tips for walt disney world

after having returned from our trip to walt disney world [wdw] which i think for me makes trip #6 to the most magical place on earth i have decided to put some well learned tips here for anyone who is planning on going anytime in the future:

1. do NOT attempt to go to wdw in the months of may thru september - it's hot and the rides are a pain to get on because apparently everyone likes going when it's a dutch oven down there in florida.

2. stay in a wdw resort - there's buses that take you to every park that wdw owns and you can affordably stay in one of the three all-star resorts or pop century resort for $82/night. you really can't beat that price.

3. go with the disney dining plan - you would think we would have figured this out before this trip but we finally learned of the disney dining plan. we were on the basic plan that is around $40/$45 per person per day. the food at disney is EXPENSIVE as it is in any other theme park. if you get the dining plan here's what you get per person:
1 snack per day - can include any non-alcoholic bottled drink or ice cream item typically under $4.00
1 quick service meal - entree, dessert, and non-alcoholic drink at any of the burger/pizza/salad/fast food joints in the park - these meals typically run around $15 to $20 per person
1 table service meal - entree, dessert, and non-alocholic drink at any of the very nice sit down restaurants in the park - these meals typically run around $40 to $80 per person
the only problem with the dining plan is if you somehow manage not to use all of your dining plan so make sure you're spending the correct meals and keep track of what you've got left which is pretty simple as it's listed on your receipt after you're done eating.

4. get to the early parks when they open - if you're staying at a wdw resort and you have the parkhopper pass for the four main parks [epcot, mgm now known as hollywood studios, magic kingdom, and animal kingdom] which you should have if you're going then you're allowed to go into a park a day an hour earlier and a park a day will stay open three or more extra hours. the ones that open early that day are the ones that you want to hit. as soon as you get to the early park hit up the most thrilling ride for a fastpass and then go ride the second most thrilling ride. by the time you're done with the second most thrilling ride it will be time to redeem your fastpass and walk straight to the front of the line of the first most thrilling ride. i know that sounded sorta involved but read it through a coupla times and it'll make sense.

5. make your reservations for food 90 days in advance - this is as soon as you can book your reservations and the good ones will be gone if you wait too long. here's a list of where we enjoyed eating the most. every single restaurant is at epcot.

• Yakitori House - Japan - i suggest the ninja alcoholic beverage which is a mix of sake and plum wine along with the teriyaki steak and ice cream - most excellent service i have ever seen
  
• Les Chefs de France - France - even with the disney dining plan you can still do the traditional three course meal here and get an appetizer if you order off their exclusive three course menu - i highly recommend the french onion soup - second most excellent service i have ever seen
• Le Cellier - Canada - steak...eat the steak...
• Coral Reef Restaurant - Living Seas
• The Garden Grill Restaurant - The Land - i always suggest everyone get dirt. what meal is complete without it?

6. get a photo pass - they're free. you can look at all the pics before purchasing them and the disney crew can do some really neat stuff with your pictures. plus all the photo pass folks will take pics of you with your own camera if you let them take a couple with theirs as well. apparently nowadays they'll give you every photo they've taken for a whole $11.95 onto a memory card. i find that a pretty good deal as it can literally contain HUNDREDS of photos. i'll have to make sure that's completely accurate though because we didn't do it, just heard it in passing.

7. if you're at least two days out from departure have whatever you buy in the park shipped to your room - make sure to tell the cashier this in advance otherwise they have to complete your purchase all over again but it's a great way to get the stuff you want and not have to lug it around the park.

for now that's all the tips i can think of but i may remember more later. here's a really specific one - if you end up staying at the sprawling coronado springs resort and wonder where all the wdw buses are, they stop initially at stop 2 and barely ever make it to stops 4 and 1 as they are always full by that point so go to stop 2 first.

anywho for now...enjoy the silence.