Wow, where do I begin? Well, first off…if you didn’t read about the trip surprise, you can do so HERE!
Be prepared…because today my blog is (A) longer than normal (B) Completely about Disney World and (C) Probably only interesting to those obsessed with Disney….and my parents.
Our Disney Adventure was a blast. We did almost everything we wanted in the 8 days we were there and enjoyed every minute of it. Of course, we learned lots (like any experience in life) and loved some things while not loving others. After every trip, I like to blog about so that I can remember for next time. For this trip, with so many others making their own trips to Disney I thought it’d be fun and helpful to write about my opinion on the Do’s and Don’ts of DisneY.
You’ll want to note that this trip was for two young adults (mid-twenties) without children so our idea of a good trip would probably apply more to honeymooners and travelers like us.
We used travel specialist Stacy Conrad(337.849.3937) who was excellent. It’s no additional cost to use her, and I strongly encourage it! She assisted us with everything from booking our hotel to dining reservations and made suggestions on all the attractions.
* Bring lots of water (they do allow you to bring your own water into the park)
* Wear flats; you’ll be doing LOTS of walking and the last thing you’ll want is high heels holding you back.
* Make sure to grab your camera. Disney offers photo pass but you’ll want a camera of your own for those personal moments. Sometimes, they’ll even take a picture for you with your camera/iphone if you ask. Don’t waste time only taking pictures though because you’ll want to soak in the magic. But having your camera is a must!
* Consider the meal plan if you think you’ll be spending at least $120 a day in food. We spent between $150-$250 a day in food which was covered by the meal plan since we opted to make reservations at lots of the signature restaurants.
* If you are on the Disney Dining, I encourage you to upgrade to the Deluxe Plan…it includes 3 meals a day and 2 snacks per person which was more than enough for us. Even with our signature dining and dinner shows (which take 2 credits/person) we still had a surplus of dining points at the end.
* Make reservations (ASAP) and be sure to show on time! Disney runs a tight ship on time, and you won’t want to pass up their incredible food!!!
* Unlike Cinderella’s castle, which requires reservations months in advance, the new Be Our Guest restaurant in Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland offers counter service so that you can check out the new architecture.
* Try new food! We ate Irish, Moroccan, and Mediterranean food and so much more…Disney definitely doesn’t disappoint in the food department.
*Attend at least one character meal! It will bring you back to childhood.
* Don’t overeat: Each meal comes with large portions and an appetizer, entree, and dessert per person. Unless you want to spend your day feeling stuffed and miserable, consider sharing the appetizer and dessert.
* Tip is not included! With each meal, our tip came to approximately $15-20 per meal. Be sure to account for this in your Disney budget.
* If you are on the Disney Dining plan, be careful to check for the “DP” symbol at snack stops…not everything is included in the dining plan and after paying for it you’ll want to utilize everything without coming out of pocket.
* Fast Pass is great for long lines…and the earlier you get to the major attractions in the day the better chance you’ll have at short lines.
* Stay on the grounds : Disney has excellent means of getting around including bus, boat, monorail, ferry, and foot! You can also use Disney’s Magic Hours.
* On certain nights, Disney gives resort guests the option to stay for additional Magic Hours at specific parks!
* Allow for at least 30-45 minutes in travel time if you’re using Disney’s bus system. If you’re going from resort to resort, allow for 1 hr. In this case, you’ll have to go from resort to park to resort as the transportation routes don’t run from resort to resort unless you’re visiting another resort on the monorail (while you’re staying on the monorail route.)
* If we went back to Disney, we’d stay at the Contemporary, not only because we like the modern feel, but also because it’s on the monorail route and within walking distance of Magic Kingdom.
* Attend at least one dinner show, we thoroughly enjoyed the Hoop Dee Doo Review.
* Don’t forget about Downtown Disney and La Nouba (Disney’s Cirque Du Soleil show); we were blown away by the talent and live nature of the Entertainment. Oh! And there’s not a bad seat in the house.
* Purchase park hopper tickets. It’s totally worth the extra $110 to have the option to hop around.
* Reserve some time in your schedule to visit the luxury resorts. This was one of our favorite parts of the trip.
*An EXCELLENT app for Disney is the Disney Parks app (the one with Tinker Bell). It’s FREE and wow…we used the heck out of it! It includes maps, GPS location, constant updates on wait times, attractions and restaurants, both with locations and phone numbers for reservations.
-Park Favorite:Kilimanjaro Safaris
[This was our absolutely favorite attraction at the park.]
– Expedition Everest
[Have your camera ready…and ready to put it away!]
[Be sure to take your dramamine]
– Festival of the Lion King
– It’s Tough to Be a Bug
[I always love 3D films; however I found the quality to be better at PhilharMagic]
[If possible, try to get into the front row, something about seeing someone’s feet dangle overhead just didn’t do it for me]– Visit and walk through the shops of each country
[This is a given but was definitely worth seeing.]
– Take the boat
[Near France, you can hop on a boat to see the Yacht and Boardwalk Resorts or visit Hollywood Studios]
– Illuminations : Reflections of Earth
[This was our first fireworks show in Disney and it did not disappoint]
– Plan for more than a day here
[If you move at a fairly quick yet leisurely pace, one day will be perfect for enjoying this park.]
– Reflections of China
[Although the film has me wanting to take my next trip to China, my first trip was outside to take more Dramamine. Yikes to the 360 viewing and my weak stomach.]
[Maybe it’s my love for design but I thought it was super cool to see this behind the scenes tour]
– Tower of Terror
[We were one of the first in line after the Fantasmic show! But honestly, it’d be worth a wait either way.]
– Indiana Jones
[Sorry guys, but we walked out of this one to grab early seats for Fantasmic]
– It’s a Small World
[Maybe because it reminds me of my trip as a little girl but this is a must see]
– Liberty Square Riverboat
[This was very relaxing and romantic; seeing the park from this perspective was really nice]
– Mickey’s PhilharMagic
[We both smiled this entire 3D show! Must-See!]
[This kind of made me want to pack up and live in the jungle. I loved the views and the walk through of this attraction.]
[This was my favorite of the parades! It was packed but rightfully so, as it was really beautiful to see the floats and characters lit as they moved about main street]
[We could go either way on this one but being that it had the longest line we waited in, I’d say it probably wasn’t worth it]
– Jungle Cruise
[After seeing the Animal Kingdom safari with real animals, we were left wondering why we waited to see fake ones.]
– Main Street Railroad
[Although being on the actual train was exciting and I’m sure just as Walt imagined, I would have loved to see more of park on this one. If you’re limited on time, take the riverboat instead.]
–Pirates of the Caribbean
[The staging was great…but all a bit forgettable. Unless you’re a huge fan of Jack Sparrow, I would personally skip this one.]
– Tiki Room
[Again, after coming from Animal Kingdom, it was a bit difficult to be entertained by the production. I would definitely recommend this for children because I remember enjoying this as a child, but I would suggest passing to the single adults.]
[Loved the food, especially the Jamba Juice and Mickey waffles]
[Don’t be fooled, no one at any age is too cool for characters]
– Jiko (Animal Kingdom Lodge) : Dinner
[Take your server suggestions, I loved the tibs, grouper, and sweet potato cheesecake]
– Restaurant Marrakesh (Morocco-Epcot) : Lunch
[The beef sampler was excellent and we really enjoyed the architecture and belly dancing]
– Teppan Edo (Japan-Epcot) : Dinner
[We had a great female hibachi chef that was both entertaining and humorous; the food was excellent. I had the filet hibachi and Brad enjoyed the shrimp and filet]
– San Angel Inn (Mexico-Epcot) : Lunch
[I love that we had this reservation during the day because inside it appears to be night. The cheesecake is ridiculously good!…don’t trick yourself into thinking you won’t finish this dessert. Oh! And be prepared to be cozy with your neighbors here…the tables are exceptionally close.]
– Liberty Tree Tavern (Magic Kingdom) : Lunch
[Don’t pass up the clam chowder, delicious Freedom pasta, or strawberry Streusel at this Colonial style restaurant]
– Tony’s Town Square (Magic Kingdom) : Lunch
[Based around the theme of Disney’s Lady & the Tramp, Brad and I enjoyed their Tomato & Mozzarella salad and the Shrimp Scampi! Mmmm)
– Raglan Road Irish Pub (Downtown Disney) : Dinner
[I really really liked this place and was pleasantly surprised as I had never eaten Irish food before! Everything from the Guinness beer bread dip on was superb! We sharedNom Nom Wings, an incredible Chutney burger (without the chutney lol) and the Moore street market basket with natural yogurt and honey. Even Brad liked it…and he doesn’t even have a sweet tooth! The Irish dancers were icing on the cake.
– Kona Cafe (Polynesian Resort) : Breakfast
[This was definitely my favorite breakfast spot! We loved the 100% Kona blend and ohhh man, the Tonga Toast was kickin! Brad had the Big Kahuna breakfast and liked his as well! My opinion on best breakfast goes to this location not only for the food but also the atmosphere and service!]
– Citricos (Grand Floridian Resort) : Dinner
[Its possible that at this point I was exhausted and unable to really enjoy but Citricos was surprisingly my least favorite restaurant. The service was excellent but the food was simply not for me. I also wish the decor would have better fit the fine dining experience. We had the Sautéed shrimp, swordfish/grouper for entrees, and tasty gelato for dessert) <–I did appreciate the presentation for each course.]
– Grand Floridian Cafe (Grand Floridian) : Dinner
[I definitely liked the Grand Floridian cafe and my clients Tuoi and Spencer did as well! We shared the shrimp and crab cakes for appetizers, Brad and Spencer had the strip, Tuoi had grouper, and I had the Orechiette pasta….we all loved our meals. For dinner we shared a beautifully presented Fresh Berry Tart and chocolate Mickey topped Boston Cream Pie. Oh! And the red rose on each table was the perfect touch!]
[ok….really?! Strawberry soup? How. Cool. In the meantime, we were both brought back to childhood with Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, and Piglet’s table visits. I was unsure about the character breakfasts, but we really liked them!!!]
– Hoop-Dee-Doo Review (Wilderness Lodge) : Dinner
[This meal was awesome!!! Consider it totally acceptable to chow down and get your hands dirty! They served Fried chicken in a bucket, all you can eat spuds, corn, beans, ribs, cornbread…and strawberry shortcake to finish! The food and entertainment was definitely worth the investment and we highly recommend this show!]
If you’re still reading at this point, you’re either totally bored or planning a trip to Disney! I hope on your adventure all your dreams come true!
“And remember…it all started with a mouse.”
Live Simply, Love Freely,
Catherine
Have you made your own trip to Disney? What were you favorites/least favorites from your own trip? Feel free to comment below!
Catherine, the Walt Disney World trip was the best surprise I have ever received! The blog came out great!