Orlando Bingo Board
Updated: Sep 18
Research park crowd predictions, pick your dates 
Get a pick of your favorite character actor in action!
Book In Advance
I don’t think there’s any way to avoid it - a ton of planning and research needs to be done in advance of heading to the theme parks in Orlando. It’s a serious investment, and to get the most out of it, you’ll want to have a solid game plan before you step off the plane. This section is all about that ‘planning ahead life, and here’s your first tip: download each park app onto your phone before you go. You will need them to do things like:
Loading and showing your tickets digitally
Combining your entire party’s reservations to appear as one group
Manage Lightning Lane passes and other fast passes
Track real-time waits for individual attractions
Keep in mind which rides are must-experience for you and your group, and take a quick look in advance of your trip to work out what you’ll need to do to be sure you’ll be able to ride them - if it’s still a new ride and very popular, there will be timed entry passes, which generally means there’s no day-of standby line. Could be devastating, so put in the required reading in advance of leaving for Florida.
B1: Research park crowd predictions, pick your dates
Let’s start with the biggest factor, the timing of your vacation. I know it’s not always possible to be flexible with dates, but at least take a look at three items, as it’ll likely have a cascading effect on the rest of your planning and execution:
Crowd predictions - the seasonal swings of crowd density is generally well-known by this point in the Orlando area, and they can tell you in advance exactly when is the worst time to attempt to summit Mount Theme Park. Take a look at online crowd predictors [linked here] and remember that increased crowds not only mean longer lines and more challenging restaurant reservations, but also directly lead to increased pricing for flights, hotels, and rental cars.
Seasonal weather - what we realized, after many trips to Orlando over the years, is that there may not be an actually good-weather time in Florida. But be mindful of hurricane season, which can derail your plans at the last minute, and how hot or rainy you might expect it to be while you’re there, and which one would ruin your trip more.
Planned ride shutdowns - theme parks publish planned maintenance schedules in advance, and you don’t want to get caught with your favorite ride out of commission for a whole month while you’re there!
And finally, if possible, check your dates against the calendar of special events: Food and Wine Festival, Halloween Horror Nights, Very Merry Christmas. Especially for those who have been to the parks multiple times, these events can be a fun new way to experience the same place. So either you a) want to be there to join in on the special nights, or b) you want to be aware of these - for instance, Halloween Horror Nights means the regular park hours are cut short!
Shop around for housing options
A lot of folks just default to staying inside the Disney bubble, which, I’ll grant you, has a lot of advantages. You can enter the parks early, you certainly don’t need a rental car to get around inside the bubble, and there’s definitely going to be a nice pool and other services available to you. On the other hand, every meal is going to be expensive, and what if you need to get to Universal Studios on some days?
If your plans are more far-reaching than just the Disney properties, take a look around the Orlando area. They receive a staggering number of visitors per year, so the hotel and Airbnb industry is extremely strong around the parks. The hotels are all gorgeous and huge, have enormous pools, and often a shuttle to the various theme parks. We found a series of Airbnb properties that appear to have been deliberately built to be entire Airbnb neighborhoods, complete with huge swim parks on the grounds, and room for the entire extended family. The house we ended up renting had ten bedrooms, all with ensuite bathrooms, two laundrys, an exercise room, a speakeasy, a mini-arcade, and two bunkbed rooms with slides for kids. Zero exaggeration on that description, on my honor. Coupling that with renting a 15-person van, we found it easy to manage the large group reunion and transport to different parks per day. Remember to add back in the approximately $30+ a day for parking at the theme parks, per car, if you plan on driving yourself. And toll passes.
Double check park restrictions for bags, read up on lightning lane options
From our outside perspective, the theme parks in Orlando are all “theme parks in Orlando”. But each theme park does, in fact, have different rules and policies around ticketing, admissions, food, and bags. This becomes an unpleasant reality when the bag you were toting around Disneyworld without issue is now strictly forbidden on many rides in Universal Studios, and you have to pay for a locker to stash it.
To sum it up for you briefly (but do check yourself, policy information can go out of date at any moment, of course), Disney has trended towards “most bags are okay on most rides”, but some of the rides at Universal are much more intense, and you can sometimes bring nothing at all, if you’re going to get flipped around violently. (Not even your phone!) Save yourself the trouble, and potential dollars, if your bag doesn’t fit in the tiny regulation lockers, and cut down for Universal. Some others don’t even allow you to bring your own food in, just keep an eye out before you get there.
As for lightning lanes / fast track / whatever they want to call it. I’ve never been an advocate, since the park ticket is expensive enough as it is, but lines these days have gotten really significant, and the occasional attraction won’t have a ‘stand-by line’ (substitute word used for the normal, in person line) at all. Example: Cosmic Rewind was still a fairly new attraction when we were at Epcot, and they did not provide a line for people to just walk up and get in. You either booked ahead, or you bought lightning lane passes in addition to your park ticket. I know this is something of a punch in the gut - but as a new ride, if they left it for a free-for-all, the line would be longer than the opening duration of the park. As soon as demand numbers fall to under 2-3 hours, they remove the restriction and make it a normal line, usually at least several months after the grand opening. Nobody loves it, but newness breeds significant popularity.
Figure out your food - pack ahead, or book restaurants in advance
I may have been accused of being cheap, and I’ll take that in stride - I won’t deny my upbringing or what’s been working for me all these years, just for the pleasure of eating subpar food in a rush at an extortionary price. Don’t underestimate how many of these restaurants have eye-catching design, but major let-down in the category of flavor.
Disney, especially, allows you to bring food into the parks, and so why would you waste more time in lines to buy extremely high-priced snacks, when you can bring exactly what you want to eat, by toting a simple backpack (or even better, a cooler backpack!) into the park with you. Bonus, the cooler backpack can keep your hydration options actually cold all day. (Alright, I’m being harsh. The lines weren’t all that bad, especially if you just wanted a drink. Mostly you could belly up to a nearby person with a cooler full of ice and cold drinks and get something without serious delay.)
Themed restaurants inside the park can be a real experience, and some of them include meet and greets with character actors, but they book out far in advance, so you need to be on top of your planning to reserve tables at the right time for your party.
Prep for the heat or the rain - both are significant in Florida!
We don’t live in Florida, but we do often head to some tropical locations, so I have a variety of cooling fans and instruments, as well as things to keep dry in monsoon weather. Things I don’t recommend, specifically for this purpose:
Wearing sandals. My first instinct was, if it rains, or I get wet, of course I don’t want to be wearing socks and shoes. But shoes getting wet is a ‘maybe’, while walking thousands upon thousands of steps is a ‘for sure’. So unless your sandals are capable of being worn for miles and miles of walking and standing without digging blisters into your feet, don’t. If you’re extremely paranoid, you can carry these Japanese shoe covers when there’s threat of shoe splashes.
Powered hand fans. The heat in Florida is a heavy, wet, sticky thing. A little hand fan is going to do precisely squat, and is heavier than other options (but this is the one I do recommend for other hot areas of the planet). Once again, your main enemies are 1) being outside, and 2) walking a lot; a hefty battery-powered device is going to weigh you down more than cool you off. As an alternative, I’d say one of those extra-light circular nylon hand fans will do a more effective job while being as weightless as possible.
Umbrella. I have many varieties of umbrella for travel, some medium, some tiny and packable. And in other areas of the world, these are perfectly effective and a solid weight-to-usefulness ratio. Not Florida. Rain comes down in buckets, and if you’re carrying any size umbrella less than “ultra-grand”, your shoes will be soaked in seconds. And if your shoes are soaked, what’s the point in any of the rest of you staying dry? Your top is sweaty, anyway. As for the gargantuan models that would keep all of you dry, well those certainly don’t fit in a bag, so you’d be carrying around a huge weight in one hand, just to run around jabbing other guests in the eyes with the tines when you go to actually use it.
Things I do recommend:
Cooling towel: weirdly, I searched high and low around Orlando for one of these, and could not spot any for sale in the regular stores, which were otherwise brimming with beach and sun gear. Odd, maybe I missed it? I definitely saw some inside Disneyworld, and they were easily twenty bucks. So… buy ahead, I guess. All you need to do is wet these with any kind of water (plenty available around all theme parks, and if you can’t find any, just ask an employee. I’m sure it’s criminal to deny people water in the heat and swampness of Florida) and then shake it out before applying directly to your face or neck to get some direct cooling relief. Yeah, you may get damp or wet, but surely you already were in the sweltering heat. If you can find ice cold water, it’s extra effective, so pair it with some ice at the bottom of your cooler backpack, listed below. It’s the most direct way I’ve found of immediately lowering my overall body temperature, and it’s super portable, since you can pocket it or tie it to a bag when you’re not actively using it.
Cooler backpack: as mentioned above, this is mainly for Disney, which allows you a good-sized bag on many rides, and also seems fine with bringing in food. Avoid when going to Universal, unless you have someone in your party that will hold it while you’re on rides, because ours did not compress down enough to get into one of their tiny ride lockers. Also, as mentioned just above, this pairs perfectly with the cooling towel to keep drinks ice cold and cooling towels super effective. The backpack style is important to me, because the weight of drinks and ice, coupled with a lot of walking in the sun and standing in line makes me want two padded straps instead of a one-shoulder tote for all-day wear. The best backpacks have mesh-lined backs and shoulder straps so you don’t get too hot, but sweat is pretty much inevitable on most days in Florida. And the backpack I have boasts thick insulated walls that will keep ice in solid form for hours, even in the sun and heat. And actually having an ice cold drink on demand is amazing when you’re sweaty and gross. We broke out our drinks once we found seats at the Indiana Jones Stunt Show, which I highly recommend, because well first of all, it’s still a fun show. Aside from that, it’s outdoors, but shaded. On the day we were there, it was not terribly crowded, so it felt like a great time to break out some snacks and cold drinks, as it’s a 30 minute long show, and we got there at least 20 minutes early. Back to the cooler bag, overall I’d say they are effective, but quite heavy, so share the load by passing it back and forth, or hope you have a very sturdy person in your party that’s willing to carry it around all day.
Giant poncho: I watched enviously as other Disney guests pulled out ponchos and continued about their day, while the rest of us huddled forlornly under building eaves and umbrella stands to wait it out. Remember, to be actually effective, it has to be a super thick and oversized poncho, which means it’s going to take up some significant space in your bag, but if you’re going during the season of heavy rain, don’t underestimate how necessary this is. Florida rain comes down in huge plopping buckets, and will soak every part of you in moments. A generously-sized poncho will cover you, your backpack, and drape safely over your shoes, so hopefully they will stay relatively dry. This one has a built in pouch feature to keep your phone available and dry. And I like the snap-sides that let you adjust it on the fly and shake it dry a little bit easier than ones that have sewn sleeves.
Iconic Sights
I sometimes wonder why people fly themselves all the way to the other side of the world, just to get the exact same pic as an influencer, so in this section, I’m going to try and encourage you to get the ‘iconic’ pic (so you feel like you’ve been to the place), but also get a more ‘statement’ pic that shows us your personality. Do you like Goofy more than Mickey? Jasmine more than Belle? BB8 more than R2D2? Make your support known!
Get a pic of your favorite character actor in action!
There is absolutely no shortage of characters wandering around Orlando, and they’ve begun to get really organized about housing lines and having bigger scale meet-and-greets in dedicated air conditioned buildings. So there’s no reason to not catch a pic of a fun or unique character in real life. I’m not even asking that you wait in some line to have a pic taken with the character, though as shown above, sometimes the line isn’t even that long to get a fun interactive pic (the picture pavilion here in Hollywood Studios had clearly-marked digital signs that told us that the wait to meet Chewy was 1.5 hrs, but the wait for BB8 was only 5 minutes!). You can also snap a pic of anyone just walking around amongst the rest of the holidaymakers, like us.
Snag a spot to watch parade or fireworks
Just, be careful you’re not accidentally in a parade. Keep your head on a swivel, kiddo - the Empire can show up any time!
In all seriousness, for those parades and fireworks that have a scheduled start time, people start snagging the good spots really early. So, you can scout out a place early, get creative with your location, or compromise on a fair view.
Get a pic of yourself with the sign for your favorite ride
They often put a lot of thought into the theming of the signage for the rides, and it’s much easier to get a pic of yourself with the sign than it is to capture the feel of the ride with a single photo or video.
Embody a character in a pic as convincingly as possible
As long as a casual viewer can guess what character you are from a single glace, I’ll count this one as a go. It’s fun to mimic someone right next to them, but it’s also fun to try and make an exaggerated pose to try and convey inside a pic exactly who you’re trying to impersonate.
Get the classic park pic - in front of the castle, with the globe, etc.
In front of the globe or the entry sign is always good, but have you considered sitting with Walt, pictured here relaxing on his bench in Epcot? The professional Disney photographers also have a fancy ‘zoom-shot’ they can do if you buy the photo package. It takes a photo from a camera so far away you can’t see it, and zooms right in on you next to the big landmark - Magic Kingdom Castle, or Epcot orb. It creates a nice combination of an iconic wide shot (that you would have trouble getting yourself) and also a personal zoom in of yourself in there as well.
Not So Good for You
Travel comes with all sorts of hazards, and I’m a strong believer in rewarding oneself with some pity purchases if everything is going against me in one trip. That’s partially why I started Bingo Boards - to give yourself firm justification that you deserve an extra scoop of ice cream, because you’ve literally logged all five of the worst things to happen to you in one trip. Florida has enough special ones to warrant its own column.
Got caught in one those classic Florida rain storms
When I’m not rushing around trying to find the start of lines for rides and shows, maybe I’d be more appreciative of how impressive nature is, when those temperamental Florida rainstorms pass through. Maybe I’d be impressed with how Florida has created strong and efficient storm drainage systems. But no - I’m busy, rain! Stop interrupting my plans! So, whether you planned ahead and whipped out the ponchos and umbrellas to keep soldiering on, or if you just told yourself that rain doesn’t stop the hype train and got soaked on your way to a ride or attraction, or if you impatiently stood under some emergency cover while glancing at your watch, give yourself credit for having experienced it, and dealt with it the best way available to you.
Mark this one down with which of the three options above you used to deal with the rain. Add the best pic you can get to indicate just how rainy it was on that day. Maybe add the date and time, if you want to help future travelers, not that the forecast is in any way predictable on some of those wild Florida days.
A ride/ experience is unexpectedly closed
If you did your pre-trip research, like me, you will have heard about abrupt ride closures all but ruining someone’s day. Don’t let this be you, let it roll right off your shoulders, and onto the next step of the plan, with your backup being to keep checking back throughout the day. And I’ll count things other than rides or attractions - character actors disappearing on you before you could get a pic, an anticipated food item running out before you could buy one, or even not being able to find the particular souvenir you’ve had your heart set on.
Mark this one down with what you missed out on (temporarily), and what you did, instead. Pics of your replacement, or the sign indicating that your desired choice is unavailable.
Reached the upper limit of walking and standing, had to sit down on something unconventional
Disney has, in my opinion, gotten a lot better about putting benches and free seating around the park, and I certainly appreciate that. I think a lot of other places haven’t gotten the memo yet, that being on your feet all day isn’t the most magical customer experience out there. Especially in the hot Florida sun. Pickings are slim around Universal Studios, and I was surely not the only one sitting on a curb, a paver, or just an out of the way piece of floor. People get a lot less picky around fireworks and showtime, too, so don’t let your pride prevent you from resting your feet when you get an opportunity.
Mark this one down with what, exactly, you sat on, and what your step counter was at the time.
No choice but to wait in a monstrous line
I enjoy the process of planning ahead, and I also love it when a plan comes together. But no amount of planning is ever going to get you around waiting in some line at some point. Even throwing a huge amount of money at the problem (probably) won’t make it go away fully. There will likely come a time, when you weigh your options, and you decide that biting the bullet is the best, and perhaps most economical, way to go. It’s not a ding on your planning skills - after all, you’ve planned the day so you have enough time to spare for at least one stinker of a line, and there’s bound to be one ride that you deem worth the wait.
Mark this one down with which attraction you waited for, and the time waited (just the estimate posted, if you didn’t go to the trouble of actually timing it. If you did, awesome, note down the estimated time, and the actual!) Hopefully you grabbed a pic of the line to showcase just how big it was when you got there, or just how many turnstiles you wound through.
Got lost, got turned around, lost somebody in the shuffle
I have to mention the true nightmare scenario for parents here, and it’s no small inconvenience for non-parents, too. Occasionally, in the rush to find the most direct route to a ride or a show, we actually use Google maps to navigate inside the park, and though it hasn’t steered us wrong, there’s a lot of subtle turns that we’ve missed along the way, forcing us to backtrack down crowded streets to try and make it to an attraction on time. These days, with phones - and heck, airtags and other location devices - the fear of actually losing someone forever is not as threatening, but it does feel like someone put a fist through your itinerary.
Mark this one down with where the lost-ening happened. Maybe a brief description of why wouldn’t hurt. Bonus for pictures of “this way, NOT that way”.
Good for You
A lot of available options for this section, but you’ll notice that I’ve stuck with those experiences that give you the little happy buzz of “job well done”. It’s like a little magical harmony moment, as all the notes you’ve been hitting before and during the trip all align. When you feel that feeling, you’ll know you’ve been doing vacation right!
Planning ahead = money and time saved
This is an easy concept to give yourself kudos for, in Orlando. Whenever you walk past some huge line, and you already rode that ride via a fast pass, or smart planning ahead without that much waiting, give yourself a quietly smug pat on the back. Go ahead and peek into a restaurant and take a look at prices, and give yourself credit if you’re not paying those rates. Planning ahead can even make it so you pay less for the same experience as others, and you definitely deserve the satisfaction of a vacation well done in all those cases.
Hit over 20k steps, or nearly 10 miles of walking
I don’t know about you, but my typical work day would involve somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 steps a day. Even less, during pandemic, where I would roll out of bed and pretty much directly into my computer chair. Twenty thousand steps is a lot for me, and it’s not going un-rewarded with either a cold drink or a Dole Whip or something to that effect. Good job, me. You’ve put in ‘above and beyond’ levels of effort into seeing everything you can possibly see in one day’s ticket-worth of theme park. Especially if you’re at it from 8am to 9pm - you can get in a lot of walking!
The “Chosen One”
There’s a lot of opportunities at theme parks to feel like the Chosen One. I mean, they try to make every single person in Rise of the Resistance feel like a cool Rebel Alliance Leader. Definitely check this one complete if you got chosen to be the audience participation member in a show or something - but don’t feel bad if you don’t. I’m pretty sure they pick safe-looking people that are in the line extra early with a bunch of family - my mother-in-law has been chosen at least 3 times, and that can’t be a random coincidence. You can also count yourself special if you get any small gift from a Disney cast member, or even if you got onto the very front row of a rollercoaster. A friend of ours in the singles line for Hagrid’s Motorbike Adventure lucked into riding with someone who wanted to sit in the sidecar, and so he got to ride on the main bike! Lucky! I’ll even accept purely manufactured chosen-ness, like light-saber building and Bibbidi-Bobbidi Boutique. Anything that gives you that fun thrill of being the special one - that’s what the ‘magic’ is all about, right?
Randomly came across a performance or character you weren’t expecting
This one is slightly different to the later one about being pleasantly surprised by a ride you hadn’t planned on taking. Many performances around the parks are not publicized heavily, and can just happen spontaneously throughout the day. You either have to know in advance and be waiting for it, but more often, you’ll just come upon one while walking around. Take a second to stop and enjoy the random happenstance! We’ve seen acrobats, piano players, salsa dancers, and even animatronic dinosaurs. It’s part luck, and part ‘embracing the magic’.
Resisted the siren call of consumer debt
There’s pretty much no way to have gotten to this point without having spent a bucketful of cold, hard cash, and I’m not here to splurge-shame, but I will give brownie points for good behavior when it happens. If at any point in your Floridian adventures, you nobly turned down that one item that would have been above and beyond, budget-wise, you get credit. Extra good work if you tightened the purse strings and walked away from a sales pitch (which has no doubt been honed to a fine mirror shine against the millions of prior Orlando tourists before you). Extra-extra good work if you actually went to one of those time share pitches, sat through the whole thing to get your prize, and still turned down the hard sell at the end. All of these deserve kudos.
Off the Beaten Path
Far be it for me to suggest you take more precious vacation days away from a planned Disney-focused trip to go out and about, but let me at least say that Orlando, and the wider Florida area, has a few other things going on. Probably because so very many domestic and international travelers make the pilgrimage to the House of Mouse, many other tourist attractions are also plying their trade nearby. Especially if you have a longer stay planned, or have been before, here are some ideas to take some time to do something completely different than the same park mini-rat-race every day.
Boat adventure of some variety: Everglades, Disney Springs, Port Canaveral
This one may be a little more of a stretch than the others, but depending on where you’re coming from, Florida can have a significantly stronger boat and water culture than your home area. There’s opportunities for small boat rides inside the Disney bubble (such as the cars that are also boats in Disney Springs), but more significant boat rides await in the Everglades and Port Canaveral, all the way up to a full-on cruise leaving out of a nearby city. The Everglades is an extremely unique place, and the fan-boat is a pretty rare way to travel, so if you need to cross that off your bucket list, this is your chance. On the other hand, if you don’t want to travel the 4-ish hours, there are about hour-long tours that leave from nearby Winter Park that showcase more down-to-earth things like the local waterfront real estate, and two urban canals. We’ve taken the time to rent a boat way out at the Canaveral Barge Canal, which is a straight channel that cuts across Merritt Island. It’s a very reliable place to spot dolphins and manatees in the wild, and that’s not something you’re going to see inside a theme park.
Non-main parks: Legoland, Discovery Cove, Gatorland
There’s more that’s unique about Orlando than just the main parks. I know you probably came here for those, but where else in the world are you going to see alligators, or dolphins? If the answer, near your own home area, is none, maybe check out one of the others. You might be pleasantly surprised by fewer crowds or a shorter day. And it will still be a pretty unique outing!
Be pleasantly surprised by a ride that you didn’t plan on taking
This one is both easy and holds a surprising amount of promise! No matter how much pre-trip research you’ve done (and trust me, I did a LOT), there will be a good number of rides that you just didn’t read or hear anything about that will be able to surprise you with how much you enjoy them. And, at some point in your trip, you’ll be passing by something and the line won’t be terribly long, and this is the perfect opportunity to say “hey, why not, we’re here, let’s try it” and see if it’s going to be the pleasant surprise of the day. I’ll even seed the pot with a couple examples from my own experience: The Bourne Stuntacular Show (waiting area is hyper air-conditioned, as a bonus), Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway in the Chinese Theatre replica inside Hollywood Studios, and even Rise the Resistance (by going in with no pre-conceptions of what the ride is actually about). We also veered into the front of a small line to have an up-close encounter with a baby dinosaur, because half of our party was super dizzy after Velocicoaster and needed to stand still for a bit. It was a surprisingly fun experience, as the old ‘actor-driven’ rides are pretty much extinct, and this is reminiscent of that interaction (you can still ride Jaws in Universal Studios Japan at time of writing, but it’s not as good if you don’t speak Japanese…).
Education and enrichment: Aquarium, Science Center, Kennedy Space Center
I wanted to just put the Kennedy Space Center, because I personally find it extremely interesting. But I do acknowledge that it IS quite far away. So mark this one off if you spent any time at anything educational, even inside the main parks. There are small spots where you can learn a thing or two, and you’re never too old for learning, just like you’re never too old for magic. If you’re really scrounging for a way to count yourself as ‘educated’, try asking a available-looking employee some questions about an exhibit; while there were still dolphins at Disney, there was always at least two people standing right there, ready to talk about the dolphin habitat, or diets, or history.
Eat something new and unique
You know where this is easily achieved? Epcot. Especially during the Food Festival, held yearly in the fall. But also, you can just mosey over to Club Cool near the Guardians of the Galaxy ride and try a bunch of international sodas for free. They say that the Beverly is ‘notoriously bitter’, but I found it to be perfectly pleasant and interesting. Guess it’s a matter of how your taste buds are arranged. Other good places to find dishes or drinks you won’t have tried at your local restaurants: Toadstool cafe in Universal Mario World, Space 220 inside Epcot, or Oga’s Cantina in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. As long as it’s new to you, though, that’s a win.
Rewards
Here’s how rewards work for me, but feel free to make up your own rules. For every square marked off as complete, a tiny reward is in order. Something as small as added whip cream on top of a drink you were already going to get. Or a five-minute drink break. You can keep track of your ‘credits’ and burn them as needed when you’re getting tired of full-throttle vacation mode. For every line, a somewhat more substantial reward, more in the nature of a unique souvenir to take home. If you want to go for broke and attempt a blackout, good for you - or if you just want to name a column or area in advance that will ‘earn’ you a higher-priced prize, do that. The idea is, you’ve succeeded in your goals of vacation, don’t forget to mark the occasion as a job well done.
Pre-trip Splurge
Orlando requires so much pre-planning that I’m allowing for pre-trip rewards. If you hit everything in the “Book in Advance” column well in advance of even setting foot in Florida, then let’s consider some rewards that you also book in advance:
See ‘Splurge Dining’, below. Many of these, especially the ones inside the Disney bubble, require really advanced reservations. Truly pricey and requiring reservations in advance is the Fireworks Dining, where you have a seat and a snack with a view of night-time fireworks.
Not so much ‘booking’ in advance, but if you’ve spent all that time planning and researching, why not include some extra Disney or Universal movies/tv shows in your ‘research’? If you’ve got some time before your trip, you and anyone else that’s tagging along might benefit from watching or re-watching some properties that you might not have ever gotten around to, or you’re really keen on seeing. Hype for the Guardians of the Galaxy ride? There’s three movies now, a holiday special, and a video game. Checking out the new Epic Universe? Bet you haven’t seen at least one of those movies, and why not spend your pre-trip time wisely by knocking them off the list. Do you even remember the plot of King Kong? How about Pirates of the Caribbean (not that it has a lot to do with the ride!)? There’s an entire Star Wars area inside Hollywood Studios, and there are a LOT of movies and tv shows that can help you immerse your brain in all things Star Wars before you get there.
Splurge Dining
Treat yourself to one of the many extremely unique restaurant experiences around Orlando. Have breakfast with Disney characters and breakfasts, eat in orbit at Space 220 in Epcot, or dine next to sharks at the Underwater Grill. If you want to really throw down, book a fireworks-viewing restaurant. If you’re more the bar type, try Oga’s Cantina in the Star Wars section of Hollywood Studios for some unique (but pricey) drinks and one-of-a-kind droid DJ entertainment. If you’re the real party type, have you been to a Senor Frogs? You can find fine-dining and popular chef restaurants in a lot of cities, but can you do a pirate cruise with dinner elsewhere?
Sweet Treats
There’s a ton of options for sweets in Orlando that are fairly unique. I don’t see Dole Whips in many other locations, and Gideon’s Bakehouse is a popular institution in Disney Springs that always has a line. It may feel weird to reward yourself with yet another line, but the creative rotation on sale may make it worth it. Hey, I won’t object to buying a couple more than you would normally buy at home, seeing as you’re getting a well deserved reward for a vacation well done. If the line is too much for you (it can wind around in the sun, unlike a nicely air-conditioned line for a theme park ride), try EverGlazed Donuts on the other side of Disney Springs, which will reward you with a gigantic themed donut in several interesting flavors you probably won’t be getting at home. And don’t forget that butterbeer in Universal Studios comes in three styles: cold, slushy, and ice cream. My recommendation there is slushy, especially if it’s one of those punishingly hot days.
Extended Break Time
If you’ve been pushing hard, from park open to close, you (and family) could probably use a day off in between. Most multi-day park passes do allow for this - Disney and Universal aren’t slave drivers. If you have a 3-day pass, you can often use those passes on non-consecutive days. Almost every Orlando hotel, especially on the park grounds, has extensive pool areas catering to kids and families. Take the weight off your feet by relaxing in the water, or prop up those toes and get some sun in a lounge chair. If you’ve been nailing a lot of squares inside one day, you probably also deserve a mid-day break! If you’re staying in-park, there’s no shame in taking a quick jaunt back to the hotel for a quick nap, shower, and change of clothes. It could recharge you just enough to finish the day strong and help you last all the way through fireworks. Twelve hour days in the parks are no joke! If you aren’t staying inside the park, it’ll be a significant trek to get back to the parking lot, then back to your hotel, only to come back again and re-park and re-enter! Try to find a relaxing spot instead - Epcot wasn’t too crowded on the day we went, and we took a mid-day break by riding the Skyliner off property and then back again. It’s not air-conditioned, but there’s a good breeze, and if you get a car to yourself, there’s plenty of time to sit back and relax, giving yourself a nice footbreak.
Spend some time selecting the best, most representative souvenir of your trip
One interesting thing that’s been brewing at Disney and Universal over the years are immersive worlds that come with a ton of interesting and unique merchandise options. Long gone are the days where you have to get the one standard Mickey or Minnie hat with ears - now you can get hundreds, if not thousands, of unique varieties of ears (and other items!) that represent your exact fandom. Light up R2D2 ears, mini Hedwig shoulder clip-ons, Loki horned backpacks, the list is endless, and it sure is nice to get something unique to your particular favorite character, in either a fashionable or classy piece. There’s some high end Grogu Pandora bracelet charms, there’s knee high socks with Velocicoaster patterns, and there’s Toy Story alien plushies - the world is your oyster! Just give yourself time to carefully peruse your favorite fandom stores, either inside the parks, or a whole day off in Disney Springs or other shops outside. You’ve earned a moment to shop. Another suggestion for any downtime you experience: people watching for the purposes of souvenir shopping. Folks are usually super proud to show off their fandoms and purchases throughout the parks, and often pretty friendly about answering polite questions about them, too. You can take a break from being on your feet by sitting on a bench or at an outdoor cafe, and keep an eye on people walking past - take note of the items that you like that are on display in front of you: Luigi hats, light saber umbrellas, princess popcorn buckets. It’s not cheap, but there’s some very inventive merch parading around!
Theme Park Indulgences
Yep, you know they’re available for purchase, and maybe you already even budgeted to get some (or not). But if you marked off a row or two, I think it’s safe to reward yourself with one extra. And even though I rewarded you above for not making a purchase that someone is selling you hard on, let’s say you’ve earned at least one. Ride photo, funnel cake, themed treat, Dole Whip, Butterbeer, or maybe a stronger splurge, like a Harry Potter wand to activate secret magic spots, or a Power Up band for Nintendo world.
Bonus Photo Spot Challenge
Thanks for making it to the end - here's an extra challenge you can use for a free space anywhere on the board: can you find this spot and take this picture?
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