Inside the Disney Parks
We're back from our week in Disney World and have a bunch of "must do" tips to share with you! First, let me just start by saying, our family had a magical time. This is the last year that Isabella, our 6 year old, will think of many things as "real" and Abigail, our 4 year old, will be star-struck speechless. We have no regrets and thoroughly enjoyed our time away, even though we were feeling a bit sleep deprived near the end.
If you're thinking of going to Disney but have not yet started to plan your vacation, please stop reading now and check out my "10 Tips Before You Go" post. I would happily pass along to you the information of our incredible Disney travel agent and sweet friend, Rachel. Then, come back and read this after. I will not be going over any of the things I've previously wrote about.
"Must Do" Tips
1. If you're traveling with small kiddos, take lightweight strollers. It's amazing how much walking Disney requires. Bella had a difficult time keeping up, even at 6 years old. We took our two The First Years Jet Stroller's which were perfect for getting on and off shuttle buses (which you are required to collapse your stroller on while riding) and navigating through crowds of people (even though we may have skinned the ankles of a few clueless pedestrian stragglers) inside the parks. If you're curious about why we love these particular strollers, check out this blog post. There is "stroller parking" throughout each Disney park. We would push the girls to a section, drop the stroller, and walk around that area. Once we exhausted every activity in one area, we would walk (well, more like run. Dave and I aren't ones to move slowly.) to the next section, rinse and repeat. We love having the strollers act as a home base to hold sweatshirts, sunglasses, and other things we took into (or purchased at) the parks.
2. Bring a backpack with you each day that only holds the necessities. Make sure it's light and easy to carry. There is no need to pack more than you need. Forget trying to take drinks and food. Each restaurant will give you a cup of ice water for free. Take advantage of this and save yourself money and the headache of trying to pack enough liquids to stay hydrated in the Florida sun. If you're on the Disney dining plan you can use your snack options for bottled water. If you choose to do this, go with the Smart Water. You will get the most for your dollar. In our travel bag we only packed our; EpiPen, camera, Autograph Book and pens, hand sanitizer, baby wipes, gum/tictacs and ibuprofen. As noted above, we took sweatshirts, sunglasses, and other small things with us in the strollers in case we needed them at some point during the day.
3. Whether you're on the Disney dining plan or doing food on your own, understand that portions are huge! During table service meals, you will be charged for each person in your party and asked to leave gratuity. There is no way around this. However, for quick service meals our family was able to share 2 meals and it fed all 4 of us with some food still left over. Don't try and order quick service meals for every individual person. You will never eat all that food! When we left Disney, we still had several quick service meals we never used and I'm pretty sure we all came home with bursting bellies. The same is true for snacks. Snack portions are large, especially if you know what to get at each park. We ended up using several of our snacks on Starbucks coffee (which you can find at each park) because we could not physically eat more food.
Table service dining experiences are expensive and require a reservation (usually made 180 days in advance) but are completely worth it for the character meet and greets that take place. If you're going with little children who love their Disney movies, these meals will save you hours of time spent waiting in lines for autographs. If you're on the dining plan, try and aim for table service meals that are around $37.00 or more. These are the table service restaurants we've experienced and includes a list of characters you may encounter.
* Be Our Guest - You can have your picture take with Beast at the conclusion of your meal. Try the greystuff, it really is delicious.
* Cinderella's Royal Table - Cinderella acts as the host with other visiting princesses. Some of the other princesses you see may include; Ariel, Aurora, Snow White and Jasmine. This restaurant will require the use of 2 table service credits per person. While the atmosphere is wonderful, and eating inside the castle is fun, our family prefers the experience of Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in Epcot.
* Crystal Palace - Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and Eeyore.
* Coral Reef - This is not a character meal, but it's beautiful to sit inside an aquarium.
* Akershus Royal Banquet Hall - Belle acts as the host with other visiting princesses. Some of the other princesses you see may include; Cinderella, Ariel, Aurora and Snow White.
* Biergarten - Again, this is not a character meal, but the food is authentic and, after having been to Germany ourselves, it was a nice surprise to experience a piece of this beautiful country again.
* Hollywood & Vine - Here is where you will meet your favorite Nick Jr. friends: Handy Manny, Sofia, Doc McStuffins and Jake. As an added bonus, if you choose their Fantasmic! Dinner Package, you will receive VIP tickets to that evenings Fantasmic! performance.
* Tusker House - This is the home of Donald Duck. You may also meet Daisy, Goofy and Mickey.
Another table service restaurant worth visiting is Chef Mickey's located in the Contemporary Resort. At Chef Mickey's you will find Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Donald and Daisy.
Now, here are a few tips on quick service dining. Try and find quick service meals that are around $15.00. This way, you will get the most out of your meal plan. A quick service meal on the dining plan includes your drink, entree and dessert. Although, most places will let you replace your drink, dessert, or both with a snack (or two) off their menu. Here are a few of our favorite quick dining stops.
* Be Our Guest (Magic Kingdom - Breakfast & Lunch - you will need a reservation)
* Pinocchio Village Haus (Magic Kingdom)
* Sunshine Seasons (Epcot - get the strawberry shortcake, it's fantastic!)
* Pizzafari (Animal Kingdom)
As far as snacks go, your options are endless... However, you want to try and find snacks that average $5.00 if on the dining plan. Here are some of our favorites!
* Pineapple Dole Whip (Aloha Isle - Magic Kingdom. Better than ice cream.)
* Cinnamon Roll (Gaston's Tavern - Magic Kingdom. It's more like a cinnamon loaf!)
* Cronut (Refreshment Port - Epcot. Think: croissant and donut have a baby.)
* Popcorn (Hollywood Boulevard - Hollywood Studios)
4. Make life easier and be sure to get Magic Bands. They will act as your; room key, fast pass, park admission ticket, special event ticket, credit card, and so much more! You will not have to carry any personal items with you, this bracelet has it all. For security purposes you are the only one able to use your Magic Band and you're initially asked to establish a personal pin (which you will use for all charges) to protect your identity.
5. Fast pass those need-to-see experiences. Unless you want to wait HOURS in lines, be sure to grab fast-passes for Elsa and Anna's meet and greet in Magic Kingdom, Mine Train and Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride in Magic Kingdom, Sorin' and Test Track in Epcot, Arrowsmith and Tower of Terror in Hollywood Studios, Toy Story Mania in Hollywood Studios, and Kilimanjaro Safari's in Animal Kingdom. Try and secure your fastpasses as soon as you become eligible!
6. Have a rest day! We spent 5 consecutive days in the parks, sun up to sun down. Two days were spent in Magic Kingdom (that's our family favorite) and one day was spent in each of the others. It was exhausting, and our girls just don't have the stamina for it. Next time, we will stay 6 full days and give ourselves a "day of rest" half way through the vacation. The resorts have so much to offer, and we never had a chance to explore. This time we stayed at Caribbean Beach (we stayed at Art of Animation in 2013 and preferred it over Caribbean Beach) which had several pools, a playground sand beaches with hammocks and hot tubs to enjoy.
7. Encourage your kids save and bring their own spending money. Isabella and Abigail started saving their money for this years trip in November 2013, after coming home from our last Disney vacation. Over the course of 2 years they saved almost $200.00. They were thrilled with the freedom to buy whatever they wanted with their own money, and Dave and I were happy to have instilled into them a sense of responsibility and ownership. We took them to Downtown Disney (Er, I mean, Disney Springs) one evening where they had a chance to splurge.
8. Plan out your day, but still be flexible. The parks are HUGE! Try to get into one section of the park and do everything it has to offer before moving onto another part. You will wear yourself out quickly if you ping-pong around. Be sure to think of this as you make your fastpass and dining selections. Also, grab the daily itnerary as you're going into the parks each day. This will give you an updated list of character greetings, parade times and other special event information. Try to get there when the park opens and stay until it closes. If you're staying on Disney property, pay special attention to extra magic hours to maximize your time.
9. When using Disney's Magical Express remember that it can take hours, and I mean hours, for you to receive your luggage. It was almost 10:00pm before our luggage came to our hotel even though our plane landed at 3:00pm. We packed magic bands (which you will need in order to get on the Magical Express) and bathing suits, as well as pajamas in our carry-on luggage.
10. HAVE FUN! Yes, Disney is exhausting. Yes, people and crowds can be annoying. Yes, sometimes it feels more like work than vacation. But, it's magical and timeless!! We made many special memories! Here are some of our highlight moments...
The girls went to The Pirates League and were turned into mermaids.
We got to meet our favorite characters.
We enjoyed the company of wonderful friends.
We rode all the rides (including Tower of Terror) as a family.
We experienced Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Parade.
We enjoyed every live show we could.
The kids got to experience Kidcot Fun Stops.
We got to have fun playing with photo images in Epcot.
We were able to enjoy the final year of the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights.
And we came home with hearts filled with memories of a lifetime!
Go prepared, be willing to act flexibly, and have a wonderful trip.
2. Bring a backpack with you each day that only holds the necessities. Make sure it's light and easy to carry. There is no need to pack more than you need. Forget trying to take drinks and food. Each restaurant will give you a cup of ice water for free. Take advantage of this and save yourself money and the headache of trying to pack enough liquids to stay hydrated in the Florida sun. If you're on the Disney dining plan you can use your snack options for bottled water. If you choose to do this, go with the Smart Water. You will get the most for your dollar. In our travel bag we only packed our; EpiPen, camera, Autograph Book and pens, hand sanitizer, baby wipes, gum/tictacs and ibuprofen. As noted above, we took sweatshirts, sunglasses, and other small things with us in the strollers in case we needed them at some point during the day.
3. Whether you're on the Disney dining plan or doing food on your own, understand that portions are huge! During table service meals, you will be charged for each person in your party and asked to leave gratuity. There is no way around this. However, for quick service meals our family was able to share 2 meals and it fed all 4 of us with some food still left over. Don't try and order quick service meals for every individual person. You will never eat all that food! When we left Disney, we still had several quick service meals we never used and I'm pretty sure we all came home with bursting bellies. The same is true for snacks. Snack portions are large, especially if you know what to get at each park. We ended up using several of our snacks on Starbucks coffee (which you can find at each park) because we could not physically eat more food.
Table service dining experiences are expensive and require a reservation (usually made 180 days in advance) but are completely worth it for the character meet and greets that take place. If you're going with little children who love their Disney movies, these meals will save you hours of time spent waiting in lines for autographs. If you're on the dining plan, try and aim for table service meals that are around $37.00 or more. These are the table service restaurants we've experienced and includes a list of characters you may encounter.
* Cinderella's Royal Table - Cinderella acts as the host with other visiting princesses. Some of the other princesses you see may include; Ariel, Aurora, Snow White and Jasmine. This restaurant will require the use of 2 table service credits per person. While the atmosphere is wonderful, and eating inside the castle is fun, our family prefers the experience of Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in Epcot.
* Crystal Palace - Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and Eeyore.
* Akershus Royal Banquet Hall - Belle acts as the host with other visiting princesses. Some of the other princesses you see may include; Cinderella, Ariel, Aurora and Snow White.
* Biergarten - Again, this is not a character meal, but the food is authentic and, after having been to Germany ourselves, it was a nice surprise to experience a piece of this beautiful country again.
Another table service restaurant worth visiting is Chef Mickey's located in the Contemporary Resort. At Chef Mickey's you will find Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Donald and Daisy.
Now, here are a few tips on quick service dining. Try and find quick service meals that are around $15.00. This way, you will get the most out of your meal plan. A quick service meal on the dining plan includes your drink, entree and dessert. Although, most places will let you replace your drink, dessert, or both with a snack (or two) off their menu. Here are a few of our favorite quick dining stops.
* Pinocchio Village Haus (Magic Kingdom)
* Sunshine Seasons (Epcot - get the strawberry shortcake, it's fantastic!)
* Pizzafari (Animal Kingdom)
As far as snacks go, your options are endless... However, you want to try and find snacks that average $5.00 if on the dining plan. Here are some of our favorites!
* Pineapple Dole Whip (Aloha Isle - Magic Kingdom. Better than ice cream.)
* Cinnamon Roll (Gaston's Tavern - Magic Kingdom. It's more like a cinnamon loaf!)
* Cronut (Refreshment Port - Epcot. Think: croissant and donut have a baby.)
* Popcorn (Hollywood Boulevard - Hollywood Studios)
4. Make life easier and be sure to get Magic Bands. They will act as your; room key, fast pass, park admission ticket, special event ticket, credit card, and so much more! You will not have to carry any personal items with you, this bracelet has it all. For security purposes you are the only one able to use your Magic Band and you're initially asked to establish a personal pin (which you will use for all charges) to protect your identity.
5. Fast pass those need-to-see experiences. Unless you want to wait HOURS in lines, be sure to grab fast-passes for Elsa and Anna's meet and greet in Magic Kingdom, Mine Train and Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride in Magic Kingdom, Sorin' and Test Track in Epcot, Arrowsmith and Tower of Terror in Hollywood Studios, Toy Story Mania in Hollywood Studios, and Kilimanjaro Safari's in Animal Kingdom. Try and secure your fastpasses as soon as you become eligible!
6. Have a rest day! We spent 5 consecutive days in the parks, sun up to sun down. Two days were spent in Magic Kingdom (that's our family favorite) and one day was spent in each of the others. It was exhausting, and our girls just don't have the stamina for it. Next time, we will stay 6 full days and give ourselves a "day of rest" half way through the vacation. The resorts have so much to offer, and we never had a chance to explore. This time we stayed at Caribbean Beach (we stayed at Art of Animation in 2013 and preferred it over Caribbean Beach) which had several pools, a playground sand beaches with hammocks and hot tubs to enjoy.
7. Encourage your kids save and bring their own spending money. Isabella and Abigail started saving their money for this years trip in November 2013, after coming home from our last Disney vacation. Over the course of 2 years they saved almost $200.00. They were thrilled with the freedom to buy whatever they wanted with their own money, and Dave and I were happy to have instilled into them a sense of responsibility and ownership. We took them to Downtown Disney (Er, I mean, Disney Springs) one evening where they had a chance to splurge.
8. Plan out your day, but still be flexible. The parks are HUGE! Try to get into one section of the park and do everything it has to offer before moving onto another part. You will wear yourself out quickly if you ping-pong around. Be sure to think of this as you make your fastpass and dining selections. Also, grab the daily itnerary as you're going into the parks each day. This will give you an updated list of character greetings, parade times and other special event information. Try to get there when the park opens and stay until it closes. If you're staying on Disney property, pay special attention to extra magic hours to maximize your time.
9. When using Disney's Magical Express remember that it can take hours, and I mean hours, for you to receive your luggage. It was almost 10:00pm before our luggage came to our hotel even though our plane landed at 3:00pm. We packed magic bands (which you will need in order to get on the Magical Express) and bathing suits, as well as pajamas in our carry-on luggage.
10. HAVE FUN! Yes, Disney is exhausting. Yes, people and crowds can be annoying. Yes, sometimes it feels more like work than vacation. But, it's magical and timeless!! We made many special memories! Here are some of our highlight moments...
The girls went to The Pirates League and were turned into mermaids.
We got to meet our favorite characters.
We enjoyed the company of wonderful friends.
We rode all the rides (including Tower of Terror) as a family.
We experienced Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Parade.
We enjoyed every live show we could.
The kids got to experience Kidcot Fun Stops.
We got to have fun playing with photo images in Epcot.
We were able to enjoy the final year of the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights.
And we came home with hearts filled with memories of a lifetime!
Go prepared, be willing to act flexibly, and have a wonderful trip.
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