mfriedl1
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2007
So...I'm planning my first solo trip as a belated 40th Birthday present to myself and I need some opinions on a few things to help me plan. I apologize in advance if this post is really long and/or jumps around a bit, but I have this complex decision tree in my head that I need to "get out" lol.
First the facts - I'm going to try and "piggyback" this off of a business trip - so my dates are pretty set - I'm going to arrive late afternoon on August 24, 2018 and plan to leave property around lunchtime on August 28th.
Issue #1 - Pandora
I'm not a fan of the movie, but I've so many good things about Pandora that I'd like to see it and experience Flights of Passage. I am not, however, willing to wait 3+ hours for the ride, which means I'll need a fastpass - 2 questions on this:
1. What is the likelihood of getting a fastpass for Flights of Passage before noon if I try to get it as soon as my window opens up (I think I'm going to book through a vacation planner to handle this for me)?
2. What are peoples experiences with the fastpass line wait for this attraction? This makes a difference to me - I don't know that I'm willing to wait much more than an hour for this in either line.
So, Pandora would be nice, but its not essential and it really depends on being able to get on Flights of passage with out wasting several hours of my day.
Issue #2 - Behind the Scenes Tour
So, decision tree time - My goal for this trip do what I haven't done before - If Pandora doesn't make sense - I'm contemplating doing the "Behind the Scenes" tour instead - Has anyone done this and can offer an opinion on whether or not its worth it? I remember my mother telling me several years ago that she did the Keys to the Kingdom tour and thought it was interesting - but from what she said, I don't think I'd really learn anything new - the behind the scenes tour seems like it would be more what I'd like to see/learn about - and yes, I did see that its a 7 hour tour!
Issue #3 - Where to Stay?
I've been debating this in my head since I started thinking about this trip - I want to splurge a little but my budget doesn't allow for a deluxe resort for 4 nights. I'm going back and forth between Pop Century and Port Orleans - Riverside. Historically I've stayed at the campgrounds in a travel trailer. Once in my early 20's I stayed at Caribbean Beach and thought it was OK, but the bus transportation was huge pain. and finally, I took my family last April for spring break last year and we stayed at Pop. I have no complaints about Pop - Food court acceptable, buses were pretty good - etc.
That being said, I like the idea of "upgrading" for this trip a little and having the convenience of "being right there" at Port Orleans - Riverside as I've never seen Yee ha Bob's show and would like to on this trip. On the other hand, its only a place to sleep, so why spend the extra money when it could be used somewhere else? Additionally, if I stay at Pop, there will be that quick service dinning promotion going on which would offset my meal costs a little - I'm going to do plenty of table service dining, but not for every meal - so aside from being a cheaper room, I'd save a little on food.
One final point (cuz the decision tree needs to be a tad more complicated) - Chances are, if I do the behind the scenes tour, I'll probably elect to stay at Pop to offset that expense
Softball Question
Ok - here's the easy one - I'm thinking about a meal at Chefs de France on my EPCOT day. Has anyone eaten there and have a strong opinion one way or the other?
I want to to have really good meals, but I also want to go places I haven't been. I've done Le Cellier, Teppan Edo, Beirgarten, La Cantina de San Angel, and a few others - I want to hit the Tangerine Cafe for a quick service so I kind of narrowed it down to Chefs de France. But if its not worth the time/cost, I'll figure something else out.
I think that covers all the stuff bouncing around in my head at the moment - but if you have any other suggestions, feel free to share - I'd love to hear them!
I really appreciate everyone for taking the time to read this post and I really look forward to hearing people's opinions and thoughts on these things!
Thanks!!!
First the facts - I'm going to try and "piggyback" this off of a business trip - so my dates are pretty set - I'm going to arrive late afternoon on August 24, 2018 and plan to leave property around lunchtime on August 28th.
Issue #1 - Pandora
I'm not a fan of the movie, but I've so many good things about Pandora that I'd like to see it and experience Flights of Passage. I am not, however, willing to wait 3+ hours for the ride, which means I'll need a fastpass - 2 questions on this:
1. What is the likelihood of getting a fastpass for Flights of Passage before noon if I try to get it as soon as my window opens up (I think I'm going to book through a vacation planner to handle this for me)?
2. What are peoples experiences with the fastpass line wait for this attraction? This makes a difference to me - I don't know that I'm willing to wait much more than an hour for this in either line.
So, Pandora would be nice, but its not essential and it really depends on being able to get on Flights of passage with out wasting several hours of my day.
Issue #2 - Behind the Scenes Tour
So, decision tree time - My goal for this trip do what I haven't done before - If Pandora doesn't make sense - I'm contemplating doing the "Behind the Scenes" tour instead - Has anyone done this and can offer an opinion on whether or not its worth it? I remember my mother telling me several years ago that she did the Keys to the Kingdom tour and thought it was interesting - but from what she said, I don't think I'd really learn anything new - the behind the scenes tour seems like it would be more what I'd like to see/learn about - and yes, I did see that its a 7 hour tour!
Issue #3 - Where to Stay?
I've been debating this in my head since I started thinking about this trip - I want to splurge a little but my budget doesn't allow for a deluxe resort for 4 nights. I'm going back and forth between Pop Century and Port Orleans - Riverside. Historically I've stayed at the campgrounds in a travel trailer. Once in my early 20's I stayed at Caribbean Beach and thought it was OK, but the bus transportation was huge pain. and finally, I took my family last April for spring break last year and we stayed at Pop. I have no complaints about Pop - Food court acceptable, buses were pretty good - etc.
That being said, I like the idea of "upgrading" for this trip a little and having the convenience of "being right there" at Port Orleans - Riverside as I've never seen Yee ha Bob's show and would like to on this trip. On the other hand, its only a place to sleep, so why spend the extra money when it could be used somewhere else? Additionally, if I stay at Pop, there will be that quick service dinning promotion going on which would offset my meal costs a little - I'm going to do plenty of table service dining, but not for every meal - so aside from being a cheaper room, I'd save a little on food.
One final point (cuz the decision tree needs to be a tad more complicated) - Chances are, if I do the behind the scenes tour, I'll probably elect to stay at Pop to offset that expense
Softball Question
Ok - here's the easy one - I'm thinking about a meal at Chefs de France on my EPCOT day. Has anyone eaten there and have a strong opinion one way or the other?
I want to to have really good meals, but I also want to go places I haven't been. I've done Le Cellier, Teppan Edo, Beirgarten, La Cantina de San Angel, and a few others - I want to hit the Tangerine Cafe for a quick service so I kind of narrowed it down to Chefs de France. But if its not worth the time/cost, I'll figure something else out.
I think that covers all the stuff bouncing around in my head at the moment - but if you have any other suggestions, feel free to share - I'd love to hear them!
I really appreciate everyone for taking the time to read this post and I really look forward to hearing people's opinions and thoughts on these things!
Thanks!!!