Disney do's and don'ts

[jwmcdaniel]

I'm sure those of us who have Disney in our sites in the near future would love to hear from you 'vets' what you think should absolutely be done and not done/places to see and places to skip/etc.....

Whadda think?? Can you let us pick your brains???? :)

[Brichard]

Do

1. Use the Fastpass option. On many rides there are two lines, the regular wait line and the Fastpass line. If you go at say 9:00 and insert your ticket, you will get a chance to use the fastpass lane at say 10 or 11:00. You go ride other rides until then and when you come back at the designated time you don't wait in line! It took us a few days to figure it out, but it saves alot of time. The ideal thing to do is to go to several rides and get fast passes, go to the rides with less wait (like Its a Small World) or eat... and come back later!

2. Bring drinks and snacks. They allow it and it is much cheaper.

3. Bring a fan. They have these neat little propeller fans that squirt water! They don't cut you b/c the tip is made of rubber. They sell them at the park but you can probably find it cheaper at Walmart.

4. Go to the Water parks! If you pay for admission to all parks, use the water option. They have great kid areas that keep everybody cool and they have a blast!

5. If you go to MGM, view the Muppet 3D movie!

Don't

1. Go on Gay Day! ;)

2. Budget alot of time at MGM or Animal Kingdom. This is just my opinion. I liked both parks, but I definitely wouldn't spend more then a half day at either one.

[angie r]

If you have little ones I would plan two days at Magic Kingdom. Your kids will want to ride the rides more than once! They don't have the parade every night so be sure to be there on a night they have it. I would stay in the park if possible. The All Star resort is the least expensive at around $100 per night. This way you don't have to pay for parking in the parks and get in early to certain parks on certain days. The bus system is great taking you straight from your hotel to the park. The hotel rooms are bare bones. We needed a refrigerator for drinks and snacks and it cost $10 a day. It was worth it though so we had cold snacks and drinks for the parks.

Brichard didn't mention to bring lots of money. LOL They really like to gouge you!! $2.50 for a bottle of water, $13.00 for a flashlight "toy" for the parade/fireworks. All of the rides and shows "exit" you into a store full of toys and things you don't need!!!

The character breakfast was great. The kids had a ball and got to meet several characters. We used one of our flex features to pay for it. The total was $170 for breakfast, 6 adults 5 kids. If I had to do that again I would have taken ds to meet the "male" characters and taken dd to Cinderella's Table. The characters weren't as scary as I thought they would be. They are about 5 to 5 1/2 feet tall. (Except Buzz and Woody) Ds really warmed up to them but dd did not. I think she would have done better with the "make-up" characters instead of the costumed ones.

[KarlaB]

I agree with Brichard and angie.

A few things I'd add:

We didn't stay on Disney properties and for the most part used the hotel shuttle service to get to the parks. The hotel we stayed at had a mini fridge and microwave in the room - huge plus! And, I would recommend buying your park passes in advance to avoid lines at the parks.

It's late tonight and I am wiped out, so if I think of anything else I'll add it tomorrow! :)

[KarlaB]

Originally posted by angie r
If you have little ones I would plan two days at Magic Kingdom. Your kids will want to ride the rides more than once! They don't have the parade every night so be sure to be there on a night they have it.

Wow! I thought the parade was every night. We have never thought to find out in advance if they were having one so we must have always lucked out. :yippee: When we were there in April they actually had two evening parades - I suppose because it was a busy season and even the park hours were extended. :) I'm ready to go back , how 'bout you? ;)

[RCT]

hey this is great info, but does it also apply to the Disneyland in California, gee I haven't been in over 15 years and I am sure its changed alot...anyone have tips for that one?

[hnavarre]

Disney World is my most favorite place on earth. I could literally if I could afford it go there every year. My words of wisdom, eat early by 11:30 for lunch eat dinner early like 4:00 or 4:30 and if you have little kids, stay on property so that you can go back to the hotel and rest. I agree with the MGM and Animal Kingdom advice. You can easily do these parks both in one day if you have a park hopper. Magic Kingdom is the best park and if you have small children at least two days is a good rule of thumb. If you want to ride say Space Mountain, that should be the very first place that you go. It gets crowded and the line gets very long. When you ride it near the front of the line it splits and you can either go to the left or the right, go to the right, it is faster and a better ride. Of so I think and my group that I go with thinks so too. When the heat gets to you that is when you go to The Hall of Presidents and take a nap, as my family always and still does to this day.

Well I think that is all for my words of wisdom right now. feel free to e-mail me with any specific questions that you might have.

[KarlaB]

Speaking of lines, in a book I read before we left it said when choosing btwn right or left side of lines to always pick the left side. The thinking is that we naturally go for the right side because we drive on that side of the road, etc and that more people will go to the right than to the left.

Also, at Magic Kingdom if you don't watch the afternoon parade they say that is a good time to get in a bunch of rides since most people will watch the parade.