Our Top Tips For Getting The Most Out Of Your Disney Vacation

The truth is, we love going to Walt Disney World.  We also love the planning, the anticipation, and almost every step we take closer to a magical Disney vacation.  We also love being in the midst of a crowd with a feeling of confidence because we “know.”  We know what time the park will open and where we will go first and second and know that we will plan from there making the most of every minute we are at the most magical place on Earth.  And, while we didn’t do too bad in the “knowing” department for our first couple of trips, our experiences have added up and we can share what we have learned with others.

So, here they are, the top tips for making the most of your Walt Disney World vacation:

• Use Fastpass and better yet, if you have a chance, use Fastpass + and decide your touring plan and attraction schedule before you even hit the parks.  If only using Fastpass, still have a skeleton plan and know which attraction(s) to hit when you arrive at the park.  Just this evening, we were talking about a day we have planned for EPCOT and the boy wanted to know if we would ride Maelstrom, as we were also dining at Akershus.  I said, “Sure, we will get Fastpasses before we eat.”  Using Fastpass allows you to use time to your advantage.  It’s FREE and available to all guests!

• Pre-order your Photopass CD.  Yeah, I know I sound like a broken record with the whole photograph thing, but trust me, you are going to want a picture of your little princess hugging an adorable character and the Photopass Photographers are there to capture just that moment.  Let them!  Relax, put your camera away, and let Disney handle the photography for you.  If you pre-order your Photopass CD, you’ll save $40.

• Tour the parks either early in the morning, also known as rope drop, or late at night.  The parks are most crowded in the middle of the day, so by taking some touring time on either end of the day, the crowds are lighter and you will be able to make the most of your time. 

• Make your Advanced Dining Reservations 180 days prior to your vacation or as soon as you have a trip booked, whichever is soonest, especially if you want character dining or to eat at new restaurants,  Trust me on this, we made ADR’s at 175 days and could only get a late reservation for a new restaurant. 

• Comfortable shoes and preferably two pairs—alternating each day.  Walt Disney World is huge and guests walk an average of 9 miles per day while park touring—not counting the amount of time guests spend standing—in queues, waiting for the bus, waiting for parades, etc.   This can take a toll on the legs and feet.  If you normally walk 9 miles in your flip flops and stand all day in them, then by all means, bring them along.  Comfortable, sturdy shoes.  Oh, the stories we could tell about this one, including how the husband ended up with Mickey croc sandals.

There you have it. . .our top 5 list for getting the most out of your Walt Disney World vacation.  And, we follow our own tips, mostly.  Still working on toughening up the husband’s feet in combination with finding the best shoes!

Getting Advice and Tips for a Walt Disney World Vacation

You’re going to Disney World!  You’ve decided, you’ve told people.  And now you are being flooded with advice.  Only the phrase “we’re having a baby” would elicit more advice from friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, and complete strangers.

What do you do with all of the advice, tips, hints, and stories. . . of magic or otherwise?

For most, smile, nod, and tell them you are excited and can’t wait.  Act like you’ve got the planning under control and know what you are doing.  Really, you do probably have the planning under control and know what you are doing.

Then, mine for the nuggets.  They’ll be there.  Little hints and tips that can be filed away and remembered.  If something does sound outlandish or potentially rule breaking, double check a guide book, Disney message boards, or internet to make sure it is right. 

For example, if someone says something like if you stay at a Disney resort you can get into the parks early any morning.  This statement is half true, as the person is referring to Extra Magic Hours.  Trust me, we’ve seen disappointed guests trying to enter the park early, while the rest of us wait in line, telling Cast Members that such and such told them they could get in early at any park.  (That’s the other theme park destination across town that offers that for their two parks.)  And, it’s not how Disney’s Extra Magic Hours work, so check it out to be sure.

We are past the advice getting stage.  When people know, hear, or find out that we have 9 trips to Walt Disney World under our belts, the stance goes from advice giving to us to advice getting from us. 

But it didn’t start out that way.  I can recall searching out a colleague who had lots of Disney experience before our first trip.  I had lots of questions and it helped.  I got just what I needed.  I would recommend searching for a friend, colleague, co-worker, neighbor, or travel professional who can answer your questions.  On-line message boards can be helpful, too.

So what happens when the conversation shifts from advice getting to advice giving?  Well, I start with questions.  Probing to find out what the person really wants to know and how much they already know, listening for depth of knowledge and possible misconceptions.  Example, a person indicates that they’ve been to Walt Disney World before.  A question to follow would be, “What park did you go to?”  If this question gets a baffled look, pause, and stumbled answer then I know they only went to Magic Kingdom.  Often first time visitors or day visitors to Walt Disney World only go to Magic Kingdom and it become synonymous with Walt Disney World.  An experienced guest would tell me which of the four theme parks were on their itinerary.  This type of questioning lets me know what kind of advice, tip, or hint to offer.

Are we past getting advice for our Disney trips?  No way!  I learn something new prior to and during each trip.  For example, we discovered the Pepper Market at Disney’s Coronado Springs on our last trip.  What a find!  Our experiences and knowledge certainly enhance our trips and at the same time we continue to learn, discover, and experience new things.  That’s part of what keeps us coming back.

Here are some of the questions we get asked frequently and our short, quick, responses:

Do you stay on property?  Yes.

What’s your favorite resort?  Right now, Coronado Springs.  Port Orleans Riverside before that. 

Where have you stayed?  Caribbean Beach twice, Port Orleans Riverside five times, Port Orleans French Quarter once, and Coronado Springs once and have it booked for our next trip.

Do you go when it’s hot/crowded/busy?  Yes, yes, and yes.

What’s your best tip?  Two pronged—make ADR’s and use Fastpass.

Depending on how people respond to our answers determines where the conversation goes next.

We’re going to Walt Disney World!  Any advice you would like to give us?

Time=Money on a Walt Disney World Vacation--Hints and Tips For Getting The Most Out of Your Vacation

Any vacationer to Walt Disney World wants to get the most out of their vacation dollar.  There’s nothing more frustrating than feeling like you are wasting money or opportunities.  At Walt Disney World, it is all about time.  The more time spent doing something other than enjoying your vacation is wasted time and that equates to wasted money.

Here are some hints and tips that we used to get the most out of our most recent Walt Disney World vacation and many previous trips:

• Get to the parks early.  Before they open.  So, you are there when the park opens and get the most out of the less crowded morning.  Yes, you are on vacation and most likely want to sleep in.  Yet, thousands of others are thinking/feeling the same thing.  If you do the opposite of those thousands of people, you will be far ahead in the time/money ratio.  Or, do the opposite.  Sleep in and go the parks later in the day—say late afternoon, and take advantage of extended hours or if you are staying on property, Extra Magic Hours.  The fewer people in the park, the more opportunities you have to make the most of your time.  If you are on the bus to a park at 8:00 am and the park opened at 8:00 am , you are already late!
• Say yes.  Yep, anytime a Cast Member asks you something, say yes.  You never know what is coming next.  Don’t hesitate, don’t think about it.  Trust in pixie dust and magic and say yes.

• Leave your refillable mugs in your resort room.  I am still shaking my head in disbelief at te number of times we saw people schlepping their refillable mugs at the parks.  Folks need to know that those can only be refilled at their resort.  No where else.  Remember that you can always get a free cup of water at any counter service location.  Say it with me now. . . leave the refillable mugs in your resort room.
• Since you are the park early, grab a park map AND Times Guide.  Most people just grab the map and then wonder about what time things are, etc.  Nothing more frustrating than walking by Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular at 10:30 am only to find out that the first show isn’t until 11:30 am.  No, it’s not a ride, it’s a show, and if you had picked up a Times Guide and then read it, you would know.  Remember the time equals money equation?  Knowing the times of events helps you get the most out of your vacation.
• There’s a great spot to watch the evening parade at Magic Kingdom at the Main Street Train Station.  We took the train from Frontierland just a few minutes before the parade, walked down a set of steps and then had an elevated view of the parade.  No standing or sitting for several minutes—up to an hour or more—for the parade to start.  Just timed our train return well.  We were also ahead of the crowd exiting the park, as we went out the side exit—through the tunnel by the stroller return. 
• Now that Fastpass return times are being strictly enforced, it can pay to get your Fastpass a little later in the day rather than first thing, depending on when you plan to return to that attraction.  We used to be the go grab as many Fastpasses as we could people, then use then all up later, regardless of the return time.  We can’t do that anymore.  So, when we arrived at the Magic Kingdom, we knew we wanted to ride Buzz Lightyear later in the day, so we waited until around lunchtime to get Fastpasses, as the return time being distributed then was what we wanted.  This is going to take some trial and error, until the Next Generation system is up and running and guests get to pick their return times.  Until then, it is a bit of a “feeling” or use of a mobile device that tells you what return times are being distributed via Fastpass at various attractions that lets you know when to grab your Fastpasses.  I can tell you that we had no problem getting Fastpasses or using then with the new enforcement of return times.  We also saw people being turned away when trying to use their Fastpass beyond the return time window.
• Having said the above about Fastpass, know that they are free and available to all guests using their ticket media.  Yet, there are still some guests who are not using Fastpass at all.  For example, we grabbed Buzz Lightyear Fastpasses around lunch time for a 2:00 ish return time.  The Stand-bye queue had a wait of 45 minutes.  Had those guests grabbed Fastpasses, they could be doing other things for those 45 minutes and ride the ride at about the same time as they would had they stood in line.  I don’t get the thinking.  Maybe they already had Fastpasses and weren’t able to get another set yet?  Who knows?  It still has me shaking my head.  The husband says to let it go, as it means more Fastpass availability for us.
• Know the park hours. This information is posted on-line and is also included in the information you receive upon checking in to your Walt Disney World Resort.  On every trip, we have seen guest frustrated because they thought a park was opening an hour before it actually was.  This last trip, we were at Hollywood Studios with guests asking what time the park opened as they were under the impression that it opened an hour earlier.  OK.  The husband and I had a chat about this one.  We chalked it up to two different possible misunderstandings.  One being the misunderstanding of Extra Magic Hours.  Extra Magic Hours are NOT at every park every day, but at least one park each day either AM or PM, as compared to Universal where on-site guests are admitted an hour early each day.  Another possible explanation, that the husband thought of, was the confusion between Hollywood Studios and Universal Studios and the thinking that the Disney Park would be open to resort guests an hour early every day.  Yet, our last trip, we saw this same thing happen at the Magic Kingdom.  Lesson:  Do a bit of homework and understand Extra Magic Hours and which Disney parks have them on which day and then plan accordingly.  Calendars are found on various web-sites including the official site for Walt Disney World.
• This tip comes directly from the husband:  When waiting. . . anytime. . . for a park to open, to see a character, etc. take the opportunity to visit with Cast Members.  Not about the weather, but about the park, Disney, etc.  You never know what you might learn or what might happen because of your conversation. 

We just can’t help ourselves!  We love it the most magical place on earth.  During our most recent trip, we were at Animal Kingdom waiting to see Thumper and Ms. Bunny, another guest told us that we glowed.  What a compliment!  We have learned so much from our experiences and feel like we get so much from our Disney vacations. . . you know that time equals money thing.  Hope you feel the same!