One of the first pieces of advice I can give you is to accept that you will not have time to do everything. Between the theme parks, the nightlife, and the Florida sights, there’s hardly time for even the locals to take it all in.
When exploring Walt Disney World, the next most important rule you need to remember is: you are here to have fun! If that means getting a picture with a character then so be it. If it means riding a tea cup ride that is intended for young children, then you ride that tea cup like there is no tomorrow. People do not judge you in Disney. In Disney you can be 99 years old and still act like a 2 year old and no will bat an eyelid. (& well if they do, then they surely do not understand the concept of Disney). Disney revolves around the idea of imagination and making the impossible appear possible. So sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.
The first choice you need to make, if you haven't already is the choice of whether to stay in a Disney Resort or not. This debate can
get pretty tricky, especially if you’re talking to friends who are
passionately one side or the other. If you stay at a WDW Resort,
transportation is much more convenient, and the fun doesn’t stop when
you leave the park. There are themed pools and rooms, specials, parties,
and discounts. On the flipside, sometimes it can be too much, and too
expensive overall. Staying at a non-WDW resort can be a nice break at
the end of the day.Here are a few other options to consider:
WDW Resort
- Extra Time in the Parks (Magic Hours): Each day one of the Parks opens early or stays open later, giving Disney Resort hotel Guests more time to enjoy favorite attractions.
- Resort Transportation: If you are to stay in a Disney Resort you are able to take advantage of the variety of complimentary transportation that is available.
- Complimentary Airport Transfers: Disney's Magical Express bus transportation is a complimentary service that transports you to and from Orlando International Airport.
Resorts outside of Disney
- Cost: Staying outside of a Disney property is often a lot cheaper. This being said depending upon the resort, some offer a complimentary bus service that transports you to and from the Disney Parks. However this being said, the service is often minimal and may not be as flexible as if you were to stay in Disney. Although I should stress it is do-able!
- Dining: Although the dining options provided by Disney are astounding after some time you may get bored of the same type of 'fast food' that is provided. This being said, if you stay outside of Disney there are often other options (be it in your hotel or nearby).
- Exploration: If you are looking at exploring Seaworld/Aquatica, Universal Studios, Wet'n'Wild, etc and other parts of Florida. You may be interested to stay in this type of resort as transportation to these theme parks are not provided by Disney. There are ways to get to these places using other transportation but these can be time-consuming.
Slow down and be prepared. The parks are huge, and there are six of
them! This means that unless you’re going to be there for a month or
two, you really won’t have time to do everything. Another common mistake that many first-timers make is underestimating the physical demands of a WDW trip. Remember you will be walking a lot, waiting in lines - in the heat, don't forget the humidity along with climbing in and out of boats, rides, buses...etc.
When first-timers step into a theme park, a sense of adrenaline will rush through that prompts them to feel that they must complete everything in one day. Wrong! You do not need to ride every-single ride to the point that you stress out. Remember this is a holiday. Besides you wouldn’t want to
anyway—part of the magic is letting yourself be swept away by the
wonders of the park and doing what you feel like in the moment, not
being super strict on yourself and sprinting from attraction to
attraction.
Maybe pick a park or two to prioritise and then pick a few rides or places ahead of time to
which you want to make a special effort to take the kids. Take advantage of the Park Maps and spend time with your family circling the rides that you wish to explore. Let the rest
happen on its own. Remember you are on holiday so don't be too disheartened if you do not manage to complete a whole park in one day. The more you stress about riding every ride and
seeing every section, the less enjoyment you’ll get out of your
‘vacation’! With this in mind, I should warn you that early mornings and late nights are usually what is expected when holiday-ing in WDW. The concept of a 'lay-in' is often rare!
- Also ensure that all children know how to identify the park employees (e.g. nametags).
Comfort is more important than you think. Bring a
backpack with anything you might need, just in case. Sure, it might sound like a nuisance to drag around a big bag of stuff when you just want to
walk lightly, but there’s nothing worse than needing to spend ten times
as much money than necessary on buying something because you left it in
your hotel room. Good things to bring along are sunblock, sunglasses,
hats, comfortable walking shoes, cameras, water, etc. When you’re
waiting in line for an hour in the blazing hot sun with fussy kids,
you’ll be happy you packed some extra necessities.
If backpacks are not your thing, I highly recommend a bumbag/fannypack. In these you can often slip a phone, your park key, a purse and camera. When in Disney this year we also bought a lightweight drawstring backpack that could be used to carry our drink mugs and other necessities.
Planning. Planning ahead will save you time, money, and stress. Once
you’ve figured out some general preferences for your trip, you can start
booking and organizing to make things even easier for yourself upon
arrival—if you’re leaning toward visiting the Universal attractions, maybe consider getting
a Flexi ticket, and if you’re going with Disney, then explore the types of ticket and choose the best one for you. Have quarters ready for
tolls if you’re renting a car, get spare batteries for the camera, and
get all your work done before your vacation starts so you can truly
relax and escape during your first trip to Orlando!
Think FASTPASS. FASTPASS is a nifty system that you should definitely take advantage of. Basically, a
FASTPASS ticket will let you skip the main line of people waiting to go on a
ride and join the much shorter (or nonexistent) FASTPASS line. The
catch is that each park guest can only have one FASTPASS at a time (the
park ticket you swipe makes sure of this). When you slide your park
ticket into a FASTPASS machine, it’ll give you a FASTPASS with a
specific window of time (e.g., 2:30-3:30) in which you can ride that
ride later and skip the main line. To make it worth it, you should get a
FASTPASS for the busiest rides at the busiest times of the day (or your
favorites). - Just remember that everyone in your party must have their own FASTPASS for you all to skip the line!
- When a Cast Member asks you how many people are in your group, tell them the entire number in your group. The Cast Members are trying to group your entire party onto the ride at the same time.
- If you tell them a number less than your party, don't be surprised when your party gets split up
Height Restrictions. Many rides at Walt Disney World–including many of the
best–have minimum height requirements, usually determined by features of
a ride’s safety system: its seat belts and such.
Some height requirements also serve as a proxy for
sufficient maturity to not be emotionally overwhelmed by the “scary”
aspects of a ride.
Fourteen Walt Disney World theme park rides have minimum height requirements, of which the “highest” requirement is 48 inches (4ft) to be able to ride all rides. If your child is under 48" and is a keen rider you may wish to take a look at this link.
Top Ten things most Disney World first-timers don't know
1. There is no gum sold anywhere at disney world. In an effort to keep the parks clean, Disney World doesn’t sell gum anywhere on the premises.
3. You can have a wake-up call from a character. If you’re staying on-site, you can request a wake-up call and many times it will be a character (currently, it seems to be Stitch). When the call comes in, you can put the phone on speakerphone and then everybody in the room can be woken at the same time.
4. The Boardwalk? Unless you’re staying in a Boardwalk-area hotel, you may not be aware of this section of Disney World. There are great restaurants, evening entertainment and a piano bar called Jellyrolls. This area is just outside of the World Showcase part of EPCOT (entry into EPCOT is accessible by what is called the “International Gateway”). People who want to visit this area should catch a bus to the Boardwalk Inn from any park.
5. There is a pet hotel on the premises. Pets are not allowed in the theme parks or hotels but they are welcome at Best Friends Pet Care which is located across from Port Orleans Riverside Resort. There are suites and vacation villas, complete with TVs and webcams. There is also a grooming salon and large day camp rooms for activities.
6. You can trade pins with Cast Members (& other guests). You can wear a lanyard with some pins and then seek out pins that you’d like to trade from Cast Members or other guests. Please note that in order to trade you do need to purchase some pins before trying to do this. You can get started by getting a lanyard and pin set on eBay or the Disney Store.
- Be sure to read this guide to avoid scammers trying to take advantage of new pin traders.
7. Disney has a free app for lines and FASTPASS return times. I would highly recommend this app to anyone. It is a free app (called My Disney Experience) that includes wait times, maps, characters and dining info. You can even use it at home to see how long the lines are when you’re not at Disney World.
9. Adults can ride big rides even if the kids won’t. Disney has a system called Child Swap that will allow the older members of your family to ride while the too-little-to-ride members wait. You simply tell the Cast Member at any ride that has a height requirement that you’d like to Child Swap. They’ll give you a Child Swap pass (which works like a FASTPASS) so that after you ride, you can hand it to the other half of your party and they can ride right away without waiting in line.
Another perk: if you have a child that wants to ride and one that doesn’t, the child that wants to ride can actually go twice – once with each parent.
This is a concept that I have recently researched and have therefore not seen it in action, so to speak. Here is an article that I have found that explains it a little better.
10. You will suffer from Disney withdrawals! Planning for Disney trips takes a lot of time and effort, so when you finally go on your trip and come home, you may sink into a bit of a Disney depression. My solution for curing Disney depression? Start planning the next trip.
Our Top Tips
- Try to get enough sleep - although this may appear impossible - a good nights sleep is essential in order to keep going. As many folk say, you will need a holiday to recover from a disney holiday.
- Pick your favourite rides/rides that interest you and aim to complete them first thing in the morning or late at night during magic hours.
- Use Fast Passes where available to avoid ride queues.
- If a park is having magic hours, you may want to complete rides during fireworks or parades times as the rides will tend to be quieter.
No comments:
Post a Comment