I am SO excited to introduce Leah-she is going to share her Disney World secrets with us! (She's a Disney genius, y'all.)
My name is Leah. I blog for The Calico Cat, where I talk about beauty, college life, food and the occasional fashion pick or DIY project.
However, today I am switching gears completely. I am going to give you some tips regarding my favorite place on earth – DISNEY WORLD!
Disclaimer before we get started: I love Disney and I have no shame in saying that. If I could go there all the time, I totally would. So if I am a little biased, I’m sorry. I can’t help it!
My family and I have been going to Walt Disney World since I was 4 years old – over a decade and a half of vacations. We go at least every other year and have been two years in a row before because we just love it THAT much.
Honestly, I would pick a Disney vacation over other vacations any day. There is just something about a Disney vacation that once you go on the first trip, you keep coming back for more. However, you can’t possibly understand this feeling if you haven’t ever experienced a well-planned out Disney vacation.
With that being said, I want to give you my top tips for making your Disney vacation stress-free and well organized.
- Special Occasion worth celebrating while at Disney? Head to Guest Services (labelled on maps for each park) to pick up a celebratory pin for you to wear during your stay.
- When you are planning your Disney vacation, think long-term. It will take some time to plan this vacation so start early! For meal reservations, call 6 months in advance, especially for Cinderella’s Royal Table, Be Our Guest, etc., or use Disney Dining Buddy.
- Schedule all 3 Fast Passes as early in the day as possible. Once you use them all, you can continue to get them one at a time.
- When it’s raining, head to the waterparks given that they are open. You’ll walk right onto the rides.
- Our last trip to Disney was our first trip without a stroller and we honestly contemplated getting one just to hold the backpack. HA! But in all seriousness, rent a stroller for the whole week if you have little ones. It’s cheaper to get one for the whole week and easier to have one waiting on you inside the park.
- Tie a bandana onto the handle of your stroller (rental or personal) or use some other identifier so that you can quickly pick out your stroller. Sometimes where you leave the stroller isn’t where you pick it up, so having a quick and easy way to identify it will be a life-saver. Trust me!
- If you are staying in a Disney resort, take advantage of the Magic Hours. You can find out about them before hand and plan your days accordingly. What are Magic Hours? Short answer, these are hours specifically set aside for those staying in a resort. It is either before the park’s open or after closing. The crowds really die down during Magic Hours. I definitely recommend taking advantage of them.
- Download the Disney app! This will let you know about the wait times for each attraction, which Fast Passes you have left, and so much more.
- Find out which rides will be closed in each of the parks during your stay. This way, there are no surprises when you arrive.
- If you find something that you like in the park, look online at the Disney Store as it may be a bit cheaper.
- Carry ponchos, especially for the rides involving water.
- Florida weather can change drastically overnight so check the weather while you are packing and carry things that can be layered in case it rains or suddenly becomes cool.
- Single rider lines are great for the more popular attractions, such as Space Mountain, Rockin’ Rollercoaster, Tower of Terror, etc.
- During the parades and fireworks shows, wait times will be cut in half so head to attractions that typically have long waits (i.e. new rides, popular rides, meet the characters).
- Know when the parades will start and plan accordingly as the routes for the parades will start being blocked off 20-30 minutes in advance and you may have to take a detour if you are trying to go from one area of the park to another.
- There are several interactive attractions throughout each of the parks. Magic Kingdom has 2 interactive attractions:
- A Pirates Adventure – Treasures of the Seven Seas (start at the Crow’s Nest to receive your map – there are 5 total, taking about 20 minutes per map. On completion of one, you may return to receive another until you complete all 5).
- Sorcerers of Magic Kingdom (begin at the Firehouse on Main Street, U.S.A. or behind the Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe in Liberty Square).
- In Animal Kingdom, you can receive your Wilderness Explorer Badge (Stop by Headquarters {on the bridge between the Oasis and Discovery Island} to get started).
- Phineas and Ferb have an interactive attraction in the World Showcase at Epcot (Phineas and Ferb: Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure – Recruitment Centers exist at the International Gateway and the Italy pavilion). Hollywood Studios doesn’t have any interactive attractions that I know of.
- If you are headed to Epcot, be sure to check out the Dolphin show in the aquarium.
- If you have a few extra minutes, transform your little prince or princess at the Bippidy Bobbidi Boutique or at The Pirates League. Each store has something for boys and girls alike. However, don’t expect this to be a cheap or quick activity to do as it does take 30 minutes to an hour to complete with the cheapest packages being $59.95 (Boutique) and $34.95 (Pirate).
I hope that you enjoyed this post and will be able to implement these tips during your next stay at the most magical place on earth! I love being social! Find me here: Blog/Instagram/Twitter/Facebook/Bloglovin’/Google+/Pinterest/StumbleUpon
Photo credits: Tom Bricker; Fátima Sol;Ronaldo Cabuhat via Flickr
