Have a question about planning a trip to Disney or something you’ve read here? We’re here to help! We’ve visited every Disney resort around the world, from Walt Disney World to Tokyo Disney Resort, and have stayed in nearly every Disney-owned hotel.
Many frequently asked questions we receive can be answered by reading the posts on this site. If you are curious about a certain topic, use the search feature at the top of the page. Some of our most helpful pages include the following…
If you’re trying to plan a Walt Disney World trip, visit our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide. If planning a Disneyland trip, check out our Disneyland Trip Planning Guide. If you have questions about photography or want camera recommendations, read our Photography Guide. If you want to use one of the Tom’s photos from this site on your own blog, website, etc., check out our Photo Usage page. If you have questions about Sarah’s attire, take a look at our What to Wear to Disney and Unique Disney Packing List posts.
If you can’t find a post that answers your question, please leave a comment on a relevant post, and we will do our best to reply to your question. We see all new comments, even on old posts. This is the easiest and most effective way of asking us a question. Unfortunately, we do not have time to respond to questions via email–you’re much more likely to get a response to a comment on a post.
Please note that we just two passionate Disney fans writing a blog about our experiences with advice based on those experiences in our free time. In other words, don’t expect instantaneous responses or post an ALL CAPS comment when we don’t respond to you within a day. If you don’t hear from us within a week or two, consider re-posting the comment, as we might have missed it.
We are not affiliated with The Walt Disney Company nor is this an official Disney blog, so if you have questions or complaints about a booking with Disney or anything of that sort, you’ll want to contact Disney Guest Services for that.
Thanks,
Sarah & Tom Bricker
Tom,
Love your blog! It was incredibly helpful as we planned our first trip to Disney World and now as we plan our second trip, I’m continuing to find it really helpful. I’m wondering if you’ve ever seen the Cirque du Soleil show at Disney? I’m thinking of booking tickets but it’s a bit pricey and want to be sure it’s money well spent. So far we have a booking at Caribbean Beach Resort for November and are hoping to take advantage of the free dining offer once it’s officially announced. Thanks for sharing your information and experiences!
Cindy
I’m not Tom, but we really enjoyed La Nouba and felt it was worth it. We went about 11 years ago, and we are going back this coming fall to take our 9 year old son! In fact, we’ve already purchased our tickets. Hopefully it’s as good as it was when we last went!
In the process of planning my first visit to Tokyo Disneyland and came across your blog. I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT IT! I am very exciting and obsessively read everything I can on your blog. Thank you for all your hard work and sharing your information with everyone. Next time you are at Disneyland, I would love to say hi and give you a bug thank you!
Glad you’re enjoying it thus far! Not sure when we’ll get to Disneyland again…our APs just expired, and we don’t really go in the summer when the parks are hit hard with crowds.
Hi Tom & Sarah – Thank you so much for this wealth of information on behalf of me and my sister-in-law. We are both planning our first big family trips to WDW this fall and it has been incredibly helpful. Many of our sentences are now prefaced with “Well, Tom and Sarah said….” Question: None of your posts are dated. Is that intentional? It would be very helpful to know how recent a post is as well as the comments. Especially for the News section. Also, I’m looking for a page that might list all of those little things that we shouldn’t miss, like the Dole Whip, but can’t find it. Can you point me in the right direction? THANK YOU! -Gen
Dates are now in the comments, so that issue is fixed!
As for the lack of dates on posts, that’s because we are regularly updating them. Although a post might’ve been written in 2013, it might have been updated twice already in 2016. To fix this, we are working on adding a “last modified on…” date to many of our posts. Hope that helps!
Hey Tom,
I am planning my second trip to Disney World and this time around I am looking st staying at a moderate resort as opposed to a value like last time (we stayed ad Pop Century which was nice but this time around we are looking to stay somewhere a little more “adult”). I was cruising through your blog casually reading about renting dvc points and you mentioned that you can rent a dvc club room for less than a moderate. I did my research and got quotes from the dvc rental store and David’s and I can definitely rent a studio room at some dvc resorts for less than the price than a moderate but this all seems too good to be true! Is there some kind of caveat or downside to renting points? I would love your opinion on this. It seems like a no brainer to rent a deluxe studio for less than the price of a moderate but I would love to know if there’s some kind of downside to this…. It just seems way to good to be real!
Ugh I spelled my name wrong… I swear I’m not an idiot hahahah
my bf and i were thinking about where to stay for a trip to disney in Fall 2016, probs in Sept. It will be my first time so i am BEYOND excited! i know there are pros and cons to staying on site and off site. this maybe a silly questions, but are disney springs hotels part of the disney resort hotels? like does it include the perks of staying on site? like the magicbands and to/from airport/hotel transportation (like that ? extra hours? we were looking at the holiday inn in disney springs since i would also be able to get hotel points. or we were looking at the art of animation hotel. but no matter where we stay at the resort hotels, we still need to take a shuttle to get to the different parks correct?
thanks!
I’m looking for a nice adult restaurant, mid to high cost range, to celebrate my husband’s 40th birthday at Disneyland. What do you recommend? We have not been to Disneyland since we were kids.
Hi,um I had a questoin.I will be visiting Disneyland in Anaheim,with my husband,my 10-year old daughter(she is very scared of roller coasters and such),my 4 year old son,my sister,brother-in-law,and their twin daughters who are 2 1/2(they are all new to the Us)and I need some rides that all of the children will enjoy at California Adventure
Hi!
My daughter and I are planning a trip to Japan in June. We are so excited to visit TDR and Disney Sea. We are also planning a trip to Universal as she’s a big “Monster Hunter” game fan. Any ideas on being able to go from Tokyo to Universal and then back in one day? Would the Japan Rail Pass be worth it? She’s always studied mag-lev trains and really wants to ride the bullet train. Any helpful books or sites for me would be most appreciated.
Hi Tom,
this is just a short message to thank you for all your guides, especially your photography guides dedicated to parks.
As I know you enjoy receiving messages from foreign countries, I can tell you i’m from Belgium ! As Disneyland Paris is only 2 hours from here by car, I visit it quit often, and I enjoyed reading your trip report there 🙂
This may (in 50 days), we’ll be heading back to Disneyworld! Preparing our trip, google directed me to your blog, and to my pleasure I discovered your photography guides ! I think it’s really the only website where such specialized guides are available. Most of your pictures really look awesome to me, I hope to be able to get some shots as good as yours while visiting…
I visited Disneyworld 3 years ago for 4 days, and really enjoyed it, but we had to visit it like commando. This time, I’ll be there with my gf, and we’ll have 11 full days to spend there ! I should have plenty of time to shoot good pics 🙂 I’ll probably try some “american” experience, like the dine-in AMC theater 😀 Until that trip, I’ll continue to follow all your blog posts :p
BTW, I’m also really interested in your posts about the A7RII, I’m currently using one of his smaller brothers, the A6000, but am seriously thinking about going full frame… I like extremely sharp pictures, and it seems that’s the way to go if I want sharpers pics…
Well, thx again ! And feel free to contact me if you have questions regarding your european trips :p
Thanks for the note–hope your May trip is a blast!
Tom and Sarah,
I’m planning our 2nd trip to Disney this year for August (2016) and despite having been to Disney many times, we have never stayed on property thanks to my in-laws timeshare near by. I have decided upon a deluxe club level room at Wilderness lodge for 4 adults (in laws coming) and 3 small children, one of which will be in a pack n play. I really wanted Poly but could not justify the 11K they want for a space that will fit us… wah waahhhh
My questions are:
1) is the lodge a good decision for our party size/will I be disappointed when I had my heart set on the poly
2) is club level worth it
2a) if we are doing club level, will the Disney dining plan still be worth it, especially with kids
4) Victoria and Albert’s prix fixe cost has jumped since your review to $185pp and $65 wine service pp. Even if my husband and I split the wine service, we are looking at $500 for a romantic dinner. We ARE celebrating my 40th birthday (oh no!!) and our 10 year anniversary with this trip, but I don’t know if I can convince him that we absolutely need to spend $500 in an evening. I am also looking at Jiko and Flying Fish, but just discovered Flying Fish will be closed for renovations.
5) Is there anything else you can think of that would be relevantly important?
Thanks for sharing your wealth of information. It has proven to be indispensable.
We have both been invited to the Club Level a few times, and Sarah is a fan whereas I am not. If you have a larger party (as you clearly do) and make an effort to eat in the lounge, it’s easier to justify, but I still think it’s overpriced. Maybe someday we will actually splurge and stay Club, and I’ll change my mind.
Personally, I’d skip Club Level, skip the Disney Dining Plan, and instead splurge on V&A’s. Yes, it’s insanely expensive, but it’s a once in a lifetime experience and you certainly have occasions worth celebrating.
If you want help running through the pricing scenarios, you might contact a travel agent (they might also be able to help book, and then watch for discounts to retroactively apply). We recommend Be Our Guest Vacations.
Hope all of that helps. At the end of the day, several of the things you’re asking are matters of personal preference! 🙂
Thanks so much for the advice, it was very helpful 🙂
Hey there! Did you update the font on this site? In my opinion, the font is just a little too small. I know everyone’s a critic, and I don’t dislike the change at all, but just thought you might like some feedback. I am also a 26 yr old, and I do not have vision problems. 🙂 Keep up the great work!
Hi Tom,
We are planning our second trip to Disney World. I’m looking at booking November 27th to December 3rd, 2016. In your experience do you think I will be ahead of the Cheerleading and Football championships crowds?
Hello! i commented on the Disneyland planning blog post, but didn’t know if you still checked that one, so ill try here too. 🙂
Is there an annual schedule for when rides are closed for refurbishments? We are trying to decide when to go to Disneyland, and I am sure like most people want to go when our favorite rides are open. It’s hard when you have to plan so far in advanced…it will be our first time, and maybe only time to visit with my 5 and 8 year old. I see there are a lot of attractions closed for construction right now. Do you suggest we wait until later in 2017, or do you think they will be closing even more down at that time? …so hard to know. We are thinking maybe right after labor day…thanks.
Hi there!
Just wanted to say a big, big thank you for all your posts about TDR, especially the general visit guides and the Christmas Wishes/Fantasy. I used those guides religiously during our trip planning and when we first arrived at TDR last November and I can honestly say our trip wouldn’t have been half as enjoyable or efficient as they would have been without them.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Hi there
Is there somewhere I can sign up to newsletters and information from the site?
Thanks!
I am heading to Club 33 in about a month (if the dates submitted are accepted) as a guest of a member. Knowing that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, can you please offer me some photography tips inside the club? I just purchased the Tamron 17-50/2.8 to go with my Nikon 35mm 1.8 you recommended. In addition I have a Nikon SB700 flash (although I don’t think I would be allowed to use it in there). Any tips or settings would be greatly appreciated.
Just a question/suggestion, is there a way to date the comments? It is difficult at best to tell whether the comments were posted yesterday, last month, or last year.
Hey there! I have a question about the Disney Dining Plan.
If I bought it for my vacation but then Disney releases their free dining promotion could I get refunded the money I used to pay for the original dining plan? Or would I get upgraded to the next level of the dining plan? Thank you so much for any help you can give!
Yes, you would be refunded the money once the package comes out. Or you could upgrade. Your call.
Hi there – this site has been a HUGE help – thank you! We are ‘new to Disney’ (ie have never gone) and are bringing our 3 kids down from Canada in a few weeks (early Feb). Our youngest has a peanut allergy – any insight on how things are labeled in restaurants and if I’m allowed to bring in food? Thanks!
Hi Tom and Sarah,
I enjoy reading your blog and am in the process of planning a trip to Disney World for next October. While my partner and I have been to Disney many times, this will be the first time for our grandchildren (6,5) so I truly want to make it a spectacular vacation. Is there a specific travel agent that you would recommend and if so could you provide the contact info? Thanks in advance!