What do you know about Disney World (in Orlando), and taking a vacation there?

Question

Tell me anything and everything you know/have experienced at Disney World! I love Disney World and discussing it, I am thinking of taking a trip in January. Stories, advice, secret hints, anything!! Thanks.

Answer 1

I am 22 years old and have been to Disney 15 times with my family. It is truly my favorite vacation spot and I cannot think of being able to go anywhere else and experience so much. Enclosed below are some of my favorite rides, restaurants, tips, ect.

Rides:
Here are my suggestions for each park:
Magic Kingdom-The Haunted Mansion is a classic fun ride that shows off some of the true Disney magic that Walt Disney created himself. I also highly recommend Splash Moutain, Buzz Lightyear, Pirates of the Carribbean and Dumbo. All are great rides for any age! Make sure you take sometime one evening to see the Electric Night Parade! It is beautiful and make sure you find a spot early on. People start sitting around 7 p.m. for the 9 p.m. show.

EPCOT- Test Track is my favorite. Make sure you get a Fastpass early if you ever want to ride it. I also recommend the ride in Norway and you can't go to EPCOT without riding the ride inside the big ball!

MGM Studios- Tower of Terror, the Great Movie Ride, the Beauty and the Beast theatre show, the Little Mermaid show....Great attractions at MGM. I love the old Hollywood feel of the park. Has great charm.

Animal Kingdom- The Kilomenjaro Saffari, the whitewater rafting ride, the It's Tough to be a Bug show, The Dinosaur Ride....Fun park. Make sure you go early in the morning. It seems to get hot at that park! The park also closes earlier than any of the other parks.

Restaurants:

Magic Kingdom- Cinderella's Royal Table (Character breakfast) Pricey but the food is wonderful (stuffed french toast) and its all you can eat. Also has a nice view of the Magic Kingdom. The Crystal Palace is another restaurant served buffet style with Winnie the Pooh and friends as the characters. Casey's has great hot dogs and is more of a eat and run type of place (much cheaper too)! Tony's Town Square serves Italian food which is reasonable for Disney.

EPCOT- I suggest trying any of the restaurants in the World Showcase. I enjoy Mexico and Canada but you won't go wrong with any of the countries sit-down restaurants.

MGM Studios- The 50's Prime Time Cafe is my favorite at this park. It's theme is 1950's and the staff of the restaurant treat you like you're at your family's house. It's a fun atmosphere that both children and adults enjoy. I recommend the Smores for dessert! The Hollywood Brown Derby is also good (more for adults) and if you have children, go to the Sci Fi Drive-In. You actually sit in replica 1950's cars and the setting takes place at a Drive-In movie. It's cute.

Animal Kingdom- Not many places to sit-down to eat at this park. There is the Rainforest Cafe and for breakfast, Donald's Prehistoric Character Breakfast served buffet style.

Resorts- If you have children (don't have to), check out Chef Mickey's Character Buffet for breakfast or dinner at the Contemporary Resort. Awesome atmosphere and the prime rib buffet is excellent. At the Polynessian, try Ohana. This is my favorite place to eat anywhere at Walt Disney World. You are served family style, with steak, pork, shrimp served hot from skewers. It is amazing. At the Grand Floridian, try the Grand Floridian Cafe. Pretty atmosphere around the rose gardens of the resort. They serve sandwiches and salads for lunch. Steaks and fish for dinner. The Grand Floridian also has 1900 Park Fare which is a character buffet.

As far as advice: Make priority seating for restaurants. It helps secure your place and time to eat, rather than walking around being turned down because nothing is available. I also highly suggest staying on Disney property. If you are flying in, Disney picks you luggage up (you don't) and Disney transports you directly to your resort. You also get other privilages by staying on property such as getting into the parks an hour and a half before anyone else. There are also additional park hours at night where guests can stay later than anyone else. The lines are short and you get to experience that much more on your vacation! If you like to shop or browse, I suggest taking sometime to head over to Downtown Disney Marketplace. Most of the stores are Disney related but if there is something specific you are looking for, they are bound to have it there.

Since you are thinking of taking a trip in January, make sure you pack sweatshirts and jeans. It is cold in the morning down there at that time. The first time my family and I went around Christmas time, we totally did not think of it being chilly so we ended up having to buy sweatshirts to keep warm.

As you can see, I have many favorites. To anyone reading this, if you are planning on traveling to Walt Disney World, I suggest purchasing the Birnbaum's guide to Walt Disney World. It is the official guide to WDW. It is very detailed and gives a lot of information and tips for your trip. It's worth the money!

I hope you have a magical trip to Walt Disney World. I love Disney very much and I am always willing to talk about Disney! Good luck with planning your vacation and if you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

Answer 2

Make sure take a diffrent types of clothes longsleeves, blue jeans, shorts and t-shirts. It can be cold at night and in the morning I found out that the hard way. We only wore the winter clothes we came down in and had to buy more and wash clothes. I do think this is the best time of year to go to disney. If you are having to wait till its time for fastpass at Epcot for the ride Soaring check out the short film Circle of Life it is a very cute movie. As many times as I have been to Disney World I overlooked it. I also would suggest at the Animal Kingdom have the character breakfast and you can be one of the first to get to the safari ride. This year was the first time I had done that and they animal are out more first thing in the morning. Plus you do not have to get a fass pass and wait save the fast pass for expedetion everest great roller coaster. Another thing I learned this year to get a good seat at Fantasmic show at the MGM Studios get there about 1 1/2 hours before the show. The first time we went we had to stand and our kids could not see. This show is a must see. One night make sure you watch the light parade and fireworks at the Magic Kingdom. I like to watch the fireworks from the side of the castle. It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about how beautiful it is. A good place where it is not to crowded to watch the parade is in frointer land not to far from the country bear show. Need to pick a spot an hour before parade starts. My son wanted me to tell you the best rides are the Tower of Terror and Rockin Roller Coaster both in MGM Studios. I would have to agree I love the Rockin Roller Coaster but I hate Tower of Terror I hate to admit this but my six year old son is more brave than me. This ride makes me so so sick. Don't ride this on a full stomach. Lastly I hope you have a very magical trip. Can't wait till June 2007 for my next trip I hate to have to wait this long but work and school calanders do not let me go any sooner

Answer 3

There are some really great, informative Disney World websites you can visit. I visit them every time I plan a disney trip. WDW is my favorite vacation spot!

http://allearsnet.com/
http://www.guide2wdw.com/
http://www.mousesavers.com/


Favorite things to do/see...there are LOTS to list but I will list my most favorite:

Fantasmic! is a great show. They get some really long lines for it but if you book a dinner package you can get passes to go in the back entrance. Request the Fantasmic! dinner package.
Mickeys Philaharmagic is an awesome 3D show at Magic Kingdom that the kids just LOVE.
The buzz lightyear ride at Magic Kingdom is another favorite.
Every park has times for parades and fireworks EVERY night!

I am sure you will love Disney and be amazed at the wonderful attractions they have available!
Have a great trip!!

Answer 4

There are extra "perks" if you stay in the park (such as being able to get in the park before it actually opens). Also, utilize the Fast Pass (I can't remember exactly what they call it) to minimize wait times in lines! That worked great!
Also, you need a minimum of 6 days for all the parks: 1 for Magic Kingdom, 2 for Epcot, 1 for Animal Kingdom, 1 for MGM and probably 1 for the water park(s). If you are going with a small child (under 5), I would suggest doing 1/2 day at the park, 1/2 day at the water park so the kid(s) can cool off and relax. It can be quite overstimulating for a little one (and exhausting for the parents!).

Answer 5

I know that I if can control spending on food and beverages and avoid buying items (sunscreen, tylenol) in the gift shops, then the cost of the trip is much more manageable. I bring an ice chest and electric kettle to the room. I'm thinking about smugging in a small microwave too!

I carry fruits, meal bars, and a water sling with me to the parks. If I MUST eat WDW food, I try to leave the theme park and walk to a nearby hotel. There are prepared sandwiches, splits of wine, yogurts, fruits, etc, at the hotel shop.

I prefer to drive myself rather than relying of WDW transportation, unless alcohol is a part of day.

Fort Wilderness is your best choice for thrifty lodging, if you don't mind sleeping in a tent. There is even "room service" to the campsites.

Except for Lego Land, Downtown Disney is just a mega-gift shop .. don't bother.

Answer 6

I could write books. Visit my Disney Vacation Services Blog, I'm All Ears at:
http://im-all-ears-disney-vacation-services.blogspot.com/

Here's a tip: The best place to watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks is not in the park and its free! Drive to the Magic Kingdom anytime after 8:30pm. No one will be at the parking ticket booths to take your money as they don't charge after a certain late hour. Board the Ferry Boat at the Transportation & Ticket Center at approximately 9:45pm. Board the ferry boat's 2nd level, walk to the far end and watch the 10pm fireworks from the best seats in the house!

Answer 7

Fun, hot, expensive. It will be about as un-hot as it gets in January.


there are stores about 100 miles away that can sell you discounted tickets - make sure they aren't fake. Around Disney World, there are stores that sell official Disney souvenirs a lot cheaper.

if you stay in a Disney Hotel, you may be able to have breakfast with Alice in Wonderland; or go to a tea party with the Mad Hatter and the March Hare.

The non-alcoholic mint juleps are delicious. Drink several,

Answer 8

As with any trip plan on other things to do incase you cant do some things.

Last time I was there was after some medical issiues so I was in a wheel chair and got to by pass most lines and went straight to the front of the line along with a few people in my group and we got on the next ride.

Would like to go there again some day but right now can't afford it. Someday I will though.

Answer 9

It was a lot of fun! I went when I was like 11... we got one of those hopper passes so you can go from park to park. One day we spent at the Magic Kingdom, the next day at the Animal Kingdom, the next at Epcot and so on. I liked the different countries represented at Epcot it was so weird walking from country to country.We stayed at one of the hotels but it wasn't all expensive or anything so it was just like a Motel 6 with Mickey Mouse soap. You should either go all out for the hotel or just stay somewhere nice and cheaper nearby.

Answer 10

There really is too much to do down there to give you a good run-down. I say plan enough time to see every park, they each have something unique to offer. I generally spend 1 day per park.

The park-hopper passes make it so much easier. Also, they are more geared toward family fun than anything so it's good to go with others.

Answer 11

We dropped in for one day this winter and did the new Soarin' ride at Epcot 3 times using fastpasses. Oh, it was a beautiful thing. Can't wait for Expedition Everest!