My WDW Non-Negotiable WDW - Volume 1

Over the years of visiting WDW, several non-negotiables have emerged.  These must-haves are no longer discussed during the planing stages of an upcoming trip.  My husband knows that I will not budge on these topics, and he is usually in agreement - which is very helpful in keeping the peace in a Disney Dork's household!


A few of our must haves and why they have made our non-negotiable list:


#1 -- Stay on Property


We will ALWAYS stay on Walt Disney World Resort property if we have any say in the matter.  Now, this usually requires that our wallet is a little fatter than usual, thus we must save up for a resort stay.  We have stayed off-property several times, and it is okay for a shorter WDW trip, or if we intend to do other activities during our stay.  There are many very nice properties on which we have stayed, and have enjoyed them very much, but the Disney magic is definitely lost.  If our intention is to immerse ourselves in the magic of Disney, we will always choose to stay in one of the WDW resorts.  
As a side note, we also have a sub-non-negotiable here.  We prefer to stay in a moderate resort over the value resorts.  Again, this option requires financial saving, so if we are planning a true Disney experience, we will always choose to stay in a moderate resort or better.


#2 -- Bring Our Own Stroller
Yes, it is true that WDW will rent strollers to guests at every park on property, but we have chosen to leave this particular piece of Disney Heaven to others.  Single strollers can be rented each day for $15, and doubles for $31.  Guests can choose to opt for a length of stay charge, and pay $13-27 per day.


Some people adore the strollers at WDW.  In my opinion, these are the families who think that they can skirt by without bringing their stroller for their child/children.  They have entered the park with no saving rest haven for a weary child, increasingly heavy backpack, gift store purchases, and Dumbo-sized souvenir mug.  These individuals welcome the rented stroller - no matter the cost!  In all reality, the strollers at WDW are hard molded plastic tripods. They do not recline, and have a small canopy to offer some shade from the blazing Central Florida sunshine.          


Others argue that carting a stroller around the resort property is a pain.  While boarding and riding the buses while toting a stroller is a true nuisance, it is akin to standing in line with Disney-level excited young children, while waiting to rent a stroller before the daily dose of Disney magic can begin - at EACH PARK.  Herein brings up another non-negotiable regarding Disney Transportation, which I will save for later.  Another drawback to stroller rental is that it is only offered at the parks.  If you are visiting Downtown Disney or Resorts, you are simply out-of-luck!  These drawbacks are not worth the cost of renting a stroller in my opinion.   


For my family, it is important to have a comfortable stroller for my children, and space for  our stuff.  Regardless of the stroller we bring -- Our Chicco umbrella stroller or Baby Trend Sit and Stand Deluxe -- it will always be ours!


#3 -- Buy a AAA Diamond Parking Pass -- & Use It!
For many years we prided ourselves on being Disney Transportation folks.  We loved the ease of using the buses on Disney property, and appreciated the pickup at the airport, to and from Port Canveral on our Disney cruise, and the short waits at the bus stops.  Then...we had children!  
Once the first child came along, we found that riding the buses were more of a hassle than we had previously thought.  The short wait times, we realized, were really more like 20 minutes or more at each bus stop, which we ALL know is an eternity with a child in any state of Disney Euphoria or Distress.  The ease of utilizing the buses decreased as soon as we brought our stroller with us (see above).  With our Chicco umbrella stroller, we found we could semi-easily juggle it and a baby while squeezed on the over-crowded buses.  But when baby #2 came along, it was nearly impossible to ride the buses with two little ones and our double stroller (our first trip as a family of 4 was with children ages 3 and 24 months).  


It is my opinion that the Disney Transportation System is a great idea in theory, and was even a great system at its birth.  Walt Disney World Resort has spent a lot of time and effort advertising said system to it's guests and encourages everyone staying and playing on property to utilize it's internal buses.  While it is a dream for drivers in cutting down on the traffic backup that can happen on the WDW property, it has grown into a huge mess.  So many people clog the buses, and there just aren't enough butt spaces for every guest.  Great idea...needs some improvement.
Our last two trips, we resolved to use the Disney Transportation System as little as possible (we tried once).  We purchased a Diamond Parking Pass from Ebay for a very low price and were able to park very near the entrances of each theme park.  Given that we were staying on property, we were not charged the $14 parking fee.  By parking in the diamond parking lot we were able to bypass the long traffic lines to the regular lots, and in some circumstances (Epcot) we were even closer to the entrance than the buses!  We threw our Sit and Stand stroller into the back of our van, and drove to the front of the parking lots, and were into the parks in a fraction of the time.  These parking spaces were especially welcome when we headed home at the end of each day at the parks.  We NEVER had to wait on a bus, we NEVER had to break down our stroller, we NEVER had to share a seat with  a stranger, we NEVER had to endure dirty-looks from others at the behavior of our children as they rode the long bus route back to the room.  Get a AAA Parking Pass -- it will change your mind about Disney Transportation.