That’s right, after the bitter cold temps we have been living with here in Michigan lately I can say that this is THE perfect time to head south.
I was super excited to find out that I was one of about 100 bloggers invited to participate in the very first Disney Social Media Event!
I am excited on so many different levels. I mean first of all I have never attended a bloggers conference before, and I am really looking forward to meeting people that I have gotten to know online in “real life” The neat thing about this conference is that we were able to bring our families along. So it will give all of us a unique and very personal look into each others lives.
There are a lot of special speakers including Chris Brogan and Guy Kowasaki, along with others, that I’m looking forward to learning from. Plus there is a special event scheduled to help feed America’s hungry which I am really honored to be a part of. I hear that there will be special entertainment as well as plenty of surprises.
And then there is the amazing hotel that we will all be staying at. The Polynesian Resort is beautiful! There are waterfall, beaches, fire throwers, and more. It’s supposed to give you the feeling that you are in a tropical place like Hawaii or Tahiti. I’m not sure I’ll want to leave the hotel at all.
But of course I will!
Because I have always dreamed of going to Disney World! We get to hang out at all of the parks for three magic filled days. I can’t wait to see my first palm tree ever! And I have never seen an ocean, so we’ll have to make a side trip for that. It promises to be a really wonderful time. I’ll be sure to share lots of photos while I’m there.
If you have been to Disney World before I would love to hear about your time there. What was your favorite thing? Do you have any tips for a Disney newbie like me?
Popularity: 2% [?]
{ 1 trackback }
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
We're originally from Florida! We lived close to Tampa and were able to go to Disney quite often, in large part due to the awesome Florida resident specials.
Make sure you stop by guest services and let them know this is your first time. They will giv e you a special sticker to wear and many times this will get you to the front of the line for popular attractions.
Also, take full advantage of the "Fast Pass" program. The most popular rides have very long lines, but you can swipe your ticket and receive a pass to come back later and skip the line. It's very much worth it. The draw back is that you can only claim one Fast Pass at a time .. meaning you can't get a FP for Magic Mountain while you are still holding an unredeemed FP for the Jungle Cruise.
Eating in the park (or anywhere on WD property) can be pricey, so prepare your budget for that. If you are driving down, drive off property to eat when you can. There are plenty of restaurants very close by, and be sure to check out the "touristy" coupon books (plentiful) for bargains too.
Unless you have really little kids, you can skip the Toon Town section of the Magic Kingdom. It's geared for the under 5 crowd, for sure.
You're going to have a blast! Are you going to Magic Kingdom or all the parks?
Twitter: MrsStrick
Thanks so much for all the great tips Christina!
We have park hopper tickets, so we'll be checking out Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios. It's a lot, but we are prepared with knowing that no matter what we will NOT be able to do everything. We've chosen 2 things at each place that we MUST do. I figure anything else is just gravy you know.
We are bringing food with us to eat for breakfast, and all of our dinners are being provided. We have budgeted $100 a day for food hoping that it won't be that high? The only thing we have to figure out is lunches.
Is the fast pass program free? Thanks so much for the tip about letting guest services know this is our first time, we will definitely have to check that out!
Twitter: sawickis
Yes, FastPass is free. Your best bet is to grab a FastPass for the ride you want and walk around to other local rides without the long line. The FP will have a designated time for you to return and go on the ride.
You should probably budget at least $10 per person, per day, for lunch … assuming you won't be dining at any of the "sit-down" restaurants. Here's a link I found with the available restaurants and menus (the ones I peeked at had prices too!) http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm
I'm so jealous. I'll be thinking of you while we're getting pummeled by the bitter cold! LOL
Twitter: MrsStrick
Thanks Christina you've been super helpful!
I will definitely be sure to check out the Fast Pass and also the link you shared is perfect. I have been having such a difficult time figuring out which food places are where and what they serve. This site is so complete with menus and pricing.
Thanks again!
Twitter: sawickis
I'm going too! I live close to Disney and go all the time. I know that you're going to have a blast. My suggestion would be to map out the attractions that you really want to see and do those first. Even if you're there for a full 7 days, there's no way that you can see everything at Disney World! Be sure to take some time to relax and just soak in the time there. Hope I get to see you there!
I keep reminding myself that no matter what we get to do, it's Disney and it'll be great!
Plus I get to meet lots of neat people!
Twitter: sawickis
I cant wait to go. Hope to meet you there. It should be fun and hopefully warmer!
Definitely looking forward to the warmer weather. I hope to meet you too!
Twitter: sawickis
Lucky you! I hope you have good weather.
Twitter: ilikeitfrantic
Hello there!
Just stopping by via Disneysmmoms on Twitter. I'm the notperfectwife.
Love your blog. So lean and fresh looking. Great job!
We've been to Disney so many times that I've lost count. First taking some long family vacations when we lived in MD and now that we live in FL, well we'll just say.. we've been there a lot.
This is my first conference too. We've never stayed at the fancier hotels so this will be a blast.
Looking forward to meeting you.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
We are all super excited to be heading to Disney since it is our first time! I'm sure we will have a blast. It's so nice to know there will be other homeschoolers there, and teens too! I am looking forward to meeting you too!
Twitter: sawickis