Tips and Tricks for Planning Your Next Disney Vacation

Tips and Tricks for Planning Your Next Disney Vacation

There is nothing more exciting than booking your Disney trip, especially if you get to enjoy it with loved ones. Disney is certainly a wonderful place to visit, but there is a lot take in while you are there. It is important to take a step back and plan for this vacation, or else you might find that you have missed out on some of the best parts. In order to truly gain the most out of your experience you want to learn a few things before embarking on your exciting new adventure. Here are just a few tips that could really improve your next Disney vacation.

 

Think About What You’re Hoping For

The first step towards planning a great vacation is to consider what you are hoping for during the trip. If you want to immerse yourself completely, then you are taking on a completely different endeavor than someone who just wants to visit the magic for one day. Obviously each location is different, but the commonly talked about Disney vacation spot is Orlando, Florida- this is simply because there are more parks there to visit. In Walt Disney World there are four exciting parks, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot and Hollywood Studios. These are four rather unique parks with very different experiences tied to them.

Someone who is hoping for a more laid back and classic experience will want to take their family to Magic Kingdom. This is where the incredible Cinderella Castle resides, and it is certainly an amazing sight to behold. There will be parades and amazing shops, and plenty of fun-filled rides. This is where you will see plenty of cast members dressed as your favorite Disney characters, making it more of a child friendly location.

Animal Kingdom is my personal favorite of all the parks and is definitely something both children and adults can enjoy. The Safari ride is one of the most incredibly experiences, where you feel like you have been dropped into a real African Safari. There are also plenty of amazing rides and themes around this park which make it truly incredible.

Epcot is much more of an adult experience, with the food and wine festival being a major attraction there. You can immerse yourself in different cultures from around the world, and experience a little piece of each of them. It is definitely an incredible experience, but this park is rather large and less enjoyable for children. The joys within Epcot would be experiencing the food and drink, as well as the amazing shopping.

Hollywood Studios is one of the smaller parks and WDW, and is rather easy to make your way through. It is still a very fun experience for both adults and children. It includes a beautiful aquarium which makes it something to draw in Disney goers. There are a few exciting rides, as well as some with a much slower pace.

I personally adore immersing myself completely and attending all four of the amazing parks, since they are all completely worth it. This however is quite a lot to absorb in one trip, and likely means you need at least a week to really take it all in. Each park honestly takes a day to completely go through and enjoy it entirely, so be advised any less than this and you will be missing out- not to mention you will be completely exhausted.

You also want to consider the time of year, since Disney has different events all year round. For example during Christmas they have incredibly Christmas decorations and amazing parades. They have different themes throughout the year, which means planning accordingly can help you discover which surroundings will appeal to you most. You also want to make sure to plan certain restaurants ahead of time, such as Be Our Guest. These fill up quickly, so you need to book these types of eating events before your trip.

Download The Right Apps

It is important to remember that Disney is always moving forward, which means they have adapted the use of technology into the park experience. I advise strongly into researching the different restaurant and event apps to help you maintain connected to the full experience.

My personal favorite App is the WDW Lines app, which helps you keep track of how long the lines are at each park. You can open up your app and plan out your route, which is especially helpful in the larger parks. Some of the rides can have extremely long waits, so it is best to figure out how long you are willing to wait before trekking across the park. There is nothing more frustrating than walking all the way to a specific ride, only to discover the wait time is of an hour long. With this App you can plan around this by seeing an estimated wait time for each and every ride in the parks.

Appropriate Footwear

I cannot stress the importance of comfortable footwear enough. Even people who are in good physical shape find themselves in pain when they walk through the parks and wait in lines for hours. You need to make sure you have incredibly comfortable shoes, and possible a change of clothes. You want to make sure to be as comfortable as possible, since Disney is definitely an experience that can become a bit exhausting. This is especially important for people who are taking on all four of these incredibly parks.

It can be exhausting and a bit painful, but it is completely worth every second of it. You just want to be sure to prepare yourself by ensuring that your attire is going to keep you as comfortable as possible. The right shoes are vital when it comes to any theme park, but they are especially important for your Disney trip.

Bring Food

While you cannot bring food into most of the parks, you can bring it into your hotel room. If you are a picky eater, it can be difficult to find food that you might enjoy when you are within Disney grounds. If you are staying outside of Disney then it isn’t as complicated. When on Disney grounds you won’t want to endure the maze that is traffic into and out of the grounds themselves. It can be useful to have a few snacks for the hotel room, especially if you are going to find yourself staying at the parks all day long. When you get back to your room you won’t enjoy the idea of going back out again for a snack or two. While the hotels often have good room service, some have minimal options- so having the extra supplies is beneficial.

Pack Appropriately

If you are attending WDW you want to consider the time of year and what the weather will be like. It isn’t sunny and warm all year round, and some of the winter months can become a bit chilly. You want to make sure to pack options since the weather can find itself jumping around in rather unusual ways. Florida weather is not predictable is what I am trying to say, so pack wisely.

Fast Pass Wisely  

Once you purchase your tickets you want to go ahead and schedule a few past passes. This is something that can be done online through the WDW fast pass website, and can even be done a day or two before each park. You might not get fast passes for some of the more popular rides if you are going last minute, but you can certainly get ahead of the lines for many others.

You are allotted three past passes per ticket, per day, and you have to schedule for a specific time frame. You have an hour to get to the ride when you schedule the fast pass, which is rather useful. Make sure to plan around which rides you want to jump the line for, and make sure to set your entire family up onto your one account. It allows you to schedule everyone for the same ride, at the same time, which is rather useful.

Ultimately there is nothing more exciting and enjoyable than planning your Disney vacation. You simply want to make sure to plan a few things ahead in order to get the most out of this magical experience. Some things will be learned during the trip, but a few of these tips will help save you the hassle. Enjoy your amazing vacation!