Tips During your Disney World Vacation
A trip to Disney World in Orlando is the epitome of a family vacation that nearly all kids and parents dream of. It is indeed the most magical place on Earth and the ultimate memory-making location for families of all ages. In short, a family trip to Disney World is AMAZING…but we also know that it can be very overwhelming for beginners. There is such an immense amount of very detailed information on the web for every little facet of planning, that first-timers can get quickly bogged down and overwhelmed.
So if you are just getting started planning your first family vacation to Disney World, we’ve put together this 4-part blog series for all the Disney basics (with a few little-known tips mixed in) to get you started off on the right foot. With some experience under our belt we’ve figured this Disney thing out and want to share that basic knowledge with you!
I am by no means a Disney expert, but have learned a thing or two planning seven Disney trips. I’m also not a Disney travel agent, so I am coming at this sharing my very unbiased opinions.
I’ve broken this series into 4 parts:
- Part 1: Basic Disney World Planning Advice You Need to Know – Answering Typical Beginner Questions
- Part 2: Building Your Disney World Vacation Package
- Part 3: Planning Your Disney World Vacation Itinerary
- Part 4: Tips While on Your Disney World Vacation
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using a link. Please see my disclaimer for more details.
Our Own Disney Planning Experience
When Josh and I first started talking about taking our two oldest boys to Disney for the first time in 2016, I had NO idea how much there was to it. But all the information was so interesting to me and I wanted to plan the perfect trip, so I got in the weeds. Quite deep in the weeds, actually. Weeds that had lots and lots of little rabbit holes that consumed more of my time than I care to admit.
But here’s the thing: you don’t have to know everything about Disney to have a great trip. You can plan an amazing and memorable vacation with as little or as much detail as you want. So that’s what we’re here to do: give you all the “need to knows” and then you can research certain aspects further if you’d like. In this blog series I’ll also clue you in on some of my “cheats” that help us get the most bang for our buck when we “do Disney”.
By the way, for the sake of this post we are going to assume that you WANT to plan Disney all yourself (like me, a control freak). But if you’re not a control freak like me, I would highly recommend getting yourself a Disney Planner. These people are the Disney experts and their services are completely FREE! They take care of all the details for you, from booking your trip to snagging those dining reservations. Then you can just head to the parks with your kiddos and bask in all of their hard work.
If an expert planning your Disney vacation sounds amazing, let me introduce you to a Disney planner friend of mine! Meet Jessica.
If you are like me and want to do it all yourself…read on!
Tips While on Your Disney Vacation
Getting Around
Disney World property is BIG. Like 27,000 acres big. But the great news is that you can get anywhere you need to go within the site for free (whether you are paying to stay on property or not)! Here are some of our tips for maneuvering around the World…
Tip 1: Take advantage of Disney transportation
Disney transportation can at times be aggravating, but in my opinion it’s (most generally) the best way to get around. There are a variety of transportation options available including: buses, monorail, Skyliner (gondolas), boats, and walking paths.
If you are wondering about your transportation options to and from various points, here is the BEST representation I’ve found that I’ve frequently used: the unofficial Disney World transportation map. It’s an easy-to-follow Subway-style map showing transportation routes between the parks, resorts, etc.
General transportation guidelines:
- You can get from each Disney resort directly to each of the parks and Disney Springs (and vice versa).
- Each of the parks and Disney Springs ALSO have direct routes between them. For example: Say you’re park hopping from Magic Kingdom to Animal Kingdom. Right outside the park, you’ll find a bus that will take you straight to Animal Kingdom’s entrance.
- There is generally not transportation options from one resort to another (with some exceptions like the Magic Kingdom area monorail). So if you want to travel from your resort to a dining reservation at another resort, many times your only option is to grab a bus from your resort, head to one of the parks (or Disney Springs), and then from there grab the next bus going to the resort you’re trying to get to. It’s a little inconvenient, but can be done. Which is a great segue to my next tip…
Tip 2: Plan ample time for transportation
While Disney transportation can be pretty convenient in lots of cases, it can also be a time sucker. You’ll have to wait at the stop for the next bus/monorail car/boat/etc. going where you want to go (final destinations will be clearly marked on the front of the bus). One feature that’s really nice, though, is at the resort bus stops there are real-time electronic signs estimating when the next bus going to each of the parks and Disney Springs will arrive. (That’s helped us decide if we have time for a quick toddler potty break on multiple occasions.)
In my example above when you are trying to travel from your resort to another resort for a dining reservation, keep in mind you’ll have multiple waiting times. Time waiting for two different buses, plus travel time. It could easily take up to an hour to travel between two resorts by the time you’re all said and done, so plan for that extra time when trying to make dining reservations.
And another thing about that bus transportation: Don’t assume you’ll get on the next bus if there is a line. It may take 2 or 3 buses before you and your family can board. If you close the park down, you should especially expect lines waiting for buses outside park entrances.
This is hands down the worst part about Disney vacations, in my opinion. You’re tired. The kids are tired. Everyone else around you and THEIR kids are tired. You’re waiting in a long line for a bus. And then you finally get on one (fighting folding down the stroller, no less) and have to stand…ugh. Like I said. The worst. But don’t let me scare you too much…Disney is still totally worth it!!!!
Tip 3: Sometimes other transportation makes sense
There are cases when other transportation makes sense. Maybe you don’t have time to wait on the bus, or maybe you’re wanting to travel off-property. There are other options.
On trips when we’ve flown to Florida, we’ve exclusively used the complimentary Disney transportation due to traveling with small kids without car seats. Of course, you also have options like taxis, Uber, Lyft, etc. if that works for your family.
We have driven from Indiana to Orlando on a couple different trips, so we had our own vehicle at the resort (note: there is a parking fee). On those trips, we’ve found it most convenient to drive our own car to other resort dining reservations. At the gate, just tell them you have a reservation at whatever restaurant, and they can look you up and allow you to use the lot.
Tips for the Parks
Tip 1: Arrive early
You will get the most out of your day if you arrive to the parks early when crowds are typically lower. The obvious downside is you will have to get up and at ’em early on vacation (Disney has NEVER been a relaxing vacation for us). Transportation typically starts running at least an hour before the park opening time, so it’s easy to arrive at the parks for “rope drop”.
If you arrive early enough you will be able to get through bag and ticket checks before the opening time, and probably even inside the main entrance of the park. Once the park opens (and sometimes they open earlier than the posted time!), cast members will lead the crowd in a slow and orderly fashion into the main areas of the park. You may even get far enough in front to score a super low wait time at one or more of the most popular attractions 🙂
Tip 2: Stay late
On the flip side, crowds also start to taper off a bit later in the evenings. An important piece of information is that the rides don’t shut down at park closing time. As long as you are in line, you should be able to ride even after the official closing time.
Gift shops also stay open past closing time, so you can save souvenir purchasing as you are leaving the park so you don’t have to carry items around during the day.
Tip 3: Use Touring Plans
I covered this tip in the 3rd blog of this Disney series, so I won’t go through it all here again. But I highly recommend setting up a subscription to Touring Plans to get the most bang for your buck at Disney. I can’t even fathom how much time we’ve probably saved using their tips, park plans, and crowd calendars.
Tip 4: Plan for Florida weather
It probably goes without saying that Florida can be HOT. It’s also known to have the occasional downpour. These are typically fairly short-lived, but you’ll want to be prepared. I’d recommend sticking everyone a poncho or raincoat in your park bag. You’ll pay a pretty penny for a poncho in the parks.
Outside Food
In the last post I covered the awesome Disney dining options and highlighted a few of our favorites. But here’s a dirty little secret I didn’t mention: we don’t eat all of our meals from Disney vendors! To save money and make things a little more convenient, here are some tips that have worked really well for us:
Tip 1: Order food to keep in your room
On each of our trips we have pre-ordered snacks and light meals to have at our resort. When we’ve stayed at Art of Animation it’s nice because the family suites have kitchenettes, but all resorts at least have mini refrigerators. We’ve ordered from Garden Grocer and Amazon on different trips because they will both deliver right to your resort. We typically order things like milk, soda, water, juice boxes, granola bars, crackers, breakfast items, etc. It’s a really convenient way to save money AND time!
Tip 2: Eat breakfasts in your room
Unless we have a breakfast or brunch dining reservation, we typically eat breakfast in the room. It’s just SO much faster to have the kids grab a bowl of cereal or something as we’re all getting ready for a long day in the parks. Otherwise we’d have a least 30-45 minutes eating breakfast at a resort quick service option or once we are in the parks, and that just wastes precious time when parks typically have lower crowds!
Buying breakfast and keeping it in your room is also a lot cheaper! And for those reasons, I HIGHLY recommend this tip! Again, we’ve used both Garden Grocer and Amazon in the past without any issues.
Tip 3: Take snacks and drinks to the park with you
While we do enjoy the amazing snack options in the parks, buying Disney snacks and drinks all day gets expensive. Disney allows outside food and (nonalcoholic) drinks in the parks. So we always have individually wrapped granola bars, cookies, or crackers and bottles of water packed in our park bag for later.
Disney World with Babies and Toddlers
On our first Disney World vacation our youngest at the time (now middle son) was two and a half. I worried that he was too little for Disney World. Fast forward a few years later, and our youngest son went on his first Disney World trip when he was only four months old. So OBVIOUSLY I decided babies and toddlers can (and should!) go to Disney World. I’d like to convince you of the same with some tips to make the best of traveling in the Florida heat with a little one.
Tip 1: Take them now while they’re FREE!
In my experience babies and toddlers do great at Disney World. And here’s the best part: they’re absolutely free! Children under 3 don’t need park tickets at all!
I’d also like to ease any concerns about little ones getting bored or that they won’t be able to do anything. While there are rides with height restrictions, there are many, many attractions even an infant can ride in their parent’s lap. And of course I also think they will enjoy the shows, characters, and just all the things going on in the (Disney) World around them. If anything, they may get OVERstimulated. Which brings me to my next suggestion…
Tip 2: Utilize the parks’ Baby Care Centers
Ok, so I knew these existed on some of my earlier trips but I admittedly had never even entered one until the trip when our youngest was 4 months. Each park has one of these AMAZING places, and they are so much more than just a diaper changing table. They offer private nursing rooms with rocking chairs, changing rooms, a feeding area with highchairs, kitchen with microwave and sink, and a seating area with a television to entertain toddlers. They are a great place to cool off and let your little ones rest so they don’t get too overstimulated (and hence helping to avoid crying and meltdowns!)
Tip 3: Use Rider Switch!
Here’s another great reason you’ll want to bring your little one along on the family trip. Disney has this really cool option for families visiting with small kids so that no adults misses out on the rides with height restrictions. It’s called Rider Switch and it’s amazing. Here’s how it works:
- You check in with a Disney cast member at the entry of the ride that has a height restriction and let them know you want to use Rider Switch.
- One adult in the party staying back with the little one will be issued an entitlement to ride when the rest of the party returns.
- The rest of the party proceeds through the attraction like normal, while the adult stays back with the child.
- Once the rest of the party is done with the attraction, the adult who stayed back with the child proceeds to the entrance with up to TWO other guests while a different adult in the party stays back with the baby or toddler.
- The new party (of up to 3 people) proceeds to the attraction without having to wait in line (get bumped to the front of the line).
Yes, you read that right. This not only gives all adults with little kids the opportunity to ride, but it also allows two other people to ride TWICE while only having to stand in line ONCE. We’ve used this so many times. Here’s our example to help explain it a bit better:
I stay back with our 2-year-old and Josh and the two older boys ride the height-restricted attraction. When they are done, Josh can stay back with our 2-year-old, and I ride with our two older boys (without waiting in line).
Tip 4: Take breaks at your resort
If your little one needs a longer nap, consider taking a mid-day break from the park and head back to your hotel room for a nap. This is typically the busiest and hottest time in the parks anyway, so why not give your kiddo (and you!) a break for a bit? We’ve had this tactic on some of our vacations and it worked out well.
Phone Apps
There are a couple phone apps I use while we are on our Disney vacation that help keep us organized while our plan is in motion.
App 1: My Disney Experience App
This is the app version of the account you would’ve made at Disney World online to book your trip. I use it for the following while on vacation:
- Keeping track of tickets, resort reservations, and dining reservations
- Making mobile food orders for some quick service dining locations
- Checking information on park hours
- Checking official current posted wait times for attractions
- Entering the virtual queue (or in our case TRYING to enter and being unsuccessful) for Rise of the Resistance at Hollywood Studios.
App 2: Lines
Lines is the name of the app for Touring Plans. This is what I’ll use to view, edit, and update our touring plans for the parks we are visiting during the trip. As you move through the day and “check off” attractions as you do them, you can continue to optimize your plan and they’ll update it based on wait times.
This app also gives estimated vs posted wait times for various attractions. For example, maybe Disney says the wait time is 30 minutes, but based on other information Touring Plans thinks it’s only 15 minutes. I don’t have an opinion on which wait time I trust more, just a note that you can check that on the app as well.
The Last Thing You Need to Know About Planning Your Disney Vacation
You’ve made it through our 4-part blog series for beginner Disney World vacation planners. I hope you’ve learned quite a bit and feel confident to build and plan YOUR OWN family vacation to Disney! Of course, there is a LOT of other additional information out there for more detail on specific topics. Now that you have the basics down, feel free to chase the White Rabbit down some Disney planning rabbit holes to learn even more!
I hope you and your family have a MAGICAL vacation!
Share this with friends and family who are planning a trip to Disney World!
Have you been to Disney? Drop a comment below with your favorite planning tips!