Disneyworld questions

Hey guys I'm new on here and after reading all ur posts alot of u seem to know ur stuff when it comes to coasters and amusement parks. I'm cruzin out to Orlando from July 3rd-8th (busy busy) and i was wondering what rides (if any) are clones or basically the same as the ones at Disneyland CA. I've been on everything at Disneyland a billion times and would'nt want to waste any valuable time in Florida riding Pirates, Big Thunder, Haunted House, etc. if they are gonna be the same thing ya know? So any help would be great. Also I'm gonna be hitting up Islands of Adventure and Busch Gardens so any recommendations like the top ten rides or whatever would be a huge help....thanks

Welcome to the site! There are many new things that origional to WDW that aren't over at DL.
Tower of Terror is a copy, but from what Ive heard and seen WDW's TOT as it has more to offer then the one at DL from what Ive heard such as the effects room/movement of the car and sequence. Other clones I would skip are Splash Mountain, BTMR, Jungle Cruise as well as many of the dark rides in MK such as Its A Small World, Buzz Lightyear, and Pirates. the Haunted Mansion is a clone with VERY minor differences other then outside appearences, depends on your prefference. Im not sure about how different Space Mountain is though. At MGM Star Tours is one of the few clones, aside from TOT but I wouldn't skip the FL version. Another is Muppet Vision 3-D. Other then that Epcot is pretty unique to FL except maybe Soarin' which is being built there from DCA. Also Figment's Imagination I beleive is a clone. Of course the attractions from AK are origional aside from a few attractions like "Its Tough To be A Bug" that are at DCA. This all of course depends on what you have time for/preferences and some of the copied attractions are slightly different. I hope I helped, Im pretty sure there are others I might have missed, thats going on what I have off the top of my head. Of course you could check out the official site of WDW and check the maps there to see what you recognize. Alot of what is copied at WDW is spread out among the parks. Most of them however are at the Magic Kingdom, since it was the origional park and made to represent DL *** Edited 6/14/2004 10:06:50 PM UTC by P18***

No no no no!
Part of the fun of your first trip to the 'other' Disney is comparing the rides you know and love with the other version, whether you're going from FL to CA ro vice versa
That being said, here's a brief run down (Not comprehensive)

EXACT CLONES (more or less)
STAR TOURS
MUPPET VISION
Honey I shrunk the AUdience
Snow White
Peter Pan

NOT EXACTLY THE SAME, BUT EQUIVALENT EXPERIENCE
HAUNTED MANSION

BETTER IN CA (IMHO)
JUNGLE CRUISE
PIRATES
Small World (don't bother in FL)

BETTER IN FL
Splash Mountain (much better)
Tower of Terror
It's tough to be a bug (b/c of the queue)
Winnie the Pooh (but better yet in Japan)
Big Thunder Mtn

TOTALLY DIFFERENT
Space Mtn
I probably prefer the ride in California, but FL is great too and should be ridden.

NO LONGER IN CA
Country Bear Jamboree. Gotta ride it for old time's sake
Carousel Of Progress (I think this is open right now)

Oh, hit the waffle cone ice cream place on main street in the Magic Kingdom! Greatest ice cream ever!

Welcome to the boards! I would just suggest to do everything because WDW is magical beyond belief and I find myself wanting to do all the kiddie stuff as soon as I get there. Hahaha. Yea, anyways

-Don't worry about IASW, it's closed for now anyways.

-The Snow White rides are actually different, especially the ending. All of the facades of course are different too, it's clear that DL has the better Fantasyland.

-Space Mountain is totally different, and it's fun too, haha.

-You gotta do ToT, it's the best on property, IMO.

Eh, I'm getting tired of doing these, haha. I would just try to do as much as possible. Cuz as someone said, it would be fun to compare the two versions of similar rides and find out which is better.

Anyways, enjoy yourself, you'll have a blast. I'd also recommend to hit Universal Studios ;)

*PS - I'll be in Orlando at the same time as well :-)

I knew there were people here who knew far better then I did...
Still I often wonder why I even bother posting here heh... *** Edited 6/14/2004 11:31:47 PM UTC by P18***

If you like the original Disney ideal, don't miss Carousel of Progess. It's just so dated and tacky but at the same time well maintained and original that it's classic, for sure. *** Edited 6/14/2004 11:34:12 PM UTC by Chaindog***

Not to mention there is really no line for the Carousel.

When I was there back in March, I went with someone who had done the Disneyland thing already and we found ourselves hitting Epcot every day we were there. We were only in the Magic Kingdom for a few hours. If you have time, do as they suggest above. But if you are like how we were when we went, and are on a strict diet with your time, basically ride what you havent yet. Epcot will prob. be the park with the most "new" rides to you. MGM seemed to have a handful of rides that were at the 2 Cali parks. And MK doesn't have too much that you haven't ridden yet in some way, shape, or form.

Thanks for all the help guys....Can't wait to get there......I'm staying at a disney resort so I guess u get extra ride time at the Disney parks...... I was wondering with all the "extra" time i will have for the Disney parks do ya'll think a day for Universal (studios and IOA) and a day for Busch is enough? (sorry to be so damn critical but its gonna be an expensive trip so i wanna manage my time wisely) I have about 3 1/2 days to get in all the parks...thanks for any help.

A single day at Busch is more than enough to soak in everything that park has to offer. It doesn't seem to be as prone to long queues and overcrowding as the Orlando parks.

IOA and Universal Studios in a day might be a gamble. You'll surely get everything you could possibly want from Universal done in half a day, and if crowds treat you well or you invest in their Universal Express system (unlike Disneys, it is upcharge, not free), you'd probably be able to do a rush job of IOA. You won't get to see the shows (which I personally thought were hardly anything special), but you can tick off all the major rides no worries.

I personally would not spend a day at BGT. It's around a 1 1/2 - 2 hour drive *depending on how fast you go* to get there and I would just suggest to stay in Orlando because there is just SO much to do. I would say spend 2 1/2 of your days at Disney, simply because it's just sooooo big. Then I would take the 1 day and spend it at Universal. Personally, I would pick the studios because I think it is much, much better than IoA, but that's just my opinion. Either way, you can't go wrong when you're in the the theme park capital or the world! :D

By the way, which Disney resort are you staying at?

Too bad they took out the best attraction at DW. IMO, Alien Encounter was the best thing at DW. The first time I went on it, It scared me silly. I wonder if the reason they took it out is because it was too intense for the younger folks. Anyway, don't forget to go to the bakery at the end of Main Street. It'll be the last store on your right as you're going toward the castle. If you miss it, just follow your nose.

I think there is a ticket you can get that combines BG, IoA, & US (allong with Wet N Wild & Sea World). I know they offer a 3-day park hopper for the price of 2 for IoA & US, but I dont know if that mega park hopper can be shortened to 3 days.

This is the place I used when I went down there a few weeks ago..

http://www.kissimmeeservices.com/store/commerce.cgi

Here is an exilent site about disney. They even have menues for all the resterants and hotels in the park.

When I went for the first time ever in feb, this site helped me out a ton.

http://allearsnet.com/

Also, universal sells a ticket that alows you to visit islands of adventure and universal studioes in the same day. Unless the crouds are extremley light, it may be next to impossable to do every attraction in both parks in one day.

I would also recommend checking out my all time favorite site for help. The people there are soo friendly and would willingly help you out with any questions you have. Also, it's a great site and loads of fun!!

http://www.wdwmagic.com

Don't forget to ride Rockin' Roller Coaster at Disney MGM, really great ride. And Test Track and Mission Space at Epcot. At Busch Gardens make sure to get there early and go to Kumba very first thing. When your heading back down to Montu you will probly see loads of people heading to the back, so you should have a nice 10-20min wait for Montu. Oh, and don't miss Scorpion and the both sides of Gwazi. Hope you have a good trip!

thanks for all the help guys...someone asked where I'm staying... I'll be at the Polynesian Resort from July 3rd till the 8th. Also I'll be doing that dolphin interaction thing @ Discovery Cove, if anyone knows about that feel free to write, u all have already helped alot. thanks again

guitarguy,

I myself have done the Dolphin thing before. It is an amazing experience overall, but there was one thing about it that I do not like. You really didnt spend much time with the dolphins :-\ It's about a 45 minute program, and you're with a group, so by the time everyone gets a chance, it's all over. But all of the other areas are GREAT and it is loads of fun to go to Discovery Cove *depending on the pass you have* and then on over to Sea World to finish off your day :-)

Oh! I've heard very nice things about the Polynesian Resort. I've also heard that the resort's restaraunt, O'Hanas, is really really good!