This weekend begins my favorite time of the year in Walt Disney World – the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival. For six glorious weeks, epicurean delights of all shapes and sizes abound throughout Epcot, and people like me who love to eat and drink are in hog heaven. But don’t let the name fool you, this is not necessarily some fancy foodie expo. No, the Food & Wine Festival is as accessible for every day burger and fries people as it is for those who love to eat sweetbreads and truffle oil.

Everyone's happy at Food & Wine

But what is the Food & Wine Festival? The basic idea is that it’s celebration of foods from around the world, displayed throughout Epcot’s restaurants, walkways, and the Festival Center. The details are a little more than that, and show you how you can make the most of the festival. So let’s dig in, shall we?

Beef soaked in red wine topped with mashed potatoes...yum!

First of all, most people will experience the Food & Wine Festival through the World Showcase tasting booths. All around the walkway winding from Future World around the World Showcase Lagoon and back again, you will find small booths offering small plates of food from different locales. This year’s festival features foods from countries like Argentina and China, as well as booths from Hawaii and New Zealand, plus booths dedicated to certain types of food, like cheese, craft beers and more. This is the highlight of the festival for many people.

The Greece booth is one of my favorites

For anywhere between $3 and $8, you get a small portion of food from the booth’s specialties. Each will also have a suggested wine or beer pairing to go with it. This is living, my friends!  Walking from booth to booth on the World Showcase walkway, tasting foods and fine drinks…it makes me smile just thinking about it. Take this opportunity to try things you might never have sampled before, or to try variations on old favorites. My tips for experiencing this: Do not try to do all the booths at one time, and even a third of them might be too many. Take your time, enjoy the atmosphere and share with friends. You’ll want to grab the handy gift cards located at one of the booths, which can store enough money for your whole excursion. They come with a plastic wristband, so you can put $100 or so on the card and not have to take your wallet out every few steps.

More tasty treats from the booths

Yes, I said $100, because the tasting can get expensive if you try everything. There are usually 30 or more booths, and at $5-12 per booth, that adds up quickly. If you’re on a budget, pace yourself, grab a guide as you walk in the park, and try only what appeals to you.

The entrance to the Festival Center

If you’re willing to be a little more adventurous, make sure to stop at the Festival Welcome Center on your way in, located at the Wonders of Life Pavilion. Inside, you’ll find a shop with wines from the various countries, as well as seminars that feature beverages (wines, beers and liquors) or cooking demonstrations. Stop at the info desk and ask for that day’s schedule. The seminars usually involve an upcharge between $7-20 per person. In my experience, though, they are worth it. The seminar I attended last year was $12, and included a mini version of a lamb salad and a glass of riesling. I’ve paid twice that much for less food!

This is just one day's events!

The seminars are a great way to experience more of the festival. I have seen some people stay in the building all day, hopping from beverage seminar to food seminar and back again. I have to tell you, it wouldn’t be a bad way to spend your day. If you stuck to just the seminars and booth tastings, you would have an amazing time, but there’s so much more you can try.

The cooking seminars are really fantastic.

In addition to the easy to get into events, there are more high priced events for you to try. These come in a couple of different levels.  First, there are the dinners or tastings at the various restaurants on property. Typically costing between $55-60 for a tasting or $100 and up for a dinner, these events take place in a restaurant setting, usually during off peak hours. For tastings, you’ll typically get some form of alcoholic beverage (tequila in Mexico, for example) and a small bite to eat. Italy has hosted pizza & wine tastings, Mexico does tequila, etc.

Get served amazing dishes like this lamb at some of the tastings.

At the dinners, you will be treated to the best the chef has to offer. The dinners are a chance for the very good chefs of the Walt Disney World Resort to try and outdo each other. You will get fine meals that include things like Cat Cora’s lead chef at Kouzzina preparing the meal of a lifetime. Yes, these are expensive meals. Yes, you may not know everything on the menu, but you’ll be glad you ate it, trust me.

Wines displayed at the 3D Delicious Dessert Discovery

If you really want to go all out though, you need to try one of the special events. The signature event of the Festival is the Party for the Senses. Held on Saturday nights, the Party for the Senses combines live entertainment, food samples from all around the Festival, unlimited drinks and more into one enchanting evening in the World ShowPlace Events Pavilion, between the United Kingdom and Canada. Other events are cheaper, but none features Cirque Du Soleil entertaining while you eat! It is an expensive ticket, though, at $145 plus tax.

Even fruit looks better at Food & Wine

Other events include things like the 3D Delicious Dessert Discovery party, also held in World ShowPlace, Food & Wine Pairings seminars, the Discovery of Chocolate, and so many more. These events can be expensive, but Disney spares nothing in them, and they are easily the highlight of a trip. These events are one of a kind, and can only be experienced at Food & Wine.

The chefs love their job.

For your entertainment while doing all this eating, make sure to check out the Eat to the Beat Concert Series. Featuring names like Night Ranger, Boyz II Men, and Sugar Ray, these concerts take place in the America Gardens Theatre, across from the American Adventure. They are free with your park admission and take place 3 times each night. So take a load off and enjoy the show one night.

If you decide to go to Walt Disney World during this event, make plans to go over and sample the wares of all the Festival has to offer. My best advice to you is to plan ahead. Make plans to call 407-WDW-FEST before you leave to try and book your special events and dinners. When I attend the Festival, I typically plan all lunch and dinner times in World Showcase, and book one tasting, one special event and two or three seminars. That way, I get a little sample of everything. Trust me, this is an event you will want to sample.

What about you? What are you looking forward to at this year’s festival?

Epcot International Food & Wine Festival – A Primer is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

Everyone’s favorite lovable, cuddly Pooh Bear caused quite the fuss when he came to the Magic Kingdom several years ago, replacing Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. Many years later, though, the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh has become one of the most attended attractions in the Magic Kingdom. It’s one that draws heavy crowds and takes a few tricks to make sure you enjoy it all.

On most of our touring plans, Pooh is among the first rides to do if you have small children.  That’s because as great as it is, it has inherent disadvantages to other rides. Like other Fantasyland dark rides, Pooh does feature constant loading vehicles, but they are low capacity. Therefore, it’s best to get to Winnie the Pooh early in the day if you want to avoid long waits. If Pooh is high on your list, make sure you get there soon after the park opens.

Tip: Winnie the Pooh must be one of your first 4 or 5 attractions if you want to ride it during busier times of the year without a long wait. Waits can range from 25-30 minutes on a 1 crowd level to over 45 minutes on a 10 crowd level.

Fortunately for adults whose kids are dying to ride Winnie the Pooh, Disney has created options for making the lines manageable when you aren’t a morning person. First among these is FASTPASS. Winnie the Pooh and Peter Pan’s Flight, two of the most popular rides in Fantasyland, have both been equipped with FASTPASS, so that guests can come and enjoy them later. If you are up early, using FASTPASS for Winnie the Pooh is actually a disadvantage, because it can keep you from getting a pass for other, more popular attractions like Space Mountain or Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin.

Tip: Pay attention to return times on your Winnie the Pooh FASTPASS. If the return time is less than an hour away, you’re probably going to be better off waiting in line. Also, don’t forget that Disney has said they will enforce return times and not allow you to use expired passes after the end of your return window.

The other option for those who are forced to wait in line is the new interactive queue. In order to fit in better with the new Fantasyland coming soon, Winnie the Pooh has been fitted with a new queue area that is made for restless children. There are three basic parts to this. First of all, there is the entrance area, which is made up like Pooh and Eeyore’s houses. Look for the entrance and you’ll see the immaculate detail there, right out of the Winnie the Pooh films.

Tip: If you’re a fan of Walt Disney World history, check inside Pooh’s house and look over the door. You’ll find a picture of the Nautilus, since the tree house was once over the location where the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea attraction used to reside.

Further on, there is the playground area, where guests can play tug of war, pop up pumpkins, play in the garden and generally run around on a soft play surface. This is a great area for guests with children. The kids can run over to that area after rounding the corner from the entrance, and kids can play before entering the long switchbacks of the queue line. My only complaint is that the kids can’t stay in this area until closer to ride time, as they can in other parks with this kind of arrangement. In the Legoland parks, for example, many rides have a Lego play area where kids can play right up until the load area.

Once you pass the playground area, you will pass through more switchbacks before getting to the final part of the interactive queue, the dripping honey walls. These are cool pieces of technology that kids seem to love. The basic idea is that there is a touch screen that shows honey dripping down, and guests clear the honey away with their hands to show pictures underneath. The whole thing is made up as a storybook, just like the sets of the ride, so it fits perfectly with the theme.

Tip: The honey walls are very cool, and many guests back up there playing with them. Don’t get in a hurry around them, as you’ll likely get stuck in that area for a few moments as new guests play around.

Finally, you’ll load on the short ride and into your honey pot. Each honey pot can hold 4-5 guests, depending on their size. Once inside, you’ll find a fairly familiar story if you saw the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh film. As such, I’d advise you watching the movie before you leave. That doesn’t enhance your experience on every ride based on a film, but in this one, you’ll catch little gags and signs that were in the film and it definitely adds to the enjoyment. It also explains the surrealistic Heffalumps and Woozles room.

Tip: When you enter Owl’s house, look to the left at the pictures on the wall. You’ll see Toad granting the deed to the building, since Pooh replaced Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.

Upon leaving the ride, you’ll of course exit into a gift shop. Tread carefully! There are plenty of nice Pooh souvenirs inside. Winnie the Pooh is quite a fun ride, and among the best of the Fantasyland dark rides, which is a dying breed of attraction. It scores a 3 or above from all age groups in our surveys, and does especially well with younger children. If you want to ride it, get FASTPASS or get your money’s worth out of the queue in that long line. Whichever way you go, you’re sure to enjoy it.

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On our recent trip out to California, it was a given that we would need to find a way for my little princess to interact with the princesses of Disney. Being a good Touring Plans devotee, that meant finding some way to skip lines and meet the princesses that we wanted without waiting in line all day long at the Princess Fantasy Faire. Since we had the PhotoPass Plus, it made sense for us to book dinner at Ariel’s Grotto in Disney California Adventure.

My wife and I had dined at Ariel’s several years ago, but I had not been there in many years. Therefore, going in, I wasn’t sure what to expect other than getting a visit at our table from several princesses. After a lazy day at our hotel pool and a quick run into the parks to ride a few rides, we arrived at dinner fresh and ready for the evening. Check in for Ariel’s Grotto is right at the boardwalk entrance to Paradise Pier, on the way towards California Screamin’. We checked in and waited no more than 5 minutes for our 5:15 reservation to be called.

Start your dining experience by meeting Ariel. I hope she's in a better mood for you than she was for me.

Upon entering, we were escorted down the spiral staircase to meet Ariel herself. It was a nice way to begin the meal for the littlest member of our party, who was extremely excited to see her favorite princess first. We were able to get a picture and say hello quickly, almost too quickly. Ariel was a little…grumpy, shall we say, and the time spent with her was quick compared to how the other characters had treated us the morning prior at Goofy’s Kitchen. It was nothing like the princess interactions we would have elsewhere on our trip, such as Merida or Rapunzel.

That aside, we were quickly shown to our seats, and shown the menu options. The basics are that there is a set appetizer and dessert course to share among the table, while each person gets to choose his or her own entree. The appetizer plate was set before us quickly, and let me say that this was the absolute best part of the meal. The tower of appetizers is placed in the middle of the table, and features a mixed green salad with vinaigrette, a fruit gelatin salad, an assortment of coldcuts and string cheeses as well as some exotic cheeses, seasonal fruit and some marinated olives, tomatoes, red peppers and other items. All of that in addition to a sourdough pull apart flower, which is a fancy way of saying a piece of sourdough bread that is easy to pull apart and complements the other appetizers very well.

Pull apart sourdough flower. Know it. Love it.

Then, as we were getting ready to place our order, the princess ceremony began. Unlike other character dining restaurants, Ariel’s Grotto takes the time to announce each princess as she arrives. That’s why there are phases of seating, as opposed to simply coming and going. If they are in between seatings, they will not take you downstairs. A page, dressed in his royal purple finest, comes out to announce that Ariel has visitors this evening. Then, one by one, the princesses are announced. In our seating, we had Belle, Cinderella, Aurora and Snow White. All the princesses were nice, but the interaction was short and rushed. They walked up, took a picture and walked away. Typically, I’ve experienced a little more personality and conversation when dining with princesses in Walt Disney World.

Belle tried to talk to my little girl. The other princesses rushed a little more.

Soon enough, though, our entrees arrived. I ordered the cioppino, thinking seafood would be the way to go. In case you’re not familiar with cioppino, it’s a variety of seafoods mixed in a tomato broth, in this case mixed with some chorizo sausage. The other members of my party got the Santa Maria Style Tri-Tip, which was strips of steak over some cheddar & herb mashed potatoes; the Filet of Redfish which was served with seasonal vegetables and rice pilaf and the Mafalde Pasta with Italian Sausage. We did not get a chance to try the Spinach and Ricotta Angolotti or the Herb-Crusted Chicken Breast that were also on the menu. My daughter got the Meatball Lollipops, which was a cute way to present spaghetti and meatballs, with the ground turkey meatballs on top of the noodles and marinara sauce.

My favorite princesses. And Aurora.

All the entrees were decent, but nothing really stood out. My cioppino was rather bland, even with the spicy broth and chorizo. I tried a bite of the Filet of Redfish, and it was tasty, although not as good as the fish we had earlier on the trip at Carthay Circle. In short, none of us finished our entrees, not because we were full, but because we weren’t all that interested in them. They were good, but not memorable.

Dessert was once again a shared platter. This brought some favorites, like M&M cookies, a chocolate lava cake, four mini cupcakes and a white chocolate seashell with fresh berries. Again, all of this was good stuff, but there was nothing here different from what you would find at many other Disney restaurants. There was nothing here that stood out, but we did indeed finish it all. What can I say, we found the desserts more interesting than the meal.

The dessert platter. Nothing special, but we still ate it all.

In the end, we came out of the meal satisfied and full, not stuffed. The worst part was the bill. Since we were there in peak season, the cost was $37.99 per adult and $21.00 for my daughter. Since my 10 year old son is a “Disney adult” and we ordered some alcoholic beverages, the price ended up at $213.00 plus tip, even after my 15% Annual Passholder discount. Frankly, that’s just way too much.  The night before, we had paid $195.00 including tip at Carthay Circle, which included a bottle of wine, appetizers, entrees and desserts all around and reserved seats for World of Color. The food had been better at Carthay, as had the service.

I can’t honestly recommend that you go to Ariel’s Grotto after our experience there. That’s not to say that it is bad, it’s just not exceptional. If I had paid about half what I did, it would’ve been great.  Even a little less than $150 would have been okay. But at the prices they charge, the characters, food and service need to be memorable, and they were not. Save your money and go to Carthay Circle or even better, Napa Rose.

What about you? Any of you have better experiences at Ariel’s Grotto? Or worse?

Ariel’s Grotto at Disney California Adventure – Dining Review is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

I mentioned in a previous post that our recent trip to Disneyland was our first occasion to try out the new PhotoPass Plus service that Disney has begun offering. I can say without hesitation that if you are headed to Disneyland for longer than 3 days, this is absolutely worth your money. If you prepay, it’s only $69.99 plus taxes and shipping, and you get an amazing amount of benefits. At Walt Disney World, it’s a little more complex, but I’ll explain.

Pictures like this were a common occurrence because of PhotoPass Plus

The basics of the PhotoPass Plus are fairly straight forward, and makes you wonder why Disney has just now started rolling this out. For the one time price of pre-purchasing the PhotoPass Plus, you are given the ability to get digital copies of all your photos taken by PhotoPass photographers in the parks, just like the normal Photo CD, but the Plus option adds the on-ride photos as well as photo packages from character dining locations. This was what sold me on the value of this option. I have never understood the Photo CD, as I can get the photographers to take those photos with my camera and save a significant amount of money. But ride photos and character dining photos are another matter altogether.

This dusk shot at Disneyland was one I never could have taken myself

There are two ways to get the PhotoPass Plus, either online before you arrive or in person at the Disney Parks. I advise you to pre-purchase, because it’s significantly cheaper. As I said, our Disneyland PhotoPass Plus was only $69.95. The Walt Disney World version is $169.95. That extra $100 is why I can’t say it’s the slam dunk bargain that the Disneyland version is. If you purchase after your arrival at the park, add $30 to each price, making it $99.95 at Disneyland and $199.95 at Walt Disney World.

Another favorite of mine…right on Buena Vista Street

Once you purchase, Disney will mail you a package with the materials you need for redeeming the pass in the parks. The package consists of a DVD case with a Disney Photo CD full of stock photography, an insert with a code for redeeming your Photo CD when you return home, and a voucher for the PhotoPass Plus lanyard to redeem when you arrive at the parks. Do not lose that voucher! It looks insignificant, but that is what you really paid for, so guard it tightly.

Upon arriving at the parks your first day, take that voucher to the PhotoPass redemption location and trade it for the lanyard that will become your best friend during your trip. It’s a nice lanyard with your PhotoPass card at the end of it, and holes punched to notify the cast members how long your pass is valid. Again, this is where the Walt Disney World version could become worth the price, because the pass can be valid for 14 days. If you are at Walt Disney World for a long trip with a large group, you can easily recoup the costs.

The PhotoPass Plus lanyard…your new best friend

Then, throughout the rest of your trip, it’s easy to get photos. As opposed to the typical PhotoPass, which requires you to keep up with the card like your tickets and FastPasses, this pass is hanging around your neck. Simply give it to any PhotoPass photographer and they will take your picture and add it to the pass. We found throughout our visit that when the photographers saw that we were using the Plus, they tended to linger a little with us, and take more pictures than usual. One photographer we stopped in Cars Land followed us around Route 66 and took pictures wherever we asked, not just the typical backgrounds. That was a bonus that you can’t put a dollar figure on, because we have some truly unique shots.

The photographer said we were the first one to request a photo here

At the ride photo locations, we typically had to split up, since my daughter was not a fan of thrill rides. With the PhotoPass Plus, that wasn’t a problem. We would do the child swap and exchange the lanyard after one group was finished. Then, we both remembered our photo number and had the cast member add both photos to the pass. If we had tried that normally, it would cost $14.95 per photo, but with the PhotoPass it was included. We ended up with 24 on ride photos that we never would have gotten otherwise, and got to have some fun with it, such as pretending to play cards on the Tower of Terror or playing princesses on Splash Mountain.

We never would have planned this if not for PhotoPass Plus

For dining locations, the value is even better. At Ariel’s Grotto, where my daughter just had to go, we got our picture with Ariel twice, and both photos were added to our pass. In addition, we received the print package of the photos, which would have cost $29.95. We also ate at Goofy’s Kitchen, and did the same thing there. Those two meals by themselves would have cost us nearly $60 for the photos. When you add up the meal photos and the on-ride photos, we got $420 worth of value from the PhotoPass Plus, before even factoring in the Photo CD and pictures taken out in the parks.

This was the must have photo of the trip for our 6 year old

Once we arrived home, we eagerly logged on to the Disney PhotoPass website to view our photos. We ended up with 238 photos that were on our pass, including some random stock photos that Disney had thrown in according to the location. For example, included with our Cars Land family photos were some stunning stock photography images of the Cadillac Mountain Range. As you may know, once on the PhotoPass site, you can add borders, backgrounds, character signatures and other effects to the photos, as well as cropping them to focus on your family. This was a time consuming process, but it was so much fun!

The borders and graphics for the pictures are all free!

Even better, we were able to keep the original photos as well as the ones we added graphics to, which left us with over 400 photos once we were all done playing around. At that point, we entered in the code from our Photo CD package we received before we left, and were able to instantly download all 400 photos to our hard drive. One quick backup later, we have all the photos to reminisce about our visit. You’re seeing a few of them here in this post.

All told, between the on-ride photos, the dining locations, the in-park photos, stock photography and CD, we ended up with $550 in value from our $69.95 investment. There is definitely an argument to be made that we would not have bought the on-ride photos, dining photos or stock photos if we hadn’t bought the PhotoPass Plus. I know for sure we would not have gone to Goofy’s Kitchen otherwise, but with the photo package, it was worth it. We would have gone to Ariel’s Grotto, though, and I’m relatively certain we would have ended up purchasing the photos for $29.95. We typically buy at least one ride photo as well, so our normal expenditure on a Disney trip is around $45 anyway. Look how much more we got for only $25 more!

Like I said earlier, this is an example from Disneyland. At Walt Disney World, with the PhotoPass photographers being much more plentiful, you could argue that there would be more opportunity and more value. Still, we stayed a week at Disneyland and I think we maximized the value we could get. I don’t see how we could have possibly gotten $100 more value out of the pass at Walt Disney World. However, if you’re a family that does a lot of character meals, buys on-ride photos and doesn’t take a ton of photos yourselves, it could be worth it.

That was my experience, but what about you? Have any of you tried the PhotoPass Plus service? What did you think of it?

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As you may know, several of the TouringPlans.com staff have taken off to Disneyland for the events of Destination D. You’ll be seeing reports and updates in this space over the next few weeks I’m sure. But as I was the first one to return (ok, I went before they did) here’s some quick hit observations from our trip that will hopefully save you some time or money.

1. Being an Annual Passholder is a big deal – Having an Annual Pass at Walt Disney World is primarily convenient because you don’t have to factor ticket costs into every trip. In Disneyland, however, it’s a HUGE money saving tool. Since the price to upgrade from a Walt Disney World Annual Pass to a Premier Passport (includes all California and Florida parks) was less than a 6 day ticket, my wife and I did so. Just because of that, we saved 10% on our rental car, 20% on our off property hotel, 15% on all meals (both table service and counter service) and 20% on all souvenirs.

By our best estimate, we saved nearly $800 over the course of 6 days in Anaheim just by being Annual Passholders. If you are a Disney World passholder, I definitely advise you to check out the costs and have at least one person in your party hold an Annual Pass for Disneyland as well. If you do the math, it’s well worth it.

As an Annual Passholder, I saved 15% on this delicious pasta with lamb from Carthay Circle.

2. The Photopass Plus is a must have - I plan to write a separate post about this, but if you are in the parks for more than 3-4 days, you have to get the new PhotoPass+. This new product from Disney costs $69.99 if you pre-order it for Disneyland. You get a lanyard that allows you to get unlimited PhotoPass pictures, including the ones at character meals, ride photos and any random photos along the streets. Plus, you get a CD full of Disney stock photography that is pretty breathtaking. For our $70, we got over 128 photos, including 15 ride photos and 2 character meals that would have cost us $255 otherwise. There is a version for Walt Disney World as well that costs $169.99, so I can’t recommend it as highly. The Disneyland version, however, was well worth it.

This fabulous picture of me on California Screamin' was included with Photopass Plus.

3. Get up early and you will be in great shape – Yes, it’s the same as Walt Disney World, but you have to get there at park opening. For the all new Cars Land, you must get to the gates 30 minutes before park opening. Disney will open the gates to California Adventure 30 minutes before the park opens, and if you want to ride Radiator Springs Racers as a group, you’ve got to get in line at that time for a Fastpass, or else wait for 2 hours in the Standby line.

Because we got up early, Mickey's Fun Wheel was a 5 minute wait!

We did this twice, got Fastpasses for later in the morning, rode Luigi’s Flying Tires, Toy Story Mania, and Mickey’s Fun Wheel within the first hour that California Adventure was open. At Disneyland, we got even more done, riding the Matterhorn, the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, Alice in Wonderland, the Storybook Land Canal Boats, and Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride during the first hour.

4. Walking is WAY easier – Because the two parks are so close together, and much smaller than parks like Epcot or Animal Kingdom, walking around the parks is much easier. My 6-year-old daughter, who is notorious for wanting to be carried around World Showcase, never asked to be picked up once during 6 solid days in the parks. If you are a parent with a kid on the cusp of ditching the stroller, I would definitely try it without one for the first day and see how it goes. For adults, even with the walk from the hotel, we didn’t get as tired as we do trying to get it all in during a trip to Disney World.

Having such a short distance between the two parks in the Esplanade saves a lot of wear and tear.

5. Take time for the nighttime spectaculars – You may be one of those people who doesn’t go to Fantasmic at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, or never wants to wait around for fireworks at Magic Kingdom. If that’s you, you need to change your mind about the evening shows at Disneyland Resort. Fantasmic is completely different, and in my opinion much better than Walt Disney World’s version. The World of Color show at Disney California Adventure is so breathtaking we had to do it twice. And the fireworks at Disneyland feature things you will never see at another park, like Tinkerbell flying up and around the castle multiple times. Best of all, you can usually grab a churro or a corn dog and sit down about an hour before the shows start to catch them. Not always, but during the busy season of summer, we never waited more than an hour.

World of Color is simply stunning. Make time to see it.

6. Ride the non-FASTPASS rides first – In Walt Disney World, you’re probably used to rides that have high demand featuring FASTPASS. In Disneyland, that’s not always the case. Big rides like the Matterhorn, Toy Story Midway Mania, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage and others do not have FASTPASS. As such, they build large lines throughout the day.

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride was waiting for us early in the morning.

In addition, most of the time Disneyland cast members do not enforce the end of your FASTPASS window. That means that if you grab a FASTPASS for Tower of Terror that is good from 9:30-10:30 am, you can usually come back to ride the attraction any time after 9:30 am, including 9:00 at night! If you are not following one of our touring plans religously, your next best bet is to collect FASTPASS tickets throughout the day and use them after a nice afternoon break.

Those are some of my money and time saving tips from Disneyland, but I’ll share more info on the trip in the weeks ahead. What are some strategies you use to save money at Disneyland, or what questions do you Disney World vets have?

Some Disneyland Observations from a Disney World Veteran is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

Let me start by saying that this is not a ride you need a great deal of information about in order to ride it.  The Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover is seldom crowded. In fact, if you ride this attraction during the first few hours that the Magic Kingdom is open, I’m pretty sure that Len Testa gets an involuntary twitch. That said, it’s a ride that is well worth doing, and should be on anyone’s list when visiting Walt Disney World’s original park.

The escalator entrance to the TTA PeopleMover

The reason for that is that the PeopleMover is a piece of Disney history. The original version of the ride opened in Disneyland in 1967 as part of the new Tomorrowland project, and made its way out to the East coast as part of Walt Disney World. The PeopleMover was Walt Disney’s attempt to show the world how we could solve the problems of city congestion and transportation all in one. Although it ended up being a form of transit around Tomorrowland in the Magic Kingdom, its original intent was to deliver guests, workers and citizens of EPCOT, the city, around the grounds and to and from their workplace.

Tip: If you want to see how the PeopleMover was originally intended to be used, look along the route of the ride for the original model of EPCOT. On the model you’ll see small PeopleMovers taking workers into the city center.  You can also see the original designs at One Man’s Dream in Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

The vista of the Tomorrowland Speedway from the PeopleMover

Today, we get to ride the PeopleMover to enjoy a grand circle tour of Tomorrowland and see what attractions await us inside. It is intended to give guests a great view of the wonders of Tomorrowland and a peek at what lies beyond in the Hub and Fantasyland. The ride is a fantastic way to relax and enjoy yourself during the busy times of the day and is usually very easy to get on whenever you’d like.

Tip: Save the PeopleMover for when the park is exceptionally crowded, usually between lunchtime and 4 or 5 p.m. During this time of day, the PeopleMover is an easy and relaxing ride, and you are not missing out on prime ride time with any of the bigger rides.

Keep your hands, arm, feet and legs inside the car at all times!

To board the ride, you’ll need to trek through Tomorrowland to the reverse side of The Lunching Pad, across from the Carousel of Progress.  There is a moving escalator that takes guests up the ramp to the second level where the boarding area for the ride is housed. The escalator drops you off onto solid ground for mere moments before you circle through a couple of switchbacks and onto a rotating turntable that follows the cars as you load.

Seeing Tomorrowland from the PeopleMover is a real treat.

Once on board, sit back, relax and enjoy your tour. Although the narration has changed over the years, your basic ride is a trip through Tomorrowland, with some show scenes inside the various buildings. There are some very dark sections of this ride, especially when traveling through Space Mountain, so make sure your children or yourself are not scared of the dark. But there are some fantastic sights to see as well.  In addition to the model of Progress City, the original EPCOT vision of Walt Disney, you’ll see inside Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, over look Stitch’s Great Escape, go inside Space Mountain and get a great vista over to the Hub and Cinderella Castle.

Tip: Be on the lookout for Hidden Mickeys. There is one in the show scene of a lady getting her hair done, positioned on her belt buckle, and another as you go through Mickey’s Star Traders, in the mural on the top of the room.

The twists and turns through Tomorrowland are quite fun.

The PeopleMover is an easy ride to get on and off of, and makes for a fun way to relax and enjoy yourself during crowded times of the day. Some of my favorite memories of the Magic Kingdom are riding this ride at night, when the neon signs of Tomorrowland are at their brightest. What memories do you have of the PeopleMover, and what tips would you share for riding it?

Attraction Tips – The Tomorowland Transit Authority PeopleMover is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.

Ice cream at the Plaza fits this growing boy's appetite

Before I even start typing this post, I bet there are many of you out there who know exactly what I’m talking about. My son just turned 10 years old this past December, and all of a sudden, Disney considers him an adult. It poses a lot of difficulties for us, considering that he still behaves like at 10 year old. I’d love it if he could go out and find work to help pay for these new found adult bills; but sadly, that’s frowned upon. So, what are these challenges and how do we deal with them?

Dining – This is where it hits us the worst. Under the 3-9 year old plan, my son could join us for meals at Crystal Palace or ‘Ohana for a child’s price, between $13.99-$17.99 depending on the meal or time of year. Sure, that’s unreasonable by normal standards, but for a fine buffet meal at Walt Disney World, it’s not terrible. As I’ve written before, when you’re on the Disney Dining Plan and only paying that amount for the Table Service meal and getting a “free” Counter Service meal, it’s a great bargain.

Now, however, taking my son to buffets is expensive, and it’s hard for him to get enough to eat off the kids’ menus at other Table Service restaurants. That takes our dining costs up significantly, if you figure in one Table Service and two Counter Service meals per day. It comes out to an average increase in price of $30 per day. That adds up over the course of a vacation.

The way we’ve so far managed to get around it is twofold: finding less expensive restaurants and sharing portions. Places like Trail’s End charge lower prices than other buffets but still allow the growing boy to eat whatever he’d like. Our favorite new Table Service meal is the Plaza Restaurant on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom, where we can get him a sandwich, drink, and side item for under $15. Also, with three of us now eating off the adult menu, the portions are usually large enough where my wife and I can order full size meals, then share with him. If we order a lesser priced appetizer to share, there’s more than enough food to go around.

Tickets – With recent price increases, there is less of a discrepancy between adult and child tickets, but it is still there. Magic Your Way tickets cost between $10-$20 more for 10 year old adults than they do for 3-9 year old children. Again, in the grand scheme of things with a Walt Disney World vacation, that’s not a ton. But add it to the dining difference and you’re talking about a significant price increase.

Which one's enjoying himself more? This 10 year old...

There’s really no way around this one except to try and look very carefully at how you plan your trips. We have long been advocates of the Least Expensive Ticket Calculator on TouringPlans.com, even before I started writing for the site. It helps you figure out how to get the most amount of days for the least amount of money. I won’t lie, we have created spreadsheets and color coded charts to figure out the maximum number of days we could afford. You have to do things like that with the new ticket system. The burden is now on the consumer to figure out the best ways to save money, unless you have a good travel agent who is willing to walk through it with you.

...or this 6 year old? Disney says the 10 year old.

Hotel Rooms – What’s the problem? I can hear you asking now. You just get a normal Value resort room, put the 10 year old with his younger sister in a bed and life is good, right? If you think this, you don’t have a persnickety 10 year old or an equally persnickety 6 year old girl. While both are excellent children, if we put them in a bed together at this age, neither of them sleep well, which leads to some rather long and interesting days in the parks. The biggest issue is finding a hotel room where they can sleep in separate beds without breaking the bank.

On Disney property, this task is nearly impossible. For a family used to spending our days at Pop Century, the price of two rooms at Pop just for the kids to have separate beds is pretty unthinkable. That is the cheapest option, however. Look at the family suites at the new Art of Animation Resort: these rooms range from $248-$435 for a night. $248 isn’t terrible, but at that same time, two rooms at Pop would cost $188. Is it worth the extra $60? Maybe, if there’s no way to get two connecting rooms.

Port Orleans Riverside has not only these two queen beds..

Other options don’t fare much better. Look at the Fort Wilderness Cabins. They will run from $285-450 a night depending on the season. They have a great deal of room and the ability to save on food if you prepare your own meals, so it’s possible the cabins are worth it if you plan to fix meals at your room.

The best option we’ve found? Port Orleans Riverside has rooms with a trundle bed, which slides out from under one of the other beds. That way you can sleep the kids in separate beds for between $159-239 a night. On the low end of that spectrum, it’s definitely a great deal, and the amenities of the resort make up for it.

...but also this hidden trundle bed, making it great for splitting the kids.

An even better option? Stay off property. Yes, that’s a sacrilege to some, especially our family that has become accustomed to the Disney property lifestyle. But two years ago, we rented a vacation rental for only $89 a night, and were able to house our family of four and my parents with both kids having separate beds. That included a hot tub in our rental as well as access to a pool. This was a great deal, and there are many of them off property.

Those are the main things we have had to deal with at Walt Disney World just because our son has turned 10. There are other issues, such as souvenirs, but that’s only because the 10 year old adult has bigger dreams than the 6 year old girl. All told, the extra cost comes up to about $120 a day, when you combine the hotel, food, and ticket price issues. We try to get around it, but it’s definitely tough.

What about you? Have any of you had to deal with this problem? How did you tackle it?

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Yes, it’s true, there have been times where it feels like I’ve spent more time in Disney’s Pop Century Resort than in my own home. As a father with two children, it’s difficult to take trips to Walt Disney World and splurge on hotels, because most of our time is spent in the parks, and hotels are used for sleeping. With two younger kids who are still willing to share a bed most of the time, the value of a Disney Value Resort is too much to pass up. So, on most of our trips, I find myself choosing which building at Pop Century to stay at, rather than which resort I’ll be picking.

But why Pop Century, you might ask? Aren’t the All-Star Resorts also Value Resorts? It’s true, they are. But as far as amenities and ease of access to the parks goes, Pop Century has them beat. Small touches, like the food court, shelves above the sinks, little indentions in the sink to put your soap – they all add up to make Pop a shade better than the All-Stars. For just $5-10 more per night, I’m able to enjoy myself at Pop Century and really immerse myself in the vacation. It fits like an old shoe now. Here’s what I really enjoy about Pop:

Location – Situated right between Downtown Disney and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, with easy access to the BoardWalk, Pop Century is exactly where I need it to be for where I go the most. My kids love the Studios, they enjoy evenings in World Showcase, and they like the stores at Downtown Disney. Sure, visiting the Magic Kingdom takes a little longer by bus or car, but other than staying at one of the monorail resorts or Fort Wilderness, that will be the case anywhere on property. Since we often drive, I enjoy using Pop Century as home base, and expanding out from there.

The Pool – An essential part of any vacation is the pool. The Hippy Dippy Pool is the main pool at Pop, and it’s fabulous. Surrounded by great statues of Baloo the Bear attached to one building, with giant flowers spraying you in the middle, it’s sort of lives up to the name “hippy dippy.” Add to that the wonderful pool bar, Petals, and you have a little slice of heaven in the midst of the large concrete jungle that is Pop Century. Sure, it lacks the theme or interactive elements of the nicer pools at the Polynesian or Animal Kingdom Lodge, but for the money, it is pretty swell. I would like Pop Century to add a hot tub, though.

The Food Court – Yes, it’s typical food court fare, nothing special. But if I want an ice cream sundae at 11 p.m., hey, I’m on vacation, I should be able to get one. In Everything Pop, I can do that. Same if I wanted a cheeseburger, a pizza, or anything else. The food court gets insane at busy meal times. I’m aware of that and tend to plan around it, but just having it available makes a huge difference in my stay. When I stayed at Port Orleans Riverside last year, for example, I found that my late night cravings were much harder to satisfy. There are certainly some drawbacks, as I’d love to have some real coffee instead of Nescafe, but you get what you pay for in this case.

The Check-In/Check-Out – I’ve stayed at many of Disney’s hotels, which means I’ve checked in at many of them. The Polynesian had shorter lines. The Caribbean Beach had better bellhops. But Pop Century, despite the long lines at most times of the day, moves quicker than any of them. I’m sure many of you out there will argue with me on that point, but I have always had good luck with the Online Check-In service and most other things I’ve needed at the front desk.

Notice that in my list of pros, I haven’t listed the rooms. As mentioned above, that’s not my primary motivation for staying at Pop Century. Price is the key driver here, but to be a fair reviewer, here are some of the negatives of my favorite Value resort.

The Rooms – They’re small. They’re not exactly comfortable for more than 3 people. The beds are not pillow top mattresses, the comforters are not down, and there’s no telling what the thermostat will do. I stay in nice hotel rooms quite a bit for travel in my job, and Pop Century can’t compare. But opposed to the $200-400 a night that you’ll pay for those extra touches in the room, Pop regularly checks in at $89-119 a night. Since most of the time I’m coming back to the room exhausted, I don’t notice these things. But hotel guests who like to spend more time relaxing in their room will not enjoy Pop Century.

The Layout – Without a smidgen of embarrassment I will admit that I have frequently gotten lost wandering around the grounds of Pop Century looking for my room. The buildings closest to the main hall are usually an extra cost, and as we’ve established that I’m staying there to save money, I seldom am in those buildings. That means that I’m in the outposts of the 80s or 90s, generally speaking, and have a fair ways to wander. Those late night sundae cravings mean I’m usually wandering back with a melting bowl of ice cream, not made for the Florida heat or long walks. Trying to navigate this mess is what generally gives me the most headache at Pop Century. It’s very spread out, and it can be hard to find a direct route to and from your room.

The Noise – Kids love the place. My kids love it, and judging by most of my visits, so do everyone else’s kids in the Western Hemisphere. And they are not afraid to tell everyone about their love for the place at all hours of the night. Since all the rooms have exposed doorways, motel style, they do not do a great job of soundproofing. Herds of wild elephants have stormed past my door late at night. At least that’s what I assume they are, because that’s what the sound seemed like. It might have been a group of kids. The point is that if you’re a light sleeper, you don’t want to be here, just in case the elephants come back.

Hopefully, that gives you a fair and balanced look at Pop Century, from someone who is a frequent visitor. The bottom line is that what makes it attractive is the price. You cannot stay on Disney property for much less. The amenities are no better than what you’ll find on 192 or I-Drive, so you have to understand that. Pop Century is best seen as a Disney version of the cheap motels that surround the parks outside Disney property. You pay an extra $25-30 a night over those motels, but for that price, you get to remain in the Disney bubble, use the bus service, get Extra Magic Hours, and grab those late night ice cream snacks.

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Who among us has not wanted to soar along the rooftops of London, flying with Peter Pan and Tinker Bell off to Neverland? When Walt Disney opened the original version of Peter Pan’s Flight at Disneyland in 1955, he promised guests that they could do just that. Since then, it’s become one of the most popular rides not only at the original Disney park, but all over the world. And you know what most popular means, right? It means long lines. So here are a few tips to help you enjoy the magic of Peter Pan at the Magic Kingdom without the wait.

Peter Pan's Flight is an enduring landmark at the Magic Kingdom.

Peter Pan’s Flight is so popular that in many of the Touring Plans with young children, we put it as the second attraction to be visited, right after Dumbo. With the addition of FASTPASS at Dumbo and the second spinner going up in Storybook Circus, that could change things soon. Peter Pan may be top dog in the near future. So, you need to get there right after park opening. No hesitation, no messing around, Peter Pan is best seen first thing in the morning, waiting in the regular line.

Tip: After rope drop, make Peter Pan one of your first priorities. If you want to avoid waiting in line longer than 30 minutes, you’ll need to see Peter Pan by 10 a.m.

We recommend going through the regular queue line rather than using FASTPASS on this ride. There’s a simple reason for that. If you get there early, you’ll be able to ride Peter Pan without much difficulty, but other rides like Splash Mountain or Space Mountain can “sell out” of FASTPASS tickets later on in the day. If you grab a FASTPASS for Peter Pan and are unable to get one for one of those rides, you might end up missing out on the Magic Kingdom’s bigger attractions for the sake of saving 10-15 minutes at Peter Pan.

Right after rope drop, head straight through to Fantasyland to get to the ride. Most people will take the approach of going straight down Main Street, through the Hub and then through Cinderella Castle to get there. But did you know there’s a back way?

Tip: If you want to avoid some of the crowds, head through Liberty Square. Go over the bridge, take a right at the boat docks, then another right in front of the Haunted Mansion. You’ll go through a tunnel and up a hill and Peter Pan is right there. This is generally a less crowded route, since most people are not swarming to Haunted Mansion first thing in the morning.

Make sure to check your FASTPASS Return times.

If for some reason you have an issue getting up early and still must ride Peter Pan’s Flight, just be aware that you’ll likely have to wait in line or use FASTPASS. Lines will range from 40-70 minutes throughout the day, since the ride is so popular and the capacity is low. The queue is deceptive, so don’t be sucked in by the fact that the line doesn’t seem that long. If you approach it from the Fantasyland side, you won’t notice a very long switchback that takes the line all the way around the side of the show building that swallows up a lot of people. Make sure you look at the posted wait time or check Lines before getting in line. At least that way you know what you’re in for through the big queue.

Tip: Peter Pan has been known to run out of its supply of FASTPASS tickets by 2 p.m. on busy days, and return times quickly stretch into the evening. If you plan to use FASTPASS, make sure you know your return time and can plan ahead.

This long switchback queue is where you'll do most of your waiting.

When you’re in the queue, be prepared, there’s not a ton to look at or interact with at Peter Pan. Unlike the more recent interactive queues installed at Dumbo and Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan still is a plain switchback with flat wooden pieces painted like scenery as you get closer to the loading area. It’s definitely not exciting, so this is the queue line to catch up on photos you’ve taken, make plans for later in the day or do just about anything to ignore the fact that you’re waiting in line.

Tip: There is one cool thing to see in the queue. As you approach the loading, look for a set of trees on your left, around where the turnstile is. One of them contains a Hidden Mickey!

The ride itself loads on a moving sidewalk, so have your party ready as you get to the front where the cast member is. You’ll need to round a corner and then skip ahead to the pirate ship ride vehicle quickly. Each ride vehicle can hold 2-3 people, depending on size. Kids on the inside, please, and soon you will be off to London! On the ride itself, make sure to look out for the great effects in London, a mermaid that looks awfully familiar, and lots of scenes from one of Walt Disney’s classic films.

When you disembark onto the same moving sidewalk, head straight out and look for some well placed fire brigade buckets as well as other great themed items. And realize you’ve enjoyed a ride that guests have loved for over 50 years!

What about you? What’s your favorite part of Peter Pan? Is it one of the first things you ride in the morning?

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The lure of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter got us to go.

I admit, as a Disney loyalist, when the thought of going to Universal Orlando came up in my household two years ago, I tried to quash it. My son was reading all the Harry Potter books, and the thought of attending Hogwarts or having a butterbeer was foremost in his mind. After putting it off and procrastinating for most of the last two years, we finally agreed that we would go check out that other park in Orlando. As of a couple of weeks ago, I have now strayed off Disney property in central Florida.

So what was Universal like? Was Harry Potter really everything I had heard about? Do they have real rides there, or is it just a facade to lure in the tourists and all the good stuff is at Disney? Keep reading and I’ll let you know.

The Layout: Universal is definitely easier to navigate than the 43 square miles of Walt Disney World. There is one central parking garage, with moving sidewalks and escalators to connect you to the entire Universal complex. Bag check takes place before the last moving sidewalk, which enters into CityWalk, the dining and shopping complex. CityWalk is a third-party version of what Pleasure Island used to be, which is a collection of restaurants, nightclubs and shops. Instead of themed Disney shops, CityWalk features Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville, for example.

Once you get through CityWalk, you can go left to Islands of Adventure or right to Universal Studios. It makes visiting the parks very easy, provided you can afford the $15 parking fee. The good news is that the parking fee is only paid once per day, so you can come and go as needed. We found visiting the parks to be an easy proposition, because we could arrive early with no problems and get to the park we needed to without trouble.

The Attractions: Universal contains some world class attractions, easily on the level with Disney’s best. I know it’s hard to admit for us Disney nerds, but the Universal team can craft experiences that are on par with anything Disney’s ever created. Attractions like the Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, Jurassic Park River Adventure, or Men In Black: Alien Attack are just as good as the best E Ticket attractions at Walt Disney World.

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is spectacular. The visual effects are amazing, the theme is great, the queue itself is an attraction, and the technology is entirely unique. The same goes for Spider-Man. Some of the other attractions are not quite as unique, but they still utilize it in interesting ways.

Storm Force was one of the few B or C ticket attractions.

Where Universal falls short is in some of the lower end attractions, as in there aren’t any. Everything in the Universal Studios and Islands of Adventures park is mostly designed to be a top of the line attraction. Things like the Mad Tea Party or Peter Pan’s Flight are mostly missing from these parks. The closest things to “smaller” rides are located in the “kiddie” section of each park, such as the Cat in the Hat ride on Seuss Island in Islands of Adventure or the Woody Woodpecker coaster in the cartoon section of Universal Studios.

The Shows: Universal has a slim variety of shows in their parks. The Eighth Voyage of Sindbad stunt show in Islands of Adventure is really the only show available there, while the Studios park has a few musical revues, such as the Blues Brothers and Beetlejuice shows. The musical shows were quite good, although both have outdoor seating and can get a little uncomfortable in the Florida heat. Plus, they reference characters that neither of my kids knew very well. The stunt show was just not good.

The two headliners in entertainment were the new Universal Superstar Parade and Universal’s Cinematic Spectacular at the Studios park. The parade we saw and were quite underwhelmed. It features Spongebob, the Despicable Me characters, Dora the Explorer, and the characters from Hop. If that sounds like a mish mash of characters, that’s exactly how it plays to the audience. We were not able to see the Cinematic Spectacular show, which features movie scenes and water features on the central lagoon at the Studios. That we’ll have to check out in a future trip.

The Food: While Disney has some of the more memorable food items in theme park lore on their menus (Dole Whip, anyone?), Universal can compete when it comes to the counter service eateries we tried. Having pizza in Universal did not mean holding your nose, as it was quite passable. Disney’s pizza is rather inedible, at least in my experiences. The burgers at Universal were just as good as those at Disney, including the toppings bar that was included at most locations.

Our best meal, though, was at the Three Broomsticks in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, where we were able to have salad, shepherd’s pie, pastries, and more with the themed food like butterbeer or pumpkin juice inside a themed restaurant. It was quite the experience and the best meal we ate at Universal. Plus, if you don’t care for the theme park food, the parks themselves are right next to CityWalk, where you can get a wide array of food.

The entrance to Jurassic Park at Islands of Adventure is perfect

The Theme: This is where Universal makes some major strides over other theme parks. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is completely immersive. You feel as though you’ve stepped into the film, because everything from the signage to the angles of the buildings puts you right in the world of the Harry Potter films. The same goes for Jurassic Park in Islands of Adventure, or the Seuss Landing section.

Where it falls apart is when you visit some of the Studios attractions. Everything is built around the theme of being a working studio, so almost all the attractions are presented in generic show buildings that are themed to being movie sets. There are some attempts to dress them up, such as the Library set outside Revenge of the Mummy, but many are presented simply as movie sets. Regardless, once inside, the queues are completely stunning, paying homage to the movies or ideas the rides represent. If you are used to Disney’s queues, you will notice the attention to detail.

Getting there early helped us avoid the crowds.

Touring: If you’re a reader of this site, you know the importance of a touring plan, and that’s definitely true at the Universal parks. The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World contains touring plans for Universal, and we followed them. Let me tell you that was a huge success. At Islands of Adventure, we rode every ride in the park we wanted to, had lunch and two snacks, and were out the door at 3 p.m. We managed to come back later that night and ride four of our favorites again!

At Universal Studios, we entered the park at opening at 9 a.m. and were able to ride all the rides we were interested in seeing, as well as see a couple of shows by the time we left, again at 3 p.m. This wasn’t a slow weekend, either. While the rain we experienced kept some people away, the lines for major attractions got up to 60 minutes in the Studios and 120 minutes in Islands of Adventure. The touring plans worked like a charm.

Family Touring: Here was our biggest problem at Universal. Our five-year-old daughter is easily scared to say the least. While she’s been to Disney many times and enjoys 90% of the attractions there, Universal was a pretty terrifying experience. Almost every attraction at the two parks, even “calmer” rides like Shrek 4D or The Simpsons Ride had some sort of monster or creature attacking you during the ride. This made it very difficult to convince her to go on some of the bigger attractions. While we ended up getting her on the rides, she lived in fear of more scares to come. She ultimately had a good time, but it was hard on all of us waiting for the next scare.

Snow capped English buildings or sunny Florida? Wizarding World of Harry Potter makes you wonder.

Where Universal excels is in the child swap area. On rides where child swap is available, which is all the big ones, your child can wait with you in the line, and then at the end, a separate room is set aside for child swap. Older kids and parents go on the ride, while the younger kid waits with the other parent in the room. When the ride is finished, the older kid and parent comes back to the room, and the other parent can ride without having to wait in line again. This was a fantastic system. It meant my son got four rides on Forbidden Journey!

Overall, I would say Universal is a worthy addition to an Orlando trip, but the added expense of tickets, parking, and other items versus staying at Walt Disney World could easily keep travelers in the Disney bubble. For me, Universal is worth a separate trip, since I don’t live that far away and can drive. If you’re making a side trip from an already planned Disney trip, it’s worth the admission, provided you can afford it.

What about you? Any of you been and what did you think? Or do you have any further questions about Universal?

Universal Orlando – The Walt Disney World Veteran’s Perspective is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook.