Which of these are a definite must-do?

[DisneyDork1969]

I don't think our families going with us in October (my parents and DH's Mom, sister and neice) are going to be willing to do all this financially (and DH doesn't want to either), so which do you think are musts?

Here is what it would cost my family of 5 for each:

1. Trip to Chef Mickeys (currently we do not have free dining in Oct, we have the 35% room discount) about $140

2. Park Hopper $216 (I want this mainly so we can hop over to HS after AK and watch fantasmic. It looks like HS will be too crowded that day for it to be an all-day thing)

3. MNSSHP $220

4. Sea World one day about $300 (or possibly Universal instead)

Which do you think we just HAVE to do? Thanks!

1. YES
2. NEVER
3. YES
4. NEVER and NEVER

 

["Cinder" Ella's Mom]

Sorry you had a bad experience. We eat at CP every trip, most often for breakfast so we can enter MK early. We have always seen all the characters in about 45 minutes so we can still make rope drop. We have had good food and service at breakfast, lunch and dinner, but we prefer breakfast since it is cheaper and we can be in MK before it opens. Although the front porch can get very crowded, we find the interior to be very relaxing and have been fortunate to have not been there when it was dirty.

My DH would rather go hungry than eat the food at Chef Mickey's, though. Good that Disney gives enough choices for everyone.

Maybe that was the difference. We were there for dinner. I'll bet breakfast would be better...at least cleaner!

 

[cheryterese]

Honestly, I wouldn't pay extra for any of those things. My kids are 6, 4 and 2.

When we took our first trip last January we didn't park hop and we didn't miss having that option at all. We chose the best park for the day, arrived at rope drop, left by 1 for afternoon naps and swimming and then returned back to the same park around 5pm until closing at 8 or 9pm. For AK, which closed at 5pm, we skipped naps and stayed all day and then the kids went to bed at 7pm. We also did this as DHS, leaving after the early Fantasmic show.

We considered MNSSHP for this trip, but my kids can't stay up until midnight so it would be a waste of money at this point. We'll save it until they're older.

Sea World looks like fun, but again - when they're older.

I've heard a lot of negative reviews for Chef Mickey's. We ended up making an ADR at Crystal Palace - heard all positive about that.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[dizneyrules]

Personally I would skip Chef Mickeys. the food has not been good our last couple of visits and we will not return.

the park hoppers may not be necessary for the time of year you are going but are nice to have as it opens up options for you

MNSSHP looks like fun and we have never been so I'd try to do that if I could

my family loves SeaWorld and it can be a fun and relaxing day.

Happy Planning!

Ann Marie

PS 22 more days!!