OK, I'm a bit hesitant to put this up. This is because there are so many other websites that already have something like this that are even more extensive than what I've done here. Plus, there are other excellent guidebooks out there that can do this a lot better than I can.
Still, I know that this list has been useful. I made this list a while back because friends and people at work keep asking me about suggestions on what to do when to go to WDW. So of course, I made a list that is based entirely on my preference. It started out rather short, but got longer and longer over the years the more people start asking more questions about a variety of things. A few people that I know have used the list and told me that they found it useful especially if they have only a short amount of time to spend at the parks.
So, for whatever it is worth, here are my suggestions on what you must do at the Walt Disney World.
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THINGS YOU MUST DO AT THE WALT DISNEY WORLD
(Last update: Feb. 2007)
MAGIC KINGDOM
1. Space Mountain (rollercoaster).
2. Thunder Mountain Railroad – the best place to ride this is towards the rear. Ask for it when you are about to board.
3. Splash Mountain – sitting on the right side tends to be slightly wetter than the left side if the waterfall is running.
4. Teacups.
5. Haunted Mansion.
6. Mickey’s Philharmagic – this has become the #1 attraction at Magic Kingdom. Do this early, or get Fast Passes. If not, try getting in while there is a show or a parade going on.
7. Jungle Cruise – A good ride when your feet are tired, as long as you don’t mind your tour guide spewing out a lot of bad puns.
8. SpectroMagic Light Parade – Check the parade route and try to move away from Main Street where it WILL be crowded. Some place in Frontierland or Liberty Square will be good.
9. Wishes – Even though you can see the fireworks from a large area of Magic Kingdom, the show involves more than just that. So to get the full effect, the best place to view it is front of Cinderella’s castle on Main Street where Main Street meets the circular roundabout. Unfortunately, this is also the most crowded and popular area.
10. A good quick place to eat – Columbia Harbor House. Take note that there are additional seating upstairs with a condiment/utensils/etc. kiosk that is seldom packed. There are also additional washrooms on this floor.
11. If you are looking for sit-down meals with characters, the best places for this are the Liberty Tree Tavern and Crystal Palace. Liberty Tree Tavern offers dining with the characters only for the evening dinners. You get to meet Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, and Chip & Dale dressed in colonial costumes. The food is traditional American meal – turkey, ham, roast beef, mash potatoes, stuffings, green beans, and cobbler for dessert. It is all you care to eat, so they’ll bring more if you ask for it. And you get to meet the characters many times during your meal since they do make their rounds regularly. Crystal Palace is more of a buffet meal (both lunch and dinner), and you get to meet Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and Eeyore. The food served at this buffet is surprisingly good (for a buffet, that is). Just note that the “noise” level may be higher than at Liberty Tree Tavern. If you intend to have a meal at either of these places, advanced reservation is strongly recommended, since these are popular places. Call Disney dinning reservations before you arrive.
EPCOT
1. Soarin’ – this ride came from The California Adventure. It has since become the No. 1 attraction at Epcot and for good reason. You definitely want to do this as soon as the park opens, or fast pass it as early as you can. The best seat to get is the center aisle, Row 1. However, there really is no bad seat in this one because the experience will be exhilarating no matter where you sit.
2. Test Track (be there when Epcot opens and head directly to Test Track – get in line immediately or take Fast Pass. Test track is extremely popular and will have long lines later in the morning/day).
3. Mission Space – same warning as in Test Track. However, if you are susceptible to motion sickness, you may not want to ride this. [Hint: if there are people not riding Mission Space, it might be a good idea for those waiting to get Fast Pass tickets for Test Track. That way, by the time the Mission Space people get off that ride, it will be close to the Fast Pass time for Test Track].
4. Maelstorm at the Norway pavilion (World Showcase pavilion around the lagoon opens at 11:00 am). Note: there is a small bakery at the front of the Norway pavilion and they have (if they haven’t sold out) this sweet almond pretzel. It is to DIE for!
5. Honey I Shrunk the Audience
6. Turtle Talk with Crush at The Seas with Nemo & Friends pavilion (formerly The Land pavilion).
7. The Seas with Nemo and Friends. This is a new attraction that can be enjoyed by every member of the family.
8. Illumination at 9:00 pm around the lagoon (if it doesn’t rain, people usually start staking out the best spots around the lagoon ½ to one hour before the show). As with Wishes at Magic Kingdom, you can view the fireworks and light show from all around the lagoon, but the best place to view it in its full “symmetry” is still right at the pavilion by the entrance to the World Showcase lagoon.
9. Spaceship Earth. It’s cheesy and tame, but it’s inside that big “golf ball”. Do this ride late in the afternoon or early evening – the lines are not as long then.
10. Restaurant Marrakesh at the Morroco pavilion – If you come at the right time, you might get to see live musicians and belly dancers. The food is excellent too! Reservations are strongly recommended for dinner during peak seasons.
11. A new place that just opened is an EXCELLENT place to eat – Sunshine Seasons at The Land, lower level (same level as Soarin’). It may look like a food court, but that’s where the similarity ends. You can get everything from sashimi-grade seared tuna salad, to Mongolian beef on jasmine rice, etc. And the price is quite reasonable too.
DISNEY-MGM STUDIOS
1. Tower of Terror – ride this as many times as you can. It is different each time since they have a random program of “drops”.
2. Rock ‘N Roller Coaster
3. Muppets 3D
4. Star Tours
5. Fantasmic Light Show - 3 different restaurants offer a “Fantasmic” dinner package. They are the Brown Derby, Mama Melrose, and Hollywood and Vine (this list may be outdated). You get a separate entrance and reserved seating for Fantasmic with this package. Reservation is strongly recommended or even required (you need to mention the Fantasmic dinner package). Plan on having dinner at around 5 pm to 6 pm to have enough time to catch the show afterwards.
6. A fun place to eat – Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater. You get to sit in your own car and watch old sci-fi movies on a large screen while you munch on your food.
ANIMAL KINGDOM
1. Kilimanjaro Safari – do this as early or as soon as the park opens. It is very popular.
2. Kali River Rapids – assume that you WILL get drenched (bring ziplock plastic bags for your wallet, cellphone, etc.).
3. Primeval Whirl – don’t do this immediately after you eat, it will not be pretty. Also avoid if you are susceptible to motion sickness.
4. Dinosaur – be warned that this ride can be quite intense for young children.
5. It’s Tough To Be A Bug.
6. Finding Nemo The Musical – This has become the must-see show in all of Walt Disney World. Be sure to arrive early to be able to get in.
7. Best places to eat: Tusker House and Flame Tree BBQ. Take note that Flame Tree BBQ has a lot more seating than it appears. Try walking down further into the greenery and you’ll find a wonderful seating area by the lake that is seldom crowded.
8. Expedition Everest. This is turning into THE best attraction at Walt Disney World. It is more than just a roller-coaster attraction. The queuing area itself is an attraction. There are many authentic artifacts that have been brought over from Nepal and Tibet. These are displayed as you walk through to get to the ride itself.
OTHER LOCATIONS
1. Breakfast with Chef Mickey at the Contemporary Resort – Plan this waaaay ahead, even weeks (or months) before you get to Orlando. It is fun, if you have kids, or just a kid at heart.
2. Downtown Disney – 4 words to describe it: shop, eat, shop, eat. However, kids may prefer the Lego store.
3. Cirque Du Soleil’s La Nuba at Downtown Disney Westside – Even if you have seen other Cirque Du Soleil shows, see this one! It will be an experience you will never forget.
4. Pleasure Island – 8-Tracks is a fun retro dance club.
5. Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge – this is the BEST buffet dinner anywhere in Disney World, in my opinion. It is African-themed, but also has the regular, familiar food for those who do not want to venture out of their comfort level. Don’t miss the crispy flatbreads with the three wonderful and exotic spreads.
THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND
1. If you’re staying at a Disney resort, you can have all your purchases anywhere in Disney World sent to your hotel. This saves you from having to lug everything you bought with you.
2. If you are staying at a Disney resort, take note also that if you decide to drive to the Disney parks instead of taking their free busses/monorail, parking is FREE. Just show the paper that they give you during check-in that you have to display on your dashboard.
3. Note, as of January 2005, you also get free transportation from the Orlando International airport to your Disney hotel using the Disney Magical Express. You will need to either inquire about this service when you make your reservation, or check their website. You will also be given luggage tags, so you and your luggage will be picked up at the airport by them.
4. More shopping tip: If you end up buying a large number of items at a single store (such as at the World of Disney in Downtown Disney), you may want to consider having them ship all of them directly to your home. You pay only ONE shipping flat rate no matter how many items you want to ship, AND, the sales tax is not included. Depending on how much you are spending, the money you save on sales tax alone might pay for the shipping.
5. More on shipping. If you have already bought a number of things, and suddenly realize that you’d rather have them shipped home instead, all is not lost. First, make sure you have all the receipts. Then if you are staying at a Disney resort, ask the cast members at the gift store at your resort to have your already-purchased items shipped. You will need the receipts to prove that you bought them at a Walt Disney resort store, since these are the only ones they’ll ship using the flat shipping rate.
6. While you are there, you can make dinner reservations, buy park tickets, etc. throughout the Walt Disney World at any Guest Services office (Guest Services can be found at all parks, resorts, Downtown Disney). If there is a special occasion for making the reservation (such as a birthday or anniversary, etc.), be sure to mention it to the Guest Services cast member – you might get some special treatment then, or later.
7. As soon as you walk through the turnstile at any of the Disney parks, look for a slip of paper (usually at a kiosk or on racks by the wall) that lists all the parades, show times, character greetings, and special events for that day. This list changes everyday, so pick one up each time you walk into a park.
8. For many people, one of the most fun things to do is to get pictures with the characters. While one can do this during various scheduled times for characters meet and greet, the easiest and most comfortable way to guarantee this opportunity is to make a reservation for one of the dinning with characters meal. The characters will come to your table while you eat, giving you plenty of opportunities for photo-ops. Often, these characters will get to your table multiple times. This is a lot more convenient than standing in line in the hot sun, and having to go from one line to the next just to get pictures with a number of characters. So my suggestion would be to plan at least one character dinning during a trip. And no, it doesn’t matter if you have children in your party or not. The characters WILL visit you no matter what.
9. For parents who want to get on a ride, but an accompanying child is either too scared, or too small to be on that ride, most rides at Disney World has a “parent exchange” area. This allows one parent to get on the ride while the other stays in a holding area with the child. When the riding parent is done, the next parent can go on that ride without having to go back to the end of the line. Ask a cast member if a particular ride has this.
10. When you go to Magic Kingdom via the “regular” Disney busses or by driving your own vehicle, you will arrive at the Transportation center, and then you can either board the Magic Kingdom monorail, or a boat to get to Magic Kingdom itself. There are three monorail lines here: one is the express monorail to and from Magic Kingdom, one for the Magic Kingdom resort hotels, and one going to Epcot. (So you could, if you prefer, park here and go to Epcot. This is a good idea if you intend to be jumping around between Epcot to Magic Kingdom on the same day. That way, your vehicle is always in the middle of the two parks.) Take note that BOTH the Magic Kingdom express monorail, and the Magic Kingdom resorts monorail go to and from the Magic Kingdom and the Transportation center. The only difference being that the resort monorail will make stops in between for the Magic Kingdom resort hotels. So keep this in mind if the Magic Kingdom express monorail is very busy with people. Most of them do not know that the Resort monorail also goes to the same place. This also applies when you are coming back from Magic Kingdom to go to the Transportation center.
11. Remember that you can purchase Disney Theme Park tickets that do not expire. So if you bought a regular 5-Day Park Hopper or Park Hopper Plus, and you used only 3 days, the remaining 2 days (and any “Plusses”) do not expire! You can come back at any time to use the remaining days. [Note: As of Jan 2005, Disney World has added variations to their ticket options. You can still buy Park Hopper tickets that do not expire, but they cost slightly more than those that do. So double check on the various ticket options that are now currently available.]
12. If you are staying at a Disney resort, you will be told about the Extra Magic Hours that are available only to Disney resort guests. This is the extra hours either in the morning, or at night, whereby a certain Disney theme park will be open to Disney resort guests. When you check-in to your resort, you will have a schedule of which Disney theme park will have its Extra Magic Hour on which day, and whether it will be in the morning, or evening. From experience, the late night Extra Magic Hour has always been PACKED with people. It appears that almost every Disney resort guests made it a point to show up during this time. So do not expect clear, smooth lines to the various attractions just because the park has been closed only to Disney resort guest. The early Extra Magic Hour is a hit-or-miss. It can also be crowded for the very same reason. However, here is a hint. If a Disney theme park has a late night Extra Magic Hour, there is a very good chance that the very next morning, it will not be busy at all! This is a hint that came from many Disney Cast Members. So my advice would be to avoid the Extra Magic Hours, especially the late night ones, and instead, go to bed early, and wake up early so that you can go to that same theme park the next day and enjoy an almost empty Disney theme park.
Enjoy!
Zz.
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