Tips For Your Trip To Disney World
Posted on January 20, 2009 3:50 PM
Right after Christmas this past year, we took a trip to Disney World. I decided while I was there to compile some things that I had learned. Some of these tips apply specifically to families who would take small children (our daughter is 2 1/2) and others are more general.
There are 4 main attractions at Disney World: The Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM), Epcot Center, and The Animal Kingdom. If I had to rank the four parks, I would put them in that order, with The Magic Kingdom being the best, and The Animal Kingdom at the bottom.
If you go to the Animal Kingdom at all, you should go as early as possible, because many things close down earlier than the park itself closes. If you are visiting in the winter time, remember that sunset is earlier than in the summer, so you have less time to hit some of the attractions. In the end of December we found that some of the attractions at the Animal Kingdom closed at 5pm or earlier. In the Animal Kingdom, the train ride is not really a ride, but transportation to a remote area of the park. Unless you want to visit the conservation station, you should probably skip the train ride. We didn't know this and when we arrived at the conservation station, we realized that we needed to stay on the train and simply ride it back to the main area of the park. As many of the animal attractions shut down for the day, the lines for the other attractions get worse, so you may want to think about a park hopper pass for the Animal Kingdom so you can hit the interesting stuff early in the day, then make your way to the Magic Kingdom or something for the afternoon/evening attractions there.
If you're interested in seeing any of the parades and you want a good seat, you should stake out an area to sit along the parade route and get there about an hour early, or else you'll be standing in the back. I think the parade that we all liked the best was the lighted parade that goes through the Magic Kingdom. After watching 3 parades, I didn't feel like I needed to see any more. Also, if you think about it, parade time may be a better time to hit the busy rides since a lot of people are just sitting and standing in one place watching the parade. In the Animal Kingdom, we found a spot very close to the entrance of the "It's Tough To Be A Bug" show, so that right as the last parade float was showing up, we were hustling to get a good spot in line for the show.
Taylor, watching a parade at Magic Kingdom
Taylor really got a kick out of the 3D shows. The first one we went to was the PhilHarMagic show. Taylor kept trying to grab the 3D objects that flew out in front of her. The quality of the 3D shows really depends upon where you get to sit in the theater. The best place to sit for 3D shows is roughly in the middle of the theater, but it is very hard to control where you will get to sit. Before you enter the theater the audience gathers in front of a few doors that will automatically open toward you when it is time to sit down. You do not want to be at the front near the doors when they open. Like most attractions at Disney, the crowd will be pushing, trying to get to the front. If you find yourself at the front, find a way to let people pass you until you get around 10 - 20 people in front of you for the aisle you want to sit, this should get you somewhere near the middle of the theater. You also don't want to be in the very front or the very back of the theater so try to avoid lining up in front of those doors.
When it comes to shows, let me give you some advice. It is nice to get video and pictures to remember your trip, but in most cases you don't need the entire show caught on your video camera for you to watch later. First of all, unless you have already seen the show, it is much better to watch the show and enjoy it in person, than to watch it through a 2.5 inch LCD screen. Also, it can be distracting for others to enjoy the show if you keep thrusting your camera with a bright LCD screen up in the air in front of them.
If you are not staying at one of the Disney Resorts that give you easy access to the parks, you will most likely be driving each day. There are plenty of toll roads in the area around Disney World. There are of course roads that do not require you to pay a toll. Unless you want to pay an extra 4-6 bucks a day to drive to the parks and back, you may want to map out routes that take the "local" non-toll roads. The first few days we were in Florida, our GPS seemed to give us different random routes with varying results. It may also help if your GPS has the option of avoiding toll roads.
If you are bringing a 2 year old, then the chances are that she won't be able ride some rides, especially the roller-coasters. The good news is, Disney has a mechanism that makes it easier for you to enjoy the big kid rides even when you have a little one. If your child doesn't meet the height requirement, we found that they will give you a rider switch pass, which works like a fastpass ticket with no time limit and it can be used for up to 3 people. The rider switch pass works well when you only have 3 people who want to ride the ride any way. Of course, if one of your group doesn't want to ride the ride, then you may feel morally obligated to have the rest of the group wait in line for 90 minutes and not use a rider switch pass.
Some other advice for you if you're bringing a 2 year old: make sure that you are working out months in advance of your trip, concentrating on legs, back, and shoulders. Kids that age don't like to stand in lines, or walk, or sit all day in the stroller, so you want to be ready for a lot of piggy back rides and carrying around a kid like a forty pound sack of potatoes.
Another bit of advice: don't plan to bring her back for her nap at your hotel room or whatever. At Epcot Center (Day 1) I got Taylor back to the truck in the parking lot, but she woke up as soon as I put her in her car seat and screamed bloody murder for about 2 miles down the road until I agreed to turn around and return to the park. All I got for my trouble was a parking spot farther away from the gate.
Taylor at the end of the day, Epcot Center
My last piece of advice to you is, if it is really crowded and you feel yourself getting frustrated, just remember, you could be back home with 11 degree weather, snow and ice on the ground, and spring is still weeks away. Ok, I guess that last bit is only useful if you go in the winter time like we did.
Anyway, have fun! You're in the happiest place on earth! Don't worry, before you know it you'll be back home to rejoin the rat race.
Add/View Comments
Tags:
Disney World
Jonas Brothers Perform for Halftime Show
Posted on November 28, 2008 11:56 AM
After watching the Jonas Brothers perform during halftime at the Thanksgiving Day Cowboys game yesterday, I wanted to look around and see if I could find any commentary about their performance. Besides the usual plain vanilla news blurbs, I found a guy who had a similar opinion to my own:
I have to agree with the poster when he says that they didn't sound good during the halftime performance. I don't really want to make general statements about their fans besides the one fact that mostly everyone would agree on, and that is that the majority of their fans are young girls. I will also predict that most of them will look back at when they were fans of the Jonas Brothers and laugh at themselves, much as women of my age look back at the boy bands they liked in their teens and laugh.
I am sure it is my age that makes me laugh at the antics of these boy bands and wonder at the lack of talent. Only time will tell. Remember, William Penn once said, "Wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it and right is right, even if everyone is against it." 5 million screaming female teenagers doesn't make the Jonas brothers talented, it just makes them popular. Nobody is disputing whether they are "good guys" there are plenty of good guys out there that can't sing a lick. The good news is, the Jonas brothers will most likely get better, so there is a slim chance that one of them will become the next Sting, or the next Billy Joel of this teenybopper generation. As far as being good guys, I am kind of glad that it is not too out of style for a musical performer to have a "decent" image, since I have a daughter of my own...
All that being said, I did find myself cringing while I listened to Demi Lovato (who?!!!) sing my National Anthem before the game, and once again during the Jonas brothers' HT performance. It is probably a good thing that they don't usually show the halftime stuff on TV, there's only so much dog catching a frisbee though a hoop that you want to see anyway...
Add/View Comments
Tags:
dallas cowboys,
football,
jonas brothers
Adjust The Time On Your Camera
Posted on November 11, 2008 11:43 AM
I was loading up the pictures from the Halloween Party from a couple weeks ago, and I realized that with the time change for Daylight Savings Time, I need to change the time on my cameras.
I don't know if they have cameras yet that will change their time for DST but if your camera doesn't then you should go grab it and make sure it has the right time.
When your camera takes a picture, it records the date and time that the picture was taken in the image file. Most of the time, having the time be off by one hour is not a big deal. However, the pictures on my site are usually sorted by the timestamp embedded (EXIF) in the image file. In the past I have put pictures together from different cameras in one set and if the cameras are not synchronized, I'll have pictures that were taken an hour apart mixing together.
Add/View Comments
Tags:
Photography,
technology
