Disney World, Universal Studios Florida & Seaworld

DISNEYWORLD

Many but not all of these tips also work at other Disney parks. At DisneyWorld, I recommend skipping rides that are available at Disneyland. This especially applies to the Magic Kingdom.

Magic Kingdom       
Ride Stitch’s Great Escape, Mickey’s PhilharMagic 3-D, evening parade and firework, the new FantasyLand rides.

Animal Kingdom:
The Lion King show, Dinosaur ride, Kilimanjaro Safaris, and Expedition Everest. Smaller park. Can be done in one day. Fewer headliner rides. Festival of the Lion King. Sit on the mid to upper bleachers for better sight lines. The first few rows are flat and hard to see, unless you are in the first row. Even then a lot of action occurs all over the theater. New is area is Avatar Land and evening river of light show.

EPCOT         
EPCOT opens in the morning. Test Track, Mission Space. Worldshow case opens in the afternoon. American Adventure. Test Track, Mission Space and the new Soarin’ around the world have a singles rides line. If you split up your party you can ride much faster than the standby line or get a Fast Pass.

Mission Space
(FP run out by 4 pm) Orange Line: Spinning/centrifuge ride. Green Line: Non Spinning.

More like a Star Tours ride. Don’t ride on an empty stomach and eat at least 1-2 hours before riding. Can cause motion sickness. Barf bags are available at each seat just in case.

All Epcot the rides are cool. Worldshowcase is more educational & good eating spots.

Disney Hollywood Studios
Little Mermaid show, Beauty & the Beast show, Aerosmith Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Fantasmic, Great Movie Ride, and Indiana Jones Stunt Show. New area is Galaxy edge Star Wars Land and Toy Story Land.

FANTASMIC
If you are seeing Fantasmic consider purchasing a dinner and show package that has a ticket for viewing of Fantasmic. The seating is off to the side, but at least you have a reserved section. The line for Fantasmic opens two hours before the show. On bad weather days the show can be cancelled because of high winds. Disney will often not make a call until just before show time. Mama Melrose’s Italiano ($29/$10 ages 3-9) and Hollywood & Vine Buffet ($22/$10) have Fantasmic Dinner Packages. Special entrance/reserved section. You can avoid a 60-90 minute wait. 48 hour cancellation/no refunds due to bad weather. Eat 2 hours or more before the start of the show. Sit in the middle 3 or 4 sections.

Stacking the line.
All Disney rides will allow you to ride at last ride as long as you are in line a few minutes before the official closing time of the park. Disney stacks the line to make it appear longer by holding people at the entrance. This could be the shortest line of the day. Once closing time passes a Disney Cast member will stand at the end of the line and inform you that the ride is closed. But most of the time the line moves so quickly into the waiting area that they simply rope off the entrance. I like to ride Pirates of the Caribbean or Splash Mountain as my last ride. These rides take 10-15 minutes to go trough, longer ride. It is kind of neat to be the only person or group left in the park after closing

www.themouseforless.com OR www.allears.net or www.wdwinfo.com
Look up the DIS boards for questions about the parks, Disney cruise lines, ect….

www.disneyland.com
You can request a Free DVD about the park. Good to watch before you go.

www.disneyworld.com

Unofficial Guide to Disneyland OR Disneyworld
Great resource to read before you go. By Bob Sehlinger. White book. Has 1 & 2 day touring plans with and without children. There is even a Dumbo or die in a day touring plan to maximize the enjoyment of the park for your younger kids. Hotel recommendations. Rating of rides and shows. Rating of eating places.      Hotel recommendations and even as detailed as to which building and floor to ask for. Good and not so good rooms. Viewing spots for parades.

Touring order of the theme parks.
If you are traveling with children to maximize the interest of the four different parks you should tour them in this order. EPCOT, Animal Kingdom, MGM Studios, and then finally the Magic Kingdom. You move from the more educational parks to the more fantasy filled theme parks.

The water parks and pools are also VERY popular with the kids. The water parks are especially crowded on the weekends when local residents use their annual passes. All pools and water parks are heated year round. Same as with the other amusement parks, ARIVE EARLY to beat the crowds. For the hotel pools this can be a great break in the afternoon before lunch and a 2-3 hour nap. Then you can return to the park for the evening hours rested and relaxed. If you are returning to the same park later in the same day for the evening shows, remember to collect a Fast Pass for the ride you didn’t do yet or really want to ride again BEFORE you leave the park to go back to your hotel. The FP can then be used when you return in the evening.

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS FLORIDA

Unlike Universal Studios Hollywood, there is not a tram ride that take you through different areas or attractions. Here the Jaws and earthquake are separate rides.

ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE
There are a lot of unique rides here. Lots of great roller coasters. Spiderman ride is one of the best in the country.

Universal Studios Orlando Express Pass or Front of the line Pass.
If you stay at one of the Universal Studios three properties you can get a front of the line pass. This enables you to skip standing in line and proceed to the front of the line for most of the larger rides and attractions. You can also purchase this benefit. It might be of value to spend a few days at one of their properties just for this benefit, especially during the busy vacation times. Some of the rides and shows are also located at Universal Studios Hollywood. I recommend skipping these shows if you are limited to only a few days here.

Unlike the FP at the Disney theme parks. USO Express Pass is good at almost ALL USO attractions. There is an Universal Express Pass PLUS program that cost $15-$50 depending on the season that you can purchase at the gate. This pass allows you a ONE time use of the express entrance to each of the express attractions with no return window.

3 Hotels on Property. Portofino Bay (Deluxe), Hard Rock Hotel, and Royal Pacific.
Staying at any of the three hotels gives you front of the line pass access at the two theme parks. You just show your room key to access the express pass line.

Even if you are also visiting Walt Disney World, it might be worth while to move hotels for 3 night to the Universal Studios Hotels for the front of the line access pass privilege.

Also ask about the kids eat Free program. In the past there was a kids eat free program when an adult purchased a meal.

For hotel guest you also get next table available at certain CITY WALK restaurants. Make sure to ask if this is available. You can also get priority admission to USO shows by showing your room card.

SEAWORLD
Can be done is 8-9 hours. About the size of the Magic Kingdom. Many stadium or walk through exhibits. Lines are not much of a problem. You can arrive at 12-1pm and stay until 9 pm for the evening show. Cooler and less crowded later in the day. Most stadium shows: Show up 10 minutes early (20 on crowded days). 3 must see shows are Believe (Shamu), Seamore and Clide (Sealions), and Blue Horizons (whale and dolphin show).

DISCOVERY COVE
There is a 1,000 maximum guest per day. The highlight is a 90 minute swim with an Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin. Ages 6 and are comfortable in the water. Also a coral reef snorkel and swim. Large bird aviary and a tropical laze river. 9:00 – 5:30 $249-$279 per person. Also includes a 7 day pass to SeaWorld. (877) 4-DISCOVERY www.discoverycove.com A once in a lifetime experience.

Have a wonderful trip. Please share our tips with your friends and family. Thank you for telling your friends and family about our office we greatly appreciate referrals. Tip sheets for Disneyland, New York City, Las Vegas, Italy, Spain, London, Paris, Washington D.C., Seattle, Puerto Vallarta Mexico, Monterey Bay, Big Island of HI, Maui, San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area Restaurants are also available online at www.LumOptometry.com under patient forms. This sheet and updated information in on-line.

Randall T. Lum, O.D.         (650) 589-7198                More Tips online @ www.LumOptometry.com