I'm new here! What is your best tip for WDW??

[tiggerlover73]

Hello everyone! I'm new here and I was wondering what everyone's BEST tip is for going to or being at WDW? Where do you watch the parades? Fireworks? Best place to eat? Any fun ideas for the kids? Stuff like that.


I'll be heading down in October and can't wait!!

Thanks!

LB

 

[beauty n the beast]

I like watching the parades from the main street train station.

 

[Mousema]

For Illuminations, we get ressies at the Rose & Crown and watch from the patio.

 

[ont/ohana]

One of our best tips are not to wear yourself out. Take time, when in MK hop on the train and enjoy, in EPCOT watch the jumping fountains, in MGM make sure to encounter the CM's who are play acting (we find them on Main st) and at AK look for DEvine. She is a walking vine who is amazing. Oh yes, make sure to have a mickey head ice cream bar!! Have a great time.

 

[momof3littlelilos]

Hi! Welcome!
- Get to the parks an hour before opening.
- bring swimsuits or a change of clothing for small children for water play areas in the parks.
- use Tour Guide Mike for least crowded days.
- we watch fireworks from the Plaza Noodle Station (the old Plaza Pavillion.) there are usually empty tables and good views. (we watch parades from here also but it's not an "up close" view...we prefer the lack of crowds.)
- Use the FastPasses.
- Don't miss the candy lady (I can't remember her name) at the Japan Pavillion in Epcot. She makes animals out of candy and paints them. My daughter LOVES her!
Have Fun!

 

[jimmalru80]

Don't forget to stop and smell the roses. Life is way too short.

 

[lgp1]

Hi,welcome to the Dis
My tip would be to make sure you wear comfortable footwear

 

[TENIA66]

Mine are:

stay onsite, we love port orleans french quarter or all star music

take advantage of the extra magic hours, especially early mornings

go early

fast pass

eat at 11 am for lunch 4 pm supper then something around 8 pm

wait until last day to buy souveniers or put cash in envelope for each park, when it's gone, it's gone, charging on room card is too easy

gas in disney area is as good price as other places now

ice water is free throughout the parks

the refillable mugs at the hotels do not work in the parks

the bucket of popcorn at magic kingdom and the fresh fruit stand are the best priced items at magic kingdom

buy the refillable drinks at animal kingdom

don't miss wishes, illuminations, or fantasmic

also don't miss spectromagic, jammin jungle parade, stars and motor cars parade or the magic kingdom parade in the afternoon

take hand sanitizer

take otc meds, film with you VERY expensive in park

get the photopass and use it throughout your trip, get tons of pics taken, and then buy the cd $99 i think up to 200 photos on one cd, all parks

go to dollar tree and buy:

glo sticks
ponchos
umbrellas
snacks

take a pair of flip flops in case your feet get wet

wear comfortable clothing, pulling and tugging on clothing can sap your happy quickly

 

[jdtopgun71]

- stay on Disney property and take advantage of transportation system
- plan trip well in advance
- do the DDP (Disney Dining Plan)
- make Advanced Dining Reservations
- try to do parks early and take break midday (i.e. nap at room, swim at pool)
- all fireworks shows are spectacular. Fantasmic is a must see IMO
- Le Cellier at Epcot is excellent dining choice
- if you have young children do at least one character dining

Don't over do it. You can't do it all! You will have as much fun on this board planning the trip as you will actually doing the trip.

 

[DonaldTDuck]

Comfortable shoes is a must. But beyond that, if you see something interesting, stop and watch. If you hear something you like, sit and listen. And always, always, always FASTPASS.

ps: Do not miss Mickey's Philharmagic. It's all about the (real) Donald.

 

[the Fidge]

Wow not very much I can add to that first, I can say WELCOME!!! You are doing yourself the biggest favor by utilziing all the great information here on this site! My first tip, remember this is YOUR vacation too!!!! So don't forget to go and hug some characters(besides family members if they are anything like mine!hehe).

Make ADRS for your meals.

Use the great packing checklist you can find on here, if you need I will be happy to forward to you! WHo ever created thought of everything!!!

Don't try to do everything in one day! Enjoy your resort too! There is plenty there too!

Use bug spray on the boatride to Downtown disney! (I have fina;lly stopped scratching!)

Make your first night a slow one the rest of the time will usually be a quick pace!

Definitely buy on the last day. Another last day tip, if you are driving and have purchased the Dining Plan, use whatever credits are left for snacks for the car ride or plane ride home!

Bring lots of film and a back up camera just in case the other gets missed placed. Take lots of pics! Take menus and anything from your resort or parks to use later on in a scrap book. I never thought of scrapbooking till I got back from Disney and love creating great treasures to give my DS later.

Oh and take a little notebook with you and wirte down one those classic kid things they say or DH says and you can use that too for your scrapbook!

Most importantly, DANCE!!! Dance with your DH and your kids life is great , YOUR AT DISNEYWORLD!!! IF THAT ISN'T A GOOD ENOUGH REASON TO DANCE WHAT IS???

We dined at Narcoossee's our first night , made ADR'S for 8:30 and after dinner viewed the fireworks from the deck it was great! THen we went back and passed out! It was soooo relaxing and a great way to start our vacation!

HAPPY PLANNING AND HAVE A GREAT TRIP!!!

ASk ask ask these folks here any question you may have the best part is they will have the answer and another answer to a question you didn't even think to ask!

 

[GoofyBaby]

My tips are to:

1). Get to the parks early so you can ride the "big" rides before they develop hour-long waits in line. Use FastPass!

2). Take your time. Don't rush to see everything or you'll wear yourself out before the day is over.

3). Don't let grouchy people in the parks spoil your day. You're in the Happiest Place on Earth, even if they are not!

4). Drink plenty of water so you don't get dehydrated!

5). Have fun and enjoy every moment!

 

[heimlichfan]

Dole Whip...

enough said!

 

[the Fidge]

Did I Forget To Tell You Shut The Cell Phones Off While You Are On Vacation !!!!

IT CAN ALL WAIT TILL YOU GET HOME JUST LEAVE YOUR HOTEL ROOM TELE# FOR THOSE EXTRA SPECIAL FOLKS!!! ( THE BOSS DOESN'T COUNT AS ONE OF THEM!!! ).

OK THATS ENOUGH OUT OF ME!

 

[Anjiebaby]

Ah Yes that is a very important tip. Last trip to WDW I discovered as we unpacked that I forgot my cell phone charger. So after a message to home and work that I would be totally out of touch, I turned it off and put it back in the suitcase. I felt so free!

 

[Samantha/NC]

WOW you have already rec'd some great tips and we used most of them

go early and head to the back of the park on opening--we did this twice and had fantasyland to ourselves.

Use those fastpasses--we never waited over 20-30 minutes for anything-and when we used our fastpass the only wait was just the walk through the line!

watch parades in MK from Frontier Land-view was great and not as crowded!

after you have seen the parades and fireworks-ride rides during this time-we walked right onto POTC and Space Mountain

I know EMH are great BUT we found that those parks are the most crowded toward evening--we would go to parks that did not have EMH in the evening

We went last month and the crowds were not bad at all--we planned each evening what rides we were going to ride first ( usually one with a fp or long lines in the evening) and which ride we would get a fp for early on.

Have fun, if you stay on the dis board you will get tons of tips!!

 

[byoung]

Stop at the local Dallar store and get the poncho's. Make sure you carry them with you.

 

[T-i-double-g-err]

Three more tips:
1) Get to the park early (several have already posted this, but it's worth repeating.) Get to the park early.
2) If you have children and you are not going into a park on your day of arrival, do a character meal at one of the resorts.
3) Have each child wear a wrist band (self-adhesive paper ones from Party City) that have your name and cell phone number(s).

Have a great trip! Here's some pixie dust to help you on your way.

 

[All American]

(My tip depends on the weather report)

Whenever my family would take trips to WDW, it would rain quite hard every day for about 10 minutes---just long enough to drench my shoes.

One day I vowed to wear sandals or flip flops. I never had to deal with wet, squishy shoes and socks again. I was much more comfortable. And if sandals/flip flops are too uncomfortable, I have heard Crocs are a great alternative.

Silly as it is, it was one of the best things I have ever done (and still do) when I visit the park.

 

[KimDis]

Good tips, all of them.

1st things 1st - Stay on property! It is worth it. You will not stay offsite once you've stayed on. If you're a teacher or nurse, take advantage of the discounts offered by the dolphin & swan hotels. They are good hotels and the location (Epcot resort area) is perfect. You can walk or take a boat to Epcot and MGM and the boardwalk area is great.

2nd - Early mornings. Yes, I know you're on vacation. Yes I know you'll want to sleep late. Resist the urge to get to the parks later in the morning. It is so much easier to get there early, then go back to your hotel and nap, swim or eat at around mid day, once the crowds get heavy. Then YOU get to go back into the parks much later in the afternoon/early evening once these folk are tired and have slowed down. Shorter lines and more rest for your group, believe it or not.

Take breaks: Believe you me I am as dis obsessed as the next dis-er but take the time to smell the roses. Spread out your days as much as possible. Try to take a day off in the middle of your trip if you can. There is so much to do in the "world" in addition to the rides and attractions. One year I took my younger cousin miniature golfing. Another year my mom and I just had a lazy day with a late character brunch at the Beach Club and then park hopped to buy gifts. This year my mom, best friend and her mom did a mini hotel tour of the poly & grand floridian and then had tea at the garden lounge in the floridian. Then we rode the monorail from the floridian to the MK. Since it was a less traveled monorail in the evening we were able to ride with the engineer in the front. I will never forget sharing my best friends 1st time seeing Cinderella castle. It was magical.

I know this borders ad naseum but I have to repeat the fastpass advice. I went during a peak season mid June and due to a good touring plan and fp's we NEVER waited more than 20 minutes on any line. As a matter of fact my only 20 min wait was for Talking with Crush (totally awesome, dudes & dudettes). My trip this year was my best friend's 1st time and she was so spoiled by this. Couldn't understand why anyone would on purpose stand on line for over an hour (sometimes two) when they did NOT have to.

Speaking of touring plans... if you can spare the cash, invest in the unofficial guide to wdw. I like the official guide especially as a souvenir of the year that I visit, but the touring plans (also available on www.touringplans.com at$6.95 for the year) are priceless.

Wishes: View at the tomorrowland bridge or by the rose garden for a view of tink, but if you've got another night to spare in the MK... Viewing the fireworks in fantasy land near snow white or the carousel is a totally different experience. You are in the midst of the fireworks and it is awesome. You are surrounded by light. I would go classic viewing 1st and then do the 2nd if I could.

CROCS: yes I know I ranted about their customer service a few months ago but they are truly superior footwear. I wore the flip flops the entire time I was there and had little or no foot issues. Just order your shoes at least 2 months in advance or see if you can get them at a local store, mall kiosk, etc.