Trip Tips

On this page, you can find basic tips on planning your next trip to Disney.  These are tips and opinions,  I've learned from my own experience.


1. Plan ahead. Unless you have money to burn and can return to WDW at will (or happen to be a FL resident and are fortunate enough to be able to get annual passes), you will need to make the most of this trip. To do that, you need to plan ahead. I mean far ahead. like at least 6 months. Make your reservations. Reserve any character meals you plan on having. Reserve any sit down meals you plan on having. Do it now!  You are allowed to start making dinning reservations 180 days in advance and there are plenty of people who do so.  If you wait too long, you may not be able to get the meal you want.  Of course, people always make cancellations so there is a chance you can get what you want even if you do wait, but your chances are greater if you just plan ahead. 

Ya, you can go without planning quite that far ahead but I'm a planner. And the times I have not planned properly for any kind of vacation, I end up kicking myself. And it hurts. Plus, you are spending a decent amount of dough here. Don't you want to get the most bang for your buck?

2. Take advantage of the dining plan. If you are staying on Disney property, you would be a dolt if you did not take advantage of their dining plan. You get gobs of food for a lot less than what you would spend if you did it by yourself. And, go for the regular dining plan. This gets each family member over the age of 3, 1 quick service meal (fast food; entree, side and dessert), 1 table service meal (a nice, sit down, a waitress will serve you kind of meal) and 1 snack each day, verses just the fast food plan that will only get each person 2 quick service meals and 1 snack a day. You will make up the difference with your first table service meal. Seriously, a table service restaurant at WDW can easily cost over $100 for a family of 4. The difference between the fast food (quick service) plan and the dining (table service) plan is about $130, give or take depending on your actual length of stay. And the table service food is good! Really good! The quick service food is pretty good to if you stay away from the children's menu. For some reason, the kids chicken nuggets looks like Styrofoam but the adult chicken fingers is actual, real chicken and it tastes good. Can't say I'd recommend the quick service burgers either. But everything else is really good and actually many times more food than we could eat.

3. Don't go ride Dumbo first. For families with little kids, all the guide books say make a bee line for Dumbo first thing in the morning. So, guess what. Everyone makes a bee line for Dumbo and the line ain't short, even first thing in the morning.

4. Don't get stressed out by what you can't do. Disney is SO huge and there is SO much to do, you'd never be able to do it all unless you, again, have money to burn and are planning to stay at least a month.  Make a list of your top must does, hit those first and go from there. 

5. Bring your own drinks if you can. They get you with the drinks. They know you'll be thirsty. They know you need to stay hydrated. So they charge an arm and a leg for a Coke. Plus, there are no free refills like there are in the rest of the world. If you are in Epcot though and find yourself thirsty, there is Ice Station Cool. It's just like at the World of Coke (for all my ATL peeps) where you can go in and taste all the different varieties of Coke from around the world. Get as much as you want! Plus, it's cool inside!

I bring Capri Suns for my kids. I want them to stay hydrated, but I don't want them drinking a whole bottle of water and having to stop at every bathroom we pass. Capri Suns are low in sugar (they even have flavored water) and come well portion controlled.

6. Don't go in the summer time. It's HOTT!! Unless you like standing in really long lines in 95 degree that feels like 105 degree weather and then getting on a ride that is already thoughtfully been soaked with someone elses sweat, don't go in the summer.   If you need to go in the summer, try a water park or just spend some time at one of the fantastically theme hotel pools. 

September (still hot though in Sept, but low crowds), December- BEFORE Christmas, late January and February are the best times to go.

7. Become familiar with what a fast pass is and take advantage of them. They did not have fast passes when I was living there. I wish they did. If you have a fast pass (they don't cost anything extra) as you are waltzing through the line, you will laugh and feel a tiny bit sorry for those who don't have one and are forced to wait in the regular people line. This is part of the planning ahead that I mentioned in #1.

8. Go to Epcot to meet the princesses. People will wait in an hour or more long line to meet 3 of the princesses when if you just hopped on the Monorail to Epcot, you an stroll around the World Showcase and walk right up to and meet most any princess you want. Little to no line. You might even run into a few characters there as well with shorter lines.

9. Those of you with little ones, don't be afraid of Epcot!! My kids at 2, 4 and 6 LOVED Epcot! It holds a very close second to M.K (Magic Kingdom). There are rides there. There is a ton of neat stuff to see and do and experience. And YOU (the grownups) will love it too.

10. and this tip has nothing to do with helping you get the most out of your vacation; but don't refer to the Magic Kingdom as Disney World. It's all called Disney World. And when I say "all" I mean, the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, The Hollywood Studios and the Animal Kingdom- all that is Disney World. The Magic Kingdom, where Dumbo and Space Mountain and the Pirates of the Caribbean is, you know, the place with the big castle (Cinderella's by the way) is called the Magic Kingdom not Disney World.

11.    If you have the time, stay at least 4 days. If you don't have the time, maybe wait until you do (that'll give you more time to save too.)

12.  Contrary to popular belief, Epcot is great for little kids.  Mine love it.  They don't have as many rides as MK but there is still tons to do, games to play, things to see, yummy food to eat...  You can even learn a thing or 2, but don't let that scare you! 

That's all for now. Come back later for more WDW family vacation tips!