There are a million “Disney tips and tricks” blogs out there, but from a localite:

If you’re staying in a Disney resort, you won’t need a car unless you really want to see the rest of Orlando. If you’re staying off-site, get a car.

Get there early in the morning. They do a cute little opening ceremony on Main Street before the gates open. Then you can zip around and hit the really big rides early (to cut down on the time spent waiting in line) and do the more kiddie stuff and sightseeing later on.

You can bring your own food and drink into the park, if you want to save money or have a restricted diet. It’s totally allowed and you don’t have to hide it.

None of the rides go upside down so you can bring all your bags with you. No fussing with lockers necessary.

Don’t wear white without something underneath. We’re getting into summer weather now which means afternoon rain. Waterproof sunscreen is your friend, but don’t forget to reapply after toweling off, and every three hours besides.

Drink only bottled water. Not that the water there is bad, but water from different municipalities can make you sick.

When we did Disney a few times when the kids were little, we stayed on property and used the shuttles. We would go to the park in the morning, leave midday when the crowds and lines were biggest, and then go back for a while in the late afternoon. A resort with a pool occupied us in the early afternoon.

Favorite rides for me were Pirates of the Caribbean, Swiss Family Robinson tree house and the Haunted Mansion. The kids liked Space Mountain as well. You probably have to do It’s A Small World” for the kitsch factor.

I’ve been there several times in the past three years. I will link for you a TripAdvisor forum site where you can read specifics on what people do when they’re there. People plan their trips down to the minute, which, to me, is crazy but some of what Disney does makes you plan ahead and it can be beneficial for time saving.

Here’s what I did when I went both times: I planned how many days I wanted to spend in Disney Parks (Magic Kingdom aka MK, Epcot, Animal Kingdom aka AK and Hollywood Studios aka HS). I bought the tickets from AAA. I didn’t do “park hopper” which enable you to go to more than one park in the same day, because you’ll find it takes so long to get into a park, once you’re there, you may as well stay as long as it suits you. So I first determined how many days I wanted to devote to the Disney parks. If you buy the multi-day passes ahead of time, each subsequent day is cheaper per day, so you save that way.

You can bring food and drink in, but we didn’t because I didn’t want to be lugging food around in the hot sun.

We stayed off-site at Spring Hill Suites near Sea World. Great rates, free hot breakfast every day (includes eggs, oatmeal, cereals, breads, all kinds of drinks, etc.). 15 minutes by car to the MK gates. We’re not into rushing in the morning, so we’d eat around 8 or 9 and be at the park by around 10 or 11.

Food at the “fast food” places in the parks is not too expensive. It’s decent quality for what it is.

If you want to see a parade, you should plan for it. You’ll see in the Trip Advisor forums that people really plan carefully.

At least one day, if possible, stay to see the fireworks.

Epcot does something different at the end of their day, I believe it’s called “Illuminations.” Epcot has a bunch of fun rides and you can also learn a lot with their exhibits.

Animal Kingdom has a great thrill ride, where you go to the mountains of India and look for the Yeti. Also, at the end, there’s a great dinosaur ride that’s scary, and there’s a whole “Dino Land” section that’s really marketed like a 1950’s amusement park. It has some fun rides in it. Just as you think you are exiting the park, you’ll come upon Dino Land and spend another hour or two. If you go to Dino Land at the end of the day (sundown), not only is it a really cool place, but the little kiddies have usually gone back to their hotels by then so it won’t be so crowded.

Animal Kingdom is a great park and many people’s favorite. It has a really relaxed vibe. You can grab a cup of tea in Asia and you can hang out and listen to some African bands or see a Bollywood DJ and see some Bollywood dancing. Don’t miss the shows in AK, either. Lion King is a great one. It’s about a half hour long.

Hollywood Studios has some fun thrill rides, too. The Aerosmith one is fun. The Haunted Hotel one is good, too. I don’t remember what they’re called, but they’re fun.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g34515-i19-Orlando_Florida.html

There’s also an Orlando Forum that covers all things Orlando.

Epcot is the longest day. You can easily split it into two days. If you only have one day at Epcot and you are a “ride” person, the only countries with rides are Mexico and Norway, and they are next to each other. Norway might already be closed for good, I’m not sure. My point is, if you do the countries last, and it’s already late, and you’re already exhausted, start the countries on the Mexico side and don’t feel bad if you don’t make it to all the countries. The ride in Mexico is very nice.

Animal Kingdom is the shortest day.

Magic Kingdom is very children oriented. If you love Disney it won’t matter, if you have kids they’ll love it, if it’s just adults in your party, know some of the rides might be boring there.

Go to Disney Studios park on a day that has very low chance of rain, because the stunt car show is very good, and it is cancelled for rain. There are usually two shows a day, try to catch the early one to ensure you aren’t rained out. It’s a huge outdoor stadium seating, so you don’t have to line up way before, pretty much everyone waiting gets in to the show. In this park look closely at the schedule when you enter the park. Things like American Idol (where you vote for people who really are auditioning for a guaranteed spot at the try outs for American Idol) and some other attractions are scheduled throughout the day.

I’m pretty sure one of my favorite rides, Soarin’, is closed right now. Maybe it will be open when you get there. It’s in Epcot in The Land. Get a fast pass for that, The Land is a good place for a fast lunch, and there is another very nice ride in The Land if you need to kill time before your fast pass time for Soarin’.

In Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney) we love the Irish Restaurant. The food is good and they have live music and Irish dancing alternating throughout the hour. If you don’t want to eat there you can just walk in and watch the show, or shimmy up to the bar (I always see space at the bar) and grab a drink and watch the show. Take time to spend a few hours walking around Disney Springs. There are fun stores, different bands playing music at various bars, including usually some classical on the sidewalk, and lots of places to eat. As a side note: The French Quarter is a short boat ride from Disney Springs and the path there is nicely shaded if you want a quiet place to walk.

The Buzz Lightyear ride is fun. Shoot everything. Keep your finger on the trigger. Some people perceive this ride as a kid ride and skip it, but I say go for it.

Oh yeah most people say Soarin was their favorite ride.

@rojo: I’m not sure how old you are but were you a Disney fan as a child?

@jca 61 and no, more of a Ren and Stimpy fan.

@rojo: At MK, be sure to take the raft over to Tom Sawyer Island.

Fan of SeaWorld…anyone? The kids would love it right?

The dolphin show at Seaworld is awesome.

But, if they’re going to Disney they should just do Disney this trip. Disney easily takes 4–5 days if you are in the parks every day. Add another 2 days if you go to the water parks. I prefer Typhoon Lagoon over Blizzard Beach. The water parks are great. I highly recommend them.

Yeah, we have four days so am trying to narrow down our focus.

I suggest, if you have four days, a day in MK, a day in AK, a day in Epcot and with the fourth day, I’d either do a water park (never been to one in Orlando but I trust @JLeslie if she says they’re great), or Sea World, or Universal. I’ve been to Sea World but Universal I was last at 20 years ago, so it’s a whole different ballgame now. Sea World is a pretty relaxing day, compared to MK or Epcot, and AK is a pretty relaxing day, too. Both Sea World and AK are days you can be out of the park around 8, and go to dinner elsewhere which is nice. Another option, if you’re really tired, is just getting food and bringing it back to your hotel.

You can also leave MK and Epcot early, but chances are you’re going to go from one “experience” to another, and before you know it, it will be late, and then it’s fireworks time. Just to get out of MK requires either the ferry or the tram, and the crowds are big.

One tip I learned in my research is, if you do stay at MK for the fireworks, view them near the exit. That way, as soon as they’re over, you zoom right to the ferry and beat the crowds.

@rojo I might have missed it, is your party all adults? If you have kids with you, what ages?

Don’t bother paying extra for a hopper ticket. You won’t have time to hop.

Lastly, are you staying on Disney property? If you are on Disney property I wouldn’t bother renting a car if you are flying in. Off property you might prefer to have the car. It’s very easy to park at the parks. A lot of area hotels have free shuttles, but the shuttles can add a lot of time onto your day. Actually, Disney transportation can take a long time, so staying on property and using the bus and boats can be time consuming too, especially if you have to make a connection. If you stay at a hotel that has monorail access that’s fast from MK and Epcot. The thing is, transportation by boat or monorail is like a ride on it’s own, so the time, as long as you’re not in a rush, should be enjoyed in my opinion.

Oh! Get the app. The Disney app with wait times, maps and more.

If you decide to see the Cirque show at Disney Springs don’t feel compelled to buy the most expensive tickets if you want to watch what to spend. All seats are good. Second to cheapest, or even the cheapest suffice. I will say, only do this as a last minute, because in the summer I think you will be too exhausted to want to do anything extra at night.

@rojo: One reason I opted not to stay on the Disney property is that you’d have to do the Disney meal plan, which means making reservations in restaurants. I am not big on eating 3 meals a day in restaurants. The money is a tradeoff, because as @JLeslie said, you’ll save on not renting a car, but you will spend that on the meal plan.

I liked having the car, staying off property, and driving around a little. We went to some fun restaurants (Bahama Breeze was one if you want a kick ass drink and the food was good). As I said, we’d do the free breakfast at Spring Hill Suites and then not need lunch. We’d do a snack or lunch around 3, and we’d be set.

Both times, we rented the car thru AAA. They gave a free upgrade at the Orlando rental counter both times. I asked for a pretty small car, and then when we get there they try to sell you an upgrade for half price or some shit. You say no and stand your ground. Then if they don’t have the car available in the category you are renting from, you get the free upgrade.

I learned so much from researching and reading the Trip Advisor forums on Orlando and on the parks. People post questions, answer the questions, and post “Trip Reports” where they detail each day of their trip and what they did.

@jca You don’t have to buy the meal plan if you stay on the property. If you stay on property you can go into parks early, which helps with the lines on the very popular rides. I don’t like to be rushed in the morning, so I don’t care about that, but some people might. Especially, during the hot summer months. I have a girlfriend who always came in the summer. She went to Disney every other year, so she didn’t feel the pressure to see everything. She would stay on property, and some days she would go to a park early, come back to the hotel for a quick lunch, swim, rest, and then go back to the park early evening for another 4 hours or so. The whole pool thing was very much part of her FL vacation. It works for the smaller parks like AK and MGM.

I do like having the free breakfast and a fridge in my room, but there are trade-offs like you said. I’m a Marriott girl as you know, so I like getting the points or staying for free, so I often stay off property. When I stay at Universal or Disney I share meals a lot of the time with my husband, and then the prices aren’t bad. Especially breakfast. Or, you can bring your own cereal and just buy milk at the eatery, or bring a few pieces of fruit or wrapped muffins with you for breakfast that will stay good a day or two. I hate when every meal is a “restaurant” meal for days in a row.

If you stay at the Renaissance adjacent to Seaworld you can do it too. The hotel is literally the other side of the parking lot. You can walk to the park

An interesting day trip into the 1960’s-70’s would be to drive a little farther north to visit these people. They are harmless, but I wouldn’t bring a couple of 10 year-olds with me.