Kerry Smith - Walt Disney World for Mature Travelers

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C ONTENTS

I NTRODUCTION

Most Walt Disney World (WDW) guidebooks orient themselves to one of three types of people: (1) trivia fanatics who want to know absolutely everything about WDW, (2) those who dont visit often and want to make each second count even if it means running from ride to ride, or (3) parents who hope for nothing more than to come out of the experience alive, with a few good family videos to show how much fun they had.

This guidebook is for you if:

You believe a vacation should be relaxing.

You want to minimize walking and explore Walt Disney World at your own pace.

You understand that in one week you cant see absolutely everything.

You need guidance on resorts, restaurants, and parks.

Realistically, you will see more of the WDW parks if you arrive at the crack of dawn, run from land to land, and plan each minute like a military commando. But thats not a vacation. By following these simple guidelines, you might see a little less, but you will leave the park feeling less exhausted and infinitely superior to visitors who plan their day with a stopwatch and a good pair of running shoes. Simple touring plans move you from land to land. Out-of-the-way spots are described. You receive just enough information about an attraction to determine if you want to ride how much it moves, the age group it attracts, the wait time, and any problems with boarding but without taking away the magic.

Each land in the Magic Kingdom has its own flavor, from the music to the sights, smells, and even food. The same is true of the themed hotels, Epcot, DisneyMGM Studios, and Animal Kingdom. A successful Disney World vacation removes you from the real world and suspends reality. For a brief moment, you can believe in pixie dust and singing bears and haunted houses.

Recognizing the older traveler, Disney World has, for the first time, actively advertised to the adults-without-kids generation. Disney has special programs for those 55 and over, most often run during slow times. In the off-season, WDW offers savings at selected resorts and on a Disney Cruise, recognizing the power of a market segment that has been historically ignored.

Finally, this guide describes other Central Florida attractions, from Disney competitors such as Universal Studios and Sea World, to the sights and sounds of the real Florida, the parts of the state unseen by most Orlando vacationers.

Its easy to dismiss Walt Disney World as too commercial or too expensive, but Disney Imagineers (a Disney term combining engineers and imagination) created an enclave where bad things happen outside. Theyve done it the way they create movies, using tricks, special effects, and psychology. They manipulate your senses until you believe the impossible.

Relax and enjoy the fantasy. That was Walt Disneys goal when he created the first park forty-five years ago in California and, despite takeovers, multimillion-dollar salaries, and controversial films, Walt Disney World still ranks as the top tourist destination in the world.

This guide is unofficial, meaning the Walt Disney Company does not officially approve or disapprove of anything said. It is, however, pro-Disney. Its assumed that you want to visit Walt Disney World or you would not be planning a trip. Some books treat a Disney vacation as a corporate rip-off and give ample suggestions on how to survive the ordeal. Here, you will be warned of potential problems, but problems are the exception, not the rule.

Today, more than ever, Walt Disney World is not just for kids.

F IRST T HINGS F IRST

Visit Walt Disney World during the off-season. More than any other piece of inside information, that advice can make or break a vacation. It bears repeating:

Visit during the off-season.

During the parks busiest times, the Disney crowds are more visible than the attractions. In Adventureland, for example, tropical bamboo frames the walkway while the rustic Swiss Family Treehouse towers overhead. From hidden speakers, African music gives the land a three-dimensional, safarilike feel. But during high season, its difficult to hear the music when, beside you, a harried mother yells at her kids to keep together. And its difficult to appreciate the jungle sights when you spend half your time protecting your side from wayward elbows and your shins from strollers as people fight their way to Pirates of the Caribbean.

Other advantages to off-season travel:

Lines for theme park attractions are short or nonexistent. On a good day, visitors wait from zero to twenty minutes, with much of the wait not due to the length of the line but to the duration of the show. Even then, many of the most popular WDW rides that form longer lines later in the day Splash Mountain and Space Mountain, for example are not must-sees for many mature travelers.

Reservations are either unnecessary at better restaurants (with some exceptions) or, at least, still available for dinner if made first thing in the morning. Since guests may make dinner reservations a year in advance, the best restaurants and seating times book early during busy season. You can, of course, reserve dining times well in advance of your trip, but you run the risk of having a vacation that tells you what to do rather than the other way around. While an 8 P.M. dinner reservation at a World Showcase restaurant may sound perfect before departure, it may prove inconvenient later.

Price competition. In general, Disney charges less for hotel rooms during the off-season, as do off-site hotels if you know how to find the bargains. Over the course of a seven-day stay, the savings can be substantial.

More important, however, Walt Disney World works the way it should during the off-season. The Disney cast members (the Disney name for employees) go to great lengths to theme the resorts and parks. At Wilderness Lodge, for example, everything feeds into the central theme of great National Park hotels built around World War I. The swimming pool appears to be a pond formed by a mountain stream that originated as a hot spring even though its not really a spring, a stream, nor does it actually empty into the pool. Massive chandeliers recreate Indian tents. Everything from the Artist Point restaurant to the Whispering Canyon Cafe has the stamp of the Old West.

But its not what Disney includes that makes themed areas special. Its what they dont include. At Wilderness Lodge, you see no palm trees as you drive through the entrance gates, only long-needled pines, native to Central Florida but reminiscent of the West. Palm trees would ruin the illusion. Quilts, not generic comforters, cover all beds. If the illusion of the American West is to hold, then the viewer cannot see anything out of place, such as a waitress dressed in traditional white, nor even a rest room that lacks the wood decor and rustic artwork of the Old West.