Would you recommend we make time for Disney Springs? We don’t like shopping, and while there are restaurants we’d like to eat at, there’s lots of other places we haven’t tried that are within walking distance of our hotel. Is there lots of street entertainment?
And would you recommend ROL? Is it similar to Fantasmic? We’ve seen Fantasmic and it’s not something we’d repeat. Is visiting AK at night a must do?
RoL gets mixed reviews. Our family thought it was stunningly beautiful and a nice way to destress after being at a park all day. Others are not as fond of it. It’s definitely not like Fantasmic!, which is something we don’t want to see again. Night at AK is beautiful, too. The tree awakenings is great.
The only reason I, personally, go to DS is to go to Raglan Road. The food and entertainment is excellent. It’s our favorite TS in the bubble. Others may chime in about the other things DS has to offer.
I was going to post but I think I will just say: I agree with everything @SirGreggLadyV said. I have been to wdw so many times over the last 13 years, i’ve lost count. I have been to Fantasmic once. I guess someday I will go again. I went to RoL my last two trips. Both times I did the Tiffins dinner package and to me it is just a perfect combo.
We saw Fantasmic in 2004, and at the time when we had younger kids, it was great. When I saw it a second time last year it hadn’t really changed much (at all?), and it was just boring for us to sit through. Illuminations was the same way for me.
I have only seen RoL on YouTube but it looked really dull. I also find Illuminations dull, but love Fantasmic - just for reference.
I couldn’t not go to World of Disney, kids love the Lego store, there are Marvel and Star Wars shops but maybe with girls those aren’t as important. Love the Christmas shop but there are others. There are fountains, a little carousel, photo ops. And I couldn’t skip Raglan Road, Ghirardellis, and there are a few other places I really want to try.
I was unimpressed with RoL and love F! for what it’s worth. But I would most definitely recommend DS. It is beautiful, live music everywhere and so many grea eating options! You have to see it at least once on your trip. However I would recommend dusk/evening visit. There is almost no shade anywhere and the sun can get brutal there. Also, the music starts as the sun goes down so the place comes to life at the end of the day. I hope you can make it!
Thank you @quicha @missoverexcited @SirGreggLadyV @PrincipalTinker @reynemk
I will make time to visit DS and AK at night. I’ve made a preliminary list of restaurants and I have way too many. My girls said they were over meeting princesses, and I thought great, but then when we were talking about restaurants, they said they liked character meals, Doh.
We love Disney Springs, particularly in the evening. Something about the atmosphere. And while we rarely buy anything other than food or something from World of Disney, it is kind of fun to browse the high end stores to see what some of the upper crust (relative to us) might buy.
Mostly, though, it is just the ambiance. Smells, sounds, sights. It definitely has an air of romance to it.
Others may feel differently, but for a us, a trip to Florida isn’t complete without at least one trip (sometimes multiple) to Disney Springs.
I planned on skipping Disney Springs this trip, but then DH 12 said his favorite place to eat was rainforest cafe. So I guess we’re going. Lol. ROL we’re going to skip this time, and probably AK at night. I did like it, but we’ve never seen Fantasmic, so I think we’re going to hop over there at night. ROL was only ok. My kids very much prefer fireworks.
I can take or (usually) leave Fantasmic. I don’t think it’s changed in 20 years and the hassle of seeing it is not worth it - and it may have the absolutely WORST “waiting for the show music in WDW”. I’ve only seen the video of ROL, but based on that it’s on my absolute must do list for my next trip. You can always check out a YouTube video to see if it’s something you might like.
The main reason that I go to DS is to eat at Raglan Road; one of my favorites in all of WDW. My wife and I collect all things Christmas, so I also stop in at the Disney Days of Christmas store, and as a hobbyist chef/foodie, the kitchen shop is also a regular stop. If you haven’t been in 3 or 4 years you may not recognize it because it’s grown so much, and the 4 different sections are all architecturally different. It’s maybe not a “must do”, but if you have some out of park time planned, I think it would be worth while at least checking it out.
Just so your kids aren’t disappointed, there are only few fireworks right at the end of Fantasmic.
I fully agree with this. It’s a much better night time experience than a daytime experience.
Good to know. I can’t decide if my kids would enjoy it or not. I kinda want to see it at least once.
I’ve got the list down to 8, still need to drop one, which would you suggest? Definites are Teppan Edo, La Hacienda (the mexican one on the water), Raglan Road, and Cape May dinner, others are Skippers Canteen, Tuskers, and Biergarten and Coral reef which he have been to before. We are staying at the BC and our girls will be 7 & 9, and they love entertainment they can join in.
Biergarten should be a keeper, it’s a lot of fun. I’d probably keep TH for the characters. And the last one I’d choose whatever fit my plans best.
We saw ROL in early May and it was a pretty show and I suppose technically impressive but it was not that exciting. Glad we saw it but probably won’t do it again even when in AK at night to see Tree Awakenings and Pandora at night. We loved loved loved HEA and F! is awesome as well IMO.
I like some of the restaurants at DS—T Rex, Raglan Road, Boathouse, Blaze–and would like to try Homecomin sometime. We enjoyed taking the boat from POR to DS last trip. I was planning to skip next trip but my teens really enjoyed it and put it in the top 10 things they want to do next trip so I guess we will go.