The Magic of Disney World

Disney’s Family Magic Tour is a fun romp through the Magic Kingdom, complete with a treasure hunt and character guides. Although I haven’t been on the tour personally, it sounds like a blast! It’s $27.00 a person (plus park admission), and it’s open to everyone. Since I haven’t actually taken the tour, here’s a link to Allears.net. They have several first hand accounts from families who have.

Tours and Other Experiences — Descriptions

People migrate to Disneyworld for many reasons: Rides, Ambiance, Food, Entertainment…. and Running. Okay, so running wouldn’t be top on my list of reasons to visit Disneyworld, but it is for many. Every year, Disneyworld hosts a marathon and a half marathon. Running a marathon anywhere isn’t exactly my style, but I have to admit…. if I were to run one, this would be the place! You can’t beat the atmosphere, at any rate.

The Disneyworld Marathone begins just east of Epcot and circles through all four parks before ending up back at Spaceship Earth. (more…)

Human beings come in all shapes, sizes and colors. It doesn’t affect who we are, but sometimes your size will affect your theme park experience. I found a wonderful guide for people who are a bit larger than average. I thought it was informative… check it out for yourself!

WDW At Large - One Size Does Not Fit All!

Ever dream of walking straight onto a ride without waiting in line? Well, Disney’s Fastpass won’t exactly let you do that, but it’s as close as you’re ever going to get. Disney created FastPass to make waiting easier on guests, and to more evenly distribute the lines on their most popular attractions. Apparently the system is working, because Disney keeps adding more and more rides to the FastPass system.

Okay…this is how FastPass works. (more…)

Although The Electrical Water Pageant isn’t as elaborate and flashy as most of the other Disneyworld parades, it definately has a charm all its own. The Water Pageant circles around Bay Lake on a nightly basis. The parade consists of fourteen barges carrying 25 foot tall images made up of lights. It begins with King Triton, and then we see lots of sea creatures, such as dolphins, turtles, whales, seahorses, and the ever popular sea monster. (He’s my personal favorite). (more…)

On January 2, 2005, Disney added another bonus for staying in a Disney resort. In addition to the Morning Extra Magic Hour, Disneyworld has added Evening Extra Magic Hours. On certain days, one of the four main Disney parks will stay open three hours after regular park closing, and only resort guests are invited. Here’s another opportunity to ride many popular attractions without waiting forever and a day in line!

To take advantage of the Evening Extra Magic Hour, wait until two hours before the park closes, then take your Key To the World card (your resort ID) to selected locations inside the park. Cast members will give you a wristband. That wristband lets you stay inside the park and ride rides for three hours after cast members shoo everyone else out.

In order to take advantage of Evening Extra Magic Hours, you must be staying at one of the following resorts: (more…)

One of the best perks of staying in a Disney resort is the ability to attend the Extra Magic Hour. On some days, Disneyworld will open a selected theme park for resort guests one hour before the general public can enter. Of course, not all rides are open, but many popular rides are, so you can ride for a whole hour without waiting in a single long line. I know…you’re on vacation and don’t want to get up early. I’m with you, but the opportunity to skip all that standing around is so worth it!

A couple of things to note: the Extra Magic Hour is only valid for Disney Resort guests. Specifically, (more…)

I think everyone’s had the experience of paying money (a good chunk of money) to attend a theme park and then spending the entire day waiting in line. It’s a frustrating experience. Fortunately, there are ways to avoid this experience by applying just a little planning.

Theme parks tend to be the most crowded on weekends, when local residents visit. This is especially true for Downtown Disney and the water parks. The Magic Kingdom tends to be busiest on Mondays.

Guests who stay in a Disney Hotel (more…)

Anyone with small children eventually wonders about height restrictions. So here it is: A comprehensive list of all of the parks. Boring, but necessary. (more…)

Just like every other company out there, the Disney corporation is not perfect. They have faults and things to work on. But one thing that Disney does exceptionally well is treat their guests like every one is the most important person in the world. On our last trip to Disneyworld, my family and I saw many examples of exceptional customer service. I’ll just talk about a couple, since I don’t want to be writing all day and you don’t want to be reading all day, either.

Our first day at Epcot, my son left his fanny pack in the restroom. We reported it to Guest Services and they had it by the end of the day, but that’s not the story. The story is: my son had his Epcot passport in that pack. An Epcot passport, for those who don’t know, is a little passport book with pages and stickers for each of the World Showcase countries. Each country operates a Kidcot station, where kids can sit down and do a craft from each country, as well as get their passport stamped and written in by a native of that country. It’s really a neat idea, and my kids were looking forward to it. Anyway, (more…)