Here are my top 10 things I have learned about our trip to Disney:
1. It does pay to go to Disney in the "off season", however, do not stay at French Quarter Port Orleans. The bus service was terrible. We usually waited at least 45 min. for transportation to any park each morning. It did not matter what park we went to, the busing service was terrible. Also, for some reason, the second time we went to Downtown Disney the bus dropped off all of the Port Orleans Riverside passengers first. This did not make any sense to me as he drove right by our stop to get to the others. This extended our bus trip by a good 30 minutes. If you can afford it, stay at a "deluxe hotel" that offers monorail service. Here we are waiting for a bus, again.
2. If you can take a boat to your destination, do it. We waited 10 minutes for a boat, got there faster than the bus and had a great "tour" of some of the other Disney hotels.
3. Bring ponchos! Any poncho will do. Bright orange, camouflage, pink. Just as long as you don't end up paying out the nose when you get caught in a strong rain. Speaking of rain, the second you *think* it is going to rain, get out the ponchos. The Florida rain comes down hard and fast! We were drenched the first time before we even had our ponchos out of the backpack.
4. Unless your kids are really really into water parks, don't add these on to your tickets. If you have a pool at your hotel your kids will probably be happy enough with that. The water parks don't have much more than Water World here in the Denver area (except for the neat decorations). There is one huge water slide that I would probably never allow my kids to go on anyway. But other than that, a water park is a water park. Plus, my kids would be too exhausted to do a water park and a Disney park all in one day so although we added the water park feature to our ticket, we didn't go to any of them.
5. If you can swing it and you have enough time, book a trip to Universal. I wish we would have had time go to the Harry Potter area this year at Universal but we just didn't have the time.
6. If you have a girl and they are interested (or insistent) on getting signatures from all of the princesses, book a character meal. It's pricey but will be well worth the money. You can get all of their signatures at once and then not have to worry about standing in all of the long lines and when the characters are going to take their breaks as you are standing the the long line. Sure enough, you will be the next person in line and they will take a 30 minute break. Book a character meal. You will be glad you did.
7. The Disney Magical Express is hit or miss. Two years ago when we went in early June, we waited an hour for a bus. This year in late May, we didn't wait a second. It's probably worth the price to have them gather your checked luggage and cart it to your hotel for you, but don't be surprised if you have to wait an hour or more for your bus.
8. Give you kids a budget and once it's spent, that's it. Our kids knew how much they had to spend and priced out the things they wanted. Since we knew you could find most "standard" items in the shops, we had them pick out a few things and then think about it for a few days. If they found it in a shop 2 days later and still wanted it, they bought it.
9. You can take snacks, sandwiches, water bottles....just about anything you want into the parks. If you are on a budget, make some pb & j and bring some cold water bottles. This will save you a little on lunch.
10. Take your cues from your kids. If they are tired, take a break. If they are hungry, stop to eat. If they are just done, go back to the hotel and watch a movie. You spent all that money for a fun family experience. Make the most of it for YOUR family. Not for the family that Disney would like you to think that you have based on their commercials.
Up next, our trip to San "ahhhh" bel Island.
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