RV LIFE Podcast
The RV LIFE Podcast, created by one of the premier companies in the RV industry, is for the RV Community with a mission to Educate, Entertain and Explore the RV Lifestyle. The Podcast will explore all things RV Life: living, working, exploring, learning. With hosts Dan & Patti Hunt, full time RVers, content creators, educators and explorers.
RV LIFE Podcast
How to Save Money at Disney World: Budget-Friendly Tips Every RVer Should Know
In this episode of the RV Life Podcast, host Patti Hunt shares her wealth of experience and insider tips for planning the perfect Disney World vacation. Drawing from decades of visits, Patti offers valuable advice on budgeting, accommodations, park navigation, and money-saving strategies. Whether you're an RVer looking to stay at Fort Wilderness or a more budget friendly option and seeking the best ways to maximize your magical experience, this comprehensive guide has something for everyone.
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Are you dreaming of a Disney World vacation? I'm here to help you make it simple and stress-free. My name is Patti Hunt and you're listening to the RV Life Podcast. I have been going to Disney World since I am 16 and I have had many different types of experiences, and I thought it'd be a great idea today to share with you the tips and tricks that I've learned to make the Disney World experience easier for you. The RV Life Podcast was created to educate, entertain and explore the RV lifestyle, with the mission to inspire you to live life to the fullest.
Speaker 1:And if Disney World is on your bucket list of places to go, today is the episode you don't want to miss this week. What you Need to Know is brought to you by Open Road Resorts. They have amazing locations in Montana, idaho, nebraska, new Mexico and two of them in Texas. They have so many amenities at their locations. These parks are absolutely done right, and my friends at Open Road Resorts is offering 25% off stays of two nights or more during the 2025 season. The code to get this discount is RBLIFE25. It is all capital letters, it is case sensitive and you must book your stay by January 31st 2025. There are certain blackout dates that apply for each park. Again, I've had the opportunity to stay in two of their parks and just really love what they have to offer, both in their campgrounds as well as in the area. So what you need to know today, disney World in Florida had over 58 million visitors last year. Now, for some of you, that may have just turned you off to the idea of visiting the happiest place on earth, but if you stay around and listen to this episode, I will give you lots of tips to help you navigate the crowds and make the most out of your Disney World vacation. This, what you Need to Know, is brought to you by Open Road Resorts and you can go to Open Road Resorts to find out all about their many locations. Today is a solo and the tips today on navigating Disney World. I'm going to share my expertise, as well as the people and the experts that I have talked to, about how to navigate Disney World.
Speaker 1:My journey going to Disney World, as I said, started when I was 16. There was a special class trip that was offered and I saved my money and was able to go to Disney World, and I will tell you, visiting Disney World at 16, that long ago, keep in mind there were no TV and movies that showed the kind of things that being in Disney World showed. I was just in awe. It was one of the most amazing places, most amazing places. When I was married and I was in my early 20s, I spent a lot of time in Disney because my husband's family had a house in the area.
Speaker 1:My first trip, my son's first trip to Disney World, he was a year old. Literally I took him when he was a year old and when he was three and my daughter was six weeks old we visited Disney. I know it may sound a little crazy to be in Disney World with a one-year-old. People would say, well, they won't remember. And certainly sounds a little crazy to be in Disney World with a six-week-old but, truth be told, she was really easy because she was in the pouch or the stroller, she ate, she slept, diaper change, repeat. So it was kind of easy. I am excited now to say that I have spent many visits with my kids and now spend time in Disney with my grandkids. I just came back from a trip from Disney World where 12 of us were down there, including three young kids.
Speaker 1:So while I don't have all the answers, I think I could probably provide some helpful tips. These tips will also help anybody looking to go to Disneyland. I have had the opportunity to be in Disneyland and it's certainly an experience very different than Disney World Very different, all right. So let's jump in and get started. Before you ever go to Disney World, while you're thinking about it in the planning stage, I highly recommend you download the app called my Disney Experience app. Become familiar with the app, because this app is going to be your biggest help while navigating Disney World, and I'll talk about it a little more as we go through this conversation. You can use it to find special events. You could plan based on the times that the parks are opened and closed. All of this is right on the app.
Speaker 1:For those of you who may not be as familiar with Disney World, it does consist of four parks. That is the Magic Kingdom that we all tend to call Disney World, but Magic Kingdom is the main part and there's Epcot, animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. So once you get the app, you know maybe buy one of those books. I love the book and I can't think of the name of it right now. I'll put it in the show notes that goes through each park and shows each attraction. Again, you could do it all on the app or you could get a book. I like with young kids having that book and even letting them write in it circle the kinds of things they'd like to do.
Speaker 1:I, because of travel, am a Florida resident and was able to get a Florida resident pass, and while I don't have all the details on costs of visiting Disney, I want to give you the information that I do have all of the costs and all of that is easily available on the app or just going online. My Florida resident pass costs somewhere around $400 for the whole year and I am able to go to the parks Monday to Friday as many times as I want. There are blackout dates, but the pass has worked very well for me, especially as an RVer staying mostly in Florida for the winter. I could go run over to a park for a day. It has absolutely paid for itself many times over Anybody who is a Florida resident, this is a great pass. There are other yearly passes available and you can find them on the app or by going to DisneyWorldcom and look for different passes. Some of those passes pay depend on how many days you plan on visiting a park.
Speaker 1:The other thing to think about is a magic band. So a magic band is just that. It is a band that has you could get any kind of character or picture on it. They have tons of them in different colors. They have ones that get smaller for your kids or you know they're for adults as well. These are used to get in and out of the parks. They could be used if you're staying at a hotel, on property. They could be used to make purchases, so you could have your credit card linked to it so they could be used for purchases.
Speaker 1:This last trip I actually forgot my magic band. You could buy one and keep reusing it. I forgot my magic band no big deal. I just used the app on my phone, so not a big deal. There are some magic bands that actually light up when you go to certain attractions. There's a lot of debate online, discussion online. Are they worth having? It's up to you if that's where you want to spend. I think they're $30 and up. It's really up to you. I've used the band and not used it. I believe it's a personal preference. The band and not used it. I believe it's a personal preference.
Speaker 1:So let's jump in to places to stay when you're going to Disney those of us who are RVers and are going down and in our RV. I'll talk about that in a minute, but let me just address hotels. So if you're staying in a hotel, there are the hotels that are on property, and I've stayed at places like Saratoga Springs. I just came back from the Old Key West, which is a hotel on property. I've stayed at the Contemporary, which is one of their more expensive hotels. So there is a huge variety of places you could stay if you want to be on property. There are also places that are off property that are a little less expensive and again, all of the costs depend on the time of year, the type of accommodations you want. All of those things have to be considered. But for most of my listeners, we are RVers and we're probably traveling by RV, and let's talk about the ever so popular Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort. That is the RV resort that is on property. There are space for RVers of all sizes If you want to stay there in your RV and you have family members. They also have incredible cabins and they have all different sizes and cabins that will accommodate different party sizes. Now, in all honesty, disney's Fort Wilderness Resort is more pricey. I was.
Speaker 1:One of my plans was to go to Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort and that was just a matter of deciding. I wanted to go and budgeting for that. It would be something special over the top, that extra special type of place. If you're not looking to stay on property, I have also stayed at places in the area. So when I was in Florida, I stayed at Thousand Trails Orlando. This is a Thousand Trails property. You do not need to be a member to stay there. If you are thinking about staying there, I highly recommend at least checking in with a membership specialist to see if a camping pass would be a more affordable way to stay at Thousand Trails Orlando. Anybody that listens to the podcast knows I am a big fan of Thousand Trails. I have one of the upgraded memberships. It has paid for itself over and over again. I highly recommend our membership specialist, which is Sharon and Warren Lewis. I will put their phone number in the show notes. I was able to stay at Thousand Trails Orlando last year and Tropical Palms. There are actually 4,000 trails parks in the area of Disney within 20 minutes. I was able to stay at both of those parks for a long time and be able to visit Disney. While I stayed there, I paid zero extra other than my membership. I did not pay anything to stay at these campgrounds, but there are also state parks in the area that you could stay at. There are a variety of campgrounds that you could stay at.
Speaker 1:Florida has a lot of state parks, so keep that in mind when you're looking to budget, because one of the things I'll also suggest is, as you get started on your Disney, thinking about your Disney World. You know, vacation, your Disney World, visit, you setting that budget might be a good idea. How much do you want to spend? And that'll include where you stay. This is obvious where you stay traveling to the area food, the park passes, the things that go along with being in the parks. Once you're in the park and it's funny because I was with somebody this last time who hadn't been to one of the Disney, to Disney World in 17 years she did not realize once you get into the park, the rides and everything are all free. So I want to put that out there for people once you're in the park, what the extra expense is food, a lightning pass, which we could talk a little bit about, you know. But for the most part the attractions are free, so budgeting may be a good idea, setting that budget, how many people are going, the kids, what kind of souvenirs, all of those things.
Speaker 1:So one of the other big things is let's talk about the Disney, like I said, the Disney Pass. There are yearly passes. So I already mentioned the Florida Resident Pass, which for me was the most cost effective. I know not everybody has residency in Florida. There's also the different types of passes that you can buy that are yearly passes, or you could go in and pay for a day, or they have four-day, seven-day. There's all different types of passes.
Speaker 1:For those again who aren't familiar with Disney, I'm in Magic Kingdom. Do I want to also be able to go to Epcot on that same day? That's called a park hopper, which allows you to go to another park, and so something to consider. Again, looking at price and kind of navigating, that is something you could easily do online. Prices do change, so I'm not talking today about specific prices, except to say that going to Disney World is a financial commitment. It is more pricey, without a doubt. I honestly put up a question on social media and asked about Disney, and I had a lot of people that were just said don't go. I get that it's not for everybody, but here we are. We want to go to Disney World.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about food. Obviously, that's going to be a big part of your expense and here's some ways to make it less expensive. First of all, disney does allow you to bring in food and drink. Obviously, non-alcoholic beverages. Okay, like I know I don't probably need to say that, but there it is. So you can bring, you know, the water bottles that people carry around. You can put juice in it, you can put soda in it, you can put whatever you want in it, except for alcoholic beverages. So you know that saves you. Even just, I carry a water bottle with me all the time. It saves me on paying three, four dollars for a water bottle walking around Disney. So you can do that. You can bring food in with you. You want to go to the Disney Frequently Asked Questions to find out exactly the size of the container. So you're allowed to bring in coolers, but Disney does limit exactly what they want you to bring in. So you can do that. If you decide to bring food in, you just decide to bring a cooler in that fits their specification. There's also lockers that you could put it in. Keep in mind if you're in the back of the park and you put your cooler in the locker in the front of the park, you may not want to have to walk back to get it, but again, it is a way to save money.
Speaker 1:Food in the park is pricey. No two ways about it. We traveled with kids, so there were three kids One was eight and two were five. No, they're not twins. Two separate parents, two months apart, lots of kids, and so having those snacks for the kids Having snacks there's also. You walk through the park, you see the ice cream, you see the popcorn and all those things, but at least having snacks and drinks help offset the cost.
Speaker 1:Once you're in the park, you have a couple main options of getting food in the park, one of the things you could do. So the sit-down restaurants. They're your more expensive options and, depending on budget, depends on you know which restaurants, how often you want to go to these restaurants. You must make reservations. So within Disney there are more high peak season, so it's more crowded than other times, but regardless, if you're going in at a time where it's not peak season for a sit-down restaurant, you still want to try to make reservations and you could do that before you even start your trip. Once you get to Disney, if you decide you do want a sit down restaurant, you could call them and keep going online to see, because they get cancellation. So don't feel like you could never get a sit down restaurant. We, like I said, we're traveling with 12 people. There were some sit down restaurants. We wanted to have the whole party at the restaurant. Sometimes we needed to make two separate reservations to get us all in at the same time. Now, once we got to the restaurant, we would often ask if tables could be put together, and they do try and accommodate you as best they can. So, again, if you're traveling with a larger party, that is some tips on how to navigate that.
Speaker 1:The other option for food is what's called quick serve restaurants, and these are either counter service or cafeteria type restaurants. It used to be years ago. When you go you get the typical pizza or hot dog, a hamburger. They started adding salads in and actually years ago when I go to the park, I would get so sick of the quick serve type food. That, for me, was a bit of a problem. I need a little more variety, a little bit better food. I will say that there's been a huge improvement in the type of foods they are offering, and sometimes it's, you know, again, just french fries. The french fries I had at a quick serve was with garlic parmesan cheese on it. It was absolutely amazing. Again, not the healthiest, but they are doing other things. They have a lot more variety.
Speaker 1:Managing your quick serve meals can be easy. So I was traveling with 12 people. You know somebody's having a meltdown because they're hungry. It wasn't a child, it was an adult actually. And so going into a restaurant, having to wait in a line, what's really nice is on your my Disney Experience app. You could go into that app, find the restaurant, order your food from the app, say hey, I'm here right now. It'll tell you it's ready and then you go in and pick it up. So if you're at another area of the park, you're getting hungry, you order your food, you get there, it's ready for you, makes it so easy and simple. You even pay for it through the app. So that's a great option to get food quickly. And I just say that the quick service restaurants really do offer so much more variety than they ever had. I was really happy to see that.
Speaker 1:Okay, one of the things that while traveling again, as I said, I take a regular bottle of water, I freeze it. I don't bring my water container with me, I just don't wanna carry it. So I take a bottle of water, I freeze it the next day, I add a little bit of water to it. Especially if it's hot out, it'll start melting, you know as I walk. But for those of you who like to drink your water, you like that, that higher, better water, which I usually do.
Speaker 1:Clear 2.0 has been an advertiser on the podcast for a long time. They have now come out with a personal water filtration system and I know that sounds like a lot, but this is a very small, lightweight, compact. It fits in the palm of your hand and you could take water and put it in this filter and you have clean, fresh water. It actually it is so good that it'll take it down to 0.1 micron. For those of you, like I, did not know what that meant the smaller the micron level, the less contaminant that's in your water. Getting your water to 0.1 micron is just incredible. So this is a great device to have while traveling around Disney. It's Clear 2.0, it's dual filter and it will take out contaminants, bacteria, so you could go to a water fountain or wherever you are and have clean water as you're walking around. I just think this is a great option. They are offering a 15% discount on all of their products by using RV Life podcast, and there is a limit to the. I think that sale runs out at the end of December, but that is a great option.
Speaker 1:That reminds me when you're talking about what you're going to take with you. First of all, you can take strollers into the park. There are certain strollers that are not allowed in the park and I'm going to suggest people again go to the Disney World website to find out which strollers are okay to take into the park. Let me talk a little bit about stroller rentals, because that was one of the things that I have done with the family, because there's kids with Sometimes, honestly, the stroller, even though the kids are a little older, it's nice to have because you can put your jackets in it, you could throw your extra water bottles in it, you could throw your snacks in it. It's really nice to have that stroller. There is stroller parking throughout the park, so there's always places to put it. You could leave it and it is fine.
Speaker 1:Stroller rentals you can rent strollers in the park. They are not the most comfortable, best strollers in the world. They're plastic seats. They're uncomfortable If it's a younger kid and they're gonna fall asleep. It is not the world. They're plastic seats. They're uncomfortable. If it's a younger kid and they're going to fall asleep. It is not the greatest. This time. What my daughter did is she actually rented a stroller. An outside company that brought it into the park that we were staying at, the hotel we were staying at, so they dropped it off. There may be that same option for people staying in a campground. If you have young kids and you're staying in a campground, chances are you have your own stroller, but if you don't, that's an option.
Speaker 1:Okay, next thing, like I talked about, was budgeting, and obviously that's going to be the big thing really researching. There are companies online that help with Disney tickets and Disney World. You know how to best navigate Disney World and do it more affordably. There's travel agents that do that. I would recommend, if it's your first time, checking out the different options as to how to get the best rates for being in Disney, whether you want to stay at that campground or you're just looking to buy tickets, those kinds of things.
Speaker 1:Be careful, though, when you are in the Disney World area. When you're in that entire area within I don't even know how many mile radius, there are places that are all over the area that say discounts for Disney World, seaworld, universal Studio, these little pop-up buildings that offer discounts. I have no personal experience with these places. What I have heard are a number of not so good stories. So, if you're looking to do those discount type of places, absolutely look at the reviews, really thoroughly check that out. The last thing you want to do is buy a discount Disney ticket, get to Disney, get your kids there, and then there'll be a problem. So just bear warning. As I was traveling from Thousand Trails, orlando, to the Disney parks, you see a lot of those types of places.
Speaker 1:Now you have your place, you're going to stay in Disney, you have your park tickets, you have your snacks, your drinks to help offset some of the costs, and you are going into Disney World, and what is the first things that you and your kids see is stuff. There is a lot of stores, a lot of stuff to buy. As soon as you walk in, you are bombarded with the balloons, the popcorn, the food, the stuffed animals, all kinds of goodies, the clothes. I will tell you, traveling with 12 people, and nine of them being adults, the adults were worse with this than the kids. So the adults love their spirit jerseys. If you don't know what they are, they're these really cool shirts. You could go look them up online. The adults were just crazy, trying to find the stuff that they were looking for.
Speaker 1:Everybody wants to buy everything they see, but when you're going into the parks you go into a store when you first walk in and then an hour later you're in another store and you see something that you think, oh wow, this is better. My suggestion is don't feel like you have to buy the first thing you see, because a lot of times that same item you will see in various places. One of the suggestions, actually one of the Disney cast members suggested. I was with my grandson and he was looking at all these different things that he wanted to buy and she suggested that you take a picture of it and then, if you're staying longer than one day, if you're there in Disney for one day. You would take pictures of the things you like and then at the end, near the end of the day, maybe, look at those pictures and decide what you really want. If you're there for days, take the pictures and then look at them and decide, okay, what do I really want? And again I'll say, this is something that's great for the kids, but the adults that I was with that would have been a good thing for them as well, because they wanted to buy everything they saw and then they'd see something else and think that was better. So that was a great suggestion by the cast member to take pictures. My daughter, who was standing there, also added on take picture of the price and where you saw it, the store that you saw it in, because sometimes there are items that you will see in a specific store that is not in any of the other stores. So keep that in mind.
Speaker 1:Budgeting, whether it's for yourself or your kidsing, can be a big thing. I find that when I'm going into a store or I'm looking to buy something for my kids and I'm taking them with or the grandkids, setting that budget really helps to not be the wow, that's too expensive, no, you can't buy the thousand dollar Lego castle, disney castle. That's not in the budget. So having that budget with kids, one of the things my brother actually did is for each of the three kids he created what looked like money. Because there were three kids, he put their names on it and each of the tickets had an amount of money because he was giving them, say, $30 to spend and that way if they went in and they saw candy for $5, they could give him the $5 and they could kind of start to see what they have left.
Speaker 1:My caution or suggestion being a teacher, you have to keep in mind the age of the kid and the type of kid. So one of my grandkids wants to buy the thing that he wants quickly. He wants to be able to hold it and play with it and he's done and he's okay. The other kid needs to look at everything for the days that were there and then still has a hard time making a decision. So keep that in mind when you use the money. Kind of idea For some kids that works well.
Speaker 1:Again, for the adults that I was with I'm not sure if they're listening to this they know who I'm talking about they might have needed this system as well. I don't know how much they spent or how much stuff they bought. Don't know if they had a budget, but there was a lot of stuff. So it is a good way to keep yourself from getting home and saying, wow, how did I end up spending this much money? Do I really need this fifth spirit jersey, who knows? So that was a suggestion that that was something my brother did, which was a great idea for keeping kids, you know, on their own budget, and it also teaches money like how to manage your money. So I really like that idea.
Speaker 1:Traveling to Disney let me just give you, because everywhere that you could possibly save money on your journey to Orlando, florida, is going to be helpful, and it's more money you could spend on your Disney trip. One of the ways that I've saved a lot of money is with my Open Roads Fuel Card. This is a fuel card it is free to sign up for. Once you sign up for the card and you receive your card, you then go to your app and in that app you can see the places to fuel up across the country and they're popular type gas stations like TA and Loves. There are tons of them across the country loves. There are tons of them across the country and they said that the savings is an average of 40 to 50 cents a gallon. I'm going to say there are times that I absolutely have saved more than 50 cents a gallon. This is a no-brainer for people traveling in an RV or that have diesel fuel in an RV or that have diesel fuel. Great card you go to myopenroadscom to sign up for it. No-transcript.
Speaker 1:So let's talk a little bit about navigating from the campground and then, once you're in the park area and, like I said, there are four different parks Transportation I drove in. There's parking for me, because I have a resident pass, that is free. I'm not sure if there's some kind of discount for parking I should have looked that up but if you have a membership, then parking is free. But I parked my car. One of the things you wanna do when you park your car in these massive parking lots is go back to your my Disney Experience app and within the app there's something called Car Locator and you click on that when you pull into your spot and it'll tell you where to go after you spend the entire day in one or two of these Disney World parks and at the end of the day, you're arguing with somebody as to where you parked the car. It takes that out of the equation. It will you just go back to your app and it'll tell you where your car was parked. So that's a great feature Once you're at the park.
Speaker 1:So once you're in the parks a lot of people know there you have the opportunity to go from park to park, either with the monorail, the boats there's the Skyliner now that is relatively new or you could get on a bus to go from one park to another. So there's a lot of options. Just to keep that in mind when you're planning your trip. The other thing when you're planning your trip, you want to keep in mind and again the app is going to be very helpful with this let's say you're there for four or five days or you plan on going to all four of the parks.
Speaker 1:If you're doing that, you want to try to keep in mind what time the park opens and closes. That is not in every day. Every day is not the same. For instance, disney Magic Kingdom may close at 9 o'clock one night and the next night might close at 11. The parks open and close at different times based on whether they have fireworks, different events they have. There are some special events that are. You know there are extra hours that some people could get, so you really want to be cautious of the time the park opens and closes.
Speaker 1:The one day we went to Magic Kingdom for a good part of the day we did a park hopper so we were able to take the monorail or a bus to Epcot because Epcot was open. Later we went to Epcot and saw the fireworks there. I will say the Epcot fireworks the new fireworks are the most amazing fireworks display I've ever. Fireworks are the most amazing fireworks display I've ever ever seen. So we were able to do that plan around times the parks are open and closed. All of that is on the app. Wow, there's a lot. I hope this is helpful. I've got some more to go through that you know. I want to share that. I want to share One of the things that people have been talking about online that I've seen a lot is the four park in one day challenge.
Speaker 1:So that means people are going in for a single day and hitting all four of the Disney parks. Doesn't sound like that's something for me. I don't see doing that. But again, different things for different people. Whether you're adults that like to walk and like to move fast, whether you have kids that are constantly on the move, depending on what your likes and wants are and who you're with, that may be fine. I don't know who started it, but it's a big thing online For me, I have learned through RVing.
Speaker 1:When I started RVing, I would go to an area, I would go into that area and think I had to do everything in the one, two, three, five days that I was there. I was constantly okay, what are we doing next? So I was thinking about the next thing that we were going to do, and I wasn't focused on what we were doing at the time, nor was I enjoy the journey, which I say all the time because there's so much that you miss focusing on the next thing. And as RVers, a lot of us are moving a lot and if we're always thinking about our destination, there's so much to be missed. And for me, it was frustrating when I first started out and that's what I was thinking about Okay, what's next? And after that, what am I going to do? So I would say the same thing in your Walt Disney World adventure is to enjoy the journey. Take your time. You might need to change your mindset. You know like there are long lines. Sometimes Kids get cranky. As I said with the 12 people I was with, the crankiness was a couple of the adults.
Speaker 1:When you go with the attitude that you are going to be in line, that you know things aren't going to go as smoothly as you expect, that you know even the mindset of if you're going to Disney World, this is going to be the only time you think you're ever going to be there. And now you want to do everything. I don't know about that. That might be a tough way to go. So just things to prepare for, keep in mind, plan on, be conscious of as you're navigating your Disney experience.
Speaker 1:Let's talk a little bit about waiting in line. You go to Disney, you're going to wait in line. The app again is great for that, because when you go into a park let's say you go into Hollywood Studios and you want to go on the Millennium Falcon you can go to your app and see exactly how long the line is the wait time, how long the line is the wait time. And on top of that, let's say there's a special ride. My favorite rides in all of these four parks favorite ride is in Animal Kingdom, in Pandora, and it is the Avatar ride. You are on something that looks like a Banshee and you are flying through Avatar, through Pandora. I mean, it is the most surreal, amazing, and I'm not a rides person. It's amazing.
Speaker 1:One of your options is, if you have a ride that you really want to go on and you don't want to wait in line, an option is to buy what's called a lightning pass. Again, I don't know what the cost is. A lightning pass will get you in a different, faster line. You could buy a pass for a single ride, like the ride in Pandora, and that'll get you like a time that you could go on the ride. And I'm not being specific because Disney's kind of changed how these passes work. So it's best if you go online and find out right now how that works.
Speaker 1:But if you are waiting in line, there are things you could do to keep the kids. I'd say to keep the kids active. There's a lot that you could do. You also might have to keep those adults active. That's what I experienced. So if you are waiting in line again, one of the things my brother did, which was a cool idea. He created this activity book. If you're not as creative, you could go online and, you know, order it and find it, but it's a. It was a little four-page book that he made. He did an incredible job with it and each page had one of the parks. We went to all four parks and there were questions there, there were things that kids could look for and talk about, there were stickers with it, there were activities. A lot of times, the lines that you're standing in there's stuff in the area to look at or ask questions about, and there are a lot of books and things. You can go online or order books that will describe or talk about the history of the ride or something special that you could look for or some hidden thing that might be there. So those are some good tips for having to wait in line. This activity book that he created is amazing. I am going to try and get the file from him of that and I'll share it on social media for people who just want to take it and copy it.
Speaker 1:Okay, a couple other things. Sometimes you get to Disney, you are in Florida. It rains a lot, besides the fact that when you're in Florida, stay away from any water. That's not a swimming pool. If you're in Florida and you see water, yes, alligators could and most likely will be there. So obviously, stay away from the water. Florida has rain Now. Often it will rain for a half hour, an hour. It'll stop. It'll dry up.
Speaker 1:A couple of things to do. While we were in Disney, both this year and we were in Disney last year, it rained and you know we bought the Disney ponchos for the whole family. They have them everywhere. They're readily available. Again, if you want to save money, buy them before you go. They're small. So buy those ponchos before you go, have them in your bag, in a stroller wherever, but have them ready. They are great because you could still walk around Disney, especially if it's not cold and at night, if it's raining, it's not a problem. Also, when it rains.
Speaker 1:Some ideas for things to do Things like getting kids on the monorail. If they've never been get on the monorail, been get on the monorail, do the one monorail go from Disney Magic Kingdom to Epcot and then it goes to. It'll go to the Contemporary as well as the Grand Floridian and there are things that you could get off the monorail and do so. At the Grand Floridian right now they have this humongous gingerbread house. That is pretty much a must-see. Go, enjoy that, walk around. There's places to eat. You could get coffee, hot chocolate. At Contemporary, there's Quick Stop. You could go to eat. You could walk around there. There are shops there. Contemporary, if you've never seen it, is a really cool place to be. So if it's raining, there are things that you could take time out and do. Find a place to eat inside is always pretty easy to do. Stop and have a snack Again.
Speaker 1:I'm going to sort of wrap this up by saying mindset is everything. Your attitude is everything. If you're starting to get cranky, it might be time to go back. Take a rest, come back to the park. If you have a park that you paid for, you can leave and come back if you want. It takes a little bit of effort to either get on the bus or get the tram to your car, so you want to consider that. But taking those rest stops is really important. When you're doing the Disney thing, plan it out, so you're not trying to necessarily do everything in one day. If you have more days, again, plan it out. So it's not we've got to get it all done in the one, two, three, four, five days. The more at ease you are, the better the rest of the people in your party will be.
Speaker 1:Wow, I hope this was helpful. I am going to invite my RV Life listeners to make a comment. Whichever podcast platform you are listening on, there's a place for you to comment, leave questions, your suggestions. I'd love to hear from you. I'd also love to hear from you if you want to go to social media RV Life Podcast, instagram or Facebook. It's the community that's helped me to give the tips that I've given, but there's also so much more that we can share with each other on navigating your Disney World experience.
Speaker 1:Don't yet have that RV. If you're looking for Class A, b or C, I highly recommend NIRVC National Indoor RV Centers. They have six locations across the country, and if you're not near one of their locations, they have many ways for you to look at and purchase their new or pre-owned Class A, b or C units. One of the things you could do is look at their inventory online, and if you see something online, you could then go to NIRVC's YouTube channel with Angie Morrell, who will show you the entire unit, every piece of this unit. It's like being there. And then they have programs like flying by, where they will fly you in to purchase a unit. And for the second time in a row for the second year in a row they also have an event called Music City Motorhome Expo, which isn't until May 31st. But if you're going to go to this event, you want to think about planning because it will fill up. It is very limited and that's for people who are looking to buy a brand new 2026. They will have all the brand new 2026 units from all the major manufacturers and you could go, walk in them, sit in them, test drive them, talk to the manufacturers, talk to the salespeople, get all the food and entertainment. It is going to be an incredible event. I plan on being back for the second time.
Speaker 1:Well, it's now time for the question of the week, and it is brought to you by OpenRoads, innovative Toll Solutions, and this is a toll pass that covers all 48 states. It is a must-have. If you are an RVer, you must have this toll pass, and it's easy and it's inexpensive $24 a year for this toll pass. You sign up for it. Go to myopenroadscom. The link's in the show notes. There's a pull down for innovative toll solutions. They send you the transponder and you could travel across the country. If you should have a problem, they have concierge service that will help you through any issues you might have.
Speaker 1:Okay, so the question of the week. Obviously, this is a solo, so I'm going to answer it myself, and I always ask my guest or myself what is on their bucket list. Well, this last week that I was in Disney, I spent a lot of time in Epcot and I've been thinking a lot about my travels and now thinking more and more about traveling outside of the country. And now thinking more and more about traveling outside of the country. And as I toured Epcot for those of you who don't know, there are different countries that are represented in the Epcot area and I was drawn to Italy because that now is at the top of my bucket list for places I want to travel to outside of the country. Let me know what's on your bucket list by either going to my social media or posting in the notes. Love to hear from you.
Speaker 1:It's now time for the featured campground of the week brought to you by RV Life, and today's featured campground is Encore Miami Everglades Resort in Miami, florida. For those of you looking to get out of the cold weather and head south. Now I just want to add if you are looking to get out of the cold weather, I've got to tell you about airskirts airskirtscom. These are torpedo-like Think of a gray long torpedo-like thing. That's sort of plasticky. It's a high-end material that inflates with a pump that comes with the product. It also deflates. They fit around your RV. They are made for your specific RV size and shape and these are great. Go to airskirtscom to check them out. They're offering $100 off a kit order. I highly recommend checking them out For those of you who are not going to be in warmer places like Miami, but if you are, miami Everglades Resort has 300 sites and this RV resort is in 24 acres of tropical camping paradise, has many amenities and it's conveniently located to so many area attractions like Everglades National Park.
Speaker 1:They do offer full hookups and pull-in sites and they offer cottages and cabins to rent if you don't have that RV or you have friends and family that are coming along. Spectacular ocean view and there's so much more. This campground has a solid 6.9 rating on the RV Life Campgrounds and 192 reviews. So if you go to campgroundsrvlifecom and then you type in Miami Everglades Resort in Miami Florida. There is a large red book now button which makes it so easy to book your trip. To book your trip, there are many more photos, tips and full list of amenities for this property. As well as RV parks, campgrounds, resorts, city state and national parks, campgrounds at rvlifecom is the most comprehensive source of everything campgrounds that you want or need. You can get a 25% discount if you are not an RV Life member by going to the show notes.
Speaker 1:Okay, that about wraps it up Again. I invite people to leave a comment. Talk to me on social media at RV Life Podcast at Instagram and Facebook. Share questions, comments or just some ideas about what you'd like to hear on the RV Life Podcast. You have been listening to the RV Life Podcast. I'm Pettie Hines, wishing you a great rest of today and an even better day tomorrow.