newbie

Think back to your first trip: What do you wish you’d known?  Was there a moment where you thought to yourself “I could have saved myself a lot of time (or money) if only I’d known that!” In my case, my first “real” trip came when I’d moved from Florida and was no longer taking quick day trips. There were so many things I didn’t think about when Disney World was just a few hours drive away.  John was wondering that too, so he put out a question on the Facebook page and here are some of your answers. I hope you find something you can use –or even pass on to a Disney newbie:

This isn’t looking good, is it?

10.   Suzanne G. is a girl after my own heart. She advises to take a jacket (or a sweater), even if it’s supposed to be warm.  While you’re at it, bring a poncho too.  It’s probably going to rain at least once on your trip.

9.  Get to the Magic Kingdom at opening and make a beeline toward Fantasyland.  Sometimes you buck conventional wisdom; this is not one of those times. If you have little kids, you want to knock out Pooh and Peter Pan first since these rides are some of the most popular in all of the parks. After that you can take on the mountains.

The New Rooms at the Polynesian are Gorgeous.

8.  Stay on property.  I’ve found it’s hard to sell someone on Disney property if he or she is looking at the bottom line. If you’re purely interested in saving money, you can usually stay cheaper off site, but if you think that time is money, you might find quite the opposite:  That you actually save money by staying on property. So do the math, but always remember the convenience factor. It’s huge.

7.  Pace yourself: You can’t do it all in one trip.  Going completely “theme park commando” for days at a time is overrated.  Take in the little details, people watch, eat some good meals. It’s all part of the experience.Read More »The Disney Blog Readers Offer Their Top Ten Disney Newbie Tips.