What Disney Tip Are you really glad you listened to?

[Hootch]

Hello, I am a newbie to all of this. This will our first trip to Disney and I have found these discussion boards to be so helpful. I have been very overwhelmed with so much information and I had no idea you had to plan sooo far ahead for reservations to eat. We are going in less than a month. Will it just be impossible to get reservations now? Especially for character dining?

to get ADRs. Character dining will be a little more difficult. I suggest you use the Disney site search engine and be flexible on your times. The search engine will look at available times within two hours either side of the time you put in.

You used to be able to search all character options at once but it appears Disney has changed that.

Keep trying over the next month. I made a mistake on a date for Chef Mickey ADRs a couple of trips ago and was able to find a replacement a month pr so before our trip. CM is one of the harder ADRs to get.

I would look at Tusker House lunch also. It was not a character meal until this month. The announcement probably came after a number of people had booked their reservations.

Good luck.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Hello, I am a newbie to all of this. This will our first trip to Disney and I have found these discussion boards to be so helpful. I have been very overwhelmed with so much information and I had no idea you had to plan sooo far ahead for reservations to eat. We are going in less than a month. Will it just be impossible to get reservations now? Especially for character dining?

Depends on your travel dates. Some character dining meals will book up 6 months out, especially if you are traveling during a high crowd week. Have you planned your park days? Do you have park hoppers? That can all make a difference in working ADRs into your schedule. As the pp stated, you need to do a serach on the Disney site and see what's available.

 

[teacherme]

subbing

 

[mbf]

Just got back from our vacation and wow, some of the tips I got on here were invaluable.

1)Caribiner Clips!!!! - Wow, who knew? I almost always get stuck hanging onto my DH's camera or a baseball cap on a ride because I have the purse. Not this time! DH and DS clipped their cameras right to their belt loops and their hats as well. I clipped my camera to my Ameribag and it was always in easy access and I never had a purse overflowing with electronics.

2) Plastic bags and ponchos for water rides. Fantastic and I don't think all of our cameras and phones would have survived without them.

3) Coffee maker for room - We stayed at a Value and I need my daily wakeup cup. DH thought I was nuts but it made for a less stressful get ready time every day when we were able to have a nice cup before leaving for the day. When we ate breakfast at the resort I would bring my Starbucks brewed coffee in a disposable cup and get a bottle of water with my meal for later in the day.

4) Free cups of ice water at QS locations - It was not that hot for our trip but a few times we needed cups of water to take Advil or just quench a thirst. I don't always want a giant cup of soda or to lug a bottle around so this was fantastic.

5) Using Disney GC's to budget spending money for the kids. This was a great idea and eliminated a lot of needless souvenirs because the kids were more careful with their money.

I am sure there are a lot more tips I took from the board that were useful but these were definitely ones I was constantly thankful for.

 

[jmw1975]

Here are the tips that proved to be very useful for me:

1) Get there EARLY! I was there for rope drop every day, and for EMH whenever applicable. I was there during the week before xmas, so it was pretty crowded, but I was absolutely astounded how much I could get done. For example, MK EMH started at 7 a.m. From 7-9, I had ridden all of the major attractions, before most people had even arrived at the park

2) Ride rides in the evening and during parades/fireworks. The lines were almost as short during these times as they were during the early morning hours.

3) Another vote for ponchos & ziplocs. I rode Splash Mountain at 10 at night. There was no one in line, because it was dark and chilly out. I put on my poncho and stayed totally dry. Then bagged the wet poncho in a ziploc bag.

4) Baggalini Messenger. This bag was perfect for a solo adult. I was amazed how much I could fit in it! Including a lightweight hoodie for when the weather got cool. It slings across the chest making it very comfortable for all day wear. And when you need something out of it, or are on a ride, you don't even have to take it off - just sling it around to the front!

5) Butterfinger cupcake from Starring Rolls Cafe in HS - delicious!

6) Make use of single rider lines. This was a huge time saver for me as a solo traveler. But lots of families used them, too, if they didn't mind separating their party to ride.

7) Candlelight Processional Dinner Package. Book the package, and then line up early! I wouldn't have gotten in at all without the package, and wouldn't have gotten good seats if I hadn't lined up an hour beforehand.

 

[SpacedOut]

After my trip this past September, I would say if you can swing it, go after Labor Day! We had basically the run of the parks! I'm so spoiled at this point that I'll probably never go before Labor Day again...

 

[GirlOutlaw]

Just finished reading all 88 pages! Leaving in less then a week thanks for all the great tips!

 

[Dan1]

We also used out AAA discount when we could.

Lisa,
Can you list a few of the places were you used your AAA discount in WDW, whether it is in the parks themselves, at your WDW resort, etc.?

That would be really helpful!

Thank you,
Dan

 

[Mom23Disneybelievers]

packing rain ponchos
packing an over the door shoe organizer for toiletries/medications/small items to keep the bathroom counters and room clutter free.

 

[the_green_machine]

Not sure if this has been posted but....

If I had to pick one of the things I was happy to have listened to it would be watching "Wishes" on the beach at the Polynesian.

We finished supper at 'Ohana at around 7:30(ish) and just walked down around the back of the building and found the beach very easily. It was great, there were very few people on the beach and the piped the "Wishes" music onto the beach. We then took the small ferry back across to the MK. That was a view everyone should see. Great tip!

 

[RDarling]

Hello, I am a newbie to all of this. This will our first trip to Disney and I have found these discussion boards to be so helpful. I have been very overwhelmed with so much information and I had no idea you had to plan sooo far ahead for reservations to eat. We are going in less than a month. Will it just be impossible to get reservations now? Especially for character dining?

About a week before we left I found some great ADR's so keep checking right up until you leave.

 

[phillyteamhater]

Got thru the first 50 pages, some good tips, some I knew some I didn't. This will be my first trip in 12 years. I am looking for more adult-only tips. It will just be me and my future DH(will be DH then). We plan on arriving for rope drop, taking in our own water & snacks, using fastpasses. We would like to get the most out of our time and do it "commando" style for the most part, we have no ADR's, we are going in June and we are staying at AS Sports. Are other bottled beverages allowed in the parks like Gatorade? We were planning on packing as much as we could in our suitcases of snacks/water/drinks because we each get 2 free bags and should be able to fit everything in 4 bags(2 or 3 hopefully) to keep each under the 50lb max for free. We also plan on taking in a backpack with the bottled drinks, snacks, ponchos,first aid/med kits, sunscreen other essentials etc. Is the free cup of water still in effect. I know the fastpasses are now expiring. We don't really plan to go back to resort during the day, I only plan to do 1 park each day and except for epcot as we plan on going there on arrival day and then park hop one day on the rest of epcot and anything else we may have missed as a more casual day. Just kind of looking for the more adult centered tips I may be missing, like shortcuts in walking or something similar to beat crowds and lines. I have already read the UG for 2012 and been on TP.com. Thanks

 

[jasper1428]

Great tips! This will be my families first time going to WDW and we are super excited. I am subscribing to this thread so I can come back and write down more tips. Thanks so much!

I totally agree!

 

[Crazy Mother of Two]

Great thread! ugh....so many pages!!!

 

[kimbo0569]

Not sure if this has been posted but....

If I had to pick one of the things I was happy to have listened to it would be watching "Wishes" on the beach at the Polynesian.

We finished supper at 'Ohana at around 7:30(ish) and just walked down around the back of the building and found the beach very easily. It was great, there were very few people on the beach and the piped the "Wishes" music onto the beach. We then took the small ferry back across to the MK. That was a view everyone should see. Great tip!

That's cool, I'd do that next time we go! The last two times we went, after the parade, we left the park and just hung out by the boat dock and watched the fireworks from there.

 

[mbonaccorse77]

If you are on the Disney Dining plan, two pieces of great advice I received. 1) Get your reservations as soooooon as possible. 2) save your breakfast point to eat at more signature restaurants and use a snack credit as breakfast. Brilliant!

 

[Crazy Mother of Two]

packing rain ponchos

This was a great tip that we used in 2007. However it has become a family joke because on day 1 we spent the morning at the hotel and then went to MK in the afternoon. Since we weren't going to be there a full day I decided not to bring my backpack filled with all the things we might need. As our luck would have it... it POURED and without dollar store rain ponchos we had to purchase 4 Disney ponchos ..... which aren't cheap!
Lesson: always bring your backpack!!!

 

[SamIam929]

My first post on the DIS (yay!) and sorry if it had been mentioned previously, but if you have a birthday in your group, get that button and wear it proudly for your whole stay! Last summer I took my kids and the trip just happened to fall on my twins' 7th birthday. Their big brother's 17th birthday was coming up in the next few weeks and the CM at the resort even made him a button. He wouldn't wear it, but the girls did and....got a special VIP introduction on Star Tours, got to "introduce" the Little Mermaid show, got Happy Birthday sung to them in German by the performers at the Biergarten, got a birthday cake at Cinderella's Royal Table, got wished happy birthday by everyone....even the bus driver on the way back to the resort one evening decided that they needed little toy rings. Big brother finally decided that maybe he should have worn his, too! We're going back this fall with my sister and her family for our birthdays!!

 

[carm424]

Practical tips:
zip lock bags in every size for a variety of reasons--I used zip lock bags all over the place. I kept one in the diaper bag for dirty clothes, one in my fanny pack for items that I didn't want to get wet, I used them for groupling things together in luggage to make searches faster

brita fill n go--this saved us a bundle in money. Since they have been discontinued I need to go stock up on filters

fanny pack--yes, they are unattractive, but man, they are handy

buy small fan to use in parks before you go

head back to the resort in the afternoons


Magical tips:

Ride in the conductor's car of the monorail
Make breakfast PS times before MK opens (8:30)

Get a window seat while eating in the castle and an aquarium seat while eating at Coral Reef

 

[jasper1428]

Ok so I have FINALLY read all the posts and have bought/ packed according to our needs. This is a fabulous thread, huge thanks to everyone that has contributed. My last trip to WDW was 10 yrs ago and as a family including a child of 8yrs, this time it's just the adults
my quick question is.. I am going in the middle of May this year (yippeee!!) will I need ADRs for Sci-Fi Dine In Theatre and Whispering Canyon Cafe?