Walt Disney World questions

[ECZenith]

Hello all, I was hoping some Florida locals could help me out with my upcoming WDW trip this January-March. I had a few questions as I haven't been to the Walt Disney World resort since Everest's paint was still drying.

 

I can only go on vacation between January and March because I'm a Disneyland cast member and any other time of the year I'm working quite a bit in either the holiday or summer seasons. I would like to spend 3 days at WDW, 2 days at Universal and 1 at Sea World. Some of my best memories from my childhood were from seeing the Magic Kingdom's SpectroMagic parade, the east coast version of Disneyland Resort's Electrical PArade. I really, really would like to see this parade again... I know Magic Kingdom is "borrowing" the MSEP from California until mid-August when Summer Nightastic! ends, but my question is will the SpectroMagic parade return after that? DOes SM run around January to March or is it only around during the busy seasons?

 

My other question was, where did the SpectroMagic parade go while they are using the electrical parade from DL? I just want to make sure the thing is still in existence. What fireworks show can I expect to see (if anything) in this part of the year?

 

I'm wondering what attractions I might find closed when I go this time of year, as I know Disneyland is usually refurbishing their major rides in the winter for the upcoming busy seasons. Are Dinosaur, Everest, Test Track, and Mission Space going to be running if I go in late winter, early spring?

 

Also... is it true that you can't be late for your fastpass return times like you can at Disneyland? A few people that went out there told me they were more strict about exact return times, which I find hard to believe. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Edited July 13, 2010 by larrygator

[dandaman]

I've never seen anyone strict about Fastpass return times; I've used them up to an hour after their expiration. (No more than that out of principle, though I do know people who have accumulated them throughout the day and used them all at once in the evening.)

 

As for Spectromagic, it should be returning after MSEP's Nightastic run is over; I'm pretty sure it doesn't "go" anywhere else, either, save for maybe taking the opportunity to perform general maintenance on the floats.

[thrillrider]

I recommend getting the dinning plan.

 

There is a disney site that has a lot of info on the parks, and has menus for all food locations inside the disney parks. The website is allears.net

 

I always look at that site before booking a disney trip. They have tons of pictures and prices for everything.

[nay]

Splash Mountain has been closed for most of January for the past several years. I've never had a problem using late fastpasses either.

[testtrack321]

I'm wondering what attractions I might find closed when I go this time of year, as I know Disneyland is usually refurbishing their major rides in the winter for the upcoming busy seasons. Are Dinosaur, Everest, Test Track, and Mission Space going to be running if I go in late winter, early spring?

 

They'll be open, but no guarantees.

 

2 days at Universal in January is A LOT of time. I'd say go 4 at Disney and one day jumping between the parks at Universal (three of the major rides at IoA you won't want to do in Jan.)

 

They don't care about late Fastpasses 99.999% of the time.

[chadster]

^^agreed. If if you add an extra hour on for Harry Potter, you can still ride and do everything in both parks in the 8 or 9 hours they will be open, maybe three or four times in row even. I don't think I even got off the dragons on a day in Feb this year, totally dead and against the rules so say the ride ops, but they didn't care as I was it on what was known as Fire.

[CD]

As a WDW Cast Member I feel like I can answer this fairly well lol.

 

WDW is not strict whatsoever about Fastpass times. As said above Splash Mountain will probably be under its annual refurbishment when you come. As for other rides, there really isn't anything set in stone right now except for Star Tours. Wishes will definitely be returning after Summer Nightastic and it will be performing while you are here (it runs every night; the only show that doesn't is Fantasmic!).

 

As far as Spectro. Well there are rumors afloat that it may not be returning for a while. The floats are still at WDW, but MSEP could be here for longer than the summer since it costs a high price to ship it across the country and with the addition of World of Color at DCA there really isn't any need (let alone any room) for it at this time. So, I wouldn't be suprsised if it stayed in Florida for a longer period of time. Which means no Spectro... However, this is purely speculation so take it with a grain of salt.

[YoshiFan]

The only 2 rides I have heard them enforcing fastpass return times are Toy Story Midway Mania and Soarin but supposedly it is very rare for them to even enforce the time on those rides.

 

Splash Mountain will be closed unless you go in early January (one of the first 2 or 3 days of the year) or March. It closes a few days into January and reopens at the end of February usually.

 

If you do go in January, hopefully you will have warmer weather than this past January. It was freezing in the upper 30's and low to mid 40's the entire time I was there.

[ECZenith]

That's good that so far the only ride closure I could be dealing with is Splash Mtn., I have one practically in my backyard so I can afford to miss it. Thank you for the great tips so far, looks like aside from the weather, January would be good crowdwise and with most of the big attractions running.

 

Still hoping SpectroMagic returns after MSEP ends' I guess only time will tell. I'm hoping that whenever the electric parade returns to Disneyland it goes back to DL and not DCA. which I think is most likely given that World Of Color is already taking the night spotlight.

 

I like the idea of doing 4 days at WDW and only one at Universal, I would be able to see every nighttime show and have plenty of time do check out all the rides. It's an added plus that me and my girlfriend will get into WDW for free with my blue gate pass.

 

What rides at WDW do you think are superior to their DL counterparts? If I remember correctly they had a really good haunted mansion but the west coast version of pirates was way longer. And we all know the goooood tower is back east, but what else should a DL regular be sure to visit at WDW?

[testtrack321]

What rides at WDW do you think are superior to their DL counterparts? If I remember correctly they had a really good haunted mansion but the west coast version of pirates was way longer. And we all know the goooood tower is back east, but what else should a DL regular be sure to visit at WDW?

 

Better at WDW:

HM

Splash

Big Thunder (IMHO)

ToT

 

Better at DL:

Space

Jungle Cruise

Buzz