Planning a vacation to Disneyworld is a huge endeavor but if you’re reading this and doing your research, then props to you. This is a blog post about my favorite rides, restaurants, and some tips I’ve learned from visiting this park that is so large it has its own zipcode!

There are 4 parks in Disneyworld as of this blog post

  1. Animal Kingdom (with the land of Pandora that opened in May 2017)
  2. Hollywood Studios
  3. Magic Kingdom
  4. Epcot

My Favorite Restaurants, don’t skip out on these

  1. Victoria and Alberts (fine dining) at the Grand Floridian. Reservations are very hard to get. It can be booked out 3 months in advance some times. Check out my review!
  2. Be Our Guest (in Belle’s castle) in Fantasyland. This is a good place to try at least one time because the inside is just beautiful! Quite the fairytale. It’s also booked out quite early.

My Favorite Rides to check out, be sure not to miss these

Animal Kingdom

  • In the Asia portion of Animal Kingdom, there is Expedition Everest. It’s a fast thrilling roller coaster that zips through a snow covered landscape with the concept of a yeti chasing after you and ripping up the coaster tracks. Contrary to roller coaster riding technique, sitting in the FRONT seat is more fun than sitting in the last seat. There is even a separate line for those who want to sit in the front.
  • In Pandora, the land from the movie Avatar, Flight of Passage is quite the experience. (It’s like Soarin’ from Disney California) Don a pair of goggles and enjoy riding a banshee.

Hollywood Studios

  • Rockin’ Rollercoaster is a true coaster with flips, turns, and twists. Get strapped in and in the groove with Aerosmith blasting throughout the entire ride. For those of us that live in LA, the signage and freeway roads feel a little too real, but combine that with the speed and thrill of the coaster and I’m wishing my commute to work could be as fun as this coaster.

Magic Kingdom

  • Space Mountain in Tomorrowland. It’s fast as it zips through the star studded galaxy!
  • The Seven Dwarves Mine Train is a version of Thundermountain but the 1-2 hour wait for this ride is usually not worth it IMO. I’ve ridden it once and I’m good for a while.

Epcot

  • Frozen. Yes! I love seeing Elsa belt out her new found freedom in her powers.
  • Mission Space – Orange/Intense is seriously unlike ANY coaster on earth. It mimics g-force. It’s a rocket ship. You can pick whether you want to be a pilot, engineer, etc. on the ride and you can interact with the ride. DO NOT EAT BEFORE you get on this ride unless you want to see a regurgitated version of what you just ate in one of the many barf bags or trashcans on the ride or on the way off the ride 🙁

Tips

When to go?

  • Avoid any holiday within a week radius. Even president’s day holiday week is very busy.

Fastpass/Reservations

  • At Disneyworld, you can book your fast passes ahead of time. For hotel guests it’s 90 days. For CM it’s only a week. It’s all done online so make a My Disney Experience account and try to plan your fastpasses a head of time. If you have the Disney app, check multiple times a day to try to book one of the more popular rides. Each fastpass time that you do book is an hour window. You can’t book more than 3 fastpasses prior to your arrival.
  • Dinner reservations! It’s like trying to register for university classes – i.e. Always checking back periodically throughout the day to see if anyone has dropped the reservation so that you can swoop in and take the extra spot. If you have a certain credit card or concierge service that helps as well! I use this card and the concierge service helps me book reservations on my behalf. (Sign up with my link and get 50,000 bonus points if you spend $4,000 within 3 months!)

Where to stay?

  • Disney resort hotels offer the best perk in that the service is the best and the transportation is easy. They always have buses, ferries, and/or monorails to get you from the park to your hotel. Honestly, after walking more than 22,000 steps in a single day with barely any rest, you do want easy transportation.
  • Disney partner hotels that you may come across… I’m not sure if I’d stay in again. Service is not the same as resort hotels and I don’t want to find red stains on the carpet that may be who knows what!

2017