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Planning A Disney VacationIt stands to reason that the best time to visit Walt Disney World is outside of the holiday season because that is when the crowd numbers are at their lowest, queues for the popular rides are at their shortest and Orlando accommodation prices are below their holiday season peak rates. Of course, if your family vacations are tied to school break periods, there you don't have much control over your dates. However, if that is not the case, then the first step in any planning of a Disney vacation is to look at dates outside of the holiday peak periods when the park is not operating at maximum capacity. If possible, try and avoid the period around Christmas and New Years as the crowd numbers become almost unmanageable, transport is overcrowded and affordable holiday lodgings are difficult to find. A Disney vacation is a lot more enjoyable when you can experience the rides and attractions at your own pace without having your valuable time eaten away by long queues, or finding major rides and attractions have reached their limit and been closed down for a while until the crowd subsides. So, rule #1 for Disney vacations: Plan your holiday during the off-season if at all possible. It's a great idea to pre-plan an itinerary for your visit and make sure everyone in your party is familiar with the plans being made. Use a park map and decide on a logical route, moving forward from one attraction to the next and avoid zig-zagging and back-tracking across the park as that can eat up a lot of your valuable time. The park covers a huge area and the time needed just to get around takes up a considerable part of your day. Different park attractions are busiest on certain days. eg. Magic Kingdom is usually busiest on Monday, Thursday and Saturday. Disney MGM Studios and The Sorcerer's Hat are at their busiest on Wednesday and Sunday. So you might want to do some detective work on the internet on this subject and factor the results into your itinerary. If you are in a large group, it's a good idea to arrive early and head straight for the most popular rides and attractions before the crowds arrive and the queues start to lengthen. If you are concerned about children getting lost, make sure they are provided with your contact details so that the park staff can re-unite you as soon as possible. There is a strict policy that prohibits visitors from bringing their own food and drink into the park so brace your self for the prices you will have to pay at the various concession stands. The prices reflect the fact that you are a captive market. You can bring in your own water, so if you can convince your family to drink water only for the day, you'll save quite a few dollars. The variety of different admission ticket prices can be confusing at first. It's well worth the time to sit down a carefully look at all the options that each ticket includes. Single or multi-days, single or multi-parks, transport included or not, attractions included or excluded etc etc.... be prepared to spend some time in deciding the best option for you and your family. Disney is not known to offer major discounting so the offer of huge savings with online bookings is a myth. However, the purchasing of admission tickets online has become one of the most popular ways to get tickets because of the convenience it offers. There is seldom any real difference in the price you will pay at the gate versus the price you will pay online, but an online purchase allows you to bypass the entrance gate queues. Most of the accommodation providers, such as hotels, resorts and condo blocks have a service desk that can provide park admission tickets. They receive a commission on the sales, but the price you pay is no higher than what you'd pay at the park gate. If you are visiting in winter and the weather is less than perfect, or rain is forecast, remember that this is a big park with lots of open spaces. Plan on taking a back-pack to carry some suitable warm clothing and/or light-weight rain gear. At the end of the day, you'll all be tired and the little ones are probably past their bath and bed time, but it's well worth staying for the fireworks display from Cinderella's Castle It's not essential to have a vantage point at or near the castle as there are many good viewing spots at various other points in the park. So.... just remember that it is a good idea to plan every detail of your day so that you get the very best Walt Disney World experience possible.
The official Walt Disney World website - everything you need to know about the park.
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