You want to go to Disney World. Your children know all the characters, movies and songs by heart and are begging to go. However you have so many questions-where to stay, how to plan your visit, which parks to go to, and is there any way to enjoy a few adult rides? Look no further! This Disney World veteran has been taking her daughter to Disney World since she was nine months old and has made over 30 visits to the theme parks. Beth has learned a few tricks and tips along the way. Read on for Beth's advice on how to make your trip easier. Beth Barbara, Mother of a toddler and frequent Disney World Guest
Unless you have friends or relatives in the immediate area to stay with, meaning no more than 20-30 minutes away, stay at a Disney property on site. Staying on Disney property makes everything as simple as traveling with children can be. When you reserve a hotel room, reserve the Disney Magical Express. Upon disembarking the plane you will go to the reserved bus and your luggage will be picked up and brought to your hotel room- no waiting at baggage claim!
Staying on site also means no need for a car. All your transportation needs will be met, you have the monorail (think a hi-speed train that kids love), bus or boat to take you to any Disney World location. Yes you will pay a premium for a Disney World Hotel, but they have three levels of cost: value, moderate and deluxe. After speaking with people who have stayed in all three levels, I haven’t heard any complaints no matter which level they chose. Remember, you are not going on this trip for the hotel room.
When choosing your hotel, think outside the monorail. The monorail only travels to the Magic Kingdom park and not the other parks at Disney World. You will pay top dollar for the three hotels on the monorail line: the Contemporary, the Grand Floridian and the Polynesian. My recommendation? Unless you will only be going to the Magic Kingdom, pick the hotel with the best prices as the shuttle buses and boats are very easy and efficient.
A true bonus of staying on site means you will be able to enter parks an hour early. Each day one park opens a full hour early only for Disney World resort guests.
There are four parks: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. Everyone knows Magic Kingdom-it’s the one with Cinderella’s Castle. You will definitely want to go to MK. The other parks depend on how long you will be in Disneyworld and what your child(ren) get most excited about.
It’s an elevated train that makes a loop between the Magic Kingdom park and the Monorail Resorts. Although it’s intended to be used for transportation it actually makes a great ride to see all the sights. After boarding the monorail at the Grand Floridian station, it stops at the Magic Kingdom, the Contemporary, the Transportation and Ticket Center, and the Polynesian (in that order). There’s a monorail extension between the ticket center and Epcot.
In addition to the Local Monorail there is also an Express Monorail. The Express Monorail only runs between the Magic Kingdom and the Ticket Center. The local runs from the opposite direction, and will stop at all the Monorail Resorts in this order: Grand Floridian, Magic Kingdom, Contemporary, Transportation and Ticket Center, Polynesian then back to the Grand Floridian.
GO EARLY! This is not a sleep in, be lazy type of vacation. Your best bet to see and do all you want is to get to the park when it first opens!
Know which rides have Fast Passes. Fast Passes work by giving you a window of time when you can return to the ride and have a short wait-like 5 minutes. These are some of the most popular rides for toddlers/preschool aged children that you will want to get Fast Passes for:
-Peter Pan (Magic Kingdom)
-Buzz’s Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin (Magic Kingdom,)
-Toy Story Mania(Hollywood Studios)
-Voyage of the Little Mermaid (Hollywood Studios-a show)
-Kilmanjaro Safaris (Animal Kingdom)
Get to the park when they first open, race to the ride, get the fast pass, then get in line. There probably won’t be too long a wait. You will go and then when your child wants to go again you will have a Fast Pass and save yourself 20+ minutes of waiting!
Magic Kingdom
• Cinderella’s Golden Carousel
• Dumbo
• It’s A Small World
• Country Bear Jamboree
• Mickey’s Philharmagic (My Personal Favorite!)
Hollywood Studios
Note: There are not many rides for children-but Toy Story Mania is one of the most popular rides. Whatever you do-go there first and get the Fast Pass-they will run out by about 11am. And waits can get up to 2 hours or more.
• Playhouse Disney-Live On Stage (If your children are addicted to Playhouse Disney on tv-THEY WILL LOVE THIS SHOW)!
• Muppet Vision 3-D
• Honey I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure (this is a super fun playground that will give you a heart attack since there are a lot of nooks and crannies that kids can disappear into, but your kids will have a blast)!
Animal Kingdom
Note-This is an amazing park with lots of fun shows and live animals to see. Get a schedule when you enter the park to find out what times the shows are so you can plan around that
• Kilmanjaro Safaris
• Festival of Lion King
• Finding Nemo-The Musical
• Wildlife Express Train (a train that takes you to an area where you can pet and interact with animals-if your child hates petting live animals-skip it)
Epcot
Unless you are traveling with older children I would actually suggest skipping Epcot. However this is a personal opinion. Many of the attractions, even ones geared for kids are in the dark which young children tend to find scary. However if you do decide to go definitely go on:
• The Seas with Nemo and Friends – my daughter LOVES this and asks to go over and over. If you
can pull your kids away there is a stunning array of fish in the building where the ride is located. Also in the same building is:
• Turtle Talk with Crush – Very cool interactive show. Crush from Finding Nemo actually talks and answers questions with the audience.
• Character Connections: An area where you wait on one line and get to meet a variety of characters.
180 days is the magic number in which you can make reservations for dining in Disney World. I have been to almost every character meal and here are my top three recommendations:
• Chef Mickey: Held at the Contemporary Hotel, it’s fun and interactive
• Hollywood and Vine: Held at Hollywood Studios. Various characters from Playhouse Disney come up to the table and even dance with the kids.
• Princess Storybook Dining – Held at Epcot. It’s a Princess Dining experience so if you have a little Princess lover, you will want to go. The Princesses vary, but you get to meet anywhere from three to five.
NOTE: There is a Princess one at Magic Kingdom called Cinderella’s Royal Table. I have not yet gone. It is harder to get a reservation there, but similar theme. Princess lovers will love it.
There are various dining choices in the park. My suggestion is ask an attendant at the park which ones are self-serve and have kid friendly food. I would suggest getting to the eatery when it first opens. And if you are going to eat dinner, definitely dine on the earlier side.
If you are in one of the four parks go to the Baby Care Station. This is a fantastic Disney World perk. When you first arrive to the park, ask an attendant where it is located. Every Baby Care Station has a nursing/bottle feeding room with rocking chairs and dimmed lights and outlets if you need/want to pump. They also have a room where you can feed your children with high chairs and little tables and chairs. The Stations even have rooms with TV and toys and designated Family Restrooms. The large changing rooms have cushy padding on the tables and huge sheets of paper to give baby a clean and sanitary spot. Except for the nursing room, men are allowed in all areas. This is especially great if you are traveling with a baby/toddler and an older child and one parent needs to care for the baby/toddler but doesn’t want the whole family to have to leave the park.
October is truly the best weather in Florida as it’s not too hot and not too cold. I know, I know, you may have to have your child miss school, but trust me when I say it’s worth it. Avoid major holidays. And try to avoid May through August as the heat will make everyone cranky and there is really no shade at the parks.
There are a number of really fun, exciting rides that are only appropriate for older children and/or adults. Let’s say you and your partner really want to go on Space Mountain, but you know the kids will hate waiting in line. Here is what you do: Go to Space Mountain and at the entrance ask for a baby swap ticket. They will give you one ticket. The one with the ticket stays with the kids. The other one enters the ride. When rider is done, your partner gets a quick trip to the head of the line so you don’t each have to wait!
I am sure your head is spinning and you probably have more questions. But consider this: as parents we want to see our children happy, it’s what gets us through the sleepless nights, the being thrown up on and the public humiliation of temper tantrums. The smile on our child’s face and deep belly laughs erase all the hard times from memory. That is why you are planning a trip to Disney World. If you don’t do everything and you don’t see everything (and you won’t!) you can always come back. Happy Travels!
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