DISNEY WORLD
HOW TO GET THERE
From the Netherlands it is about 10 hours flying time to Orlando. KLM flies directly to Orlando, among other things, but we flew with a stopover, because this saved a lot of money. It is best to compare all flight tickets on the Skyscanner or Tix website. At Skyscanner you can easily see on the calendar which day is the cheapest to fly. Once you’ve found a date, you can also compare prices on Tix’s website. The prices and conditions can sometimes differ, so you can always compare. The conditions at Tix are often more flexible, so paying a little more also has its advantages.
I recommend renting a car, but keep in mind that you must be over 25 years old. And if you are in a Disney resort, transportation to the parks is for free. We normally always rent a car from SunnyCars, because you are insured here all-in. Prefer a cheaper alternative? Then compare the prices on the RentalCars and Easy Terra websites.
Would you rather not travel by public transport? You can easily book a private transfer via Uber. You can enter the desired route and then get a price for different cars. Do you think this is too expensive? Then make an offer and negotiate the price online.
✈ Airport transfer: Via the Get Your Guide website you can easily arrange an airport transfer so that you are not overwhelmed by all the taxi drivers at the airport. Make sure you book in time, because this transfer is quickly fully booked.
✈ Parking: Are you still looking for a cheap parking space at Schiphol? Then make sure you reserve your parking space online as soon as possible. It is cheaper to arrange this early in advance and you can often cancel it up to a few days before departure. Always check the conditions on the website.
DISNEY TICKETS
Various tickets are offered for Disney theme parks on various websites. We ultimately bought our tickets on the Undercouvertourist website, as this organization was the cheapest and most reliable. But on special occasion, Disney has special deals. Tiqets.com also has good deals for theme parks, So if you are not in a hurry, wait until Black Friday for instance.
Basic ticket
You have these tickets for 1 day to 10 days. This ticket allows you to visit only 1 amusement park per day and does not include access to the water parks.
Basic ticket with water parks
The same conditions as the basic ticket and you get access to the water parks for the same number of days that you can visit the amusement parks. So if you have a ticket for a three-day amusement park, you can also go to a water park for three days afterwards or in between.
Park Hopper Ticket
In principle the same ticket as the basic ticket, only now you can change parks in one day. Here you also have tickets for up to 10 days.
Park Hopper with Plus option
With this ticket you have access to the four amusement parks plus the two water parks and you can change parks in one day.
There is almost no difference in price between a ticket for a three-day amusement park or a ten-day amusement park, so we ultimately opted for the Park Hopper with Plus option for ten days. You can then spend ten days in the amusement parks and the same number of days in the plus options. This plus option includes the two swimming parks and some sports facilities (click here for the exact program).
✈ Want to know what’s going to be closed while you’re visiting the theme parks? Want to know about special dates, shows and themes, check out: www.undercovertourist.com
DISNEY WORLD
Disney World consist of 5 parks;
- Magic Kingdom
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom
- Disney’s Hollywood Studio’s
- Epcot
- Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon (Water Park)
- Disney’s Blizard Beach (Water Park)
MAGIC KINGDOM
As a family we love rides and at Magic Kingdom we really enjoyed the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splashmountain and the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. The last attraction generally has long queues. So a fast pass is preferable.
In addition, there are a number of performances such as Monsters Inc Laugh Floor and Mickeys PhilharMagic that you should definitely see once and then you don’t have to go there again.
For small children there are also a number of (fair) attractions such as Dumbo The Flying Elephant, Mad Tea Party, Astro Orbiter and The Magic Carpet of Alladin, which often have a shorter queue and are a great ride. Not spectacular, but just nice. This also applies to driving a car at Tomorrowland Speedland.
When it rains, there are plenty of indoor alternatives. The attraction It’s a Small World is a classic and the queue is often short here, due to the large groups that can fit in a boat. It is also fun to view the various indoor rides with the different Disney characters.
We liked Winnie the Pooh and Ariel the best. Peter Pan is always very busy, but we thought it was a bit overestimated compared to the average queue. In addition, Haunted Mansion is a winner (maybe a bit scary for small children). The Pirates of the Caribbean attraction is also recommended.
The attractions we liked least were the Enchanted Tiki Room (very long and boring ride), Liberty Square Riverboat (also a boring boat ride) and Space Mountain (in Paris this attraction is so much more spectacular).
You can see that there are plenty of fun attractions in this amusement park. Allow at least two days for this park and if you also want to have your picture taken with all kinds of Disney characters and see the parade, a third day is not an unnecessary luxury.
✈ Tip: Disney Genie+ or Lightning Lane, if you don’t want to stand in line #skipthequeue
EPCOT
We found Epcot a bit disappointing. There are only a few attractions that we found really worth seeing. The Testtrack attraction, for example, is really cool. You drive around a track in a test car and make all kinds of strange moves with the car. In addition, Soarin is also beautifully made and it seems as if you are flying through a landscape. But that’s where the highlights end as far as we’re concerned.
In the Future World section it is also great to take a ride on the attractions Journey Into Imagination with Figment, The Seas with Nemo and Friends and go to the performance of Turtle Talk with Crush.
The Frozen and Gran Fiesta Three Cabballeros attractions in the World Showcase section are fun, but those are the only attractions in this section.
You can easily visit all the park’s attractions in one day and we did that too. Of course it is also possible to have your picture taken with Disney Characters and visit the different country stands in World Showcase, but this can all be done in one day.
HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
This amusement park is known for its shows, but it also has some top attractions. As a family, we thought the attraction The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror was perhaps the best attraction of the four amusement parks. You go into some kind of haunted house and sit in an elevator and you keep falling down long distances.
Then we went on to the Aerosmith indoor roller coaster, where you didn’t have to wait more than 10 minutes in the Single Rider queue early in the morning.
In addition, Toy Storyland is also very popular here and there are often long lines at the three attractions Alien Swirling Saucers, Slinky Dog Dash and Toy Story Mania. Slinky Dog Dash is a fun roller coaster and definitely worth a visit. Alien Swirling Saucers is truly a roller coaster ride and we found very little to like. Especially if you often see the queues here. Shooting in a cart at Toy Story Mania is fun to do and a fast pass is often available for this during the day.
The Indiana Jones show is spectacular and fun to watch and the Disney Junior Dance Party is fun for the little children, because it is a kind of mini disco with the Disney Characters at the end of the show. The shows of Beauty and the Beast, Frozen and the Little Mermaid are also worth visiting. Finally, the 3D cinema film of the Muppets is nice to see.
An advantage of this park is that most shows have fixed times and that many visitors can attend at the same time. This means that waiting times at most shows are minimal.
ANIMAL KINGDOM
We thought this amusement park was the surprise of the four amusement parks. Together with our four-year-old daughter, we thought Dinosaur was a very nice attraction. In addition, the whitewater boats of the Kali River are always great fun with the family. You will get very wet here, so a poncho is recommended if you do not want to come out of the attraction completely soaked.
In addition, the coolest attraction of all four parks and also the most visited attraction is Avatar Flight of Space. In this indoor attraction you sit on a kind of motorbike and wear 3D glasses. It really makes you feel like you’re sitting on the back of a dragon. This really is a very special attraction. Unfortunately, you have to be at least 1 meter 10 tall for this attraction. The queue here is often three hours, but we managed to get a lightning ticket.
The attractions of Expedition Everest (large roller coaster) and Na’vi are also great fun to visit. You can also go on safari with a jeep at Kilimanjaro Safari and this is also great to do at least once.
In addition, you have the two fairground attractions TriceraTop spin and Primeval Whirl, where the waiting time is generally not long, which are also fun to visit with small children.
We have discussed all the attractions and we actually have no disappointing attractions in this amusement park. However, there are two more shows that you should definitely watch. The Lion King Show is beautiful and the It’s Tough to be a Bug show is also very fun to see. Since both work with fixed times, you often only have to queue for a short time.
You can also have your picture taken here with all kinds of Disney characters and there are also many different animals to see. So you can easily enjoy yourself for one to two days in this park.
MEMORY MAKER
There are many photographers in all the Disney theme parks who can capture you and your family in pictures. You pay about 170 dollars for this. The photographer scans your Disney wristband and the photos are sent directly to the Disney App. The advantage is that it is easier to take a photo with the whole family. In addition, the photographers already have the right settings on the camera, so the photos are of course of excellent quality.
The photographers also often take a photo of your family and, for example, the Disney character in question with your camera.