am a credentialed curmudgeon. Was convinced i would hate it, just did it because kids. BAH!
HUMBUG!
No regrets.
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Millcreek - if you are even remotely interested in technology, particularly "future" tech, the Experimental Prototype City of Tomorrow (EPCoT) is not to be missed.
While I have never had the opportunity to go there, I have watched a couple of shows over the years that did walk-thrus" and they left me drooling.
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Decades ago when we went, Dad always said the free attractions at the parks (World and Land) were the best, FWIW
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Tuco nailed it. Yes go to it. Do a few of the rides. See Epcot. There was a trained animal show that we saw (but that might have been at Universal Studios) that was great. And I really enjoyed the gardens and landscaping.
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Watche the DFB channel on YouTube (Disney Food Blog). Very, very good info.
Brad
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https://www.youtube.com/@ParkHoppin/videos
I have heard about this Park Hoppin channel. I think they focus on the parks there in Florida.
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My wife and I and her family went back in 2020. We had two days, one day at Magic Kingdom and one day at Hollywood Studios. Epcot was under a lot of renovations so we didn’t go this time (I still want to go) and we didn’t go to Animal Kingdom.
I really enjoyed it and I don’t really care for theme park rides. Did ride two roller coasters and the Tower of Terror. Most rides aren’t thrill rides like that though so I think you will ride more than you expect. Most are experience rides instead.
Disney Springs is also good too.
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I've never been to Disney so I can't give you my own take on it, but I know my cousin's son and daughter-in-law do Florida's Disney every year - they're in their 40s with no kids. They usually spend several days there. The only feedback I've gotten - indirectly - is to check to see if there are any special events going on when you plan to go; you may not want to be there during Gay Days, Spring Break, or during kids' summer vacation.
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Now that I'm at a real keyboard...
I've been to Disney World twice - once in August, once in late September.
Do not, I repeat, do NOT go in July or August unless you like it hot and humid. By "humid" I mean don't bother toweling off after a shower because you'll be dripping wet in a few minutes anyway. You never get dry. Ever. Everything stays squishy. Baby powder? Ha! Might as well mix with water and smear it on as a paste because that's what it's gonna end up anyway. It's an oppressive wetness you can't escape. You better be good with crowds, too. The crush of families on summer vacation is unreal. Think of it as going to a super-popular concert or sporting event, only you aren't done after a few hours. It's all the time. Everywhere.
September was a much, much, much more pleasant trip. Moderate temps made the humidity tolerable. Partly cloudy most of the time. Afternoon showers pretty much every day. Time of year also meant lighter park attendance. Note I didn't say "light", just lighter. There are still crowds everywhere, just not the elbow-to-elbow chaos of peak times. Ride waits were in singles of minutes rather than multiples of ten.
Check the DFB Guide channel I mentioned earlier. They are a wealth of insider information on Do and Don't things, especially stuff like park transportation, money handling, and all-important scheduling/pass/timing stuff (VERY important with Disney's park and ride pass methodologies).
The September trip was as an adult and I had a blast. You kinda turn into a kid all over again. Even the kiddie rides had their moments, nostalgia if nothing else. Take advantage of in-park transportation. Disney makes it easy. If you have a question, there will be a Help Desk or Guest Assistance kiosk somewhere nearby, usually within a few steps.
Tuco is spot-on... Disney does Guest Relations better than anyone. If you go with reasonable expectations, don't be surprised if they are significantly exceeded. Yes, they are that good.
Oh, take a day and go to Universal Studios, too.
Brad
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Disney pushes sexual perversion to children.
I recommend that you spend your money elsewhere.
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Back in the early nineties there was a place in Kissimmee that had a P-38 they pulled from a swamp they intended to “restore”. Quote marks because there was little recognizable as an airplane, let alone as a P-38. That said, lots of cool plane stuff there. No idea what it was called. But if they still exist be fun to see what they did with the P-38.
When will you be there? If the NG job ever comes through I’ll be in Melbourne for 2 weeks. Possibly around late August, Labor Day kind of time frame.
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So the wife and I just got back from spending ten days in Orlando. My wife arranged the trip through Costco Travel. We stayed at the Port Orleans Riverside resort, which was a lovely place of individual lodges set along the river. A few observations:
1. Living in Seattle, we are no strangers to rain. We were, however, strangers to the torrential downpours during a thunderstorm. Our flight flew almost all the way to Cuba before circling back to land at Orlando to avoid a thunderstorm. It continued as we rented a car and drove to Disney World. Even with the wipers on high, they could not keep up. I decided to follow the lead of the locals and drive at 35 MPH on the freeway during the storm.
2. We don't get much combined heat and humidity in Seattle, and there were several days of temps in the mid to high 70's with rain and very high humidity. It was like a sauna. In January.
3. It was not crowded at all, except for MLK weekend, at which time a lot of people came and brought their kids.
4. The multi-day park hopper tickets are the best deal.
5. We were disappointed in the number of rides that were down when we were there. If the ride was 'temporarily closed' when you were at the park, it sucks to be you, and there are no refunds. If the ride goes down while you have already been waiting in line for over an hour, and they evacuate you out of the building, you do not get a priority ticket to avoid the line when the ride starts working again.
6. We ate at a number of higher end restaurants at the resort, and the food was uniformly excellent. Expensive, however and a pint of IPA will run you about $ 12 and a glass of pinot grigio will run you the same or higher. Even at the food court at the resort, a small bowl (6 ounces) of oatmeal was $ 6.
7. We liked Magic Kingdom and Epcot the best. My wife liked Animal Kingdom; I would have liked it more if the animals were out and about. The Star Wars complex in Hollywood Studios was really well done.
8. Our two favorite rides were Rise of the Resistance and the Big Thunder Mountain. The Haunted House, Ratatouille, Pirates of the Carribean, and Avatar were also good. The rapids ride and Himalaya ride in the Animal Kingdom, and the Tower of Terror were all down while we were there.
9. Harry Potter at Universal Studios was good.
10. My favorite part of the trip was the Kennedy Space Center. Take the bus tour and go through all the exhibits.
11. Boo and hiss to Budget for giving us a rental car that had clearly been smoked in. Budget couldn't even be bothered to clean the smoke film off the interior windshield. There was a large sticker on the driver side window saying a $450 cleaning fee would be charged for smoking in the vehicle. I am going to send a nasty email to corporate about this. We were about 15 minutes away from the airport when we finally figured out what the smell was, and at 9 pm at night, I was not going to return during the thunderstorm to exchange the car.
12. We were surprised to see the number of people our age who were also there without any kids. We did not realize how popular it would be for our age group.
13. All of the Disney staff we interacted with were universally knowledgeable and polite.
14. Flying from the upper left corner to the lower right corner of the country is a long flight. A bit over six hours on the flight home.
15. I had mistakenly thought you could just walk from park to park on walking paths. I was wrong and there are no paths connecting the parks. They have an excellent free bus shuttle service and my wife had us ride the aerial tramway a few times.
16. Disney Springs was a 30 minute boat ride from the resort. It is a restaurant/entertainment/shopping complex and we had a couple of good meals there and were able to get souvenirs for the grandkids at the Disney Store there.
17. You have to pass a metal detector to get into any of the parks or Disney Springs. I kept getting pulled aside for a bag check until I figured out that it was the emergency cell phone battery pack that was setting it off. Once I left that in the room, no more bag check. They have a strict no weapons or knives policy, so I didn't even have a Leatherman with me. But since we did carryon luggage only, that would not have gotten through TSA at the airport anyway.
All in all, we enjoyed it and would recommend it to others.
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So the wife and I just got back from spending ten days in Orlando. My wife arranged the trip through Costco Travel. We stayed at the Port Orleans Riverside resort, which was a lovely place of individual lodges set along the river. A few observations:
1. Living in Seattle, we are no strangers to rain. We were, however, strangers to the torrential downpours during a thunderstorm. Our flight flew almost all the way to Cuba before circling back to land at Orlando to avoid a thunderstorm. It continued as we rented a car and drove to Disney World. Even with the wipers on high, they could not keep up. I decided to follow the lead of the locals and drive at 35 MPH on the freeway during the storm.
2. We don't get much combined heat and humidity in Seattle, and there were several days of temps in the mid to high 70's with rain and very high humidity. It was like a sauna. In January.
[...Snip...]
All in all, we enjoyed it and would recommend it to others.
Those weren't locals, those were recent transplants from the Northeast. The locals were the ones passing you at 65. Please tell me that at least you didn't also turn your hazards on while doing 35 on I4 in a little rain.
I was in Orlando last SUnday shooting a carbine match. We may have been stuck in some of the same traffic. =D
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I'm heading to Melbourne on Monday. Looking forward to 70's instead of teens and snow (above freezing but still snowy/icy this morning). I'll hit the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona while I'm there.
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Thunderstorms are a norm down along the Gulf Coast. I think I heard a similar comment from a Seattle native years ago. I think that is a good portion of our rain parts of the year.
Humidity is the norm where I am. The fun part is morning thunderstorm followed by a hot summer afternoon. I spent a month in Las Vegas in the very dry climate. It felt great driving back into central Texas and feeling the humidity on my face. I don't mind it so much. I can escape into AC at need.