My wife and I are taking our daughter Alsna on her very first tip to Disneyworld in early March.

I'm looking for tips, tricks, secret info, coupons, great info links, etc. anything that will make our visit better, cheaper, smoother!

Thanks in advance.
[Reply]

http://www.orlandowelcomecenter.com/sosa-cigars.htm

http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar...4,2007,00.html

Image
[Reply]

I can tell you to try and use the Fast Passes if you can. They just help cut down wait time in line for rides.

I know more about places to eat there. Check these places out for great food:
Fulton's Crab house
Narcoossee's
Citricos

Those are super good seafood places.:-)
[Reply]

I usually buy park hopper tickets from someone I find in front of Unimart. It's way cheaper, they're flexible (they'll trust you to pay them later if you press the issue, and I do), and you can get access to just the parks you want without having to pay extra.
Shopping Downtown Disney is just about as much fun as the theme parks and it's free.
I've always wanted to see Cirque de Soleil while I was there, but still haven't done it.

We stayed in a condo in Davenport last time I went, it was far cheaper than staying at Disney and had four bedrooms, a full kitchen, orange grove out back, a game room, pool, you name it. It also had a great big jacuzzi the kids slopped around in for hours. They liked the condo more than Disney, literally.

If I could suggest a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I can't say enough about, it's Discovery Cove. We all loved it. The kids swam with the dolphins, the food was exceptional, the facility was undercrowded and gorgeous, it's one of the nicest day trips I've ever been on and my kids still rave about it. We went about 8 years ago, I think.

I would absolutely love to take all my kids to Disney again, but there's no chance the two youngest will stop acting like idiots long enough to take them. They'd drive us mental. I'm hoping I can take all three in the next year or two. :-)

Sosa cigars is a major bummer, by the way. Don't get too excited. It's really not even worth your time, and that's sad.
[Reply]

Wow that is discouraging. I have never been there but was thinking that would sure make it more enjoyable. Is there a better place to smoke in Disney or is that it?
[Reply]

Rent a car, leave the rats nest once to get hotel food,drink and souvenir's. That will save you more money than you can believe! When I was there it was 120.00 for a case of beer and 10.00 for a bowl of cereal.
We found 10 dollar all you can eat lobster dinner just outside the rats nest.
[Reply]

Don't know brother but hope you have a Great trip!! :-)
[Reply]

When you get in the parks turn left instead of right, use fast pass on the big rides, kids like the shows and they can sit down and rest during them, take snacks for the kids and bring a bottle of water along with flavor-mixing packets (our daughter drank more water when it was flavored), relax and have fun.

We took our oldest and only at the time when she was 4 and we all had a really good time. We are looking to go again in a couple years when my youngest daughter hits 4.

We stayed at one of the resorts which has downsides and upsides and we did the family meal plan which got us into a lot of the character dinners.

Go in knowing that you will be spending some money so plan ahead so it doesn't become a stress while you are there.

Hope all goes well!
[Reply]

Lot's of differing opinions here as expected.

Patrick,I'm no expert but if you want to ring me up I'll share our experiences with you.
After all it is the happiest place on earth :-)
[Reply]

Downtown Orlando. Place called corona cigar. Of you can get away for a few hours I highly recommend it.
Posted via Mobile Device
[Reply]

Corona at Sand Lake is a good one too :-)

How many days will you be going down for?

Staying at a Disney hotel will be $$$. Hilton has a hotel on Disney property which is nice and cheaper than the Disney brand hotels. Fast passes rock.
[Reply]

Send a PM to Leigh (TheMadBaker) she knows all the Disney secrets. We will need to meet up when your here.
[Reply]

Don't do it Patrick!!!!
[Reply]

:-):-)
[Reply]

I'm a Disney guru. I'm a DVC member and had 4 trips the past 3 years.

Shows, restaurants, attractions...what do you want to know?

I highly recommend this though: http://www.touringplans.com
It's a good tool for planning your route through the parks in order to see the attractions first that encounter the longest waits otherwise and then seeing attractions later that won't have as long of a wait. It'll tell you what parks are the best on a particular day and which ones to avoid based upon typical crowds any given day of the year.

One of the best Disney message boards: http://www.disboards.com

One other thing-there are several applications out there, but if you're an iPhone user, get an application that has good reviews that will provide updated wait times for the attractions. It'll tell you whether it's worthwhile walking across the park to hit up something without finding an actual board posting it in a couple of places.

PM if you like. Send a PM to jitzy (great BOTL)-he just moved to the area last summer-retired from NY, former cop or corrections officer. Can't remember which of the two. He likes going to Corona at Sand Lake.
[Reply]

We go every year for the past 10, we fly out a local airport 10 minutes away.

1. always stay in Disney resort this the best, we fly out of a local airport that has charter flights (Boscov's Dept Store). We check our bags at the airport then we dont see them again till they show up in our room at the resort! We leave PA always around 8am get into Orlando Airport by 10am. You go to the first floor of the airport which is nothing but Disney, give them your bus charter pass for your resort and they take you right there. Once your in the Disney resort you dont need a car they have a many busses that go to every park evry 10 minutes. Whats funny is all the newer resort are the same layout and rooms just differnt decor - the all-star movies/all-star sports & pop centruy are they way to go $$ Why pay more just for aztec or spanish theme (I have stayed in every resort except of Grand Flordian)

If I had to go to Disney and stay off property and drive park I would never go again + plus for all the guest stating in the resorts you get extra magic hours were you are allowed hours before or after common guest must leave. :-)

Was there last year over 4ht of July, Magic Kingdom reached capcity and they turn away the cheap o s that stay off property while letting in resort guest. Trust me its never cheaper that way
[Reply]

I go there every year, right across the was is the Cuban Cafe in Downtown Disney .
[Reply]

We just brought our daughter there this past Halloween. She had an awesome time. If you will only be there for 4 to 5 days good luck escaping to Coronas. I wanted to meet up with some guys from the board while we were there but the days just ran long but we also got late starts as our daughter is only one so she still naps twice a day and we made sure to at least let her get a solid nap in, in the morning. There are two Sosa's in Downtown Disney. A real small one and the one pictured. To my surprise the larger one had a decent selection and a lot better pricing than what I would expect for a shop in Disney.
My only advice is try to plan your days in advance and go with a game plan. Keeps you from wasting time walking around in circles. Fast Passes as mentioned earlier are the way to go and with a little one especially if you want to try and save some money pack your lunches providing were you will be staying has a fridge. Food on the property is expensive and by just packing lunch you will save yourself at least $25-$30 a day. Fortunately we have family who owns a house in Celebration so we were fortunate enough to stay there so going food shopping for lunch foods and keeping it refrigerated was not an issue.
Have a great time!
[Reply]

We have been to WDW many times and love it. Along with all the other advice, I would make sure you pick up a map of each park as you enter; that way you can find all the smoking areas where you can have a cigar :-)

Sosa's is overpriced but the selection isn't bad and they actually made some nice sticks themselves. FWIW, I believe that Sosa and AF share a factory... Mostly I bring my own sticks, but I still like to browse and find something new to try.

Sosa also has a little cigar bar in what used to be "Pleasure Island", it is also expensive and has a much more limited selection of cigars, but it's a nice place to visit while your family is shopping.

We usually stay at WDW resorts. This can be more expensive on the surface, but Disney provides all the transportation and being closer to the parks you save some time and money that way too. It's all a matter of perspective.

As Scott said, make sure to get a parkhopper pass -- it's the only way to get the most bang for your buck in terms of tickets.

Do a little planning. Some rides are harder to get on than others. When you first get to a park go get a fast pass for the busy rides (Soarin' in Epcot, Toy Story Midway Mania at the Studios, etc.). Then go on some of the other less busy rides while waiting for your fastpass time.

There are a lot of resources out there to help you -- Internet Forums, smartphone apps and books. Use them...

Oh, and have fun!
[Reply]

If you stay at a resort, hope you like riding buses. They'll take you everywhere you want to go. My two favorites were Animal Kingdom and The Boardwalk. Giraffes and Zebras and other animals in the Animal Kingdom resort. The ferry takes you to Epcot from Boardwalk. Awesome clown pool, too.

Fastpasses are a MUST. We never waited more than 10 minutes for a ride. (They may say they're for a particular time, but they'll take them after.)

Also, go with a meal plan. You will have more food on it than you will ever eat. When we left, we had something like 36 snack credits left.

There's a deluxe plan-you have a choice of 'sit down" dining at fancy restaurants. The one in Wilderness Lodge was good, but the best meal I had personally was the steak house in the Canada section of Epcot.

We were some of the first people at Typhoon Lagoon, and some of the lifeguards came up and started talking to us before the gates opened. Right before the opening, they declared my twin boys "Big Kahunas", (family of the day) and we got the primo roped-off spot in the park for all day. They got to go around and see all the attractions before it opened, and all the staff gave them the "Hang 10" sign all day. They loved it.

(When you're at Epcot, catch Off-Kilter. Scottish rock band. There's a Beatles cover band that is great, as well)
[Reply]