Your best WDW Secret!!

[KingJamesUT]

That was the Fantasyland side of the old Skyride. It was removed a few years ago.

[Emilysturning5]

Okay so I've been back for a month and have yet to write about our trip so here goes....First a Big thank you to all the great people at DWD Trivia for getting me up to speed before we went! My daughter Emily turned 5 in WDW and it couldn't have been more magical. We stayed at the All Star resorts for the first time and it was generally pretty nice. The buses tended to be a little erratic but all in all, a nice moderate hotel room. I would definitely recommend the dining plan if available, you would have a hard time eating all the food you were entitled to. Some neat things: We got Dream Fastpasses 2 days in a row. I kind of figured out how they were giving them out. Typically, around 1/2 hour after the park opens look for four Dreammakers in the light blue shirts and tan shorts and they'll walk into the back entrance of the ride that they're giving them out. I would have gotten one for the third day in a row but they ran out of passes while I was on Expedition Everest, but all three times I followed them and that's how I got them. I actually didn't use them because the lines weren't long but they do make great keepsakes! If you go behind Cinderella's Castle during the Dream Along With Mickey performance you can see all the characters going on and off the stage. Every character waved to Emily as they were coming off stage, she was on top of the world! The breakfast with Donald and friends at Tusker Safari in Animal Kingdom was the best of the character meals(we ended up going twice). Wear your birthday button, it really does pay dividends. Emily got serenaded in Fronteir Land by a band of traveling banjoists after seeing her birthday button. Use a quick service meal at Cosmic Rays in Magic Kingdom. They have a Chicken and Ribs meal that is out of this world! The paintbrushes on Tom Sawyer's Island was fun(if you find one you get a fast pass for Splash Mountain or Big Thunder Mountain) Plan on getting there early to find one. We watched the Spectro Magic parade on Main St. and when it ended we followed behind it and ended up right in front of the castle to watch the fireworks. We got to the parks about 15 minutes before they opened, I would recommend this. They have an opening show at each one and they're pretty fun. I ended up being the first rider on TOT, Splash Mountain and Expedition Everest on different days. My five favorite rides: 5) Test Track 4) Space Mountain 3) Soaring 2) Rocking Roller Coaster 1) Expedition Everest.

Can't wait for the next trip! Let's see maybe Emily's turning 5 and a half? LOL

[DisneyNamSooYun]

Did u have any rides or parades that u liked ?

[WSauerbier]

My Secret is more of a hidden treasure, but I love coming back from the parks and having a late night milkshake from the ice cream vendor at the resorts. At any resort with a food court they have the ice cream station and you can order a milkshake in any of the flavors of ice cream they have. It is always great to go there at 10:00-11:00 after a long day of visiting a park or two and getting a cookie dough or vanilla shake....looking forward to that in just a few weeks

Bill

[ncstatefan]

I'm new here---I have a secret for people staying at the Wilderness Lodge. If you check in early in the day, and talk to the person at the desk about the flag raising, you can be the selected family to go to the top of the resort and raise the flags! It is so cool because it is on the top of the resort and you can see all of the tall rides at the parks (Castle, Spaceship Earth, ToT, even as far as Tree of Life and Expedition Everest).

__________________________________________________ ________________
ncstatefan

2004- Wilderness Lodge
2008- Polynesian Resort

[KingJamesUT]

I'm new here---I have a secret for people staying at the Wilderness Lodge. If you check in early in the day, and talk to the person at the desk about the flag raising, you can be the selected family to go to the top of the resort and raise the flags! It is so cool because it is on the top of the resort and you can see all of the tall rides at the parks (Castle, Spaceship Earth, ToT, even as far as Tree of Life and Expedition Everest).

Great secret! I wonder if they would let someone do that if they weren't staying there. The Wilderness Lodge quickly became one of my favorite resorts after visiting during the holidays. Beautiful atmosphere.

[ncstatefan]

Sorry, they don't. We asked the front desk people this when we got to do it, and they said that you had to staying at the Wilderness Lodge.

[really_bad_eggs]

I know everyone knows to tell Disney about your special occasions when you make all your reservations for dinners and rooms for some extra magic, but you can get even more if you don't mind looking cheesy. When my wife and I went to WDW for our honeymoon we got the free wedding buttons and all the cast members told us congrats, but when we got our ears and wore the cheesy t-shirts my wife made that's when we got to go to the front of the line or got free snack. Cast members love cheesy.

[Geef]

Most people who visit "Toodntown" come from the Fantasyland enterance and never walk al the way back to the train station. If you walk up to the train station and look left, you will see a wide walkway that leads behind the tent where you wait to see Mickey.
For most of the day there are 5 or 6 different charecters hanging out back there with little to no lines.
We were there in May and happened on them. We met a Penguin, Meeko, Pinochio, Marie and Raffiki.

[joanna71985]

Most people who visit "Toodntown" come from the Fantasyland enterance and never walk al the way back to the train station. If you walk up to the train station and look left, you will see a wide walkway that leads behind the tent where you wait to see Mickey.
For most of the day there are 5 or 6 different charecters hanging out back there with little to no lines.
We were there in May and happened on them. We met a Penguin, Meeko, Pinochio, Marie and Raffiki.

This is totally random though, and doesn't happen everyday.

[WDWmemories]

I took a behind the scenes tour once and the tour guide pointed out small metal markers in the street / pavement on Main Street USA in the Magic Kingdom. If you look carefully you can see them. These are actually signals that the parade floats use to transmit data to the central control room so that everything stays on schedule!
Cool!

[WDWmemories]

Coolest Thing Ever (Even though it might not sound like it.):
Wait for Space Mountain to Break Down.
No. Really. You read correctly.
Here's why: When Space Mountain breaks down, it takes a good 45 minutes to an hour to start it back up again. Disney is extremely cautious when a ride breaks down, and will spend whatever time necessary to figure out the problem. On a high-profile ride like Space Mountain, they'll do whatever it takes to ensure ride safety...
Of course, there are only a couple of ways to know that it's broken down (One being that you're in line, the other being that you're attempting to queue.) Either way, I recommend leaving the line and talking (calmly) to the CM at the entrance to see if you can get a Fastpass for later (If you have one, hold on to it! They'll be good for the rest of the day.)
Now... go to the Tomorrowland Transit Authority/WEDWay/People Mover.
Why? Because the TTA goes through Space Mountain. And chances are, the lights in Space Mountain will be... you guessed it...on.
You can see EVERYTHING! The entire ride looks like steel spaghetti. You can also sometimes hear them alert the CMs operating on the ride. You'll get about 45-60 seconds of looking at Space Mountain with the lights on.
Just don't take any pictures. Your camera/pictures will be, most likely, subject to confiscation.
And you thought that you'd have to spend your time next door playing Galaga waiting for them to fix Space Mountain.
-Joe

I wasn't able to plan it as outlined above, but I was able to tkae some pictures of Space Mountain with the lights on. Here are a few picutres:








You can see more of my Space Mountain pictures, including more 'lights on' picutres, on my web site starting here:

Disney World - Magic Kingdom - Tomorrowland - Space Mountain

Enjoy!

[bamfer23]

I know everyone knows to tell Disney about your special occasions when you make all your reservations for dinners and rooms for some extra magic, but you can get even more if you don't mind looking cheesy. When my wife and I went to WDW for our honeymoon we got the free wedding buttons and all the cast members told us congrats, but when we got our ears and wore the cheesy t-shirts my wife made that's when we got to go to the front of the line or got free snack. Cast members love cheesy.

Along the same lines, we went to Disney back in July. The last day we were there was my girlfriend's 25th birthday. We did the typical "get the birthday pin" from the guest services desk when we got to Magic Kingdom.
I am really impressed by how every single cast member made a point to stop and wish her a happy birthday.
Also, the fabulous Dapper Dans stopped her on our way out of the park, and sang not one, not two, but THREE songs for her, including happy birthday (and, she got to wear one of their hats the whole time, haha)

[bamfer23]

And then guides us into the servant's entrance! I wasn't able to take a photo because I was in awe but it was cool! It was only about a 20 foot long hallway with some old skelaton keys and other stuff hung up, but it was cool to go that way! I told my daughter "way to take one for the team!" Of course the wife didn't appreciate that!

They showed us this on the "Keys to the Kingdom" tour when we went. It was so awesome...I, like you, was too much in awe to take any photos, haha. The amount of detail that goes into things that very little people see is incredible!~

[thunderman04-07]

Heres a fun little thing. Go to Journey to imagination and wait for the very last row. Not next to last....the very last row. If they have the Idea Car coming up, ask if you can wait one. Now during the ride, after you get to the place where you see the dancing figment outside the Touch and Taste Labs, keep your eye on THAT Figment, 8 times out of ten if you watch after you pass he will wave goodbye to you. hehehe