? for Florida residents

[Mike Stewart]

My wife won a trip to Disneyworld for 2 and we're thinking of going the first weekend in April. We don't know anything about Florida other then hurricanes and oranges and we were wondering what the weather is like over there at that time of year. Also we are going to buy our food and not eat out(probably once) because we're only over there for 3 days and we wanted to know how much are groceries(the cost of a gallon of milk and stuff like that) so we know how much to save up for. Any and all help is very much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

[Joshua Davis]

April is pretty warm/hot, but not ridiculous. Usually we start getting heavy rains every day in mid-may, through July/Aug - so hopefully you'll miss the rainy season.

As far as groceries, milk is about $4 and change for a gallon. Gas is about 2.90 for reg/unleaded currently, and hotels are slightly more expensive here than elsewhere.

[Scott Markowitz]

I don't know if your trip included hotel or not, but if not I'd recommend staying on-site. The All-Star resorts are about as cheap as you'll find for a decent hotel and it's nice to be able to just take the shuttle bus to whatever park you want and know that there'll be a way back at whatever time you want. If your trip included an off-site hotel, then pay attention to the shuttle schedule.
If you're only going to be here 3 days, I'm not sure going to a grocery store is going to be worth it. Disney food isn't cheap, but it's not ridiculous and from my experience is generally fairly good (and with good-sized portions). By the time you deal with finding a way off-site (either via a cab or negotiating your way on your own in a rental), I'd just eat there. Plus, Disney hotels sell basic groceries - more expensive than a regular grocery store, but IMO worth the avoided hassle. This obviously does not apply if you're staying off-site.
If you have any Disney-specific questions let me know - we go fairly often. I don't even need the park maps anymore.

[Mike Stewart]

Thanks for the info guys. The trip is an all-expenses 3 days and 2 nights paid trip. Air-fare, hotel, the whole nine yards. I don't know if that includes a rental car though but we have to save for food and goodies for the kids. We have 4 kids but we're treating this like the honeymoon we never had. I can't think of a better way to celebrate our 10-year anniversary since we can't afford to go anywhere. Between the two of us we've been to Disneyland a lot and we looked online at Disneyworld and the actual park looks similiar except for a few rides. Are tickets seperate for the Wild Kindgdom and Epcot Center? Would it be worth it to go to one of those? Are there any other attractions like that there that would be worth seeing? Thanks again.

[Kent Smith]

Epcot's like a science amusement park. I've always found it boring, but some people like it.

[James Whisman]

Epcot's like a science amusement park. I've always found it boring, but some people like it.

"It's what people in the 60s thought life would be like in the 80s "---Lisa Simpson
http://interactive.usc.edu/archives/epcot.jpg

[Scott Markowitz]

Each Disney park (Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Animal Kingdom, and MGM) has separate admission. You may have a park-hopper pass, in which case you can go freely between them. My daughter (age 2) loves Animal Kingdom. I've actually not been to that one, but my wife has taken her and enjoyed it. I hear the roller coaster there is pretty good as well.
Magic Kingdom is what I knew as WDW growing up - it's home to the traditional Disney stuff.
EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow - yes, I'm a geek for knowing that) has become more kid-friendly over the years. "The Seas" has become Nemo-oriented, the energy ride has Ellen DeGeneres narrating, and the GM ride is a cross between a test drive and a roller coaster. The other half of EPCOT, the international showcase (or something to that effect) has pretty good restaurants.
We didn't care for MGM, but we've never been big movie fans. Tower of Terror was fun though.
A lot of it depends on your individual interests. You can't go wrong at Magic Kingdom, but you might want to check out one of the others if they hold a particular interest.

Word of advice on all of them - use the FastPass system. Basically you go get a ticket that tells you when you can come back and go to the front of the line. It'll save you a lot of time standing in line.

If your hotel is one of the Disney hotels, be sure to check out the extended hours. They open up some of the parks early or keep them open late for those who stay on-site.

I would think you've seen this, but info on the Magic Kingdom is available here (http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/guides/magickingdom/ridesattractions.htm) There are links to the other parks on the left side of the screen.

I don't know how old your kids are, but there are areas of the Magic Kingdom where they can burn off some energy while you take a break - Tom Sawyer's Island, a water play area outside of the Winnie the Pooh ride, a play area in Mickey's Toon Town, etc. Take advantage of them. If the kids get unruly, threaten them with the Hall of Presidents (which only goes every half hour on the hour). :EL:

[Mike Zylinski]

Mike,

My wife and I honeymooned there in 1999 and have been back a few times since, you guys will have a blast. Epcot is actually a great park to go at night. The front of the park is rides and science stuff, but the back is all the countries. At night, the countries each have local beer, wine and food for sale and its a great place to stroll around with your wife.

They have some great rides and attractions in ALL the parks, but you really need to park-hop and plan for some LONG days IMO. We usually come back and wish we could relax a bit before going back to work.....

My favorites (The Muppet Show is nostalgic from when I was a kid, Disney has a few good shows and 3D shows though and we usually hit all of them):
Animal Kingdom - Everest, Safari, Lion King show
Magic Kingdom - Space, splash and thunder mountain. Hall of presidents if you're patriotic.
MGM - Tower of Terror, Rock n roller coaster, Muppet show, Indy Stunt show (kind of corny), extreme stunt show (very well done)
Epcot - Countries at night, Soarin, Mission space (watch out for motion sickness)

[Mike Stewart]

Shelly(my wife) was contacted today by the contest people and they said that we have to go in March for some reason. Hopefully we find out more info tomorrow. Still don't know where we're staying. They have to send out paperwork for us to sign and get notorized and all that other stuff. We'll get park-hopper passes if we have a choice and we love the fast pass. We use that when we go to Disneyland.