How to: Quick Tips to a (Kosher) Disney World Vacation (in Orlando)
Last summer we had a fabulous family vacation in Disney World Orlando. Taking a Disney vacation means working really hard to prepare for that vacation :) Being religious Orthodox Jews we had some extra things to prepare for as well, like Kosher food :)
So to help everyone else who is planning a Disney World vacation we put together the following tips…
We found thesetips to be a huge help in accomplishing the following — have happy kids, wait on lines as little as possible! and other misc. tips to help you have a happy, cost effective trip :)
PLANNING BEFORE YOU LEAVE
#1: Definitely borrow or buy the Unofficial Guide to Disney World. They come out with a new version each year, with updates, so try to get the latest version.
#2: Sign up on the website www.touringplans.com and download their Lines app. There is a fee to sign up and use the app, but it is SO worth it! This app is amazing! It not only gives you live updated times for lines on rides in all the Disney Parks, but together with the website, it allows you to put together a customized, and optimized schedule for your park visits, that is easily modified on the spot, if changes to your plans are necessary. This is KEY to helping you stand on lines for the least amount of time as possible. In our whole trip to Disney World we hardly stood on lines, during a very, very busy season!
The book will give you unbelievable tips for each park and each ride, and most importantly, advise you which rides to save your fast pass tickets for! This is really important.
#3: Purchasing Tickets: Tip — there is really NO need to pay an arm and a leg for the special Disney “hopper” tickets that allow you to hop from park to park in any given day. Each park has enough to do to keep you in that one park for a full day. If you do decide to leave a park in the middle of the day to go take a rest with the kids, just return to the same park to finish the activities that you didn’t do either.
#4: Planning your order of parks: Don’t go to Magic Kingdom first. Why? Considering kids are/will be most excited by Magic Kingdom, it is best to not do Magic Kingdom first, because kids are then disappointed by the other parks. Better to build up the excitement, have them enjoy the other parks, and then have them experience the full blown excitement of Magic Kingdom either in the middle or at the end. We spent 2 days in Magic Kingdom. We went to Epcot first, then Animal Kingdom (perfect Friday park, if you stay through a Shabbat, since it closes the earliest of all the parks), then Magic Kingdom Day #1, then Hollywood Studios, and then we ended our Disney trip with Magic Kingdom Day #2. We loved how we scheduled it!
#5: Accommodations/Rental Car: We paid a fraction of the cost of a Disney resort by renting a car on kayak.com and a finding a fabulous condo apartment via airbnb.com. Our condo had all the beds we needed as well as a full kitchen, for us to do whatever little cooking and food preparation necessary. Regarding the car, book MONTHS in advance. The difference in pricing is not just dollars but it could be more than a $100 a day difference!
#6: Rental Car: We found the best deal with Sixt. Do not feel pressured to pick a rental car company that is located on the airport premises. The shuttles are 3 minute rides to the other companies and they are a bit cheaper. Important: Do NOT pay for the additional Sunpass system for the tolls! (Like EZ-Pass or Kvish 6 manuie). If all you are doing is going to the Parks most of your trip then the Sunpass is is a total waste of money for you and a huge cash cow for the rental car companies. You will hardly go through any tolls on your trip and they are dirt cheap! I wish someone would’ve told me that before our trip!
#7: Food!: Option 1 — We packed sandwiches every day for lunch and dinner. If your family eats deli, you will like what we did. We bought deli at the shabbat take-out place to use for dinner sandwiches. We then froze bottles of water and drinks overnight, put the frozen bottles and the deli sandwiches together in the backpack that I carried throughout the day and. walla, we had fresh and cool deli sandwiches for dinners!
Option 2 — for lunches or dinners: http://www.pantryorlando.com/ You can order food and have it delivered to you in the parks or to your condo/resort! The delivery price is hefty, but worth it if you order a bulk order a few days worth of food to take with you to the parks in your backpack filled with your frozen drink ice packs :)
Option 3 — The Disney packaged kosher food is available in every park, but it is kind of pricey and not that yummy. It is a great crutch. There are certain restuarants that you have to reserve your meals 48 hours in advance to get a table. You can do that. Otherwise, each park also has one or two fast food restaurants, with proper sit down tables, that you can just go up to the counter last minute and order. For our one Disney Kosher meal we did the second option. Worked out fine. Food is the same food. Not so yummy though, that’s why we did it on day 1 of our Disney Parks to see if we should even consider it an option for any other day. The consensus was NO. That’s when we then figured out the deli sandwiches for dinner idea for the rest of the parks :)
If you stay over Shabbat there are a few select places in the Orlando area that you can call and order take-away food for Shabbat. The place we ordered from even delivered challahs, grape juice, shabbat candles and a havdalah set :) Some of the dishes are much yummier than others:http://www.kosherorlando.com/ Shnitzels and chicken are great, we didn’t like the kugels. Don’t forget to order deli to make dinner sandwiches for the parks!
AT THE PARKS
#8: Believe it or not, the most important piece of advice we received from the book had nothing to do with the rides, but it had to do with renting a stroller for your young child/ren even if they no longer use a stroller. We rented a stroller for our 6 year old and it was the BEST thing we did. For the amount of walking you do in the parks (a lot!), the stroller is the best way to keep the young kids rested as you walk through the park instead of hearing them complain about the walking and having to stop or carry them on your shoulders. You can rent a single or double stroller and if you plan a multi-day stay at different parks you can rent for the whole stay at a cheaper price than renting per day. Definitely do this if you have young kids!
#9: Get to the parks as early as you can. The lines just get longer as the day progresses. However, if you do get their later, don’t worry, you can always optimize your plan via the Lines app for your new time of arrival.
#10: Fast Passes — Plan your 3 fast passes before you get to the parks. Follow the advice in the book which rides you should save them for. Plan them for the 3 best rides advised for your family type and schedule them for the morning/early afternoon hours. Then after you finish using all 3, go to a kiosk and book the next one, and then after that one is used, go back to the kiosk for your next one. If you see that there is really nothing left that you really need to use it for, use it for a character meeting with Mickey or other characters. That will save you a huge line! But don’t waste one of the first 3 fast passes on the character meeting, not worth it. They were always available throughout the day. There is a real science to this to ensure you get to do all the rides you want to do, without having to wait too long on any lines. I know, we did it :) The book and the pre-planning that you can do onwww.touringplans.com and the Lines app are key to making this happen. If you put in the time beforehand, you will have a very smooth and enjoyable visit in all of the parks, without having to argue and stop “where should we go next”.
MAGIC KINGDOM
#11: If you or your kids want to do all 4 top rides at Magic Kingdom (Big Thunder Mountain, 7 Dwarfs Mine, Space Mountain and Splash Mountain) be aware that you can’t book fast passes for all of them. The best plan of action is to get to the park right at opening time, and run to do 7 Dwarfs Mine without a fast pass!, then use pre-booked fast passes to do Big Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain. Right after you finish those 3 run to try to get a fast pass for Space Mountain, but good luck, they are not always available. Otherwise, instead of going to the 3pm parade, go to Space Mountain.
#12: Night time Light Show at Magic Kingdom: After the 9PM parade go immediately into the street to follow the end of the parade towards the front of the castle for the light show and fireworks at the castle. You will get front seats right in front of the castle that way!
EPCOT
#13: If your or your kids want to do Test Track at Epcot (the BEST ride there, in our opinion): Get there right at opening time and do it first without a fast pass so that you can save your fast passes for other rides. If you don’t plan on getting there at opening time, then use a fast pass for Test Track at any time of day, preferably earlier, so you have the later part of the day to do the world showcase without having to come back to Test Track on the opposite side of the park.
HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
#14: The best rides are Rock n’Roll Coaster and Toy Story. You can’t pre-book a fast pass for both SO, get to the park at opening time and make a bee line to Toy Story without a fast pass. No matter how late you are, stay on line to do the ride. The line gets unbelievably long as the day goes on. Book the fast pass for Rock n Roll Coaster for later. Want to do Rock n’Roll Coaster again? Go on the single rider line, you will save a lot of time! (Only few rides in the Disney parks have single rider lines, but this one does :))
#15: Night Show: Few rides/attractions need fast passes (use the advice in the book). If you succeed in doing all the rides/attractions you want by early afternoon try to use a fast pass, booked in the park, for the night time show. Regular seating fills up very quickly and you might not even get in AND the seats are not as good.
ANIMAL KINGDOM
#16: The best ride is Everest! This also has a single rider line. Do it once using fast pass, and then if you/your kids want to do it again, then use the single rider line.
***Don’t forget to buy the Unofficial Guide to Disney World book and sign up to customize a plan and use the Lines app athttp://touringplans.com/unofficial-guide and http://touringplans.com/disney-world-app!***
Hope this helps :)
If you plan a trip and have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. We would be happy to give you some insight based on our experience.
We definitely made some fabulous, fabulous family memories, B”H!
Last but not least, have a blast, you’re in Magical Disney World!
And remember, it’s a great new beautiful tomorrow…