WDW Must & Must Not Do's

[Fairy]

JTsMom mentioned in another thread that she was going to Disney, and I didn't want to hijack her thread with my opinions on what she just must do and what is just so not worth it. Since I figured so many of us have done this, planned so carefully, but still felt so lost on other things, thought we had it down pat, and then learned from 20/20 hindsight, that I thought I'd start a thread about must do's and must not's.

So, now that you've gone and returned, what is your top must do or few, your top must not do's, and why?

[JTsMom]

Thanks Fairy!!!

[Fairy]

For me, here are somet hings I really felt strongly about once it was all said and done. Everyone's different, so of course, this may not be adaptable for you, but hope it gives you soemthing to think about :-)

MUST DO
Disney Dining Plan
They have a couple levels. Given how much we spent on property -- and for us it was unrealistic to go back to the hotel in between -- this would have saved us so much money. In fact, we probably wouldn't have used all the meal and snack opportunities that you get with your flat rate, and STILL would have saved money. I would really, really look into this. I talked to two families while there and asked them if they recomnmended it, and they both said no question. I really wish we'd done this.

Animal Kingdom
Several people told me the Animal Kingdom was just too much walking for a younger child and that it's not that great, the other parks are alot better. But, we decided to do it anyway, and we are so glad we did. It was spectacular. And their learning stations where the kids all get a stamp for their "passport" and then take an "oath" as a "Conservation Hero" was very exciting for my almost 4yo DS. Yes, alot of walking, but not any worse than Magic Kingdom. It was my favorite after Magic Kingdom.

Finding Nemo the Musical
Spectacular. I can't recommend it more highly. And it's at the Animal Kingdom. I cried watching DS love this show and be enthralled with it.

The Crystal Palace Restaurant
This is at the Magic Kingdom. You need to make reservations, but it should not be too difficult. Same exact food for lunch as for dinner, only a helluvalot cheaper. The Pooh characters "live" here and spend alot of good quality time with each table. Awesome food. Really excellent.

MUST NOT DO
Epcot
Ok, before ya'll flay me, I have to tell you that for us, this really was not great. We didn't go to the countries in the back, and I know alot of people just love that. Now, we did love the Nemo ride and Soarin, and the farm was pretty impressive; but if we had it all to do over, we would have avoided this very boring place. I could go on and on, so if you want to know more, PM me. Overall, I just thought it was alot of hype and not that much to really speak of.

Bear Jamboree Thing
I really didn't like this. Animal game heads on the wall, the bears with their stereotypical twangs, it was like the Grand Ole Opry for Dummies. It's not that I was insulted so much as disappointed. DS was not digging the heads on the walls. If you grow up in a hunting family with that sort of thing, then that might not be an issue, but DS has never seen that kind of thing, and no fewer than two other kids there were crying, terrified of the heads. I just hated this.

Seaworld
Ok, this is not Disney. And if it were much cooler weather, I'd maybe change my mind. But the work ethic here and the spirit here is so low compared to Disney that it was a letdown. Plus, there is NO SEATING. I mean, seriously, nothing. No shade, either. We were miserable here.

I have more, but that's it for now. Looking forward to seeing other posts!

-- Fairy

[ltmommy]

Well, I don't know if I had any "Must Do" or "Must Not Do" items since I think there is no way to truly go wrong, but instead I have "I'm Really Glad I Did" and "Wish I Had" items.

I'M REALLY GLAD I DID
- Packed lunches - we stayed off-property, in a condo with a fridge. Every day I packed DD and DS lunches - similar to what they would have at school, PB&J sandwich, string cheese, and grapes. This was such a lifesaver - not only did we save $ on kids meals, and not only did we avoid having to search for something the kids would eat (do kids really eat BBQ sandwiches?), the best part was they could immediately sit down and start eating while DH waited in line for our food. Then I had them served and eating peacefully by the time my food arrived. Worked so well for us.
- Character lines - Ok, I was sooo skeptical about this. Of course we were going to do princesses and Mickey and Minnie. But when DH waited 45 minutes to see Tigger and Pooh? And then 30 minutes to see Pluto? The kids didn't even particularly like these characters before the trip! But we were lucky to have kids that really liked the characters and weren't afraid at all, and now we have so many really, really adorable pictures. And the kids get so excited to look at the pictures of them with the characters.
- Character lunch at Disney Hollywood Studios - This just happened to be where the kids' favorite characters were. They had a blast, and the food was by far the best we had in any park. It's expensive, though, but kudos to Disney for actually serving real food like arugula salad and salmon and pumpkin cheesecake.
- Magical Light Parade at MK. We hadn't originally even planned to watch the parade that night, and didn't secure seats on the route. But we were eating at a restaurant right on the route, so DH and FIL took the kids outside to see it, and they were all blown away. By far the most impressive parade anywhere.
- Brought my own stroller. DH gave me such a hard time about this, especially since it was a PITA to fold on the trams, until he saw that a double stroller rental was $31/day. But DS slept in the MBUD most days (I really don't think he would have slept in the rental, ever). I just about had a nervous breakdown, leaving it outside rides the first couple of days, but then I started to see fancier strollers left also and I relaxed.

WISH I HAD DONE
- Start Sea World on the other side. I liked Sea World, and since we were in the area for 6 days, I thought it was worthy of a day. However, we started off by seeing the Shamu show, which was nice and not too crowded. But DH had his heart set on feeding the dolphins, which were at the opposite end of the park. By the time we got there in the late afternoon, the dolphins had been fed for the last time that day, and DH was really disappointed. I think if we had gone the other way around the park we could really have done more.
- Eat more dinners either at the condo or off-property. Downtown Disney was expensive, noisy, and crowded. It's fun maybe once, but be sure to go very early.
- Don't give in to the souvenirs as much. MIL and I went to Wal-Mart the first night to pick up groceries and ended up getting awesome, cheap t-shirts for the kids. We said we'd go back at the end, but we didn't. I think DD's princess hat was worth it - she wore it all week - but most of the rest of the stuff we bought - stuffed animals, toys, stickers - have been sort of tossed aside since we got home. Favorite souvenir by far is the autograph book with pictures with the characters.

[KrystalS]

This is a great thread. We went to Disney in February and it was so hard to decide what to do and not do. Every family is different and kids have different interests but heres my list.

Would NOT do again:
Epcot: So boring for us. We wasted a day here that we could have spent at another park. If your kids are into science or different cultures you might enjoy it, but it was not for us. We did love Soarin though.

LOVED:
-Hollywood Studios, we didn't expect to enjoy this park as much as we did. We definitely could have done 2 days here. Faves were Little Mermaid, Motorcade Parade, Playhouse Disney Lunch(DD loved this, characters are very interactive).

-Animal Kingdom: I know some people say this park isn't worth a days visit. We loved it, DD loves animals so this was a great park for her. Faves: Nemo Musical (A must see, we all loved it), Safari (I would suggest doing this twice, once in morning and once later in the afternoon, you'll see different animals), Lion King.
Skip: Dinosaur (The jeep you ride it jerks all over the place, I felt like I was going to be thrown out), Tough to be a Bug (DD was terrified, and I also thought it was a little creepy!)

-Magic Kingdom: We spent 2 full days here.
Loved: Everything in Fantasyland, Buzz Lightyear, Monster Laugh Floor (DH enjoyed this), Pirates (I was worried DD would be scared but she loved it), Liberty Tree Tavern, The food was really good, lots of characters and they come to your table.
Skip: Country Bear Jamboree (very boring, outdated, they need to change this), Tiki Room, Stitch (This was the WORST attraction, you're strapped in this chair and the lights go out, pitch black, DD completely freaked out, lots of smoke then the smell it was soooo bad. Total waste of time), Cinderella's Castle - We went for lunch, didn't like the food, but DD enjoyed the princesses. The kids get wands and make a wish sometime during the meal, this was really cute. However, I think this is really overpriced, unless your kids are REALLY into the princesses.

-Best Advice that I could give is to go EARLY!! We went to every park at opening and went to the most popular rides first. At MK we rode everything in Fantasyland twice as soon as we got there and we didn't stand in line at all. A lot of people like to leave the park but we just stayed and let DD nap in the stroller(this is great if it works for your kids but not all will nap in stroller). DH rode rides that DD wasn't tall enough for while she napped.
-We took a lunch for DD, she is picky and we always had to stand in line for food so we were happy she didn't have to wait to eat.
-If you go in the winter months make sure you take pants, the weather was up and down the whole week we were there. One day it didn't get out of the 60s, luckily we came from Colorado so we just wore our clothes we flew in.
-Character lines: DD loved this, I think its totally worth it to stand in line, we got great pictures and she remember meeting characters more than anything else.

**Forgot to mention Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios, this was so great. You have to get there early for a good seat though. We waited until about 20 min before the show started and we were way in the back on the left side. We could still see fine but the seats in the middle section are better.

[clc053103]

We went in Sept - group included 3 kids- ages 3, 5 and 9.

Things we would do again:
-Disney Deluxe Dining Plan. We ate everywhere we wanted, never took out a dollar, included plenty of snack credits for bottled waters, etc so we were able to travel light.
-Blizzard Beach! Even the 3 year old had a ball at the water parks, so much that we hit typhoon Lagoon too!
-lunch at Cinderella's Castle- yes, two meals on the dining plan but the food was really great and it was a lot less intimidating to our little guy than the characters were. And much more enjoyable for the grown ups than your standard character buffet.
-stay on Disney property
-illuminations at Epcot
-Dinner at California Grille (or Citrico's or Narcoosee's) for a great view of the MK fireworks and electric parade
-Great restaurants that the kids really loved: the new place in Italy in epcot, and Spoodles on the boardwalk. the wait staff was really great with the kids, particularly in Italy. and the food was really great.
-buy some small toys at home to bring as a "new toy" for dinners (Cars items were 2 for $5 at home- $7.00 each on Disney property!)
- I wouldn't miss Epcot for the world (pardon the pun!) So fun especially to walk around the countries before dinner with a drink (traveling with kids, it's a well needed drink!), seeing the living statues in France, the hysterical skit in Italy, doing some shopping. Soarin' was also a favorite attraction for our entire group.
-
things I wouldn't do again:
-Teppan Edo at Japanese pavillion- used to be great, now the show was lame, the food wasn't that great either.
-Plan to spend more than 1/2 a day at Disney Studios (and btw, run immediately to the new Toy Story ride for a fastpass or the fastpass will have you coming back at 7 that night!) or AK unless you are traveling with a true animal lover
-Disney Character Breakfast at Tusker House (bad food, and louder than loud, I'm guessing due to the high ceilings and large rooms)
-Downtown Disney without my own stroller (we went on a whim, and to pick up your disney stroller rental is at customer service- in the middle of it but no where near the buses, so I had to drag a small child through it and then wait in line for customer service).
-
For next time: buy pins on line from home to take with you and trade with cast members. Didn't know about this!

[kimbe]

I have thought about it and you've gotten a lot of good advice, but it so depends on the kids. DD has gone 3x at 15 months, 23 months and 3 years. DS went at 13 months.

We spent almost all of our time at MK. We went to Hollywood studios for the Playhouse Disney Live and that was it. Epcot, we skipped the world showcase. AK, we did the Safari, Dinoland and that was pretty much it. DD (just 3) had a lot of say during this trip and she wanted to spend most of our time in Fantasyland and in Toontown.

Here are some of our favs and not so favs.

Favorites --- things that have always been a hit and new things from our past trip.

Chef Mickey's for Breakfast
Driving the Monorail (ask the attendant if anyone is riding up front and if there isn't some already doing it, you get to ride in the front and you get cards saying that you "drove" the monorail)
Boma for Dinner
Haircuts at Magic Kingdom ---- this is a MUST DO for us. DH, DD and now DS all get theirs done. $14 for kids $18 for adults. You might have to wait but it is SOOOO worth it.
Seeing Tinkerbell Fly from the Castle during Wishes
Visiting the Tinkerbell shop and "watching" her fly around.
Preorder photopass -- this took so much stress out of visiting characters. We got to enjoy the kids interacting with the characters while the photopass people got the shots. Well worth the $100. (600 pics)
Tea at the Grand Floridian --- DD and I did this for the first time this trip. I can't wait to do it again.
Ordered Food from gardengrocer.com --- It is worth it to order a few cases of water alone.
Take food with us.
Buy ponchos at home and bring them.
Garden Grill at Epcot
Living Seas at Epcot
Fountain show at Epcot
Drummers/Dancers in Africa at AK
Tomorrowland Speedway at MK
Mickey Head Ice Cream Bars (we have a billion pictures of each DCs first one --- we just give it to them and let them go! It is so much fun.)
Letting the kids play at the All Star Resorts --- both kids love the all the huge things. We spent a morning there.
Playing on the beach at the Poly. -- you get an excellent view of the castle and awesome pictures.
When dining we eat Breakfast or Late Lunches/Early Dinners. It works out better for all of us and it is cheaper
Staying on property
Seeing any characters we can
Crystal Palace for Character meal.
Festival of the Lion King at AK
Look for treasure and jewels in the ground in Adventureland
Wishing well at Cinderellas Castle
Cinderella Fountain
Find Cinderella's horse on the carrousel
Push minnie's answering machine at her house in toontown
In the afternoon the Mayor and other townspeople come out in MK --- you can talk to them....VERY cool!
The movie theater in the back of the photo supply shop at MK. Great place to cool down and it is always empty
If you have time -- take a tour of Disney Vacation Club. FREE babysitting! DD didn't want to leave! They give you icecream and we got 2 $15 gift cards. It only takes an hour. They pick you up and take you back. Carseats are in the van for the kids and there is NO pressure at all. DH and DD went and he said it was worth it.



Not so Fav.--
Parades -- no one wanted to wait and no one wanted to sit
Fireworks -- DD doesn't like them and neither does DS. If you ask me, seeing Wishes once is enough. I am just not a fan or maybe I have seen it too much. We stayed at the Contemporary and it watched them from our room -- much better in my book.
Hollywood Studios -- not much there for us so we don't bother
Swimming --- to much of a pain for me.
The train at MK
Rafiki's Planet watch at AK
Fairy, I am so with you on that Country Bear Jamboree --- DH loves it and this was the first year we didn't do it. Thanks to DD's infatuation with Fantasyland!
DH and I LOVE Fantasmic, but we think that it would be hard for the kids to see and would probably scare the pants off them.
Downtown Disney.
Waking up Tinkerbell at the Tinkerbell store in MK --- this was a huge letdown for ALL of us. We should have just gotten in line for Dumbo.

(I will probaby edit a zillion more times as I remember more things.)

[Momof3Labs]

Worth it:

Epcot: This is my boys' favorite park. DS1 loves Mission Space, Test Track, Ellen's Energy Adventure, Spaceship Earth, The Land boat ride, and both Innoventions (which are like a children's museum with lots of activities and play areas). He also loves doing the KidCot stops. DS2 loves Nemo (including the "mike mikes" outside the building), the Mexico boat ride, The Land boat ride and watching the monorail. Mom and Dad appreciate the huge variety of food offerings (finally, something other than the same awful Disney burgers and fried foods), both sit down and quick service. Honestly, in order to enjoy Epcot, you need to take the time to explore it. It's not a park to just zip through and gloss over - then it does feel like a dud. It's a park to slow down and savor a bit. Both last December and this more recent trip, both of my boys loved Epcot the best, hands down.

Food & Wine Festival at Epcot: We really enjoyed the different food offerings this month at Epcot, but boy was it crowded on Saturday night!

Garden Grill is one of our favorite character meals with some of the best character interaction around (usually 2-3 visits from each character in an hour, they sit and color with the kids or goof around with them). It's also very, very quiet for a character meal.

Crystal Palace: It's a zoo and the characters move by quickly, but the food is always good with tons of choices and different flavors. We usually do lunch because it is much cheaper than dinner.

DHS: Not my favorite park, but both boys adored the Toy Story ride (get fast passes right when the park opens or plan to spend an hour or so in line), and honestly, so did we. There are plenty of good character meet-and-greets. DS1 loves the Indiana Jones stunt show and the Lights Motors Action stunt show. DS2 hates shows of all types so he skipped those.

AK: The safari is great, and DH and I love Expedition Everest. But beyond that, we don't get a lot out of AK (remember, DS2 doesn't do shows - too bad because the Lion King show is amazing). It's the one park that DS2 begged to leave. We loved the Tusker House breakfast in December; couldn't get in on this last trip so can't say if it is the same or not.

MK: A classic, but it gets so crowded due to narrow walkways. DS1 loves all the mountains. DS2 loves the usuals - Dumbo, Small World, Peter Pan, Pooh. DS1 loved Philharmagic last time but we didn't get there this time. Both boys thought that the Jungle Cruise was a total blast - they talked about our driver (who was big on physical comedy) for days. Pirates is always a hit with them, too.

Staying at the Swan, if you qualify for one of the discounts (teachers, nurses, government workers). It's a fantastic location, great room, wonderful beds, one of the best deals on property.

We enjoy the dinner at Boma but didn't make it there this time. If you have time, take an hour to walk around Animal Kingdom Lodge - it is really beautiful, and the animals are so cool to see so close.

We pack our own healthy snacks for the day to save quite a few bucks on junk snacks. Much easier to watch what is going in the kids' mouths when you choose it in advance!

Skip it:

Dining Plan: We've done it twice, and felt like we spent a lot of energy making reservations (gotta be in the right park on the right day), running around to make it to our reservations, and sitting in restaurants that are, on average, okay but not great. And you get way more food than you'd normally order, so plan to put on a few pounds or more if you go this route. This last trip, we skipped it, and were much happier. We did a couple of character meals but did breakfast in the room and counter service for our other meals and the speed and timing just works better with young kids IMO (unless they are used to sitting in a restaurant daily). Now that the DP excludes tips, I don't think it is as good a deal as before, unless you work hard to choose the most expensive options most of the time.

DS1 would advise skipping the following rides:

MK: Haunted Mansion. Stitch would have done him in, so we didn't try it.
AK: Dinosaur, Tough to be a Bug. Expedition Everest was tolerable but he did close his eyes midway through it.
DHS: Tower of Terror. But he loves Rock n Roller Coaster!
Epcot: Honey I Shrunk the Audience.

DS2's list to skip is far too long and unique to him, so I won't list it here!

Most of the souvenirs. They are overpriced and end up discarded so soon after the trip. Our boys also love the photos that we take, so I make them photo books at CVS after the trip. DS1 loves pressed pennies so we always get a few of those. DS2 loves diecast cars, so that's what he gets. That's about all that comes home with us!

I'll come back and edit if I think of more!

[JTsMom]

I love this thread! It's so helpful to see everyone's opinions, even though they are all so different!

I probably should give a little background on our stiuation. I've been to all of the parks except AK many, many times, but never with a preschooler. DH has been to DisneyLAND many times, but never WDW. It's DS's very first trip, and boy is he excited! Unfortunately, he is just shy of 40", so unless he decides to grow a half inch or so in the next 25 days, the "big" rides are out for him, which realllllllly stinks, b/c I know he'd love BTMtn.

We're going for 8 days, if you include our arrival day. I'm a bit on the OCD side when it comes to planning, and I've read the Unofficial Guide, and subscribed to Tour Guide Mike, not to mention reading a ton of posts here and on disboards. We're staying at Coronado Springs, and we're on the basic dining plan (I did the math both ways, and figured even if we skip a couple of meals, we'll still fare better with it b/c of all of the character meals). I booked to seperate reservations, so we only have the DDP for 7 days and Hoop de doo uses up 2 credits, which should help also. Here's what we have planned so far:

Arrival Day- Check in, get settled, explore the resort, Hoop De Do for dinner. (It's our anniversary too)

Full Day1- MK, BF at Ohana's. If, by some miracle we're up for it, we may hop to the studios for the EMH PH Disney dance party, but I doubt it highly.

Day 2- Epcot. I have a back up res for Crystal Palace at 8, but probably will skip it so we can be at the park for the 9 opening.

Day 3-AK, and it's my b-day, so we wanted to do something special for dinner. We have a res for Italy, but also one for Le Cellier. The problem is it's really late- 8:40, so I think I'm going to have to give it up, unless I manage to find an earlier opening.

Day 4-Chef Mickey's at 7. God awful early/not a convenient day, but the only one I could get, and I had to trade for it. I really want to do this one b/c DS loves the classic characters. I keep working on alternate days/times, but so far, this is as good as it gets. Then Epcot.

I also have a res at Garden Grill this night, but assuming we make it to CM, we're probably going to cancel it b/c it's just too much for one day imo.

Day 5-MK, Crystal Palace Lunch, unless we end up doing the one earlier in the week.

Day 6-Studios, and lunch at 50's Prime Time

Day 7- Free day. I figure we'll do whatever we enjoyed the most/didn't see enough of, or DTD or something.

We're also going to see the Spectro parade that night.


This probably sounds like a lot, but we plan on breaking in the middle of the day, and going with the flow. The only thing we're really set on is getting to the parks early, and riding as much as possible in the first hours so as to avoid the later lines b/c DS is NOT going to do well with waiting.

[kimbe]

Chef Mickeys is so worth it. You can take a breakfast bus from your resort to the MK (sometimes they will take you right to the contemporary if there are enough people.) Then you can just hope the monorail to Epcot. I would do it if you can.

Your schedule looks good!