Book Is Primer On Disney World

Kim Wright Wiley, author of “Walt Disney World With Kids: 1997” (Prima, $13), first visited Disney World 11 years ago, when her daughter was only 1.

Since then, she’s gone there with both her children (son Jordan is 8), with other people’s kids (different ages like different things, you know) and adults only, too.

How many visits total? “I stopped counting after 25 times.”

Right now the theme park is celebrating its 25th anniversary with 15 months of special parades and shows … and bigger crowds.

According to Wiley, timing is everything.

“Go during the offseason, not in summer. And go early in the morning.

“Disney World is all about crowd control. If you and your kids spend an entire day waiting in 90-minute lines, you’ll have a miserable time keeping the kids under control.”

Regardless of when you go, here’s how to adjust your Disney World strategy to match who’s going:

If you go without kids: “You can pass up most of the Magic Kingdom unless you want to do the rides you’ve always fantasized about - like Dumbo.

Instead, focus primarily on Epcot Center, Disney-MGM and the Pleasure Island entertainment complex.

“A lot of people do go without kids: This is the No. 2 honeymoon destination in the country. There are a lot of nice restaurants, especially at Epcot. Go to the Bistro de Paris in its France pavilion, or Victoria & Albert’s at the Disney’s Grand Floridian, just outside Epcot.

“The absolute best restaurant is a new one called the California Grille, on top of Disney’s Contemporary Resort, outside Epcot. It actually won awards from GQ and Esquire.

“You can still do the rides. Check out the water parks - they’re tremendous fun and probably don’t get as much publicity as they deserve.

“Blizzard Beach is the newest, built in 1995. It’s based on the premise of being a melted ski lodge: You use chairlifts to ride to the top of a mountain. Some slides there are like skiing, some like tobogganing. There are a lot of visual jokes and graphics that go right over the kids’ heads. A fun concept.

“You must go to the Pleasure Island nightclub complex even if you’re not a ‘night club’ person.

There’s a comedy club, jazz club, country-western bar, a ‘60s-retro place, a beach club, a couple dance clubs. … Just pay one price and you can get in and club hop.”

If you go with teens: “Teens love the rowdy rides - Space Mountain and Splash Mountain in Magic Kingdom, the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney-MGM. They like the new Test Track ride at Epcot: It’s where you can actually test-drive a race car on the track. It’s very hot and very new - the fastest ride at Disney World. It’s very intense.

“Teens love the water parks, too.

“Stress to them that you have to get up early if you want to ride the big-deal rides: You have to be there when the park opens.

“And check out Disney Institute, the new facility where they have classes. Some areas there are really fun for kids, like the improv acting class, where a comedian from Pleasure Island will take you over there and teach you how to do an improv routine on stage.”

If you go with grade-schoolers: Probably the ideal time to take kids to Disney World is when they’re ages 6-12: Almost everything appeals to them. One tip? Break up the day: Visit more than one park a day.

“Get a ticket that allows you to park hop - it’s called a park-hopper pass. You can spend mornings at the Magic Kingdom riding rides, than go to Epcot and watch a few shows: You’ll be tired and feel like sitting down. This will work out well.

“Or, spend half the day day doing something educational - taking tours at Disney-MGM, Epcot than spend afternoons at the water parks.”

If you go with real little kids: “The most important thing: Don’t let them get overtired. Go to Disney World in the morning, go back to your room and take a midday nap. Then go back around 4 p.m.

“I recommend this if your kids are younger than 8. And I strongly recommend to parents that they stay at a Disney World hotel: Leave the park and you’re back at your hotel in 20 minutes. If you stay off-site, your commute time is easily twice or three times as long; it’s not as feasible to go back to the room in the middle of the day.

“Little children like Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom, but Disney-MGM is a great park for little kids. They have a ‘Beauty and the Beast’ show, a ‘Little Mermaid’ show and a ‘Hunchback’ show. They’re big, big hits with kids.”