any tips for visiting Disney Orlando?
Hotel Rates
chocolatebee asked:
my family and i are planning our annual family trip. this year we are taking my daughter and some other kids to disney world orlando for her 6th birthday. we travel often and plan on driving from houston because some of us dont fly. we are also visiting family in various cities through the state.we havent been to disney since i was a child so this is a big trip for us. does anyone who has recently made the trip have any tips on visiting disney,hotels, dining, etc. we are pros at road tripping but any tips on recent changes or developments would be appreciated. thanks
Chad
my family and i are planning our annual family trip. this year we are taking my daughter and some other kids to disney world orlando for her 6th birthday. we travel often and plan on driving from houston because some of us dont fly. we are also visiting family in various cities through the state.we havent been to disney since i was a child so this is a big trip for us. does anyone who has recently made the trip have any tips on visiting disney,hotels, dining, etc. we are pros at road tripping but any tips on recent changes or developments would be appreciated. thanks
Chad
March 23rd, 2009 at 9:13 am
Gregory
If you really want to make the trip great, I would use an itinerary and touring plans service. We use Custom Mouse Plans and they are great! They plan out our days, order of rides, and even do our dining reservations. With their plans we never waited more than 10 minutes for any ride, even on New Year’s Day!
Have a great trip!
March 25th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Cathy
Hi, we went Disney Orlando last summer for our honeymoon trip..flew half of the globe to U.S! We stayed in Clarion Hotel near Disneyland. Long queues for the rides, so good to get Express Fast Pass ticket to beat the lines. Feel free to visit my travel blog on that->
March 25th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
Stacy
Yes, bring lots of money..and watch out for Goofy- he pinches
March 26th, 2009 at 9:47 pm
Adam
First, stay on site at Walt Disney World. If you need, the All-Star Resorts have 2 room suites, which can accomodate up to 8. If you don’t need that much room, POP Century is one of our favorite resorts. Staying onsite allows you to use their free transportation the whole time. My family always enjoys it, and it will be a nice break from driving for you, also saving on parking fees.
Staying on-site gives you access to the Extra Magic Hours. each park is open earlier or later, everyday of the week, only for resort guests. Check the WDW website for park & Magic Hour times.
I always recommend starting early at a park, and exploring for 4-5 hours. Have lunch, relax, then head back to a park. If you get to a park in the early morning, go straight to the far end and work your way back to the entrance. This will allow you quicker ride access for a certain amount of time. If you pass rides you really want to go on, get fast passes. After a park has been open a couple hours, it gets busy.
Many times, parks thin out around dinner time, and pick up later. Have dinner in the park you plan on finishing the day at, and try to make it a little earlier or later than normal. This is where Magic Hours can help you decide on certain days.
Breaking the day up like this helps avoid the need for trying to cram everything in. Also, staying at one park all day can be very exhausting. Just make sure you have the Park Hopper option on your passes.
Absolutely make sure you make dinner reservations (up to 6 months in advance). It is all but mandatory for sit down restaurants at dinner time. This can be found on the WDW website as well.