Disney Revealed - Walt Disney World Tips and Tricks

I was sent this list when planning a trip back in 2007.  To my knowledge all of the information is still relevant.

Great Free Things Most People Do Not Know About At Walt Disney World

1. Resort Tip -Campfire Sing-Along with Chip & Dale and Outdoor Movie at the Disney Fort Wilderness Campground. A Disney Cast Member* plays guitar and leads songs while Chip & Dale go around to the guests seated on benches. Afterwards, a Disney movie is shown on an outdoor screen. You do not need to stay at the campground to do this. When: Every Night.

2. Resort Tip -Barnyard Animal Viewing area at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Campground. When: Daily – closes mid-afternoon. The Animal Kingdom Lodge has a Savannah with giraffes and other animals you can view when dining at or visiting the resort.

3. Resort Tip - The Electric Water Pageant is a floating parade offered nightly on the Seven Seas Lagoon by the Magic Kingdom resort area.

4. Are you staying at one of the Deluxe resorts? Ask if they offer any resort tours or special activities during your visit. For example, the Animal Kingdom Lodge offers a nightly storyteller near the fire pit. The Wilderness Lodge gives tours different times during the week and you can pick up a list of resort “Hidden Mickey’s” from guest services and go on a hunt. Other resorts have similar events.

5. Ask to ride up front with the Driver on the Monorail. Your children may even get a “Monorail License”. You can ask to wait until the next monorail if someone is already in the front.

6. There are free Soda Samples from around the world at Club Cool in Epcot. They’re interesting to try and most are tasty. One is horrible but I won’t spoil the surprise.

7. Epcot - You can send e-postcards with your picture included to friends & family from the ImageWorks lab kiosks at the end of the Journey into Imagination with Figment ride in the Imagination Pavilion. Send funny animated e-postcards can be sent from the kiosks found at the Training Lab at the end of the Mission Space ride. Free e-postcards are also available from the Kiosk near the Kidcot area in the Mexico Pavilion.

8. Speaking of Kidcot Stations – did you know that your child can decorate a free posterboard mask at any Kidcot station in Epcot? Look for the stations near attractions and especially in the World Showcase. You can add a decoration at each station. These usually close in the late afternoon. If the attendant in the China pavilion is from China or from Japan in the Japan Pavilion, ask them to write your child’s name in their language on the mask. Seeing their name written in another language was a highlight for my kids.

9. Try riding a Segway without having to book a tour at the Segway exhibit in the Innoventions West building at Epcot. You must be at least 16 years old and under 250 pounds to ride. It usually opens around 1:00 PM.

10. Younger kids can participate in a free Ladybug release program at The Great American Farm exhibit in Innoventions West. This usually happens daily at 11:30AM.

11. Seeing Miyuki, the candy artist, in the Japan pavilion is one of our favorite things to do at Epcot. Check your times guide (she usually appears Monday through Thursday) – then arrive about 15 minutes early and wait near her cart. If your child is waiting politely, he or she may get to select an animal for her to make. They will get to keep the candy creation. Waiting politely is essential – she doesn’t select children calling, “pick me, pick me” etc.

12. Are you celebrating a birthday, anniversary, or honeymoon? Is this your first visit to Disney World? Be sure to stop by guest services at any Disney theme park to get the free special pin/button. Wear it and you’ll get a lot of well wishes from Cast Members and other guests but you might even get some special benefits like getting to sit in the VIP area at Beauty and the Beast in Disney-MGM Studios.

13. Children under 12 can bake and then sample cookies at the Jr. Chef Station in the lower level of the Land Pavilion in Epcot. This is offered periodically through day – usually on the half hour from 12:30 to 4:30 PM - so check the times board near the Jr. Chef Station. This Jr. Chef Station if found to the right of The Land Boat ride, near the food court. Arrive about 15 minutes early. This takes about 25 minutes.

14. Ride the first raft (about 10 AM) to Tom Sawyer’s Island in Frontier Land at the Magic Kingdom. Take the trails and be on the look-out for paint brushes with dried paint on the bristles laying around (there are about 6 per day). If you find one, take it to the Disney Cast Member and you’ll be given a “Magical Memories” certificate good for a fastpass for your entire family for either Splash Mountain or Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Limit: 1 per family.

15. The first child at the Tinkerbell Treasures gift shop in the Magic Kingdom can ask to “wake up Tinkerbell”. The child uses a wand and Tinkerbell flies from her box to a drawer with sound affects. The kids are sometimes given a certificate or Tinkerbell stickers. The shop is located behind the castle, in Fantasy land.

16. There is a children’s rollercoaster called “Goofy’s Barnstormer” in Mickey’s Toontown Fair at the Magic Kingdom. If this is your child’s first rollercoaster ride, tell the Cast Member and you may be given a little printed card to commemorate the event – great for scrapbooks.

17. Are you a proud military veteran? Stop by the Magic Kingdom City Hall in early in the morning and ask if you can be the “Veteran of the Day” for the Flag Retreat Ceremony (usually around 5:00 PM). If chosen, you may receive a certificate as a souvenir of the experience.

18. Stop by the Fantastic Plastic Works exhibit in the Innoventions East pavilion at Epcot and you’ll be able to create your own free robot souvenir with snap-together parts from the Manufacture & Create Zone portion of the exhibit.

The next items aren’t really free things – they’re just some of our favorite hidden gems in the Disney parks. We hope they add to the magic for you.

• In Disney-MGM Studios, there is a “Singing in the Rain” umbrella attached to a lamp post. It is a great photo opportunity and a pressure pad under the umbrella usually (unless malfunctioning) will release “rain”. The lamp post is in the Streets of America area across from Lights, Motors, Action!

• As you exit Star Tours (outside of the gift shop) in Disney-MGM Studios, you’ll see a “Speeder Bike” in front of an Endor background. People often assume that it is only for display but you are welcome to sit on it - this makes a great picture. Other wonderful photo opportunities in Disney-MGM Studios are the car outside Sci-Fi Dine In and all over the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids play area.

• In Animal Kingdom, there is a bridge near Kali River Rapids. There are buttons that cause the elephant statues to spray water on the riders in the rafts below.

• The Animal Kingdom Times Guide does a terrible job of highlighting all the wonderful live entertainment available at this park. One of our favorites are “DiVine” on the trail between Asia and Africa. She looks like a vine and literally blends in with the landscaping when she isn’t moving. Two other excellent groups are the Karuka Acrobats and the Tam Tam’s of Congo which both perform in the Harambe area of the “Africa” area.

• Did you know that closing time at the Magic Kingdom just means you must be on your last ride or in line for the ride by that time? The shops along Main Street generally stay open for about an hour after closing time. There’s no good reason to rush to the lines forming for transportation so take your time and enjoy a few last views of the castle when it is lit up after dark. Stop and notice the window displays in the Emporium (right side of the street as you face the train station, near City Hall). Each window display is a shadow-box or diorama that depicts a different Disney animated movie and most have some form of movement. Most people walk right by and never notice these fascinating displays.

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If you are a planning a vacation to Walt Disney World you really should consider visiting the DIS Boards.  The DIS boards is a message board that is dedicated to anything and everything Walt Disney World and Disney Land.  You will be able to ask other members any question you have about your upcoming trip.  The user base is so robust that you will generally have an answer to your question in minutes.

I knew I was in the right place when I posted a question about how to get from one ride to another and within 15 minutes someone had respond with a park map that had marked out the exact route I should take.  I was shocked.

The forum is broken up into all different kinds of topics.  My favorite is the “Theme Park Attractions and Strategies” forum.  You can also find topics related to transportation, lodging, photography, and saving money.

I encourage you to really spend some time looking through the thread at the DIS Boards.  You won’t be disappointed.

The Disney Fastpass system will allow you to have a much better experience while in the parks.  The Fastpass is a virtual queing system that allows guests to get a pass for a particular ride and come back at a later time and go to the front of the line.  Fastpasses are available to all guests in the park.  The key to the Disney Fastpass system is to know some rules that aren’t necessarily public knowledge.

You will find Fastpass machines out in front of most of the major attractions at each of the parks.  In order to get a Fastpass for that particular attraction you are required to insert your park admission ticket into the machine and the Fastpass kiosk will spit out a Fastpass.  There will be a 1-hour return time window that will be listed on the Fastpass as well as on a clock above the machines.  There will also be a time listed on the FastPass that tells you when you can get your next one.  Once your return window arrives you can come back to the attraction and get into the Fastpass queue.  This line will generally be much shorter than the standy line and you will be given priority to get on the ride.

Here are some general rules on how to maximize using the Disney Fastpass system.

• ALWAYS be in possession of a Fastpass.  From the second you enter the parks you need to head for the Fastpass kiosks.
• You are allowed to hold two Fastpasses at once.  On the bottom of your Fastpass ticket there will be a time listed as to when you can get your next FastPass.  Make sure you are always aware of that time and grab a new pass when it comes up.  If you miss this window of opportunity it’s going to push all future Fastpass collections back.  You don’t want that to happen.
• There is a one hour window in which you can utilize your Fastpass.  However, many people are not aware that you can actually use your Fastpass AFTER your window has passed.  You are never allowed to use your FP early.
• Assign one person in your group to be the FastPass collector/holder.  This person can take everyone’s park tickets and get Fastpasses for the entire group while the rest of the group heads to the next attraction or takes a bathroom break.  ALWAYS BE COLLECTING FASTPASSES!
• If you have a diverse group, and not everyone wants to do all of the rides, you can use their park tickets for extra Fastpasses for your group.  Sneaky, huh?

The bottom line is that you definitely want to be using Fastpasses on your trip.  There is no excuse for waiting in the standby lines when there are ways to avoid it using Fastpasses.

You’ve put work behind you and you’re finally on vacation.  The last thing that you are going to want to do is get up early on your precious days off.  Who am I to tell you what time you need to get up on your Walt Disney World vacation?  Well, I’m probably not much different than yourself.  I love going to Disney World for vacation.  I also love knowing that if I plan a tiny bit more than the next family that I’ll be able to get a lot more done in the parks with a lot fewer lines.

My two biggest tips for vacationing in Walt Disney World are utilizing the FastPass system and getting to the parks when they open.  This article will focus on the latter.

The first thing that you’re going to want to find out is if any of the parks are going to have an Early Magic Hour (EMH).  Disney opens its gates an hour early to one of their parks (sometimes more) each day.  This is generally reserved for guests staying on the Disney property.  This sounds like a great opportunity, right?  Wrong.  I feel that you should avoid these parks on EMH days.  The extra hour of park time does not outweigh the hordes of people that think they know something that everyone else doesn’t.  You’re better off in a less crowded park and you get to sleep in an hour more.

That said, if you want to make the most out of your day at the parks you will want to be through the turnstiles and waiting for the rope to drop before the scheduled opening time.  This may seem like overkill but I can promise you that you will be able to get in so many more attractions in the first 2 hours of your day if you are there early.

If you have children, each of the parks has a small rope drop ceremony where many of the characters will perform.  This is a great chance to see a lot of the characters together.  Once that rope drops though, you should be on your way to your first attraction.

The next time you’re in WDW, and you’ve already done 5 major attractions in the first hour, you can thank me.  My wife and I generally take a few moments to make fun of the people who are just entering the park at 11am only to find long lines everywhere they look.  Meanwhile, we’re getting hungry and are ready to grab some lunch.

One of the most frequent questions that I see on the DIS message boards is “Do I need to rent a car for our vacation?”  My personal opinion is that you will absolutely want to rent a car for Walt Disney World.  Although the WDW public transportation system is pretty good, I still think there are many benefits to having your own car while on your vacation.

The biggest factor for most people in their decision is the cost of the car.  These days there are many ways to save money on renting a car.

• Use an online “name your price” site like Priceline.com.  Many times you can get a car for a fraction of the retail value.  It doesn’t hurt to low-ball the price you’re willing to pay.  I’ve been able to get a car at time for $13/day!
• Don’t rent a car without a coupon code.  There are hundreds of coupon codes for car rentals online.  A simple Google search of “car rental coupon codes” should reveal many of those to you.
• Don’t pre-pay your gasoline.  This is scam #1 that rental companies are now using.  You will pay for a full tank of gas regardless if you use it or not.
• Check with your insurance company to make sure that you are covered on your rental cars.  This is scam #2 that the rental companies use.  In most states, including Florida, this is optional.  Your current car insurance coverage will likely cover renting a car.  It never ceases to amaze me when I see people taking this insurance that costs almost the same per day as the cost of the car.  Don’t Bite!

Just imagine, you’ve finally arrived at Walt Disney World with your family and you are all ready to go to the Magic Kingdom on your first day.  You’ve been planning your attack for months and you definitely don’t want to miss the rope drop when the park opens.  You are aware of the added benefits of being there early.  You get out to the bus stop at your resort only to see a long line of people waiting for the Magic Kingdom bus.  Not only are there lines, but you see every other bus for each of the other parks go by as you begin to panic.  If you had a car you would not be in this situation.

Pros of Renting a Car at Walt Disney World

• You’ll never have to wait in line for public transportation (other than the monorail from the parking lot to the front gate at Magic Kingdom).  Your entire vacation will be spent waiting in line for the attractions, why add more lines to your trip?
• Flexibility to do what you want at any time of the day.  What if someone gets sick and you need to go to the store?  What if you want to go to Universal Studios?  Sea World? Dinner reservations at another resort?
• If you are staying on property you will not have to pay the parking lot fee each day to park your car at the theme parks.
• Heading back to the airport from WDW is easier with a car of your own.  You can leave when you want to.
• You still have the option to use WDW transportation any time you want.  There are many times where riding the bus or monorail may be the best option.  Having a choice is definitely a benefit.

Cons

• Cost of the car.
• There may be a valet or overnight charge at your hotel to keep a car at the hotel.  You should contact your resort to find out in advance what those fees may be.

In my opinion the benefits of renting a car at WDW far outweigh the cons.  Our family would never consider going without one.