E12 – Let’s Plan a Trip to Walt Disney World
On this week’s episode, I provide you with some information to help plan your trip to Walt Disney World if it is your first trip there or the first time back since taking your kids. I will also share what I think are the top 10 things you should do at Walt Disney World. We have been Disney Vacation Club Members for over 15 years and have been visiting WDW every year since our daughter was 2. We have experienced Disney before parenthood, throughout all the stages of parenthood, and now as an empty nester. Are we experts? No, but we love sharing the knowledge we have.
Transcription
Here is a transcript of the podcast. Please keep in mind this was done via AI, so there are typos and mistakes. I tried to catch as much as I can, but it is definitely not perfect.
Beth 0:00
Welcome to the roaming Yeti podcast where we share stories and tips to inspire you to roam your neighborhood and the world. I’m your host and Head Yeti Beth Schillaci. Maybe you thought Disney parks were just for kids. But I’m here to tell you, that’s just not the case. There is something in these parks for everyone, especially if you’re young at heart. Today, I will guide you through some trip planning for your first time visiting Disney World. Or if you’re returning to the magic years after taking the kids, you’ll hear me say it a lot. But I can’t tell you what is the absolute best choice for things because it really depends on your schedule, your budget and what you like most, I want to give you some info so that you can make the best decisions for your trip, I am going to cover the best time of year to go where to stay getting there, park planning and what I think you should do in the parks. I also need to make a quick correction. Even though I had Magical Express written all through my notes and my script, I kept saying magic expressed which is not right. So please pardon my error. Are you ready? Let’s Roam. Let’s look at the time of year first. In addition to your schedule, you should think about the weather, what the crowds are going to look like. And if there are any special events that you want to attend, these really make up your decision making on time of year to visit.
Beth 1:30
First is the weather. It’s Florida. No. So depending on where you’re coming from, the weather is probably just as hot or hotter than you’re used to. With a cold down in January and February. And honestly, we’ve been there in January and February when it can get really chilly and you need to put some layers on. So be sure to you know, don’t necessarily leave all your long sleeves at home. You know, but if if you do, don’t worry, you can always buy a sweatshirt or jacket at the parks, they actually put racks out of them near the store entrances on cold days. So you know, if you’re not prepared, they’re prepared for you. Summer is going to be your hottest and your wettest. But I’m also going to tell you, you should always plan for rain. Even if you wake up and you look at the weather report, it looks like all Sunny, you might want to throw an umbrella or your rain jacket into your backpack. You just never know. Again, there’ll be prepared for you, they’ll have ponchos for you if it does start to rain and you’re unprepared. So I really think that the weather it comes down to how much heat you’re used to and what you can tolerate. Personally, I think the next two items, the crowds and the events are much more important when picking the time of year you’re going to visit. So let’s start with crowds. I hate to see say it but I honestly don’t think there is a time when crowds are low anymore. You know, the marketing machine and promotions that they offer as well as people with pent up energy and budget from COVID have really kept the parks crowded pretty much all the time right now. It’ll be really interesting to see how that changes over the next year or two. But we used to go in early December and mid January. And we will see much later cloud crowds, not clouds, much lighter crowds. But I’m not sure that’s really the case anymore. The most crowded time still seem to be spring break time, which is usually March through April. Summer because of school breaks. And again around Christmas time. I’ve also heard and you know, based on some social media posts of people, I looks like Presidents Day weekend can get really crazy as well. So you know, just keep those in mind. You know, obviously, the crowds tend to follow school breaks, which is good news for for us adults, because you know, we’re past this planning around school, and we have a little more flexibility. So you know, let’s use that to our advantage. Weekends will always be busier because locals will visit then. So if you’re going to take some down days on your trip away from the parks, maybe consider doing that on the weekend. Or choose you know, the weekend as your travel time. So that you can you know, really get all your party and time in during the week. And a person’s gonna be crowded no matter what. Even on a low, low turnout day. There’s lines there’s always lines. So be prepared, be prepared to stand in line. Be patient. I really wish everyone would be patient there but you know, just just go and know that you’re going to be standing and waiting and if that’s not your jam then maybe maybe you look for a different vacation. But you know the end Interesting thing is even with those crowds, there’s always little places that you can tuck away from people and just sort of recharge. If you’re like me, if you’re, you know that social introvert, you love being around the people, but you sort of need that 20 minutes of quiet time. There’s always a little corner that you can tuck away and sort of get that recharge. So don’t, don’t be totally overwhelmed by it by the crowds, special events. This is really one reason why I think there are no low crowd times at Disney because there’s, there’s almost always an event there’s a festival. at Epcot, there’s runDisney event of races, race, holiday, I mean race weekends, there’s holidays, there’s Halloween, there’s Christmas parties. There are other things going on, often but you know, these are the main ones. These are the ones that you know, get the crowds and get the attention. There really is an event for everyone during the year and I really feel like this is the best reason to choose when to visit the parks, finding me event that speaks to you and had him you know, to check it out at that point in time. Festivals, Epcot now has four festivals each year. They have the festival the arts in mid January to mid February. They have their international Flower and Garden Festival in early March through early July. Then we pick up on the Food and Wine Festival from mid July to mid November and their international festival the holiday runs from the end of November through December. So as you can see there really is a festival happening in Epcot pretty much all year. And each festival features foods and drink brews. They have entertainment that goes with, you know the theme of the festival and a bunch of other activities to do scavenger hunts. And it’s just they’re a lot of fun. My personal favorite festival is the festival the arts. The entertainment is Broadway stars. And they come in they do you know there’s usually duo and they sing. And it’s amazing. I mean it’s it’s Broadway talent, Disney Broadway talent. The art you can buy is gorgeous, and amazing. The food is really fun and imaginative. Plus the mascots figment and he is a personal family favorite. So we just love to see him everywhere during that festival. Festivals can get really crowded on the weekends because of the pass holders, the annual pass holders. So try to check out festivals during the week, if possible. At least you know the food booth if you really want to check out all the food booths, because it can get a little little crazy and a little crowded. Also, you may want to avoid opening weekends for the festivals. Because that the parks can be full of bloggers who are doing food reviews and want to you know get the latest news out to everyone get out to their audience. So it can get a little little intense. So I wouldn’t you know, maybe try to avoid the first first few days of a festival. Where are my runners. The run events that runDisney events at Disney are are a lot of fun. They host several run weekends throughout the year and you’ll want to check on the runDisney website for the exact dates but there’s typically a race in the beginning of January, one in late February, one in mid April, and then early November. I have been to the runDisney weekends but did not participate. I’ve done done a few virtual ones. But I have not done one live. John ran one this past November. He did the wine and dine 5k He had a great time he’s hoping to go back again. I just cannot wake up that early. I just can’t function. If running no is your thing. This is a great opportunity for you to check out the parks. And for my non running friends out there. If you’re like me, these runs do bring a lot of people to the parks this weekend. So if you see one you know you may want to adjust and and head to the parks. You know maybe again travel day on Saturday and get to the parks and make the bulk of your trip that week. Holidays are another big event and you know it’s mainly Halloween and Christmas that the four parks go through a transformation and are decorated. When it comes to Christmas, I have a lot of problems
Beth 9:57
picking my favorite park for Christmas Day. colorations Hollywood Studios has a ton of vintage style decorations in there. When you walk in, and it, they’re just gorgeous. And then Toy Story land is just, it’s so themed well, and the decorations are cool, and it has my favorite decoration ever. I actually posted about it. When we were there in November, it’s a life size cookie, sugar cookies sculpture of ham, the pig. And he’s being held up by a green army man behind him. It’s so good. Like, it’s just it’s, it’s perfection. It’s imaginary. And at its best, but um, animal kingdom, you know, they, they have amazing decorations as well. They have more of an overall winter theme. And they have these gorgeous luminaries on on top of their buildings and these really cool animal puppets that come out and you can interact with and they’re just, they’re just gorgeous. i Please don’t make me pick a favorite part for decorations. I just can’t Okay. We’ll just agree to not not try to pick. But also Disney does after our parties after our parties. And there, there’s some other ones but I really want to talk about the Halloween and Christmas one because there’s ones for members and DVC members and but it’s hard to sort of plan around those. It’s easier to plan around Halloween and Christmas parties. So from mid August to Halloween, you can attend Mickey’s not so scary Halloween party. These are the exact opposite of the haunted houses over at Universal. This is very kid friendly, very non scary. And in November and December, you can go to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. Now these events are extra they are not included in park tickets. And we have not been at a Halloween party in Disney World. We went to went to Disneyland about 13 years ago. A lot of fun, collected a lot of candy saw a lot of great costumes. But we have attended the Christmas party several times in Disney World. And it’s a lot of fun, the ride lines are shorter, there are characters out that you don’t normally see we actually have a picture of the three of us with all seven dwarfs from Snow White. And you know, that’s not a normal thing you see day to day in the park. So it’s really fun. There’s free snacks cookies. I think sometimes there’s popcorn, drinks and stuff that you can stop in certain restaurants and pick up free snacks that are, you know, included. And there’s a special parade for each events. And we’re not huge parade watchers, but the Christmas one is just so so fun. So good. I love the big wooden toy soldiers as they marched the sound they make the Christmas parade is very similar to the one you see on Christmas morning on television. So it’s definitely worth checking out. And a lot of fun. So those are probably events. I mean, that’s a lot as as you’re hearing these are there any that it was like sparking your interest that you are like, Oh, maybe we should plan. I really think those are the the best ways to plan your trip is sort of to tie in into an event. Soon now I want to transition to where to stay. And I’m just gonna start this next part with the fact that I’m not as you know, I’m not a Travel Advisor, and promos and services change all the time that are at the resorts and I interpreted a lot of this information off their website and some other sources. So I hope that I am given you all the best facts and you know, you can make decisions and do a little extra research from here but also full disclosure, we are Disney Vacation Club members. So that means it’s it’s their timeshare entity. So we have a certain number of points each year that we use for our stays, and because of that we always stay on resort. But I’m going to provide you some facts and give you honest opinions. Because you know, I’m not on they’re not on Disney’s payroll in and I want you guys to have the best trip possible. So let’s go over four different types of hotels. There’s Disney Resort, there’s good neighbors. There’s the swan. These are actually three hotels, but they’re there to gather, Swan dolphin and Swan reserve. And then the fourth type is the official Walt Disney World Resort. So things to keep in mind when deciding where to stay A like, do you have hotel points you can use at a neighbor resort or another Off, off resort hotel? What else are you going to do? Are you only doing Disney? Are you going other places you know, these are things that consider Do you want transportation into the parks are not, you know, those are a few things to start weighing as I go through this conversation. So let’s take a look at sort of the perks pros cons of these different types of hotels. So I’m going to start with the Disney Resort. This is the one I know the best. For our purposes, we’re talking about Disney World owned resorts that are staffed by cast members. These, these other resorts can be on or off property, but we’ll get into that. So these are all on property, again, owned by Disney and staffed by their wonderful cast members. So the pros, these are close to the parks a lot. Some of them are within walking distance of the parks. They have free transportation between hotels and parks, whether it’s monorail boats, buses, Skyliner, and the deluxe in DVC resorts I’m not going to give you a list of those but you can look those up on the luxon DVC resorts right now get extended evening hours so they get a little more time in the park in the evening. All Disney Resort guests get a 30 minute early entry to the park. So this is great if you want to rope drop and you want to get in there and get in line very quickly to a popular ride it usually gets you you know into line for a ride 30 minutes doesn’t buy you a ton but it can save you some time overall. But again, if you’re not in the popular rides, and this isn’t a big deal, then you know keep that in mind. Early this gives Disney resorts gives you early access to purchasing lightning millions light and I’m going to stumble over that all day. But this is where you pay to ride one of the popular rides you get early access so you can get up at 7am and make your reservation if you’re off resort, you have to wait until the park opens to make the reservation. Again if you don’t care about these lightning lanes, this park really it’s it’s sort of useless for you. Disney Resort has no resort fees other other hotels do and you sort of have to find out ahead of time you can get packages with the Disney resources sometime include your park tickets and dining credits. And there is a wide range of different hotels and budgets to choose from. So you know you just have to look for what’s important to you and amenities and pricing and all that fun stuff. And you can do online check in through the Disney World app. So the great thing about that is you and you know you sort of get on to property of Disney and you’ll get a text of letting you know if your hotel rooms ready what what number it is and you can just head into the parks if you want you know you don’t have to worry about standing the check in line they want you in the parks and busy as soon as possible. Um Disney resorts have free parking at your hotel. And you know they really have the fun theming Disney theming that help you sort of stay in that Disney bubble and block out reality for a while. Um, so that’s not important to everyone but it’s something I love it just it just it just keeps the sort of fun of it all and and cast members, Disney cast members work so super hard and they’re so great. And they will bend over backwards to make you happy. So having them to say hi to in the morning and evening in your hotel is is really, really a lot of fun. So let’s get into the cons. They got rid of the magic Express which will take you from Orlando airport to your resort. They would grab your luggage from baggage claim and have it sitting in your hotel about four hours after you got off the plane. And on the day that you were leaving you would check in for your flight at the hotel and check your bags right there like you would check in and then when we will land in Baltimore we would see our bags again it was just such a great service. Honestly, I’m not sure I will ever forgive them for getting rid of this. I just like even just charge me it was it was free. It was included but I’m really just even charged me just not having to deal with my bags at baggage claim was
Beth 19:50
a wonderful start to my vacation as a mom that’s for sure. The rooms can get expensive for for what you get. The higher end rooms may not be as lucky Curious as other hotels that you’re used to at the same price. So if you’re someone who likes to hang out in your hotel, and hanging out in your hotel is a really important part of your vacation, you know, check amenities and see and look for pictures of the rooms online. So, you know, you might want to consider staying off resort if that’s important to you. The next kind is good neighbor resorts. And these resorts have met some standards for Disney to consider them as a good neighbor. They usually have transportation to the park, which is a pro, and they usually have someone on staff to help you with your Disney planning. They’re not cast members, but there’s someone who’s been certified and can you know, help you figure out what what you need and dining and all that fun stuff. Cons there, you know, there’s they’re not a Disney hotel. So it has none of the perks we talked about. They may charge a fee for the transportation, it may not be a free free transport, they may have resort fees, and they tend to be further away from the parks, you know, they’re not right in the resort area. The next one is so again, this is three hotels, but there’s they’re right next to each other and they’re they’re related. So they’re the swan, the dolphin and the Swan reserve. They are operated by Marriott so you can use Marriott points. I’ve not personally been in the rooms but I’ve heard they are very nice bedding and amenities. The rooms are very, very nice. The thing I love is, is there in one of my favorite areas of the park is the boardwalk area. And you can walk to Hollywood studios, you can walk to Epcot, you get early entry, you get extended evening hours, and you can purchase lightning lanes at seven. So a lot of the perks that you get at Swan dolphin in the swan Reserve are the same that you get at a Disney resort. The cons, I saw that they’re not serviced by buses. I’m not 100% sure on that I think that’s something new. But there’s transportation to the other parks. It’s a very, very short walk from Swan over to boardwalk or to beach club, so you can get on the buses somewhere else. It’s probably not a big deal. And they may have resort fees, not 100% sure on that. official Disney, the fourth kind of the official Walt Disney World hotels and these are usually around the Disney Springs area of the resort. So they’re a little further out than a lot of the resorts but not terrible. So they have early entry, you get to extended evening hours, you can purchase your lightning liens at seven. And most of them have free some kind of free transportation to the parks. Cons again, they may have resort fees, and like I said they’re a little further out from the parks than a lot of the other resorts. So, again, where you stay really will be determined determined by what you want to get out of your trip and your personal preferences. I just wanted to provide you some info so you can begin your research. contact your Travel Advisor, you know what things to ask about if they’re important to you. As always, this info could change by the time you hear this episode. So always check to see what the current perks and promotions are. I personally love staying at a Disney Resort. But if we didn’t have the dBc points, I would probably look into the swan dolphin or Swan reserve. Like I said they’re in one of my favorite areas of Disneyworld the boardwalk area there it’s walkable to Epcot and studios. It’s just a really nice area. So that’s probably where I would lean if we didn’t have DVC points. So take that for what it’s worth. So let’s talk about getting their planes, trains and automobiles. There are several ways to get to Disney but you know, you choose choose how you want to but I really just want to talk about how if you are flying, how to get from the airport to the resort. As I mentioned they got rid of the magic Express which really was the top perk of staying at a Disney owned hotel. I mean I really driving the Baltimore check our bags and like I felt like vacation had started them because I could just get off the plane. Get on the bus, a 30 minute ride to our hotel. We drive above our carry on bags to the bellhop and head right into the park, you know, now it’s gone. And it’s again, it sounds stupid that I’m making a big deal about it. But it’s just it was just nice to have like you don’t realize how nice it is until until it’s gone. So what are our options now? Well, last trip, we knew we were going to do some other things outside of the resort. And it was a run weekend. And where we had to pick up John’s bib, it was just easier to drive. So we rented a car and drove ourselves to the hotel, self parking was free. So it was just really our rental rental cost. Again, it just makes you know, does it make sense, given the cost, and where else you want to go? Next trip, you know, we’ll probably use a different option because I don’t think we’re planning on leaving the resort. So then, you know, we have to look at do we want to take an Uber or Lyft or there’s been a few magic Express replacements. Now neither of these are run by Disney. And there are additional fees. But the two most known options are Mears connect who actually was the bus service that Disney contracted. And the second one is sunshine flyer. Now they don’t do any of the baggage stuff. So you’re still gonna have to grab your bags from baggage claim, but the buses will get you to the hotel and back to the airport when your vacations over. So you can look up the pricing because it seems to change depending on season and demand and all that fun stuff. But you know, those are some options for you to check out and weigh which one makes the most sense for your party because a lot of it comes down to to size, a party, you know, per person on the buses might end up it might be more effective to ride in an Uber. But you know, those are the options for you to look at. Now I’m going to talk about the planning, and you know where you’re staying and you’re getting there. But, you know, there’s a few more things you have to sort of consider before heading out on your Disney trip. One is ticket you will want to purchase your tickets. Before you go, the best thing really is to do is when you book your room, get your tickets. If you’re on resort, you might be able to get a package. And it’ll include tickets, it’s just easier to get it all done at the same time. I suggest if you’re going to be at the parks for several days, and your budget can swing it get Park Hopper tickets. These allow you to start in one park in the park that you have your reservation in and then hop to a different park after 2pm that day. As of right now the time is 2pm at Walt Disney World but fingers crossed that changes by the time you go on vacation there. And so to me, thing I like about Park happiness is say for example you starred in Magic Kingdom and you saw and you rode the ride you wanted to and you can take your you know overstimulated body and mind over to a different park like Epcot it gets to be, say three o’clock, you’re like I’m done. You want to head over and hit up some festival booths. It’s calmer usually, the evening it gets darker, it just sort of let you wind down from the day. And of course, you know, if you’re into adult beverages, there’s plenty of options in the countries. If you’re not into adult beverages, there’s still plenty of options in the countries. The park hopping just, it just gives you some flexibility that you’re not in you don’t want to be in one park all day. And I mentioned in that park reservations, Park reservation started after the COVID closure. This was to control how many people could enter a park on a given day. Unfortunately, we still have to do Park reservations. It’s easy to do you know we’re all crossing our fingers that reservations will be phased out and only used on like really high capacity days like the holidays. But we haven’t we’ve heard maybe some hints at that. But nothing definitive yet so you can book your park reservations through your Disney World app or the My Disney Experience website. It’s a very easy process and you can change them before your trip. I will say if you’re on I don’t know that this is 100% true. In my experience it has been being on Disney Resort has made it easier for us to get
Beth 29:51
Park reservations, then people who are just Annual Pass holders or aren’t on resort. So I don’t know if they hold a few more For for resort. People are not. But it’s an easy process, you pick your park, you pick the specific day of your trip that you’re going to be in the park. It does take a little spontaneous nature out of the trip, which, if you have dining reservations and stuff, it, it all makes sense. The only time I feel like it really messes you up is if you get a rainy day. And you just don’t want to be in the park that you’ve reserved for that rainy day. So it’s not the end of the world. But it I do you miss getting up and be like, oh, you know what, let’s let’s go to a different Park. So make sure you have your park reservations. That is something you don’t want to show up on your trip and find out you have not made so so get those done. buy those tickets and get your reservations done when you book your hotel. Dining. I’m not gonna lie dining has become an issue. And I I don’t know why I don’t know why. You can book your dining reservations 60 days before your vacation. But the sit down restaurants are this is for sit down restaurants and it just fill up so quickly. And I don’t I don’t know if there’s less cast members, I’m not sure what’s going on. We have sort of given up on getting reservation, reservations for restaurants, and we just really do the festival food, we do quick service restaurants, and we do a walk up waitlist at the lounges. It’s it’s just easier than trying to, to fight the the reservation thing. But your dining reservations are done in again in the app or your mind is an experience website. And but you know, if you don’t get what you want, and you don’t keep checking like people let go of reservations. So even the day of you can check to see if there’s any reservations have opened. So just be flexible, and have some backup options if you can’t get what you want in the first time. And if you are using quick service dining hint here, because I still can’t believe how many people don’t use it. Use the mobile ordering on the app, it cuts down so much time standing in line and waiting. Go in, pick the time that you want to get your food or see what time is available, order your food, and then they’ll tell you when it’s ready, go and pick it up. It’s a very quick, easy process. So if you’re not doing sit down dining, definitely do some mobile ordering on the app. Now, the other thing we need to consider is Genie, Genie plus lightning lanes and virtual queues. I’m not gonna get into the ins and outs of these, there’s a ton of videos on YouTube by people who use them on a daily basis and can explain these much better than I can. But let me give you a breakdown. Genie is a free service and it can be used on your Walt Disney World app. It’s supposed to be able to tell you wait times and based on your interest what you should go do. We haven’t had a lot of lot of success with with using it. Genie plus has a fee with it. And now that fee is determined on the day of purchase, you used to be able to purchase it ahead of time on the trip. But now you have to purchase it on the day of your park visit. And there’s a limited number of them as well. So it replaces sort of replaces the old Fastpass system. But it’s it’s not free. And it’s not. It’s not as smooth. We have not used it yet. Because we’re usually trying to stay off our phones while we’re on a Disney vacation. So it’s it’s not really our favorite, favorite thing that just be staring at that trying to get that going all day. And finally, virtual queues. When a new ride opens at the park Disney has typically use this virtual queue to avoid a huge wait time of several hours. The virtual queues are, are free. And then done in the app. The virtual queue opens in opens at 7am. And then you have to have a park reservation for that park for that day. Got to be usually pretty quick. If you get a spot. You’ll be notified then when to return to the ride. And there’s usually another opening at 1pm for a second set of virtual queue openings, but that usually requires you to be in the park have dumped the ride. So again, there’s a ton of videos out there. And it really changes from, from ride to ride. And lightning lanes are paid for rides. So some of the bigger rides, if you want to guarantee, you know, it’s a new ride, you want to guarantee. It’s a pay, pay to ride situation, again, done through the app. And you know, if it’s a one trip, and there’s something really important to you, it makes sense to make sure you get on that and try to use a lightning lane. So again, I just really wanted you to be aware of these. So you aren’t caught caught off guard and can make informed decisions if you want to deal with any of these on your vacation. And there are plenty of resources out there, do a search in YouTube. And you’ll get a time that sort of break down the ins and the outs of how to use these and also all the constant changes. So now all of the planning is done, and you’re really looking forward the trip. But what should you do? There are so many options and things to do. But I wanted to give you some ideas that I think helped create the quintessential trip to Disney, especially as an adult. So here are my 10 things you should do at Disney as an adult. One, eat something Mickey shaped. You have a lot of options. Here’s it can be their ice cream bars, there are pretzels, there are rice crispy trip treats, but get the ones from the display counters, not the commercially packaged ones. There’s been days if you’re near the Port Orleans French Quarter resort. There’s whoopie pies. I mean, there’s a lot of options for sure. Second, get a picture with a character. Now, this may sound like something for only kids, but it isn’t. There are so many character options in the different parks. So pick your favorite character. Recommendations I have you can go traditional with Mickey I like the Mickey in town square in Magic Kingdom when you first enter the park before you get to that, like go under the the train. He’s to your right and that’s a really good one if you are a Donald and Goofy or goofy fan, My favorites are the ones of Magic Kingdom again in Pete’s silly Sideshow in the back of the park. There, they’re just the costumes are adorable. They’re just a lot of fun to interact with. They also have a daisy and Minnie back there. They usually have a longer line but they’re super cute back there to my personal favorite or one of my personal favorites is Chippendale in Animal Kingdom over by the dinosaur ride. They are dressed in dinosaur onesie pajamas, and just adorable and those who are always super fun to interact with they pick on each other they it’s just fine. You won’t be the only adult in line. Don’t worry, believe me, there will be plenty and when you do get a picture with a character please please please tag me in any pictures because I want to see them all. I love character pictures. I love character stories. One of my favorite character stories wasn’t with me necessarily but we were in in Hollywood Studios before Toy Story land was done and the green soldier men used to walk around. And Julia had lightsabers in her backpack and he pulled one out and they had a lightsaber battle like right there and it was just it was just spur of the moment and it was a lot of fun, so don’t miss a chance to have a good time. Three, visit a Disney lounge. Other than Magic Kingdom you can stop by a lounge for a drink mocktails included and a bite to eat in all the other parts. You may have to do a walk up waitlist, which can be done in the app but it’s totally worth it. I really think these lounges are just a little bit of an oasis in the parks things are a little slower, a little quieter and just gives you a chance to relax, recharge, get a drink and a bite to eat. There’s just a lot of good options. Oh man, Animal Kingdom we really like Nomad lounge. Hollywood Studios has to the Brown Derby and baseline Taphouse
Beth 39:47
you know you technically could say ogos was a lounge but it is hard to get in there. It’s very loud. They sit you with other people. It’s definitely worth going if you’re a Star Wars fan but it is not. It’s not a quiet little sit in a corner and recharge kind of thing. Epcot has so many places to get a drink and find a quiet corner but to toe Gousto winebar in the Italian pavilion is just a lot of fun. And in Epcot, you can also leave and go out the back entrance there’s a back entrance between France and the UK and head to the boardwalk area. And you can check out abracadabra or that’s a really cute magician themed bar and lounge so there’s a lot of options when you just need to sort of get away. Magic Kingdom if you need a break again there’s not a lounge in Magic Kingdom but don’t worry, jump on the monorail and visit one of the hotels on the monorail contemporary Polynesian or Grand Floridian and you know either have a bite to eat something to drink, just check out the hotels. It really does help to sort of remove yourself once in a while from from the crazy if it gets too overwhelming. And number four take a picture in front of the castle. I feel like I shouldn’t have to tell you this but do it Mainstreet can get really crazy and you know often you’re trying to head somewhere so you may forget to do it. But take a moment and snap a picture. And honestly there’s some really good angles to the side of the castle, especially as you’re walking the Tomorrowland so it doesn’t need to be totally in front but just get that picture with the castle. It’s it’s like I don’t know it has to be done. It’s just such a beautiful symbol of of the parks. Number five, check out a festival at Epcot. As I said there’s almost always a festival going on. So there’s definitely, there’s a good chance you’re gonna be able to check one out. You can get a passport that tells you all the food available and all the booths and all the entertainment and believe me, you can easily make a meal out of a few dishes you can. There’s small servings, but usually you can share so you can eat a lot of different ones. But definitely check that out and try some food and entertainment at those festivals. Number six, write an opening day attraction at Magic Kingdom. I know I give Magic Kingdom a hard time but it’s quintessential walt disney world you have to go it’s gorgeous. It’s fun, they have great rides. It just has a lot of rides and a lot of people. So have a plan know what you want to ride. But definitely check out one of the opening day attractions and while some of these have seen some changes since opening days, they’re still they still count as opening day rides. So we have the country bear jamboree. Not really a ride. But you know, these are attractions I should say attractions not rides. country bear Jamboree, Dumbo, the Hall of Presidents haunted mansion. It’s a small world, Jungle Cruise, Mad Tea Party, Peter Pan’s Flight, Prince Charming regal Paracel Tomorrowland Speedway, the Walt Disney World railroad and Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room. I think quintessentially haunted mansion has to be done. I don’t make the rules. But I feel like that’s a rule number seven. If time and budget allows. Go to all four parks. Don’t let Magic Kingdom be what sets up your opinion at Walt Disney World. I know I said it a million times. It’s crowded. It’s overwhelming. It has the most rides but it’s it’s still you have to go but the other ride other parks are oh, they’re just they’re very different. They’re different from Magic Kingdom. So you have to experience them. And honestly, animal kingdom doesn’t get enough attention. But it’s my favorite park right now. And I’ll get into that more another day. But definitely try to go to the other parks not just magic kingdom. Now number eight, I’m gonna get a little controversial. Skip Starbucks and had the jaw freeze. There’s a Starbucks in every park. But just one day, just one coffee. Try something new and go to Joffrey so they have stands throughout most of the parks. And they often have shorter lines. I personally love the shake in Jamaican cold brew with a little bit of cream and sometimes a shot of vanilla syrup. I don’t know it just hits the spot. It’s just good. They’re a Tampa company and they make special rows for all Disney’s restaurants. I don’t know just just go with something different try try job freeze. If you don’t like it go back to Starbucks but but just give it a try. Also, they have some giant donuts look like they wouldn’t be good. They’re amazing. So you know Definitely try one out. So like I said, let me know what you think if you try we’ll try out job freeze and what your favorite drink was but just just give Starbucks a day off okay? They’ll be okay. Number nine just take some time to wander around in taken the theming details. This is especially easy to do in Animal Kingdom The park is just so beautiful and theme to theme to perfection. You’ll also see super super great theming in Hollywood studios in their Toy Story land and galaxies edge but to where Star Wars just just pay attention to those details and when you’re changing lands like listen to the music listen how the music changes as you leave one land and enter another look for hidden Mickey’s you don’t know what a hidden Mickey is? Well, it’s an image of representation of Mickey and it uses three circles to make a Mickey Mouse outline and Imagineers have hidden them throughout the park. There are a lot of fun to keep an eye out for and, you know, spot them. And again, it’s just it’s just another thing to do to really appreciate all the hard work and details the Imagineers have designed for these parks. Number 10 take different transportation modes, monorail boat, Skyliner bus, when you’re traveling between between parks, you often have other options than then the bus. So you can take a monorail to get from Magic Kingdom to Epcot and back. You can also I mentioned earlier ride the monorail to the contemporary Polynesian and Grand Floridian resorts and the Skyliner can be back and forth to Hollywood studios and Epcot. And of course there’s boats you can take between Epcot and studios and from Magic Kingdom to some of the resorts. So, you know, again, just just take some quiet time and check out the scene and check out the go on the transportation and look at everything else that the resort has to offer. Alright, you knew I was gonna do this, I’m gonna throw in a bonus 11 Just relax and have fun. I just urge you just allow yourself to suspend belief like, no, it’s going to be busy. But no, you can still have fun. I know that you’re going to be tired at the end of the day. But you can still have fun, like, just go into your Disney vacation with an open heart and an open mind. And just just have fun, please. So after all that, I hope that this has made you feel a little bit more comfortable about heading to Disney World and know what you know what you’re going to look into when starting that planning. And I know Disney is not for everyone and I’m not here to talk you into it. Believe me. I don’t want to be on vacation in the same place with people that don’t want to be there. It’s a huge buzzkill for our for us Disney fans. I do have some upcoming episodes where we will dive into each park we have visited and talk about you know what you should ride, do eat, drink, and check out you know, so I really hope this if you’ve been sort of on the fence that you get out there and start planning so if you have questions or want to know more about a park, please let me know and I will try to answer it in a future episode. I hope these episodes inspired you to get out there and roam even in your own neighborhood and hopefully Disneyworld. Please subscribe so you don’t miss future episodes. And if you like what we’re doing here, please leave a review and rating also help to help support us. Please head to Yeti to shop.com to pick up some roaming yet emerged and sign up for our newsletter to join us in our monthly bingo challenge. I’ll talk to you soon and keep roaming
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
