Carrie’s Top 10 Tips For A More Enjoyable Trip
10. Make Park Reservations
Ever since Disney World re-opened after its 117 day Covid-19 shutdown, a park reservation system has been in place. This system was created to limit park attendance during a time when the parks wanted to be open but only if they could do it safely. Given that the parks are not yet operating at 100% capacity, this reservation system is still in use.
In order to enter a park (with the exception of Blizzard Beach), you must have a park reservation linked to your park ticket so trust me when I say to make these as soon as you purchase your tickets. The worst thing that can happen is you arrive at the park only to be told that you don’t have a reservation and that they are booked for the day. Also, if you are going during a busy season, you should look at the reservation availability calendar before you click that purchase button because you don’t want to be stuck with tickets that you can’t use.
9. Book Dining Reservations in Advance
With reduced seating capacities, it is tougher then ever to secure a dining reservation. However, your best chance at getting the reservations you really want is by booking them 60 days in advance. Guests staying on property have the benefit of booking reservations for their entire trip (up to 10 days) 60 days prior to when their trip begins. The top restaurants that book up the fastest are: Topolino’s Terrace Character Breakfast, Oga’s Cantina, Cinderella’s Royal Table, Chef Mickey’s, Garden Grill, Be Our Guest and Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’. Of course you can take a chance at getting a walk-up reservation but it’s certainly a risk.
*Bonus Tip: Use the My Disney Experience App to check dining reservation availability day of. You never know what you can snag last minute! And if all else fails, place yourself on the walk-up list if it isn’t full.
8. Mobile Ordering
The My Disney Experience App on your phone will be your best friend while you are visiting the parks. I know, I know, it’s a vacation and you want to detach from technology. Unfortunately, Disney is strongly utilizing the latest technology to make things run smoother for guests and their cast members and mobile ordering is very much present in all the parks. I just love that I can be waiting in line for say Expedition Everest and placing my order for those amazing cheeseburger steam pods at Satu’li Canteen at the same time. The process is so simple, choose restaurant, choose pickup time, choose items and click purchase (link payment first if not already saved). When you arrive at your destination during your pickup time window, you will click “I’m here! Prepare my order” and the app will alert you when and where your order is ready for pickup. While some restaurants force you to mobile order (unless you really don’t have a mobile device) it is awesome to just walk up past a bunch of people waiting in the standby line and grab your order. Seriously, this has been a game changer and I urge you to use it. And remember, no one said you need to check your email and social media just because you are placing a food order!
7. Eat All the Food…
And don’t just eat what you know you like. Did you know that on an average day in Disney you can walk 15,000 steps? My last trip, I had several days that were over 20k steps!! Disney parks are massive and you know what that means…they are filled with delicious food. Everywhere you look there are popcorn carts, and pretzel kiosks, ice cream shops, quick service and table service restaurants and they all have amazing food. Seems unbelievable, I know. But it’s true. Some of the best food I have ever eaten has been at Disney World. Yes, you can get standard park fare like hotdogs, burgers, pizza, nuggets, etc. and I won’t lie, I love me a good ole’ Mickey pretzel or corn dog nuggets from Casey’s Corner but Disney has seriously taken food to the next level. Scroll through the pictures below to see what I am talking about then promise me and yourself that you’ll seek out different food next time you are there because with all that walking you’ve earned a treat or two or ten!
6. Know How To Use Virtual Queues
With the opening of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance ride, instead of having guests race through the park at park opening and having a massive line all day long, Disney implemented the use of a Virtual Queue. After a few tweaks, guests may now log onto My Disney Experience at 7am each day to make a reservation for this spectacular ride. If guests are unsuccessful at obtaining a boarding pass at 7am, they may try again at 1pm. It is important to note that you must have a park reservation for Hollywood Studios in order to make a reservation. Guests hopping from another park will not be allowed to make a reservation. This same reservation system will also be in place for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure in Epcot when it opens.
5. Rope Drop
You know the phrase “early bird catches the worm”? Well that could not hold any more true then when you are visiting Disney World. Years of statistics and my personal experience prove that when you rope drop a park you will get to experience the lowest wait times of the day. Rope drop essentially means that you are inside the park, beyond the turnstiles and stationed in a prime area before the park officially opens. Then once the park opens (often earlier then the published park hours), cast members will guide you as you walk briskly to one of the headliner attractions. Sometimes there is even an actual rope being carried by cast members which is why they call it “rope drop”.
Rope dropping is essential even when you are visiting during a slower season. When you rope drop, you get a park with super light crowds and low wait times which means you can knock out several attractions in a very short period of time. Let me give you an example. My family visited Hollywood Studios on December 27th, an extremely busy time for Disney, and the park was scheduled to open at 9am that day. At 7am from our room at Coronado Springs Resort, we secured our boarding group for Rise of the Resistance. At 7:48am we boarded a bus for the park and by 8:20am we were walking through the Toy Story Midway Mania queue. By 8:54am we were in line for Slinky Dog Dash and at 9:00am we were walking off the ride and headed over to Alien Swirling Saucers which we rode at 9:06am. I had followed tip #8 and mobile ordered breakfast from Woody’s Lunch Box and so by 9:25am we were sitting and enjoying our breakfast while watching the hoards of people rush into Toy Story Land to get in hour long lines for everything we had already rode. As you can plainly see, we experienced the entire land before most people were through security. It is 100% worth it to wake up early and rope drop these parks. You won’t regret it!
4. See the Nightly Shows
Everything Disney touches is amazing and full of magic. Their nighttime shows are no exception. They have been incorporating projections into all of their shows which is spectacular and takes them to the next level. Disney does projections SO well and the combination of projections with fireworks makes me tear up every single time I watch them. If you know me, this should not come as any surprise! Seeing a nighttime show is my family’s favorite way to end a park day and we always end our trips by seeing the nighttime show at Magic Kingdom. It’s the perfect way to end a trip and one of my favorite pictures ever was taken sneakily by a photopass photographer during the retired Magic Kingdom nighttime show, Wishes. I’m sure you’re going to be tired after a long day in the park but trust me, you won’t want to miss out!
Currently available each night are: Happily Ever After (18min), Epcot Forever (14 min), Wonderful World of Animation (12 min) and Tree of Life Awakening (5 min). Prior to Covid, Hollywood Studios also had Fantasmic! (my family’s favorite) and Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular and Animal Kingdom had Rivers of Light. For the 50th Anniversary, Magic Kingdom will debut Enchantment and at Epcot, Harmonious will also debut.
3. Stay on Property
If you want to get the best experience possible, you’ll want to stay on property. Once you cross under that “Welcome to Walt Disney World” sign you are in a bubble of magic. And if you aren’t staying in a resort within that bubble you’ll be missing out on many things. Here are a list of benefits given to on-site guests:
2. Take Time to Relax
Disney World is exhausting. 4 Theme Parks, 2 Water Parks, a 120 acre Shopping, Dining & Entertainment District, Golf Courses, Lakes…it’s 40 square miles of pure entertainment and fun which you want to explore. But lets get real here, even during a nice week long trip you won’t be able to see and do everything they have to offer.
After a couple days in the parks you deserve and need a rest day. When planning a trip, I always suggest building in at least one non-park day. This gives you the opportunity to explore and enjoy that resort you are paying good money to stay at. Whether it’s a value or a deluxe resort, they all offer a ton of recreation to take advantage of. Swimming in the amazing pools is always on the top of my family’s list and we love a nice pool day. Having a relaxing resort day also gives you the opportunity to sleep in, eat at the restaurants, play in the arcade and even do a load of laundry (we take advantage of this on longer trips so we don’t have to pack as much). Every resort I have stayed at is beautiful and I love just walking around to take it all in. Unless you build in that time you may never get a chance to see it all and that would be a shame because they truly are spectacular. So do yourself a favor and take a break day.
Coronado Springs Feature Pool - Lost City of Cibola
1. Use me!
That’s right, the number one way to make your trip more enjoyable is by having me as your travel advisor! Then I can handle most of these things for you! As a travel advisor with Fabulous Adventures Travel Agency, I am Disney College of Knowledge trained and specialize in planning magical Disney vacations! Many people are hesitant to use a travel advisor and there is a common misconception that we charge a fee. But I am here to say that my services are completely FREE! So what exactly will I do for you then?? I’ll book your entire stay! Your resort, your dining, any recreational activities like spa or golf, tours, cabanas, scooter rentals and more! I’ll provide you with tons of insight based upon my personal experiences. I can help you create an itinerary perfectly suited to your needs. And I’ll also be on the lookout for discounts and apply them automatically. My favorite email to send out is one that tells my client how much money I have just saved them! So what are you waiting for? Click that “Request Quote” button at the top of the page and lets get planning!