Disney World
There are many similarities in my opinion between Disneyland and Disney World, but one thing is for certain Disney World it is a different ball game. I was told that Disneyland fits in the parking lot at Disney World. However, Disney World also includes all the hotels, parks, water parks and existing areas surrounding these. You could easily do Disneyland and California Adventure in 2 days - But Disney World is made of 4 different theme parks and even has 2 separate water parks. Those theme parks are Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom and Epcot. You can go to the 2 water parks, Typhoon Lagoon & Blizzard Beach for another fee. I would compare Magic Kingdom to Disneyland. It has many of the same classic rides like, jungle cruise, haunted mansion, splash mountain, space mountain, its a small world etc. Hollywood Studios is comparable to California Adventures. They have rides like The Rock 'n' Roller Coaster similar to Incredicoaster, Hollywood Tower of Terror which was replaced at C.A. by Guardians of the galaxy. However, they have their star wars rides in Hollywood Studios where those are in Disneyland. I was bummed that they didn't have the Cars ride which is at California Adventure but they had a similar ride at Epcot called the Test Track. It was not Cars themed but it had that same feel. Epcot also hosts Soarin which is a ride at California Adventure. At the Animal kingdom they had a whole avatar area that hosted two rides. One friendly for all ages and the other had a height requirement of 44 inches. And I will tell you they are pretty strict on the height requirements. If they can fit a finger tip between the height stick and his skull (their hair doesn't count), they will not let them ride the ride. Their skull has to physically be touching the height stick to make go on the ride. Tip: My son was 43 inches so we got him some tall shoes and when it came to riding any of the rides that were 44 inches I would take off my shoes and ball up my socks and stuff them in the bottom of his shoe. It gave him just enough height to make it on the ride. If you are worried, try going to the ride beforehand, and measure them. If they are too short wait an hour and go back with the sock trick. Disney employees are constantly rotating through different jobs of the ride and someone new will be there and wont even recognize you. They also have a Dinosaur ride that gave me Indiana Jones vibes but it wasn't quite as exciting as Indiana Jones in my opinion. We did Disney World in 5 days - 5 straight Days. It was exhausting and I definitely feel like I have a Disney Hang over. I heard people go to Disney for 7 to 10 Days and now I know why. It would have been nice to have a day or 2 break in between and maybe even a day or two after all the parks to relax and enjoy the pools that each hotel has to offer. I also got a park hopper pass and only used it the last day. I would say there was one other day that we could have used it. We did animal kingdom in about 1/2 a day and could have used on that day if we would have gotten to the park early.
Stay:
At Disneyland (in California) it was complete acceptable to me to stay off the property at a hotel across the street. Access to the park was only an 8 minute walk. However, in Disney World, if you aren't staying there then you are at a disadvantage. Not only does staying at one of the hotels get you early access to the parks (usually about 30 min) but it also gives you access to some Lightening Lanes that aren't available to people staying outside the park. I also spoke to a woman in line that said she had to pay a parking fee and by the time she parks and got into the park it took about 1.5 hours. Disney World does a great job at offering hotels in different price ranges. They are broken down into Value, Moderate and Deluxe hotels. Because we booked our trip relatively last minute, at least in the world of Disney, we ended up having limited options and opted to do a hotel switch. We stayed 2 nights at the Polynesian and 4 nights at the Beach Club. Both of these hotels were in the deluxe category. The nice thing is we packed up when we left the Polynesian and dropped our bags off at the Bell Service Desk and they transferred them to the Beach Club for us. I do believe this was an additional fee but it was worth it. That allowed us to still get to the park early and not be too exhausted to go fetch them on the way back. Both hotels had excellent pools with kid friendly splash zones and pools with water slides. Polynesian was great for access to Magic Kingdom & Epcot. It was a quick ride on the monorail to Magic Kingdom and if you wanted to go on to Epcot you just had to do a transfer on the monorail. Beach club had awesome access to Hollywood Studios with an easy boat ride which the line never seemed too long when you were ready to leave the park. It was also 5 min walk to Epcot which was nice because the side entrance called the International Gateway, never seemed to get those long lines like the front the park does. I will say having the extra access to other forms of transportation was really nice. We did have to take the bus a few times to the parks and it definitely was a longer wait and a longer ride, but all in all it was not the worst thing. If you are worried about wait time, you can always call an Uber. So when picking a hotel definitely consider transportation options to the park. Another thing to Note is that the Polynesian had an excellent view of the fireworks from Magic Kingdom right from their pool. It was a great way to spend our first night after we got settled in. We ate and headed straight to the pool and watched the fireworks from there. It alleviated the pressure to stay in the park till 8 just to see the fireworks. I will also note that Beach club had a way more options for dining since it was close to the yacht club and boardwalk. When choosing a hotel there are 3 things we wanted to consider other than price, access to transportation to and from the park, access to restaurants and food, and the pool. So decide how important each of these things are and find a hotel accordingly. Another thing to note: enjoying the hot tub after a long day at the park is really nice, especially if you are planning to do back to back park days. I honestly feel like getting in even just a 15 min soak in the hot tub at the end of the day really helped my body.
Resorts
Deluxe
Things to note about the Deluxe options is that they have extra transportation options. There are 8 Deluxe hotels ranging from $450-$1000+. I have broken them up into location in reference to which parks they are closest to. All resorts tend to offer better dining options and the pools tend to be better themed. If you want more great information about Disney World resorts check out The Frugal Brit on Youtube. He has great information. As mentioned, I stayed at the Polynesian and Beach club so these are the only 2 that I have first hand experience with. The others, I got information and took notes from the Frugal Brit on Youtube who does a great break down on each hotel and he shows you the grounds of each hotel.
In Disney Kingdom Area
1. Contemporary resort- Disney Worlds oldest hotel. This is the resort that the monorail goes through and is the A Frame looking hotel. It has table service and quick service restaurants. They are revamping rooms to be themes with Incredible movie. It has a kiddie pool, water play area and a waterslide. You can get to Magic Kingdom by walking in under 10 minutes but you can also get to it via monorail. You can also transfer Monorails to get too Epcot.
2. Grand Floridian- This hotel is the flagship and fanciest resort and probably the priciest. It has access to the monorail to get to the magic kingdom. There are two pools including the beach pool with water slide and a splash zone. It also offers a 24 hour quick service food spot, which could be nice if you plan to be at the park till closing. You can also get to the magic kingdom by walking (10-15 min) or by boat. You can also transfer monorails to get to Epcot. They have the best theme park view rooms. More upscale table service restaurants.
3. Wilderness lodge- This hotel is modeled after the national parks and the rooms were recently upgraded. There is a splash zone, hot tub and pool area with a water slide. Bike rentals. It is not on the monorail loop but there is a boat service that takes you to the magic kingdom. It has a decent number of dining options. It is also the cheapest deluxe resort.
4. Polynesian village- This hotel was recently upgraded with a Moana Theme. It is 2 stops from magic kingdom on the monorail. It has a Lava pool and 142 ft long water slide, splash area and hot tub. Boat rentals are available. The rooms are very spacious. You have views of the castle and and firework show at magic Kingdom. There is a quick service restaurant and table service restaurants.
In Epcot Area
5. Beach club
Things to note about the beach club is that it is great location for walking to Epcot in just 5 minutes. It is the sister resort to the Yacht Club which is directly next door so that is another option if the Beach club happens to be sold out. They also share a pool. It has one of the largest pools on the property which includes a lazy river, slide, volleyball court and beach area. I would also say that beach club, yacht club and Boardwalk had an abundance of dining options since they were all in close proximity to each other. Another thing to note is that the walk to Epcot takes you to the International Gateway entrance of the park near France which allows you to get to Ratatouille (one of the most popular rides) faster.
6. Yacht club- Share amenities and staff with beach club including the sand bottom pool, arcade and fitness center. Access to bus, Gondola or boat transportation options. Not the best or fastest transportation to Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom.
7. Boardwalk-
Things to note about the Boardwalk is that it is an Outstanding location for restaurants and night life but it is not as kid friendly. It is home to the Luna park pool, has a Coney Island themed water slide, fitness center and bike rentals. Walkable to Epcot (5min) and Hollywood studios (20 min).
Animal kingdom
8. Animal kingdom lodge:
Things to note about about Animal Kingdom Lodge is that it is an African safari adventure theme where you have the opportunity to view 30 species of wildlife. It has an interactive water play area a zero entry pool and water slide. This hotel only has bus transportation and you can't really walk to anything outside of the hotel.
Moderate
-Moderate resorts range from about $250-$450 per nights. Some of the largest resorts at Disney World. Much more subtle theming. Most moderate resorts sleep up to 5 guests. Pool theming is more detailed and elaborate than the value hotels. Have a step up from the value and have a table service and quick service restaurant
1. Coronado springs- animal kingdom area
This hotel is considered Mod-deluxe and is more expensive than other moderates. It only bus transportation to the parks.
This hotel also has a convention center attached which sometimes detours guests from staying here. It has the largest hot tube in Disney world and has a mayan themed swimming pool, health club and spa. It also has a variety of dining options available
2. Fort wilderness- magic kingdom resort area
This resort is a cabin style with a natural rustic themed that is very peaceful. Cabins feature a living room, kitchen and separate bedroom. They can sleep up to 6 people.
There are multiple pools and have extra recreational activities that include, fishing, archery classes and boating.
Its transportations has 3 internal bus routes but that adds travel time to the parks. It also has marina transportationThere is an option to rent a golf cart.
3. Caribbean beach- Epcot location
Things to note about Caribbean Beach is the prettiest resort in moderate tier.
Also you can request a special room that has pirate ship beds. The Main Pool is an old Spanish fort theme with water slides. There is also a picnic and play area. It is the hub for the skyline and offers access to Hollywood studios and Epcot as well as bus transportation.
4. Port Orleans resort (2 different hotels) (disney springs resort area)
French quarter - smaller of the two resorts. Mardi gras themed with a serpent slide. Only one bus stop. There is a water taxi that can take you to Disney Springs. Only a quick service restaurant
Riverside- Offers swimming pool with water slide and a few other quieter pools. They have table service and quick service dining options
Value-
Value resorts have much more heavier theming. They only have quick service restaurant options. All all Star Resorts share a bus route and make stops at each of the resorts. Prices are up to $250
1. All star sports: Guest will be first to be picked up and dropped doff for the parks
2. All star music:
Their suites are the cheapest at Disney World and a noted feature is the Guitar shaped pool.
3. All star movies: Last stop of the bus
4. Pop century: 1960s style pool. It has its own bus system to get to the parks. It also has a stop of the skyline.
5. Art of Animation resort: Considered a Value + and offers a little more luxury feel. It has one of the largest pools. It has its own bus that takes to and from the parks. It also offers the skyline gondolas to get to Hollywood studios and Epcot. It has themed rooms but can be a bit dated. However with these things it can be a little more than the other value resorts
Magic Bands
Disney World has a thing called Magic Bands. They are about $25 per person but they simplify everything. If you are staying on the property, they are your room key, your credit card, and they are you tickets to the park and lightening lanes. We still carried one wallet in case but we barely needed it. Everywhere in Disney World accepts these Magic Bands as payment so it was nice not to have one more thing to worry about as it was all simplified into one little bang on your wrist. However, I did lose mine on my second to last day. I could have bought another magic band but since I only had one day left at the park, Guest Relations just gave us a card that I could use in the park for the entrance and rides. Also, if you lose it, you do need a pin code to charge anything onto the band so it wasn't a worry about people finding it and charging things to it.
Lightening Lanes
Lightening lanes (LL) were tricky in my opinion. You must purchase Genie+ and Lightening Lanes in order to access all the "Fast Pass" opportunities and though I felt like it was kind of a waste for the price, you also cant go without it because Disney World was Crowded and I saw wait times up to 195 min on some rides. I don't think I saw any ride worth going on that wasn't at least a 45-60 min wait. That time adds up really quickly so even if the lightening lane helps you get on 3 rides it will save you about 3 hours of time. Lightening Lanes are available to book on the app as early as 7am. You really have to be on at 7 am because they book up fast. For the top rides, for example, rise of the resistance, I went on at 7:00am and by 7:01am it was sold out of lightening lanes for the day. If you miss out on the lightening lane, your only option was to wait in the 3 hour plus standby line. However, keep checking because sometimes lightening lanes for these popular rides will pop up throughout the day. Also, the big rides like Rise of the Resistance, Space Mountain and Avatar were extra $$ on top of already paying for the rides. So keep that in mind. If you do not want to pay extra or don't get a chance to snag the lightening lane. I highly suggest getting to the park when it opens and running straight for those rides to try and get the least amount of wait time. You can only book 1 lightening lane at a time but they do open up about every 2-3 hours if you have a later lightening lane you are waiting to use. I think you can only have 2 Lightening Lanes active at a time. There is definitely a learning curve to these.
Baby Swap
I used this at Disneyland when I brought my 9 month old but I also used it at Disney World on anything my 4.5 year old couldn't ride or was too scared to ride. Go to any worker in line and ask where you can get a baby swap. They will point you to the direction of a worker with an Ipad and they scan your bracelets. One person is suppose to wait in the normal standby line, ride the ride then come out and the second parent can go straight through the lightening lane when they are done. However, I did have a ride where they told me that we could both go through the lightening lanes. Note that they did make me show scan my bands with my son to show proof that he existed and we weren't just trying to skip the line.
DAS
Disability Pass - My son has Autism. And while he is high functioning his safety awareness isn't always there. Disney World is full of fun manmade boulders along the wait lines that were just demanding him to climb. He was constantly running out of line to climb they and many had pretty hazardous drops. Someone at our hotel told us about DAS. Essentially it is like having another Lightening Lane in our pocket which was KEY! It allowed us to use the app to sign up for a DAS lightening lane where we would basically virtually wait the time of the standby line and return to the attraction after that said time where we could go through the lightening lane. Another awesome aspect of it, we didn't have to pay for those in-demand rides that required an extra fee and they were never sold out. In order to get one, you have to go to the parks Guest Relations and tell them you want a DAS pass. They then scan your Magic Bands or pass and a DAS button will show up on your phone that allows you to book Lightening Lanes. You will select these separately from your lightening lane. You can only use it on one ride at a time but as soon as you go through the second Lightening Lane scanner you can book your next one straight on the app. So if you are going with someone that has a disability, this is definitely something to consider getting. Note: you always have to scan the persons pass that holds the disability first or else it wont notice you as a LL and it will turn blue instead of green. You must scan the disability pass first, then an employee approves it on their ipad and then all the other passes will scan after.
Mobile App
It will be important that you download the Disney World mobile app. Sign in with your Disney+ account information. This app is where you do everything. From using it to check into your hotel, to your park tickets, to mobile food orders, to lightening lanes, photos from the rides, it is pretty much all there. You will find the wait time, times of shows and other attractions in the app as well under the Tip Board icon. When Mobile ordering food, think ahead. if you are starting to get a little hungry, look around you, get a mobile order in while you are waiting in line at a ride. The wait windows can be long. For Example, I was waiting for the Astro Orbiter ride with my son. I looked around and noticed the Lunching Pad, I went on my app, ordered my food, and when they wait window popped up, I said I am here, Prepare my food. By the time I got off the ride about 45-60min later, my order was ready to be picked up. If you arent doing a sit down breakfast, also not that wait times for food in the morning can be long. I usually had a routine where I would set my alarm for 6:45am, order food on the mobile app, get prepared with which ride I wanted to choose at 7am, refresh the app at 7am on the dot and choose my ride for LL. Then I would go back to my app and say I was ready for my food to be prepared, take a quick shower and then go pick up the food and bring it back to my room for the family. This worked well for us but may not work for you. Note that mobile ordering is a 2 step process on the app. You must order your food in a time window.Once that time window pops up you will then have to select the button that says "I'm here, prepare my food." They wont make your food without pressing that button. Once your food is ready you will get a notification and you go to the mobile window to pick up the food. TIP: Bring a portable charger - without your phone in these parks you are almost worthless. So be prepared with a portable charger to charge up your phone. Though sometimes the mobile app and doing everything digitally is convenient and saves time rather than having to go to the rides and pull get your fast pass at each ride, i really hated that I felt like the mobile app takes away from some of the magic of Disney. We are on our phones enough as it is, and making it all available on the app really makes you reliant on your phone and I felt like I was constantly checking my phone to see if a lightening lane was open.
Most Popular Rides by Park*indicated longest wait times while I was there
Magic Kingdom
-Splash Mountain(40inches)*
-Space Mountain- (44 inches)
-Haunted Mansion (Any Height)
-Thunder Mountain(40 inches)
-Seven Dwarfs Mine Train(38 inches)*
-Jungle Cruise (Any Height)*
-Pirates of the Carribbean (Any Height)
-Peter Pans Flight (Any Height)*
Things my son enjoyed
-Mickey's PhilharMagic (Any Height)
-Tomorrowland Speedway (32 inches)
-People Mover (Any Height)
-Carousel of Progress (Any Height)
-Prince Charming Regal Carrousel (Any Height)
Hollywood Studios
-Rise of the Resistance(40 Inches)*
-Slinky Dog Dash Rollercoaster (38 inches)*
-Millennium Falcon (38 inches)
-Rock 'n' Roller Coaster (48 inches)*
-Toy Story Mania (Any Height)
-Tower of Terror (40 Inches)*
-Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway (Any Height)
My son also loved
-Star Tours (40 Inches)
-Alien Swirling Saucers (32 inches)
Epcot
-Frozen Ever After (Any Height)*
-Remy's Ratatouille Adventure(Any Height)*
-Test track (40 inches)*
-Mission Space (4o inches)
-Soarin (40 inches)
-Spaceship Earth(Any Height)
My son also liked
-Seas with Nemo & Friends(Any Height)
-Collection the Kidcot cards at each country
WARNING:
Mission Space: there are two options Green and Orange
Opt to do the Green. The Orange essentially spins you super fast to give you a GForce feel. I felt so nauseated after! Enter the orange side at your own risk. If you get motion sick or have any issues of that sort, definitely stick to the green side. Even many of the workers have told me they have gone on the ride once and won't do the orange side again.
DO NOT MISS the Epcot Harmonious Firework show at 9pm. It is absolutely stunning. Disney really knows how to put on a firework show!
Animal Kingdom
-Avatar Flight of Passage (44inches)*
-Dinosaur (40 inches)
-Kali River Rapids (38 inches)
-Kilimanjaro Safaris (Any Height)*
-Na'vi River Journey (Any Height)
My son also loved:
- Gorilla falls Exploration Trail (Any Height)
-Its tough to be a Bug Show (Any Height)
-TirceraTop Spin (Any Height)
-Boneyard playground (Any Height)
-Maharajah Jungle Treck (Any Height)
Summary & Tips and Tricks & Take Aways
Get Genie+ and Lightening LanesYou must reserve your parks in advanced. We spent 1 day in each park and revisited Magic Kingdom, Hollywood studios & Epcot on our 5th day to ride our top favorites again. Bring a portable charger! You will be using your phone a lot!Stay on the property! If you can afford the deluxe option, the extra transportation option are extremely convenient after a long dayWake up early, book your lightening lanes starting at 7am and get to the park early. It will completely set your day at the right pace.If you get to the park early, book it to those popular rides that you couldn't get a LL for. If your schedule allows, allow yourself 1 or 2 rest days in between where you enjoy the pool and relax. Be prepared and mobile order food before you get hungryIf your kid just misses the heigh cut off, use the sock trick. Do not ride the Mission Space Orange ride - opt for the green sideSpend the money on the Magic Bands. They are so convenient Dont be afraid to switch hotels. I loved being able to see two different hotels and areas and it made it convenient to easily get to 3 different parks. So consider that when booking hotels and park reservations If you want decent food at night after the parks, book a reservation 60 days in advanced. We went during COVID and many restaurants were not taking walk ups and only accepted you if you had a reservation. Bring or rent a stroller if you have a little one who is going to get tired of walking. My back was killing me just from holding my son (4.5 yo) in lines. Wait the extra few minutes to get sit in the front row. I have found that its hard for kids to see the rides when they are sitting behind adults. It was well worth waiting for the front to get the full view and effects of the ride. Don't be afraid to divide and conquer. Sometimes when we would have to do long waits, we would send one of the adults to wait in line while the other stayed with the kid(s) and rode some smaller rides with shorter waits. Once you get close to the front call your party and have them talk to the staff working the lines and let them know your family is in line. They are usually pretty good at walking you to the front to meet them. Dont be afraid to split your time between 2 hotels if there are more than one you want to experience. Just plan your parks days according to access to each hotel-HAVE FUN!!!!
Don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions. I hope this helps!