Disney World/ Universal Studios

[southernvaughan]

We'll be there 5 days. What are some of the must do must see things there for a 9 year old? And a 29 year old step dad... I'm just as excited as she is I've never been!

[southernfire97]

EAT CHUROS

[southernvaughan]

Mane I eats churos ER' monin fo brelkfus

[dukhntn]

Must wear reflective sunglasses so the wife can't see you checking out the other soccer moms.

[Buckwabit]

And don't drop the toilet paper in the bathroom....

[TODO]

If you can find the new issue of Conde' Nest Traveler there is a big article about adult Disney World doings. I got it in yesterday and skimmed it, but didn't really read it. Article is 5 or 6 pages long and has a lot of info.

[mfalkner]

The Harry Potter castle ride is a total blast. If you can find a copy of the Unofficial Guide to WDW, it's jam full of tips and shortcuts. Well worth the $. There's even iphone/ipad apps for it to help with tracking crowds, wait times etc.

[lower14]

Do Disney like the 1% does Disney: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/disney_world_srich_kid_outrage_zTBA0xrvZRkIVc1zItXGDP

[southernvaughan]

That's terrible

[MemphisStockBroker]

take lots of money...

[nez]

We've got 2 boys and gone to Disney couple of times and had a great time each trip. I hate crowds but can deal with them at Disney, just part of it.

Fast Pass everything you can.
Get the Disney app, really is good to figure out wait times.
Figure out which direction you want to go when you get to park(s) before you get there, plenty of people will be in middle of road looking at map that they could have looked at weeks/days before.
If you eat at Columbia House (close to Haunted Mansion & Hall of Presidents) go upstairs for seating, plenty of seats there. Also a great place to get out of heat or rain.
If you don't want to be soaked wear poncho on Kali River Rapids, we love the ride but hate walking around park soaking wet (same idea on Splash Mountain, we just always get drenched on River Rapids).
If you're going to water park rainy days are great day to go, people stay away and you're going to be soaking wet regardless of whether raining or not.
Do get spot along night time parade route and watch parade, you'll think you're crazy for doing so until parade starts everybody feels like a kid then.
If you can be on a boat on 7 Seas Lagoon when fireworks are going off at Magic Kingdom it is great view. Also a great time to ride rides when either the parade or the fireworks are going on.
Watch Tinkerbell come out of castle one evening (happens before fireworks), kids usually are amazed.
The character breakfasts are pretty cool for kids, plenty of photo chances.
Take bottle water/water bottles into park with you, they let you carry in.
If you can stay up late to close down one of the parks with extra night hours crowds dwindle down a bunch, think we rode test track 5 times in a row w/o wait to close down Epcot one night.
If you like an adult beverage, its fun to have drinks from around the world while visiting the country exhibits in Epcot. There are a bunch of countries and a bunch of beverages to try.

Have fun & enjoy, it really is a special place. Did I say we have a great time!

[peewee]

It's been a while since I have been but I liked Universal Studios a lot more than Disney.

[southernvaughan]

Thanks Nez! Great advice!

[Ster]

My family goes every year and we have a few ideas that you might want to consider.

1) Food - The meal plans are fine, but if you want to save money remember that you can take a cooler and food into all the parks. We usually take a backpack. You can leave it at the stroller parking area and no one will mess with your belongings. You can save a lot of money by just taking in PBJ sandwiches and bottled water.

2) Time - The biggest asset you have is time at the Universal and Disney parks. You can waste it standing in lines or you can maximize your time with a good plan. Here are a few tips:

- The busiest time at the parks are from 10:00 to 6:00. If you want to really get a lot of stuff accomplished get there before the parks opening time. We usually go in December when crowds are smaller and by getting at the park at opening you can ride over half of the attractions before 10:00.

- Disney has something called magic hours. Each day a different park will open one hour earlier for guest that are staying at a disney hotel. If you are staying at a Disney hotel then take advantage of that hour with limited crowds. If you are not staying at Disney hotel you need to avoid the park with Magic hour as it will be the most crowded park that day. Also, if you aren't staying on Disney site by the time you get to the Park with Magic hour there are already long lines.

- Disney has a program called Fastpass. You absolutely must learn how to use fastpass. Outside each attraction is a kiosk in which you place your park entrance ticket into the kiosk and it will give you a ticket telling you when to return to the attraction and go through the fast pass line directly to the front. On the ticket it will tell you when to return as well as when you can get another fastpass ticket. Utilize your time wisely and manage the fastpass program efficiently. For example, you may want to go to MGM studios and fast pass Rock-N-Roll rollercoaster while waiting in line at tower of terror. By the time you ride Tower of Terror you might find it is time to use your fastpass ticket at RNR rollercoaster. Look on your ticket and see when you can get another fastpass ticket and perhaps run ahead of your family to fastpass another attraction and meet them somewhere else. Keep in mind that you must return during the alotted time slot. In the past we would hoard and collect a bunch of them throughout the day and you could use them as long as you were after the begining time. But within the last two years they stopped that practice and denying fastpass tickets if you are after the time window.

- As soon as you get to the park fastpass the top attraction and go wait in line for another. The most popular lines at each park are Hollywood studios = Toy Story (if you do not fastpass Toy Story as soon as you get into Hollywood studius you will not ride this attraction. We usually get to the park before opening, get a fastpass for toy story and then get in line to ride it. It is just about the only way you can possibly ride Toy story twice), Magic Kingdom = Space Mountain, EPCOT = Soaring/Test track, Animal Kingdom = Mount Everest or Kilamanjaro Safari

- Take the time to see the parades and the fireworks displays. They are amazing and your daughter will love you for it.

3) A couple of fun things for the kids to do are autograph books (Keep in mind that this will take a lot of time. Some of the lines for character autographs are as long as a line for attraction.) Another thing that my kids enjoy are the trading pins. You can purchase a lanyard and starter pin set at Disney store (or you can buy some black market pins on ebay). Your kids can trade the pins with Disney workers. Disney workers are required to trade. It's just something that my kids have found to be enjoyable.

4) Character breakfast are good because they will get you inside the gate of the park prior to park opening if you get the early breakfast.

5) Take a Poncho, you never know if its going to rain.

6) Down load an app on your smart phone called undercover tourist. It will update the line wait times throughout the day at all parks. You can download one for disney and Universal studios. Start looking at it a week before you go and get an idea of what rides are popular to fast pass etc...

7) By all means learn the maps prior to going.

One last thing. If you are staying on disney site. You might want to avoid the Buses. At times they can be great, but at busy times they will be very slow and waste a lot of time. You can park for free at all disney lots if you are staying on site. It is a better use of time to hop in your car and drive to the park you are going to visit that day rather than use the bus system.

[lilham]

Like most said.....Time is the most important thing. Carry Food and water in. Don't buy shirts or caps in the parks. You can go to Walmart or Walgreens down there and buy the exact same thing for 60% less.

When you enter the park, know where you are going and go. Don't get caught up in the people looking at this sites and maps. You will be coming right back past all the same stuff to leave. This will put up ahead of most.

Also, go to the left and circle around to the right. It is proven that most people go to the right and circle to the left. It is imprinter in our brains since 90% of all stores, etc. are set up to go to the right. Another small tip to save time.