overwhelmed WDW newbie seeking support

[Erzengel]

It is really a pity not to go to Animal Kingdom.
It is the most unique DWL park. They have few unique attractions that you will not be able to do in California... We love it!

It's been 5 years since we've been to Disneyland but Flight of Passage at Animal Kingdom is a ride to remember. If you like Soarin turned up a notch, you'll love FOP.

 

[nkereina]

Just my two cents as a WDW vet, that visited DL for the first time in 2019!

Question #1: Any absolute musts that you can think of (or can you think of--and link--any Disboard's threads that talk about this)?

Since you have limited time, I would focus on the rides that are unique to WDW and that you can't do at DL. We had fun at DL comparing the rides we knew from WDW, because there are differences, but we wanted to make sure we covered all the rides we couldn't do at WDW.

Its a shame you were outvoted on Animal Kingdom because that is one park that is truly different and unique compared to anything you have at DL. DHS is essentially California Adventure and MK is essentially DL. Epcot is unique as well, albeit, with some repeat DL rides. But if it were me, I would replace Epcot with AK in the current environment and being that you're first time visitors. They have about the same amount of attractions, AK would have no repeat DL rides, and Epcot is a mess of construction right now. Many stores and restaurants within the World Showcase are currently closed, and there are no international CMs working in the World Showcase, which makes it not as appealing. Not an ideal time for a first visit to Epcot, IMO.

Question #2: Anything that I should know and that I may not easily stumble across in my research?

Things to remember about the resort is that the food court will be mobile order only and your mobile order needs to be ready before you will be allowed inside. Not a huge deal, but something to remember and plan accordingly.

There's also the transportation factor. If you're not willing to use Uber, you should plan to get to the bus stop 60-70 minutes prior to the posted park opening time, at least. People queue up at the bus stops in the morning in an effort to be on the first bus of the day to the parks. Bus capacity is severely limited in the current environment, so if you're at the back of that line, you may need to wait for a second or third (or more) bus to come along.

Question #3: What are your don't miss (especially for people who haven't been to WDW before and who probably won't go again after any time soon) counter service foods?

DL is known for counter service, but WDW is not. Counter service is also limited these days. Sleepy Hollow in MK is one of my favorites, and we also enjoy Chicken Guy at Disney Springs. Not a ton else stands out to me. I would suggest booking some of the unique TS restaurants, because WDW shines when it comes to TS, where DL does not.

Question #4: Do you have any advice or experiences (or threads you can link about this)?

As far as actual park opening times, they are unofficial and not the same every day. After dealing with that during our trip in October, my best advice is to not stress about being there exactly when the gates open. You'll still get a lot done in the mornings. Unless you are taking Uber or driving yourself, you'll be at the mercy of the buses anyhow and those *generally* start running about 45 minutes prior to the posted opening time. If you will Uber or drive yourself, you're limited to the time the parking lots open, which is also about 45 minutes prior.

Questions #5 a) & b): Any advice or secrets that I may miss in my reading the thread? Have the policy changes to two drops instead of one and off site access through the app changed the recommendations as to how to get boarding passes

Best advice for ROTR is to have everyone try with wifi turned off. Two drops hasn't changed much about the process. I'd also suggest clicking into the virtual boarding group as if you are attempting to join prior to the drop, and then back out of it and refresh. We did this both times and had no trouble getting a group.

Question #6: Should I get over my Uber-phobia, and do you have any other tips about this (or is there a thread about this that you could link)?

Why do you have an Uber phobia? They are very common, especially in a tourist area like this. We used Uber frequently on our trip and almost all of them even had plastic separating the driver from the backseats due to covid. They were all very clean. It will be your cheapest, fastest, and easiest option to get to Universal.

Mears offers a shared shuttle for roughly $21 per person. You'll have scheduled pick up times and it will stop at more than one resort. Not ideal at all, IMO.

There's also Tony Hinds, who we have used several times and is often recommended here. He offers private transportation in a 12 passenger van. His pricing is on par with a taxi and you do have to schedule pick up times in advance with him, but he's very courteous and reliable. I can only imagine how often he transports people between WDW and Universal.

I was planning to visit our local Disney store today to see if they can help. Question #7: Any advice?

I would think your local store wouldn't be able to help. You can order MBs on the Disney web site or purchase them when you get there on an individual basis. They can be linked in the MDE app and used immediately after. They won't be $5... maybe more like $10-$14? I'm not sure, but it will be a nominal cost and make it easier to manage tickets, charging, and room key.

Question #8: What am I forgetting?

One of the benefits of DL is that it is very compact and everything is walkable. WDW does not have that benefit. WDW property is roughly the size of the city of San Francisco, so don't underestimate the size or the time it takes to get places. This can eat up valuable time. Bus commutes can be as long as 20 minutes in some cases, not including the time spent waiting and loading the bus. Allow 60 minutes to get to where you want to go. Also, make time for Disney Springs one evening. Its considerably larger than DL's Downtown Disney and has lots of great restaurants - some of my favorite on property. I believe it closes at 10pm, so a good option after a day at MK or AK that tend to close early.

For Universal, get there before opening and make sure you keep an eye on crowd levels. Universal has been known to reach park capacity, and since you will not be an on-site Universal hotel guest, you'll want to make sure you don't get shut out of the second park due to capacity.

 

[NorthernCalMom]

OMG, you guys are so, so, so amazing. Reading this thread and all the kind, experienced advice felt like Christmas in January!!! ❤

Too bad about AK. Hey, maybe I will leave the kids and husband home next time and will go there at some point in the future with one of my mom friends for a girls only trip... Sounds like a fantastic reason to NOT make this our "one and done" trip.

Thank you so much for the reminder that both parks are different but that different doesn't mean one of them is better or worse than the other. I am sincerely excited about going and wildly determined to not get too hung up in comparisons. I am just happy that WDW is open!

Hmmm. Maybe I should give the whole ADR thing another thought? I am a bit paranoid about indoor dining--do some of the table service restaurants have outside seating (and, if yes, which ones)? I guess, given that our visit doesn't really start until March 30 (we'll arrive on the afternoon of the 29th), waiting for the 60-day-ADR deadline gives me a little bit more time to obsess about this. Thank you for the Disney Food Blog guide tip; that sounds like such a great resource. Between four more-or-less picky eaters, I found that thorough preparation is definitely key to peaceful meals. Especially when heat, jet lag, and achy feet make everybody just a little more sensitive than usual, it tends to be helpful to have food "must"s discussed beforehand rather than argue about them in the park.

We've used mobile order in DL, too, so I hope the process is similar, even though the apps are different. One thing that bugs me about DL mobile order is that you cannot use Disney gift cards for ordering. Is that the case at WDW, too? We're usually take a bunch of gift cards (bought at Target, using our red card discount) with us, but if we do mostly mobile order and the system doesn't do gift cards, then we'll probably have to reevaluate that.

Absolutely yes to Touringplans!!!! I have been using the Disneyland version of Touringplans for years and have heard that the WDW version is supposed to be even better. I already got both the WDW and the Universal Touringplan subscriptions. Those of you who use Touringplans, have they been good in terms of their estimates about adjusting to COVID procedures/distanced lines and such? That must be such a challenge for them, I figure, to suddenly have to take all your historic data with a grain of salt, because of such fundamental, crazy, pandemic-related policy and crowd pattern changes. When using Touringplans in DL, I usually make up a bunch of different plans, just to be ready for different eventualities. I also love the "make your own plan and then have Touringplan evaluate it" feature. It's not just a great tool for preparation; it's also my favorite toy! My kids like making fun of my going into hardcore Disney planning mode before each of our DL trips (and now, too), but they know how much I love making and tweaking plans, and they also admit (and appreciate) that my tenacious research and obsessive preparation have, over the years, saved them an enormous amount of unnecessary wait time.

Despite all my hyper-compulsive parks planning type-A-ishness (will I lose your respect when I confess that I took every single reply on this thread, summarized the information, and copied all of it into a big, fancy chart???), I know to, ultimately, remain flexible, especially in this case, in which there are so many unknowns for us. We value being prepared, but we are also be prepared for things not always going as planned. I have found that sometimes the most amazing experiences are utterly unexpected! One of my absolutely favorite DL experiences was completely unplanned. In summer of 2019, we hung out at a Haunted Mansion exhibit in the Main Street area that was celebrating the ride's big anniversary. The exhibit had some of the original concept sketches and artwork. An elderly gentleman and I ended up talking about some of the amazing pieces there. He introduced me to his wife, and I was amazed to find out that she had been one of the original Haunted Mansion opening day cast members!!! What a treat to have her tell me about it (and definitely nothing any planning app or any however thoughtful preparation could have possibly predicted)!!!!

My main mantra "Get up as early as possible; do the headliners, and then take it easy and relax for the rest of the day" will probably apply here, as well. I love it, when we have done most of our "must-do"s and get to slow down, walk around, and people-watch.

Thank you again, for being so generous and kind with your experience and for sharing your passion for WDW with me. I truly appreciate it.

 

[DisneyMommy77]

OMG, you guys are so, so, so amazing. Reading this thread and all the kind, experienced advice felt like Christmas in January!!! ❤

Too bad about AK. Hey, maybe I will leave the kids and husband home next time and will go there at some point in the future with one of my mom friends for a girls only trip... Sounds like a fantastic reason to NOT make this our "one and done" trip.

Thank you so much for the reminder that both parks are different but that different doesn't mean one of them is better or worse than the other. I am sincerely excited about going and wildly determined to not get too hung up in comparisons. I am just happy that WDW is open!

Hmmm. Maybe I should give the whole ADR thing another thought? I am a bit paranoid about indoor dining--do some of the table service restaurants have outside seating (and, if yes, which ones)? I guess, given that our visit doesn't really start until March 30 (we'll arrive on the afternoon of the 29th), waiting for the 60-day-ADR deadline gives me a little bit more time to obsess about this. Thank you for the Disney Food Blog guide tip; that sounds like such a great resource. Between four more-or-less picky eaters, I found that thorough preparation is definitely key to peaceful meals. Especially when heat, jet lag, and achy feet make everybody just a little more sensitive than usual, it tends to be helpful to have food "must"s discussed beforehand rather than argue about them in the park.

We've used mobile order in DL, too, so I hope the process is similar, even though the apps are different. One thing that bugs me about DL mobile order is that you cannot use Disney gift cards for ordering. Is that the case at WDW, too? We're usually take a bunch of gift cards (bought at Target, using our red card discount) with us, but if we do mostly mobile order and the system doesn't do gift cards, then we'll probably have to reevaluate that.

Absolutely yes to Touringplans!!!! I have been using the Disneyland version of Touringplans for years and have heard that the WDW version is supposed to be even better. I already got both the WDW and the Universal Touringplan subscriptions. Those of you who use Touringplans, have they been good in terms of their estimates about adjusting to COVID procedures/distanced lines and such? That must be such a challenge for them, I figure, to suddenly have to take all your historic data with a grain of salt, because of such fundamental, crazy, pandemic-related policy and crowd pattern changes. When using Touringplans in DL, I usually make up a bunch of different plans, just to be ready for different eventualities. I also love the "make your own plan and then have Touringplan evaluate it" feature. It's not just a great tool for preparation; it's also my favorite toy! My kids like making fun of my going into hardcore Disney planning mode before each of our DL trips (and now, too), but they know how much I love making and tweaking plans, and they also admit (and appreciate) that my tenacious research and obsessive preparation have, over the years, saved them an enormous amount of unnecessary wait time.

Despite all my hyper-compulsive parks planning type-A-ishness (will I lose your respect when I confess that I took every single reply on this thread, summarized the information, and copied all of it into a big, fancy chart???), I know to, ultimately, remain flexible, especially in this case, in which there are so many unknowns for us. We value being prepared, but we are also be prepared for things not always going as planned. I have found that sometimes the most amazing experiences are utterly unexpected! One of my absolutely favorite DL experiences was completely unplanned. In summer of 2019, we hung out at a Haunted Mansion exhibit in the Main Street area that was celebrating the ride's big anniversary. The exhibit had some of the original concept sketches and artwork. An elderly gentleman and I ended up talking about some of the amazing pieces there. He introduced me to his wife, and I was amazed to find out that she had been one of the original Haunted Mansion opening day cast members!!! What a treat to have her tell me about it (and definitely nothing any planning app or any however thoughtful preparation could have possibly predicted)!!!!

My main mantra "Get up as early as possible; do the headliners, and then take it easy and relax for the rest of the day" will probably apply here, as well. I love it, when we have done most of our "must-do"s and get to slow down, walk around, and people-watch.

Thank you again, for being so generous and kind with your experience and for sharing your passion for WDW with me. I truly appreciate it.

Me again! It sounds like you will be totally prepared come time for your trip.

In regards to sit down restaurants with outdoor dining options a few come to mind that I recently ate at. I’m certain there are more that I am not thinking of right now.


Homecomin’ in Disney Springs (Highly, highly recommend)

Trattoria Al Forno (Boardwalk Resort, accessible by walking over from Epcot. Breakfast was delicious)

Wine Bar George in Disney Springs. (My kids loved this place)

If Spice Table Road in Epcot is open I believe they have outdoor dining.

I really can’t think of any others in the park, but again I am sure there might be more, and someone else will chime in.

 

[Dakota731]

My teens loved SciFi and Prime Time restaurants so if you need a break to relax or cool off you may want to try one while at DHS

 

[TexanInTheMidwest]

We've used mobile order in DL, too, so I hope the process is similar, even though the apps are different. One thing that bugs me about DL mobile order is that you cannot use Disney gift cards for ordering. Is that the case at WDW, too? We're usually take a bunch of gift cards (bought at Target, using our red card discount) with us, but if we do mostly mobile order and the system doesn't do gift cards, then we'll probably have to reevaluate that.

You CAN use Gift cards for Mobile Order - you just have to enter the card number every single time.

You can combine all the gift cards you purchase at Target into ONE gift card at Disney Gift Cards website. And many have suggested putting the gift card number in notepad (or as an email to yourself) so you can COPY and PASTE it into the spot every time you order ;-)

AND I think you'll have a wonderful trip - all that spreadsheet work will pay off.

 

[nkereina]

Maybe I should give the whole ADR thing another thought? I am a bit paranoid about indoor dining--do some of the table service restaurants have outside seating (and, if yes, which ones)?

The majority of QS locations have only/majority indoor seating, so there's really no difference. Tables in both QS and TS locations are well spaced. Plus, if you have inclement weather, you'll need to dine indoors. That could be anything from rain, wind, or cold to excessive heat/humidity. Another thing you'll notice that is a big contrast to DL is that the central FL humidity can be oppressive.

As far as TS restaurants with outdoor seating, there's not a ton in the parks. Off the top of my head, Epcot has Rose & Crown and Via Napoli which are great options. Also Spice Road Table, though its not our favorite. Tony's Town Square at MK has a small outdoor patio. And there's none that I can think of at DHS. There is the Brown Derby patio area that I believe is table service, but its first come first served with a limited menu.

Disney Springs has a much better selection of TS with outdoor dining - The Boathouse, STK, Paddlefish, City Works, Splitsville, House of Blues, and Homecomin' all have good size patios that are fully operating. There's a few other TS locations at DS with outdoor dining, but I can't remember if I saw people on them when we were there in October. Planet Hollywood has an outdoor bar/patio space, but I noticed it was closed when we visited.

We've used mobile order in DL, too, so I hope the process is similar, even though the apps are different. One thing that bugs me about DL mobile order is that you cannot use Disney gift cards for ordering. Is that the case at WDW, too? We're usually take a bunch of gift cards (bought at Target, using our red card discount) with us, but if we do mostly mobile order and the system doesn't do gift cards, then we'll probably have to reevaluate that.

As PP mentioned, you can use gift cards in the app but the number has to be entered each time. You could put the number in the notes app on your phone and just copy/paste to make it a little easier. Alternatively, you could just rely on your gift cards to cover other purchases during your stay. If you are using MBs for charging at TS restaurants, kiosks, stores, etc then you can visit the front desk at your resort and apply your gift cards the day before you check out. I had several gift cards and a Disney Visa reward card last trip, and I found it easiest to just charge everything via our MB, have the front desk apply my cards the day before check out, and then whatever the remaining balance was just applied to my credit card.

 

[_19disnA]

If you try to over plan, you will just make yourself miserable.

I agree, it should be a vacation and not some overly planned minute by minute schedule. This also avoids the situation where the person doing the planning is dictating the schedule to everyone else. No amount of planning will change the number of other people who happen to be at Disney when you are there. We found some days/parks more crowded then others and there is really no way to know that ahead of time. While it is good to have a general idea of the layout of the parks, you should let your family enjoy the experience instead of being locked into a rigid schedule. Depending on the age of your children, might also make sense to split up at various times if some want to look around/go shopping vs. wait in line for a particular ride.

 

[theFoof]

I've only been to DL once but honestly if you had done ROTR before there HS would be the park I would drop and do AK instead. It is probably worth doing for that ride alone, and I like MMRR but that is also coming to DL eventually. Tower of Terror is great as well if you're into that but other than that you have RRC and Slinky dog which are both fun but just coasters. Everything else is pretty much shared with the California parks, not to mention HS tends to be pretty congested.

I get why people who come to WDW often would skip AK of the 4, but if you're used to DL it's very different from anything out there.

As for boarding group advice I'd just say be flexible with your days/reservations and if you don't get it in the 7am drop maybe switch up your park reservations if possible to another park and try the next day.

 

[Disney loving Iowan]

Me again! It sounds like you will be totally prepared come time for your trip.

In regards to sit down restaurants with outdoor dining options a few come to mind that I recently ate at. I’m certain there are more that I am not thinking of right now.


Homecomin’ in Disney Springs (Highly, highly recommend)

Trattoria Al Forno (Boardwalk Resort, accessible by walking over from Epcot. Breakfast was delicious)

Wine Bar George in Disney Springs. (My kids loved this place)

If Spice Table Road in Epcot is open I believe they have outdoor dining.

I really can’t think of any others in the park, but again I am sure there might be more, and someone else will chime in.

Spice Road Table is open but they have changed their menu and they don't have the full menu anymore sadly

 

[DL1WDW2]

Whenever I am at the MK I expect it to be in same order as DL and whenever I am at DL I am expecting it to be in same direction lay out as the MK ... so you might feel slightly confused.
WDW totally messed up Walt Disney strategy with Fantasyland and Dumbo!
Your family will have fun and be overwhelmed .
Remember No Sleeping at Disney ! You can sleep when you get home..

 

[RoseGold]

I would think about changing the hotel over to Pop or Art of Animation. Price difference is probably not much, and that Skyliner (gondola) access is valuable for the Epcot/HS days. even if you Uber to rope drop, it's still valuable to leave. It also means your teenagers could split off at those parks, and you know it's easy enough to just hop the gondola to get back. You could also do a modified version of this and park hop to Epcot at the end of the day (by Disney bus) for a couple days, gondola home. Then, you might be able to change the Epcot day to AK.

The All Stars buses were an experience before Covid, who knows what they are like now. Definitely not how I would want to spend my vacation. If you move to Pop/AoA you can Uber to rope drop, gondola back from Epcot/HS, Uber back from Universal, and bus or Uber back from MK.

If you don't want to Uber, I'd stay offsite and just prepare to eat the parking costs for the rental.

I don't see the point staying at All Stars at all, if you aren't going to use the Disney transport.

Look at the Magic Band options on an actual computer. I've never gotten it to work on the app.

I don't come to WDW for quality food. If I wanted a great dining experience, this is not where I would do it. The mobile ordering quick service is fine, maybe better than what you are expecting. I would not waste time on such a short trip on dining indoors, especially right now.

 

[NorthernCalMom]

Item #7 on my original question list resolved itself! We ended up ordering one Magic Band each for the whole family. I already got the "Your Magic Bands have shipped"-email. Yeah! I am currently fighting my way through the 800+ pages of the 2021 DFB Guide to brainstorm our food options (and to summarize what I find for the rest of my family to look at and tell me what looks like "must try"-items/spots to them). I am getting very, very excited!!!
You guys (and your great and passionate advice) have created a monster!!!!

 

[NorthernCalMom]

I started my “planning folder.” ❤

 

[Disney loving Iowan]

I started my “planning folder.” ❤
View attachment 551910

I have one of those too. I have had to change it around because we delayed our trip.

 

[NorthernCalMom]

I have one of those too. I have had to change it around because we delayed our trip.

2020/21 has been rough on us planners. We were booked to visit Disneyland in August of 2020, which of course didn't happen. We then booked Paradise Pier Hotel in Anaheim to at least get a little bit of our Disney-fix and to spend some time at Downtown Disney, but that hotel opening was delayed, too. We finally broke down and started planning for WDW. What started out as a reluctant plan B is now something I am, with my reading up on things and planning, getting very, very excited about. Here's hoping that the current vaccination efforts will put at least a little dent in those hospitalization numbers, making flying a little bit less scary, and that Disneyworld stays open. Our trip isn't until end of March, so if I luck out and we get those supply issues sorted out, then I may even be vaccinated by then, which would of course be wonderful.

DH is a physician and already got his COVID shots, but I'm in line with everybody else.

 

[Disney loving Iowan]

2020/21 has been rough on us planners. We were booked to visit Disneyland in August of 2020, which of course didn't happen. We then booked Paradise Pier Hotel in Anaheim to at least get a little bit of our Disney-fix and to spend some time at Downtown Disney, but that hotel opening was delayed, too. We finally broke down and started planning for WDW. What started out as a reluctant plan B is now something I am, with my reading up on things and planning, getting very, very excited about. Here's hoping that the current vaccination efforts will put at least a little dent in those hospitalization numbers, making flying a little bit less scary, and that Disneyworld stays open. Our trip isn't until end of March, so if I luck out and we get those supply issues sorted out, then I may even be vaccinated by then, which would of course be wonderful.

DH is a physician and already got his COVID shots, but I'm in line with everybody else.

Yeah I'm really hoping for the vaccination too but I don't think it will happen before our trip.

 

[jani3]

2020/21 has been rough on us planners. We were booked to visit Disneyland in August of 2020, which of course didn't happen. We then booked Paradise Pier Hotel in Anaheim to at least get a little bit of our Disney-fix and to spend some time at Downtown Disney, but that hotel opening was delayed, too. We finally broke down and started planning for WDW. What started out as a reluctant plan B is now something I am, with my reading up on things and planning, getting very, very excited about. Here's hoping that the current vaccination efforts will put at least a little dent in those hospitalization numbers, making flying a little bit less scary, and that Disneyworld stays open. Our trip isn't until end of March, so if I luck out and we get those supply issues sorted out, then I may even be vaccinated by then, which would of course be wonderful.

DH is a physician and already got his COVID shots, but I'm in line with everybody else.

This post has ben helpful so thanks for asking some detailed questions. I'm also from CA and a very experienced DL AP-holder (well...ex AP-holder).

We've been to WDW a few years ago and will be going back this March too. I think you need to consider getting an ADR to one of the classic must-eat-at restaurants. It's not about the food and getting full, but it's about the ambience and experience of the place. BOG and Sci-Fi were both unique experiences that you'll never have at DL. This time around, we're going to try a couple of places we didn't have time for last time--Cinderella's Royal Table and Sanaa.

And now I feel really behind on my planning since I have nothing written down yet nor do I have a folder like you. I also need to practice joining the RR virtual queue but waking up before 4am is rough.

 

[rosiegmendez]

It is really a pity not to go to Animal Kingdom.
It is the most unique DWL park. They have few unique attractions that you will not be able to do in California... We love it!

Agreed! As a Californian, AK is not to be missed, especially if you have teens. FOP and EE are so unique and not in DL.

 

[glocon]

This post has ben helpful so thanks for asking some detailed questions. I'm also from CA and a very experienced DL AP-holder (well...ex AP-holder).

We've been to WDW a few years ago and will be going back this March too. I think you need to consider getting an ADR to one of the classic must-eat-at restaurants. It's not about the food and getting full, but it's about the ambience and experience of the place. BOG and Sci-Fi were both unique experiences that you'll never have at DL. This time around, we're going to try a couple of places we didn't have time for last time--Cinderella's Royal Table and Sanaa.

And now I feel really behind on my planning since I have nothing written down yet nor do I have a folder like you. I also need to practice joining the RR virtual queue but waking up before 4am is rough.

Practice at the 1pm time instead of the 7am time for the VQ. No need to get up that early! Have fun