The top 16 things I learned at the most magical place on earth

I’ll be honest. I had never been to Disney as a child and I thought it would be cheesy. I figured if I ever went on a family vacation, it would be to eastern Canada to see the whales or to western Canada to see the mountains. But then last week we went to Disney and now I totally understand. It truly is a magical vacation for kids and adults alike. My children are ages 9, almost 7 and 4 and they had the time of their lives. Here are the top 16 things I learned…

1) The Boardwalk Hotel is an amazing place to stay. There is a boat out front that takes you to Epcot and Hollywood every 15 minutes. And buses to take you to Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. There are jugglers and mimes and magicians sharing their tricks at night when you return from your adventures. You can rent a bicycle for four or six and tour around. And there are delectable restaurant choices including Cat Cora’s and The Flying Fish.

2) The food plan is totally worth it if you have children with you and if you reserve your sit down meals in advance (I reserved five months before we arrived). We ate at Sanaa in Animal Kingdom Lodge the day we went to Animal Kingdom and dined on amazing African food while watching giraffes and zebras graze outside our window. We enjoyed skewers of shrimp, steak, chicken and pork at O’Hana’s in the Polynesian Resort the day we went to Magic Kingdom. We met all the princesses during our dinner at the Akershus Castle in Epcot’s Norway. We enjoyed traditional Japanese food cooked at our table at Epcot’s Teppan Edo. We dined on delectable steak at the Canadian Steak House, Le Cellier. And here’s a tip… at Cat Cora’s pizza window on the Boardwalk, you can use one quick service point to get one slice of pizza, a fresh fruit bowl and a drink or you can use two quick service points to get a whole pizza, two drinks and two fruit bowls. That’s a great lunch for a family of five and you have three points left over. At Magic Kingdom we ate our quick service lunch at Cosmic Rays where a child’s meal can be eight chicken nuggets, fries, fruit and milk and at Colombia Harbour House in Liberty Square where the adults could choose salmon, quinoa and broccoli among other choices. The Flame Tree BBQ is a lovely place for lunch at Animal Kingdom where you can all enjoy chicken and ribs. Don’t eat lunch between noon and two to avoid line ups. And if you are paying with your meal plan points, everything is covered except tip at the sit down meals.

3) We bought our autograph books, pens and rain ponchos at the dollar store before we left home. This saved us money and we were still able to get memories of meeting Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Jessie, Mickey, Donald, Pluto and more. Rain or shine. May seemed to be an amazing month weather-wise at Disney. It wasn’t too hot and only rained on our last night.

4) We invested in a Photopass so that we could have the Disney photographers take pictures of us and will then be able to crop and design our pictures online before getting Disney to send us a disc of all our memories. If you get the Photopass Plus, pictures of select restaurant meals and rides are also included (ride photos are $15 each if you buy them separately and the Photopass Plus is $199 for everything).

5) We spent about 12 hours a day doing the parks and visited Magic Kingdom twice, Animal Kingdom once, Hollywood once and Epcot twice. We found Magic Kingdom less busy the day we went when there were no magic hours (those are the special hours when only guests staying at Disney resorts can visit the park).

6) If you see a staff member with a clipboard outside Magic Kingdom, ask if they are doing a stroller survey. We did that on both our visits to Magic Kingdom, and after a quick survey and picture, got a $31 double stroller for free for the day. On our second visit we were the first stroller family in the park so we also got four 8x10 pictures for free.

7) The fireworks at all four parks are amazing. We watched Illuminations at Epcot twice, Disney Wishes at Magic Kingdom once, and Fantasmic at Hollywood once. We also saw all the parades and enjoyed them immensely. After the Magic Kingdom parade, my daughter was trying to pick up the Fairy Godmother's confetti and she said, “If you get enough of this, you can fly.”

8) We used Green Beaver organic sunscreen which we bought at Whole Foods at home and because the tube is 90ml, you can travel with it in your carry-on so that you can hit the pools while you are waiting for your luggage to be delivered to your room if you are staying in a Disney hotel.

9) Because we were in a Disney hotel, we didn’t have to pick up our luggage at the Orlando airport. It just magically appeared in our room about three hours after we arrived on the Magical Express Bus that was waiting for us at the airport. When we went home, we checked our luggage in at the hotel lobby and we were given boarding passes. We took another coach to the airport and were able to go straight through security and pick up our luggage when the plane landed.

10) To save money on our flights, we drove to Buffalo and stayed the night before our flight at Marriott’s Fairfield Inn and Suites. We were able to get a package including a room with two queen beds and a pull out coach (perfect for a family of five), continental breakfast, parking for the duration of our trip, and a shuttle to and from the airport. The hotel was clean and friendly and we would definitely go back.

11) At Magic Kingdom we enjoyed the Buzz Lightyear ride, Dumbo, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan’s Flight, Snow White’s Scary Adventures, It’s a Small World, Mickey’s Philharmagic, Pirates of the Caribbean and more. Space Mountain was the only ride my four year old was too short to go on, but they will do a parent swap where one parent goes with the kids and as soon as they get off, the other parent can go with those kids and the first parent can wait with the child who is too small. At Animal Kingdom we did the Safari early before it got too hot for the animals to be moving around and the Kali River Rapids. We also loved Splash Mountain. The Lion King Show was amazing. Just go half an hour before the show time to get in line. At Hollywood , do the Toy Story ride first thing. It is a great one for young kids. We also enjoyed Star Tours, the Little Mermaid Show and the Muppet Show. The Indiana Jones Show and the Lights, Motors, Action Extreme Stunt Show were very entertaining. At Epcot we did the Soarin' ride three times and loved it. I recommend doing that ride as soon as the park opens. We also enjoyed the Aquarium and the ride through the Disney Living with the Land Green Houses where they are researching ways to grow food in less fertile land. And fast pass rides that are very popular so that you can skip the line ups.

12) You can use your meal plan snack points for drinks, fruit, yogurt, muffins, popsicles, ice cream, croissants, brownies and more.

13) I learned that Disney was going bankrupt years back and the Dumbo movie saved the day. Disney was also let go from one of his first jobs for having no imagination. He never gave up on his dreams and now makes dreams come true for millions of people each year. I am super-inspired by his story.

14) We paid for all but $500 of our hotel, meal plan and park hopper passes using our Visa points. You just pay for the trip in advance with your credit card, show your itinerary to the bank, and they will credit your card for the amount you have in points.

15) There was not a speck of litter, the washrooms were spotless and the employees were always friendly. I would guess that Disney is one of the best run companies in the world where customer service is paramount and exceeding expectations is run of the mill.

16) This was our first family vacation in 12 years of marriage. I didn’t know what we were missing. I will never forget the first family plane ride. The first time they saw the hotel pool. The looks on their faces as they plunged down Splash Mountain. Before we went to Disney, my 6-year-old said he heard from other Grade Ones that Disney is paradise. They were right. I totally recommend Disney and can’t wait to go back.