Can I have some help with Disney world Florida please?

[Cockapoopoopoo]

We have the opportunity to go to Florida in may half term. We want to do a single day at Disney as we only have the week and want to do lots of other things. The UK website only allows booking for 7 or 14 days though 😬 I've found some other websites where you can book a day and it's coming out at £500 for two adults and a 5 year old. I've stupidly already told DD about this before researching, I thought it would just be a simple theme park trip!

The websites also don't allow adding of extras like fast passes from what I can see.

Can I please ask for your tips and tricks when planning a visit? What websites did you use? How far in advance did you book and are there any secret discounts to be found anywhere?

TIA

Thanks will do. We'll be going to Miami after a few days in Orlando but that's as far as we've got, we've only just found out that DH is going for work and it coincides with our half term

If you're only going for one day you may wish to check the firework schedule. We went for 3 days in September and the fireworks were only on for one of them. The parks can get full on the days so I wouldn't risk booking on the door

If you don't load the Disney world app that should help

I have the app, downloaded today and wait times don't look too bad.

If you are only planning one day my advice would be to try and go early in your break while you are still on UK time. Get up and go in plenty time for park opening. We did this last October and it was a holiday weekend so really busy but we did Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Thunder Mountain, Peter Pan and a couple of others in under 2 hours. These are rides that individually can have 2hr waits as the day goes on. Have a look at what's there and think about what your own must- do's will be and try to aim to do those first. There are hundreds of guides on You Tube, I like Adam Hattan and Molly All Ears, the DC like Tim Tracker. If you only have one day I wouldn't bother booking any dining as that can take a big chunk of your day. You can take your own food and drink in or graze all day on Disney snacks. Personally I cannot go past the cheeseburger spring rolls or a Dole Whip. If you want to still be there for the fireworks plan some downtime during the day - sometimes a wait for a ride, especially if it's in the shade is welcome. Also find a good spot, where you can sit down for parades and shows in front of the castle in good time. This gives everyone's feet a break. Even at 5 it might be worth considering hiring a stroller - there is plenty room in the Disney ones for a five yo plus any cool bags, your stuff and any shopping. DD doesn't need to use it all the time but you can judge what her stamina is like. My DD probably wouldn't have wanted one at that age but DS would've used one at 5/6/7 if given half a chance. There are lots of quieter rides and experiences that are pretty much "walk on" so don't stress if you don't get genie plus you still have a busy day and the saying in our house is " always leave something you need to do next time".

Which park are you thinking? I would do DMK, Epcot or DAK at a push but thats better for older dc. Seems like DMK best with a 5yo. Epcot very much a 2 day park.

It might be a bit late but try and book character dining. I think you have to realise that cost goes out the window for these things.

Get genie. Work out how to use it. Get up early and 'rope drop ' certain rides. You absolutely can do most of the parks in 1 day even in May if you do 8am to fireworks time. Epcot is a 2 day park. I even did all of DHS on labour day weekend. I had disabled access though.

I found DMK chills out a bit in the evening so make sure you spend some down time in the shows to rest and get out of the heat. The philharmonic one with Mickey is good for the air con alone. A trip on the steamer also restful.

You absolutely don't want to miss fireworks. With such a young dd could you take a cheap pushchair silly idea maybe but most people recommend a rest in the day to make fireworks at night. They are phenomenal.

Better do disney another time? Hard to shoe horn it in to 7 day break.

Thanks. I plan on watching the video guides etc once we sort out the tickets. My other Florida plans are Miami, everglades for a gator tour and Florida keys.

In fact looking more at the map etc I wish I hadn't told DD about it and I would skip Orlando all together and go another time. I want to see gators and do boat trips

You won’t get around one park in a day, and there are several parks and water parks. Which park would you go to? The main one for the castle and fireworks? Or are you going to be more into star wars / Toy Story and the things at Hollywood studios, or would dd prefer to ride the frozen ride at Epcot?
For £500 I’m not sure it’s worth it personally if you’re not going to get to see a bit of everything.
If you actually don’t care about the park itself, could you just book in for a character meal at one of the hotels? Depends if dd would be bothered about rides and the castle, or if she just wants to meet Mickey mouse or a princess. I’d try undercover tourist too as pp said, or wait and see if a deal comes up.

If you’re not a ‘Disney’ family and you don’t care about it you may prefer DAK. The food is better, there are some shows still, it’s Disney enough but the least Disney park. There’s a safari tour and walking trails so you can learn about animals and conservation efforts, a little petting zoo, sometimes if you’re lucky you can see vet treatment on wild animals and you can catch a class with Disney animators on how to draw different characters

DD doesn't particularly care about the characters, she would like to see them but wouldn't be bothered about meeting I don't think. I really should have researched before mentioning it I never in a million years thought you wouldn't be able to just visit one park in a day like any other theme park, especially for under £500!

What is DAK sorry?

DAK is Disneys animal kingdom. If you’re just doing it for the Disney experience I’d definitely go to Magic Kingdom. Get the ferry boat from the car park, ride a horse drawn tram down Main Street, go on some classic rides that don’t have long queues (carousel of progress, dumbo has soft play instead of a queue, the little mermaid, the steam train around the park) and pick out a handful that have longer queries. Watch the parade and try a dole whip.

There’s loads of experiences, it’s not all about the queues. No you won’t be able to do everything, hence why most people go for 2 weeks! Our first time we visited Disney every day for 14 days and still loads we didn’t see - but that doesn’t mean it’s worth going if you don’t have expectations of doing absolutely everything!!

That’s a lot of ground to cover in a week or so. Have you route planned it?

Yes all planned, we've decided to skip Orlando all together and go back another time for a Disney holiday. Just sticking with Miami and Florida keys

@Cockapoopoopoo Shark Valley nr Miami is fantastic. Loads of wildlife and great tour guides. You see loads of gators too.