The Basics

Planning your first Orlando holiday can be incredibly daunting, there is literally SO much to do and more than likely, not enough time to do it all - especially if your holidays are on a week or two week time scale like ours usually are. Over the years, many people have spoken to us about their first holiday to Orlando, asking advice or for information and I've found it's actually really hard for people to just find the basic facts, so, we thought that we would try and compile the really key points that you need to know before you go.

Walt Disney World is Huge
Seriously, Walt Disney World stretches over 27000 acres of Orlando! This includes the 4 main theme parks, 2 water parks, along with other non park recreation and entertainment such as golf courses, spas, camp grounds, hotels, Disney Springs (more on this in a later post) and a lot more. Think of it being like a small town, with roads between everything you need to get to.

Disney World Resort Hotels
These come in three main categories - budget, moderate or deluxe. Obviously these are huge considerations when planning your holiday but please remember these are not the only options. Most of the time it is possible to find a similar standard of room, sometimes even nicer, which is in your budget off Disney property. These may not have the Disney service, perks, or be what you need for your holiday so make sure you research well. There are also partner hotels which Disney partner with and these hotels may also let you gain the early access to the parks.

Our Disney Partner Hotel - Holiday Inn at Disney Springs

A Disney Resort Does Not Necessarily Mean Walking Distance to the Parks
In fact, in most cases, if you are staying on or around Disney you will not be able to walk to the parks. There are only 3 resorts which you can walk into The Magic Kingdom from without the huge journey and they are the Deluxe Resorts.

Walt Disney World App
In recent years having this App on your smartphone in the run up to and during your trip is a must. On the App, you can reserve return times for rides, order food, book dining reservations, get information you need on the parks and view your photos.

Transport
Both Disney and Universal Studios offer free transport on their property in the form of buses. These can take you pretty much everywhere you need to go in Disney, but they do take a little time and patience. Make sure you leave plenty of time to get from A to B no matter where you are on Disney, things are incredibly spread out and it may take you 20 minutes to get to the exit of a park never mind hop on a bus and get to your next location. Disney and Universal both also have boats between certain areas of the resorts and in Disney you can also get the skyliner. Check when you look at hotels if you are on the skyliner route or able to travel to parks by boat - this may save a lot of time!

Weather
Most times of the year Orlando will be oh so hot! In August, which is when we tend to go it sometimes feels like you are at the Earth's core, so use google and look when is best to go for you and your party. Most people like to avoid August due to the intense heat and rain downpours most afternoons as well - we love it!


The Most Important one - Walt Disney World and Universal Studios are Two Completely Separate Entities
Yes, if you're located at one of Disney's resorts then you will be around a half an hour drive from Universal Studios Resort. They are not the same and your magic band (if you buy one of these gadgets) will not let you into Universal.

The Parks

At Walt Disney World you have -

The Magic Kingdom - this is the big one in all the photos with Cinderella's Castle
Disney's Animal Kingdom - animals, but also great rides and shows as well as Pandora (the world of Avatar)
Epcot - this is futuristic, scientific and also has all the country pavilions selling food and drink from around the world
Disney's Hollywood Studios - shows, rides, Toy Story Land as well as Galaxy's Edge (Star Wars)
Typhoon Lagoon - water park with incredibly large wave
Blizzard Beach - water park

Finally, at Universal Studios Resort you have -

Universal Orlando - this has more indoor shows and rides and also hosts Halloween Horror Nights, as well as having one half of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Gringotts and Diagon Alley.
Islands of Adventure - the wettest water rides, Marvel, along with Hogwarts and Hogsmeade
Volcano Bay - water park

Hogsmeade at Islands of Adventure

For those of you who have been to the parks several times before some of this information may seem really obvious but from chats we have had I've found this is really what people need to know.

If you have any specific questions you'd like to ask or any blogs in particular you'd like us to post, please feel free to drop us a DM on instagram (wdwtipsandbobs) - we do have a list of topics we plan to cover so your question may well be on that list anyway.

Thanks for reading,

Lou and Cathy xxx