The most important tip I have is to plan for the most successful trip. Think about what interests your family, what priorities you will set for your trip. Having two small girls means we are looking for family-friendly thrills and anything Princess. That may be different for you, but the process is still the same. Disney is a busy place with lots to offer, there's no way to do it all in one trip, but planning can make sure you hit the highlights for your family.
When to go?
The first thing we do is look at the crowd calendars and try and decide when we will go. Sometimes that is dictated by my hubby's work schedule, sometimes we have some wiggle room. Either way we check out the crowd calendars (our favorite site), even if it is just to determine what day we will go to which park. For example, unless its a holiday or special event, the Magic Kingdom is almost always more crowded on a Monday.
Where to stay?
Now we decide where we will stay. We've stayed on and off property in the past, and I see benefits to both, so for us it really comes down to what's the cheapest option at the time. If we can get a condo at a resort off property for super cheap, it's often our best bet to stay there. We have found this useful because it gives us some room to spread out and cook our own breakfast before heading to the park, cons being driving and paying for parking ($17 a day). On the other hand, we've stayed on property before and it has been very convenient to hop on the monorail or a bus and not stress about driving. During select (non-peak) times Disney has also been known to offer incentives like a free Disney Dining plan (I'll review that after we use it on our next trip!) which when you do some math makes it more economical to stay on property.
What to eat?
From there we go ahead and book our dining reservations. Dining reservations and appointments (Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique) can be made as much as 180 days in advance, and popular restaurants, like Be Our Guest, can fill up very quickly. With that said if you are planning a last minute trip, it doesn't hurt to look often to see if reservations become available, sometimes you can get lucky! The majority of the time we do breakfast on our own before entering the park, pack snacks and drinks, then just worry about lunch and dinner. We don't eat table service every meal, but most days we book one. The day we visit the Magic Kingdom, however, we don't typically do a table service because not having a reservation gives you more wiggle room when there are a lot of attractions you want to visit.
FastPasses
FastPasses are the next thing we plan. If you are staying on property you can get your FastPasses 60 days before the first day of your trip, 30 days prior if you aren't staying on property. Selections become available at midnight, so we usually stay up late to try and maximize our options. We also try and get our FastPasses as early in the day as we can because once you use your three, you can refill them with whatever FastPasses haven't already been used up for the day (no, it isn't likely you'll get popular attractions like Anna & Elsa or the Mine Train, but it's a nice way to get on some other rides you may want to try but don't want to wait in line for... think Jungle Cruise).When choosing your FastPasses, its also a good idea to get them when possible for more popular attractions that usually have longer waits... no one wants to wait 90+ minutes in a line if they don't have to.
The Other Nitty Gritty Details of Planning
I could write pages and pages of tips and tricks I've learned from fellow Disney fanatics and blogs, but I'll keep this list fairly short and add more posts about Disney soon. If I could go back to the planning stages of our first Disney trip, here's what I'd want to know:
1.) If you have a Target Red Card, you can purchase Disney Gift Cards for 5% off. While this might not seem like much, Disney is expensive, and any savings can be helpful. We've gotten in the habit of buying diapers and other necessities when there is a gift card deal going on, then after collecting a bunch, using them to buy Disney Gift Cards. This has allowed us to essentially prepay for large portions of our trip.
2.) Souveniers are expensive. "Tinkerbell" sometimes leaves small treats and souvenirs for our girls while on vacation for them to wake up to... This gives them something new to be excited about as they head into the park for the day and seems to curb the "I want thats." For example, prior to visiting Animal Kingdom, Tinkerbell brought our girls binoculars to use to find the animals on the Safari. They still play with them and they cost us $2 a piece instead of the $14.99 toy binoculars in the park. We do splurge on some souvenirs, but this definitely saves us some money. Tinkerbell seams to pick up a lot of her treasures from Wal-Mart, Target, the Dollar Tree, Toys R Us, and Amazon. Also check out the clearance and sales at the Disney Store!
3.) Bring in snacks and drinks. Even if you are on the Disney Dining Plan, you don't want to lose a snack credit on a bottle of water. We put a cooler bag in the bottom of our stroller filled with water and some snacks for our girls (Applesauce pouches, fruit snacks, granola bars, etc.). A small snack can also make the wait in line more tolerable for little ones.
4.) Disney is an awesome place that is incredibly well thought out, but one thing I don't recommend to folks who are traveling with littles is renting a Disney stroller. They are hard plastic and you have to turn them in as you leave the park, that means you'll be carrying all your loot and likely a sleeping child alllll the way back to the car. Nope, not my idea of fun! We sometimes bring our stroller from home, but when we don't, we like renting from Kingdom Strollers. They deliver the stroller to wherever we are staying, we leave it with the concierge when we are done, and they pick it back up- easy!
5.) Ask questions! If you have questions while planning you are welcome to post them here, I"ll do my best to answer them, but also consider your social circle, chances are you know someone who is a Disney addict who'd love to tell you about their favorite place! Once on property, any cast member can answer your questions as well. Cast members aren't allowed to say "I don't know," so at minimum they can point you in the direction of someone who can help you.
6.) Download the My Disney Experience app if you haven't already. It'll make it easier to keep up with your itinerary, add dining reservations if you need to, see pictures taken by Disney photographers, get up to the minute wait times, and the best part is there's free wifi at all the parks (although it can be spotty at Animal Kingdom).
7.) Plan, but relax. This one sounds confusing, I know. You have to plan your trip to maximize your time, but don't get so caught up in planning that you miss out on the fun and Disney magic! So you don't get the perfect spot for the parade, or maybe you miss your fastpass window... That's ok, go with the flow and be in the moment with your family-- make those memories!
When to go?
The first thing we do is look at the crowd calendars and try and decide when we will go. Sometimes that is dictated by my hubby's work schedule, sometimes we have some wiggle room. Either way we check out the crowd calendars (our favorite site), even if it is just to determine what day we will go to which park. For example, unless its a holiday or special event, the Magic Kingdom is almost always more crowded on a Monday.
Where to stay?
Now we decide where we will stay. We've stayed on and off property in the past, and I see benefits to both, so for us it really comes down to what's the cheapest option at the time. If we can get a condo at a resort off property for super cheap, it's often our best bet to stay there. We have found this useful because it gives us some room to spread out and cook our own breakfast before heading to the park, cons being driving and paying for parking ($17 a day). On the other hand, we've stayed on property before and it has been very convenient to hop on the monorail or a bus and not stress about driving. During select (non-peak) times Disney has also been known to offer incentives like a free Disney Dining plan (I'll review that after we use it on our next trip!) which when you do some math makes it more economical to stay on property.
What to eat?
From there we go ahead and book our dining reservations. Dining reservations and appointments (Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique) can be made as much as 180 days in advance, and popular restaurants, like Be Our Guest, can fill up very quickly. With that said if you are planning a last minute trip, it doesn't hurt to look often to see if reservations become available, sometimes you can get lucky! The majority of the time we do breakfast on our own before entering the park, pack snacks and drinks, then just worry about lunch and dinner. We don't eat table service every meal, but most days we book one. The day we visit the Magic Kingdom, however, we don't typically do a table service because not having a reservation gives you more wiggle room when there are a lot of attractions you want to visit.
FastPasses
FastPasses are the next thing we plan. If you are staying on property you can get your FastPasses 60 days before the first day of your trip, 30 days prior if you aren't staying on property. Selections become available at midnight, so we usually stay up late to try and maximize our options. We also try and get our FastPasses as early in the day as we can because once you use your three, you can refill them with whatever FastPasses haven't already been used up for the day (no, it isn't likely you'll get popular attractions like Anna & Elsa or the Mine Train, but it's a nice way to get on some other rides you may want to try but don't want to wait in line for... think Jungle Cruise).When choosing your FastPasses, its also a good idea to get them when possible for more popular attractions that usually have longer waits... no one wants to wait 90+ minutes in a line if they don't have to.
The Other Nitty Gritty Details of Planning
I could write pages and pages of tips and tricks I've learned from fellow Disney fanatics and blogs, but I'll keep this list fairly short and add more posts about Disney soon. If I could go back to the planning stages of our first Disney trip, here's what I'd want to know:
1.) If you have a Target Red Card, you can purchase Disney Gift Cards for 5% off. While this might not seem like much, Disney is expensive, and any savings can be helpful. We've gotten in the habit of buying diapers and other necessities when there is a gift card deal going on, then after collecting a bunch, using them to buy Disney Gift Cards. This has allowed us to essentially prepay for large portions of our trip.
2.) Souveniers are expensive. "Tinkerbell" sometimes leaves small treats and souvenirs for our girls while on vacation for them to wake up to... This gives them something new to be excited about as they head into the park for the day and seems to curb the "I want thats." For example, prior to visiting Animal Kingdom, Tinkerbell brought our girls binoculars to use to find the animals on the Safari. They still play with them and they cost us $2 a piece instead of the $14.99 toy binoculars in the park. We do splurge on some souvenirs, but this definitely saves us some money. Tinkerbell seams to pick up a lot of her treasures from Wal-Mart, Target, the Dollar Tree, Toys R Us, and Amazon. Also check out the clearance and sales at the Disney Store!
3.) Bring in snacks and drinks. Even if you are on the Disney Dining Plan, you don't want to lose a snack credit on a bottle of water. We put a cooler bag in the bottom of our stroller filled with water and some snacks for our girls (Applesauce pouches, fruit snacks, granola bars, etc.). A small snack can also make the wait in line more tolerable for little ones.
4.) Disney is an awesome place that is incredibly well thought out, but one thing I don't recommend to folks who are traveling with littles is renting a Disney stroller. They are hard plastic and you have to turn them in as you leave the park, that means you'll be carrying all your loot and likely a sleeping child alllll the way back to the car. Nope, not my idea of fun! We sometimes bring our stroller from home, but when we don't, we like renting from Kingdom Strollers. They deliver the stroller to wherever we are staying, we leave it with the concierge when we are done, and they pick it back up- easy!
5.) Ask questions! If you have questions while planning you are welcome to post them here, I"ll do my best to answer them, but also consider your social circle, chances are you know someone who is a Disney addict who'd love to tell you about their favorite place! Once on property, any cast member can answer your questions as well. Cast members aren't allowed to say "I don't know," so at minimum they can point you in the direction of someone who can help you.
6.) Download the My Disney Experience app if you haven't already. It'll make it easier to keep up with your itinerary, add dining reservations if you need to, see pictures taken by Disney photographers, get up to the minute wait times, and the best part is there's free wifi at all the parks (although it can be spotty at Animal Kingdom).
7.) Plan, but relax. This one sounds confusing, I know. You have to plan your trip to maximize your time, but don't get so caught up in planning that you miss out on the fun and Disney magic! So you don't get the perfect spot for the parade, or maybe you miss your fastpass window... That's ok, go with the flow and be in the moment with your family-- make those memories!
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| One of the moments from our first trip I'll never forget! |
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