Disney World Visit Information

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Try the smoked turkey legs from one of those turkey leg carts.

 

This thread couldn't have come at a better time. We are spending 5 days in Orlando on our 6 week US trip so the suggestions have been great. Have been in contact with Sandy and she is going to help us out

 

Best suggestion yet, outside of possibly getting information from MadMax. He helped with information when I went.

Most of what I'd say would come from that book.

I'll repeat one thing from the book that is the most important. Get there when it opens no matter how early that means you have to get up. You can skip most of the lines that way. You can ride top tier rides with less than a 15 minute wait, where as at 10:00 or later it may be an hour wait or more.

Not from the book, but from own feelings and observation:

If you stay at a Disney resort, it is a really stress free vacation and that's one of the biggest selling points. They will pick you up from the airport, get your baggage so you don't have to wait at the baggage claim and bring it to your hotel to your room. Meals, snacks, all of that will only take a minimal amount of planning, and once it's done there is no more worry about it.

The meals are all at your hotel or in the parks, so require some minimum planning. At the hotels you can take the shuttle to the park and won't have to worry about driving, traffic, or parking.

There are no train schedules, or things like to worry about. It really is relatively stress free.

The people who get the most out of it seem to be those that can appreciate the childlike imagination aspect that Disney does like no other place. Disney really puts a lot of care into doing things well, building an environment that caters to folks that at any age don't mind letting go the same way that children can.

Folks that seek thrill rides will find some, but might feel shortchanged if that's all they were expecting.

I love Disney World, but I understand it's a different kind of trip than going to France, or Italy, or Spain, or even New York, the Caribbean or anything else. Each of those trips has there place, but knowing ahead of time that they will be different kinds trips might help you.

Your kids will get more out of it if they are already familiar with Disney movies. Maybe go back and watch a few of them. Little things from the movies find their way into rides and random places in the parks. They won't be highlighted or have any real focus put on them, but if you were a fan, you might catch certain things from Disney films, and television shows, that others might miss.

I only catch some of them (more each time that I go) but have had real Disney Fanatics point out some things that I hadn't seen before or didn't even know about because I wasn't that up on all my Disney movies.

The book that was recommended should be bought ahead of time because it helps you plan for just about every aspect of your trip. Their park schedule and itinerary are amazingly important and beneficial. It will help with in park and out of park lodging, restaurants, which parks to do on which days etc.

Anyway, I hope you have a blast.

 

These two things are probably the best things to remember. It was extremely stress free staying at one of the Disney Resort. +100 for not worrying about luggage and then when you go into your room, your luggage is sitting there with Disney tags.

 

Have any of you stayed off-site? My Father-in-Law lives in Orlando, so it would have to be worth a lot to stay on the resort.

 

I have way back then. The only thing I can remember being the downside of staying off-site was the car line to get into the parks. Don't know if that is still the issue but I'm assuming it still is.

 

Yes, it wasn't bad. I enjoyed going to the Waffle House before entering the park each day. It wasn't bad having a car and being able to go other places besides Disney.

It wasn't as convenient or stress free, but looking on the bright side, I could go to Universal, or other water parks, or malls, or different restaurants. The parking cost a bit more, and I couldn't leave the park easily to go back to the room for a swim or nap.

If I could go for much cheaper and stay off site, then I would do it. If it was close in price, then I would stay at a resort.

 

I've never stayed on site. My parents never paid to stay at a resort when I was a kid so I just never experienced staying at the resort. Personally, I think its fine to drive in. Especially if you get there early in the day. Plus it gives you the flexibility to go to Universal Studios for a day or two.

 

How is that service in reality? Long wait times or any downsides? Seems like a hassle free vacation when I was checking it out a few months back. Just get to the airport and they do the rest.

 

The best part (to me) about the book was how it gives you a path to get thru a park to hit all the major attractions without any lines. It tells you what gate to enter, when to turn left or right, when to grab a FAST PASS, and when you can slow down and enjoy the view. We spent 10-12 hours a day at all four parks, and never had a line more than 20 minutes. Usually we just walked right up and rode. It was awesome.

 

Agreed. It was amazing. I remember as a kid, my brother bought what must have been one of the first editions of this book, and it had the schedule of when to ride all the rides.

I remember walking past huge lines of people, and how we never waited in line very long at all. Then we'd walk past a line that we'd waited in for 10 minutes and see a line that was close to an hour long wait.

It's normally against my nature to be so planned out, but every time I've been to Disney World since, I used the book and their plans. I've never really had to wait in line much at all, and I've seen so many others waiting in huge lines. Those plans alone are worth double what the book costs.

 

It's fantastic. When my fiancee and I got to the airport, we must have waited about 15 minutes max before taking off. The whole luggage service is great because I just wanted to get there and go to the park. Did not have to worry about anything.

I really did find staying at a resort was really convenient. The point of this trip was to just stay in Disney and do everything Disney had to offer. We did end up going to Universal but had a shuttle pick us up. I really have no basis to comparison since I did not stay off site the one time I did go, but I do highly recommend staying in the resort if all you are going to do is Disney. If you don't care to explore the City and do anything else, then you'll feel pretty comfortable staying at the park. My fiancee did stay once offsite, but she was right across downtown Disney so she just ended up taking advantage of the shuttle anyways.

 

Absolutely, that book kicks ass. I didn't always follow the recommendations, but probably did go by it 60% off the time and it really did work. Getting there at opening is a must, so you better be prepared to do a marathon each day. I did it for 7 days straight and it was really tiring, but I got to see every show, ride every ride (I rode the popular ones multiple times), see every parade, visit every character, etc etc. I did go during a less crowded time of the year (3rd week of January), so I am sure during peak times it's a lot different.

 

I'll never stay offsite again. The airport was truly hassle free. Got on the bus right off the flight - waited about 10 minutes to leave the airport as the other people got on. They had several Disney busses waiting. The only possible downside was that our luggage didn't arrive to our rooms until about an hour after we got there - Because we left the airport before our luggage even hit the baggage claim. But we knew this was going to be the case so we packed bathing suits in our carry ons and hit the pools right after we checked in - when we got back to the room, the luggage was there.

One of the biggest pluses about staying onsite was the food plan. We actually almost had too much food. We ended up using the last 2 meals to stock up on snacks for the trip home.