Tips for Visit: Mar. 17-20

[pvcoasterguy]

I haven't been to WDW since the castle was in pink and looked like a birthday cake for Magic Kingdom's 25th anniversary. A lot has changed since then, and our school band and I are going to Disney from March 17-20th. Any questions or comments that you could leave will be greatly appreciated by our entire band.

- How is the Raddison WorldGate Hotel?
- How is the shuttle service between parks? Is it easy to use? What options do we have?
- We think that PoC will be closed, but, other than that, do you know of any other rides that will be closed?
- Has anyone gone to the Disney Instrumental Workshop/Competition? Any details about this would be great!
- How do you use FastPass? When we last went, they were just rolling out FP and not many utilized it. Any tips for FastPass would be great!

Below is our schedule for going to the parks. Which parks would be best on which days? We have a total of four days, which should be enough. Any tips on this will be extremely helpful.

March 17: At park from 2:00-9:00
March 18: At Blizzard Beach from 9:30-2:00, park from 3:00-7:00, followed by awards at MGM.
March 19: 12:00-9:30 at park
March 20: 10:00-6:30 at park

Thanks,
pvcoasterguy

[MickeyMania]

Bus service from park to park works fine, although from Magic Kingdom you have to take a Monorail to the TTC then get a bus there. Ditto in reverse for getting to Magic Kingdom from another park. Aside from the Monorail system which hasn't changed, there's the options of boats and walking paths between Epcot and MGM.

[JerseyPat]

Have a blast on your trip. Following are some answers to a few of your questions. Sources are linked.

Which parks would be best on which days? We have a total of four days, which should be enough. Any tips on this will be extremely helpful.

A recent inquiry of Disney regarding which days to visit which parks had the following response:

"During regular attendance periods, our parks tend to be the busiest on the following days:

• Magic Kingdom: Monday, Thursday, and Saturday
• Epcot: Tuesday and Friday
• Disney-MGM Studios: Sunday and Wednesday
• Disney's Animal Kingdom: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday"

http://www.allearsnet.com/pl/attend.htm

*****This is advice I have used before and have found it invaulable.

We think that PoC will be closed, but, other than that, do you know of any other rides that will be closed?

The Pirates of the Carribbean will be closed as they are refurbishing the ride with content from the movie that was originally inspired by the ride (don't worry - I havn't figured it out yet either.) Typhoon Lagoon will be open and I would recommend that waterpark over Blizz Beach. Expedition Everest in the Animal Kingdom is new and not officially opened yet, but should be operational most days during the busy time of late March. Check with your hotel on availability. Other than that, it does not look like anything major. Check the following for operational updates:
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw...&date=20060301

- How do you use FastPass? When we last went, they were just rolling out FP and not many utilized it. Any tips for FastPass would be great!

You will use fastpass as much as you can - it will likely be pretty busy in the parks. It's a great system most frequent visitors have become very accostomed to using. 1 tip - get your first fastpass at the ride you anticipate being the busiest. For example, Soarin' in Epcot often disburses its allotted fastpases for the day by early afternoon during busy times. Check the following for fastpass tips:

General info on Fastpass: http://www.intercot.com/themeparks/t...ss/default.asp
Good Advice & More Detail: http://www.allearsnet.com/tp/fastpass.htm:

Also, I have found Deb's All Ears Net invaluable for planning and advice. As the golden rule, if its on her page, its the way it is at WDW. Start here and use the planning link. Also, try to set up your dining reservations soon. You run the risk of getting shut out of your top choices if you do not reserve now (1-407-wdw-dine.) < Deb has great tips on dining too.

http://www.allearsnet.com/

[aimster]

Just be prepared for big crowds... March is Spring Break season. I spent the day at just Downtown Disney yesterday and it was so crowded. Also didn't help it was Saturday, plus the place was overrun with cheerleaders (*gag*).