I have been to Disney World in Orlando, Florida seven times. And each time my family and I take away a different tip. These tips come with a wide range of ages. Our Disney trips started when I was three years old and our last one I was 20 years old. So word of caution, they will not work for everyone, but they should work for a vast majority of people. With spring break just around the corner, I wanted to share our collection of Disney tips. Begin planning your epic vacation here.
Tip 1: Hand sanitizer/masks
In the day and age of COVID, there are many changes that Disney has made to keep everyone as safe as possible. The two biggest ones were their mask rules and their card-only policy. The mask rules are like so; if you are outside in the fresh air you do not have to wear a mask, but as soon as you enter an enclosed space like an attraction or a gift shop, you are required to wear a mask. In some of the long lines, I wore my mask outside, but that is a personal preference.
The card-only policy applies to purchases. As of December 2021, which was our last trip, Disney was only taking credit or debit cards to purchase anything; they were not taking cash. This applied to every vendor and kiosk, even the random water stations throughout the park.
Even before COVID hit, my family and I would always use hand sanitizer at Disney. We would put some on after each ride, before and after we ate, and whenever we handled money. It just helped us to feel clean. Now that COVID has changed our whole world, I wouldn’t go anywhere without some sanitizer.
Tip 2: Purchase Photo Pass
On a few of our trips, my mom purchased the Disney Photo Pass. It is always a lot of fun. So, how it works is before your trip you purchase what type of pass you want. Then during your trip, anytime you see a Disney cast member with a camera you can get your picture taken.
This past trip we’ve had our pictures taken and they would add a snowglobe around the picture so we were inside. In the past, I’ve had my picture taken where I am holding a crate and they added Stitch popping out. I’ve also done a picture where they added baby Simba so it looked like I was carrying baby Simba in my arms. This does come with waiting in long lines, but they are worth the wait. I will tell you that the lines for the photos are shorter than the lines for the most popular attraction.
Tip 3: Download Disney App
Disney made an app for that. My Disney Experience is a must when you go to Disney. On the app, you can keep track of your fast passes, use a virtual map instead of the paper ones. (Side note: my family prefers the paper ones.) If you buy any version of the pictures you get access to the photos minutes after they are taken. You can also search for certain things inside the park. Like if you want to know where a certain ride is or if you are hungry but don’t know what’s close to you.
Tip 4: Purchase Genie for fast pass
Genie is to die for. Purchasing Genie through the My Disney Experience app is worth every penny. By using Genie you can schedule any of your fast passes for most of the rides. One thing we learned on our latest trip was that the fast passes will work on every ride and attraction except the two most popular, so plan ahead. Also, on the Genie app comes Snapchat-like filters. You can turn into a villain, eat pretend popcorn and Mickey pretzels, use Elsa’s powers, and freeze your screen. We went over winter so there was one with Mickey and Minnie in cute knit hats giving you a hug. There are certain filters that will only work on certain parks. For example, there is a cute Timon one that will only work in Animal Kingdom.
Tip 5: Planning days around attractions
Planning, planning, planning. I cannot stress enough how important planning is. On the My Disney Experience app, you can see fairly accurate wait times for each ride. Plan your day around your favorite attraction, or whatever you want to see most. If you have Genie, book the fast pass most convenient in your schedule, and just plan the extra things around the most important attraction. My family and I are big planners, but it is not worth winging it and sitting in an 80-minute line when a little planning and you could get right in and only have a 10-minute wait.
Tip 6: Heads Up – Disney
One of the best games we learned was at Disney. We were waiting for a bus to take us back to the resort we were staying in and a family was playing a game in front of us. We asked them what they were playing and they showed us Heads Up. Heads Up is an app that will show a word, person, or phrase on the phone and the person has to hold the phone to their forehead and try to guess based on the clues of their partners.
The real reason we downloaded the game onto my dad’s phone was that the family told us that there was a special Disney pack for purchase in the app. Dad bought the Disney pack and for the rest of the trip, whenever we were in a long line we would play that game. It really helps make the lines go faster and more fun, especially when others join.
Tip 7: Magic Kingdom at night
On our last trip to Disney, we purchased a separate ticket to Disney’s Very Merriest After Hours at Magic Kingdom. OMG! It is the best way to see the Magic Kingdom. There were about a third of the people that are normally at the park and it was fantastic. I don’t think I will ever be able to go to Magic Kingdom without buying a special ticket. This is not the first time we’ve done Magic Kingdom at night. On several of our Disney trips, we planned to go around Halloween. So we would do Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. If I had to choose which one I would do again, I would go for Halloween. Magic Kingdom was decorated far better for Halloween than Christmas.
Tip 8: Bring Lots of Spending money
Disney is expensive. I can’t refute that point. But as one of my favorite Disney Villains once said, “All magic comes with a price.” Hats off to whoever can get that reference.
As a person who will always enjoy every aspect of Disney, it will always be worth it to me. As well as every memory I make while I’m there. One way to save some money is to bring your own snack. All of the Disney parks and Disney Springs allow outside snacks and beverages on their properties.
Tip 9: Purchase trading pins
A thing we learned after our second or third trip was to purchase trading pins. Park employees used to wear pins on a lanyard and were open for trading. Now they have spots set up in gift shops where you can trade pins. They also have shops dedicated to the purchasing of trading pins. I would go on eBay or Amazon and buy a mystery bag of pins. Depending on the size they cost between $20 and $40.
Tip 10: Matching T-shirts
Matching t-shirts are not a must-have, but I recommend having them. They are super fun and it is always amusing to see how creative people are with their t-shirts. My family and I have done two sets of t-shirts. The first time we all had matching shirts of the Incredibles logo. The second time we had matching t-shirts of the Monsters University logo. I would’ve preferred it to be the Monsters Inc. logo, but semantics.
Tip 11: Use click pens when getting autographs.
This is a pre-COVID tip courtesy of my mother. When I was little we bought autograph books and would scour the parks for different characters to get their autographs. She found out that using pens or sharpies with a clicker worked the best, and the toddler she was traveling with didn’t lose quite so many caps. Character Greetings are a bit different with COVID due to the six feet rule. The characters are behind a rope and you stand on either side to get your picture taken.
Tip 12: Pack Umbrella/Poncho
Without fail, it rains on us whenever we visit Magic Kingdom during the day. The forecast can predict sunshine all day and not a cloud can be in the sky and still it will rain. Now you can save some extra room in your suitcase and not pack a raincoat, poncho, or umbrella, but if you have our luck, bring the coat. The main reason being that the ponchos sold at Disney are so expensive. Normally you can get them for a couple of bucks at a store, but they cost upwards of $20 at Disney. Save the money, not the space!
Tip 13: Pay for premium parking
Premium parking. It might not seem like a good use of your money, but I promise you it’s worth it. When you are finished waking an entire park, or multiple if you are feeling ambitious, parking closer to the entrance is worth it. Usually, we take the standard parking and use the Trams to get to our car. However, this last time we were in Disney the Trams weren’t working. My biggest suggestion about parking, in general, is to follow the direction of the parking attendants. It is their job to direct traffic so no one gets hurt. Just follow along.
Tip 14: Park hopper
Buy the tickets with the park hopper option. In my opinion, there are parks that you could spend the whole day at and others that are only half a day max. If you have the park hopper option you can go to any other park after visiting the intended park. A COVID restriction of our December 2021 trip was that you could use the park hopper, but only after 2:00 pm. So for instance, if you bought a ticket to Magic Kingdom then after 2:00 pm you could go visit any of the other three parks.
One of the biggest values of the park hopper option is that you only have to pay for parking once. If you use other transportation services then you can go between every other park without being charged. For example, there is a Monorail between Magic Kingdom and Epcot, buses travel to all 4 parks and Disney Springs, and there is a new Skyliner between Hollywood Studios and Epcot.
Tip 15: Use Skyliner
Another new thing that we were able to experience on the last trip was the Skyliner. The Skyliner is located between Epcot and Hollywood Studios. In between the two parks are Disney’s Riviera resort and the transportation hub. Our first time riding we almost got off at the Resort. So if you are riding from Epcot to Hollywood Studios do NOT get off at the first stop, it is the resort, wait until the second stop, the transportation hub and follow the signs that say Epcot. If you are coming from Hollywood Studios, transfer to the Epcot Skyliner and do NOT get off at the first stop, it is the resort, wait until the second stop, which is Epcot.
Those are my top 15 tips when traveling to Disney World in Orlando Florida. I hope these tips were helpful when planning your magical adventure. And always remember…
“If you can dream, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing was started by a mouse.”
~ Walt Disney