Travel Girl’s™ Tips for Disney World

When a friend arrived back from a recent trip to Disney World I couldn’t wait to see how it went. I ran up to her office only to see a rather disappointed face. She looked exhausted. Now, don’t get me wrong, Disney World can be tiring- especially without a good plan and lots of time to relax built in to the schedule. But my friend’s exhaustion looked more like disappointment. What went wrong? She was so prepared!

This got me thinking about how a great plan can go wrong…and after some conversations with previous Disney World travelers and a lot of my own experience; I’ve come up with five tips that will hopefully help everyone to come back refreshed and satisfied.

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This special episode goes out to Jessie and is a tour of Epcot made especially for her. I promise my regular listeners will enjoy this one day tour of Epcot as well.

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There are so many options, so many choices, so much that over stimulates that I often see adults and kids alike melt down. OK, I’m probably preaching to the choir, but let me clarify two things. Planning does not take the place of spontaneity - spontaneity happens everywhere in Disney. Two, planning is not a burden- it can take just a few hours and will allow your family to make decisions together leading up to the excitement of the trip.

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So we are dining our way around Epcot and our next stop is Morocco. In this podcast will move through Restaurant Marrakesh, the Coral Reef, Garden Grill and finish off in London and Canada. Nothing like a trip around “the world” to satisfy your every taste

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So now we are talking dining! And you can’t talk about dining at Disney World without talking about Epcot. The choices are overwhelming- where do I start? I plan at least a few nights at the World Showcase for dinner and evenings during our stay.

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Ahhhh- sweet gratification. One article in the New York Times and my parents finally understand there is more to Disney World than chicken nuggets and It’s A Small World. This article by Florance Fabricant is perfectly timed as we begin discussions about dining at Disney. Here’s the link for those who would like to check it out.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/06/27/travel/escapes/27disney.html?scp=1&sq=Disney+World&st=nyt

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A few years ago Disney World began its new dining option- the Disney Dining Plan. I’m going to be honest- when it comes to planning- dining at Disney is where we turn up the heat. You can get away with winging if you have a hotel, plane tickets and a general idea of what parks you want to go to, BUT you can’t wing it with dining at Disney.

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Our guest this week is Kallie who introduces a Disney podcast just for kids! This weeks topic - keeping busy while your parents check in!

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If you think that you will be stuffing yourself with junk food at Disney World, you’re in for a very pleasant surprise! You don’t have to! Disney offers and incredible selection of snack, walk up, and sit down restaurant choices in both its parks and resorts. Before we get started on our dining journey let’s learn the lingo. 

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So I have to think about checking in? Is it not enough that I have planned for hours, reserved dining, memorized the maps, pre-purchased the park tickets? I know, sounds crazy, but you have to trust me on this one - checking in the right way can make the difference between a smooth, problem free trip and one struck with issues.

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