Tips for Traveling to Disney World

Disney World is an amazing, magical place. If you have never been, but are planning a trip, take advantage of the months of research I conducted before going. In order to go Disney World you need to plan on shelling out some serious moo-lah. This is not a cheap trip, but there are ways to save money, time, aggravation, and have the time of your life.

My first suggestion is to get a good guidebook and familiarize yourself with the hotels and parks. There are a number of great books from which to choose. Select one or two and start reading.





Once you have a basic idea of where to stay and what to do, I am quite sure you will have lots of questions. You want to get the most for your money, so head on over to Magic Trips, and let the Disney fanatics show you around. Magic Trips is the best website for future Disney trippers. Register for the forums and hang out there several months prior to your trip. You will chat with DW experts. Some of the people at Magic Trips visit the parks two to three times a year. You will learn the ins and outs, get codes to save money on hotels, and gain invaluable knowledge. For additional information and current updates about the Disney scene, surf over to Mouse Planet.


Where to stay is always a big question of debate. A lot of people assume staying on Disney World property is more expensive than staying off site. Granted, you will find tons of off site deals, but truthfully, in the end, staying on Disney property will save you time and money, and your experience will be enhanced (not to mention more magical). We stayed at a value resort for $34 a night. You can't beat that deal! How did we do it? Hang out at Magic Trips. I already booked my hotel at the value resort (months ahead of time) for $79 a night. Someone eventually posted a code. I called Disney, gave them the code, and got the room for over 50% off my original quote. The value hotels are great. The rooms are clean, themed, and a decent size for a family of four. The hotels have food courts, arcades, gift shops, great swimming pools, and more. They are not your typical Motel 6 or Super 8. Compared to Holiday Inn Express you are getting a better deal. Included in all of the hotel packages are bus shuttles to all of the parks. This saves you on parking and gas!


Of course, you can also choose from one of the more expensive hotel options, but don't pay the first price quoted. Go get a code! One of the best places to pick up a discount code is at Mouse Savers. Not only will you get a lot of great tips for your visit, but you can get codes for everything from hotel rooms to Disney cruises. After you get a code, don't stop there, keep checking back. You might get a better code just before you leave for your trip!


What to do? There is so much to do at Disney World you couldn't possibly get it all in. Now you have an excellent reason to plan a second trip. First, I must impress upon you to purchase a park hopper ticket. You can go in and out of the different parks at your own pace. Hit the highlights of each park first (the things you want to do the most), and then go back to visit with a second agenda in mind. Plan to take hotel room breaks -especially if you have kids. One day at Disney is a grueling experience, and more than one day will turn your body into butter. You will walk and walk and walk. Take some mole skin and aerosal deoderant with you. Spray the deoderant on your feet each morning. Carry the mole skin in your bag. This will help keep your feet from feeling the pain. Wear a good pair of broken in tennis shoes, and start walking daily (the kids too) a couple of months before your trip. Plan afternoon swim breaks. Disney is a lot of fun, but it's also an enormous adventure. You will sleep well.


Which rides to go on and shows to see is a personal decision. Don't stand in long lines. Grab a Fast Pass. They are free and convenient. Fast Pass gives you a time to come back, skip the long line, and get on the ride. Choose the section you are going to hang out in for awhile and grab a Fast Pass for each ride you want to go on. You will save a great deal of time standing around. Plan to get in line early for the best seats at the shows. The shows are fantastic. Catch as many as you can.


What to eat? You can spend a ton of money on food. Some people request a refrigerator for their rooms (some of the hotels charge extra). They take a side trip to the local grocery store and pick up cereal and milk. If breakfast is not your thing then this might be your solution.


Personally, I love a big breakfast, and a big breakfast can sustain you for hours. Eat big in the morning, grab a snack at noon, and then eat a nice dinner. We decided to take in all of the different character breakfasts. Each morning we went to a different one. Since our kids were young (but old enough not to be scared of the characters), this enhanced our total experience. Character meals are not cheap, so you might decide to do just one or two. It's up to you. We really enjoyed it, and the huge breakfast meals were great.


Another way to save is to keep sandwich materials in your room. You can buy a Disney souvenier mug and get free refills of drinks (sodas, hot chocolate, tea, and coffee) during your entire stay. Carry small snacks (no chocolate unless you like it melted) in your bag. Plan on more sandwiches and less expensive meals if you need to conserve funds. If you are looking for a great meal you will find dozens of restuarants from which to choose. Personally, my mouth waters every time I think of the pot roast at the 50's Prime Time Diner. It was positively the best pot roast I've ever eaten.


At one time you could save a lot of money by booking everything separately, but now Disney has caught on and they are offering better package deals than ever. Crunch the numbers and see which is the best deal. Once you book your room or package (do so months in advance to save time, money, and headache), you will have it all paid for before you go. Set up a daily budget for food, drinks, and souveniers. Purchase Disney Dollars for the kids (trade dollar bills for Disney Dollars) to use in the park. Put each day's allowance in seperate envelopes. This will keep you on budget. You can also make purchases using your room card. Keep track of this carefully or you could soon over spend your allotted amounts. If you make purchases in the park, Disney will deliver your items back to your hotel for free.

Keep up with agenda by writing each day's plans and confirmation numbers on a seperate index card. Holepunch the corner of the cards and place them on a ring. Now you are set. Just throw them in your bag.

Speaking of bags, you will want to go as light as possible. Try to get away with each person in your party wearing a fanny pack. Think about what you absolutely need and take no more. Moms with babies will need a small backpack. Pack only the essentials. It's not fun lugging around heavy packs all day. What should you put in your fanny pack? Driver's liscense, credit cards, room keys, car keys, your agenda cards, mole skin, small digital camera, and any medications you must carry. Keep it simple!

Packing for your trip is a breeze when you put each day's clothing in a extra large ziploc bag. This works great for the kids. All they have to do is pull out a bag and get ready. Take extra socks for all the walking. And don't forget your swim suit!

Do you have a little girl? You just have to take her to Cinderella's Castle, but don't expect to get there and walk in. You've got to make reservations. Check with Disney to see how many days out you can make your reservation. Plan to make it the very first morning for the first day of your visit, and then plan to make it for each day you are are there. First you need to set your clock to the Eastern time zone (Florida) based on the official atomic time. You see, you will need to get up at about 5:00 a.m., set your phone (try more than one phone and get family members to help out) with the number so you can hit redial. If you are lucky, you will get in and be able to make a reservation. If you don't get in, try again the next day. Try for each day until you get in. If you don't get in, keep calling back in case of a cancellation. This sounds like a lot to go through to have breakfast or dinner with Cinderella, but if you have a little girl, her happy smiles are worth it! Make reservations months ahead of time for any restuarant or activity you really want to do.

Researching and planning ahead of time will help you cover more ground on your trip. If you are going to pay a ton of money to go then get your money's worth. Make the most of your trip by paying attention to the details. And speaking of details, watch for hidden Mickey's throughout Disney World.

Here is my Top Ten Don't Miss Disney World List:
1. The electric parade is fantastic. Make sure you catch it.
2. Don't miss the fireworks. Find a great spot to see Tinkerbell fly over Cinderella's Castle.
3. You can't go to Disney World without riding Peter Pan's Flight, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain (Magic Kingdom); Test Track (Epcot); Rock N' Roller Coaster (MGM Studios); and Primevil Whirl (Animal Kingdom).
4. Take a trip on the Disney monorail at night. Ask to sit up front.
5. Walk through Epcot in the evening and catch the nightly parade.
6. Choose something to collect: mashed souvenier pennies, character autographs, or Disney pins. Of course, you can collect all three!
7. Catch the shows. They are awesome minature Broadway / Vegas type productions.
8. Take in at least one character meal. One of my favorite meals was at Chef Mickey's in the Contemporary Hotel.
9. Ask about wrist bands for extended hours at Magic Kingdom. For a few extra dollars you get a wristband to ride some of the most popular rides after the park closes. Few people know this little extra tidbit, so therefore you can practically run through the lines and ride over and over again. This is not offered every night, so keep your ears open.
10. Take the free transportation around and tour the hotels. They are spectacular, and it gives you a chance to choose your lodging for your next trip!