Deep in the Heart of Texas: Walt Disney World

We literally just got back into town today but I thought I would write everything down NOW just in case we ever decide to do this again. I am skeptical that Matt will be able to talk me into it again, but he's pretty good at convincing me to do stuff and (most of the time) I am glad I did it!

START PLANNING 9 MONTHS in ADVANCE if you ever plan to go again.

First of all, buy another "Unofficial Guide" to Walt Disney World. Just go ahead and buy the book - it is huge and expensive, but worth it. And get on touring plans.com. Figure out what touring plans you are going to use and get your fast passes the first day they are available. It is all about the Fast Passes people! The lines are crazy-long and without Fast Passes, the day is miserable. Get Fast Passes for EARLY in the day - even if it is not what the touring plans recommend, it is better to get them EARLY in the day because when you use all three up you can get more for later in the day. The problem I ran into was that the kids LOVED certain popular rides and wanted to do them again, but our fast passes would not be used until late in the day so that left us stuck and unable to get any more Fast Passes and they would all run out for the popular rides the day of.

Here is how many days I would plan for each park:
Magic Kingdom - 1.5 to 2 days
Epcot - 1 to 2 days
Hollywood Studios - 0.5 - 1 day

Really think about going to Harry Potter the next time around. I think Alivia would really like it - but that would mean another whole day in Orlando. I hear it is really expensive, too.

Don't get a Park Hopper - it is not worth it.
Stay at Polynesian Village or Grand Floridian. Yes, it is worth the price because the monorail access is awesome. Taking the bus from the Boardwalk Hotel to Magic Kingdom was MISERABLE. We would wait about 15-20 minutes and then the drive there would be about 20 minutes and then the walk to the entrance was about 10 minutes. What a waste.
Don't take a child under age 7 to the park - it is too hard and they are just too little! Save your money!

Plan to go back to the hotel EVERY DAY for a nap. You simply will not believe how tired you are going to be. Consider getting a stroller for any child 8 and under. They will need it. We logged about 14,000 steps every day in the parks.

Plan to arrive to the parks 30 minutes before opening. We could never do it and it really hurt us. I don't think I realized what a difference it would be to have 8 people versus 4 people this time around. Getting everyone up and out the door was a major challenge.

Consider getting Fast Passes for less scary rides for younger kids while the older kids are doing roller coasters that are too scary for younger kids. I did not realize how scared Matthew would be. He was too scared to even go on Pirates of the Caribbean - I just didn't realize that. I am sorry that I did not plan better Fast Passes for him. Thankfully Mimi was a good sport and would take him on some slower rides while the rest of us would ride the roller coasters.

Eat breakfast in your hotel, pack a lunch for the park and then eat a sit down dinner every night in the park or just outside the park. I ordered groceries to be delivered to our hotel from The Garden Grocer. They were GREAT and it was so easy. I am so glad we did that. We used "Go Picnic" boxed lunches that did not need to be refrigerated. This was a good thing because the refrigerator in the room is just a mini fridge without any freezer so I could not freeze the packs to keep our lunches cool during the day. Food is so expensive! Grandpa bought dinner every night we were there and they averaged about $400 for a party of 8. One night was even $500! They include 18% gratuity since we were a party larger than 6. I noticed a hot dog was $9 in the park! Prices are crazy.

I wish I had gotten on the ball and obtained dining reservations 180 days in advance. I really think the kids would have loved dinner at "Be Our Guest" in Belle's castle or at "Cinderella's Table." Missing that window was a huge fail on my part. We did three character dinners and that was probably too much. Look to see what characters are at each dinner. We had two dinners with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Pluto and that felt repetitive. The kids all loved getting autographs but it is not that fun when it is the same characters over and over again. Oh well. . .

The weather was crazy-cold while we were there! It was lows in the 40's and highs only in the 60's for several days. Thankfully we brought warm clothing but I saw many in the park in only shorts and a t-shirt and felt sorry for them. Being there when it was cooler was really nice. I could see why people go in the Fall and Winter.

Fast Passes I want to be sure we have next time:
Magic Kingdom:
first day -
Seven Dwarves Mine Train - all time favorite roller coaster for all (Matthew opted out)
Big Thunder Mountain
Splash Mountain

second day-
consider just getting the ones listed above!
Pirates of the Caribbean
Haunted Mansion
Buzz Lightyear

Epcot:
Spaceship Earth (one in the big silver ball) - go early and you won't need a fast pass
Living with the Land (or just go early to beat the crowd and you don't need Fast pass)
Test Track
Soaring' - this is a must do! So cool!
Mission Space - Green (not as scary) or Orange (scarier) - we never got to do this!
Frozen ride in Norway (may be able to pass this one next tine we go!?)

Hollywood Studios
Toy Story Mania - one of my all time favorites - if the wait is less than 30 minutes, go on the ride without a fast pass and then use your fast pass to ride again!
Frozen Sing Along - the boys LOVED this! Probably don't need a fast pass b/c it only helps you get a better seat in the auditorium
Indiana Jones - only helps you get a good seat - not that big of deal if you can't get it
We skipped all the Star Wars stuff this time around - maybe get passes for that next time?
Tower of Terror - we skipped - but if you want to do it get a fast pass!
Rockin' Roller Coaster - we skipped - but if you want to do it, get a fast pass!

We really liked Hollywood Studios more than I thought we would. It was less crowded and had more live performances which was a fun break. Go there on the last day. We did not have the energy to stay for Fantasia! Light Show and I am sad about that. I hear it is great and we had passes to sit in a special section with our dinner but we were just too tired. . .

Dinner Reservations (get 180 days in advance)
1) Be Our Guest OR Cinderella's Table (try Be Our Guest first!)
2) Chef Mickey in the Contemporary - such a fun place!
3) Chinese or Japanese food in Epcot - we did Teppan Edo and had a BLAST in Japan! They fixed the food right in front of us which kept everyone entertained during dinner and Japan had an awesome gift store.

I really recommend having a plan for dinner every night. The first night we just roamed around and did a counter service dinner ($100). But the lines were long and it was stressful to think about where to try and go when everyone was tired and hungry. If you are going to do this - have a plan! I thought Columbia Harbor House was a good place to go for counter service, but getting there was stressful with our group.

No other character dinners are needed! Two is plenty!

We gave the kids $25 to spend every day in the park however they wanted. It was hilarious to see what they bought.
*Alivia bought gifts for her friends, pins for her trader necklace, and a stuffed Eyore
*Will did six pressed pennies at various locations in the park and always seemed to borrow money from Mimi for that so he spent almost nothing during his time in the park. He came home and bought a squirrel caller on amazon!
*John spent every dime he had on loads of candy - especially cotton candy - and a Mikey Mouse stuffed doll in the Fantasia outfit
*Matthew spent quite a bit on various candy and a stuffed Tigger and baby Mickey Mouse with a blankie wrapped around him. So funny!

At the end of the day this trip allowed us to all be together for long periods of time which was really fun. I don't like that everyone looks to me to plan to entire vacation - it is really stressful. And then when things don't go well or they don't understand how important getting to the park EARLY is it is frustrating for me. There was a lot of extra waiting around this time because we simply did not follow the touring plans the way they were meant to be followed because it took so long to get to Magic Kingdom with EIGHT people (including a 5 year old and two older adults) riding on a stupid bus that only came every 20 minutes to the hotel. And the amount of bathroom stops that were needed cannot be understated! :-) Next time around I can see us just with our family. The kids will be even older and hopefully I can get them to buy into getting there the moment the gates open. I felt like a lot of our time was spent waiting in line for rides that lasted only 3-5 minutes and then fighting the crowds to get from place to place.

Since I always go with a conference, I get a deep discount on my hotel room but this means that I cannot buy a Magical Package with a Disney Dining Plan. The Dining Plans and rooms must be bought together with a package. Maybe next time I will get a travel agent (like "Disney Tammy" in Shreveport) to book our hotel, get our dining reservations listed above and all of our Fast Passes. That would be such a time saver and feel less stressful to me. I wonder if she would do all that?!

Waiting in line for the second time at Toy Story - 60 minute wait - UGH

Hollywood and Vine Character dinner - we did the Fantasmic dinner package but then did not end up using it. I'd probably do that again and just plan on going home before the show. But it raises the price of dinner! G-pa paid $500 for that meal!

You forget how much the kids love meeting the characters.

Hollywood Studios

This little guy was ALL ABOUT the characters

Splash Mountain baby! I got really wet! Wear a poncho or rain coat!

Test Track at Epcot. Cool ride but the wait was awful

Steps to Teppan Edo in Japan - really fun dinner in Epcot

7 am Extra Magic Hour Arrival on Day #3 - GET TO PARK EARLY if you have any chance of beating the crowds and then come home to nap/swim during the hottest and most crowded part of the day

Probably one of my favorite pictures from the trip

The crowds were between 7-8/10 according to TouringPlans.com and this is how Magic Kingdom looked in the afternoon. I will seriously contemplate not going during a conference to avoid the crowds.

We used a Fast Pass to visit Ariel while the others were riding a roller coaster

Chef Mickey! A great restaurant. But no crab legs this year! Alivia was so sad.

Guide book I used - a must have for planning. I won't do a trip during the school year again unless I start WAY in advance. (start 9 months out planning your trip next time!)

Waiting in line for "its a small world" - one of my favorite rides!

The weather was gorgeous

Outside Pirates of the Caribbean - this is when I was realizing Matthew was NOT into scary rides. He refused to do this ride!

Creating our car for the "Test Track" ride

Toy Story ride - one of the best!

Even Mimi and G-pa liked Toy Story ride!

This kid is getting so big

Seeing "Beauty and the Beast" at Hollywood Studios. It was such a great production!

The BOB stroller saved our bacon - these two literally rode through the park. The grueling hours took a toll on both of them. We are all exhausted.

Hollywood and Vine Character dinner with the Fantasmic! Package. I'd get the package again but through another non-character restaurant. Food was just like the other character dinners and was more expensive.