On 5/15/13 1:11 PM, iBoaterer wrote:
In article ,
says...

On Wed, 15 May 2013 07:59:14 -0400, "F.O.A.D." wrote:

After all,
they were selling themselves cheaper than Disney?s own VIP tour guides,
which come with a Fast Pass that doesn?t let you skip the line
altogether and still costs about three times more.

The last time I was at Disney (last fall) the fast pass was free. You
just get a pass at each ride and come back at the appointed time. Then
you get right on. If you stack those passes, it is hard to walk
between the rides fast enough to make all of them and you are riding
all day.

The "handicapped" situation is so loose, I can't imagine why anyone
would pay. You just have to say you are handicapped and they will
give/rent you a scooter. Then you can jump the line.
Most of the "handicapped" people I saw looked like their biggest
handicap was the inability to stop feeding their face.

I detest Disney World.

Took my kids there at least four times, and once to Disneyland. In the
spring or fall, it's a fun place to be. In the summer, it's a place to
be avoided because of the heat, humidity, and crowds. Went there about
three years ago for a few days, one day in Disney World, one day in the
Animal Park, which we enjoyed more. It was around Thanksgiving, and the
crowds weren't bad.

First time we went, back in the mid 1970s, the Orlando airport was
nothing much.

In article , says...

On 5/15/13 1:11 PM, iBoaterer wrote:
In article ,
says...

On Wed, 15 May 2013 07:59:14 -0400, "F.O.A.D." wrote:

After all,
they were selling themselves cheaper than Disney?s own VIP tour guides,
which come with a Fast Pass that doesn?t let you skip the line
altogether and still costs about three times more.

The last time I was at Disney (last fall) the fast pass was free. You
just get a pass at each ride and come back at the appointed time. Then
you get right on. If you stack those passes, it is hard to walk
between the rides fast enough to make all of them and you are riding
all day.

The "handicapped" situation is so loose, I can't imagine why anyone
would pay. You just have to say you are handicapped and they will
give/rent you a scooter. Then you can jump the line.
Most of the "handicapped" people I saw looked like their biggest
handicap was the inability to stop feeding their face.

I detest Disney World.

Took my kids there at least four times, and once to Disneyland. In the
spring or fall, it's a fun place to be. In the summer, it's a place to
be avoided because of the heat, humidity, and crowds. Went there about
three years ago for a few days, one day in Disney World, one day in the
Animal Park, which we enjoyed more. It was around Thanksgiving, and the
crowds weren't bad.

First time we went, back in the mid 1970s, the Orlando airport was
nothing much.

I have no problems at all with tropical heat and humidity. It's the
damned crowds. I've been there many many times, and I've NEVER seen it
when it was other than paying a LOT of money to go stand in lines. I'm
betting that the ratio of standing in line to actually riding a ride is
10:1 or so. I lived in Kissimmee when Disney opened in '71, it was a cow
town. Actual cowboys even. Disney ruined the area.

On 5/15/13 2:36 PM, iBoaterer wrote:
In article , says...

On 5/15/13 1:11 PM, iBoaterer wrote:
In article ,
says...

On Wed, 15 May 2013 07:59:14 -0400, "F.O.A.D." wrote:

After all,
they were selling themselves cheaper than Disney?s own VIP tour guides,
which come with a Fast Pass that doesn?t let you skip the line
altogether and still costs about three times more.

The last time I was at Disney (last fall) the fast pass was free. You
just get a pass at each ride and come back at the appointed time. Then
you get right on. If you stack those passes, it is hard to walk
between the rides fast enough to make all of them and you are riding
all day.

The "handicapped" situation is so loose, I can't imagine why anyone
would pay. You just have to say you are handicapped and they will
give/rent you a scooter. Then you can jump the line.
Most of the "handicapped" people I saw looked like their biggest
handicap was the inability to stop feeding their face.

I detest Disney World.

Took my kids there at least four times, and once to Disneyland. In the
spring or fall, it's a fun place to be. In the summer, it's a place to
be avoided because of the heat, humidity, and crowds. Went there about
three years ago for a few days, one day in Disney World, one day in the
Animal Park, which we enjoyed more. It was around Thanksgiving, and the
crowds weren't bad.

First time we went, back in the mid 1970s, the Orlando airport was
nothing much.

I have no problems at all with tropical heat and humidity. It's the
damned crowds. I've been there many many times, and I've NEVER seen it
when it was other than paying a LOT of money to go stand in lines. I'm
betting that the ratio of standing in line to actually riding a ride is
10:1 or so. I lived in Kissimmee when Disney opened in '71, it was a cow
town. Actual cowboys even. Disney ruined the area.


We were in Kissimmee once, in the mid-1990s. Never went back.

My memory of Kissimmee was the endless shops selling t-shirts...around $12.00 for 10.
Seems to me there was a place where you could go see alligators for a fee.
This would have been the early 90s.
My most vivid memory of that trip was loosing our 12 year old son at Disney and then losing our 10 years old son at Epcot Center.
Yes, found both....the youngest after searching for hours.

On 5/15/13 3:10 PM, True North wrote:
My memory of Kissimmee was the endless shops selling t-shirts...around $12.00 for 10.
Seems to me there was a place where you could go see alligators for a fee.
This would have been the early 90s.
My most vivid memory of that trip was loosing our 12 year old son at Disney and then losing our 10 years old son at Epcot Center.
Yes, found both....the youngest after searching for hours.



I remember the Tee-Shirts of Kissimmee, too. There's not much else about
the town I recall, other than the same "See the Gators" exhibit. We were
there in the mid 1990's; wife was taking a two or three day state exam
in one of several large classrooms in a building owned by the Tupperware
company. Widely used facility...the CPA exam was being given there at
the same.

The Orlando area is pretty congested.

One other memory....to get a free breakfast for the family, and out of curiosity, we took one of the tours selling time sharing.
We were warned by friends that it can be a hard sell tour and they were correct.
I wouldn't do that again...and yes, I resisted buying a week in a new condo development just so we could spend vacation time in Orlando each year.

On 5/15/13 4:21 PM, True North wrote:
One other memory....to get a free breakfast for the family, and out of curiosity, we took one of the tours selling time sharing.
We were warned by friends that it can be a hard sell tour and they were correct.
I wouldn't do that again...and yes, I resisted buying a week in a new condo development just so we could spend vacation time in Orlando each year.


Been on one of those in Virginia Beach. We were told it would take an
hour and in return we would get pretty good dinners at three very good
local restaurants. It was raining that morning, so it wasn't a beach
day. Sales pitch took two hours, we said no, but we did get three good
dinners for two at two of our favorite restaurants and one we'd never
previously visited.

A time share, to me, is a horrifically stupid purchase. The owner of the
time share gets to sell the damned thing 52 times. We did stay at a
Disney time share a few years ago, though, and the place was first class.

In article ,
says...

On 5/15/13 3:10 PM, True North wrote:
My memory of Kissimmee was the endless shops selling t-shirts...around $12.00 for 10.
Seems to me there was a place where you could go see alligators for a fee.
This would have been the early 90s.
My most vivid memory of that trip was loosing our 12 year old son at Disney and then losing our 10 years old son at Epcot Center.
Yes, found both....the youngest after searching for hours.



I remember the Tee-Shirts of Kissimmee, too. There's not much else about
the town I recall, other than the same "See the Gators" exhibit. We were
there in the mid 1990's; wife was taking a two or three day state exam
in one of several large classrooms in a building owned by the Tupperware
company. Widely used facility...the CPA exam was being given there at
the same.

The Orlando area is pretty congested.

Orlando is now, it didn't used to be bad at all. There's some cool
things to see and do in Kissimmee, but not for those who do the tourist
thing and don't want an adventure.

On 5/15/13 5:05 PM, iBoaterer wrote:
In article ,
says...

On 5/15/13 3:10 PM, True North wrote:
My memory of Kissimmee was the endless shops selling t-shirts...around $12.00 for 10.
Seems to me there was a place where you could go see alligators for a fee.
This would have been the early 90s.
My most vivid memory of that trip was loosing our 12 year old son at Disney and then losing our 10 years old son at Epcot Center.
Yes, found both....the youngest after searching for hours.



I remember the Tee-Shirts of Kissimmee, too. There's not much else about
the town I recall, other than the same "See the Gators" exhibit. We were
there in the mid 1990's; wife was taking a two or three day state exam
in one of several large classrooms in a building owned by the Tupperware
company. Widely used facility...the CPA exam was being given there at
the same.

The Orlando area is pretty congested.

Orlando is now, it didn't used to be bad at all. There's some cool
things to see and do in Kissimmee, but not for those who do the tourist
thing and don't want an adventure.



Staying two nights in Kissimmee seemed adventure enough. If there is a
compelling reason to revisit, what is it?

On 5/15/13 2:25 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 15 May 2013 14:17:47 -0400, "F.O.A.D." wrote:

On 5/15/13 1:11 PM, iBoaterer wrote:
In article ,
says...

On Wed, 15 May 2013 07:59:14 -0400, "F.O.A.D." wrote:

After all,
they were selling themselves cheaper than Disney?s own VIP tour guides,
which come with a Fast Pass that doesn?t let you skip the line
altogether and still costs about three times more.

The last time I was at Disney (last fall) the fast pass was free. You
just get a pass at each ride and come back at the appointed time. Then
you get right on. If you stack those passes, it is hard to walk
between the rides fast enough to make all of them and you are riding
all day.

The "handicapped" situation is so loose, I can't imagine why anyone
would pay. You just have to say you are handicapped and they will
give/rent you a scooter. Then you can jump the line.
Most of the "handicapped" people I saw looked like their biggest
handicap was the inability to stop feeding their face.

I detest Disney World.

Took my kids there at least four times, and once to Disneyland. In the
spring or fall, it's a fun place to be. In the summer, it's a place to
be avoided because of the heat, humidity, and crowds. Went there about
three years ago for a few days, one day in Disney World, one day in the
Animal Park, which we enjoyed more. It was around Thanksgiving, and the
crowds weren't bad.

Busch Gardens in Tampa is a lot better than anything in Orlando with a
lot less traffic.
The animals there don't look as "caged" as they are at Disney.



I like Tampa and St. Pete. Wife's grandmother lived there for decades,
and when we visited, I loved picking fresh citrus fruit off her trees. I
liked the beaches, too.