(Part 2) Best products from r/WaltDisneyWorld

I'll do one better than a boring list. But I’ll preface this that I’m an adult, mid 30’s, without children (and no intention there, which should paint a better picture when I talk about the vibe of places).



So Garden Grill is by far my favorite. It’s unlimited food, but family style, so it comes to you and if you like something they will keep bringing as much as you want. It scales very well with groups too, since it’s a flat cost and all you care to enjoy. It also has characters: Chip & Dale are the stars, but Farmer Mickey & Pluto stop by as well.



Via Napoli is good if you are a group, otherwise it’s not very cost effective (but it’s a good pizza, just expensive).



I’d rank Biergarten about similar in quality to San Angel in, but since it’s buffet style, if you don’t like something there’s always other things and you don’t need to worry about being stuck with something you’re not enjoying. One Warning, there aren't private tables, so you will get to know your tablemates next to you.



For a Snack, I like popping into Tutto Gusto Wine Cellar, but that’s not great if you have kids. Ditto for Rose & Crown, I love it, but they are not the most kid friendly places.



If you like Japanese food, Teppan Edo is fantastic and a ton of fun. It’s a hibachi spot, basically Benihana, which would be the chain that does this style, but I enjoyed that you usually will only be sharing a chef with 1 other family.



Skip Le Cellier. If you’re gonna spend the $ on a steak at Epcot like this, take a break from the park and walk the 5-10 min to Yacht Club and just go to Yachtsman. It’s probably one of the top 5 steaks I’ve ever had, and about the same price or cheaper.



Skip the options in China. They aren’t bad, but unlike San Angel or Biergarten, pretty much everyone has a go to Chinese food spot at home that will make the same things, better and cheaper. Just not worth the money.



Beyond these, when are you going? If it’s during any of the festivals, I’d tell you to skip sit down meals, and hit the food booths. All four festivals have them, and they all have way more interesting options. My only Recommendation is to get one of these sporks and enjoy all the small plates the booths have to offer!

You absolutely must get the Unofficial Guide.

It has answers for a great many of your questions, as well as detailed information about everything. They've been doing this for over 20 years and have reviewed and rated everything you can possibly do at WDW. From the parks to the restaurants to the hotels, it's all in there.

Having said that, I'll try to nutshell a few of your questions.

>What rides/attractions can we not miss?

This is a very complicated question. Do you guys like or hate thrill rides? What about simple "carnival" style rides like Dumbo?

>When should we leave for parks in the morning?

The Unofficial Guide has travel times for the buses for every Disney resort. I do recommend trying to get to the park for "rope drop" because you will get a jump on the rides before all of the leisurely folks who sleep in, eat breakfast, and wander over to the parks at 10-11am.

>How many Fastpasses do we get?

3 per day, and all must be in a single park. Here is a good FAQ over at Disboards.

>I was thinking of doing a package with ticket and resort combined, is that the best way to do it?

Yes. I recommend Small World Vacations. They are extremely helpful and will notify you if a discount becomes available.

>Are dining plans worth it?

Dining plans can be worth it if you're very organized about when and where you eat. However, if you want any flexibility at all without the pressure of counting points and such, I wouldn't get a dining plan. Personally, my family likes to eat a simple breakfast in the room (Power Bar or such) to save time and money.

>Is 7-8 months ahead a good time to book?

Book as early as you think you can. Things do book up pretty far in advance.

You won't be booking restaurant reservations until 180 days before your trip. Fastpass+ reservations open up at 60 days. Both of those you can do online. It's important to book ASAP, though. I had a friend wait two weeks after his window before trying to book restaurant reservations and they couldn't get into Cinderella's Royal Table at the castle.

>Is Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party worth the extra ticket price?

MNSSHP is all about the characters, parade and fireworks show. If you're into that sort of thing, you will most likely enjoy it. It's all top notch stuff, and it's one of the best ways to see many of the villain characters.

I can't offer advice on the credit card, so I won't confuse you by trying to guess.

Hope this helps!

First... get this stroller. It was a life saver when getting on the buses and other transportation. And it fits in the overhead compartment on the plane.

We've been a few times on our own so we rode most of the rides already and weren't too worried if we didn't get to ride anything. We went for my daughter's first birthday in April and then went back for the 4th of July and we're going again for Labor day. The first trip was fun, but we had to fly with formula, which was a lot to carry around. Luckily we went with a cousin so she was a big help and made rider swap more fun since we weren't riding by ourselves. Our daughter got her first haircut in magic kingdom where she got a certificate with a lock of her hair to keep. She loved the frozen ride in Epcot. She loved all the princesses and people, but wasn't too keen on the characters in masks like Mickey and Goofy etc. When we went on July 4th she was off formula so that was a big help lol. We got to ride the Navi River journey and I think we had more fun watching her react to the ride than the actual ride. She loved it! We went to the Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue and she was clapping and dancing along with that. She still didn't like the characters in masks. She took naps in the stroller and we'd take breaks in secluded areas with AC and we tried walking through the shops in the parks to stay in the AC as much as possible. We never went back to the room until the end of the day. We had a couple of reservations at some resort restaurants so sometimes we get to the resort early so we could relax in the lobby. I can't wait for labor day as now she's started walking and talking a lot more and will probably react to the rides and characters differently. So that will be fun to watch.

Honestly...my go-tos are Teva Hurricane XLT Infinitys. No breakin time at all, super comfortable, lots of arch support for my gigantic arches.

Musts: pocket packing options for necessities like meds so you don't have to carry a bag. I've usually improvised the meds portion with various containers inside a little cloth bag, but my husband recently got some of these pill cases that are perfectly sized for pockets. Small cloth bags (like makeup bags but littler? I usually get 'em at craft fair type things) for other smallish pocket-things help too. Makes it easy to take out your pocket contents to go through the metal detector. Bandaids and moleskin should be brought with you (pre-cut the moleskin if you are a carryon-only, no-scissors type) to the parks in case you get a blister while there. TomboyX underwear in 6" or 9" if you're going to wear dresses/skirts (no more rubbing stuff on your thighs to prevent chafing). A mini-wallet so you're not carrying your whole normal one if you just need your ID and a couple credit cards. An Anker charger for your phone for long park days - mine's old and huge but they make smaller ones now. Do not underestimate how much you will want lip balm. At this point, bring a reusable straw too, from what I've heard of the continued deprecation of useful plastics. A portable white noise machine if you're using to having whit noise at home and an Amazon fire stick if you wanna be able to watch what you want on your resort TV. A long charge cord for your phone because plug locations vary in a lot of resort rooms. I'm sure I'll think of more...

Haven't done much Disney Springs dining in a while, though liked...Paradiso 37 a few years ago.

Here's something different I can recommend on a much more technical level about the interactive entertainment business: "Theme Park Design & The Art of Themed Entertainment" is a book written by an Imagineer about the design process of building a theme park.

It's not light reading and definitely not a coffee table book, so won't be for everyone; it's best described as a textbook for a graduate level course in interactive entertainment. It's also not purely Disney-centric - it goes out of its way to include Universal and other parks, and you can tell there's an immense amount of professional respect between the author of the book and others in the field.

But if reading through a textbook in Imagineering 5001 sounds like your jam, or if you're interested in pursuing an internship or career in the field, this book is the best I've found explaining the inner workings of how they make the magic.

https://www.amazon.com/Theme-Park-Design-Themed-Entertainment/dp/0993578918

Current bag is this backpack, although - full disclosure - I haven't used it yet! My go-to was an eBags crossbody (Piazza) which I highly recommend if anyone prefers crossbody, but after a full day at the parks and a fully loaded bag I would end up with ONE sore shoulder. I finally decided to get the same backpack my friend had when we went to DL. It's the perfect size and folds up into a pouch for easy packing!

Pretty sure that you're the reason that I bought two of these more or less sight-unseen for the wife and I. Three or four trips later (spring and fall/winter) and this is pretty much my top recommendation for anyone that asks me about planning a Disney trip - number 2 are these Brita water bottles with the filters in the cap.

Stuff for multiple kids (underwear, clothes, diapers, etc.), power banks and cords, snacks for everyone, sunscreen, water bottles, water flavorings and more all fit in here with plenty of room to spare.

Neighbors of ours are planning their next trip and asked us about daybags for parks a few weeks ago. We raved so much about them that she bought them online that night without reservation. She just picked them up over the weekend and is amazed at the price for what they got.

We've used this one three times now and it's great. It's in between a regular stroller and an umbrella. It's lightweight and easy to fold but still has storage underneath and on the handle. I've also appended the storage with this saddle bag, which is just so helpful because you don't have to empty it in order to fold the stroller, which is great for getting on and off the buses!

Fully agree with this, we have only ever brought drawstring bags and they are perfect! Plus they fit on all the rides.

OP I would go for something like this: adidas Alliance II Sackpack, 18 x 13 3/4-Inch, Collegiate Navy https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GV480YW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_STSxzbPSFWTTQ

+1 on the O2Cool fans recommendation. They are the bomb.

On our last trip, we decided to forego the heavy insulated water bottle in favor of these collapsible ones (https://www.amazon.com/HYDAWAY-Collapsible-Ultra-Packable-Travel-Friendly-Food-Grade/dp/B07LCVRQPQ). We would fill them from the water fountain, drink all of the water pretty much right away, then collapse and stow them. Pro tip: the loading area for the Liberty Square Riverboat has the coldest water fountain in Magic Kingdom.

I highly recommend ordering some cheap ponchos from amazon! I’m going at the end of the week and grabbed these. We do this every time we go and it saves us so much money, and it’s also a nice peace of mind thing to just toss them in a park bag and have them in case.

This should be obvious, but do yourself a favor and just grab a pack of Poncho's off amazon or at Target/Walmart for as cheap as you can get while retaining quality. The overly frugal might be able to stretch these a few days too with good useage and they can be easily pitched once the trip is over. That, versus attempting to get last second, obscenely priced ponchos at the parks, needs to be priority number one, because, at some point, you will get stuck in the rain.

Even a super lightweight lock, while it can easily be clipped by bolt cutters etc, would be more than sufficient in a place like WDW. For example: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B071NTMLYG/ref=dp_prsubs_3

Walt Disney World - Official Album

That album has all the originals and is a little pricey.

Where the Magic Lives

That album is the holding music you hear plus some. Not as expensive but still collectible.

Four Parks, One World

And lastly this album also has the original songs you hear around the parks. Once again, collectible.

Hope this helps!

Get disposable ones. They all technically work well enough and honestly, there's little point in trying to reuse them after your trip. If you save them without drying them correctly, they'll just end up getting moldy.

We usually just buy 3 packs of these and pull them for our trips as we need them, after we get done and go home, we just throw them out.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076JCKSQB/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_nhI3CbFRFXH1Y

We got [these Brita filter bottles] (https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004GN6QV4/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and while they too were great at taste elimination they did not have an attached cap. Would you mind sharing the ones you have?

We use to take nice panchos, but they are a bit bulky to carry in a bag all the time just in case of rain. Now we by 5 packs of cheap ones off amazon, which take up as much space as just one good poncho, that way we can just toss them after using or if they rip.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XSCGT2F/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Just brainstorming here...

Does he like Coffee? Give him a Starbucks card, there are stores in all the parks now.

The Official Album (https://www.amazon.com/Disney-World-Official-Album-Release/dp/B00EVAY1EQ/ref=sr_1_3?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1479417276&sr=1-3&keywords=disney+park+music)

Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner at a Park Restaurant

Disney Photopass

Make sure he gets a sticker every day

I like the shirt idea too, never ordered here but... https://www.customink.com/photos/tags/disney-world

If you bring your stroller spend the $30 on Amazon to get a travel bag for it. Then you’re not getting airplane grease and grime on your nice stroller.

With my second (and last) child we bought a really nice umbrella stroller. It’s the GB Qbit....I think. But it folds up to the size of a briefcase. Super easy for going through airport security and gate checking.

Not the same but similar: stroller

https://www.amazon.com/CONA-Coffee-Maker-D-Genius-All-Glass/dp/B07MWDRGL8/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=cona+coffee+maker&qid=1565891840&s=gateway&sr=8-3

Ridiculous pricing, but the coffee is great at V&A's. It totally completes the meal.

This one. I've only had to use it once (last time I was at WDW I didn't have the right cable to connect to my phone...so remember about getting that, too), but on my last trip it was a godsend when I had to be on the phone a couple of hours with our airline after a cancellation.

Three additional suggestions:

The Haunted Mansion: Imagineering a Disney Classic (From the Magic Kingdom) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1484722299/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_RSqEAbE1465J3

Designing Disney's Theme Parks: The Architecture of Reassurance https://www.amazon.com/dp/2080136399/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_sTqEAb0JKXXJN

Theme Park Design & The Art of Themed Entertainment https://www.amazon.com/dp/0993578918/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_MVqEAbQ1623ZW

The last one is laid out like a textbook (not a picture book) but it has a lot of good information.

You can also get a smaller version on Amazon for 12 bucks!

https://www.amazon.com/Disney-DCM-9-Mickey-Waffle-Maker/dp/B00QHUT7MO/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=mickey+waffle&qid=1559309933&s=home-garden&sr=1-2

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I have it and it works fantastic, just a bit smaller waffles.

This book is a great guide!

I used baby oil for chafing. It worked pretty well, and I use it before swimming/getting wet so I don't need a shower afterwards.

And as far as a light back pack, I used this one it worked fairly decently at keeping the contents relatively dry during a rain storm. And it dried quickly afterward.

Anker all day, every day. I love my 20K mAh beast.

Amen. These are my old reliables:

Lip Stick

Brick

You pay for what you get and I love the quality.

I have the opposite one of that as a figurine. Got back in 2007 iirc

https://www.amazon.com/Self-Portrait-Disney-Mickey-Mouse-Figurine/dp/B00BOUDXTK

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However that is a great picture.

As far as drinking...

Barcrawls: Epcot, Boardwalk, and Monorail

Great Bars: Trader Sam's Grog Grotto, AbracadaBar, Jock Lindsay's Hangar Bar

Must Read: Drinking at Disney

make sure you bring a charging stick!

something like this: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CU1EC6Y?psc=1

video will eat up battery quick

Here is what I have used the past three years