2 days at WDW which parks should we see? How to get from IDrive to parks? Meal ad ons

[allaboard93]

Our family is attending a conference in Orlando July 13-17 and we will have enough money (hopefully) for 2 days at WDW at the end of our conference. (Yes, I know it's a short time, wish we could afford 7 days) We have 2 boys who will be 12 and 16. We live in SoCal and are frequent DL visitors (we were AP holders in the past, can't afford them any longer). Which parks should we go to? We are leaning towards Epcot and AK (our nieces favorite park) but we did just visit San Diego Zoo and have been to the Wild Animal Park there as well, and what I've been reading says they are very similar but we are not sure. 2. Is it worth it to get the food packages added on the the tickets for just 2 days? 3. Any ideas on how to get from our hotel on IDrive to WDW? I know the Trolley does not go that far, and the bus is $2 one way but it takes an hour. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[swampymarsh]

I would do Epcot for certain and AK. Even though you have been to the SD, zoos, I wouldn't say they are the same, just each being a top grade animal viewing experience. AK isn't huge but is very nice as a park, and its attractions are mostly different than whatt DLR has.. It's heresy to say skip the MK, but MK is no DL.

DHS is ok, but when it comes to its attractions it doesn't top AK. DHS does have atttractions not at DLR but its top attractions are Toy Story, ToT and Rocking Roller Coaster. DLR has the same TSMM, a similar but worst ToT, and no comparative coaster. AK has a couple great shows. An great coaster, a fun safari, a good raft ride, and Dinosaur is nice too. AK is really nice to walk around and take in detail.

I also wouldn't overlook a day at Islands of Adventure. It is pretty nice too.

Would it be able to do a third park day in the evening? In July a park will be open late.

2. By food package I think you mean Disney Dining Plan. It doesn't matter, you have to be staying onsite to get this.

3. A cab. A shuttle, many hotels have shuttles, often shared, but usually not cheap, convinient or fast. Do you mean by bus, LYNX, the municipal bus? If so, it's cheap and will get the job done. It's not a whole lot slower than other methods. WDW is big, and takes a bit of time to get into and around.

[allaboard93]

Thanks so much for your advice! Sounds like AK is worth the trip! We thought about Islands of Adventure, our boys are huge Harry Potter Fans, and we wanted to see that, but they are not big roller coaster fans, and we didn't think we would enjoy the rest of the park. Thanks for the idea of a 3rd park at night..we might do that. We are looking into moving our hotel after the convention and staying on site at WDW for the last 3 nights of our stay..since our time is so limited, we don't want to waste a lot of our time just trying to get there!

[swampymarsh]

If moving onsite is an option, that will be nice. While you will need to take a taxi to the Disney resort, you can take Magic Express back to MCO when departing.

Also if your first hotel has a shuttle to MCO, you could save some money but probably not time. For Magic Express, they ask your incoming and outgoing flight information to set up the bus you take. You can figure if you take an airport shuttle back to MCO, just tell Magic Express you arrive on a flight around that time, United flight XYZ from Albany if it lands around than. Then take your bags to the check in counter at Magic Express, and they put you on a bus to your resort.

This is a trick I've used before a couple times and works fine. I've done it because I got a good deal at the MCO airport motels and didn't want to take more time to get to a bed at WDW.

If you have questions about the details of using Disney Magic Express, please let me know.