Disney - planning, preparation, tips, tricks and advice.

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Has anyone done Discovery Cove?
We are booked for May 2022 and haven't been for a good 15/16 years. We've managed to get a good deal through Attraction tickets for DC. So many people have recommended it to us as a chill day but also apparently is amazing xxx
 
This isn’t exclusive to Disney.... has anyone been to Orlando during Thanksgiving? I’m planning on staying clear of the parks on Thanksgiving, Black Friday and the weekend following. But is anything open food wise on Thanksgiving? I’ll be staying off property so don’t want to starve!
Yep I did in 2019 as had heard the crow levels were not to bad as was in between Halloween and Christmas.... over thanks giving was BUSY and all the Americans who we spoke to said they’d never seen it so busy! Don’t get me wrong it wasn’t the busiest time of year but the waiting for buses ect don’t think this answers your question mind 😂🙈
 
We are booked for May 2022 and haven't been for a good 15/16 years. We've managed to get a good deal through Attraction tickets for DC. So many people have recommended it to us as a chill day but also apparently is amazing xxx
I’m booked for May 2022! We’ve booked Discovery Cove for the 10th! Will definitely use as chill day! And I got the deal through Floridartix!
 
This isn’t exclusive to Disney.... has anyone been to Orlando during Thanksgiving? I’m planning on staying clear of the parks on Thanksgiving, Black Friday and the weekend following. But is anything open food wise on Thanksgiving? I’ll be staying off property so don’t want to starve!
Yep I’ve been for thanksgiving. Everything as busy as usual. Everything open. It’s not like UK Christmas Day if that’s what you were thinking.
 
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I don’t know if this was asked already - but who do people recommend for villa bookings? We’ve always done international drive/on-site in the past but need a more space now the kids are bigger.
I didn’t know this thread was here before, so glad I found it 😍
 
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Has anyone done Discovery Cove?
YES! It’s incredible. Done the dolphin swim a couple of times, then last time we just did a non-swim package, which is still a fantastic day!

Unpopular opinion - but I would much rather save up the extra money and do DC for a day, rather than Mickey’s Not So Scary or the Christmas Party 👀
 
YES! It’s incredible. Done the dolphin swim a couple of times, then last time we just did a non-swim package, which is still a fantastic day!

Unpopular opinion - but I would much rather save up the extra money and do DC for a day, rather than Mickey’s Not So Scary or the Christmas Party 👀
I’ve seen videos and I can’t see why it’s so expensive for the Mickey party’s!!

YES! It’s incredible. Done the dolphin swim a couple of times, then last time we just did a non-swim package, which is still a fantastic day!

Unpopular opinion - but I would much rather save up the extra money and do DC for a day, rather than Mickey’s Not So Scary or the Christmas Party 👀
I’ve seen videos and I can’t see why it’s so expensive for the Mickey party’s!!
 
I’ve seen videos and I can’t see why it’s so expensive for the Mickey party’s!!


I’ve seen videos and I can’t see why it’s so expensive for the Mickey party’s!!
I’ve done both, and I would say they are good, and should be done once, but it is a one and done for me now, until they change up the format again.

A good tip is to go to MK on the mornings there is a party, it’s a lot quieter as other people are wanting to go in after lunch for the party night. Bail at 4pm and plan to do fireworks another night
 
I’ve done both, and I would say they are good, and should be done once, but it is a one and done for me now, until they change up the format again.

A good tip is to go to MK on the mornings there is a party, it’s a lot quieter as other people are wanting to go in after lunch for the party night. Bail at 4pm and plan to do fireworks another night
What actually is the party? Lol
 
I’ve done both (but when the exchange rate was much better so not as expensive) wouldn’t bother with the Christmas one again but did really enjoy the Halloween one, especially the parade
 
I have only done the Christmas party and I did enjoy it, but like another user said I probably wouldn’t do it again for a few years at least.

I loved the parade in the snow and all the Christmas snacks! We ended up with over 30 cookies!

Best but for me was getting pics with characters dressed in Christmas stuff and shorter queues for rides.

We waited for the last parade though on Main Street, this was on day 11 of our trip and we had done over 30,000 steps every day without a break yet. Standing waiting til nearly 12.30 am did make me feel like I was going to collapse lol. So would recommend going to the first parade rather than the second!
 
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This isn’t exclusive to Disney.... has anyone been to Orlando during Thanksgiving? I’m planning on staying clear of the parks on Thanksgiving, Black Friday and the weekend following. But is anything open food wise on Thanksgiving? I’ll be staying off property so don’t want to starve!
I was there for Thanksgiving 2019. Yeah everything is open - I would say if you have a particular restaurant in mind that you would like to go to make sure to book in advance. The parks are busy over the long weekend for Thanksgiving so if you can avoid the parks over the weekend it’s ideal - if you can’t just know the wait times and crowd levels are high.
the shopping is crazy busy - we went to the outlets on Black Friday - they open at midnight but we decided to leave it and went about 6:30am and the shop staff said we did well as it was the quietest they had been. We left by 10am when it started getting busy again.

Has anyone done Discovery Cove?
Yeah I would definitely recommend it for a chill day. We did the dolphin swim which was amazing but I would go back for a non swim day as well. It’s a lovely park with plenty to keep you occupied (I hate just sitting on a lounger) but a much slower pace than the Theme parks.

I don’t know if this was asked already - but who do people recommend for villa bookings? We’ve always done international drive/on-site in the past but need a more space now the kids are bigger.
I didn’t know this thread was here before, so glad I found it 😍
we have used VRBO for years now. It’s great as the villas are listed by the owners so no management companies to deal with. Many are UK families. We normally stay in Davenport which is about 20 mins drive from Disney. A bit further from universal- 30/40 mins. It’s just off the 192 which has loads of restaurants that are handy to pop in for dinner after a day in the parks.
 
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We are booked for this October / November 6th visit ( 4th with my kids ) we always stay at the yacht club and it’s my absolute fav resort , we have visited others for dinner and a mooch but I’ve never been swayed by them. At the moment though, with all the perks being removed it’s the most expensive it’s EVER been & I’m really not sure I can square it away, so I’m thinking I’m going to move it to next year, hopefully the Ddp will return , fireworks and the parades and the cute little m&gs , it will be rubbish missing this year though!
 
We are booked for this October / November 6th visit ( 4th with my kids ) we always stay at the yacht club and it’s my absolute fav resort , we have visited others for dinner and a mooch but I’ve never been swayed by them. At the moment though, with all the perks being removed it’s the most expensive it’s EVER been & I’m really not sure I can square it away, so I’m thinking I’m going to move it to next year, hopefully the Ddp will return , fireworks and the parades and the cute little m&gs , it will be rubbish missing this year though!
I got married at the yacht club ❤

Have you ever thought about staying at the swan and dolphin? It’s usually the same price as a moderate
 
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I got married at the yacht club ❤

Have you ever thought about staying at the swan and dolphin? It’s usually the same price as a moderate
Oh wow ! It really is stunning !! And the smell!! We keep toying with club level - if the ddp defo won’t be happening I’m going to do it ! I couldn’t not do the yacht now, I just love it , I did have the best steak over at the swan/ dolphin though ! We love the pool and the shops & the ease of the location ( I know it’s all the same 🙈) I just couldn’t imagine staying anywhere else !! X
 
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Oh wow ! It really is stunning !! And the smell!! We keep toying with club level - if the ddp defo won’t be happening I’m going to do it ! I couldn’t not do the yacht now, I just love it , I did have the best steak over at the swan/ dolphin though ! We love the pool and the shops & the ease of the location ( I know it’s all the same 🙈) I just couldn’t imagine staying anywhere else !! X
I totally get it!! I love the boardwalk area it’s lovely ☺
 
I was there for Thanksgiving 2019. Yeah everything is open - I would say if you have a particular restaurant in mind that you would like to go to make sure to book in advance. The parks are busy over the long weekend for Thanksgiving so if you can avoid the parks over the weekend it’s ideal - if you can’t just know the wait times and crowd levels are high.
the shopping is crazy busy - we went to the outlets on Black Friday - they open at midnight but we decided to leave it and went about 6:30am and the shop staff said we did well as it was the quietest they had been. We left by 10am when it started getting busy again.


Yeah I would definitely recommend it for a chill day. We did the dolphin swim which was amazing but I would go back for a non swim day as well. It’s a lovely park with plenty to keep you occupied (I hate just sitting on a lounger) but a much slower pace than the Theme parks.



we have used VRBO for years now. It’s great as the villas are listed by the owners so no management companies to deal with. Many are UK families. We normally stay in Davenport which is about 20 mins drive from Disney. A bit further from universal- 30/40 mins. It’s just off the 192 which has loads of restaurants that are handy to pop in for dinner after a day in the parks.
Oh that’s good to know - thanks! I’ve seen VRBO discussed on the DIBB forum but I didn’t realise that the villas were listed by the owners. I’m a bit wary of management companies and would much rather deal with an owner. Are there any communities that you’d recommend?
 
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