Disneyworld January 2013

[Hobbitess Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hobbitess]

Not long ago, we'd been to Orlando twice without hitting the Disney parks. My one daughter and I had been to the Magic Kingdom, and loved it, but the rest of them were all convinced WDW wasn't worth the time or the money. But, as a lifelong Disney fan, it was driving me nuts to visit Orlando without doing the parks, so our third time out I finally insisted everyone do all the parks at least once.

At first I was really excited, but the closer we got to leaving, the more I worried that they might end up not liking the parks after all.

Will my sons' loyalty to SeaWorld prevent them from enjoying WDW? Will my eldest's hatred of crowds and noise mean she hates the parks? Will my youngest's hatred of Mickey and Toy Story and all costumed characters mean she won't have any fun? Will hubby's preference for amusement parks mean the rides won't measure up? Will we experience any Disney magic? Can we convert the Disney skeptics?

Read along and find out!

CAST OF CHARACTERS

The Hermit, 19, my eldest child. Getting this child to express an opinion is like trying to pull your own teeth with strong rubber pliers -- equally painful and futile. She hates crowds, noise and the sun, and is no fan of heat, either, so I was hoping that going in January would mean less of all of those.



Mr. Cool, 18, my eldest son. No problem getting him to express an opinion; he thinks WDW can't compare to SeaWorld and is only going to WDW to please mom. He agreed to spend five days at the Disney parks before hand, but by the time we get to Orlando is already trying to figure out how to skip out at noon and spend his WDW park day evenings at SeaWorld. *sigh*



SeaWorld Son, 16, has been an orca fan since he was 3, and fears that if he goes to WDW and likes it, he is in some way betraying his beloved wolves of the sea. As is clear in this picture (where he's pretending to be driving a Star Wars land speeder), he may be capable of growing a frightening pair of mutton chop sidburns, but he's still a kid at heart!



Ballet Girl, 15, is my compadre in this scheme to convert the skeptics. She's only been to the Magic Kingdom, and loved it, but missed having her siblings there, and has dreamed of going to WDW with the whole family ever since.



Warrior Girl, 12, may be our biggest challenge. All the rest of them at least like the Disney movies; she likes a couple of Disney movies, but her favorites tend toward the obscure (The Aristocats, Oliver and Company, Bolt), and she hates a lot of the most popular characters that she's likely to see in the parks.



Geek Dad, my beloved hubby, is resigned to the fact that there's going to be a lot of WDW in his future, so will do his level best to like it. We both tend to be behind the camera and so I have very few pictures of either of us, and so far all my pics of him from this trip, either he's in the dark or not facing the camera. So here's a pic of him in Chicago:



And with that, we're off to Disney World!

DATES:

Leave Indiana January 5 -- two day drive, so our reservation in Orlando is from January 6-18. I had five park days planned; one day in each park and then we'd vote on which park to hit a second time. In reality, things did not work out that neatly.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 8 -- MAGIC KINGDOM

THURSDAY, JANUARY 10 -- HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS

SATURDAY, JANUARY 12 -- ANIMAL KINGDOM

MONDAY, JANUARY 14 - EPCOT

After that....???

[Hobbitess Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hobbitess]

Orlando Sunshine II

I hereby vow that I will never again plan an Orlando vacation less than a week after a Christmas trip with my extended family. Made me lose focus.

For starts, after driving south for six hours, I suddenly realized I'd forgotten our park tickets. OUR PARK TICKETS. *And* my $100 Disney gift card. Never done anything like that before. Plus the whole day I kept smelling overheated car. Our last trip to Orlando, we ended up stranded for two days while the van was in the shop, and only got down there as soon as we did because hubby insisted they get us a rental, so maybe it was just paranoia.

I know it wasn't all in my head, since I was fussing about smelling an overheated engine in one rest area when the kids pointed out a big truck engine billowing smoke two rows behind us! Not sure what the deal was, since although it was warm for winter it was still nowhere near summer temps, but it seems there were lots of unhappy engines around that day. At any rate, we made it to Smyrna, GA with no serious issues and stayed in a Baymont Inn & Suites. We need to start taking pictures of the motels and hotels we stay in but arent that organized yet, however I will say it was fine for a night. Next morning we headed for Orlando and our condo!

This trip was originally planned for May and we were going to stay at Bonnet Creek; we switched it to January and I wanted to stay at Vacation Village at Parkway (since it was cheaper and I figured we wouldn't be getting a lot of use out of Bonnet Creeks lazy rivers in January), but they sold out literally the day I went to make the reservation (I'd checked the day before), soooo we stayed at Orlando Sunshine, way out near the north end of International Drive. Mr. Cool wanted the Sunshine because he likes the bus routes there; he was going to SeaWorld without the rest of us and doesn't drive, which had a lot to do with which resorts I considered. Hubby liked the Sunshine because we could rent points from a pal so it was way cheap ($42/night). I was less enthused I like the resort, but would have preferred to be much closer to WDW for a trip that's so parks-heavy.

Last time we were in the Sunshine I building, first floor, and could practically walk out the back door to the pool (you had to jog over a bit to the gate). This time we were in the Sunshine II building, top floor, as far as possible from the pool. The Sunshine II units are also smaller (1228 sq ft versus 1380, according to the website), but because they're laid out pretty well I don't think that bothered anyone much except Mr. Cool, who likes to have his own space. When we were at Sunshine I, he laid claim to the little table in the kitchen; this time there wasn't that extra table so he claimed the porch. There was some fuss checking in (the owner's last payment hadn't been applied to the right account or something), but the weekend guys decided to turn it over to someone who came in Monday and checked us in after a bit of confusion.

The guys at the desk were so out of the loop that they were having a hard time grasping the idea that we owned points but were staying on a rental, which may have been part of the problem. After we got up to the unit we contacted the owner, who said BG had assured him it'd be cleared up by Monday morning, which it was. We've rented from this guy before and I wasn't too worried, especially since it sounds like we could have just paid the difference ourselves and still done alright, but it was definitely a reminder that renting points isn't the same as going direct!

The unit opens into this little alcove -- the washer and dryer are in that closet:



Beyond that is the kitchen...



as well as the dining and the living rooms, and the screened porch is that blur in the back:



The bedrooms were to the right -- the master bedroom:



and bath area:



And the second bedroom:



There's a second bath as well. I meant to go take pictures from the porch about four times, but never did. It faced toward downtown Orlando over outlet malls and the like, which wasn't very exciting during the day but was kind of pretty at night. There were colorfully lit structures off to the left, likely Universal, which was also the source of fireworks some nights. Below were the grounds for the resort -- a lawn edged with plantings straight down, then the tennis/basketball court and the pool off to the left -- which were a restful view during the day. Although there was that parking lot with a big ol' RV to the right...

Behind the resort was a canal, then a big grassy field, then the field of dirt and construction. Just as well we'd planned to be up early most mornings, because the distant "beep beep beep" of reversing construction equipment usually kicked in between six and seven. They were a block or so away, but hubby was fighting a cold that first week while I'm a light sleeper when excited, so we noticed them most mornings. Motivation for getting going, that's what.

Once we got settled in a bit, the first thing on our agenda was getting some pins for the kids to trade. Ballet Girl and Warrior Girl traded pins last time, and wanted to do it again, and SeaWorld Son decided to trade as well, so we needed to start him out from scratch. So we headed for the outlet mall just down the way a bit, and it was a ZOO. January may be a slow time for WDW, but it clearly is not a slow time for Orlando; we rounded the corner to see rows of cars parked on the grass along the road, which wed not seen before. I'd already shifted our first parks day from Monday to Tuesday anyhow, so we decided we'd hit the outlet mall Monday morning.

We ran eldest son down to the welcome center he thought would have the bus pass he wanted -- they didn't, so we hit Walmart for breakfast groceries, and although we finally achieved success, vowed not to do that in the evening again! The snowbirds were out in force, I think; I know my Minnesota relatives head south after New Years and that must be pretty common. Plus when we finally did get to the outlet mall, tons of people from South America filling their suitcases with deals; January must be shopping month. Just generally much more crowded than when we've been there in May. The road Orlando Sunshine is on is pretty quiet, but we quickly learned not to turn right out of the resort because turning left from that road was next to impossible once the Outlet Mall opened, which had not been an issue on our other stay. Going the other way was a tad longer but much quicker.

[Hobbitess Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hobbitess]

Manic Monday, part one -- Leu Gardens

Monday morning those interested in hitting the Disney Store first zipped out to Dick's Sports Store after socks, because Dick's opened earlier. I've been having problems with blisters lately and wanted to try some Thorlos. I got another brand, too, I forget what. I liked the Thorlos the best and wish I bought more pairs! So a TRAVEL TIP for the Footwear Folks, I did the parks in Crocs with Thorlos socks, and highly recommend that combination. I think the footbed of the Crocs would have gotten to me without good, thick socks between me and the little rubbery spines. Although for the parks I also covered the balls of my feet with moleskin, and used moleskin along the side of one foot where I've got issues whatever shoe I'm wearing (not sure why). The socks are enough for an hour of walking at home, though.

After that, we hit the Disney Outlet store at opening. We’ve gotten pins for a dollar apiece at the outlet stores before, and have always been able to get them for $3 or less, but the best we could find this time were pins for $4 apiece. Bother. I got enough to last the kids a couple of days and scheduled another visit. There were some lanyards that were $3; not the best deal but a color he’d like so we got one for SeaWorld Son, and then Ballet Girl bought one for herself (she’d forgotten hers). Then we hit Walmart and headed home to make lunch.

Ballet Girl decided she wanted a shower before we went to try and get her picture with the ballerina at All-Star Movies, so hubby, the Hermit and I decided to make a quick run to Leu Gardens while she did so. Leu Gardens has been "penciled in" on all our Orlando trips but we'd never gotten there, however it's best known for its camellias, and camellias bloom in January, so this time we were motivated. We only had an hour, though, so we only did The Idea Gardens and part of "The Tropical Stream Garden.

Leu Gardens is beside Lake Rowena:



There are plenty of trees:



And palms:



And cacti:



And carnivorous plants:



As well as flowers, like these guys that look like someone stepped on them (not a camellia):



These fluffy guys (not a camellia):



These orchid-y things (not a camellia):



Whatever these are (definitely not a camellia):



Some more common flowers (not a camellia):



And these beauties (possibly a camellia):



(definitely a camellia):



We also have pics of lots of other flora and some fauna, and of course some waterfalls. And a random guy made out of pots. Such a nice place, but we still had a Mission to accomplish, and our time was up, so we headed back to the condo.

[Presley Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Presley]

Great report so far. I love the nicknames of the kids.

[ArtsieAng Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close ArtsieAng]

I've never been to Leu Gardens...The flowers are very pretty!

Thanks for sharing. Funny thing is my kids always really loved Disney World, my dd especially. I hope that your family enjoys their time there, as well.

[stan2u Member Find all posts View Profile Close stan2u]

Fun posting so far - looking forward to the rest!

[Hobbitess Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hobbitess]

I love the nicknames of the kids.

Thanks. Some of the kids came up with their own nicknames, and they all had to okay them.

I've never been to Leu Gardens...The flowers are very pretty!

It's beautiful, but I feel like I haven't been there, either -- we didn't even do a fourth of the place!

Fun posting so far - looking forward to the rest!

I'll do my best.

[Hobbitess Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hobbitess]

Manic Monday, part two -- Downtown Disney Mostly

The last time we were in Orlando, we took pictures of Ballet Girl with the ballerina at All-Star Movies, but by the time we got there we were losing our light. So I'd promised her a re-do, and planned it first thing this time out. As you can see, planning it "first thing" doesn't mean we do it first thing. Now we'd done Leu Gardens and were heading into WDW, Geek Dad declared that the first First Thing we had to do was get our tickets replaced! Undercover Tourist recommended we do that at Downtown Disney, so that's where we were headed.

I am inordinately fond of this fountain, so I stayed taking pictures of it while Geek Dad went looking for information:



When we got there, someone was taking a picture of a friend up with Mickey, and Ballet Girl thought this a great idea:



Waterfalls and pansies -- two of my favorite things!



Geek Dad came back and told us where he was headed, and we drifted after him, but the route led through Arribas brothers so the gap got larger...



The Hermit should have been along -- she loves sparklies!



Took a while, but the CM replaced all our tickets AND the $100 gift card! Tempted though I was to get that gift card broken in, we barely skimmed through the pin store....



on our way to the boat dock. We'd rather ride one of Disney's boats than shop, is that bad?

They've changed the balloon since we were there last!



I like it just as well, I think.





We originally intended to wander Downtown Disney a bit after the ride, but it was threatening rain and getting darker, so as soon as we got back, it was off to All-Stars!

[Hobbitess Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hobbitess]

Manic Monday, part three -- All-Stars Movies

Now we had our tickets, things were looking up, and I was thinking this trip might go pretty well after all. Then I saw the ballerina -- who was all boxed in and only partly painted (or maybe they've decided to change her lips to blue, I dunno). Ballet Girl took it better than I did, and said she'd pose anyhow, and we'll do it again next time. At least there was still light this time. Someday we'll get that kid there when the ballerina's in good shape and it's sunny and bright!



I wanted to check out the resort a bit more, so we headed into the Love Bug section, and Herbie was missing. I knew a lot of rides would be down in January, but I had not thought through to the fact that the resorts were likely being spiffed up as well! Ballet Girl didn't mind, though. She just marched down and laid claim to his glory!





Then she decided she wanted some pictures of her sitting on an oddly stiff tire:



Then we wandered down to the Toy Story section. Woody looked good...



Buzz, not so much.



Hubby took pictures of his daughter...



While I noticed how much Rex's nose looks like an alien skull...



And considered staggering back to the room in an exhausted shape and having to approach this:



Or this:



Not sure I'd be happy there on days I'm so tired I'm seeing things...

Anyhow, we headed home, and, after dinner, I sat everyone down to give them a briefing on the next day. Ballet Girl and I had schedules, but everyone else had refused to discuss possibilities beforehand and still weren't particularly interested, so I offered some suggestions and headed to bed, excited for myself but filled with trepidation regarding some others.

We were going to the MK on a Tuesday, which is probably better than a Monday, but it was also the last day many locals had off from school, and I know I would save the MK for our last day if I was taking little ones and the scheduling worked out, so I was hoping it wouldn't be crowded. And I'd picked it going on crowd calendars -- the MK was not my first choice for introducing Mr. Cool to WDW!

Would they like it? Would Mr. Cool decide WDW was for little kids and stall on going to the other parks? Would the ones without a schedule get to ride much? Would my feet hold up? (Got a huge blister on the bottom of my foot the first day of our last trip to Orlando, and it really slowed me down.) Would Ballet Girl finally get her play time with her siblings on Tom Sawyer Island? Only time would tell, and meanwhile I was having a hard time sleeping!

[Hobbitess Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hobbitess]

Tuesday at the MAGIC KINGDOM

Since our first day at a park was a Tuesday, I decided we'd start with the Magic Kingdom. It was not a Best Park with anybody, but Josh at EasyWDW gave it a Highly Recommended and Touring Plans considered it Neutral, and they assigned crowd levels of 2 and 3 respectively. PARKS TIP: If you want to get there early (as I do), and you're not dealing with people who don't come to full consciousness before eleven even if forced out of bed (I have relatives like that, but none of us are), I strongly recommend you terrorize whoever is most likely to pull the, I don't want to get up early Routine with regular doses of opening versus noon pictures. Josh at EasyWDW.com posts comparison pics right regularly. After seeing a pair of those every couple of months before we went, Geek Dad, who is our usual Let's just sleep in guy, never remotely suggested it on a park day, and we got to all of them in plenty of time. As in, in the first row, straight shot to the TTA kind of time:



I always take pics from where the van is so I can find it at the end of the day.

Mr. Cool wanted to take the monorail, but we've all ridden that and I had never ridden the boat (when Ballet Girl and I did the MK, Geek Dad dropped us off and picked us up at the Contemporary), so I voted the boat -- the monorail wasn't running quite yet, so I didn't even have to pull the Mom Card. I've read so many people talk about their excitement as the boat circles the island and the castle comes in view that I was surprised to discover you can see the Castle before you even get on the boat:



Not sure why I hadn't figured that out -- plenty of people recommend viewing Wishes from there -- but for some reason I expected it to be obscured by the island. So Geek Dad and I spent the trip over taking dreadful pictures of the castle and other surroundings (If you look closely, you can see the Christmas Tree still up behind the train station):






And slightly less dreadful pictures of the kids:



Mr. Cool is only a shadow's length away!



We got into the waiting area and Geek Dad went to the lockers while I settled in a fairly central position to see the opening show.



I am a big ol' sap when it comes to the opening show; I get teary eyed watching it on video, so of course for my first time there with the whole family I was wiping my tears and having trouble focusing the camera. When Ballet Girl and I went, the Mayor was Master of Ceremonies; this morning it was Fire Chief Smokey Miller:



I love the dancers, I love the train, I love the characters -- just the perfect way to start your day at Disney World!:







Sometimes I wish they had opening shows at the other parks, but from what I hear of the opening shows they used to have, no dancers anyhow.

Mr. Cool was still working hard at not being impressed:



I had suggested he go looking for Cinderella's Step Mother and Step Sisters later, but he was so busy doing his, "Sea World is better" routine I didn't think he'd take me up on it.

Ballet Girl hauled her dad and anyone else interested back to get in line to meet Merida, while the Hermit and I strolled back toward Peter Pan's Flight. Taking pictures all the way -- one of Lady and the Tramp's paw prints, of course (although youngest complains that the cement is the wrong color), and one of a window dedicated to one of Walt's daughters:

[Hobbitess Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hobbitess]

Tuesday at the Magic Kingdom

And of course I took a few of the castle:



I love the castle and the castle area. For whatever reason, Cinderella was the Princess movie I was most familiar with as a child (I also loved the Rogers and Hammerstein version with Leslie Anne Warren), so that's part of it, I'm sure. The details just delight me.











Then we went on Peter Pan's Flight -- I had never ridden that before and hadn't thought it sounded that interesting; someone on the Dis convinced me it was worth doing, and it immediately became my favorite ride at WDW! I just love the swinging motion, I guess. :cloud9:

Meanwhile, Geek Dad, SeaWorld Son, Ballet Girl and Warrior Girl were in line to meet Merida, although only the girls went up:



Ballet Girl greeted her with a curtsey, and Merida curtseyed back, then said, "Oh, good; I didn't fall this time," and told them a story about going to curtsey and instead falling on a little girl!



Going to see Merida first thing is a good way to avoid the line, but I'm guessing it's not the best light of the day:



The light where they got archery lessons was better. Warrior Girl hit hers dead center -- I think the CM next to her willed it there!

[Hobbitess Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hobbitess]

The other two didn't do as well, so then they went to try their hands at the Sword in the Stone, with no success:



And then, since they were right there, the carousel:



Where my predictive powers proved to be quite wrong, and they found Mr. Cool with prospective future mother-in-law:





I haven't been able to get the whole story out of him, but apparently Mr Cool was wandering around behind the castle with his headphones on and she talked to him a bit (telling him to take his headphones out, is my guess, since you notice he's not wearing them here), then later she saw him heading over to meet his siblings at the carousel and joined him, which is when Geek Dad took these pictures.

The Hermit and I, meanwhile, had wandered back to New Fantasyland, where I wanted a picture of the waterfall by the Little Mermaid Ride. We needed to get back to meet Mr. Cool if we were going to, so I tried to get one without getting in line:



That wasn't going to happen, and there was no visible line, so we wandered down there just to get a picture, but by the time we'd gotten down they were just a trickle. :confused3 We waited a bit in this little alcove kind of out of the way for a bit, but no go. There were enough people heading into the ride by then that we decided not to go against the flow to get out of there and to just try it out instead. After we were well into the building and there were people behind us, the Hermit said she could hear the water pick up again.

I was not impressed with the Little Mermaid ride, but I'm also not that into animatronics, and we'd already done an animatronic ride that day, so, could be me. We wandered over to Gaston's Tavern, because I wanted to try La Fou's Brew, and I was hungry enough I got a pork shank, then split both with the Hermit. I quite liked La Fou's Brew -- tastes like apple juice concentrate -- but neither one of us liked the foam topping much, however I didn't expect to (we're not mango fans). The pork shank was tender and woefully greasy, but we got more meat than some pictures indicate.



We went left instead of right, and so missed the room with Gaston's chair entirely (didn't do my homework!). OTOH, we were inordinately entertained by this bear(?) that someone had decorated with a pirate hat. Well, I found it entertaining -- the Hermit was more amused by my efforts to get a good shot of it in that poor light.






Took another picture or two of New Fantasyland, then the Hermit and I decided to head back to the train station and take some pictures there. Saw the Royal Majesty Makers as we went, but there was a lot of traffic there and we kept going. The train was just leaving as we came up -- we went to the exit area, so a CM came over to make sure we didn't want a ride (we didn't), and then I took pictures of the luggage there while we waited. Mostly I was after the stickers:



I'd love to know what inspired the choice of stickers -- California and Mexico and the Pacific Northwest all made sense to me, and even Fargo, ND, but there were two for Wisconsin (well, one for Wisconsin and one for Door County), the only remotely midwest offerings, what's with that? :confused3

Finally, the train showed up. I got one blurry picture of the train just as it emerged from the trees, then my stupid camera decided to take an inordinately long time processing the shot, meaning I couldn't take another. Grrrr. This was to become an ongoing issue this trip, not sure what it's problem was. *sigh*



Finally just turned the camera off while I walked around to the other side, where I took some pics of the train sitting in the station. They refill the boiler about every other time around, I believe.

[Hobbitess Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hobbitess]

While they were filling the train, there was steam coming up from a vent or something on the opposite side of the track way up where we were, not sure what that was all about. Once the train left, we wandered down the back route to Tomorrowland, enjoying the plantings as we went:



This next is not one of my better shots, but I am fond of pics of the other lands with the castle in the background:



After wandering Tomorrowland a bit, the Hermit and I rode the TTA - twice - and we decided that the People Mover is now our favorite ride at WDW. :teeth: The second time we were on it, it stopped for a while in Space Mountain, but not anywhere interesting, alas. I would have been happier if it stopped outside, and I find the long dark part boring, but other than that, love it. Just our speed, I suppose.

I wanted a cream cheese pretzel but we arrived at the Lunching Pad just at opening and they didn't have any ready. The CM suggested a hot dog but I just got a Blue Raspberry smoothie and then we played with the Kugel Ball (the granite sphere fountain) for a bit before we wandered over to Columbia Harbor House for lunch. We sat upstairs in the bit over the walkway, and the windows facing Fantasyland were blocked, however a kid at one of the tables on that side kept pulling back the covering so we'd get glimpses of the construction. I have yet to eat there when all the windows facing Fantasyland are clear. But the shrimp was good.

We were meeting everyone at Tom Sawyer Island at noon, so we headed over there. I sat and watched the runaway trains on Big Thunder Mountain while the kids had lunch and told me what they'd been up to that morning, part of which I've already mentioned, but also the Pirate Tutorial:







The Pirates of the Caribbean ride, and the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse:



And Jungle Cruise, which was the "required ride" of the day (everyone was supposed to try it):





They had a lady captain, and they adored her. They were doing bits of her routine the whole trip.

[mpizza Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mpizza]

Thanks for the great pictures and review!

Planning a trip in May and this is very helpful!

Any more advice?

Maria

[Hobbitess Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hobbitess]

Any more advice?

May is a great time to go! Low summer temps without the crowds. The other two times we've gone to Orlando were both in early May. We thought it'd be cooler in January, but instead we mostly had temps very much like our first late April/early May trip. Our second trip was mid-May and hotter, well into the nineties most days.

I highly recommend Josh's site:

http://www.easywdw.com/

It's not the most organized site, and some of the side bar links will not take you to the most current information (mostly an issue just with the changes caused by the Fantasyland expansion in the MK). But if you read the descriptions of his Crowd Calendar dates, he mentions a lot of the rides that develop the longest lines; hit those early in the day or use a Fastpass, and avoid the busiest park for that day, and you should be good. Basically, your goal should be to get there at opening and hit those rides your first couple of hours, if you can. If you're staying offsite, you usually want to avoid the parks that open early for onsite guests (easy to do in May). Depending on the ages of your kids, you may want to do characters your first hour instead of rides -- most of the rides that develop lines you can get Fast Passes; most characters, you can't.

Even if you hustle back there first thing, there can be a forty minute wait for Enchanted Tales with Belle. Since this was the first time for most of my family, we just skipped it. Most people seem to think it's a "one and done" kind of thing, so I'm guessing the lines won't be much of an issue next time we go.

Another tip is to eat on the off hours. If you have an early counter service lunch (getting your food before 11:30), there's less line and it's easy to find a table. Different story as it gets toward noon. If you want to eat a sit-down meal rather than counter service, get your reservations in early, although what "early" means depends on the popularity of the restaurant. People staying onsite can reserve 190 days out, and some restaurants are tough to get even then! The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World books have a chart that shows what restaurants sell out soonest, but I can't find it on their site. Generally speaking, the character buffets are gone first, while the more exotic offerings within the parks (Restaurant Marrakesh) and the resort restaurants are available longer. IMHO, table service restaurants take up a lot of time on a park day (the reservation doesn't necessarily mean you get seated then!), but OTOH some people find even a two hour meal serves as a great break and a chance to recharge.