Ever since our trip in February, we have been looking forward to our next trip to Walt Disney World. We have listened to Disney music in our car, we have watched all of the Disney+ Imagineering and "behind the scenes" documentaries and trying to recreate Disney classic foods (we think we have finally mastered the Kakamora Float from Adventureland!)
To celebrate our family's birthday, two of our birthdays, and Lady Hiva graduating with her Master's degree, we decided to go again! This time was the first few weeks of August. We knew it was going to be hot and sweaty...but we planned ahead and were ready.
This post covers some details and overall thoughts. There will be a post about each park after this post. You can also look back at the posts from February 2021 for other thoughts/tips and tricks. Here is the general post. Here is Animal Kingdom, EPCOT, Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.
Here are the Posts for this trip:
Animal Kingdom, EPCOT, Magic Kingdom, Disney's Hollywood Studios and Thoughts on food.
This trip was amazing. It was hot...as expected...but it was still enjoyable. We had so much fun planning our trip and finding ways to make it better. Below are some of our learnings as you plan your trip.
Transportation
Flying:
We still find the best deals using Google Flights. It allows you to see the price for days in a month. This is really great if you have flexible dates. You just put in your departure and arrival airports (it allows you to put multiple if you live close to two places) and then don't put a specific date, just click on the calendar icon and it will show you the prices by date.
Ground Transportation:
Once you are in Orlando, there are several options for ground transportation. From the airport there are taxis, ride-share, and rental cars. We have found that renting a car works best for our family so we can go to the store etc during the week. Just note that renting a car may have extra costs. There are toll roads all over the city, you can make it anywhere without using toll roads, but it takes longer. Check your hotel reservation because they may tack on a per night parking fee as well.
If you stay on Disney Property either in a Disney Resort or one of the partner hotels at Disney Springs, you may not need a vehicle because bus transportation can take to to and from the parks.
Strollers:
Renting a stroller in the parks makes all the difference for our children. They are older so they do not use strollers normally, but we have less whining and a place for them to take a quick nap if they can ride a bit during the day. It also makes a place to store shopping bags and food while you enjoy rides. Make sure to have a rain cover.
We used the same company we did in February (there are others) Rent Baby Gear of Orlando. They are fantastic. They had great prices (we had a double stroller for 2 weeks for the same cost of a 1 day rental in the park). They dropped off the stroller at the hotel and picked it up when we were done. Their customer service was amazing, it felt like I was family.
Take some large carabiners to hang bags or water bottles on the handle of the stroller. Makes life so much easier.
Wheelchairs:
This trip we needed to use a wheelchair. Each park has special parking for people that need chairs and there are courtesy chairs to get you from your car to the park. (It is a walk for sure). Once at the park entrance you can rent a chair. The fee is small and it helps those with mobility needs enjoy the day too. Most rides you go through the line like everyone else until the end and they load you at a different place onto the ride. Disney has it worked out smoothly.
Hotels:
As stated before, there are SEVERAL options for hotels in Orlando. There are options for all budgets. We have specific things we look for--1 a pool. 2 breakfast included. We have found when we feed our family a good breakfast they are happier during the day. 3 no added resort fee. Some resorts will add a nightly fee on top of the price for the room. It sneaks in and adds up. 4 free internet and parking 5 Laundry on site.
I will scour booking websites to find a hotel that fits our needs and budget. We love the Disney Springs Area hotels because it is close to the parks and you have the option of taking the Disney transportation to and from the parks. This option is also the least amount of walking to the park entrance. The last two times we have found a great deal on a Marriott at the West Gate. Hotwire provided a great deal. We would love to stay at a Disney Hotel, but we paid for 12 nights the same prices as 2 nights at a moderate Disney hotel. It is on Disney land so it is still themed Disney inside and they have Mickey Waffles for breakfast.
Food:
Thoughts on food throughout the parks here.
Lady Hiva travels for food. I usually go for the rides, the people and the architecture, but she goes for the food! It is fun to see what is available. Orlando offers all the chain foods--sit down and fast food. All of them within a 10 minute drive of the parks. There is also a great selection of authentic ethnic foods.
As I said earlier, we always make sure our kids have a good breakfast before going to the park. Either cooking in your room, eating at the hotel, or stopping as you go into the park. We also take a bunch of snacks that our kids like in a backpack for in-between meals snacks.
We found that taking our reusable water bottles works best for water. They keep water cold during a hot day, saves on buying water bottles, and best of all they are refillable. We would make sure they were filled during the day at the hotel, then around eating time we would fill them again where we ate. If we were at a restaurant, we would fill them there, or all fast food places will give free cups of ice water when you ask. I would get some of them and refill our water bottles.
As with other trips, we always want to do a character dining. This allows the family to interact with characters without waiting in hot lines all day. We added to that this time. Lady Hiva REALLY wanted to "go all out" to celebrate and I agreed. We were worried about getting reservations for all the places we wanted to go, but in the end, we were able to do it! We would keep looking at random times and we would look at the places by hour, not by "Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner". We found the mobile version of the reservation app to be easier to use.
Some of our favorites from this trip included, Yak and Yeti, Tusker House, Ohana, Hollywood and Vine, Prime Time Cafe, Skipper Canteen, Cinderella's Royal Table, Be Our Guest, and Kona Cafe.
Shopping and Merchandise
There is SO much shopping to do! It is easy to get sucked into spending more than you expected shopping. So we found a way to help. We had our children participate in the process. We had a garage sale and they sold some of they toys and stuff--we told them that was their spending money. We gave them their amount and they could choose what to buy.
We have found ways to save. We purchase some light up necklaces and or wands to light up at night. This is cheaper than buying them in the park. The Wal-mart near Disney World also carries Disney plush toys and Disney shirts. So you can have your Disney gear for cheaper than in the park.
Tips before you go:
Here are some thoughts for you as you prepare:
-Go early. You can beat the crowds and the heat by going early. Lines are shorter and you can ride the long rides before everyone else.
-Have a plan. So many people waste precious time trying to figure out what they want to do and walking across the park back and forth. Know what rides you want to do and hit them all in one area before moving to the next. Go to the ride with the longest lines first.
-Wear good shoes. Seriously...this is a MUST. Forget cute shoes, or fancy shoes, wear shoes that you can walk in and be comfortable. It will make your day HORRIBLE if you don't.
-Take Ibuprofen with you. Just in case you were worried about vanity and you wore bad shoes, or if that one ride rattled you more than you thought. Have some pain meds to take off the edge.
-Have umbrellas and ponchos handy.
-Plan to have a good show or eating between rides, it helps keep the sweat and overheating regulated.
-The stores sell out towards the end of the day, so if there is something you want, buy it when you see it or get it first thing in the morning.
-We had to wear masks in the queues and in buildings/restaurants but not outside or while eating in restaurants.
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