- It’s a lot of walking so wear good tennis shoes. Cute will just not do.
- Bring a car or rent one. Why spend your time waiting on a bus when you can zoom to the park in your own car? Imagine holding 6 kids, 2 strollers and 2 bags on a crowded bus-not for me. Update: No more strollers (yippee!), but still bus riding is not for me!
- You can take an ice chest in so we always bring a small one and hang it on the back of the strollers. Water bottles filled with ice work well to keep things chilled. Update: Backpack ice chest works great to hold Lunchables plus a semi frozen 1 liter is a good little drink later in the day when it is hot.
- Most of the concession stands/restaurants will give you free cups of ice or ice water. We bring in our own cokes to drink with their ice.
- Buy a drink cup from your hotel if you are staying onsite especially if you are a big coke drinker. We used ours for an afternoon and evening snack. Pretty good value and gave us something fun to do-go and get a coke!
- Understand the Fast pass system and use it to your advantage. If you use it correctly, you should not have to wait in any long lines even during the busiest park days. Even though the system has changed, it still helps tremendously so read up on it before you go.
- Don’t sleep in. Be there when the park opens-the lines are not long and you can get so much done before everyone else shows up. Disney is not a restful vacation-Get up!
- Port Orleans French Quarter is our favorite hotel right now. It is in a central location and a much smaller resort with many amenities. Building 3 is preferred-near the parking lot, pool and main building. Update: If you have a camper, Fort Wilderness is so much fun. It is pretty perfect!
- Schedule breakfast before the park opens, it is so nice to get in early and finish just as everyone else is walking in. And if you are eating early at Magic Kingdom, the walk down an empty Main Street is wonderful.
- Always be at your reservations early. We have been seated up to an hour early sometimes-it never hurts to try if your dining time is supposed to be later than you want.
- We like using the restrooms at the Ticket and Transportation center. It is much less crowded.
- If the Magic Kingdom express monorail is full walk around to the resort monorail line. It has 2 extra stops but is usually not crowded.
- First visit/birthday or anniversary buttons are at Guest Relations and they happily give them out.
- Best out of park housing: Blooming Alamanda Loop was the street we stayed on last visit and that neighborhood was minutes away from the parks.
- Rider switch is your friend if you need it. Read up on to really understand it. Whitman is now (11/19) just a half inch from riding Rock N Roller coaster so we only used it once this trip.
We have ranked the places we have eaten on our last trip and will add on subsequent trips. But here is what we thought on a 1 to 10 scale (10 being the best and 1 being not worth the time)
- 10-Magic Kingdom Adventure Land’s Orange Juice Slushies. This is Robby’s favorite dessert and would hop in the car and drive to Orlando just for one. Updated-they no longer serve these there!
- 6-Magic Kingdom Adventure Land’s Dole Whip. Great dessert but much smaller than expected portions which made me sad!
- 3-Magic Kingdom Crystal Palace. Unless you really like Winnie and Tigger, just go ahead and skip this. The food is a standard buffet prepared for a zillion people.
- 9-Magic Kingdom Pecos Bill. Loved the condiment bar with lots of indoor seating. I loved the taco salad-absolutely loved it. Updated: Bring in some tortillas and order a few sides of chicken. (4 sides of chicken, a side of beans and a trip to the condiment bar plus the tortillas fed the 8 of us for less than 30 bucks.)
- 8-Magic Kingdom Main Street Bakery. Great cinnamon rolls and ice cream sandwich (good for sharing) Updated-the bakery has become a Starbucks and the cinnamon rolls have moved to Gaston's Tavern Updated-the cinnamon roll at Gaston's is good, not to die for or anything.
- 7-Caseys. Good hot dogs and nachos. Our kids loved the cotton candy as dessert.
- 6-Magic Kingdom Cosmic Rays. Large portions with lots of variety. Also lots of indoor seating with close bathrooms.
- 9-Epcot Akershaus Royal Dining. Wonderful for little princesses. Liked sampler buffet and really great that you see all of the princesses and it is just one dining credit as opposed to the two credits that Cinderella’s Castle takes. More so for girls than for the boys.
- 5-Epcot Coral Reef. Not my favorite and probably should have ranked it lower. I think it had a fishy smell, pitiful service but with decent food.
- 7-Epcot Sunshine Season. Fairly central location with lots of seating and wide selection.
- 7-Epcot Mexico Cantina. Good Mexican food with delicious nachos.
- 6-Hollywood Studios Pizza Planet. Pretty good pizza that kills hunger. Nice that it has indoor seating.
- 7-Hollywood Studios Starring Rolls. Great desserts with huge sandwiches. Butterfinger cupcake is highly recommended by these Dennies. Updated: Closed!
- 8-Animal Kingdom Tusker House. Huge breakfast selection and you see Mickey, Donald, Daisy and Goofy. This now beats out my Chef Mickeys which I love. Always feel a bit rushed there though.
- 8-Animal Kingdom Flame Tree BBQ. The best BBQ around with plenty of covered seating along the lake just keep walking down the path. Delicious mac and cheese.
- 7-French Quarter Quick Service. The food was good, plentiful. Excellent beignets and quesadillas.
- 6.5-Polynesian O’hana Breakfast. We weren’t as crazy about O’hanas this year as we were last year but still a great breakfast and well worth it if you go here before the park opens (at least an hour)
- 7-Polynesian O'hana Supper. Lots and lots of food. Fun for the kids and if you aren't planning on going back to the park-go out to the beach and watch the fireworks.
- 7-Disney Springs Wolfgang Pack. Pretty good out of the park dining. The service was a bit slow but the food was still good.
- 8-Hollywood Studios Mama Rosas. My Vodka pasta (it had a fancy name) was delicious. Few choices at hollywood but this one is great.
- 5-Epcot San Angel Inn. Our service was slow and there were few foods to choose from. Will not be returning there. Though it pretty inside-unless you are seated by the bathroom like us!!
- 7-Boma. We really enjoyed trying lots of different foods. But like all buffets, they are crazy expensive so this was just a once and done restaurant for us.
- Animal Kingdom’s Lion King show. It is one of our favorites and always a nice break to sit somewhere cool for a bit.
- Hollywood Studio's Frozen Sing-a-long show. Who doesn't love singing along with Anna and Elsa?
- Magic Kingdom's People Mover. Wonderful ride since it is long enough to rest on, lets you see that side of the park, everyone can go on it, no wait and always provides a nice cool breeze.
- Epcot Coke Place. I don't know the real name but there are samples of cokes from around the globe. Great spot to cool off and grab something to drink. Updated: What are the doing closing all of the great places? Hopefully, they will bring this one back!
- Animal Kingdom's Avatar-make sure you are there first thing in the morning or jump in line right at closing time.
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