Q&A with Virgin Holidays - Ask your questions & share your tips on going to Walt Disney World Resort in Florida - 3x £100 vouchers to be won

[EllieMumsnet]

We're going to have the Virgin Holidays experts online on Monday 17th June from 1:30pm - 3:00pm to answer your questions on how to get the most out of a trip to Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, from the great value Disney Dining Plans to what to take with you into the Disney Parks, best attractions for different ages or how the Disney FastPass+ service works. This Q&A will work a little like our Live Webchats if any of you have taken part in one before - just ask a question below for the experts at Virgin Holidays to answer!

Not only would we love you to ask your questions below for Virgin Holidays to answer but we’d also like you to share any top tips or helpful advice you may have for other MNers thinking of going to Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.

Here’s what Virgin Holidays have to say: “Planning a dream family holiday to Walt Disney World Resort in Florida can seem a little daunting. What was once ‘just’ the amazing Magic Kingdom Park, is now four entertainment-filled theme parks, plus two water parks, covering a total area the size of San Francisco. And that’s before you add in Disney Springs — packed with shopping, restaurants and attractions in its own right.

Don’t leave the holiday of a lifetime to chance. Here at Virgin Holiday’s we’ve got a whole team of Disney experts to help you with the planning now so you can enjoy the Disney magic even more.”

Post your question for Virgin Holidays and they will be online to answer them on Monday 17th June . Everyone who posts a question or shares a tip will be entered into a prize draw where 3 MNers will win a £100 voucher each of their choice (from a list).*

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw
MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs Apply
Webchat guidelines - one question each (follow-ups allowed if there’s time)

*The Walt Disney Company Limited has no responsibility whatsoever with the running of this Prize Draw and shall not be liable for any losses, damages, or costs should a reader make any claim against the promoter as a result of the running of this Prize Draw.

Elliejojo

Its just SO much bigger to start with, with an extra two parks and 2 water parks. Plus the Studios park is bigger than the French one on top of this. Plus there's the proximity to the Universal Studios parks.

The weather - much warmer on the whole. I've been to DLP a few times now and it is nearly always been cold, even in the summer! Like the British weather, the Paris weather is too variable and you can't rely on it being warm.

And I'm afraid there is just more of a 'Disney' atmosphere in WDW. The French 'cast members' are fine, many are good - but the US ones are just so much better at it, in my experience. Its like in the France one their heart just in it as much.

hiddenmichelle

Yes, you can dine at some of the hotel resort restaurants even if you are not a guest. As with the park restaurants, many are better if you book as some can get very busy, especially any character ones.

Book fast passes as early as possible. Book advance dining reservations as early as possible.
Food in Disneyworld Florida is much better than Disneyland Paris!

My son is 13 is he too old? I have always wanted to take him but feel now he may be a bit too old for it all!? Is he classed as an adult from this age also, as some airways say 12+ is basically an adult in everything.
Thanks :)

If we were only to visit WDW once, what is the best age to take the kids, when they'll get the most out of it but still be entranced by the magic? We went to DLP with 4 year old + baby which was great, but even the 4 year old doesn't remember much about it, and if we're going to pay to go to WDW I want to know it will be a really special holiday they'll remember.

@xxxxclarexxxx my parents first took me at 13, with older brothers all in their teens. We've all gone back multiple times since (now with our own families and also together) because as had such a good time. There is so, so much for every age. Every if he's not keen on Disney stuff, there's still incredible rides, shows, shopping, evening entertainment at Disney Springs, pools etc.

I have only been to WDW once (in 2010) and I travelled alone with my three daughters, who were aged 15, 11 and 4 at the time. We stayed in a WDW resort and the rooms are fantastic, with plenty of room, even when sharing with children. We went during the last week of the school summer holidays (think it was 25th Aug - 1st Sept) and people kept telling us it was so much quieter that week as many of the American schools go back around that time.

My top tip, which saved me so much money and would be even more worthwhile if not staying within a WDW hotel, was that, firstly, I arranged for a $US prepaid card (via Caxton, but there are many other options). With this, I was able to search online for supermarkets close-by that did home delivery and I arranged a delivery to the hotel the day we arrived. We didn't have a dining plan but even with a dining plan, we found being able to bulk buy bottles of water saved an absolute fortune. At the time, Disney were selling 500ml bottles of water for $US 2.00 a time - we bought 3 x 24 packs of 500ml bottles of water for a little under $US 10.00 in total. At our hotel, there were ice machines on each floor and we would fill our sink with ice and place the water in there to cool and then take a couple of bottles each with us when going out and about. Things may have changed now and there may be water-filling stations readily available, but with queues everywhere, this was both a time and cost saving exercise. We didn't have a fridge in our room (although you can possibly hire one), but we were still able to purchase snacks, fruit and breakfast cereal to be delivered to the hotel, which meant we had more money for other activities/meals. As we didn't hire a car (the transport to/from the Disney Hotels to the parks is fantastic) these products saved us from purchasing directly from Disney at a premium price.

Sorry, forgot to add my question :

I would love to visit WDW again with my husband and two younger children. However, I am now in a wheelchair and can only stand/walk for a very limited amount of time. How does your disabled policy work? Specifically, do those with mental disabilities and physical disabilities follow the same process?

The reason I ask this is because last year we went to a theme park in the UK. One of the rides had a separate entrance/queue for those with disabilities. However, it was down a flight of steps and then about a 15 minute wait before getting onto the ride. Before I get flamed, I have no problem with any disability being recognised, seen or unseen but my problem was that I was physically unable to stand in a queue for the length of time needed. Fortunately, there was one chair by the front of the queue and my daughter helped me get to the chair (being glared at by other waiting guests), where I sat and waited for my daughters and sister to reach me and take our turn. Because this entrance was down a flight of steps and into a narrow entrance, it wasn't feasible for someone to carry my wheelchair down (and someone else who had done this had had their wheelchair taken from them and stored somewhere until they had finished the ride, they couldn't queue in it - we saw them after the ride and the lady could barely stand and the husband was trying to manage his wife and wheelchair until a couple of men in the queue gave them a hand). As I have a deteriorating condition, I am worse now than I was last year and it worries me that I would be compromised whilst queuing.

My tip would be: don’t assume WDW is for kids. I’ve been with DH as lone adults and there is so much there, even if you don’t care for the Disney characters or shows. Lovely restaurants and bars, fun rides, interesting behind the scenes tours you can book, spas at the hotels, and loads of activities you wouldn’t have thought were there, like horse riding/horse drawn carriage rides, boat trips, scuba diving in their aquarium, nightclubs, safaris on their savannah, and loads more.
Yes, it’s a huge, busy place and the parks get crowded, but if you explore the whole resort and see what the hotels have to offer it can be a wonderfully relaxing experience too.

We’re planning our trip for next year and i’ve Joined several FB forums to get inspiration. We’ve decided not to go away this year so we can really splash out next year, yay!!

I have never been to Disney and always wanted to, now my eldest son is 6 he is also asking to go, we have heard great thing from friends that have visited however I am concerned about travelling there with a baby, he would be 1 when we would be thinking about going. How are babies catered for? Is it easy to visit/travel with them?

My tip is don't try and do everything, there can always be another trip.

How many days would you recommend spending at WDW?

And is there much to see/ do for a pre-teen who is into gaming, sci-fi, football and hates Disney ?

Which parks would be most suitable for a 3 year old?

Im a little confused with comments above. are you allowed to take your own food and drinks in? If so are there plenty of picnic areas where we can rest up and eat. We would much rather stay in a villa and make packed lunches and supplement with snacks than eat from outlets every day. Also what do you recommend as a two centre holiday with the second week having plenty of downtime.

I wanted to know where is best to stay with a three year old? Also when are the quietest times to visit?

Book as far in advance as I

Book as far in advance as you can so you can book fast passes at 30/60 days and dining reservations at 180 days.

Once you have used a fast pass go on MDE (ideally whilst in the queue) to modify the next fast pass to bring it forward as early as possible so you go from one ride straight to the next. This works brilliantly if you are in a park early while it is quieter, we got to Magic kingdom at 7.45 for pre-park opening breakfast at Be Our Guest and had done about 10 rides by 2pm.

Also get to the parks early when you are still jet lagged at the start of the holiday to maximise being awake from 5am!

@lottietiger you definitely can, although there is a limit on the size of the coolers you can take in (anything but the large wheeled ones as far as I can remember). There aren't as many picnic spots as you'd find at UK theme parks but there are plenty of benches to be found.

I'm going back for the first time since I was a kid this summer, and taking my DH and DC for the first time - although I've done a non-Disney Florida road trip with friends in between times. There is so much to do at WDW and in the surrounding area that I would advise you to seriously consider how much you want to do on your holiday.

We have chosen to do Disney only, which is 6 parks to start off with, and if you stay onsite lots of added extras like pools, hotel-based activities, Disney Spring and the Boardwalk, if you have busy/stressful lives and want a bit of downtime with your holiday, don't try to pack in Universal, Kennedy, Busch Gardens, airboats, a day in Celebration etc as well as a roadtrip to Miami, some NFL games, you get the idea.

We will probably go back and do a villa-type/road trip holiday another time, but for us, getting the best value out of our Disney holiday means onsite, no driving, eating with the dining plan and making the most of FP+, as well as siestas so we can miss the hottest part of the day and have the energy to catch evening shows and fireworks etc, as well as a healthy dose of reality i.e. we will not possibly see it all in one go - all the better to start planning a return trip.

I'm amazed you can take your own food, I'd always heard you couldn't so thought my family couldn't visit (many issues). Is there anywhere to leave your coolbag or would you need to carry it around?

@dontneedthesunshine

There are lockers in all the parks.

@Tonkatol I go with my DM who uses a wheelchair there and it’s fine. We rent one and it’s delivered and collected from hotel.

We book special assistance for plane.

All the rides queues are wheelchair accessible and the few that aren’t you are taken in through the exit.
There are DAS passes available where you get a return time rather than queuing but they are not given for mobility anymore as queues accessible, and you would be encouraged to rent a wheelchair.

My top tip for using a wheelchair in the parks is buy the light up ears and necklaces, stops you getting tripped over on a night in the parks as people can see you coming

@ChestyNut - thank you for your reply. I have my own wheelchair and used Virgin to travel with my daughter to Barbados last year and the Special Assistance was really useful - especially when it came to collecting luggage and wheeling me.

I have no problem with not receiving a DAS pass - if the queues are accessible, there is no reason I should be able to jump queues. I'm not surprised Disney have it all sorted as they are truly an all-inclusive resort.

Particularly like the tip for visiting the park in the dark - have enough problems being "invisible" in daylight, let alone in a packed park at night, especially during parade times.

My question is how much to budget for food per person per day? What are the cheapest and best value options for families?