From my personal experience, these are my top 5 basic planning tips. Tips that I hope will make your first trip less overwhelming and more relaxing. With a place like Disney World where there are seemingly endless options of things to do, see, eat, and explore its easy to end up feeling the stress and not the magic. But, with some planning before hand, you’ll be smiling ear to ear riding Dumbo without a care in the world, trust me! The effort you put into planning before your trip will pay off!
1. Stay On Disney Property
For some, the idea of staying on property isn’t an obvious choice. You can get a more affordable room while staying off property at times, but for me the benefits of staying on Disney far outweigh the benefits of staying elsewhere. Here’s why: First of all, you will have access to the Disney Magical Express. Not only does this service provide transportation for you from the airport to your resort, Disney will also take care of transporting your luggage from the airport straight to your room, allowing you to go straight to the park when you first arrive. I love this so much because it really makes for a much more relaxed vacation with a lot less hassle!
As if this benefit weren’t enough, another huge perk of staying on Disney is being able to utilize their extensive Park Transport network. This includes buses that go to every park, including Disney Springs. And you’ll never be waiting more than 20 minutes for a bus! In addition to the bus, certain resorts include direct access to the monorail system which will connect you to both Magic Kingdom and Epcot. A few resorts also offer a ferry boat to certain parks. The newest addition to their system is the Disney Skyliner. A gondola system that brings guests from select resorts to both Epcot and Hollywood Studios.
My next “must stay on Disney” point has to be the extra magic hours. Guests from all Disney resorts will have early access to a certain parks each day. In the summer, this will also extend into closing time. Giving you more hours in the park and more bang for your buck.
And finally, my overall number one reason would have to be THE MAGIC. When you stay on property you have the fun themed rooms, Mickey shaped waffles at breakfast, and cast members, who are very pleasant and always helpful, ready to make your trip the best it can be. So, for me staying on property is a no brainer.
2. Ask For Help
I remember planning our first trip. I felt overwhelmed. I reached out to quite a few people, read a lot of blog posts, and watched more videos about planning than I can even remember. But, once I had a clear understanding of how to do it, I felt really confident planning our trip. A big takeaway from getting a lot of peoples thoughts on the subject is, there’s not one right way to do it. Take in all the advice you hear, see, or read. Then you can apply what works for you and keep the rest stored away in case you need to try something different. Since I started planning my family’s trips, I have helped quite a few friends plan trips of their own. Often emailing them past itineraries, or offering up the tips I have for planning. And I hope they found it helpful, but also found a way that worked for their family and their circumstance!
3. Prebook All Dining Reservations And Fast Passes
Gone are the days when you could show up to Disney World and grab a fast pass on your way to your favorite ride or swing in the morning of, and hope for a dinner reservation open for that evening. As envious as I am for my parents experience when they lived in Orlando, my “Type A” personality does love that when I arrive everything is already planned out. You can make dining reservations up to 180 DAYS BEFORE your arrival date for every day of your trip (up to 10 days). And for fast passes, you can make your selections 60 days before your arrival (if you stay on property, 30 days for off property guests). Making it smooth sailing when you arrive!
4. Plan to Arrive For Rope Drop
Trust me, I know the last thing you want to be doing on vacation is wake to with an alarm clock and get moving. However, when you’re doing Disney it just makes sense. You will get to take advantage of a lower crowd with shorter wait times, and cooler temperatures! And lets be honest, if you’re traveling with kids they will be getting up early anyway, might as well make the most of it! Crowds usually begin to pick up around 10:30-11:00 am, which is the perfect time to grab a snack and take a little break.
5. Download The My Disney Experience App
If there is one game changer for a Disney World vacation, its the My Disney Experience app. Hands down incredible. I could honestly go on and on about how convenient it is, but I will just highlight some of my more favorite details. The app has in depth maps of each park, which includes current wait times for all rides as well as start times for parades and live shows. You can also book more fast passes once you have used the 3 you’ve already booked for that day. In addition to fast passes, you can also try and get a last minute dining reservation in or modify a previous reservation. Mobile food ordering is available which is amazing because it cuts out your time waiting in line to order! There are quite a few other super convenient features on the app, but just take my word for it.. its worth the free download!
I hope you found these helpful as you as you begin the Disney planning process, or gave you more information for when you hope to plan a trip in the future. I would love to share more in depth tips with you all if you would find it useful! Just let me know if that’s something you would be interested in hearing more about! ❤
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