Disney World Tips

• Book trip at least 180 days in advance- More is better! 

• Disney lets you start booking your dining reservations 180 days in advance. If you are staying on property then you can book out 10 days from that 180 day mark. 

• Stay on property if you can afford it.

• You have to pay for parking everyday if you stay off property which I think is around 15 dollars a day. 
• You can drive to any Disney property free if you are staying on property.
• Great if you have children so that you can drive back for a nap or rest time and then back to the park in no time.     

• If DRIVING - Book through AAA and get a Diamond parking pass. 

• When you book the package through AAA, depending on how busy the park is you will get a Diamond parking pass in the booklet. We stay at the Fort Wilderness campground and we just drive to every park besides Magic Kingdom and get to park in the front of the park or pretty close because of the Diamond parking pass. 
• With young children this is a lifesaver. We don't have to worry about waiting 45 minutes to get back to the campsite for naps or down time. We use that time and we are back out to the parks. Saves us loads of time and energy carting the stroller with us too.  
  

• Bring an extra pair of hands.

• We brought my parents the first 2 times we went with the girls and it was a lifesaver. You get a break and you also get to ride with your older child together while they wait with little ones.
• Last year we had 14 of us which was lots of help and fun but 2 extra people seems to be the best of both worlds.
• No one is left out. 
• You can also have a night out in Disney away from the kids.
• More stroller hands. :) 

• Get well versed on how Fastpass works. 

• A Fastpass ticket is what you get when you use your Disney ticket card in the machine in front of a popular ride. These stations are labeled "Fastpass Distribution" if you look around the front of the attraction.
• The ticket will you give you a period of time to come back and wait in a MUCH shorter line for the ride.  
• Note that the ticket is only good for that time period listed.
• You can only get 1 Fastpass in a given hour. 
• Have someone run to the Peter Pan ride get Fastpass tickets for everyone and meet you at another ride then ride and then go to Peter Pan. Works like a charm, and you end up waiting around a lot less!  

• Get well versed in how Child Swap works. 

• Child Swap is a type of Fastpass you get when you come to the front of a ride line with ALL OF THE GROUP and show them that you want to ride the ride while someone waits with the kids that are too small to ride. They will give you 2 to 3 Fastpass tickets depending on how many you need to the person waiting while you wait in the REGULAR ride line. This was great bc my parents could ride with Maddy while we waited and then Geoff and I could ride it with her. 
• The CHILD SWAP ticket is good that day and not just a time period like a regular Fastpass! So if the Fastpass line is too long or you need to do a diaper change or see a parade just leave and come back later. 
• If you love a ride I would suggest getting the Fastpass at the beginning and then waiting in the regular line (we alone wait if is around 25 mins) and then get a Child Swap too!! You get 3 rides in the period it takes to stand in line for a single ride.

• Try to book a Disney trip in lower crowd months.

• Undercover tourist and other sites are great for this, though we did go to Disney the week after Thanksgiving based off of this and it is always crowded now. This time we are going in September. It will be hotter but there should be less people, and that is more important for our family.  

• Plan park days FIRST, then dining reservations.  

• We learned this the hard way! You do not want to have to race from park to park to get to a reservation. It is a lot of energy and time wasted and becomes very stressful. 
• Pick one table meal in the park you will be in or a nearby resort. 
• Parks also have special events and extra magic hours so use that as a guide on the parks you want to go to.
• I use the Disney crowds calenders to find the ones with least amount of people that day. The calenders tend to push you away from the parks with extra magic hours. 
• We found that the parks that close early because of special events tend to be the best in the morning.    

• Plan one day off in the middle of the trip. 

• With all of the rides and running around you get really tired, so take a day off and go to a water park or to the pool. You will need it! 
• Walk around other resorts. 
• If you get the Water park and More ticket you can go to the water park on your off day and it won't count against your "park days."     

• After picking the parks, make the dining reservations ASAP.

• The more time you have before your Disney trip the better chance to get a reservation at a certain time and place. 
• We plan out all of the park and dining locations 2 weeks before the 180 day mark so that when the day comes I can call in all of the reservations. 
  

• Make your reservations for dining ONLINE. 

• You DO NOT need to be staying on property to make a dining reservation. 
• On the Disney dining website you can pick which park it needs to be in and so much more. 
• You may also cancel reservations online. I will make all of the reservations and sometimes change my mind, so I can just log in and see what else is available.  
• Use the guides online like TripAdvisor and blogs to find out the best meals for your family.

• If you do not have the meal plan bring your own food with you. 

• We found that just throwing bread, jelly and peanut butter in the stroller with chips and fruit was great. We could just find a quiet spot and relax. 
• You do not have to wait in long lunch lines or try to go at a certain time.

• Bring a refillable water bottle and propel or crystal light packets.  

• We would bring one large water bottle for our family and a bunch of propel packets so we could just refill and go. 
• When you don't want to carry heavy water just pour out. It was perfect.  

• Bring your own dress up outfits. 

• I love sewing princess dresses so the girls have lots of princess dresses. 
• Remember the magic will wear out faster than you think.

• Go to Disney when they are young.

  
• A lot of people will say to us, "Well we want to wait till they are older so they remember," but the trip is so worth it because you remember everything. Disney is like Christmas morning everyday. They look at their favorite character and think they are the real thing. I can't explain it but I'll just say that I have cried many times at Disney and oldest, Maddy, is only 4 years old.
• Kids under 3 are free which is great since the tickets are pricey. 
• You can eat at a buffet and under 3 can eat free. We did a bunch of character meal buffets and Maddy was always free when she was 2. So we just had to pay for Geoff and I.

• Get the Disney Premier Visa Card  

• When we signed up we got a $200 of Disney Reward Dollars that we used for a down payment for our trip. Keep an eye out on promotions as we have seen them offer anywhere from $50-$200 as a bonus for signing up.
• We use it for everything and last time we had enough Disney dollars for Maddy's ticket and our whole Princess meal was covered.

• Get to the parade 30-45 minutes before that parade. 

• We like to go in the Frontierland for the parades since it is less crowded.

• Go to the Electric parade! It is amazing! Best parade ever.