your top 10 tips/hints/tricks for visiting wdw

[alicia1506]

so we are going in september 2013. i have the guidebooks and am currently working my way through 1000s of pages of dos and don'ts. we will have 1 day in each of the parks. i would love to do more time, but we just don't have it available. we are aware it will be hot and muggy with most likely showers or thunderstorms in the afternoon. we know to wear sunscreen, stay hydrated and take rest breaks.

we are prepared for most of that, but i was hoping i could get some tried and true tips from those of you who have been there, done that and can pass along your wisdom to this very young grasshopper

 

[Travel Mum]

Just about off to bed so, off the top of my head, know how to work the Fastpass system to your best advantage in each of the parks- as they are each so different with regard to crowd patterns. If you plan a before-park-opening breakfast (we did Crystal Palace at MK and Tusker House at AK), get the first time slot which is either 8am or 8.05am and, as soon as you are seated, ask for the bill which the waiter will bring you as they are used to being asked. As they are buffets, you already know the price so you can sign for it straight away and that means, at the 9am park opening, you can be sure you are done and dusted at the restaurant and ready to ride

Will post more if I think of them - gosh I had a long list in my head this time last year!!

 

[alicia1506]

that's a good one, thanks

i was looking at tusker house for a character meal (thinking late lunch) but may change to an early breakfast now. was the food good? i've heard some mixed reviews and would love a first person account rather than just the standard guidebook stuff.

have a good night

 

[PuppyPrincess]

Tusker House is our favorite buffet for breakfast, although we usually do hit them all Has the best variety of food. We had a group with us last time at WDW and everyone agreed it was the best breakfast, although we did enjoy them all. Enjoy your trip. Do agree with OP, get earliest time slot so you are done by the time the park opens.

 

[Travel Mum]

that's a good one, thanks

i was looking at tusker house for a character meal (thinking late lunch) but may change to an early breakfast now. was the food good? i've heard some mixed reviews and would love a first person account rather than just the standard guidebook stuff.

have a good night

Yes we remember we did enjoy the food but I must admit that, as our Tusker House pre-park breakfast was our first park day, my head was in such a spin of excitement that I didn't pay much attention to the meal!!

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

My first tip of the day - you can't do Epcot in a day. At the very least, go there on an additional evening after say AK closes and spend more time there then. Epcot is huge and wonderful and 1 day doesn't even scratch the surface.

 

[Melbourne5]

My first tip of the day - you can't do Epcot in a day. At the very least, go there on an additional evening after say AK closes and spend more time there then. Epcot is huge and wonderful and 1 day doesn't even scratch the surface.

On that theme I think 2 days per park will get the job done . Our lesson learned from 2010 is not to do them on consecutive days. Space out with lots of breaks. Have a day off. Go after lunch and swim in the morning etc...

 

[BecBennett]

My first tip of the day - you can't do Epcot in a day. At the very least, go there on an additional evening after say AK closes and spend more time there then. Epcot is huge and wonderful and 1 day doesn't even scratch the surface.

I also think while you're there the food and wine festival will be on, so look into that.

Get park hoppers, so you can jump from park to park.

Check out expected park attendance levels before you go, and work out where you want to be according to that.

Book ADR's, but not too many, or you'll spend all your time getting to the restaurant, and no time in the parks.

Parcel pick up is a bit time consuming, you're probably better just doing your shopping before you head back to your hotel.

Know that you're not going to see everything, not even by half! Don't stress about this, if there are things that you MUST do, then plan around those. Otherwise go with the flow.

umm... Let me have time to think of others...

 

[battymum]

Are you planning to go to WDW before or after your cruise?

We were extremely jetlagged for a week. - Every morning was like waking from a coma!

Many people plan their cruise for the end of the trip but I would do it first or a couple of days in Anaheim to acclimatise.

But Shuttergirl is right, make a couple of dinner reservations in Epcot and hop their after AK or HS. (you will need to add park hoppers to your tickets)

 

[Sugarglider]

Hmmm- I really agree with the others:
if on limited time rope drop (esp for TSMM!) is a must - combined with a plan for fastpasses.

I always park hop - one in the morning until it gets really crowded and hot and then leave - either hotel and sleep, or shopping then go into another park for dinner and into the evening. I stayed until closing cause that last hour on EMH can be a winner. Having a nap in the middle of the day helps.

Carry as little as possible in the parks
Ask for water at the counter services rather than carrying

your most comfortable walking shoes - esp for the commando style you will be doing

I am with Shuttergirl - Epcot is a two day park in my book - and with F&W, I came and went for special events and the booths - lost track of how many times I went in.

I drove a hire car and didn't rely on disney buses - as great as the transport is - still more direct in a car.

Sent all the shopping to the home resort! (OH YES PLEASE - BLISS) and I bought when the shops were quieter in the middle of the day rather than the mad rush at closing.

i really enjoyed Tusker House brekkie (just declined the Donald Photo which got us in a bit faster) - great theming, characters and wide wide selection.

Remember to recharge everything every night

 

[battymum]

Oh and I wouldnt wait around to see the Lights Motor Action show at Hollywood Studios -it was unbearably hot - and the show was pretty much the same as the one they run at MovieWorld.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

I can't rave enough about the F&W Festival. The "eat to the beat" concerts for free were a true highlight, they are free and you see some really cool acts. We saw Taylor Dayne, Kool and the Gang and Sugar Ray. We had missed some other awesome acts too.

Pick a Pearl at Japan in Epcot was so much fun, we did it twice .

Rest in the afternoon. Be at the park well before rope drop and then head back to the resort for a rest after lunch. It is soooooo damnnnnnn hot at WDW. This is an example of how I feel about how hot it is. My DH came home yesterday from my son's baseball training and apparently they are thinking about sending a baseball team over to Orlando next year in July to play. My DH was so excited and lord knows I'd never say no to a trip to the world but I said

"July, are you mad!!!! They say Orlando in July is like walking on the face of the sun!"

September/October was bad enough.

Drink lots and lots of water.

Shoes - have serious walking shoes for during the day but something more open and lighter for an evening to let your poor feet breathe.

Don't get me started on dining recommendations, the list would be long .

Fastpass fastpass fastpass and a good touring plan. Now that you can't save Fastpasses up a touring plan is more important than ever.

That's it for this instalment

 

[Sugarglider]

Oh and I wouldnt wait around to see the Lights Motor Action show at Hollywood Studios -it was unbearably hot - and the show was pretty much the same as the one they run at MovieWorld.

Oh - well - if you want to do a "how to save time/what to not bother with" list that's another thing!

I am not keen on the stitch escape experience thingy in MK, I don't do the Great Movie Ride anymore either.

and now I will no longer bother with the Indiana JOnes show - dragged out for too long for too short on action. BUT some of the street performers in HS were fantastic! doing improv with the crowd - they were way cool!

 

[alicia1506]

these tips are awesome. thank you so much for your words of wisdom.

i am considering a subscription to touringplans as i know for dlr you can (in sept/nov) mostly just wander around and stumble your way into having a great time with a little pre-planning but at wdw you would end up in huge lines and spend your day trying to figure out how to get from point a to b and that is NOT how i want my first visit to wdw to be. also, i know it's not high season in september, but we do want to get as much in as possible, while still being reasonable about our expectations.

we know we won't see everything. we will be going bne-lax, then dlr for 5 days (mostly for carsland/bvs and to reacclimatise and to do most of the big ticket rides in the cooler weather (not by much) and smaller park) and then on to wdw for 4/5 days. i'm excited by this as it gives us a lot more time at wdw to see/experience the things that are unique to wdw rather than trying to make that our only disney experience. we will get to do the unique rides and unique parks and really focus on the differences, rather than just repeating the disneyland experience, although i do plan on riding some of the same attractions at wdw and dlr just for comparison's sake.

i will def look into f&w festival.

we aren't huge souvenir buyers, but i would rather carry than parcel delivery to the resort since we're only there such a small amount of time.

i'm currently immersed in the whole qs & cs menu review thing. one of our party is a piscetarian (vegetarian who will eat fish, but no shellfish, seafood or eggs) so trying to find several 'options' within each park that will serve both us regular eaters and our fussy eater are proving ... interesting, and time consuming. i go to bed dreaming of food menus

i think fastpass is awesome and would never not use it. i know they are enforcing return times now so will have to factor that in.

i totally had planned on doing the park hopper option. it just makes sense to me and the parks we had mostly planned on hopping to/from are AK in morning, HS in the afternoon and MK in morning/EPCOT in evening.

dining - we will probably (hopefully) be eligible for free dining while there, so will stick with the QS option and just pay OOP for any TS meals or extra snacks etc. we are at AoA and their food court looks well stocked for any additional needs we have.

trying to think about whether to get groceries delivered for breakfast/snacks/water/drinks etc but the food court does offer all of those options for not very much more money, and not sure if i want to worry about delivery of groceries on top of everything else.

trying to decide on decent walking shoes. i need something open toe with an ankle/slingback style with a really good cushioning sole.

we plan on hitting the parks relatively hard for the duration that we're there, and taking advantage of rope drop and EMH as we are on our cruise immediately afterwards. we are also probably only going to do 1 or 2 CS meals in the parks as we will have access to all that lovely CS food while on the cruise, and since it's included in the cruise price, it seems silly to pay for it OOP in the parks when if we can wait several days, we can eat as much of it as we want for free (well, included in cruise price which we would have paid OOP anyway).. if that makes sense...

 

[alicia1506]

Oh - well - if you want to do a "how to save time/what to not bother with" list that's another thing!

I am not keen on the stitch escape experience thingy in MK, I don't do the Great Movie Ride anymore either.

and now I will no longer bother with the Indiana JOnes show - dragged out for too long for too short on action. BUT some of the street performers in HS were fantastic! doing improv with the crowd - they were way cool!

actually, i am interested in your ideas for 'what not to bother with' etc.

we are 4 adults. sure, we can act like kids, but we don't want to do things that are a waste of time/energy or are just really ho-hum. we're not necessarily thrill seekers, but we don't need to see every little thing either.

eg. loved riding the main st vehicles on our last trip. productive, no. fun, yes.
great moments with mr lincoln. added to the experience, but would the trip have been ruined if we missed it? no. should we have spent time in NOS instead? quite possibly. we saw soundsational parade twice, instead of seeing WOC. didn't ruin the trip, but we probably should have seen WOC.

 

[battymum]

I would definitely consider getting some groceries delivered - the resorts all have mini fridges now.

Depends if you are breakfast people or not - my family can't function until they eat -even if its just some cereal, but you can save so much time not going to the food court in the morning! (and its chaos!)

As for the Lights Action Motor show - I remember we were finished with HS around 2 but we hung around for that and it was just not worth it, we had a bit of a family meltdown.

We also had a 5:30ADR - at 50s Prime Time. (my plan was to have early ADRs in the park we were at that day - which was OK other days - but not this one)

It would have been a much better day had we left at 2 and had a later ADR.

 

[Franrose]

i'm currently immersed in the whole qs & cs menu review thing. one of our party is a piscetarian (vegetarian who will eat fish, but no shellfish, seafood or eggs) so trying to find several 'options' within each park that will serve both us regular eaters and our fussy eater are proving ... interesting, and time consuming. i go to bed dreaming of food menus

My hubby is vegetarian - purely as a result of being a fussy eater since a kid - we didn't have any trouble feeding him though. He also is not big on cheese dishes, eggs, or 'exotic' vegetables. Will eat fish (only as a result of living for a year in PNG, and not having a lot of other options) but no shellfish/seafood etc either. Chips and carbs though... well, he was in his element as it turns out! From memory, there was something for him everywhere we dined.

 

[ColinA]

How many days do you plan to be at WDW?

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Alicia - I appreciate what you say about doing DLR and then not doubling up when you get to WDW but I would encourage you to perhaps think about only being at DLR for 4 days and adding an extra day onto WDW. It is enormous, such a completely different "beast" than DLR.

It is obviously completely up to you Alicia, but it seems strange to give a full 5 days to DLR which you have experienced before and to allocate only 4-5 days to WDW which is all completely new to you and sooooo much bigger. Even just the time it takes to park hop, you have to allow at least 30 mins each time.

Then there is how tired the heat and humidity in Orlando will make you. It was so much more energy draining than DLR at the same time of year. You likely won't be able to pack as much into your day.

Just something to think about haha.

Okay rant over

 

[battymum]

I think four days is doable, more is always better but we had seven days but spent two of those at water parks and one outlet shopping which left us with one park per day. Alicia do you have five nights and four full days? If so go to the MK your first night for wishes - it will blow you away. I would make AK and HS morning parks and hop to either MK or EPcot these evenings because HS seems to be less of a night time park , unless you go to fantastic. The other two days for MK and Epcot will give you a good look at these parks.
Did that make any sense?