Disneyland - Florida - Tips & pointers

[Mfer]

Hi - am off to disney last in May with 9 & 11 year old and would really appreciate any tips that would help make the most of the 14 days (on the surface it doesn't seem long enough) I am not a theme park person so am a bit reluctant about this jaunt - any restaurant recommendations - best days to go to parks etc would be really welcome - also is the Dolphin swim at discovery cove worth it? Thanks

We went to florida at christmas 2 years ago and then again in april. We did the swim at christmas and it was fantastic!!! You dont get ages with the dolphins but they do a few tricks with you and then the rest of the day is spent looking around the other areas. They have loads of birds which you can go feed. They also have a huge area to swim with tropical fish and then there is the stingray pool where you can feed them. We had a fantastic time in my opinion well worth it :) hth

Dolphin swim is meant to be fab but is expensive. You can als book breakfast with Shamu at Seaworld.

Don't go to WDW at the weekend. Get there very early. It takes half an hour to get from your car to the gate. Buy tickets beforehand. When you get through the gates - RUN. Do everything you possibly can & get fastpasses before lunchtime. It gets the most busy just after lunch then things get a bit quieter after the 3pm parade when a lot of people leave.

I'd suggest you do as much as you can before the crowds get intolerable, get your hand stamped, leave for the afternoon and then go back in the evening. If you watch an evening or electrical parade before the park closes make sure you are right by the exit as there is always a terrible bottleneck to get out and the monorail has terrible queues.

If you like fast rides go to Universal and MGM if you don't stick with Seaworld and Animal Kingdom.

Cypress Gardens is good (40mins south) and has a big new water park next door and the crowds are not bad either. It's all new as they moved.

If you want to do a themed breakfast go to Chef Mickeys on the 4th floor of the Contemporary Hotel. Well worth it. Book before you go as it is very busy.

If you have girls the Cinderella themed dinner is lovely at the Grand Floridian hotel, again book in advance.

Boma restaurant is great at the I think Wildnerness Lodge. African themed but the most tasty food we had all holiday.

Get yourself a book called The Unoffical Guide To Walt Disney World by Bob Sehlinger it is our holiday 'Bible'. Lots of suggestions, phone numbers, ride descriptions.

Do not miss The Lion King show at Animal Kingdom and the Kali River Rapids are great fun too. If you want to travel further Busch Gardens in Tampa is wonderful.

Also don't forget to go to the Disney built town called Celebration, it's off the 192 in Kissimmee. A lovely old fashioned (but new) town built around a lake. Lovely affordable gift shops, restaurants, cinema, fountains for kids to play in. Great for an afternoon. There is a wonderful doll and teddy bear shop there and a kids clothes shop (dearer than usual but different).

The new Expedition Everest ride at Animal Kingdom will open a month before you arrive. Would suggest you ride both this and the Kilimanjaro Safaris asap after you get there. The Kali river rapids ride is good but you may get soaked. The Dinosaur ride there is lame.

If you use the Fastpass system (available on most rides) you can only get one lot of Fastpass tickets at a time and every member of your party will need a ticket to ride (you can ride between a certain hour timeframe e.g 10.15-11.15). It does save quite a lot of time.

The parks at the weekend do get very busy - would do the parks therefore on weekdays. Think the Magic Kingdom's busiest day is Monday. The book secondhand rose quoted is very good and worth reading.

Dolphin Swim at Discovery Cove is good but you need to book this in advance before leaving the UK. It can also cost you a fair bit. You will also need to provide them with picture ID (i.e your passports) for all members of your party. Their arrival procedure is somewhat longwinded (you are photographed) and was not very well organised when we went. Any jewellery including earrings must be removed (lockers are provided).

I would suggest you plan as much as possible before you go to Florida in any event so you have a good idea of where you are going to go and when.

Downtown Disney early evening is worth a look-see.

If you are one for shopping I would recommend the Mall at Millenia, the Florida Mall and the Vineland Premium Outlets.

Both Universal parks are well worth a visit.

From the Discovery Cove website:-

"There are no tickets to Discovery Cove. Once you have made a reservation, you simply check in at the Guest Reception Building on the date of your visit. All we need is your name, a confirmation number, and a photo I.D. for check-in".

The need for photo ID is not always made apparant so be warned. The photo ID issue can catch some British people out, the staff there bless them do not understand that many British driving licences are still paper based although you can buy a photo driving licence now. They are totally insistent on photo ID. You need to provide it for everyone in your party hence me saying passports. This is why the arrivals procedure takes time because everyone is processed in such a manner.

The cost in May will be $279 each.

Thanks girls - I'm exhausted already - will definitely get the book this weekend and start a spreadsheet to plan the fortnight. So if WDW is busy weekends that would be a good time to do discovery cove!! feel its a must as 11 year old dolphin mad and will just have finished SATS so this is her post sats pre big school treat! Meerkat thanks for the heads up on the photo ID - I would have had no idea..........

www.tripadvisor.com has reviews on Discovery Cove - most of them are favourable with some exceptions.

www.discoverycove.com is the website you should look at initially. Do ask them what their policy is for ID re children and print out their response accordingly (they may not for instance need to see your DDs passport but they will certainly need to see photo ID for all the adults in your party).

One caveat - you will not spend much time at all swimming with the dolphins (it is a brief session you get followed by a sales pitch), you are usually part of a group of around 8 people when this activity is done.

I enjoyed our day there all told and the food was nice but the check in procedure was very long winded and bureaucratic.

BTW if you do have a photocard driving licence carry it with you when you go shopping. Some stores will ask for photo id when making a purchase with a credit card.

Don't book something for everday or you'll need a holiday when you get home!

I think other people here have covered the parks, but we've done a couple of non-disney/universal things too. Although our boys are very ride-oriented (and like nothing better than being repeatedly thrown around and hung upside down...), they say they enjoyed our day away from the parks the best. We spent the day at Boggy Creek, which was a drive from the main tourist area, but riding the airboat and seeing all the 'gators' up close was fantastic.

The previous trip, we went snorkelling with the manatees at crystal river. Again a real drive, but what a day! And SO much cheaper than discovery cove. You can probably find these tours by googling 'crystal river manatees'. I seem to remember it's seasonal, so you might need to check that.

But I think you have to be game for an expedition for both these days out: compared to the theme parks, they seem miles away. We quite liked that aspect of it, but that might not suit you.

We took the boys to a medieval dinner which was fun (though naff). One of the biggest thrills for them was ordering pizza delivery 'just like the movies'. They didn't seem to realise it was no different from the pizza at home...

Hope you have a great time - I'm jealous!

is no one going to mention old town?!! i was the same ages as your dds when we went and i loved it. it is literally an old town.my parents also took my nephews 3 years ago and they loved it too. there is a huge ferris wheel,loads of "old" shops that sell things from the 50's/60's (i think) ra ra skirts inc! there is a shop where you can pan for gold and other semi precious stones, amusements,and on a saturday night they have a classic car parade which may sound dull but its not! bush gardens is also good, gatorland-you can take a walk through the everglades, wet 'n' wild which is a water park is great too. i am so jealous!! have a fab time.

FLuppy - the gators - ariboat trip sounds right up our street - we do like to head out on holiday and this seems like a nice day off from the hurly buly ( and I mean hurly) of the theme parks - this is a woman who cant even look at a rollercoaster without feeling sick - best I've managed so far is the dragon ride a legoland!! hey ho!!