Disney World

[vodkaanddietcokeplease]

We are going to Disney World later this year - me, DH, and two DDs (who will be 7 and 18 months).

Any advice? Particularly restaurants that we should book or rides that we should arrange fast passes for.

Thanks.

Cheeky follow here if that's OK! We're going in June 2020. Villa booked for the 6 of us (4 adults and 2 kids though they don't know yet!). I haven't been since I was 11 so things have changed a lot. Looking forwards to Volcano Bay and Harry Potter 😁😁

Get yourself over to the DIBB website, it’s a friendly UK forum of Disney World experts

'Ohana definitely for a meal
Fast pass for avatar rides and seven dwarfs mine train

@AllGoodDogs yes of course! I feel like it's all a bit of a minefield but I want to make the most of the time we have there.

I have hundreds of questions 

Thanks @ChippyMinton and @Curlypop !

Ask away. I adore Disney

The breakfast menu at the 'Be our Guest' restaurant is on my bucket list.

I found Its Orlando Time on Facebook invaluable, for our trip last October.

Definitely go the the dibb
I was there last year it's amazing and I can't wait to go back,are you staying in a hotel or villa?

Join the Facebook group for Disney Orlando.

Ok! Mad orlando obsessive here!!

1. Get over to the DIBB, its fantastic, answers for everything

1. Make an account at disney to book fastpasses and load tickets too

1. Book fastpasses and book disney resturants early.

If you at staying at disney fastpass+ selections open 60 days before, off site staying its 7am 30 days before

Main fast pass rides to get at parks differ for just popular to "new" rides
Magic kingdom - snow whites mine, thunder mountain, space mountain

Animal kingdom - the new avatar pandora area rides (wait times over 3 hours when we visited)

Epcot - soaring

Hollywood studios, the new rides in toy story land especially the slinky dog coaster, remember the new star wars area opens here soon so that will be popular too! Also fantastic (the evening show) can be worth getting fastpass for as its better seating and less waiting

1. If your doing all things disney and NOT staying at a disney resort (as you will get these free) buy magic bands they are like $13 dollars each for the cheap ones and we just love them (we are still using our version 1 bands as the battery has lasted! 5 years and counting!) Anyhow buy them first thing either in the park or stop off the day before at disney springs and get them there the cast members will load your tickets in them and register them tk your disney account and ALL your fast passes and everything will be on them! (If your staying in resort they can be used as your room key and to charge purchases too also your disney dinning credits are stored on here if you have them too)

1. Resturants book up quick, if your wanting any of the fancy ones like Cinderellas royal table (in the castle) be our guest, or any that have a firework/show view get online and book early!

Ask me anything! I have 11 trips under my belt including eloping there! and i just love florida

Loved Be Our Guest for dinner. Fast Passes were a must over October half term.

Very sorry that message DID have paragraphs when i wrote it!!!

Just seen the age of your children ok my number one tip for disney world for you having an 18month old and seven year old is take a double buggy

I'm not even joking, the parks are huge, it hot the days are long its waiting in line its walking for miles, i dont care if your child has never been in a lram or not been in one since they were 2!!! honestly take a double or get a buggy board with a seat for the seven year old!!

I cannot tell you how many family's we have seen where the kids have lost it due to been tried out by walking and the heat! And they have been stuck hiring big double disney prams fkr the day costing around $40 for the day!!

We now buy a $20 cheapy pram from walmart while over there as our youngest is 7 and they still use it also great for storage too!

Get on ebay get a cheap double or take 2 prams you will honestly thank me!!

We went in August with an 11 yo. I have never been with a Toddler so I don't know what the height limits are, but the rides we really liked were:
Soaring at Epcot,
Na'avi River Journey, and Avatar Flights of Passage at Animal Kingdom,
The Frozen ride in Epcot
Toy Story Midway Mania at Hollywood Studios.

Our DD is into meeting Princesses and really hates fast rollercoasters, which makes things awkward for us. DH and I went on the Rock n Roller Coaster leaving her outside. I think they do a babyswap for little ones. Also Expedition Everest is great but again something ours won't go on.

I bought the Brits Guide and signed up to their Touring Plans, which helps you plan out your day. I also set up a planner on the DIBB website, and set up an account on My Disney Experience. We stayed on site so we got early booking for Fast Pass and restaurants.

As for restaurants, we love Akershus (Epcot) for breakfast with the princesses. Our best dinner was at the Crystal Palace (MK) with Winnie-the-Pooh characters. Really nice food and ambience. Beautiful building and plenty of room between the tables so it didn't feel too crowded.
We went to Cinderella's Royal Table and TBH I didn't think much of it. Felt more like a production line than I expected and was really crowded. Also wasn't keen on Tusker House at AK. TBF it was tipping down with rain so there were more people around than there would have been but it was a huge noisy canteen and not at all what I was expecting. We wished we'd booked Tiffins instead when we saw the difference.

WorryingWombat

i agree bring a pushchair or get a cheapo from walmart its hot its exhausting.Plus pushchairs are good pack mules for stuff like drinks and snacks.Walmart is also does great spray suncream called equate it drys quick.Creams melt in the heat before they are absorbed.

my daughter loved cinderellas table it was so nice going for breakfast i booked it many many months in advance.Lovely food lovely service it was lovely.

Also when i first took my daughter on a long haul flight i made a surprise bag for her.

i added child safe headphones,basic mp3 with kids music,party bag fillers,snacks,colouring/sticker books,small toys,pens and a few sweets.Kept her happy.

Another thing watch out for car hire most of them are very very dodgy lots of hidden fees.They quote you one price online and give you a much much higher price at airport.Only one so far i found i could trust was national .And bring your own car seat i just got a cheapo for a couple quid on ebay and threw away before coming back.

For restaurants ponderosa steak house is good for kids plus they eat free if you get a kids eat free card some ticket websites throw them in with tickets like orlandoattractiontickets

Wow! If possible I think you've all answered the questions I had between you

We're going next month...

For fast passes is it 30 days before each day so if you're doing parks every day for 5 days you'd need to book your passes every day for 5 days 30 days in advance of each of those days? If that makes any sense 😬

We missed out on Be our Guest and Cinderella. Got a space for Terrace at Frontierland Fireworks Dessert party and then it was going to be nearly $400 😳🤮 so we didn't go ahead!

We're going in may and can't wait! I've been watching lots of Disney Food Blog videos youtube - it's a great channel for food recommendations and other tips.

Things I've learnt so far: You can make restaurant reservations 180 days before you go - I would make as many reservations as you can in advance, you can always cancel the day before (they secure the booking with a credit card and make small charge if you don't to cancel). You have to pay in advance for A Royal Table. If you want the character dining experience, I was told it's better to go for breakfast as it's cheaper and you're in the park earlier (even before it opens) so the queues will be shorter then - you can save your fast passes for later in the day.

For fast passes is it 30 days before each day so if you're doing parks every day for 5 days you'd need to book your passes every day for 5 days 30 days in advance of each of those days?

No. It's linked to your tickets, so 30 days in advance of the first date on your tickets you can book for the whole holiday.

puppymouse I would keep checking back for Be Our Guest, because people will cancel. We managed to get a breakfast reservation only a couple of weeks before we went the first time, having checked every day.

Star wars land is not open until Christmas 2019. We got back a month ago. It's a very long way from being finished. We were told "late fall 2019 means just before Christmas as long as everything is on track. However you are best to go before then anyway unless star wars is a must see since the crowds are anticipated to be extreme and the prices are all going up.

Much of DW is a building site at the moment although they manage it very well. We have been five times now. Never seen so much construction before and its all because of the increased crowd predictions for Star wars. Currently it means long waiting times for buses back from the parks and much longer walks eg to get from Hollywood studios to the bus area.

If you want to stand a chance of getting on slinky dog or avatar without a 2 hour queue then be there half an hour before rope drop on a morning where the paid for exclusive area event is already going on (not worth paying for the exclusive event IMO) and follow the walking chain.

Be our guest is now a 2 credit meal BTW. Lunch is the best option IMO.