Disney World tips

[pilesoflaundry]

Originally Posted by druidessemily If you are planning to stay for a week, look into renting a house or condo outside of the park. You'll save a LOT of money by renting a house rather than a hotel room. And if you're staying that long, you'll probably want to rent a car anyways, so you're not stuck in just the hotel and Disney park(s). Eating off-sight is another way to save a lot of money.

For us it's cheaper to stay onsite, use disney transportation and not rent a car or pay to park at the parks every day which is $12. It also gives you the perks of extra magic hours (special extra hours the park is only open to on site guests). If you think you will use that anyway. We always do because we go peak season and the crowds are a bit better during EMH only. Everyone is different.

It is very expensive but there are deals to be found. Dreams Unlimited is a travel agency that promises to find you the best deal and looks for current discount codes.

We didn't eat in the park much at all, we packed snacks, ate in the hotel room and then did turkey legs, cosmic sams (in tomorrow land in Magic Kingdom) for lunch one day (cheap and good counter service burgers and such). Some people say you can't go and not do the restaurants but we didn't. We wanted to spend more on the tickets and souveniers. This trip this year we are going to do one character meal though.

Another tip, any counter service place will give you a cup of ice if you just ask. You can use it to cool someone down if they are too hot or use it to cool down a drink you packed in a backpack. The fountains are horrible bleck.

[ahostler]

We are going to FL in February - staying with relatives in Ft Myers. We want to go to Disney too - but it is a 3 hr drive I think from FT Myers. So with ONE day at Disney, what park do you suggest? My family went a long time ago - for a week and I know we couldn't even see everything in a week -so I know ONE DAY at Disney just seems silly. But we'll be closer than my kids have ever been and I can't imagine not going at all. And we also want to try to get to Sea World. Agh! Any suggestions for us?
Thanks!

[collectorofbells]

if you only have one day do the Magic Kingdom.....it's the most "Disney" for Kids...

personally..my Favorite park is Animal Kingdom

[pwetypweas]

For the one day lady - you definitely can't do both Disney and Sea World in one day - you'll need at LEAST two for the two attractions. And I agree - if you go to one Disney park it should be Magic Kingdom.

You can bring snacks into the park - my husband, mother and myself brought whole meals in my backpack. The security guards didn't blink at any of the parks (we spent 7 days there).

We stayed off-site in a condo (timeshare). The cheapest rental car I found (during the most peak week of the year too) was through Thrifty using the Orlando Magic Card discount (you can get an Orlando Magic Card for free). It was $148 for 8 days when everywhere else was quoting me $500-$600.

If you stay on-site at Disney they now have it where you can arrange for them to pick you up and if you schedule it ahead of time they will even send you tags for your luggage so you don't have to pick it up yourself.

The dining plan is $28/day/person - if you plan to eat a lot in the park and not do a lot of your own food prep it's worth it - one supper at Disney can cost that. Although they define breakfast as a "snack" instead of a real meal.

Everyone has made some great suggestions - I HIGHLY recommend bringing the little singles packs to turn water into other flavors as FL water is well... just gross. We bought bottled water and carried our own with us into the parks.

Definitely go the pre-buying of souvenirs route - it's much cheaper and the kids will never know the difference. A great in the park souvenir is to get a few pressed pennies - they cost $0.51 each (.50 for the machine, the penny you get back), they are light-weight and they are all over all the parks (fun for the kids to find). If you do these - use pre-1982 pennies as they are 95% copper and will never turn green or greasy (1982 and after pennies are 95% zinc and deteriorate and get slimy after a few years). You can also do a few quarter machines (same concept, smash a cool design onto a quarter) but they run $1.25/each.

Great snack idea - inside the park you can buy packs of Chip&Dale pretzels for .79 at most of the shops - if you stay on site and can't get groceries this is a great alternative when the kids get the munchies.

Get fast-passes early in the day for the ride you most want to go on - and is usually the busiest (at Epcot for example it's Soarin - while we were there fast-passes ran out by 11 Am usually and the regular line was sometimes 4 hours long). So do some pre-exploration with the books mentioned (check your local library for the titles) and pick out your "must dos." Just remember to check your fast-pass and see when you can get another one (it will be before your ride time but not immediately - example - get a fast-pass at 8 AM for a ride at Noon, your next fast-pass may be around 11 AM).

[TsPlace]

We have been to Disney 4 times in the last 15 years (but the last 4 years we have not been - just other things going on). 3 of the times we have stayed at Disney Wilderness (twice with our own camper - we don't have anymore and once we rented a driveable camper). If you stay in the park (campground or hotels) all transportation is free (shuttle buses, water ferry, trams). All food is expensive - but with the camping, we were able to take a break and go back to the camper for lunch and eat or make our own big breakfast before heading out for the day. Always take water bottles with you. My husband & I both wore small backpacks and had some small snacks and waters in them. Each time we went we made a deal with the kids - only 1 big fancy meal, maybe 2 depending on where we picked. One year the kids (and we did too) wanted to go to Hoop-de-do Revue at Camp Wilderness (a dinner and a great funny hillybilly show) - so we did not eat at any other expensive place that trip. If you get a hotel that has a kitchen in it then you can take things with you helping you with the cost. I think the food was the biggest expensive for us. Now I can say that one time we went during Halloween and instead of picking a fancy place to eat, we surged and paid the extra to do the exclusive trick or treating in the park - it was great! We all dressed up and had the park "to ourselves" for one night - the kids got to trick or treat all over the place and it was a lot of fun. We've always tried to go during off-peak times = less crowded and the prices are definitely better. Take advantage of any freebies or coupons you get. And here's one more for the adults but our kids have loved it everytime we have gone and the first time was when our youngest was only 4 = we went to Epcot (if you go during the Food & Wine Festival there are samples to be gotten from all the countries - free meal right there!) and ate in Germany, a great buffet and live music. You step in the restaurant and you feel like you have left everything behind for a bit. It's a fun place, since it's be years since we have gone, I'd like to go back again - it's a neat escape.

[jolly321]

Originally Posted by ahostler So with ONE day at Disney, what park do you suggest?

Magic Kingdom is a must if you only have one day! The others are nice but nothing like the Magic Kingdom.

[Teens&Tots]

Originally Posted by pwetypweas For the one day lady - you definitely can't do both Disney and Sea World in one day - you'll need at LEAST two for the two attractions. And I agree - if you go to one Disney park it should be Magic Kingdom. You can bring snacks into the park - my husband, mother and myself brought whole meals in my backpack. The security guards didn't blink at any of the parks (we spent 7 days there). We stayed off-site in a condo (timeshare). The cheapest rental car I found (during the most peak week of the year too) was through Thrifty using the Orlando Magic Card discount (you can get an Orlando Magic Card for free). It was $148 for 8 days when everywhere else was quoting me $500-$600. If you stay on-site at Disney they now have it where you can arrange for them to pick you up and if you schedule it ahead of time they will even send you tags for your luggage so you don't have to pick it up yourself. The dining plan is $28/day/person - if you plan to eat a lot in the park and not do a lot of your own food prep it's worth it - one supper at Disney can cost that. Although they define breakfast as a "snack" instead of a real meal. Everyone has made some great suggestions - I HIGHLY recommend bringing the little singles packs to turn water into other flavors as FL water is well... just gross. We bought bottled water and carried our own with us into the parks. Definitely go the pre-buying of souvenirs route - it's much cheaper and the kids will never know the difference. A great in the park souvenir is to get a few pressed pennies - they cost $0.51 each (.50 for the machine, the penny you get back), they are light-weight and they are all over all the parks (fun for the kids to find). If you do these - use pre-1982 pennies as they are 95% copper and will never turn green or greasy (1982 and after pennies are 95% zinc and deteriorate and get slimy after a few years). You can also do a few quarter machines (same concept, smash a cool design onto a quarter) but they run $1.25/each. Great snack idea - inside the park you can buy packs of Chip&Dale pretzels for .79 at most of the shops - if you stay on site and can't get groceries this is a great alternative when the kids get the munchies. Get fast-passes early in the day for the ride you most want to go on - and is usually the busiest (at Epcot for example it's Soarin - while we were there fast-passes ran out by 11 Am usually and the regular line was sometimes 4 hours long). So do some pre-exploration with the books mentioned (check your local library for the titles) and pick out your "must dos." Just remember to check your fast-pass and see when you can get another one (it will be before your ride time but not immediately - example - get a fast-pass at 8 AM for a ride at Noon, your next fast-pass may be around 11 AM).

Where do you get the Orlando Magic Card from ?

Another question - where is the best place (cheapest) to get park passes from - no military here:( - I't so overwhelming to pick from....

Thanks for all the GREAT tips!

[kjwent]

My husband (62) and I (57) are taking advantage of the Birthday special Disney is running. Since we have no choice about the dates (his is the weekend leading into Memorial Day, mine is between Christmas and New Years) I think we're going to do two short trips (we live in SC). We have no kids, no grandkids -- so we'll be skipping stuff geared just for kids.

I want to do Animal Kingdom on the May trip, just the one day. The last time we were in WDW it wasn't even built! Any suggestions? I got the 2009 Official Guide to WDW from the library, and it seems to cover everything indepth, but I'd like to get your reactions. He's fighting me on the river ride because you get wet, and I'm not too crazy about the roller coaster he wants to do, but at this stage in my life -- what the heck!

We'll probably do my birthday in Dec and stay a couple days longer to do New Years Eve in Magic Kingdom.

We're looking at the Quality Suites Royal Parc Suites because it includes a hot and cold breakfast buffet and transportation to the parks. It's more expensive than the real cheap hotels, but not as bad as the Disney resorts.

Thanks for any comments.

Kathy

[kjwent]

I googled the Orlando Magic Card and here's the site I found to request it. You can either download it or request it mailed to you.

Orlando Preferred Visitor Magicard

Kathy

[Teens&Tots]

Thanks - signed up and repped you!