Disney Florida - what are the must do's?

[MozzchopsThirty]

We have park tickets for all the Disney parks and all universal parks.

It's a trip of a lifetime and I doubt we'll ever go again.

What special things do we definately need to do? Someone has recommended dinner in cinderella's castle but I have two boys aged 9 & 5 and dd 18 so not sure if that would be the best option.

Any suggestions would be great, thanks

When are you going Mozzchops is it over Easter?

If so then deffo get there early - it's easy enough to do for the first week anyway due to jet lag you'll be up at 5am anyway. We just bought an insulated coffee mug and headed off to the parks at about 6.30am .

Chef Mickeys is fab, the DCs will love it. Remember that if you have breakfast there you will come out at peak park visiting time - you really don't want to start heading into the parks any time between 9.30- 11.30 as they are completely rammed, so I would make that day a water park day as they usually don't get as busy, or wait until early evening and head somewhere then.

Have a great time - where are you staying?

We are going end of August
We have a villa booked.

So if chef mickeys is in Disney, do I come out of Disney to go to waterpark? Sorry just trying to get my head around it. Breakfast is booked for 7.20!!!

T. Rex was hard to book, nothing available the whole 2 weeks until the day we leave so that will be our last Disney meal

Fabulous you got into T Rex so . I did manage to get a late lunch booked there but we were having so much fun at the Magic Kingdom we thought it would be a shame to have to leave so we cancelled it, evening is much better as that area ( sorry forgotten what it's called) is nice to have a wander round - your boys will love the Lego shop.

Re transport - there is interlinked transport between all the resort hotels and parks, but it may not be direct. You can park for free at the hotel if you are having breakfast at Chef Mickeys for 3 hrs I think, so personally I'd drive there and drive to the water park afterwards. There is free parking at the water parks and you can also go to the mini golf courses using your pass before 4 - there is one at each water park.

OMG it's gonna drive me crazy isn't it?
I'm so anal and organised and the planning of this will drive me crazy.
Part of me wants to just go with whatever we feel on the days but I feel we need some sort of itinery

You'll have a fab time whatever you end up doing .

I had to keep reminding myself - when DH and DS insisted on having a relaxing day at our complex pool with lazy river rather than using our expensive park tickets - that we were on holiday. It is tempting to try to do absolutely everything, but not possible or enjoyable. Just get to the parks early, that way you'll do most of the things you want to do, and go with the flow sometimes.

I used the Unofficial Guide. Last time we went at the end of August. The good thing is they still have summer long opening (until 1am some days in the Magic Kingdom), but Florida schools tend to have gone back, so it was relatively quiet.

The hardest rides to get on when we were there were Soarin in Epcot and the Toy Story one in the Studios. But if you buy th up to date unofficial guide it will give you guidance. If you have a Kindle there is a book on the Secrets of Disney, which can give you little things to look out for on rides or while waiting.
My DDs got very into Autograph hunting, and there are usually a few extra Princesses etc. if its too busy.

I would buy some Brita filter water bottles, as the water in the water fountains is disgusting but safe, hopefully filtering should make it more palatable. You will need to drink a lot of water. Disney will usually give you free iced water in Bars etc., so that can also help.
We took bum bags with water, ponchos and snacks (carrots, dried fruit, nuts etc.) Into the parks.

If there is thunder and lightening (which there will be) you can't go into Swimming pools, and if it is prolonged the waterparks will shut for a while.

I would go with reading whatever you can. Find out what people really want to do, and find out the park opening hours/busy times. Then you can do some planning, but still be flexible.

Have a great time!

Thank you have just ordered the unofficial guide

I have used Unofficial Guide, The Dibb, Disboards and EasyWDW.

Easy WDW gives you touring plans for free (cheat sheets) with an easy to reference map, colour coded, plus a good crowd calendar and the reasons behind what park n what day. Plus Josh who owns the site recently toured Magic Kingdom on Martin Luther King weekend (think almost closed due to full capacity) and proved his touring plan works!

I haven't been yet, we go in May but my mate goes every year. Remember that FastPass Plus is in place now so people like me booked rides 60 days out as we are on-site

I have two boys 11 and 8 so no princesses or castles but we are doing both Disney and Universal (Ds1 is a big Harry Potter fan as am I)

You are going to have a very early start for Chef Mickey's! We also have ADR booked for 7.30am but even though we are on-site we are still getting a taxi. There is early and then there is early