Disney World, a Mommy’s Guide
Posted on June 27, 2009
One of my friends is planning a trip to Disney World in September, and asked me for some “tips” since we just came back from there. As I was responding to her request, I thought, “this would make a great blog entry!” So, here you go:
My Top Twenty Tips: A Mommy’s Guide to Disney World
(in no particular order)
1) Pay extra for park hopper, its worth it. You probably won’t spend a full day in Epcot, and Animal Kingdom closes at 8 pm. We would park in the Magic Kingdom, them take the Monerail over to Epcot or the bus to Animal Kingdom, spend as much time as needed, then go over to the Magic Kingdom till it closes.
2) Epcot has a lot for the little ones, including a splash area.
3) Bring swimsuits for the little ones to both the Magic Kingdom and Epcot, both have splash areas. (and if you go to Sea World, it also has a splash area.)
4) Hollywood Studios is NOT worth it for the little ones.
5) You can bring your own drinks and food into all of the parks, so if you want to carry them, do it. The food for kids is overpriced and not worth it, and vegetarian options are few and far between. However, we ate at a FABULOUS but expensive Italian restaurant in Epcot, and the Rain Forest Cafe in Animal Kingdom.
6) Downtown Disney is only worth it if you want to shop. There are a few rides, and lots of restaurants, but it is mostly for adults. That being said, the T-Rex restaurant is awesome (think: Rain Forest Cafe with dinosaurs) but expect a LONG wait. While waiting, the kids can pretend to dig for dinosaur fossils, they also have a “Build-a-Dinosaur” from the “Build-a-Bear” chain. And the Cuban restaurant over by the movie theater is phenomenal. Downtown Disney also has a really cool Lego store that has a small playground and an area for the kids to play with legos.
7) Disney has done a phenomenal job with crowd control, and one of their best tools is the fast pass. Basically, you can get a fast pass for some of the more popular rides that usually have long waits. You go to the ride and run your park entry pass. It gives a predetermined one-hour window for a ride. However you can (usually) only have one at a time. I say usually because you can get a new fastpass around 2 hours later, assuming your wait is longer than that. So, plan on getting a fastpass for a ride then hitting some of the short/fast lines located in the area.
8) Peter pan is one of the more popular rides, and the fast passes run out early, so get that one EARLY, or you may have to wait until the end of the day to ride that ride. And the wait for it usually exceeds an hour.
9) Purchase as much Disney paraphernalia (hats, sunglasses, shirts, socks, whatever) from the Disney Store BEFORE your trip so you’re not tempted to pay the exorbitant prices.
10) If you want to have a meal with the characters, make reservations NOW. They fill up MONTHS in advance. The same goes with the special activities at Sea World, including swimming with the Dolphins.
11) Buy tickets for both the Disney World and Sea World BEFORE you get to the park.
12) Plan 30-45 minutes of lead time from driving ON to the property to actually getting IN to the park, and that’s if you already have tickets. We would leave our hotel almost every day at around 9:00am, and then would find we didn’t get into the park until around 10:30.
13) Bring sunscreen. LOTS AND LOTS of sunscreen.
14) Assume it will rain and pack accordingly.
15) Bring or rent a stroller (although, keep in mind stroller rentals are expensive) even if you think the kids are too old, its easy to park them, and they can hold all the stuff you don’t want to take on the rides with you. Plus, kids get tired.
16) The height cut off for a majority of the height restricted rides is 40 inches, which was a bummer for us, because Chloe is 37 in. That being said, there was still PLENTY to keep her entertained, including a roller coaster in Toon Town. (Goofy’s Barnstormer.)
17) The parade runs twice a day, at 9 and at 11. The best places to view the parade are either at the beginning (by the train at the front gates) or the end (by Liberty Square.) If you plan on leaving right after the parade, watch it from the beginning. Main street gets unbelievably congested and makes it nearly impossible to exit or enter the park afterward. If you want to continue to do rides, watch it from the end of the parade route.
18) Fireworks are once a day, 10pm. The best places to view fireworks are on Mainstreet, in Tomorrowland over by Space Mountain, or in Fantasy Land over by the Dumbo ride. Just make sure you are not too close to Small World in Fantasy land or the castle in Tomorrowland. There is an obstructed view. (One night we watched from the rocket ship line in Tomorrowland, it was kind of obstructed, but we got to see the finale from the top of the ride, which was AWESOME!
19) If you don’t care about fire works or the parade (both of which you really only need to see once) this is a good time to do the rides that usually have a long line.
20) We did four days at Disney World and one day at Sea World. I really wouldn’t recommend doing more than that. Chloe did an amazing job, even with missing naps and staying up late, it being HOT HOT HOT, and having limited food choices (her own fault), but that fifth day was rough for all of us. Mostly due to fatigue and sour feet/legs.