You hear it every year right after the Super Bowl… “I’m going to Disney World”. Going to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida is the dream vacation for both kids and adults world wide. Many people don’t understand what it is all about until they go themselves. Than they are hooked.
It’s a place to leave your worries behind. Enjoy the smiles on your child’s face when they see their favorite character for the first time. Or the Iconic castle in the middle of the Magic Kingdom.
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Beside all the magic and wonder lies some secrets nobody tells. These are the top 7 things nobody tells you about when visiting Disney. None of them are “bad” just some may take away a little of the magic.
LINES
All 4 Walt Disney World Theme parks (Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, EPCOT) were all ranked in the 10 top in the most visited theme parks in 2018. Magic Kingdom alone welcomed more than 20,000,000 visitors in 2018 making it the most visited Park in the WORLD.
With all those visitors means a lot of lines. Most people will not even think about the lines when they are away from Disney. But boy do they hate them when they are in the parks. There are lines for just about everything.
Want to get on the bus? Wait in line. What a hot dog at Casey’s? Wait in line. Want to ride Flight of Passage? Wait in line for over 2 hours.
Disney Boys’ Toddler Mickey, Goofy, Donald 3-Pack T-Shirts, red/Kelly/Royal, 4TLines are just a part of Disney World theme parks that most people hate while they are there but forget once they leave because they had such a great time. Just because certain rides can have over 2 hour waits doesn’t mean it’s not worth it. (To me I will not stand in line that long… but some people love it). It you are not big on spending half of your vacation standing in lines check out this article on how to avoid long lines at Walt Disney World.
FOOD
Gone are the days were the food was just your typical theme park food of no flavor burgers, hot dogs and chicken fingers. Some people just go to Disney World for the food. You have so many different options to choose from. There is no way you could eat at every place one time during your entire stay. Even if you are staying a month. There are over 190 counter service, lounges, food trucks, snack carts, bakeries, and food courts all over Walt Disney World Resort. This doesn’t even include all of the sit down restaurants offered in Disney.
It is safe to say that somewhere will have what you are looking for. From brick fired pizza at Blaze in Disney Springs to Pulled Pork and ribs at Flame Tree BBQ in Animal Kingdom. You can find just about everything. Be sure to grab snacks from around the world in EPCOT.
Disney has cheap eats up to some truly crazy expensive eats. Want to eat a $40 dessert? Head over to The Boathouse in Disney Springs. Be sure to check out the Disney Dining Plans when booking your vacation. Some people say it is not worth while others can not do Disney without it. Check out my post all about the Disney Dining Plan.
BUSES
While you may know that you get free transportation from your resort if you are staying at a Disney Resort (here’s a list of other free things at Disney). What you may not know is how inconsistent they are. Sometimes they run every 20 mins. While other times it could be every 10 or 30 minutes.
Sometimes you could be the only ones on the bus while other times you are standing toe to toe hanging on for that long, late night ride from Magic Kingdom back to the All Star resorts. It doesn’t matter when but for some reason you will always just miss the bus at Magic Kingdom back to your resort. You will see it pulling away as you are walking/running to get it.
NOT EVERYTHING IS MAGICAL
So you have come to the Happiest Place on Earth and everything is going to be so magical with Sunshine and unicorns. On day one you will learn that not everyone that is visiting or works there is in a good mood. I would say 95% of your cast member interactions are going to be good ones. You may run into one or two that were just having a bad day or just over stressed.
Now other guest, on the other hand, is a completely different story. Not sure if some people just don’t realize that we all spent a whole lot of money on our Disney World Vacations just like they did. Sure we are upset that Splash Mountain is down right now because of thunderstorms and we already waited 30 minutes. That doesn’t give you the right to scream in someone’s face or cause a scene with all these kids around.
Just like the people who try to do the Drinking around the World Challenge. There’s 11 countries around the World Showcase in EPCOT. If you don’t normally drink 11 Alcoholic drinks in 90 plus degree weather, what makes you think you can handle yourself while at Disney. Just be mindful that while Disney can be one of the Happiest places on Earth there are people who just don’t want to be happy.
WEATHER
Now I am sure everyone has heard about how hot Orlando is in the Summertime. To be fair to everyone that has warned you….. THEY ARE NOT JOKING. Sure we have all experienced 90 °F weather. Disney World’s 90 °F and yours (unless you live in Florida) are completely different. There is no way to describe it until you have actually experienced it yourself. Have you ever spent time in a sauna? It’s like that but worse. Check out how to beat the heat here.
Now let’s talk about the thunderstorms. It is a good bet that everyday from June till August you WILL have a passing thunderstorm in the afternoon. There is no way of getting around it. One of those parks is going to get soaked from down pours everyday for those 3 months. May and September you still have to be ready for those pop up thunderstorms but most years they don’t hit every day. October to April the weather can be all over the place. From temps in the 90’s all the way down to the upper 30’s low 40’s.
PLANNING
You cannot plan for everything. While touring plans can help you (never used them), there is no way of knowing how the park will act on any particular day. Just use touring plans as a guide and not as a must follow. Otherwise you may be one of those unhappy people that we went over earlier. So YES you can over plan. We all have done it at least once.
When planning for a Disney trip and while I am there I like to follow this saying from back in my Marine Corps day: “Semper Gumby”. It means Always Flexible. You HAVE to be flexible when doing Disney. Rides close for problems and weather. People stop right in the middle of walkways. Rides go under rehab. Just be flexible with your plans.
One thing to help you become a little more flexible while at Disney is the Park Hopper ticket. We have an article outlining the pros and cons of the Park Hopper ticket. Check it out it has some good information in there.
One last thing about planning and being flexible that no one will tell you. At some point in your trip your kids will just want to spend time at the pool rather than be in the park. It WILL happen. Just let it. Chances are you booked this trip with them in mind. Let them have a nice relaxing pool day. At least maybe in the middle of the day (as long as you are not missing your Flight of Passage or Slinky Dog Dash FastPass).
EXHAUSTING
Having a pool break can help with this problem no one will tell you about. Doing a Disney Vacation can be completely exhausting. You don’t even have to do rope drop to fireworks to feel this way. Like I have said before, Walt Disney World is HUGE. It is it’s own city after all. You will be doing a lot of walking (like 20,000 steps plus per day), standing in long lines and waiting for parades, fireworks and transportation. It will take a toll on anyone.
After you are home for a few weeks you will forget how much your feet hurt. Or how hot and exhausted you were . But trust me while you are there you will not forget any of it. You may even wonder why so many people love it.
There are the 7 things nobody tells you about when visiting Disney. Don’t worry, none of these will make you not want to go again. A few months after your trip you will forget about most of these anyway and will already be planning your next vacation. If you take anything away from this post make sure you remember Semper Gumby. Always be Flexible with your plans while you are in the parks. Not everything is going to go as planned so make the most of it.
Have you been to Disney before and wish someone told you something? Lets us know in the comments below. Let us know in the comments below. Remember to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest at KozmoPhotos. It will help you stay up to date with all the latest post, news and photos.
