Welcome back to another Disney Top 5.
Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you all enjoyed your holiday season. This time of year certainly has its own special kind of magic, doesn't it? Unfortunately, it's time to put aside the Christmas cookies, box up the decorations and try to get back into the swing of things. Of course, just because you're leaving the holiday magic behind, doesn't mean you have to stop letting the Disney magic into your life. That magic isn't seasonal. For most of us, it never ends.
Just the other day I was writing a response to MousePlanet's Parenting Panel about how soon we start planning our next family Disney trip. I quickly realized just how much we Disney fans love sharing our tips and secrets that we've learned and accumulated over the years. Indeed, one of the reasons a site like MousePlanet even exists in the first place is to share Disney experiences with each other and offer assistance to those travelers looking for the dos and don'ts of a Disney vacation. I think it makes us feel good to share our Disney knowledge with others. We can also look back on those moments when a Disney expert gave us that one special tip that changed our Disney experience for the better and we then realize that we're supposed to “pay it forward.”
I've received tons of Walt Disney World tips over the years, but as always I have to narrow them down to the ones that I feel made the most impact. Most of these aren't things that are printed in the official guidebooks or listed anywhere by the company. These are things that only an experienced Disneyphile could clue you in on and boy, were you happy when they panned out. That said; let's take a look at my Top 5 Best Walt Disney World Tips That I've Ever Received.
5 – “Fastpass Tickets Don't Actually Expire!”
So… I can still ride at 4:40 PM? Photo by Chris Barry.
I realize that this tip no longer counts—as currently, and rather unfortunately, Fastpass tickets do expire. But I'll never forget when this very sentence was said to me. For quite some time, we would scurry through the parks trying desperately to make that second time printed on the old Fastpass tickets. I don't remember who it was that revealed this nugget of information to me, but I was so happy the first time I tested it out and got to The Jungle Cruise well after that one-hour time window had indeed expired… and was still let through. It changed the way we toured the parks for a long time. We slowed down and worried a whole lot less about missing things. Those were the days, I guess.
4 – “Check Cinderella's for Cancellations.”
Samantha and Mary Poppins at Cinderella's Royal Table the morning of our lucky reservation. Photo by Chris Barry.
This was a very specific occasion and a very specific tip. We were never ones to book dining reservations six months out at 7:00 a.m. on the morning of the exact 180th day away from when we wanted to visit a restaurant like Cinderella's Royal Table. Sorry. That was never going to happen. That said, we pretty much resigned ourselves to the fact that we would never get to eat there with our little girl, who was, at the time, a five-year-old Disney Princess fanatic. I'll never forget being on a Disney bus on our way to the Magic Kingdom from Port Orleans French Quarter. Hurricane Charlie had just torn through Walt Disney World the night before, downing trees and sequestering us in our rooms for what seemed like an eternity. We struck up a conversation with a mom and her little princess on the bus and she revealed a magical little tidbit to us. She said, “You know the airports are closed and a lot of people can't get here. We just called and got a Cinderella's reservation. I'll bet you can too.” I hate to say we benefitted from someone else's misfortune, but sure enough, we scored a walk-up breakfast reservation and had an unexpected and unforgettable Disney moment with our own wide-eyed little princess. Always strike up a conversation with other Disney guests. You never know what light they're going to shed your way.
3 – “You Have to Catch The Opening Ceremony at Magic Kingdom.”
The gang arrives during the Magic Kingdom Opening Ceremony. Photo by Steve Russo.
This one sentence ended up bringing us so much joy over the years. I'm always amazed at the fact that this little opening show isn't listed anywhere official like a Times Guide or a park map. Someone told us—and I can't remember who it was—that we just had to see the opening ceremony at the Magic Kingdom. We followed that piece of advice and waited outside the turnstiles and were so thrilled that we did. It's a fantastic way to begin your day at the park. It really does get you in the proper mood.
Just look at your child's face when that train whistle blows and the Walt Disney World Railroad comes chugging into the station loaded full of characters. Matter of fact, take a look at my face too and you'll see the same expression! It's become one of my favorite things to do in all of Walt Disney World and I might not have known about it had someone not tipped me off.
2 – “Always Book the Latest Character Breakfast You Can.”
My boys, Tigger and Pooh and lots of empty tables at 1900 Park Fare. Photo by Chris Barry.
This was one of the first—and one of the best tips we ever got. A good friend of ours told us that if we were going to book a character breakfast we should book the latest one possible, say around 10:30 to 10:45 am. Their reasoning behind this was that you would get more time with the characters and then you could essentially turn that meal into an early lunch. We followed this advice on our first family trip. We booked a 10:40 a.m. breakfast at the Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast with Pooh and his friends. The restaurant was practically empty and therefore ensured us more quality character time than those who dined earlier. We considered that our lunch and then were back out in the parks while the masses were scrambling for their midday meal.
Since that trip, we have always followed this rule and it has always worked out to our advantage. We have some cereal or fruit in our rooms, make our way to the Magic Kingdom at opening, hit a bunch of rides and attractions before our late breakfast reservation, and then soak up quality Pooh time in a half-empty restaurant. It has never failed.
On my trip two years ago with just my sons, we tried this theory out at 1900 Park Faire over at the Grand Floridian. By the time our 10:45 a.m. breakfast was winding down, there were only two tables left in the entire restaurant and one of them was ours! We had multiple characters visiting us at once because they essentially had nothing else to do and no one else to entertain. It was tremendous fun for my boys. Try this tip. It always works.
1 – “You Can't Stay There… You Need to Stay at a Disney Hotel.”
A view across the bay at Caribbean Beach Resort, the first Disney resort that we ever stayed in and the one that started it all for us. Photo by Chris Barry.
Years ago when we decided to take our four-year-old daughter on her first trip to Walt Disney World we were definitely unseasoned. We were ready to book The Walt Disney World Swan for a week in order to take advantage of their teacher discount. $139 per night was the rate then, and actually, I still believe it's the teacher rate now. That's a great price and they are pretty much in the middle of everything. A good friend said to us, “No, no… you can't stay there, you need to stay in an actual Disney hotel.” I won't slight the Swan and Dolphin. They seem nice, and I know they have their fans, but we booked a room at the Caribbean Beach instead—and that was it. We were hooked and we never looked back.
It has always been one of Disney's official resorts since then and it always will be. The service, the theming, the infusion of that special Disney magic, are all way too much to pass up. We essentially owe it all to that one friend of my wife's who sent us on our official Disney path. I often wonder if I would have loved it as much if our first experience weren't at a true Disney-fied resort. I'm quite sure I would have had a great time, but I'm not sure if I would have discovered what it's really like to truly be in the Walt Disney World bubble had I not heeded this little piece of advice.
These are just a few of the great tips and that I've been given or have learned over the years here on MousePlanet, on other sites, reading books, speaking to other guests—especially ones I never met before that moment—and just by visiting enough to earn my ears and my Disney PhD. We still learn something new on every trip, and as Walt Disney World continues to change and evolve, the secrets and tips keep piling up. I never take any of them for granted and I never keep any of them to myself. The magic of Walt Disney World is for everyone and if I've learned anything from it all, it's been to pass the magic on to someone else. After all, if I didn't hear these tips from other people, I would have missed out on so many of my most magical memories and that would have been a shame.
That's all for this time. As always, I'd like to hear what you have to say. Click on the link below, tell me what you think of these tips or be a trooper and let us hear your own favorite tips and I'll see you next time with another Disney Top 5.
