As pathetic as it sounds, I am a bit nervous about our upcoming trip to Disney World. We are Disneyland regulars who attend frequently but wanted to experience something different. We have our touring plans down at DLand and could not be more comfortable there, but D World seems a bit more intimidating. We will have fun I am sure and will enjoy the differences, but am curious if anyone has had the same experience. Any advice, other than relax and enjoy, to making our trip more enjoyable?

How many days are you planning for and what time of year?
Do you want to stay on-site or off? Rental car?
Do you prefer a value, moderate or deluxe hotel?

A week is a good start, some say 2 is better. Then again, you still won't see everything. WDW is HUGE compared to DLR. Walking, walking and a bit more walking involved.
ADR's (Advance Dining Resevations) are essential these days, much more dining experiences to choose from.

Check out this thread (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=130741)- I think there are some good things in there.

I was thinking there was another fairly recent thread on DL regulars going to WDW - but couldn't find it in a quick look. I'll do a more complete look in a bit, and if I find a good thread, I'll post again.

Biggest piece of advice: They aren't the same. don't expect the same experience!

Make ADRs if you want to eat at a table service location. And if you decide to eat at a popular place - do it 90 days out (will be 180 days out - yes, close to 6 months) on Oct 27)

In the Magic Kingdom, you WILL get turned around. My sister and I have real issues with this, because she goes to each park about 1/year, and I go to WDW a time or two additional, and we're always correcting each other if we start to go the wrong way (on either coast) "No, that restroom is 3000 miles away"

And I provide this advice to DL regulars going to WDW for the first time: Don't make fun of the lack of scenes in Pirates. (The advice for WDW regulars going to DL is to not make fun of the size of the castle.)

We actually do have many things planned up to specific touring plans for each day. We are staying 2 weeks at the Marriott Royal Palms across from Downtown Disney. We are renting a car. We typically stayed at Disneyland Hotel and loved staying on site but cost is an issue. I think we will enjoy the 2 bedroom place and kitchen, laundry, etc.

I have ADR's for T-rex, Biergarten, Boma. I am still looking for a good place in Magic Kingdom and am wondering about Tony's. Any thoughts on Coral Reef? Chef Mickey?

We plan to rest on Epcot days but probably stay in the parks on other days. I think we will do the "rest" on the monorail and train etc.

Being a DL regular and having been to WDW several times this year :eyeroll:, I can honestly say that I too am still looking for a good place to eat at Magic Kingdom. I think the best advice is to just eat somewhere else.

AND (as AVP can confirm) never, ever have a hot dog in WDW. (I keep forgetting this myself) They are EXTREMELY salty.

Also (and I cannot stress this enough) you will be walking A LOT. WAY more than at Disneyland.

All in all, it is a very different experience and a lot of fun.

We ate at Tony's on our trip two weeks ago and the food was pretty good. If you time it right you can watch a parade from the porch while you eat. We saw Spectro Magic.
I don't know if you can eat in the castle at DL but that is pretty neat. You mentioned you already have some ADR's so you may not be able to get one at Cindy's but it might be worth a shot.
Another thought is to go to either The Grand Floridian or the Contemporary for dinner. We did the Grand Floridian Cafe on this past trip and had a very good dinner. We have not done Chef Mickey's for dinner but the breakfast is good and the characters some through at a decent pace and visit every table.

Being a DL regular and having been to WDW several times this year :eyeroll:, I can honestly say that I too am still looking for a good place to eat at Magic Kingdom.

I'm not particularly enthralled with the table service options in the Magic Kingdom, but I REALLY like Columbia Harbor House for CS. The salads are pretty good, and I enjoy the vegetarian sandwich as well.

For a relatively unknown restaurant NEAR the MK, try The Wave in the Contemporary.

Being a DL regular and having been to WDW several times this year :eyeroll:, I can honestly say that I too am still looking for a good place to eat at Magic Kingdom. I think the best advice is to just eat somewhere else.

Just for a different view, maybe to add confusion, possibly to add some balance.... We love dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern and lunch at Crystal Palace. We also love the jacket / baked potatos from the food stand and we especially love the funnel cakes (which last trip you could get for a snack credit).

Go to the WDW website and register so that they will send the WDW park maps to you. Study them....because it really helps to have an idea of the layouts before the visit.

I suggest not resting too much at Epcot, there's a lot more to it than you think that you might just skip because you think it sounds dull. When I went last time we took each park in one day, but decided that it was enough to skip half of a day at Epcot, which was such a disappointment. The bright note is that quite a few of the big draws are "go at your own pace" such as Innoventions (which in my opinion was one of the greatest things there beyond the rides), but you also have the option of Soarin' or The Seas. If you're looking for a really fun restaurant in Epcot, try the one near Nemo. I can't remember the name of it, but it was great. The food was wonderful, and one of the walls was a huge fishtank (the same one you see in Nemo) with so many fish it's impossible for me to even estimate. If you have kids with you, it'll be one of the most fun dining experiences you can have. Trust me, we went to a lot of the dining experiences and this was one of my two favorites.

Being a DL regular and having been to WDW several times this year :eyeroll:, I can honestly say that I too am still looking for a good place to eat at Magic Kingdom.

Like others, I enjoy the Columbia Harbour House - very tasty seafood & chips. And I really enjoy the cheesesteak sandwich at Cosmic Ray's in Tomorrowland, especially after you load it up from the fixin's bar!


AND (as AVP can confirm) never, ever have a hot dog in WDW. (I keep forgetting this myself) They are EXTREMELY salty.

I don't know about that. I enjoy the dogs from the vendor at the end of Main Street (Casey's? The one that's analogous to DL's Coke Corner). Great dogs and good corn dog bites!

If you're looking for a really fun restaurant in Epcot, try the one near Nemo. I can't remember the name of it, but it was great.

That would be the Coral Reef. It's been a little hit and miss lately, but my last meal there in April 09 was pretty tasty, with very good service. But I always love that underwater atmosphere!!!

We love the hot dogs at Casey's Corner. Perfect while waiting for the parade to begin!

Except for the nasty whole wheat buns. Ick!

As you will be there for two weeks, you might seriously want to consider Annual Passes. Note that if you are not staying at a Disney Resort parking is $14 per day, but it is free for APs.

We actually do have many things planned up to specific touring plans for each day. We are staying 2 weeks at the Marriott Royal Palms across from Downtown Disney. We are renting a car. We typically stayed at Disneyland Hotel and loved staying on site but cost is an issue. I think we will enjoy the 2 bedroom place and kitchen, laundry, etc.

I have ADR's for T-rex, Biergarten, Boma. I am still looking for a good place in Magic Kingdom and am wondering about Tony's. Any thoughts on Coral Reef? Chef Mickey?

We plan to rest on Epcot days but probably stay in the parks on other days. I think we will do the "rest" on the monorail and train etc.

Ive been to DLR 100+ times and WDW twice.

We stayed on property though so you have a difference then we do.

Tonys will not disappoint, but it wont knock your socks off. I am half Italian, and I have had better, but atmosphere and food are very good.

I am also half German, and I loved Biergarten. They nailed the food. Only draw back is buffet style so depending on how long it is under the lights can affect freshness.

Boma is outstanding. You can even ask for information about the food culturally.

Ive been to Coral Reef and had the same opinion as Tonys. Its good to do at least once because it is an unusual atmosphere.

Save your parking ticket at what ever park you go too each day. Especially Animal Kingdom. Because AK closes at dark, it allows you to go to another park. Brink the parking coupon and you dont have to pay again.

Pack 1 suit case with minicereal boxes and buy milk there. Eat in your rooms cereal everyday. this will save a HUGE sum of money over a 2 week period. That also leaves an empty suitcase at the end of the trip to pack souvenirs in.

What are the kids ages and what time of year are you going?

Save your parking ticket at what ever park you go too each day. Especially Animal Kingdom. Because AK closes at dark, it allows you to go to another park. Brink the parking coupon and you dont have to pay again.

I just want to make it clear that you're talking about parking, not entrance to another park. Yes, you only have to pay once a day to park, and then your parking ticket is good at all other lots. But you still have to pay (or have park hopper tickets) to enter a 2nd park.

I found that the Magic Your Way Tickets really change how you view attending the parks. The difference in price between a 5 day ticket and a 10 day ticket is only $15! Very smart on Disney's part to get you to return to spend more money and to think twice about spending more on tickets to attend non Disney parks.

And 10 day ticket is much cheaper then an AP. With the your way tickets, we didn't feel the need to go to the park an entire day to get our money's worth. Before this plan with the old park hoppers, we would cram in a full day followed by a rest day. With the your way tickets, doing 1/2 days was great. Especially in the summer, was nice somedays to sleep in late, hit the pool then go to a park late afternoon to closing, much better handling the heat/humidity, kept the entire group from dragging and whining (yes there were teenagers).

Wasn't clear what time of the year you are going whether the parks will be open long hours or short.

And yea to repeat what you heard. way more walking. Same day park hopping is not trivial. While Walt wanted to make entering MK an experience, it adds a lot of time. You first tram to the transportation hub and then you have to ferry or monorail to the entrance. We found it was better to focus on just one park per day. Again with new type of tickets, park hopping just made less sense to us. This can cut the ticket prices too. Since you'll have a car, a hotel return between parks is nice. Even with the monorail, park hopping from Epcot to MK takes 2 separate monorail rides.

2 weeks sounds like the perfect amount of time to take it all in and not be rushed, enjoy! You might even come back and not be able resist commenting on the size of the DL castle lol.

I just want to make it clear that you're talking about parking, not entrance to another park. Yes, you only have to pay once a day to park, and then your parking ticket is good at all other lots. But you still have to pay (or have park hopper tickets) to enter a 2nd park.

Thank you, after re-reading, I can see I wasnt clear. Parking Only.

I greatly appreciate all of your help and ideas. Certainly we will have a good time. We are going in early November. I am aware of Jersey days but it will be fine. We are only overlapping 3 days with that. We can't wait to go. Perhaps a bit silly, but we have discussed how we will miss Billy Hill and the Hillbillys. Those who have seen may know what I am talking about. IMO a very underrated and enjoyable show.

Also (and I cannot stress this enough) you will be walking A LOT. WAY more than at Disneyland.

For our family we found that we walked a lot less at WDW than at DLR. At DLR EVERYTHING is in walking distance - the hotel, downtown Disney, DL and DCA. We never stop walking!!!

At WDW we were able to pace ourselves much better. We'd go to one park in the morning, but always take a break at the hotel before transitioning to the next place. You also get a sit down break traveling between places.

Seriously, my feet NEVER hurt as bad at WDW as they do at DLR.