Need Disney World tips from people who really know... Should I invest in a guide or can someone help me out?

1.I never had problem with traffic or anything. Sometimes it changes, just look online with disney 2.Visit the theme parks on their "off" days. Certain parks are historically busier on certain days of the week. The Magic Kingdom is busiest on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Epcot's busy days are Wednesday and Friday. For MGM Studios, avoid Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. And Animal Kingdom is most crowded on Monday, Tuesday and Friday. I have always planned my visits accordingly and never run into huge crowds. 3. If you look in Disney.com it says you cant bring food or anything like that BUT :) I always bring water, cookines, snacks and a lot of stuff in my back pack(the only bad thing is lil bit heavier but is ok) that way you can save tons of money just in water. 4.For Wishes(MK fireworks), at Narcoosee's at the Grand Floridian, they still play the soundtrack for the fireworks which is great! Also, the Water Parade starts around 9pm at the same location. I have seen the fireworks from many different places in the Magic Kingdom and I really like up in the train station overlooking Main Street. For Epcot, honestly there are a lot of places!!! Around the lagoon. 5. If you want to go to Universal, Island of Advernture and Sea World, just go one day to each park. Feel free to email me. HAVE FUN!!!! I LOVE DISNEY AREA!!!!

I would check out the website allearsnet.com - they have great advice on there!!! Enjoy your trip!!!

The PassPorter is the best Disney guidebook I have ever used. It answers many of the questions that you have asked. It gives really detailed information on many aspects of the park and has places in the book for you to write down all of your information, including itineraries, reservation numbers, and things like that. It is updated every year, and I have bought several of them over the years. And, after your vacation, if you have filled it out, it can serve as a sort of scrapbook.

I've lived just outside of Orlando for 24 years. I've never flipped through a guide book, so I'll give you the real insider scoop: 1. If your in a hurry and want to stay out of high traffic/tourist areas, keep off "International Drive" aka "I-Drive" at all costs. 2. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the slowest days at parks. If it looks stormy, stick it out...Florida weather can change instantly. The tourists tend to get run off by this, if you don't mind sticking it out for 1/2hr or so -you may get the parks to yourselves. It gets chilly -sometimes- at night in March, take a light jacket. 3. At Magic Kingdom, go to Frontierland and eat at "Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Cafe". The restaurant serves hamburgers, loaded hotdogsm fries, salads, etc. The key here is to load up on the sides (free & served buffet style). They have sauteed onions, mushrooms, saurkraut, cheese, etc. My parents used to buy us kids hot dogs and sodas and we'd fill our food baskets up until we were blue in the face. Cost is about $6 meal. Also, food/beverages (no alcohol/glass) ARE ALLOWED. I always bring drinks and lots of snacks. Since your back may get heavy w/drinks, invest in those waterbottles they sell at the stands, they're pricey but you save more in the end. 4. Magic Kingdom has the best fireworks/nightly parades. Don't miss it! 5. I'd spend 1 to 2d at Magic Kindom. Smaller parks like Epcot, Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, just need 1 day to see everything. Make sure to get the Express pass at the Disney parks, they're free and allow you to move to the front of ride's line during a certain period of the day. You can get this at a booth outside of ea. ride, so save your park-entry stubs! 6. If you and your honey want a relaxing evening, I highly recommend visiting Downtown Disney. Its free admission/parking, and its basically an outside establishment on a lake with restaraunts, stores, etc. The restaurants are so-so. I don't recommend the Rainforest Cafe (yucky and $$), anything else there should be fine and will accomodate all budgets. I HOPE YOU HAVE FUN!!!!!!!

Hmm... I-4 will be your biggest nemesis. Park days to go on are Mon-Thurs. I suggest you get there right when the park opens, and get the fast pass tickets to the rides that will have the longest wait time (if they still do fast pass) ex: Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, etc. and then ride the others until your time slot opens to pass the crowds. I always bring in lunches, never had a problem with security. Bring your bottled water, and refill it at the water fountains. Bottled water is way over-priced. The fireworks are amazing anywhere you are in Magic Kingdom. You could spend a couple days at Magic Kingdom, a day at Epcot, a day at Animal Kingdom, and a day at Hollywood Studios. A couple days at Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure and a day at Sea World seem pretty suffice. Remember to wear shorts! You will get wet on Splash Mountain and it will chafe. That, and it's fricken hot here. And wear walking shoes, b/c on some roller costers you can't wear flip flops (my friends ran into issues with this). Have fun!

The Unofficial Guide to walt disney world, answers all the questions you just asked & more. I bought it to plan me and my boyfriends first trip to disney world this may & everythings been going great, we have everything planned out, i bought mine from barnes and nobles and it was like 20 bucks, definitely check that book out its amazing.

WOW, that's a lot of questions that if you search will have been asked before! To be honest you might be better to ask them separately?

I purposely avoided guide books. I find they tend to make people "over think" which will ultimately be a downfall. With Disney - you need to have some level of flexibility I had friends who had planned every second of their Disney vacation - which was ultimately their demise. You have to be flexible. Sure, we may have made a few mistakes, but overall we had an amazing time. It's not rocket science. It's pretty intuitive. Here are some basic tip: Parks tend to be more crowded in their Magic Hour Days. Your best value is to take advantage of the morning Magic Hour or to choose another park and then just go to the Magic Hour of that park. (assuming you are on site and have the Park Hopper). If you aren’t on site, just avoid the park that his having Magic Hour that day. I would spend the extra money for Pirate and Princess if you have kids. Weekends are more crowded, and the afternoon. But really, it's Disney. It's always crowded. Don't plan around that because you'll set yourself up to be disappointed. The days per park will vary based on interests and ages. Our family (a 4 1/2 y.o. and a 7 y.o) Spent about 2 days at the Magic Kingdom, a day and 1/2 at Hollywood Studios, a day at Epcot and a day at Animal Kingdom. But it wasn't straight days. Some days we'd go to a park that morning, take a nap, then do a "night time" activity" or other days we’d just come back early and eat dinner at the resort. We never wore out the kids. Again, be flexible. One day we were going to Animal Kingdom, but the bus line was long, so we went to Magic Kingdom instead. Don't lock yourself in too much. YES - YOU CAN BRING FOOD AND DRINGS IN. I packed a suitcase of bread, PB, jelly, etc. You can get some snacks, 1/2 gallon milk, etc. at the resort. We picnic lunched almost every day (at MK we found GREAT picnic spot at Tom Sawyer’s island). We didn't do the dining plan. We wanted to be flexible and we knew we could eat breakfast and lunch "in" or "picnic" so we only ate Dinner. The kids meals are a great value. At Magic Kingdom we like the restaurant in Frontier Town, at EPCOT we liked the American Pavilion restaurant. They were “quick service” restaurants, but they had a good selection and good value.

I don't think you need to hire a guide. Just keep doing online reading. Check some of the links below for a start. Have fun!