How To Plan A Trip To Disney World

Guest post by Debbie Caygill, our Newcastle Musical Minis franchisee.

Easter 2011 my husband, our 2 children (4 years and 2 years), my parents and I set off for a holiday of a lifetime to Disney World Florida. I had my concerns over the ages of our children but we looked on various websites  and decided to just go for it. Before I became the Newcastle Musical Minis franchisee, I had worked as a business travel agent and have always loved booking and organising our holidays. The last time I actually went into a travel agents and booked a “package” holiday was over 10 years ago! Your holiday really does start from the moment you decide to go. The planning stage is so important, here are a few tips to planning your holiday to Disney World Florida.

Planning your holiday:

1. Visit http://touringplans.com/walt-disney-world/tools . This website tells you everything you need to know about when to go, what days to go and waiting times for rides. It is $11.95 for a years subscription, but it is money well spent

2. Decide which parks you want to visit and buy your tickets before you go. You can buy your tickets at http://disneyworld.disney.go.com and find out all the information about the various different parks. Bare in mind age and height requirements for certain rides, you don't want to turn up at a ride that your child is excited to go on, only to discover he/she can't get on.

3. Decide where you want to stay. There are a number of hotels on site which have public transport provided to take you from your hotel to the parks. If you choose to stay in a villa off site, remember you will need to pay for parking everyday that you visit and parking is $14 per day for a car. The parking lots are huge & baring in mind we went over the Easter holidays (the 2nd most busy time of year) we didn't have any problems parking, never queued to enter or leave the park and only had to queue once to get on the connecting trams to the park from the car park.

We flew from Glasgow International Airport with Virgin Atlantic, direct to Orlando International. We stayed in a villa in the Davenport area, around 12-15 minutes drive from Disney World, and hired a car from  Holiday Autos. The roads are very good and we never had any problems with traffic jams or becoming lost. We did take our handy Sat Nav with us although you can hire them from most car rental companies too.


The last thing you want to be doing on your holiday is standing in queues for rides & attractions. Here are some things you can do to reduce your waiting times:

1. There are various apps you can get now for your phone which shows you the waiting times at various attractions & rides. If you did purchase a subscription for http://touringplans.com/walt-disney-world/tools this will also tell you which days are early opening days. If you are staying in a resort hotel then you will have access to the park 1 hour before everyone else and 1 hour after everyone else on certain days. If you are not staying in a resort hotel these days are best avoided at certain parks as the early arrivers will have already had an hour to get their FastPass tickets.

2. Certain rides have “FastPass” available. You simply pop your park ticket into the machine and they will give you a ticket to return at a set time. When you return to your ride just look for the FastPass sign and go straight onto your ride.

3. If you have seen all the parades or don't wish to see them, then use this time to go on the attractions, the queues will not be so big.

4. If the weather is looking bad, don't be put off, others may be so lines will be less busy.

5. A child switch or switch rider pass avoids the need to queue twice. Dad can wait in line while mum watches the kids. When he has finished on the ride Mum can use her switch rider pass & go straight to the front of the line.

Disney World is made up of 4 theme parks and 2 water parks:

• Magic Kingdom
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios
• Epcot
• Typhoon Lagoon
• Blizzard Beach

Hollywood Studios and Typhoon Lagoon were our favourite parks. I was going to list all our favourite attractions but I don't want to spoil it for you. All I would say is don't miss Toy Story Mania at Hollywood Studios and my children loved drawing Mickey Mouse at The Magic of Disney Animation, also Hollywood Studios. After the session be quick and ask for the animators drawing for a lasting memory to take home with you. We have ours framed in the hall. Go to as many of the shows as you can within the parks, they were all great, especially The Festival of the Lion King at Animal Kingdom.

We loved our holiday so much we are planning to go back in 2013!

Comments

[Isto Päivinen]

I can say that place is really really great to have fun,As an traveler one of my favorite place is Finland even though there is not some place like Disney ,All i can say about Finland is there is some good accommodation everything is good i can say whole package.Anyway thanks for this article.

[Resorts in Poconos]

Disney World has the reputation of being the epitome of fun. The imaginative nature and creative designs of the parks lure you in, forcing you to have a grand old time. Anyone can find enjoyment in Disney World, whether you partake in roller coasters, shows, great eateries, and even taking in the sights as you walk around. Personally, my favorite part is the water parks. These are great summer time aspects of enjoyment. If you are ever in the Poconos, you should check out some of their water parks. The of landscapes a of these parks are breath taking.

You have great tips on making fun easy. I especially enjoyed your recommendation of getting "fast passes." They may cost a little, but you will get to enjoy more of the attractions, allowing you to see the most of the parks. Great words of wisdom!