We're going to Disney World!

[Lee_M]

I’ve always wanted to take the kids to Disney World. With the recent promotion of the buy 4 nights, get 3 free, we decided this would be the year to go. It’s a little scary with the economy the way it is, but I feel that we both have stable jobs and in the reality of it all, it won’t be too much money. Anyway, are there any helpful tips that make the vacation more enjoyable? This will be our first trip there and I didn’t know if anyone had any experiences or helpful ideas to share.

 

[TommyWommy]

Try to take advantage of the “Fast Pass” system. It can really reduce the time you spend standing in line for certain rides. You do have to be somewhat strategic with it, though, and there is no way to see “everything.” So, map out the things on your “must see” list ahead of time.

Are you staying on park property, like in a Disney resort, or off property? That can make a difference in how you plan your days.

We were there a few months ago. Loved it. Have fun!

 

[newf]

Disneyworld is lots of fun. We took our kids there many times and we have wonderful memories.

How old are your children? How many children do you have? How long are you planning to stay?

One thing I would do is get one of these books ahead of time:

The Unofficial Guide Walt Disney World 2009 by Bob Sehlinger.

amazon.com/Unofficial-Guide-Disney-World-Guides/dp/0470285702/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234473857&sr=1-1

This book lays out the ins and outs of a trip there. You can read it and see what rides your children might like, what hotels you might like, etc. He has all the costs listed, too, so that is really helpful.

It’s been a couple years since we were there, but I remember the food being very mediocre. It might be a good idea to hit a grocery store and pick up some items to bring in the park with you.

Good luck.

 

[Lee_M]

We’re staying at the Pop Century Resort. The first two days will be at Hollywood Studios because the Star Wars Weekend will be going on. I’m a huge Star Wars fan. Is the FastPass available only to people staying at the resort or everyone in the park?

 

[Lee_M]

Disneyworld is lots of fun. We took our kids there many times and we have wonderful memories.

How old are your children? How many children do you have? How long are you planning to stay?

One thing I would do is get one of these books ahead of time:

The Unofficial Guide Walt Disney World 2009 by Bob Sehlinger.

amazon.com/Unofficial-Guide-Disney-World-Guides/dp/0470285702/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234473857&sr=1-1

This book lays out the ins and outs of a trip there. You can read it and see what rides your children might like, what hotels you might like, etc. He has all the costs listed, too, so that is really helpful.

It’s been a couple years since we were there, but I remember the food being very mediocre. It might be a good idea to hit a grocery store and pick up some items to bring in the park with you.

Good luck.

We have two childen. One is 11 and the other is 8. We are staying 7 nights and 7 days. We did purchase the Dining Plan because I heard the table service restaurants were nice and it saves you about 30%. I heard Wolfgang Pucks and the Coral Reef were very nice.

 

[Marauder]

If you are doing Disney Dining Plan, get a Disney guide and research where you want to eat. Plan it out now, and make reservations as early as allowed at every restaurant. You can always cancel an existing reservation, even on the day of the reservation. Different restaurants have different reservation policies, some allow 3 months in advance, some up to 6 months in advance.

Reservation go fast and if you don’t have one you get stuck eating in places you probably wouldn’t want to eat.

 

[Marauder]

We’re staying at the Pop Century Resort. The first two days will be at Hollywood Studios because the Star Wars Weekend will be going on. I’m a huge Star Wars fan. Is the FastPass available only to people staying at the resort or everyone in the park?

Fast Pass is available to anyone. The way it works is you go to a ride that you want to come back to at the preset time window listed on the fast pass machine. You insert you park admission ticket and it gives you back both your park admission ticket and a ticket with the time printed on it. Make sure you don’t forget your park admission ticket. You come back at that time and can bypass MOST of the line. You can only get one fast pass at a time so you need to plan what you want to fast pass and what you want to wait in line for.

The most popular attractions will run out of fast passes early in the day.

 

[TommyWommy]

We’re staying at the Pop Century Resort. The first two days will be at Hollywood Studios because the Star Wars Weekend will be going on. I’m a huge Star Wars fan. Is the FastPass available only to people staying at the resort or everyone in the park?

Fast Pass is for everyone! But not every ride has it. Also, the more popular rides may have less time slots to choose. For example, we got there in the morning and went to a ride for a fast pass and discovered the earliest open time was 3:00pm. So we had to plan the day to make sure we could be back at that ride at that time. It takes some strategy, but it’s usually worth it on the most popular rides.

We stayed at Pop Century once. It’s nice to be able to hop on a bus and not worry about parking. Since you have kids, it might help to plan on taking a midday break and then returning to the park for evening shows/fireworks. You also may want to consider taking a more relaxed day halfway through just to hang around the pool and rest. It’s more like a marathon than a sprint! Pace yourselves.

If you get the earlier buses, they tend to be less crowded, since lots of people are still eating breakfast. General rule is: early bird beats the crowds (usually).

 

[TommyWommy]

There are certain dinner/breakfast places that have disney characters come to your table for photos. The kids might enjoy that. You need reservations for them, though. The book Marauder suggested is good. The website also tells you a lot.

 

[lifeisbeautiful]

Maybe EM will chime in, she knows a lot about Disney!

Have fun! I considered going this year on my birthday, but it’s not going to work out (DH has to work 7 days a week, 12 hr days around my bday, and traveling would be veery far). My kids are 3, 2, and soon to be 1, and my 3 yr old shares a bday with me, so she and I could go in for free, and if I understand correctly 2 and under is a lot cheaper or free, so basically we would have gone a family of 5 for the price of one (dh) lol! I thought it sounded cool, but it’s not going to work out lol.

 

[whatevergirl]

I’ve always wanted to take the kids to Disney World. With the recent promotion of the buy 4 nights, get 3 free, we decided this would be the year to go. It’s a little scary with the economy the way it is, but I feel that we both have stable jobs and in the reality of it all, it won’t be too much money. Anyway, are there any helpful tips that make the vacation more enjoyable? This will be our first trip there and I didn’t know if anyone had any experiences or helpful ideas to share.

Congrats-you will love it! My dh works for Disney and he said that promo has been a great thing to help boost sales. I would not eat at the restaurants…plan your meals out of the park. That’s my tip, because those restaurants are pricey and frankly, I didn’t find them that impressive. Have a great trip!!

Oh and get the fast passes…you have to get there early in the a.m. but it’s worth it…you won’t wait on any lines then!!

 

[kwitz]

As far as the Fast Pass goes, there is a way to play the system a bit (or at least it worked when we went a few years ago).

It’s not that you can only have one Fast Pass at a time, it’s that once you have one, there’s a set time before you can get the next one.

I hope this makes sense: Go to Ride A and get your Fast Pass. It will have 2 times on it - # 1: the time you are allowed to enter ride A and #2: the time you are allowed to get your next Fast Pass. Usually time # 2 comes before time # 1 is up. So before entering ride A during your allowed time, first go to ride B and get your next Fast Pass. Go on ride A. Head to ride C to get your next Fast Pass. Go on ride B. It worked great for us and we were able to almost go from ride to ride with little waiting.

When riding the monorail, ask the attendant to ride in the front. You have to say please . My kids loved being the boogers in the nose of the train.

If you see any 15 year old girls with their mommies in the Ariel, Little Mermaid autograph line - smile at them. Yes, my DD and I waited for 40 minutes because she really needed that autograph and picture!!!

Bring lots of bottled water. Admitedly, we’re spoiled in the St. Louis area and have some of the best tap water around (thank you Anheuser Busch!) but we thought the Florida water was almost undrinkable.

Have fun. I’m jealous.

Kris

 

[funnyyetsavvy]

I worked there for 3 years.

Do book those dining reservations asap. That’s the most important thing I can tell you. Strategize your days around the Extra Magic Hours, which are only available to Disney Resort Guests and those staying in the Downtown Disney Hilton. That way, you maximize your options.

 

[funnyyetsavvy]

The Coral Reef is nice-hold out for a table near the tanks.

If you have a daughter, consider a Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique princess makeover. Those must also be booked in advance. They dovetail nicely if you are doing a princess character dining.

If you’d like more tips you can PM me with your details and I’ll see what I can help with…

Have a GREAT time!

 

[dixieagle]

You’ve had some great suggestions here! Our family is a bunch of Disney nuts, and we have several good friends who are performers in some of the parks and shows.

Our favorite place is the World Showcase part of Epcot; there are some pleasant, gentle rides there (Mexico, Norway) and wonderful films in several of the pavilions, as well. We love strolling from “country” to “country”; it is really lovely. We also particularly like several of the restaurants - Le Cellier in Canada (very popular steakhouse with divine cheese soup) and the Teppanyaki restaurant in Japan. I understand that the French restaurants are very good, as well.

We’ve stayed at many of the resorts, and Pop Century is fun and wonderful for kids. There is something especially fun about staying on the grounds; the free transportation is great, but we generally prefer to drive, as parking for resort guests is free at the various parks. You can also explore any of the other Disney resorts, as long as you have your parking pass and ID; it’s fun to eat at various resort restaurants, even if you are staying elsewhere. We were there last month to watch my daughter run in the Disney Marathon, and just loved Boma, the buffet in the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It’s also fun to go to one of the “overlooks” in the Lodge and watch the animals on the savannah (I understand some work is going on, so you may want to check to see if those are open.)

We love the Animal Kingdom, and I could spend hours watching the gorillas in the African section; sometimes, I’d swear there are people in gorilla suits, the way they stare at you! Kids just love the animals.

When will you be there? It can be pretty crowded during spring break times, but the Unofficial Guide, mentioned previously, should help out with strategy.

Have a terrific time!

 

[Lee_M]

You’ve had some great suggestions here! Our family is a bunch of Disney nuts, and we have several good friends who are performers in some of the parks and shows.

Our favorite place is the World Showcase part of Epcot; there are some pleasant, gentle rides there (Mexico, Norway) and wonderful films in several of the pavilions, as well. We love strolling from “country” to “country”; it is really lovely. We also particularly like several of the restaurants - Le Cellier in Canada (very popular steakhouse with divine cheese soup) and the Teppanyaki restaurant in Japan. I understand that the French restaurants are very good, as well.

We’ve stayed at many of the resorts, and Pop Century is fun and wonderful for kids. There is something especially fun about staying on the grounds; the free transportation is great, but we generally prefer to drive, as parking for resort guests is free at the various parks. You can also explore any of the other Disney resorts, as long as you have your parking pass and ID; it’s fun to eat at various resort restaurants, even if you are staying elsewhere. We were there last month to watch my daughter run in the Disney Marathon, and just loved Boma, the buffet in the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It’s also fun to go to one of the “overlooks” in the Lodge and watch the animals on the savannah (I understand some work is going on, so you may want to check to see if those are open.)

We love the Animal Kingdom, and I could spend hours watching the gorillas in the African section; sometimes, I’d swear there are people in gorilla suits, the way they stare at you! Kids just love the animals.

When will you be there? It can be pretty crowded during spring break times, but the Unofficial Guide, mentioned previously, should help out with strategy.

Have a terrific time!

We’re going in early June. I love it that the Star Wars weekend will be going on. Hopefully it won’t be too crowded. We’re going with some friends of ours who also have two kids. The other dad and I will be going to Le Cellier while the others go to a dinner with Chip and Dale. I’m glad you mentioned that it was good.

We’ll be eating at 50’s Cafe, Wolfgang Puck’s Cafe, some princess dinner at the Garden Grill in the Floridian(the girls picked that out), Chef Mickey’s (the two youngest picked it), The Coral Reef, Hollywood & Vine Restaurant, and the Le Cellier.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I bought the book.

 

[Em_in_FL]

Hope you have a WONDERFUL time… we have annual passes and get out there as often as we can (just 40 min away).

Star Wars weekends are the BEST! My boys (including DH) are fanatics and the Star Tours ride is lots of fun (my 3 1/2 year old is big enough to ride it too!)…
USE the Fast Pass system… as soon as you get in the park run to the booth and grab a Fast Pass on a ride that looks long. It’s worth it.
June is warm… er, HOT!, so plan accordingly. SUN SCREEN is a must! Pack bottled water and just throw it in a back pack. Pack extra shoes in case it rains and you need to let them dry out for the day. Pack bandaids in case you get blisters from walking.

Have lots of fun!!!

 

[Lee_M]

Hope you have a WONDERFUL time… we have annual passes and get out there as often as we can (just 40 min away).

Star Wars weekends are the BEST! My boys (including DH) are fanatics and the Star Tours ride is lots of fun (my 3 1/2 year old is big enough to ride it too!)…
USE the Fast Pass system… as soon as you get in the park run to the booth and grab a Fast Pass on a ride that looks long. It’s worth it.
June is warm… er, HOT!, so plan accordingly. SUN SCREEN is a must! Pack bottled water and just throw it in a back pack. Pack extra shoes in case it rains and you need to let them dry out for the day. Pack bandaids in case you get blisters from walking.

Have lots of fun!!!

That would be nice to be 40 minutes away. We are a short 13 hours away. I’m more excited about the Star Wars Weekend than the kids are. I was a young boy when the first one came out so I kind of grew up with the series. I hear the average high in June is in the 90s :tanning: so it is a little hotter than it is here but I hear the humidity isn’t as bad as it is here.

 

[Em_in_FL]

That would be nice to be 40 minutes away. We are a short 13 hours away. I’m more excited about the Star Wars Weekend than the kids are. I was a young boy when the first one came out so I kind of grew up with the series. I hear the average high in June is in the 90s :tanning: so it is a little hotter than it is here but I hear the humidity isn’t as bad as it is here.

I would count on 100% humidity here, unfortunately.
Where do you live?

 

[happymommy]

That would be nice to be 40 minutes away. We are a short 13 hours away. I’m more excited about the Star Wars Weekend than the kids are. I was a young boy when the first one came out so I kind of grew up with the series. I hear the average high in June is in the 90s :tanning: so it is a little hotter than it is here but I hear the humidity isn’t as bad as it is here.

We went a few years ago in July, long story and not our smartest move…drink lots of water!! We just kept filling up our water bottles at the drinking fountains. There are a lot of buildings that have AC now, duck in there if you get too hot.

We got a map of Disney before we ever left PA and planned out everything we wanted to see. That way we knew the most important rides and characters that were a must and if we made it to the other things, then it was a bonus.
Friends of our just went, they got a Disney credit card before they went and started earning Disney dollars on it. I guess it’s like money back, but it’s in Disney coupons instead…