Disney Bound!

Oh boy, Stacie, where do I start?!? You said you wanted a novel from me, correct? (Keep in mind, I am a Type-A person/Comm Studies major/oldest of six/mother of 3… I tend to talk a lot!)

First of all: Your plan to get to the parks early, stay until nap time, leave, and return later – perfect for your situation. Be prepared that depending on where you are staying (even within the WDW Resort complex or within Lake Buena Vista town), it can take up to 45 minutes one-way to get from the park entrance to the hotel room. This includes driving, parking, unloading, tram across parking lot, lines, etc. That’s worst-case, but it does happen often, even off-season.

Tips:
(1) My GREATEST tip ever is to look up the Disney PhotoPass system right now and do not forget to do this while you are there!! In a nut shell: PhotoPass is FREE and its a credit-card sized pass that stores all of your photos for the entire trip. You get a pass on Day One from the first Disney worker you spot with a camera; she takes your group picture and hands you the pass; its yours to keep and is free; you save this and give to every staffmember you see with a camera whenever you want a group picture taken at ANY park. Again, every shot is free and its stored on this personal card for you – don’t lose it. You can even “upload” the “end of the ride” photos that many rides take of you screaming your head off on a ride, save those to the card, and view them at your leisure on a computer at your hotel/home. You have a limited amount of time *(10 days, 20 days… something like that) to view the pictures before they expire. Then, its up to you which ones you purchase. You can buy single photos ($10-$20 ea) or the entire collection of pictures on a CD or electronically, all rights are yours for reprints, for about $125-$175 entire collection. This seems like a lot, but come on – they were professionally taken by a highspeed camera and everyone is included in the photo. Plus, you can view them first before you purchase. We bought the collection and had 200 photos of us with the characters, group pics in front of special places, funny pics, serious pics, ride pics, etc. It was worth it. When we did it, the PhotoPass card was free and we did not have to commit to anything until we got back home, viewed the pics, and decided they were worth it to purchase. I do not know if they still do it this way or not, but its worth it for you to research it now so you have a plan. My trip was 12 months ago.

(2) Pack your own snacks and drinks EVEN if you plan to use the Disney Dining Plan. The Quick Service plan only includes two meals and two snacks per person, per day (so you are one meal shot, two drinks short, and one snack short – per person – by my experience). Disney allows you to bring as much outside food/drink as you can carry (except for hard coolers). A gallon ziplock bag with a frozen water bottle, several thawed bottles, and a few juice boxes will stay cold the entire day inside of a backpack.

(3) Never try to leave the Park close to the time of a parade. They literally “shut down” the walkways and you become trapped within the crowds. Yes, even during Jan/Feb (I’ve been twice during these times), it gets crowded for the parades. Check your daily timeguide and do not leave from 15-minute prior to parade until 15-minutes after parade. *Exception: If you stand at the exit and can see part of the parade, do that ahead of time, and then you can leave whenever you want and won’t get “trapped” in the crowds or blocked-off streets.

(4) Try to catch the outdoor character meeting spots whenever possible (we found these to have the shortest lines, like 10-15min wait). The inside “permanent” character spots, with nice AC and sometimes even benches, are packed to capacity and can have a 45min wait or more. Sometimes, the characters ‘switch out’ while you are waiting in line too at any of the spots, so don’t be surprised if the one you see ahead of you is not there when its your turn. They will have someone dressed up there at any rate and the park staff member assisting the character always “cuts off the line” before they turn away people, so you won’t wait for nothing. They have a good system. Don’t forget your PhotoPass here – professional photog takes them for you.

(5) Measure your kids at home, with their shoes on, before you even talk about which rides they want to do. Compare that to the guide and tell Andon in advance the ones he is not permitted to ride. No disappointment at the ride entrance!

(5) Plan in advance what you want to spend on souvenirs, especially the “end of the ride” park photos they take. Those are $20-25 for one small photo, so you want to plan ahead and upload the photos to your PhotoPass instead of buying them outright. Also, many area Lake Buena Vista grocery stores and drugstores carry Disney “knock off” souvenirs for about 75% less than the parks. Consider looking there first.

Parks…
Animal Kingdom: (1) Flame Tree BBQ (beside Boneyard Playground/DinoLand USA) is a quick-service restaurant with delicious BBQ and sides. Sure beats the average burger or chicken tenders!! (2) Kilimanjaro Safari ride is the best thing Disney has, hands down (You may even want to ride it twice). (3) Camp Minnie/Mickey section does not have any rides, but it has about 6 outdoor character meeting spots within 200 feet of each others, so you can spend 30mins there and see several characters. It also has an awesome Lion King Musical/Show with acrobats and singers (inside, bleacher seats, AC). (4) Dinosaur ride is pretty scary, but Sarah loved it (5 yrs old) – she hid her face and held my hand, but wanted to ride it a 2nd time! I screamed hysterically the first time I rode it back in 2005 – that’s how scared I was at the end of it… hands down, worth the $20 picture at the end of the ride 😉 (5) Tough To Be A Bug 3D (I have mixed feelings about this) – some kids are very scared of the large bugs and special effects; others love it. You have to decide if your kids can separate “real” from “pretend” well enough. If they know they can hold your hand and close their eyes, they might want to do it. **I’ve seen everything at A.K. except the Kali River Rapids water ride and the Finding Nemo Musical – I recommend all of it.

Magic Kingdom: (1) For quick-service lunch or dinner, go to either Pecos Bill Cafe (near Splash Mountain ride) OR Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe (near Indy Race Car Ride): both offer a “toppings” bar to make your sandwich loaded with all you can eat fresh veggies and a large menu selection. (2) Aloha Isle has yummy juice/frozen yogurt treats you cant find anywhere else (Adventureland, near Aladdin’s Magic Carpets ride). (3) Mickey’s Philhar Magic 3D is not scary at all like A.K.’s Bugs Life – it is with theatre seats, AC, comfy and entertaining. All of the rides at M.K. are awesome – love them all. Most are family rides that all ages can enjoy together, so its perfect as a group. (Stitch’s Great Escape in Tomorrowland is a bit scary, because it goes completely lights-out with sound effects, so kids who are afraid of the dark will NOT like it). LOVED the night time fireworks show – we got there early enough to ride a few of our faves again, so we did Aladdin/Pirates/Jungle Cruise, all 2x each before the show even started, since those are all next to the castle and a 5-min walk to see the fireworks show. That was a good point to see the show – walking from Adventureland, across the bridge, and up to the castle. Standing-room only, but putting the kids on our shoulders worked well. **I’ve ridden everything in M.K. except the new stuff in the completed section of Fantasyland. Recommend everything except for Stitch, noted above.

Epcot: (1) The food is out of this world – plan on spending a lot of time just eating in the World Showcase section (and a lot of time walking to get around the lake here!) Lots of character spots in each world as well. I had an iced peach green tea in China and hubby had to drag me away when I wanted a 2nd cup ($3.50 is a bit high for iced tea). Oh my… every food choice around the lake is amazing. I’ve eaten at them all, I think, and do not have a favorite. You just have to decide what looks good! Do NOT buy the overpriced ice-cream in Italy (a cart outside); Its called “Gelato Cart” and is just plain dipped ice cream. No, instead you walk 100 feet ahead to Japan and get the cheap slushee shaved ice for half the price. There is beer, margaritas, wine… all sold in convenience outside stands you walk up to 🙂 lol! (2) Not many rides for the kids, I have to say… Future World: Andon/parent could go on Test Track, which is just a fast car ride – its fun. You could all do Finding Nemo Aquarium “The Seas” together (Ride and a real aquarium – spend 1 hr here easily). Soarin Ride is fun, but not for anyone afraid of heights. The ride inside the large “ball” Spaceship Earth at the center of Epcot is old-school/classic 70’s and interesting, but a little boring for the kids. . World Showcase: All together in Mexico, go on Three Cabaleros Ride (tame kiddie ride). Also together go on Maelstrom water ride in Norway (tame kiddie ride). I’ve heard the night time show here is incredible, but I’ve never seen it. **Many of the other attractions in World Showcase are just movies about the history of each country, so kids won’t appreciate it.**

Hollywood Studios: (1) We ate at Backlot Express because that’s where we were standing when lunch time started – food was decent. We did not eat anywhere else at this park, other than snacks here and there, but I do not remember the names of the food stands. This was Day 1 for us with a group of 10 people and we were a bit overwhelmed. (2) Highly recommend: Night time “Fantasmic”show – worth the wait for sure. (3) Recommend Beauty and the Beast Musical (broadway-style, outdoor/covered theatre bleacher style seating. (4) Loved Tower of Terror ride and Aerosmith Rollercoaster ride (Sarah loved Tower, even though it was scary – we let her watch the video online first to make sure she wanted to ride it); Aerosmith is not for little kids, prob not even Andon, its super-fast and goes upside down. (5) Studios Backlot Tour was relaxing and very interesting – you walk for part of it and then ride a tram vehicle for the rest. Good way to rest. (6) Kids loved the Honey I Shrunk The Kids playground area. (7) We all enjoyed the Great Movie Ride (classic and newer movies, acted out, as you sit in a moving vehicle). (8) Liked The Little Mermaid show, live-and-animatronic characters together acting out the scenes in a 20-min version of the movie. (9) LOVED Toy Story Mania ride, but its a little jerky (tell kids to keep their heads back, because when the ‘car’ spins and turns – its like whiplash for anyone leaning over or out to take a look at something – but I took baby Hannah on it and she was fine, lol, so its not bad in any way!) (10) We did the Indiana Jones Stunt show in 2005, so I don’t remember it – I think it was cool, but pretty long to sit through. (11) We missed the Cars Stunt Show at the back of the park 😦 So sad… We skipped a few other attractions that seemed either boring or something the kids wouldn’t enjoy (American Idol Experience, Walt Disney’s Dream, Star Tours-Star Wars, etc). **We were standing outside the entrance to The Great Movie Ride, taking a rest and eating ice cream, when we happened to see the afternoon parade go by… We could see it from that resting point, but went ahead and walked up about 50 feet and put the kids on our shoulders – saw 15mins worth of it and it was very good. Short and to the point 🙂 Lots of Pixar characters. That was a good way to experience it without the crowds and waiting to “save a spot” on the parade route.

~ Good grief, I’ve spent an hour typing this. So sorry… as you can see, I’m pretty passionate about Disney. If you have Netflix, look at their Disney stuff about the WDW Parks. It gives you a lot of info and will get you even more pumped up to go 😉 Its like “behind the scenes” Disney and explains the parks and rides. ~

I hope you all have the time of your life!

One thought on “Disney Bound!”

Nicki

January 28, 2013 at 1:54 pm

Oh boy, Stacie, where do I start?!? You said you wanted a novel from me, correct? (Keep in mind, I am a Type-A person/Comm Studies major/oldest of six/mother of 3… I tend to talk a lot!)

First of all: Your plan to get to the parks early, stay until nap time, leave, and return later – perfect for your situation. Be prepared that depending on where you are staying (even within the WDW Resort complex or within Lake Buena Vista town), it can take up to 45 minutes one-way to get from the park entrance to the hotel room. This includes driving, parking, unloading, tram across parking lot, lines, etc. That’s worst-case, but it does happen often, even off-season.

Tips:
(1) My GREATEST tip ever is to look up the Disney PhotoPass system right now and do not forget to do this while you are there!! In a nut shell: PhotoPass is FREE and its a credit-card sized pass that stores all of your photos for the entire trip. You get a pass on Day One from the first Disney worker you spot with a camera; she takes your group picture and hands you the pass; its yours to keep and is free; you save this and give to every staffmember you see with a camera whenever you want a group picture taken at ANY park. Again, every shot is free and its stored on this personal card for you – don’t lose it. You can even “upload” the “end of the ride” photos that many rides take of you screaming your head off on a ride, save those to the card, and view them at your leisure on a computer at your hotel/home. You have a limited amount of time *(10 days, 20 days… something like that) to view the pictures before they expire. Then, its up to you which ones you purchase. You can buy single photos ($10-$20 ea) or the entire collection of pictures on a CD or electronically, all rights are yours for reprints, for about $125-$175 entire collection. This seems like a lot, but come on – they were professionally taken by a highspeed camera and everyone is included in the photo. Plus, you can view them first before you purchase. We bought the collection and had 200 photos of us with the characters, group pics in front of special places, funny pics, serious pics, ride pics, etc. It was worth it. When we did it, the PhotoPass card was free and we did not have to commit to anything until we got back home, viewed the pics, and decided they were worth it to purchase. I do not know if they still do it this way or not, but its worth it for you to research it now so you have a plan. My trip was 12 months ago.

(2) Pack your own snacks and drinks EVEN if you plan to use the Disney Dining Plan. The Quick Service plan only includes two meals and two snacks per person, per day (so you are one meal shot, two drinks short, and one snack short – per person – by my experience). Disney allows you to bring as much outside food/drink as you can carry (except for hard coolers). A gallon ziplock bag with a frozen water bottle, several thawed bottles, and a few juice boxes will stay cold the entire day inside of a backpack.

(3) Never try to leave the Park close to the time of a parade. They literally “shut down” the walkways and you become trapped within the crowds. Yes, even during Jan/Feb (I’ve been twice during these times), it gets crowded for the parades. Check your daily timeguide and do not leave from 15-minute prior to parade until 15-minutes after parade. *Exception: If you stand at the exit and can see part of the parade, do that ahead of time, and then you can leave whenever you want and won’t get “trapped” in the crowds or blocked-off streets.

(4) Try to catch the outdoor character meeting spots whenever possible (we found these to have the shortest lines, like 10-15min wait). The inside “permanent” character spots, with nice AC and sometimes even benches, are packed to capacity and can have a 45min wait or more. Sometimes, the characters ‘switch out’ while you are waiting in line too at any of the spots, so don’t be surprised if the one you see ahead of you is not there when its your turn. They will have someone dressed up there at any rate and the park staff member assisting the character always “cuts off the line” before they turn away people, so you won’t wait for nothing. They have a good system. Don’t forget your PhotoPass here – professional photog takes them for you.

(5) Measure your kids at home, with their shoes on, before you even talk about which rides they want to do. Compare that to the guide and tell Andon in advance the ones he is not permitted to ride. No disappointment at the ride entrance!

(5) Plan in advance what you want to spend on souvenirs, especially the “end of the ride” park photos they take. Those are $20-25 for one small photo, so you want to plan ahead and upload the photos to your PhotoPass instead of buying them outright. Also, many area Lake Buena Vista grocery stores and drugstores carry Disney “knock off” souvenirs for about 75% less than the parks. Consider looking there first.

Parks…
Animal Kingdom: (1) Flame Tree BBQ (beside Boneyard Playground/DinoLand USA) is a quick-service restaurant with delicious BBQ and sides. Sure beats the average burger or chicken tenders!! (2) Kilimanjaro Safari ride is the best thing Disney has, hands down (You may even want to ride it twice). (3) Camp Minnie/Mickey section does not have any rides, but it has about 6 outdoor character meeting spots within 200 feet of each others, so you can spend 30mins there and see several characters. It also has an awesome Lion King Musical/Show with acrobats and singers (inside, bleacher seats, AC). (4) Dinosaur ride is pretty scary, but Sarah loved it (5 yrs old) – she hid her face and held my hand, but wanted to ride it a 2nd time! I screamed hysterically the first time I rode it back in 2005 – that’s how scared I was at the end of it… hands down, worth the $20 picture at the end of the ride 😉 (5) Tough To Be A Bug 3D (I have mixed feelings about this) – some kids are very scared of the large bugs and special effects; others love it. You have to decide if your kids can separate “real” from “pretend” well enough. If they know they can hold your hand and close their eyes, they might want to do it. **I’ve seen everything at A.K. except the Kali River Rapids water ride and the Finding Nemo Musical – I recommend all of it.

Magic Kingdom: (1) For quick-service lunch or dinner, go to either Pecos Bill Cafe (near Splash Mountain ride) OR Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe (near Indy Race Car Ride): both offer a “toppings” bar to make your sandwich loaded with all you can eat fresh veggies and a large menu selection. (2) Aloha Isle has yummy juice/frozen yogurt treats you cant find anywhere else (Adventureland, near Aladdin’s Magic Carpets ride). (3) Mickey’s Philhar Magic 3D is not scary at all like A.K.’s Bugs Life – it is with theatre seats, AC, comfy and entertaining. All of the rides at M.K. are awesome – love them all. Most are family rides that all ages can enjoy together, so its perfect as a group. (Stitch’s Great Escape in Tomorrowland is a bit scary, because it goes completely lights-out with sound effects, so kids who are afraid of the dark will NOT like it). LOVED the night time fireworks show – we got there early enough to ride a few of our faves again, so we did Aladdin/Pirates/Jungle Cruise, all 2x each before the show even started, since those are all next to the castle and a 5-min walk to see the fireworks show. That was a good point to see the show – walking from Adventureland, across the bridge, and up to the castle. Standing-room only, but putting the kids on our shoulders worked well. **I’ve ridden everything in M.K. except the new stuff in the completed section of Fantasyland. Recommend everything except for Stitch, noted above.

Epcot: (1) The food is out of this world – plan on spending a lot of time just eating in the World Showcase section (and a lot of time walking to get around the lake here!) Lots of character spots in each world as well. I had an iced peach green tea in China and hubby had to drag me away when I wanted a 2nd cup ($3.50 is a bit high for iced tea). Oh my… every food choice around the lake is amazing. I’ve eaten at them all, I think, and do not have a favorite. You just have to decide what looks good! Do NOT buy the overpriced ice-cream in Italy (a cart outside); Its called “Gelato Cart” and is just plain dipped ice cream. No, instead you walk 100 feet ahead to Japan and get the cheap slushee shaved ice for half the price. There is beer, margaritas, wine… all sold in convenience outside stands you walk up to 🙂 lol! (2) Not many rides for the kids, I have to say… Future World: Andon/parent could go on Test Track, which is just a fast car ride – its fun. You could all do Finding Nemo Aquarium “The Seas” together (Ride and a real aquarium – spend 1 hr here easily). Soarin Ride is fun, but not for anyone afraid of heights. The ride inside the large “ball” Spaceship Earth at the center of Epcot is old-school/classic 70’s and interesting, but a little boring for the kids. . World Showcase: All together in Mexico, go on Three Cabaleros Ride (tame kiddie ride). Also together go on Maelstrom water ride in Norway (tame kiddie ride). I’ve heard the night time show here is incredible, but I’ve never seen it. **Many of the other attractions in World Showcase are just movies about the history of each country, so kids won’t appreciate it.**

Hollywood Studios: (1) We ate at Backlot Express because that’s where we were standing when lunch time started – food was decent. We did not eat anywhere else at this park, other than snacks here and there, but I do not remember the names of the food stands. This was Day 1 for us with a group of 10 people and we were a bit overwhelmed. (2) Highly recommend: Night time “Fantasmic”show – worth the wait for sure. (3) Recommend Beauty and the Beast Musical (broadway-style, outdoor/covered theatre bleacher style seating. (4) Loved Tower of Terror ride and Aerosmith Rollercoaster ride (Sarah loved Tower, even though it was scary – we let her watch the video online first to make sure she wanted to ride it); Aerosmith is not for little kids, prob not even Andon, its super-fast and goes upside down. (5) Studios Backlot Tour was relaxing and very interesting – you walk for part of it and then ride a tram vehicle for the rest. Good way to rest. (6) Kids loved the Honey I Shrunk The Kids playground area. (7) We all enjoyed the Great Movie Ride (classic and newer movies, acted out, as you sit in a moving vehicle). (8) Liked The Little Mermaid show, live-and-animatronic characters together acting out the scenes in a 20-min version of the movie. (9) LOVED Toy Story Mania ride, but its a little jerky (tell kids to keep their heads back, because when the ‘car’ spins and turns – its like whiplash for anyone leaning over or out to take a look at something – but I took baby Hannah on it and she was fine, lol, so its not bad in any way!) (10) We did the Indiana Jones Stunt show in 2005, so I don’t remember it – I think it was cool, but pretty long to sit through. (11) We missed the Cars Stunt Show at the back of the park 😦 So sad… We skipped a few other attractions that seemed either boring or something the kids wouldn’t enjoy (American Idol Experience, Walt Disney’s Dream, Star Tours-Star Wars, etc). **We were standing outside the entrance to The Great Movie Ride, taking a rest and eating ice cream, when we happened to see the afternoon parade go by… We could see it from that resting point, but went ahead and walked up about 50 feet and put the kids on our shoulders – saw 15mins worth of it and it was very good. Short and to the point 🙂 Lots of Pixar characters. That was a good way to experience it without the crowds and waiting to “save a spot” on the parade route.

~ Good grief, I’ve spent an hour typing this. So sorry… as you can see, I’m pretty passionate about Disney. If you have Netflix, look at their Disney stuff about the WDW Parks. It gives you a lot of info and will get you even more pumped up to go 😉 Its like “behind the scenes” Disney and explains the parks and rides. ~

I hope you all have the time of your life!

What Doesn't Kill You, Makes You Stronger…

A special needs momma on a mission to blog!

Disney Bound!

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