Ten Tips For A Wonderful Disney World Vacation

Clueless about how to start planning your family’s Disney World vacation? If this is your first time visiting Disney World, the process can be somewhat daunting -- there are so many options! -- and this guide is designed to take some of the stress out of planning your first trip. If you’re a return visitor, this guide will help you make this Disney visit one of your best ever!

1. Plan ahead! There are literally thousands of websites and other resources dedicated to all things Disney, so check some of them out. Reading this article is a good start! In addition to the official Disney website, I’ve always found the following websites to be incredibly helpful: allears.net, mousesavers.com and wdwinfo.com. On these sites you can find a wealth of information on park hours, upcoming special events, pricing and more. You can also access unbiased resort, attraction and restaurant reviews and suggestions about when to go or how to get a deal. You might find it useful to order the free vacation planning DVD to get you started.

2. Stay on-site if at all possible – it’s worth it! By staying at one of the many Disney resort hotels, you are entitled to take the Magical Express shuttle from the airport, use Disney transportation within Disney World itself (so a rental car isn’t necessary), take advantage of resort guests-only extended hours (referred to as “Extra Magic Hours”) in the parks, AND you get that Disney “special treatment” the whole time you are there. If you’re worried about pricing, you don’t have to stay at the “deluxe” accommodations – although they are certainly nice! And, if you can, try to visit during Value Season (see here for a listing of seasons), as rooms will be cheaper – and as a bonus the parks will be less crowded. Call 407-WDISNEY, or check out Disney.com to find out about the latest promotions – and be sure to sign-up for an account while you’re there, as you will receive special offers by email. Also check message boards (like disboards.com) for more information on how to save money and budget for your trip.

3. Make a general park schedule (which parks you will visit on which days), and note the Extra Magic Hours. In general, I recommend having at least one full day in each park, and if your schedule allows, you may also want to pencil in a “day off” from the parks somewhere in the middle of your vacation to recharge and to enjoy your resort. Knowing which park to go to on a given day is a little more complicated, but is especially important if you’re interested in seeing shows like Fantasmic! and Wishes, which are only shown on selected evenings, or if you’re making restaurant reservations. Take these things into consideration when deciding which parks to visit on which days. If you are staying on-site, your schedule should also consider taking advantage of Extra Magic Hours on the days they are offered. However, you should be aware that the parks with Extra Magic Hours will be busier than the other parks (during those extended hours, and also for the rest of the day). For this reason, some folks actually avoid parks that have Extra Magic Hours scheduled that day.

4. If you plan to eat at table-service restaurants, make Advanced Dining Reservations (ADRs). This can be done by phone or online, and once you know which parks you would like to visit on which days, you can coordinate this with your ADRs. You don’t want to be at the Magic Kingdom in the morning, have a lunch scheduled at Animal Kingdom Lodge, and then have a dinner at Epcot before you attempt to see Fantasmic! at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It’s just too much running around -- and if you don’t have a Park Hopper ticket (see next point), you can’t do this anyhow. You can make dining reservations up to 180 days in advance. This is important, as some restaurants, particularly character meals, fill up very quickly. That said, if you don’t like being subject to a set eating schedule, or you have kids that only like chicken fingers and fries anyway, then there is always counter-service (which is quick n’ easy, not to mention less expensive).

• Some extra eating/dining tips: If you’re already staying on-site and purchasing park tickets, look into the Disney Dining Plan to see if it might be advantageous to add it to your package. Some find it to be a good value; some don’t. Personally, I think it depends on your party and their eating habits. My family members are big fans of having groceries delivered to our room (try wegoshop.com). Not only is it convenient, but you can save a ton of money simply by having a case of water, breakfast foods and some other snacks in your room that were purchased from Wal-mart rather than Disney. Also noteworthy: if someone in your party has a food allergy or other dietary concern, Disney World is well equipped to handle them, provided you give their special diets department a little bit of notice.

5. Decide what tickets you will need. There are many options when it comes to purchasing Disney tickets, and the choices can be overwhelming. As you might expect, the more days your ticket is valid for, the better the value is on a price-per-day basis. In regards to the other options, different families want different things. My family prefers to not add the “park hopper” option, as it’s not worthwhile to us, while other families can’t live without it. Figure out what your family is interested in, and then do the math to find out whether the different options make sense for you. Here is a good guide to what the different options mean: http://allears.net/pl/ticket.htm. Keep in mind: you can always upgrade tickets once you’re at the parks, provided they haven’t expired.

6. Be at the park before it opens. “Rope drop” is when the park opens to the public. And because most visitors are “on vacation,” many don’t bother to get to the park for rope drop. However, this is probably the best time to be entering any Disney park, as there are little to no waits, even on popular rides. Not only is this the best time for your family to get on their “must do” rides, but it’s also a great time to scoop up some FastPasses (see next point). If you’re not a “commando-style”-visitor, then you may prefer to sleep in and take advantage of late-night Extra Magic Hours, but my family always prefers to “get in” as much as we can in the first part of the day.

7. Use the FastPass system. It’s free! FastPasses are available to all ticket-holders for many of the parks' most popular attractions, and will help you to avoid waiting in long lines. SO USE THEM. For a breakdown of how the FastPass system works, see this hub: http://hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Use-Walt-Disney-Worlds-Fastpass

8. Take an afternoon break. Especially if you plan to go out later, and especially if you have kids. This is another great thing about staying on-site: you can easily pop back to the hotel for a swim or a nap and return to the parks later. Don’t burn yourself out!

9. Pick up a map and a Times Guide when you enter the park, so you can find your way around and so can stake out a spot for the parades and fireworks (or you can avoid them and get on the rides when there is less of a wait, if that’s your thing). Park maps are also a free souvenir!

10. Plan to return. You can’t do everything in one trip (I’ve been six times and I still find new things to do every single time I go), so enjoy what you’re doing and don’t rush around TOO much. Some of my favourite Disney memories are those when I was sitting on a bench, eating a Dole Whip, watching the crowd and waiting for Wishes to start. So have fun and remember that Disney World isn’t going anywhere anytime soon!