We have personally been to the Walt Disney World Resort over 40 times. Over the past 34 years, we have seen it evolve and grow into one of the most "magical" places anywhere. Our tips below are intended to give you some idea of what we have found "works" and some things to avoid. Read on and enjoy!!!

One of the most important things you can do before you go, especially since the lay of the land has changed so much in the past years, is to scan the property map and familiarize yourself with the property a bit. You don’t have to memorize the entire thing, but it is very helpful to have a general idea of what is where. There is only so much you can do since Disney property is twice the size of Manhattan island!! Make sure you pick up some theme park maps each day when you get there. They are very good and they have the specific show times for some of the must-see attractions. We have given you some samples so you can begin to get familiar with the layout of the parks, but you need the specific ones for your days. You can also get them in the lobby of your hotel as soon as you arrive if you’d like to get a head start. They are also available at almost any on-site location that has a cash register! Recently, Disney World has changed to a generic "non-time-specific" guidemap of each park, but with a separate "Times Guide" which lists the specific hours of each park and all of the show times. Be sure you have both! ! !

If you plan on attending a Character Breakfast during your stay, you will want to consider making those reservations before you depart. They are held at a number of locations, including the theme parks and a lot of the hotels. One of our favorites is the breakfast at Chef Mickey’s in the Contemporary and has great views of the monorails as they enter/leave the lobby of the hotel..... The cost is approximately $14.95 for adults and $7.95 for children. The prices for the other locations, such as at the Grand Floridian, Beach Club Resort, Polynesian Resort, Wilderness Lodge, or any of the Theme parks are about the same. As another option, many Disney vacation packages include a  "Flex Feature" (which can be used at any Character Breakfast.

Other dining experiences which require reservations far in advance are the two popular dinner shows, the Polynesian Luau (at the Polynesian Resort hotel) and the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Review (at Pioneer Hall in Fort Wilderness). They are held multiple times each evening, cost is approximately $38 for adults and $20 for children. The early seatings (4:30 for the luau and 5:00 for the Hoop-Dee-Doo) fill very quickly.

The property is twice the size of Manhattan. There are 22 or so on-site hotels to go along with the theme parks, water parks, shopping district, and a regulation racing track that has been used for Indy-car races. The resorts are clustered into groups, the "Magic Kingdom Resort Area", "EPCOT Resort Area", "Animal Kingdom Resort Area", and "Downtown Disney Resort Area". Your resort, Coronado Springs, is part of the "Animal Kingdom Resort Area". If you do not have a car, you won’t be driving, so these distinctions may not be critical but if you want to get from A to B and are looking at a map, knowing the areas and what they encompass can help you figure out how long the bus ride may be.

Included with most Disney vacation packages is Disney’s Unlimited Magic Pass Ticket. This ticket is the most convenient in that you can go anywhere, any day, anytime, for your entire stay….from the moment you check-in through the entire day you check-out. You have unlimited access to all four theme Parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney/MGM Studios, Animal Kingdom), three water parks (Typhoon Lagoon, Blizzard Beach, River Country), Pleasure Island at Downtown Disney, Disney Quest, their indoor interactive Theme park at Downtown Disney WestSide, and Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex. You also have the freedom to visit multiple parks on the same day. In other words, you can go almost anywhere you want, any day, and not have to worry about buying another admission ticket. Do be advised that River Country is currently scheduled to be closed throughout 2002.

Other options certainly exist. One-Day One-Park admission tickets are available for all four theme parks. Multipe four and five day Park Hopper tickets are also available. In addition, five, six, and seven Park Hopper Plus tickets are available that also include a certain number of admissions to the other Disney parks, such as the water parks, Pleasure Island, or Disney's Wide World of Sports. Prices are always subject to change, but unused days never expire, so if you buy more days than you use, you can use them on your next visit.

Crowds vary considerably based on the time of year you visit.. However, regardless of when you go, there are a few things that you can not miss. In the can’t miss category I would include the Illuminations at Epcot Center, Fantasmic! at MGM-Studios and one of the water parks. Most times, both Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach are open daily from 10 AM to 6 PM. At the Magic Kingdom, they have brought back their Spectromagic electric parade.

The most important thing we have found to maximize your time is to get to the parks early. If the published opening is 9AM, the gates will open no later than 8:30. If you can get everybody up and out early, not a small task with kids, I know, you will definitely be glad you did. You can always take a break mid-day, maybe go to one of the Disney hotels to look around, several are very convenient to the parks. The Grand Floridian, Polynesian, and Contemporary Resorts are on the monorail system at the Magic Kingdom. The Wilderness Lodge (one of our favorites) is a short boat ride from the entrance to the Magic Kingdom. The Boardwalk, Yacht & Beach Club Resorts, and the Swan and Dolphin Resorts are accessible by boat from either MGM-Studios or EPCOT (from the exit between the United Kingdom and France !!) or a 5 minute walk from EPCOT. It’s a good opportunity to maybe catch a bite for lunch, recharge, and then go back to the theme parks later on. The hotels are attractions themselves, so some time experiencing them is usually a welcome release from the hectic pace of going from one attraction to another.

 We have found that a day mid-week to hang around the pool, shop at Downtown Disney, or do nothing, really helps to recharge the batteries for the second half of the week. Another option could be to go to one of the water parks. As I stated earlier, both Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach usually close at 6:00 PM, so you would still have time that evening to maybe go to Downtown Disney for dinner, or visit one of the resort hotels.

One popular thing, which we have never done (believe it or not) is Pleasure Island. It is located at Downtown Disney and has seven nightclubs, each with a different theme. There is a disco, comedy club, country western, hip-hop, etc… They celebrate New Years Eve every night at 11:45pm. It opens at 7:00 PM and closes at 2:00AM… Admission is around $20 for adults, but with  Unlimited Magic Pass tickets or Park Hopper Plus tickets, it is already included. No one under 17 allowed after 7:00 PM.

If you are staying on-site, you will become very familiar with Disney’s transportation system. The largest and most elaborate of them is the Disney Bus system. I think I have heard every possible plus and minus when it comes to Disney’s busses. Too slow..Too fast..Too often..Not often enough.. Personally, I think they do an incredible job of moving tens of thousands of people everywhere everyday. They run about every 15-20 minutes from about 7AM until whenever. Since you do not have your own vehicle (and one is not necessary if you are on-site) let the bus driver do the work

You can get from any place to any other place on Disney’s property by using the busses. However, there are a few things to keep in mind. With only a few exceptions, the busses DO NOT go from one Disney hotel directly to another Disney hotel. However, by using the Downtown Disney Marketplace (or any Theme Park during operating hours) as the central point, you can get from any hotel to any other by first going to the Marketplace or Theme Park and then switching to another bus. For instance, if you were at the Coronado Springs Resort and wanted to go to the Wilderness Lodge, you could take the bus from Coronado Springs to the Downtown Disney Marketplace and then get on a bus to the Wilderness Lodge. Or you could take a bus from Coronado Springs to the Magic Kingdom and then take the boat from the Magic Kingdom to the Wilderness Lodge. You would reverse the order to get back to the Coronado Springs Resort. Any of the Theme Parks can be used as a "central point" for the bus transportation as long as the parks are still open.

If Disney does nothing else well, it can move a lot of people very efficiently. The busses are well marked, check the marquee in front. There are about 250 busses going from everywhere to everywhere. And the people are unbelievably helpful. Do not hesitate to ask directions of any Disney cast member (their name for employees). Disney is continually tweaking their transportation system so the exact routes can vary. For instance, they often combine the Water Park busses with another stop. Usually the Blizzard Beach bus is also going to the Animal Kingdom, since they are located very near each other. The Typhoon Lagoon bus usually also goes to the Downtown Disney area.

Lest you tire of riding the bus, there are a few other ways of getting around, at least from Theme Park to Theme Park. From the Magic Kingdom to EPCOT or vice versa, use the monorail. It’s a nice 15 minute ride with some great views. From the Disney-MGM Studios to EPCOT, grab a boat at the Studios and go to the Boardwalk Resort or the Yacht & Beach Club Resorts. From there, it’s a five minute walk into the "back-door" of EPCOT between France and the United Kingdom in the World Showcase section. Or you can continue by boast to EPCOT. We particularly like this as a way to see the other hotels (the Boardwalk is one of our favorites), maybe eat at a different location (ESPN Club, anyone?), there are several good ones along the Boardwalk and dodge some crowds entering EPCOT. It is also a convenient way of visiting the Studios and EPCOT in a single day.

In an effort to address everyone’s complaint that the lines for the "big" attractions are too long, Disney has developed an innovative new feature called FASTPASS. It is available only at the most popular attractions right now. What it allows you to do is obtain a "preferred" ride time at the ride in question and return at the designated time to ride and you can skip most if not all of the normal ride line. You present your theme park ticket at special dispensers at the entrance to a ride and it gives you a ride time and a one hour window. For instance you show up at Space Mountain at 10:00 AM and it gives you a ticket with the times "1:30 to 2:30" on it. You come back to Space Mountain anytime between 1:30 and 2:30 and you bypass the regular line . It can shorten your wait times from 45 minutes to 5 minutes. It allows you to see more and spend less time in line. Currently it is available at Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, the Jungle Cruise, and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and others in the Magic Kingdom, the Rockin’ Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, Star Tours, and Voyage of the Little Mermaid in Disney-MGM Studios, the Kilamanjaro Safaris, Dinosaur, and Kali River Rapids in the Animal Kingdom, and Test Track and Honey, I Shrunk the Audience at Epcot.. One key feature:: You can not have two outstanding FASTPASS tickets at the same time. Your ride-time window must expire on one FASTPASS ticket, or two hours must have passed, before you can obtain another. Disney is very strict in adhering to the one-hour window. Show up a minute early and you will not be allowed in. Show up a minute late, and you lost your opportunity to avoid the line. Please be aware of your one-hour windows and plan your day accordingly.

Food

Nothing is as difficult as figuring out where/when/what to eat. Everything is available, but whether you are near it or not when you want it is another thing. We tend to not eat at very many sit-down restaurants, mainly due to the kids and the length of time it takes. (So little time, so much to see!!!) Some good sit-down spots in the Theme Parks are the restaurant inside Cinderella’s Castle ( only accepts same-day reservations at the door),or at the Crystal Palace which features character buffet dining all day, any EPCOT World Showcase restaurant that has the type of food the family likes (Germany - nice atmosphere (buffet), Italy – great fettuccine Alfredo, France, Mexico --very cozy, Canada – steaks and great cheddar cheese soup). In Disney/MGM Studios, a very good choice would be the Sci-Fi Dine In Restaurant. It is an inside restaurant, modeled after a drive-in where the tables are 50’s vintage cars with an actual drive-in screen showing "B" monster movie clips...very, very neat...Another choice at the Studios is the 50’s Prime Time Cafe...modeled after a 50’s kitchen where the entire restaurant "cast" is family. I do not know what your kitchen looked like growing up but I bet the ones at this restaurant will look very familiar! At this restaurant, the "show" put on by the cast is as good as the food!! Reservations at either of these Studios restaurants, or any of the other several choices, can be made now, but we have always been able to get them a day or two ahead, or even the same-day if you get to the Studios early and make the reservations as soon as you get in. There is a dining reservations booth about half-way up the main street of MGM, right at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard which goes to the Tower of Terror and Rockin’ Roller Coaster.

There are almost unlimited counter service options. Almost at every turn you can get something. One of the books we provided for you is a restaurant guide so you can get an idea of what is available.

Some of the best restaurants are located in the Downtown Disney area(s). At the Marketplace is the Rainforest Café (there is another one located at the entrance to the Animal Kingdom). It is very impressive and children would enjoy the atmosphere. The food is good also….For dessert, head to Ghirardelli’s Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop.

In the Downtown Disney WestSide area there are a number of theme restaurants such as Wolfgang Puck’s café, Bongo’s Cuban café (owned by Gloria Estefan), and the House of Blues. Adjacent to the WestSide is Planet Hollywood, which can hold 700+ people and has a line every night! I suggest lunchtime for many of these restaurants since the food is the same and the lines almost nonexistent.

Each of the Disney resorts also has plenty of places to eat. Seafood ? Head to the Beach Club Resort near EPCOT (Ariels’) or the Boardwalk Resort next door (Flying Fish Café). Italian? Portobello Yacht Club at Pleasure Island . There are also a number of Character Dining dinner restaurants. Chef Mickey’s at the Contemporary Resort which in addition to the Character Breakfast, also has a dinner buffet with the characters. The Crystal Palace restaurant at the Magic Kingdom as I previously mentioned, has character buffets for breakfast, lunch and dinner featuring Winnie Pooh and his friends. There are over 150 restaurants on the property. One of our current favorites is the Liberty Tree Tavern in the Liberty Square section of the Magic Kingdom. Very New England colonial……

Prices run the gamut from fast-food scale prices, to over $100 per person at the very exclusive Victoria & Albert’s at the Grand Floridian, with everything in-between.

                                                                                                              Page last modified on March 13, 2004