Insider Top Tips Archives - Attractions Magazine

May 6, 2011 Posted By 4 Comments

Insider Top Tips: Where to go when you have to go – The best bathrooms in Disney’s theme parks

Column by Kevin Yee

There are lots and lots of bathrooms at Walt Disney World. So many in fact, that it’s not hard to locate the nearest one. You can always ask a nearby Cast Member for help; usually the closest lavatory is mere steps away. But it can be difficult to find one that is uncrowded, particularly if – let me try to sugarcoat it this way – you don’t want to feel rushed. And by “unrushed,” what I mean is, you would rather be someplace where no one is waiting on you, which usually translates to there being a lot of toilets. I debated whether to even raise this topic – the jokes write themselves – but let’s face it, even this facet of human nature is part of the calculus in enjoying a trip to sunny Orlando. [Read more…]

December 10, 2010 Posted By 3 Comments

Insider Top Tips: The best way to buy a Butterbeer

Column by Kevin Yee

Universal’s new Wizarding World of Harry Potter powered its parent company to some great quarterly profits in 2010, no doubt due to the amazing Forbidden Journey ride and those $25 wands. But a more humble item attracts equal attention from the rabid fans: the lowly beverage known as Butterbeer. [Read more…]

May 11, 2010 Posted By Leave a Comment

Insider Top Tips: Beating the heat at SeaWorld

By Kevin Yee

Like every other theme park in Central Florida, SeaWorld has to contend with excesses of heat and humidity in the summer. There’s no escaping the fact that sub-tropical Florida has tropical temperatures that could turn your trip into less of a vacation and more of a death march.

But that doesn’t mean there’s no escaping of the heat itself. You can, in fact, effectively hide from Florida’s sometimes-brutal environmental conditions, if you plan your day carefully enough. This is very much a park-specific plan, however. [Read more…]

March 2, 2010 Posted By 1 Comment

Insider Top Tips: Packing for your vacation – expect rain

By Kevin Yee

It may be true that the summer is theoretically the rainy season for sub-tropical Florida (when it seemingly rains as if on cue between 3 and 5 p.m.), but it’s not uncommon for rain showers to surprise visitors in the winter months too. As a consequence, visitors are well-advised to prepare for just about any type of weather, no matter what the season. And no matter what the 10-day forecast says.

But preparing for rain should ideally be a lot more than remembering to bring along your umbrella. Yet even that simple step is something that numerous out of towners routinely forget, often enough to prompt hotels, supermarkets, Targets and Wal-Marts to stock plenty of extras.

Actually, quite a few visitors opt to eschew the umbrella entirely, with the theory that if it should happen to rain, they will simply wait it out somewhere dry. That’s not at all a bad strategy. Most Central Florida rainstorms, especially in summer, arrive all at once, peak in ferocity several minutes later and abate within a half an hour. If you can stomach the idea of huddling in a shelter for 30 minutes, this would likely be all you’d need to plan for, barring larger weather systems.

Others start out with that mindset, but turn impatient within a few minutes of the forced inactivity. All the major theme parks know this of course, and conveniently stock rain ponchos in all their stores for just such a downpour. Usually approaching $10, these heavy ponchos certainly stave off the worst of the drenching rain, but they don’t protect your lower legs or your shoes (more on footwear in a moment). Because they are so heavy-duty, they are built to last multiple visits, and indeed some visitors bring their ponchos from prior visits. But the thicker plastic comes at a price — these devices don’t let skin breathe, and remember that Florida is frequently humid (especially in summer), and being hot and wet simultaneously is hardly a recipe for a memorable vacation.

It may be more cost-effective to buy disposable ponchos. You can find much thinner ponchos for about $1 each in all the local supermarkets, drug stores and big-box stores. These are essentially single-use rain covers, though it is eminently possible to spread out a wet one and dry it overnight for the next day. Because they are thinner, they don’t trap as much heat as the Disney, SeaWorld or Universal branded ones. Best of all, they fold down to fit literally inside a pocket. That’s quite handy for light travel. If your hometown stocks such supplies, it would be worthwhile to buy them before you travel, rather than afterward.

Rain and Strollers
Parents with stroller-age children will similarly want to seek out a plastic cover before they leave for Orlando. Your locals Babys R Us will have stroller covers that will give you a peace of mind you can’t fully appreciate until you’re in Orlando, on vacation, and setting off for a ride. Without such cover, many tourists find themselves frantically seeking out sheltered areas for the stroller before each ride, only to discover afterward that studious employees have moved the stroller to the proper, usually open-air stroller parking zone. Remember: rain storms come without warning in Florida; it’s best to assume it will rain in your absence. Without a stroller cover, your only other option is to spread out a poncho over the stroller before you leave. If you do it judiciously enough, this may work. But why take the chance? Buy a stroller cover before you leave your home city.

What to Wear
Lastly, let’s talk about clothing. If it’s winter, you’re clearly going to want pants and long sleeves since it can hit below-freezing temperatures on rare occasions. But just about every other time of year, shorts are appropriate.

But what should your footwear look like? Many travelers know not to wear brand-new sneakers on a trip with a lot of walking (a recipe for blisters), but if you must know my inner perspective, I’d advise you to wear sandals (without socks) just about every day of the year, barring a forecast for a freeze. Why? Because rains are a prospect just about every other day, and nothing ruins your ability to walk around the parks like soggy shoes and even soggier socks (talk about blisters!). Buy sandals, flip-flops, or Crocs that you expect to get wet and won’t be any worse for the wear.

We do this ourselves. We wear “rain shoes” (as we call them), shorts, and carry umbrellas with us in the parks. Then, it’s always fun to venture out in the downpour, completely protected (including the stroller – fully covered), while watching the huddled masses waiting it out in the stores. If you pack properly for rain, there is no reason to let the weather slow you down.

Leave your rainy day tips in the comments below.

• Kevin Yee is a theme park enthusiast and author. He’s written seven books about Disney theme parks, including his most recent work, an interactive children’s book called “Your Day at the Magic Kingdom“. He visits at least two Central Florida theme parks per week and is now working on an upcoming book compiling all the best tips for a trip to Orlando. You can find out more about Kevin at his Web site ultimateorlando.com.

February 14, 2010 Posted By 2 Comments

Insider Top Tips: Avoiding International Drive and I-4 traffic

By Kevin Yee

Welcome to Insider Top Tips. This column proposes to amalgamate some of the best “insider” tips for visiting Orlando and its world-famous attractions. Think of it as “tips from a local.”

I’m a local now, of course, though like most Floridians, I was a transplant from somewhere else (in my case, from Southern California and Disneyland, with stops in the Midwest and North Carolina along the way). I’ve been in Orlando since early 2004, and an East-coaster since 2002. Moving into the area has its advantages, since I got to experience the confusion, and sometimes frustration, of being new to just about everything.

There’s no shortage of information out there about visiting Orlando. You can find Web sites with volumes of data and ideas, and entire books (some the size of encyclopedias) chock full of things to see and do. I propose to do something a little different. First, this blog will be more selective; these are only the “top” tips. Second, I’m going to try to keep a broader focus than just rides and shows. You’ll find ideas here about effective planning, saving time, saving money, ensuring as smooth an experience as possible, and other such wide-ranging topics.

We’ll kick things off with a look at navigating around Orlando. Today’s article will be helpful only if you’re not using Disney’s shuttle service, Disney’s Magical Express, offered for free to guests of their hotels. If you have that service, you’re likely not traveling beyond Walt Disney World and have no need to navigate the streets at all. This is also true if you’re using the Mears shuttle service, the main source of transportation from Orlando International Airport to hotels.

For visitors wanting a more free-form experience, you’ll want to rent a car. This frees you up to visit different parks, and gives you enormous flexibility with timetables. (Expect a lot of waiting for buses and shuttles if you don’t have your own car, especially in peak moments such as closing time.). Some visitors may opt to rent a car once away from the airport (Disney’s Car Care Center offers Alamo rentals from the Magic Kingdom parking lot, for instance.), but it’s most common to arrange for car rentals from the airport directly. There’s even an entire floor in the terminal dedicated to these rental car counters.

But do you really know your way around Orlando? You probably know about Interstate 4, the main artery diagonally bisecting the city. (I-4 gives rise to a pun on Magic Kingdom’s Main Street, where one window honors the “Ayefour Corporation”.) And if you rented a car from the airport, you probably also encountered State route 528 (aka, the Beachline, formerly Bee Line). It’s an east-west toll road that passes right by the airport and is the conduit most visitors use to get to I-4 and the theme parks.

It’s possible you followed the signs from the airport, which prompt you to either head south away from SR-528, or even head on SR-528 “away” from I-4. What’s behind the ploy is to get more clueless tourists using an alternate route to Disney World, another toll road called Sate route 417. The SR-417 is longer and involves more tolls than the SR-528, hence the misleading signs.

All the major theme parks line up along I-4. You’ve got Disney in the south, SeaWorld in the middle, and Universal at the top. Some visitors know that a side-street connecting all of them, parallel to I-4, is International Drive (I-Drive). Indeed, this has become such an important conduit for tourists that countless hotels and restaurants have set up shop on I-Drive.

The trouble is, that level of activity translates into enormous traffic problems, sometimes even honest to goodness gridlock. Find yourself on I-Drive on a Friday night, for instance, and you could be in for a long wait to make it a few miles. As a result, you’ll want to bone up on alternate routes.

Your first choice as an alternate to I-Drive should be Universal Boulevard, which is a bit misleading since it doesn’t actually intersect with the Universal parks. It’s also parallel to I-4, and is “one street over” from I-Drive, further from I-4. Driving speeds here are unimpeded, and it’s a life-saver to skip past all the I-Drive traffic. Frequent cross-roads here all lead from I-Drive to Universal Boulevard; simply head away from the freeway to find the next stoplight and you should locate it.

Your second choice is Turkey Lake Road, which also parallels I-4, but on the other side from I-Drive. I’ve found drivers on Turkey Lake Road to be a touch more impatient, perhaps implying a higher percentage of locals. This may make the drive over here a bit more stressful, plus it’s a little easier to get lost as you approach Walt Disney World from the north. (Short version: It turns into Palm Parkway, then you’ll want to turn left at Apopka Vineland Road, also known as State route 535, before rejoining I-4 or simply turning into Downtown Disney via Hotel Plaza Boulevard.) There’s even a way to connect the dots between Turkey Lake, Universal Boulevard, Sand Lake Road and Apopka-Vineland Road, but that’s probably more than you need to know.

It may sound complicated (and on your first drive, it probably is), but trust me, when bottleneck sets in, you’ll do just about anything to avoid the very long delay you risk facing on I-4 or I-Drive. My advice is to print a copy of this story and keep it in your rental car, just in case.

• Kevin Yee is a theme park enthusiast and author. He’s written seven books about Disney theme parks, including his most recent work, an interactive children’s book called “Your Day at the Magic Kingdom“. He visits at least two Central Florida theme parks per week, and is now working on an upcoming book compiling all the best tips for a trip to Orlando. You can find out more about Kevin at his Web site, ultimateorlando.com.