Going for my first time with my son and family ! I’m very excited. We are staying at All Star Sports. Anyone have any tips or recommendations? I’ve been reading all week blogs and made my plans on here, but always looking for more.
I have no tips other than to enjoy everything and you will have an amazing trip! I wish I was going to be there!
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When everything fails to go to plan: Relax, take a deep breath, and chill.
A “bad day” at Disney is still way better than a good day nearly anywhere else.
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We’re going for our first time too next month. Have fun! Just passing along some of the pointers from the site & forum that I came across & thought were most helpful…
- Pre-picking your QS spots so you know ahead of time which ones are decent in the area of the park you’ll be in or can plan when you take lunch break around when you’ll get to a spot that’s good.
- That your FP window is your hour PLUS 5 min prior and 15 min after.
- That you can ask for a Rider Switch card if you have a little one with you that’s too small/scared to ride something and then use that for whoever you want later whenever you choose.
- The advice about how early you need to stake spots out for parades/fireworks depending on where you want to be for them.
- That MDE takes the bags right into your room while you are gone vs. having to call baggage claim when you get back from the park (if you’re doing parks on arrival day).
- The advice about arriving a good chunk PRIOR TO park opening rather than AT park opening as I would have thought initially.
- Although it sounded over the top Type A to me when I saw the suggestion initially, using a spreadsheet to plot out your days. I figured I did my TPs already so why did I need a spreadsheet. Then I got antsy so started a google calendar to block out the days and realized i hadn’t really thought through all the prep time to get out the door in the AMs and logistics on the back end of the day. Seeing all the blocks of committed time including “get ready”, “jammies, teeth, etc” laid out helped make me much more conscious of when we needed to get up & when we were sleeping by each night.
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Bring your patience, and soak up the atmosphere. If you are going for the purpose of getting on the rides and not having to stand in line, well those hopes can be dashed even on the lower crowd days now that WDW has been busier than ever, but nothing can take away that atmosphere. It’s to be found no where else. The music makes up most of it, in my opinion. I know I’m at WDW when I hear the music.
Don’t be afraid to fill your times when the rides have long wait times with the rides that are the old standbys that were created during Walt’s time, i.e. People Mover, Tea Cups, Carousel of Progress, the train. And take in the shows and entertainment. Just the shows themselves justify the price of the daily ticket. I know, I live in the Orlando area, and you can’t get what you get at WDW for the price of a ticket price of any show in the Orlando area.
All of the shows are top notch in my opinion, Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, the Little Mermaid Puppets, Finding Nemo, Indiana Jones, Fantasmic, and all of the projection shows, Rivers of Light, Happily Ever After. Even if you didn’t make it on one ride…all worth it!
We are annual passholders and we go monthly. We go on the People Mover everytime. It’s a great way to see the Magic Kingdom!
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A good touring plan makes everything go much more smoothly. Try to be realistic about how much your family will be willing and able to do so that you don’t overload them. A little bit of advance planning saves a ton of time in the parks.
Try to pick a few key things that you really want to do and if possible get fastpasses for them.
And in the end be okay with tossing the plan if it works better for you!
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Have a plan but be willing to stop and take in unexpected surprises (like live entertainment)! Also the thing that helps me the most is bringing SEVERAL pairs of good, comfortable shoes (usually tennis shoes that breathe and / or sturdy sandals like Tevo’s). Our plan is usually to get to a park at rope drop, stay until early afternoon, then go back to the hotel for a rest break. At that point I always change my shoes before we go back in the evening. It’s amazing how good it feels to move the “hot spots” around! To give you an idea, on my last solo trip, my fitbit said I walked 27 miles in 3 days…
The very first time I went to WDW (honeymoon), I brought my favorite tennies and wore them all day - like 14 hours - on arrival day. My feet were so ruined that I was in pain for the rest of the week – no amount of bandaids or moleskin could save me at that point.
So…pack your patience and your extra shoes, and remember there are lots of places “off the beaten path” (resorts, especially) if the crowds and heat get overwhelming. Have a great time!!
This is great advice! I love my touring plans, but I’m not wedded to them. If I decide that actually I’d rather do something else entirely, I’ll do it - it’s meant to be fun!
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Stop and smell the roses! Disney is littered with wonderful little surprises at every turn, the imagineering is amazing, from the smallest detail that you come across tucked away somewhere to the obvious. There’s a book called The Hidden Magic of Disney that can help you find some of the more obscure details.
Enjoy! You will have an amazing time 
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We are here now 
We got into the All Star Sports resort at the Tennis building. Going to Magic Kingdom tomorrow!
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Have fun! Wish I was there too.