Orlando, Florida Theme Parks
Part 1
Beginner’s guide to planning your trip to Orlando – Adulting
You can follow this adventure and many more on my Instagram account LivTraveling
The date is set! M & I are set to enjoy some crazy kid-like fun at Disney World and Universal Studios Orlando in September!
We did get a little lucky! I received an email from one of our wholesales agencies in February advising us of a sweet Disney World deal; This giving us the opportunity to splurge on Disney some extras! To top this off- a few weeks after we booked Disney announced the official opening of Galaxy’s Edge!
If you are anything like I am – a significantly enthusiastic Disney fan #90skid – then you definitely want the works! M & I opted to purchase only 5 days Park Hopper passes at Disney and Two days and Universal Studios. Experiencing everything possible in the short time we have!
I may have some OCD tendencies – The trips are currently planned to almost the minute!
Thanks to the “My Disney Experience” app – available on both the Apple store and the Google Play store. This is a game-changer let me tell you! This App features a day-by-day breakdown. If you are booked in a theme park hotel this app allows for early access check-in; no lines! The app displays and tracks our schedule with regards to theme park tickets, special event tickets, firework displays and parades, FastPass+ reservations, meal reservations, shopping and so much more!
Thanks to our Travel Team, we were able to book an early flight out to maximize our stay; thus allowing us to take advantage of our time from the moment we walk off that plane! In my opinion, If you have the opportunity to take that early flight to your destination and the evening flight home DO IT! Enjoy the once in a lifetime experiences, the extra hours, minutes, seconds; the make the world of difference.
Pre-Planning
Do some research and be patient. If you are traveling with friends, family for leisure or business waiting for the right moment to book your next trip is extremely important! Stay flexible! You are on vacation, you will be enjoying every moment regardless of the days of the week. Most airlines and tour companies offer lower rates mid-week if you are traveling on a budget keep the options open!
M & I decided to take a trip to Disney World in May 2018, on our vacation in the Dominican Republic. It wasn’t until February 2019 that our trip was booked and not until September 2019 are we FINALLY in Disney; that’s over 18 months of patience! Truth be told, we did have other trips planned in-between.
The Package
First things’ first be budget conscience, the DisneyWorld Packages can be a little more pricey, however, they do offer a virtually ” all-inclusive ” type package that can include a variety of dining package options, an all-in-one mobile App, website user login, MagicBands and much more, that make your Disney dream vacation experience seamless. Your MagicBand stores: your dining package information, serve as an access key for your hotel room, tracks your park tickets and add-ons and so much more. One of my favorite perks of Disney packages is the Extra Magic Horus! DisneyWorld Theme parks offer guests staying at Disney resorts early access to theme parks before the doors officially open to the public. If you are an early riser or a night owl, the Disney parks are open before and after regular service hours for resort guests. ** Note ** Not all attractions are available during these periods and Extra Magic hours are subject to change. If you do not have a park hopper option you will not be permitted to switch parks during this time.
We chose one of the older hotels on the property, Disneys’ Pop Century Resort, On average 160$ USD per night. Disney has over 30 resorts on their property. Prices per night vary between 125$ USD to over 800$ USD. We figured as we are spending the majority of our time at the various parks, spending the extra $$ for a newer resort unnecessary. The Pop Century Is located near Hollywood Studios. It worked out almost perfectly with the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s’ Edge park opening just a few days before we arrive. One week on this resort is approximately 2,300$ USD, with a 5 Day Park Pass. Basic Passes only allow for one theme park visit a day; for and extra 87.50$ USD a person, you can upgrade your park tickets for the Hopper Passes.
Disney World has recently announced a new reduced ticket rate!
The new Mid-Day Magic ticket is available for purchase. Why pay for a full day at a theme park if you are not spending the whole day there? Depending on the type of traveler you are this might be a great option. These tickets are valid after 12 PM at all 4 main theme parks. Prices starting at 70$ USD; subject to change and ticketing option. You have the ability to add the Park Hopper option as well as upgrade this Mid-Day ticket to include the waterparks, golf course, ESPN and much more at an additional fee. This option truly allows you to experience all that Disney World has to offer, with the fare/fee flexibility everyone is looking for.
If you want to consider all your options and don’t mind the distance, look for hotels around the area; Kissimmee is my personal favorite, having visited a few times before, located roughly 30 minutes from the DisneyWorld and Universal Studios, Florida parks and a city alive with unique hotels, restaurants, and adventures. This will require drives back and forth, so you will need access to a vehicle or ride-sharing; there are some public transportation options but they are lengthy trips to and from parks.
As we choose to also visit Universal Studios, our Travel Team arranged for us to have tickets to both theme parks. 5-day Disney Hopper Pass at DisneyWorld and 2-day 2-park pass at both Universal Studios, Florida and Adventure Island – average 145$ USD per day. Traveling as adults, the Disney Park Hopper Pass allows us to have unlimited transfers between the 4 site theme parks, maximizing our time spent at each and allowing us the flexibility to visit multiple parks a day.
All-in-all, the dollars, and dimes, the average cost to book a DisneyWorld package for two adults: 2,400$ USD includes a standard room at Pop Century 5-Day Park Passes(not including meals). Upgrade to Hopper Passes 170$ USD, Disney Dining Plan 907$ USD, Universal Studios, Florida 2-day-2 Park Passes 570$ USD. Airfare varies, dependant on time of year and travel dates; on average a round trip Montreal – Orlando, direct non-stop, 400-450$ CAD, and travel insurance, including cancellation, roughly 100- 130$CAD per person. Totaling, in the neighborhood of 5,840$ CAD; 2,920$ CAD a person.
Our trip including travel insurance, flights-and an upgrade, resort transfers, hotel reservations, park tickets (DisneyWorld and Universal Studios) as well as the Disney Dining Plan, 4,925.18$ after taxes and fees for both of us; 2,462$ CAD a person. That’s 900$ CAD in savings! Patience is Key!
Dinning
Consider the Disney Dining Packages, if you are patient enough you should wait for a Disney DInning deal. In the past, Disney offers their dinning deals twice a year for travel specific dates; beginning and mid-year. We all need to eat, DisneyWorld theme parks do allow guests to bring food and drinks into the parks; with certain restrictions. However, how can you pass up the opportunity to eat a Mickey Mouse ice-cream bar, a lunch at the Iconic “Be Our Guest” restaurant and try the grey stuff it’s delicious; at the Magic Kingdom or a mammoth-sized Turkey Drumstick *drool*
M & I opted for the Disney Dining Plan – notwithstanding the option to bring our own snacks and adult beverages along the way… truth be told, the sweet deal we got for being patient got us the Quick Service dining package included, saving us approx. 750$ between the two of us on food expenses, however, we splurged and upgraded our package for 100$ CAD each, to the Disney Dining Package. Disney offers 3 Dining plans to its’ guests. These dining experiences vary in price and dining options. We chose the mid-level plan, including snacks, quick services ( on-the-go dining) and table services ( a-la-carte menus), as well as a bottomless/refillable DisneyWorld mug!
One of the main reasons why we chose a dinning plan, is to avoid any future financial burden that may arise. The dinning package we chose offered us, per night of stay on the resort, 1 Quick Service, 1 Table Service, and 2 Snacks a day, per individual. The estimated average prices per person for a Snack at DisneyWorld range between 5-10+$ USD, a Quick Service 15-25+$ USD and a Table Service 40-60+$ USD; that’s over 180$USD for two, a day not including WATER! For the extra 100$ CAD a person we spent to upgrade our package, well worth it; the “All-Inclusive” feeling! The average cost of adding the Disney Dining Package to a reservation is roughly 450$ USD a person for a 7 days vacation; 75-78$ USD a day
Character Dining
You cannot visit a Disney theme park and not experience Character Dining, from breakfast with the cast of Winnie the Pooh to lunch at Tiffin’s overseeing the African Safari, or a romantic dinner in the Magic Castle overlooking the firework display with Cinderella, a true fairytale. The DisneyWorld theme parks have over 439 places to grab a bite, whether it be for a quick bite or a unique a-la-carte dining experience; talk about options. Most Table Service dining options require guests to make dining reservations. Certain character dining options are offered at specific times of the day and have limited availabilities. If you are particularly interested in visiting your favorite character, be sure to reserve ahead, spaces are limited and they fill up fast!
One of the most difficult Characters Dining experiences to book is the Cinderella’s Royal Table dining experience at the Magic Castle in the Magic Kingdom. Once again, thanks to our Travel Team, M & I will be experiencing this fairytale-like dining experience during our stay!
The Game Plan
It is always best to plan a little ahead, the last thing you want is to miss out on your favorite rides and character experiences. Orlando theme parks can be very overwhelming; there is so much to do and so little time. Additionally, when traveling with other individuals, you always need to be considerate of what they would like to do or see. My best advice, before purchasing a Disney package or theme park tickets, plan what kind of vacation or attractions you would like to visit and possibly spend more time visiting.
Thankfully M is pretty easygoing and we both enjoy crazy rollercoasters. I, unlike him, want to do EVERYTHING! So we tried to organize our trip around doing as much as possible and maximizing our time at the parks. Early on we decided not to visit the waterparks, Disney Springs or the Boardwalk. We figured if we had the time one evening we would go visit the other sites, but it was not a priority. DisneyWorld vacation packages can virtually be tailored to any individual, family or groups’ needs; from relaxing spa getaways, canal boat cruises, extravagant dining adventures and so much more!
As M & I have a 5-day Disney hopper and a 2 -day Universal pass organization is key. We chose to organize our Park visits around ou dining reservations. As we have a dinning package we have 1 Table service credit per night of stay per package, this means we have 7 credits to juggle with. As some of our Character dining experiences take 2 credit this worked out great! Both Cinderellas Royal Table and the Tier 1 FOLK ( Festival of the Lion King) dinning experience require 2 credits, and the two days we are off-site we will be experiencing dining at Universal Studios.
Universal Studios has a dinning selection of over 130 restaurants, from dining at Three Broomsticks at the Wizarding World to burgers at the Iconic Krusty Burger; we have way too many options! M, having the biggest sweet-tooth known to mankind, has his sites set on The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium and Savory Kitchen for one of our nights, basically a Willy Wonka Factory!
As we do not currently have access to view and discover everything Universal Studios Florida has to offer, I will be posting a separate blog entry for the Universal Adventure. The Universal post will feature must-see’s, tips to avoiding some line, where to eat and much more!
Follow us on IG to see the adventure live! September 09-10 2019.
Disney World
As previously mentioned, pre-planning is essential for Disney trips. There are a number of tour books, insider blogs and content out there to help you along the way. The “My Disney Experience” App is a must-download. If you want to maximize your experience and have the ease of mind during your trip, trust me, get the app; available at the Google Store and Apple Store. The app is a game-changer! I have access to my hotel, dining, FastPass+ and all my theme park tickets at the touch of a button. The app also allows you to order food to your room, order on the go and shop Disney merch!!
As mentioned, we only have a 5-day hopper pass – in order for us to maximize our time at each park we chose to book our dining experiences around what parks we are visiting that day to minimize the back and forth; the hopper pass, still allowing us to move between all for parks at any time.
Must Do’s
There are 100s of attractions you can visit at the 4 Disney World theme parks. Every park has 5-7 must-sees, M & I have pre-booked some of our FastPass+ for some of these attractions to help mitigate the wait times at these rides.
FastPass+ is a total game-changer. FastPass+ allows you to make at least 3 pre-travel ride reservations. The reservation provides you with a 1hour window to swipe your wristband into the FastPass+ line and skip most of the regular queue. Every park, including Epcot, has over a dozen FastPass+ eligible rides and attractions. This feature is especially useful when you are short on time and when done properly after your 3rd FastPass+ reservation is complete, you can use your My Experience app to book as many more as are available at the park for the rest of the day. I am particularly excited about this feature as some of the must do’s at Disney World are known for their long wait times and my FastPass+ bookings will eliminate that – or at least mostly.
Something Disney World resorts do not advertise vocally is their VIP tours. If you have the 425$-625$ an hour “spare change” to splurge, Disney resorts offer a VIP private tour service. These packages include everything from Private transfers from your hotel to any of the 4 theme parks, a private trained Disney tour guide, instant access to all of the attractions, NO LINES, as well as VIP seating to parades and festivals. There are a few other variations of their product, this, catering to all types of personalized experiences.
Epcot
As we arrive around mid-day on Saturday, we chose to visit Epcot first, getting most of these attractions out of the way for the first half day; or at least that is the plan.
As EPCOT ( Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) was originally planned and built around the unrealized concept of a community that would serve as a center for American innovation and urban living, M & I chose not to spend a full day here.
Some of the featured attractions at Epcot are Soarin’ Around the World, Mision: SPACE, the Chevrolet® Test Track, World Showcase, and the iconic Frozen Ever After. There are so many different things to do and try, for the foodie in everyone Epoct dinning selections is one of the top-rated in the world, notably Le Cellier Steakhouse, featuring cuisine from 11 countries. After some research and debate, M & I chose to use our FastPass+ options on Mission: Space, Soarin’ Around the World and Spaceship Earth, at the iconic Epcot ball!
More on these plans once we return. I will be posting all the ups and downs of this experience; hopefully, all ups! or you can follow us on this adventure on IG Livtraveling for daily updates between September 7th and the 14th 2019!
Hollywood Studios
Disney’s Hollywood Studios are split into 7, soon to be 8, lands; Hollywood Boulevard, Echo Lake, Toy Story Land, Grand Adventure, Comissionary Lane, Animation Boulevard, Sunset Boulevard and the newest addition, opening August 29, 2019, Starwars Galaxy’s Edge.
As Starwars Galaxy’s Edge is currently closed, awaiting its grand opening, I will not have more info until I come back- so stay tuned for updates and new posts! Or follow me on IG for day-of posts and updates! (September 8, 2019)
The must do’s of Hollywood studio- aside from the much anticipated Starwars; Galaxy’s Edge attractions are The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™, a classic, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, Star Tours- The Adventure Continues, Toy Story Mania!, Fantasmic!, and Toy Story Land- Slinky Dog Dash.
So far M & I have only chosen Toy Story’s Slinky Dog Dash for our FastPass+ daily allotment for the time being. I figured I would give him the chance to at least choose some of the things we will be doing
To end the first official day at Disney World theme parks M & I have access to the Fantasmic! fireworks on Sunset Boulevard. Thanks to our dining reservations at Hollywood & Vine for a character breakfast that same day, we will be granted access to reserved seating for the show!
Magic Kingdom
Since our package includes Extra Magic hours, our plan is to arrive at the Magic Kingdom for 6 AM. Hopefully, we can hop onto some of the rides usually known for long queues. Around 9 M & I have reservations for breakfast at The Crystal Palace with our favorite characters from The Hundred- Acre- Woods. We have booked 3 back to back FastPass+ following breakfast; Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
Some of the Must-See experiences at this theme park are Seven Dwarf Mine Train, the iconic Disney Festival of Fantasy parade, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Rail Road, Happily ever after and Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire.
At 2 PM M & I have planned to watch the Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade, followed by an afternoon of more attractions and character meet and greets!
To end what I hope will be the most magical day of our trip, M & I will be watching the Happily Ever After firework display from our Fairytale Dining at Cinderella’s Royal Table. I can hardly contain my excitement!
Animal Kingdom
I can’t even express how excited I am about visiting this theme park. From the wildlife safari to Pandora; Animal Kingdom has something for everyone! This park is divided into 7 sections the Oasis, Africa, Asia, Pandora-The World of Avatar, Discovery Island, Rafiki’s Planet Watch and DinoLand U.S.A.
Some of the Must-See attractions here are Expedition Everest, Finding Nemo- The Musical, Festival of the Lion King, DINOSAUR, Kali River Rapids, Pandora- The World of AVATAR and the Rivers of Lights.
Our FastPass+ advance bookings for this day were a little tough, as some of you already know I have a small- some say HUGE – obsession with the Lion King. With our Dining option, we had the opportunity to book one of the most exclusive packages available at Animal Kingdom. M & I have 3 pm reservations for the FOLK Tier 1 Experience. This experience includes VIP seating to the Festival of the Lion King production, a specialty guided safari tour and a gourmet 3-course meal at Tiffins.
With this experience taking up the majority of our afternoon, we had limited options for our FastPass+ selections. DINOSAUR and Kali River Rapids for a thing in the morning then Na’vi River Journey after dinner.
Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Haloween Party
Our last day at the Walt Disney World Resorts and Theme Parks will be Friday, September 13th and what better way to spend the Gooley evening than at the Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Haloween Party! M & I will be spending the evening collecting candies, sweets, and delightful treats—all while Magic Kingdom park thrills and chills us with special fireworks, eerie entertainment and Disney Characters that go bump in the night!
The park will be closing early for regular ticket holders, only those who purchased the Haloween party tickets will be eligible to the entre Magic Kingdom this haunted evening. Tickets are roughly 80-85$ USD additional; some discounts and special rates may be available.
DisneyWorld Parks hosts a variety of these events throughout the year, notably, Mickeys Very Merry Christmas Party, hosted on select dates November through to December and New Year’s Eve at Disney World in January; additional ticket purchases are required to attend these events.
TTFN.
O.