Walt Disney   World

Introduction

The Walt Disney World Resort holds a very special place in our lives. It's where we spent our honeymoon (at least the part we weren't interviewing for jobs). James' desire to design something on Disney property was one of the key reasons we moved to Florida after our wedding. Once James' sister and parents moved to Lakeland, it was also a good "midpoint" where we could meet and spend time together as a family. In the 10 years we lived in Florida, we had resident annual passes and visiting one of the parks became a regular way which we put the rest of our world aside for a bit.

James has vague memories of visiting the Magic Kingdom as a young child with his family. He also remembers his first trip to EPCOT. The first time he visited Studios (then Disney MGM Studios) was with Julie on their Honeymoon. We first visited Animal Kingdom on Earth Day (April 22) in 1998 which happened to be its public grand opening.

We sometimes get asked how many times we've been to Disney parks. We've visited Disneyland in California three times (see Jaunts pages) and we have been to Disneyland Paris property once, but we didn't go into the parks as guests (James was in one of the parks for work in 2003). We cannot say how many times we visited Walt Disney World in Florida. We know that the one year we used our passes the most, we visited between 35 and 40 times in a 12-month window. James' Aunt worked at the Studios for 25 years so sometimes we just wanted to see Aunt Sherry and would go out to surprise her. For birthdays and anniversaries we would pick different restaurants at the parks or resorts. We'd go to dinner there with James' parents after matinees of touring Broadway shows. When we moved back to Iowa in 2007, we had eaten at all but 5 of the restaurants on Disney property. We've stayed at three of the "Value", two of the "Moderate", and one of the "Deluxe" Resort Hotels.

Remember… HAVE FUN. It’s the “Happiest Place on Earth”; ask all the kids in the strollers. Their goal is to entertain you and take you away from your daily life; let them. Laugh at the jokes and remember that you can eat some junk food because you’re walking it all off.




Favorite Memories




Thoughts for Planning a Visit

DISCLAIMER: The Walt Disney World Resort is consistently going through refurbishment and rejuvenation. New rides, changes in ticketing process, and special events announcements occur all the time. Please check the Official Walt Disney World Website for current information.

When most people think of Walt Disney World, they think of Cinderella's Castle and rides like It's a Small World or Pirates of the Caribbean; that, in fact is the Magic Kingdom. All together, the Walt Disney World Resort has four theme parks, two water parks, a major shopping and entertainment district, and over 20 resorts and campgrounds. And that's just the Disney owned and operated facilities. Planning a visit to Walt Disney World involves deciding how many parks you want to see and where you want to stay. We hope these pages help a little if that's why you're here.


General Notes

RELAX!!!!!!!! Remember to laugh at the people around you like you’re not one of them.
At any location where they sell fountain drinks (in the glass) you can ask for free ice water. May not be as easy as bottled, but a 20oz bottle is around $3.00 (or more).
Don’t buy anything (souvenirs) on the way into the park in the morning; then you have to carry it around all day… unless it’s a hat.
There are bag checks at the gates to all the major parks. If you can consolidate what you’re carrying, it helps. If you can live without it, don’t take it.
Have sunscreen and maybe an umbrella, watch the forecast. As you get later into the summer the chances of an afternoon shower increase.
If you see something you like, take a picture with your phone. There are lots of things that are common across the shops and parks, but not everything. If you see something “you can’t live without” it might not hurt to get it. They do have “delivery to your room” as long as you’re staying on property. We’ve never used it so not sure what restrictions exist.
To reduce your wait time, please keep up with the family in front of you and fill in all available space. You are likely to hear this over and over again as you stand in ride queues.
If you have “Extra Magic Hours” for some of the parks, it’s a good idea to use them. Yes, it means getting up and around earlier, but it cuts the people you’re dealing with in the parks by a large amount.
We like staying at the hotels on property because they have transportation to the theme and water parks as well as the Downtown Disney entertainment and shopping district.
Check your phone's app store for park specific apps. Some have activities to keep you (your family) occupied while waiting in line.
The designers of the parks occasionally sneak in a "Hidden Mickey." This is where the outline of Mickey's head is concealed amongst other decorations. It's fun to keep an eye out to find them; they used to sell books in the gift shops to help with the search.
On the Walt Disney World website, there are also special tours you can sign up for. Some are seasonal so if you've been to the resort before and want to learn more about the parks, these can be very magical. We enjoyed learning more about the Magic Kingdom on the "Keys to the Kingdom" tour and about the gardens at The Land pavilion on the "Behind the Seeds" tour.


Downtown Disney

We love Raglan Road; it’s an Irish Restaurant. It is a little spendy, but the food is great. (mmm, Guinness Beef Stew). Be on the watch for what could be a stage as you're being seated; occasionally the staff breaks into song and dance.
Fulton’s Crab House (on the paddle boat) has really good and fresh seafood. It’s pricey.
James, of course, would spend way too much money in the Lego Store.
The shops and stuff at the Marketplace are pretty fun. They even have a Christmas store that’s open year round.
The theater and clubs on the West Side would be better for adults, less for the kids to do (unless they’re at the movies).
Pleasure Island has been redone since we spent much time there and so don’t know much of what they have right now.


Food at the Resorts

The food at Victoria and Albert’s in the Grand Floridian is fabulous. We made reservations there for James’s parents the night of their 50th wedding anniversary. We went there on our 10th anniversary. It's very pricey though and reservations have to be made months in advance.
The non-park restaurant we’ve visited twice since moving to Iowa is Artist’s Point in Wilderness Lodge. Expensive, but the food is great; James' favorite is the buffalo steak and the berry cobbler for dessert.
California Grill at the Contemporary Resort is also really good. We went there for our first wedding anniversary. It’s on top of the A-frame hotel overlooking the lagoon outside of the Magic Kingdom.
The Mayan and El Mercado (two different places) at Coronado Springs Resort are also really good.


Other Thoughts

The mini-golf courses are a little expensive but are a fun way to kill some time. The Fantasia Fairways near the Swan and Dolphin hotel actually lets you use real putters and the holes have quite a bit of distance.
We didn't spend much time at the two Water Parks (Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon). They both close seasonally for upgrades and repairs.