Welcome to Ask The Duchess Vol. 15, a monthly Q&A post covering a variety of resort-related topics. Ask The Duchess answers questions submitted by readers. If you have a question you’d like answered, send me a message here!
1. Is Downtown Disney considered a park? (submitted by Gabrielle)
Nope. You don’t need a ticket to get in. It’s a neighboring shopping center with lots of restaurants, but it doesn’t have any attractions or shows aside from occasional live music.
2. Which ride is the most efficient? As in, most ride time for wait time? (submitted by John)
Pirates of the Caribbean, by far. You get 15 minutes of ride time, and on mildly crowded days, lines tend to be about 45 minutes or less. That’s 1 minute of ride time for every 3 minutes of wait time!
3. I’ve heard if you’re an adult meeting a princess without any kids, they’ll break character and joke around with you. Is that true? (submitted by Kayla Marie)
That is 100% false. Disney princesses will NEVER, EVER break character. I did meet a Fairy Godmother that joked around a little more than she would’ve with a kid, but she was still definitely in character. And the princesses are the most hard core; they are aggressively trained never to break.
4. Can I bring my own wheelchair to the resort, or do I have to rent one? (submitted by Anonymous)
You can absolutely bring your own. If you’d like to rent one instead, check out my longer post here for more information.
5. Best tip you’ve ever heard from a cast member?
I don’t think I could pick an absolute best, but one that comes to mind: head up to the Monorail station in Tomorrowland at sunset for some AMAZING Matterhorn pictures. She was absolutely right!
Why does the pirates line move so fast?
Mostly because of the ride vehicles! Each boat is high-capacity, fast-loading, and they are lined up one after another. Most of the coasters require you to wait a few for the next car to pull up, but pirates is constantly loading and off-loading.