Do's and Don'ts at Disney

[MammaLex]

We are about to bite the bullet and do Disney! We are going to Florida in October. DS will be 9 while we are there. What are the must do's and the avoid like the plague 's. ???

Do universal, don’t pay for queue jump tickets, book a night in a universal hotel and you’ll get them thrown in for two days.

Do Discovery cove if possible in a cabana, it’s amazing.

Book any character meals ASAP and get to know the fast pass system at disney, you can book more using the app in the parks.

Plan everything to the day. Use the calendar planners to help. Know all your dates for booking fast passes and ADRs.
It may seem a pain before but makes a huge difference when there.

Do book adrs and fast passes.
Do read the dibb website , brilliant advice
Do have a great time!

Where are you staying?

Express Passes for Universal now include Harry Potter too, but you'll need park to park ones to use the train.

Thank you all. Haven't booked a hotel yet but will certainly take on board your comments

Do get memory maker and magic bands, as you can then get tons of photos for a hell of a lot less than if you don't have them. The bands make it so easy to get the photos, even for an old gimmer like me! Fast passes are great, but it is also worth going to your favourite rides early to see if you can just walk on. Then you can either keep the fast pass and do the ride again, or change it on the app for something else.

What is a magic band?

Wear comfortable shoes.

We are going in October too! Staying on a hotel on International Drive which is great for accessing all of the parks and also great for eating out.
See you there

Pace yourselves and be realistic. Don’t try to do everything- you might get back another time or just need to realize it’s not possible - but better to manage expectations ahead of time.

Drink lots of water.
October should be better than high summer but if warm, let the kids get wet in the various water showers/mist hazes etc to cook down - they dry off quickly. The humidity can be a killer.

Have a down day built in - going to a swim park or similar. We went to the 2 swim parks for 2 half days, and also had a day doing a kayak tour of local creeks with lunch and swimming - amazing!

A magic band is a Disney wrist band that you wear. It has a chip in it which holds all your information and reservations include your park tickets, fast passes and ADRs. If staying in a Disney hotel it's also your hotel room key and you can buy with it (if credit card linked) and if you have meal plans it includes then too. You also 'zap' them for in park and ride photographs if you've got Memory Maker included in your Park tickets - this comes with most U.K. based tickets now. You have to pay for a magic band and after first use they are not transferable between people, and can only hold the tickets for one person.

Download the My Disney Experience app and get an account. The app also includes all your details and you can set it with notifications for ride and show times, etc. You need an account for each of you ideally. You can use the app to make fast pass and dining reservations.

Re Universal - we've done Express both by staying at a Universal hotel and buying them individually. You need to do the maths to work out which works best for you. Also you may not need Express depending when you're there. More likely to need them in school holidays or in the afternoons when the Horror Night is on later in the evening (as park gets busier with people arriving for that in our experiences) but Express isn't cheap and it is possible to do it all without them if you don't mine long days. When we've bought them separate we buy them for one day, park to park versions, and then spend that day riding everything with the longest ride queues and our must dos. Then do the rest or ride repeats on a separate day.

And bring an autograph book and a sharpie

The magic band is linked to your ticket and memory maker. You buy them in Disney. We got a cast member to link ours to the app as DD (unusually) couldn't get it to work and you wear them on your wrist. You can use them to get into the park instead of carrying your tickets. They sometimes have a glitch, but it takes only a couple of minutes for them to sort it out for you. You then just scan them to get any photos from the official photographers and rides and they turn up on your app a short time later. They are great.

How long are you going for?

We've never bothered having full days off even when going for a fortnight. We've had a 'quieter' at a water park followed by late lunch as either the Boardwalk or Springs. Or if you have a car a day at the Space Centre and evening having food by the coast there. We've been going since Dd was 2 - she's now 17y and we've been about 10/11 times to WDW now - and she's always just wanted to be out and in those parks.

Avoid Seaworld (I know it's not Disney)

We went last October and are going this October too. It’s a great time to go, although there was a heatwave last October which made it unbearable at times! Take a spray fan from home, they cost a fortune in the parks. The roll on sunscreen is much easier for kids.
We stayed at Disney’s Port Orleans and booked to benefit from the free Disney dining quick service plan. The food even on quick service was amazing. Would really recommend and we wouldn’t stay on Disney property without the dining plan.

We’ve been five years ago too and stayed on I Drive but didn’t enjoy that as much.

Everyone does it differently but you really do need a rough plan, particularly if there during a peak time. And basically anytime after August will be peak because of Star Wars opening. Use EasyWDW for crowd calendars and busy day guides, he's the best.

We have the following approach:
Up at 6/7am. Go to the parks for rope drop and do the biggest 3 or 4 rides first, which should be attainable by 11am in most cases. Then book Fastpasses for 11-2ish. Go back to the hotel for a swim (or nap!) or go visit larger capacity theatre shows/dark rides just to have an hour or two out of the sun and crowds. Go back to the parks for 5ish and do some rides. Eat around 6-8. More rides. Watch the fireworks. Bed by 11.

We always stay in Disney with the dining plan as I like the proximity and ease of access, plus the benefits like extra magic hours, transportation, package delivery, magic bands etc. I appreciate it's not for everyone though. It's not that much more expensive to stay onsite when factoring in parking and dining costs for off site guests so don't be put off when people tell you staying in Disney is a huge cost. I second the one night in Universal tip too, great for Express passes.

Do download the disneyparks games app. Gives you access to all the in queue entertainment stuff like the virtual creature spotting in the (circa 3 hour long at peak times) avatar queue.

Do be there for gate drop if you want to get onto slinky dog or avatar without a crazy queue. They literally have a chain of staff holding hands walking in front of the crowd so that you can't run and nobody gets trampled. BUT you get to do those rides without the crazy queue.

Use the online queue times app regularly and be prepared to dash. If a ride goes down and is closed temporarily the queue will drop right down and you can beat the crowds by waiting until it reopens (generally very quickly)

Do plan the fuck out of it. If you want to cover all the popular rides/shows/meet and greets/jedi training etc then you need to plan plan plan plan plan.

We've been a lot of times now. I would never go without staying on site with a meal plan (we schedule trips around the free dining). This is particularly the case with little ones since you then get all of the character meals and don't have to queue for ages to meet cinderella etc.

Get your dining reservations and then plan your park days around it. The same goes with the shows like the fantasmic show at HS and the extra magic hours days.

Do take your own drinks in to the parks.

Do have a little (but very polite and friendly) moan if things go wrong since they will correct it and you might get a golden ticket (like an extra fast pass)

Do be aware that star wars world will NOT be open this October. They've confirmed "late fall" means Christmas or later

Thanks every, we are planning to go for 2 weeks.

Star Wars opens August 29th... Although Rise of the Resistance won't.

I second discovery cove that was our favourite day, expensive but well worth it for the luxury aspect. Also make sure you pre book your fast passes for the morning and use the app. You can't book your next fastpassess on the same day until you've used the first ones (hence why book them for the morning). Take refillable water bottles for the family and use the free water dispensers in all the parks.
We also went to boggy creek on an air boat ride and saw lots of wildlife inc gators that was a great day out, as was gatorland. In fact I enjoyed those days better than the parks!
Make sure you allow yourselves some 'days off' to relax by the pool or go shopping etc as it does get a bit much in the parks.

Fast passes are ESSENTIAL plan then like you're in the army.

Research your dining options.

Do eat a dole whip or citrus swirl, don't bother with the frozen ride.

Very comfortable shoes, Epcot very dated now.

Yogagirl123 I am offended. I'm a huge Epcot fan. Walking around World Showcase with wine is the best way to spend an evening.

Innoventions is admittedly a bit shit these days.

Epcot was my favourite park! Loved walking round the different countries and having a snack in each one haha