I have decided to put all of the things we learned in ONE post. Easy reference for me for next time, and we have SO many friends who are going to Disney soon - I figured, why not!? I am definitely not an expert in any shape or form, but it's fresh in my mind, so they may help someone!
Get a TRAVEL AGENT!!! They are wonderful!! So knowledgeable. She coordinated renting Mama's scooter, William's stroller, and of course our package for the resort/parks. We went through Cupcake Castles Travel and our agents name was Jerica. Her email is jerica@cupcakecastlestravel.com and her FB page can be found here. If you use her, please use my name so I can get a referral bonus for next year!! ;)
Rent a stroller!!! Have you ever seen the stroller you can rent in the park?! I don't mean any harm, but woof!!
We went through Apple Scooter for both Mama's scooter and William's stroller. It was a City Mini and I am now obsessed with getting one.
If at all possible, stay on property! It may be a little more pricey than a standard hotel, but we stayed in a value resort (Art of Animation) and loved it!! It was awesome and everything was just smooth sailing. Your Key to the World got you into your room, the parks, you paid with it at restaurants, and you could link your debit card to it to pay tips, buy souvenirs, etc. We had tons of room in our family suite and just loved it! The buses were constantly coming, so we never had to wait!! We also were able to buy things in the park, and have them shipped back to our resort for free, to pick up later!!
Get the dining plan!! It was AWESOME. I seriously don't know how people afford to eat there without it! At every meal, we got a drink, entree, and dessert. Even for counter meals. We had the mid-grade plan, which included one snack, one counter service meal, and one table service meal per day, per person. It was plenty!! We shared breakfast each morning, so that only used 2 credits. We even had snacks leftover at the end of the trip because we were so busy! We ran to the gift shop and picked up a couple last minute snacks so we didn't lose them! We loved all of our sit down meals! The counter service meals are okay, but of course not as wonderful as the table service.
Plan WHEN you should go! We picked May because that was when Hunter graduated, and we wanted to make a trip out of all of it since Robbie's vacation days are few. Our week was perfect as far as crowds. It was not crowded at all!! Most rides only had like a 20-30 min wait. The ONLY complaint I have is that it was HOT!!! I think next year we are planning for fall so we are a little cooler! We did have great weather, though. A rainstorm every day, but it only lasted a little while!
Get a PhotoPass card! It is so cool. You can give to the photographers you see in the park, and they load your pictures onto the card and you can go online and view them, and order. I may or may not have spent too much ordering digital downloads of a few of them. It's so hard not to!!
Decide which table service restaurants you want to eat at and make reservations! If you go through a travel agent, they can make them for you. It was so nice to just walk in and give your name and be taken to a table. A lot of restaurants had a 2 hour wait!! Book your character dining early!!! We missed Chef Mickey's because I didn't do it early enough. :( Even though William isn't into princesses, I STILL want to eat at Cinderella's castle at some point!! I just think it would be so neat!
Use the Fastpass option!! It was SO convenient. We went to the rides first that you wanted the most, and were really popular. You get a ticket and a time to come back to ride. It is an hour window. When you go back, you pretty much walk right up to the ride. It was so nice because we were able to do stuff while not waiting in line. Toy Story Mania sells out of Fastpasses QUICK!! We went there at like 11 in the morning, and our return time wasn't until like 4pm!! A couple hours later, they were sold out of them! So get to those early!!
Buy the poncho's!! They are $8.50 for adults and $7.50 for kids, and worth their weight in gold! We wore them each time it rained, on wet rides, and to cover the scooter and stroller any time we went in somewhere so it didn't get soaked. They are great and can be used again, so they are worth the investment!!
The new thing that is super cool is to download Disney Apps! Robbie found them and they were so awesome. I'm not sure what other phones they work on, but we have iPhones. Robbie could pull it out and look at a map on there, and see how long the waits were at each ride.
This one is kind of silly, but buy a Mickey balloon, if your child cares at all about it. I knew I wanted to get William one, because they are so cool. We finally flagged down a street vendor in Hollywood Studios. He LOVES that balloon. And 9 days later, it is still floating around the house. We even tell it goodnight, haha!
I think one of the most important things to remember, is to relax, and not worry so much about a schedule! I am a little bit of a schedule nazi sometimes, and I just knew it couldn't happen there. There was no time to go back to the room for a nap, or make sure each and every meal was perfectly balanced. It's a good thing William is underweight, because he ate a TON of ice cream that week. He just ate whenever and pretty much whatever. I knew we were facing long days, and as long as he was eating and drinking after being sick, I was good!! If I had been stressing about schedules, I would never have had a good time. Things get back to normal when you get home, I promise!! :)
There is just so much to do, for any age!! William rode most of our rides, except rollercoasters of course. He just had a ball looking around and seeing all the fun lights and characters. We literally cannot wait to go back!! I totally see how people can become obsessed!
