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. ???

If you go to drink kiosks you can ask for ice cold water and get it for free. Take a cool bag rucksack, I got one for £15 on Amazon, and pack it with lunch or drinks. Saves on money in the parks and you can get a healthy lunch in.

I’m a teacher in Scotland so have to go school holidays, what is the first 2 weeks in August like?

Hot and humid

I think staying at Disney even with a free meal plan isn’t going to work for us, the cheapest moderate hotel is 10K, park tickets another 2.5K and that’s before flights.

A villa is about £1-1200, then park tickets and eating aren’t going to come to 10K.

Another problem is we are classed as 5 adults and 1child

When we went in 2011 I bought the unofficial guides to read up on before we went (we took them with us too). They were fantastic at providing insider information (including routes to take around the parks to minimise queuing!). If we go again I'll be getting the up to date versions - they had rave reviews on Amazon.

Plan ahead, if staying off site you can fast pass Disney at 30 days. 12noon UK time. It's Orlando time on Facebook is invaluable.

We were there last October, Disney was busy even MNSHP.

Kennedy Space Center a fab day out, it needs at least 8 hours.

Lots of water and worn in comfy shoes, i wore sketchers sandles without a problem.

We planned a park day, then a rest/shopping/pool day but I ended up taking DD 10 days out of 14 to Disney, leaving dh chilling at the hotel some days.

It's a lot of walking out lowest step count was 11000.

We stayed off site in Lake Buena vista, 10 min drive to Disney, but bars and restaurants within walking distance so no driving at night. Also used Lyft taxis which were amazing, download the app and you will get a new user discount.

Didn't do universal this time as DD not tall enough yet.

We’ve always preferred the space and freedom of a villa than staying on Disney property. Windsor Hills is a good complex about 10 mins from Disney. I also love American breakfasts and hate the idea of missing out on Denny’s, Perkins etc. Also love a meal at Red Lobster .

For universal it’s worth staying in one of the more expensive hotels to get free universal express passes for the family. We always stay in the Royal Pacific, because it feels more exotic for us than their fake Italian one!

Check out Disney Food Blog for great tips on all things (not just food, but the food reviews are very helpful). Our favourite table service is the “all you care to enjoy” thanksgiving feast at Liberty Tree Inn (magic kingdom), which is also kid friendly as is Yak and Yeti in animal kingdom. Places like Le Celier in Epcot are supposed to be excellent, but I can’t see my kids getting $60 of value/enjoyment out of a meal there!

I reckon half of people at the parks wear sketchers- they are so comfortable, but even with them your feet will take a battering! Highest step count in a day was 26000! (At universal, so included the walk to/from the hotel). The ice cream place at universal boardwalk “cold stone creamery” is fun as instead of doing toppings, they do “mixings” where they fold your items into your ice cream. The restaurants there are decidedly “meh”. IMO Bubba Gump is the best (if you like sea food!) and the toothsome chocolate emporium was deeply disappointing. The Mythos restaurant in islands of adventure is very good.

I’d say universal is a “must do” at 9, but maybe not if he’s not a Harry Potter fan. Kennedy space centre is incredible- Atlantis/space shuttle exhibit is worth the drive and price of entry alone. Discovery cove is personal choice, but you can do 2 weeks of Disney and universal with some more relaxed days. The outlet mall at the top of international drive is my preferred shopping outlet, though Disney springs is worth a look (but gets soooo hot and has very little shade).

I prefer to stay more on U.K. time - get up 6/7 and be at the parks for when they open, and then fall into bed early (and exhausted). Fantastic and happily ever after are worth staying up for, rivers of light is not.

Thank you all, this is really useful. Xx

Join the Disney Information Bulletin Board, dibb for short. Its free to join, just sort out a user name and password. All of the information that you need to know about the many variations that you can have doing a Disney holiday are on this forum.

We didn't book our Disney fast passes in advance and regretted it. Although we did get quite a lot the week we were there, there were a few of the biggest rides that we queued for instead and some times that weren't very convenient. The Quick Service dining plan was good if you're staying at a Disney hotel. I ate a lot of salads and the kids ate a lot of fast food but everyone was happy and it was really easy. We hired a car and stayed in a villa the second week and did Universal and the Kennedy Space Centre. We loved the water parks as much as the theme parks and did all 3 for a full day each (Typhoon Lagoon, Blizzard Beach and Volcano Bay). Did not do Sea World for ethical reasons but didn't really feel we missed out as there was so much to do between Disney and Universal.

I've just booked our second trip - we're staying at the WDW Beach club resort July 2020 (free dining 🙌🙌🙌) I am already SO EXCITED
We stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge last time and absolutely loved it.

You're going to have a brilliant time!!

DOs:

• Plan plan plan - when you book your dining reservations (180 days out) this might dictate which parks you'll be at on which day (at least for the meal time) so be aware of extra magic hours (available if staying on Disney property) before deciding which to do on which days. This will also dictate which fast passes you'll want to go for on which days
• use the magic express if staying on Disney property (bus from airport) and DO keep your luggage with you as have heard horror stories about people getting their bags in the middle of the night 😩
• buy some park maps off eBay (a few quid) to help you plan your days and fast passes and wish list etc. Will help you to get your bearings and understand the relative distance of stuff
• have dinner in Cinderella's castle
• book an early reservation for breakfast at Be Our Guest (the Beasts castle) to get early access to the park
• if you have small kids do Bibbidi Bobbedi Boutique
• eat at the Boathouse at Disney springs (amazing lobster rolls!!)
• consider one of the firework dessert parties, we did Epcot (Frozen themed) and Magic Kingdom - MK was best but both good and guarantee a great view for the fireworks
• use Uber's and Disney transportation (if staying onsite)
• go to the super target - tons of Disney souvenirs plus I love all the cosmetics and candy we can't get at home (my husband spend $50 on peanut butter M&ms 🐷)
• take ponchos! And spare socks/flip flops to relieve you of squelchy shoes in a sudden downpour
• take Britta filter water bottles - you can refil all over the parks and the filter helps take the weird Florida water taste away

DON'T

• if flying into MCO DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES recheck in your luggage before going up the escalator after baggage reclaim - we did and had to wait HOURS for it 😭😭😭 (This will make sense when you're there)
• if on a dining plan, don't be stingy with your snack credits - we were and had about 30 left on the last day, which we then spent at various gift shops on snacks to take home.

Hope this helps!!

@Ginnotgym is BOG a character breakfast?

No - not for breakfast or lunch

The beast 'occasionally' appears at dinner

It's a quick service (the best IMO) breakfast and lunch

But (I think) a 2 table service credit dinner (if on the dining plan

I've only had breakfast but we loved it

You have to get a 'grey stuff' cupcake! Delicious

@Ginnotgym thank you, sounds like it's worth a QS breakfast then :) you mention it requires a reservation, is that unusual for a QS breakfast? Or is it just because it's BOG?

No probs!

No it's pretty unusual to need a reservation at a QSR, but you definitely need one here.

Don't want to rain on your parade (Literally) but October half term will be in the hurricane season near the end so have some contingency plans for that.

@Ginnotgym

"use the magic express if staying on Disney property (bus from airport) and DO keep your luggage with you as have heard horror stories about people getting their bags in the middle of the night 😩"

What type of horror stories??

If you lose a magic band (looking at you DD) don’t worry and just check in with customer services when you leave, we lost one LOTS over the two weeks and it was always found and reunited.

If you have a member of your party with SEN you can arrange an assistance past, it’s a virtual que with a return time - the airline at Gatwick also arranged for us to have a lanyard and pass which meant we could use the disabled lanes for immigration after such a long flight.

We stayed off site and used a lot of quick serve restaurants plus supermarket dinners which was needed after long days in the parks.

Don’t underestimate just how massive Disney is. On our first day, we rushed out early, drove there, parked up, walked to the road carts to drive us to the Monorail or boat for the journey in to the park, it was exhausting in the heat!

Parking is $22 a day, discount in the evening

Join Florida groupon on for restaurant discounts.

Plan an afternoon/evening for Disney Springs (eat in the boathouse, bloody fantastic) it’s shopping, food and entertainment etc

Look at a day trip to Clearwater, take a boat trip.

Personally we didn’t like Volcano bay and did typhoon lagoon really early one morning and managed to do all the big rides straight away and then a chilled day by the pool.

Joe’s Crab Shack was great (if you like seafood, they do burgers etc as well) and had an out door play area.

We had a lazy river at our hotel which was amazing until a snake slide in for a swim, never seen so many people move so fast!

If it hasn't been said already, join Facebook group it's Orlando time.

Revolut card for currency, download the app. It's brilliant.

@coconutpie

Lots of people don't get their bags delivered until hours later - you have the option of not collecting your luggage from the airport, and letting ME deliver it. (If staying on Disney property)

If you're not arriving until the evening anyway that doesn't allow loads of time for them to deliver before you want to call it a day, particularly if you've already had a long day of travelling

Would it be better to get park tickets when you get there?

We've just come back. Didn't stay on site, there are loads of self catering apartment complexes (all with their own water pools/parks) we stayed at Lake Austin in Kissimmee which is 15min drive from Magic Kingdom. Parking is 25dollars, but covers 4 parks for the day.
Tax is added to the displayed price for everything at no logical rate. We found it really frustrating, eg 4.99 for item give child 5er and they are short a different amount in each place!
NASA was definitely a must for us, although DD 4 got a little bored by 5pm.
We also had an airboat ride and saw alligators, this was amazing and only about 40min drive from hotel.
The biggest issue we had was the sat nav in the car not having been updated for over 2 years as complex we stayed in wasn't in it! Ask at the airport for them to 'show' you how to use it by putting your hotel in, this will show you if it's been updated.
Also, be aware of places trying to add charges when you check in. We went with TUI who assured us everything was paid for in advance. The hotel then tried to charge us extra on checking in, backed down when challenged. The car hire company offered upgrades, which we choose to accept but SIL felt she had to pay until she read the T&C's and realised it wasn't what she wanted!

Buy park tickets before you go as it's cheaper!! Also should get 14 days for price of 7. Paying on the door won't get his discount.

Re paying on the gate - we won't spend 14 days at Disney though .....

Disney tickets are cheaper per day the longer you buy them for, so even if you won't spend 14 days there, anything over 5 or 6 days (not sure off the top of my head of the exact amount!) is cheaper to purchase beforehand. We use Undercover Tourist for shorter length passes though: www.undercovertourist.com/orlando/walt-disney-world-resort/