Top 10 Do's & Don'ts of your Disney Vacation
Top 10 Do's & Don'ts of your Disney Vacation
from a former Disney Cast Member
Before my 5 months as a Disney Cast Member, I had never been to Walt Disney World before. Being a California native I was familiar with vacationing at Disneyland, but I didn't realize that Disney's 4 Orlando parks were a completely different ballgame! Here are my Top 10 Do's and Don'ts for your first time at Walt Disney World!
The typical Disneyland vacation is 3-4 days, which is the perfect amount of time to visit the 2 parks that California has. 12 hour days are very doable when you can crash after 72 hours of fun, however the average Disney World vacation is anywhere from 7 - 14 days, sometimes even longer. Maintaining stamina and avoiding burnout is key to an enjoyable Disney World vacation! What to do instead: plan your day in 4 - 6 hour chunks. Think about splitting your day into morning, afternoon, and evening / night; and get the most out of your breaks by planning a sit down meal, park hop, or go back to your hotel to recharge!
2. Take your own Food & Water into the Parks
That's right - you can take your own food and water with you into Disney World! To save a little money (and calories) pack your own water bottles, crackers, fruit - whatever is going to keep your 3-yr-old (or let's be real, adults too) from melting down in Big Thunder Mountain Railroad's 2-hour wait in the sticky summer heat. CM Tip: You can get a FREE cup of ice water at any Quick Service Location! Go up to any food or drink stand (pretty much anywhere that isn't a sit-down restaurant) and request a small cup of ice water - they'll hand it to you free of charge!
3. Order Child-Sized Meals
If you're anything like me, your body can't run very long on fried food, sugar, and all of the other wonderful treats that make Disney World so magical. One way to save money, prevent food waste, and keep from feeling sluggish throughout your park days, is to order a child sized meal at Quick Service food locations. Unless you're a growing adolescent or a man, a meal from the kid's menu is plenty for an afternoon meal or snack (my mom will second this!) You do not need a child with you to order from the kids menu and while your eyes might be larger than your stomach, I think you'll find you'll be satisfied after the smaller portion.
4. Download the My Disney Experience App
Immediately after booking your vacation, you need to download this app! It will be your lifeline during your Disney vacation! You can book dining reservations 180 days before your vacation, and fast passes 60 days before you arrive. During your trip you can use this app to check wait times for rides, show times, where to find characters, and download your photos. You can even order meals ahead of time at select Quick Service locations!
5. Purchasing Memory Maker is 100% Worth It
Across the park, Disney PhotoPass Photographers are ready and waiting to take your picture. Disney offers a service called Memory Maker, which allows guests to download an unlimited amount of photos taken during your Disney vacation, including pictures taken on rides, with characters, or throughout the park! Purchase 3 days in advance for a $30 discount, or day of for $200 (prices as of March 2018).
6. Don’t carry around purchased Merchandise all day
Thankfully, Disney has formed a solution to Guests carrying armfuls of bags throughout their park visit. When purchasing items at any store in the Walt Disney World parks, you can choose to either send it to your Disney resort for free or pay to have it shipped straight to your home! CM Tip: The shipping price on items at Disney depend on the price of the item, NOT the weight! Ship large or breakable items like mugs or picture frames to your house, but pack smaller, more expensive purchases like jewelry in your suitcase to save money.* CM Tip: If you forget to buy a piece of merchandise before you leave, purchase it on the Shop Parks App when you get home! (We are Here mugs from Starbucks are not available to purchase outside of the parks)
7. Watch the Fireworks from Main Street
Don’t crowd around the castle or the Hub garden for Happily Ever After Fireworks show in Magic Kingdom - instead, enjoy the space and view that Main Street provides! Once I realized I didn’t have to have skin to skin contact with sweaty, stinky people to fight for a prime viewing spot as close to the castle as possible, my world changed. I could actually enjoy watching the show with personal space and the perfect view!
8. Epcot serves alcohol – but DON'T take it out of the park
Epcot sells alcohol outside of restaurants – but here’s the catch, you can’t take it out of the park! Enjoy an orange beer from Germany or a margarita from Mexico during your day, but finish before leaving unless you want to throw it away. CM Tip: Purchase a Disney gift card beforehand to spend on food and drink, ensuring you don’t go over budget! (Check the Disney website to confirm redeemable locations)
9. Go to Walmart before you hit the Parks
One of the best ways to save money on your vacation is to not purchase necessities in the parks! When settling into your hotel, go to one of the many nearby Walmarts and purchase water (bottles for the park and jugs for the hotel room), snacks, rain ponchos, and souvenirs! CM Tip: Keychains at Disney cost 4 -5x the amount as souvenir keychains at Walmart and ponchos cost 1/4 of the cost of the ones sold in the parks.
10. Get a Family Picture with Minnie & Mickey at Animal Kingdom
Even if your family isn't in to meeting characters, getting a picture with Minnie and Mickey is a must! The only park that has these two meeting together is Disney's Animal Kingdom at Adventure Outpost. CM Tip: Book a Fastpass to meet characters at Adventure Outpost, Character Spot, Princess Fairytale Hall and more!
* Disclaimer: I am not liable for lost or stolen merchandise should you choose to follow this tip!
Very informative article and love your videos! I have a couple of questions if you don’t mind me asking.
ReplyDeleteI’m taking my 7-year-old niece to WDW this summer. This will be our first time going to Disney and we’ll only be there for 3 days. That’s probably not enough time to see all the parks, so which park(s) would you recommend that one should definitely visit on their first trip? Also, my niece would love to meet her favorite Disney characters - Minnie, Chip and Dale, and Moana. Do you suggest doing the character dinning or doing the meet and greet? Does one have more interaction time that the other?
Thanks
-Nate
Is park-hopping out of the question? If you're planning on only doing 3 parks, then I would suggest skipping Epcot. You'll have to go on the My Disney Experience App to confirm which characters are meeting where, but last I knew Moana only met in Hollywood Studios (could have changed though!), Chip and Dale met everywhere except Epcot, and Minnie meets in every park! If you're going in July or later, Toy Story Land will also be open in HS. Meet and greet vs Dining - it really depends on your budget / time plan for your trip! Character Dining is a cool experience because you get to meet 4 - 5 characters in 90 minutes, but it does cost more (although you could do a Fantasmic dining meal and go to Minnie's hollywood Dine and then have great seats for Fantasmic - that might be worth it). But you can also use fast passes for [some] meet and greets and not spend extra money! Entertainment is subject to change so I can't give you a definitive answer on which one will have more interaction time... that depends on a lot of factors such as park capacity and wait time... My guess is that you'd have more time at a meet and greet, but again, there's a lot of factors. Hopefully that helps a little bit! If you have any other questions, let me know! :)
DeleteThanks for bringing up the park-hopping. I had no idea what that was, so I looked it up and it appears to be exactly what I need. We will be staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, and I think that will give us some extra time at the parks. People have told me I should book the dining at the Cinderella's Royal Table. In your opinion, is it worth the extra cost?
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! This is very helpful!
Definitely park hop! Highly highly HIGHLY recommend it! As far as Cinderella's Royal Table - I have no experience with princess character dining, so I can't really say if it's worth the extra cost! It might be in order to avoid waiting in line for so long!
DeleteSound good. I appreciate the advice and will definitely say Hi if I see you down there.
DeleteHi Olivia,
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you made this post! I already commented in your videos a couple of times and you are so clear and lovely giving explanations and telling stories...you are amazing.
I have a couple of questions though, my fiance and I are going for our honeymoon and we are staying only 3 days in Orlando (and not in one of the park´s hotels), we wanted to do Day1 Disney- Day2 Universal studios- Day 3 Disney, we already discarded to go to Epcot and Animal Kingdom (maybe the last one to see Pandora, but not so sure)...my question is: Is it possible to do it with a 2 day ticket park hopper or do I have to buy the tickets for each day separately?
Also, which are the souvenirs that are most worth to buy? I would like to buy something for my family (t-shirts, keyrings, mugs...since they are paying for this) but of course my budget is not too high...
And last, which of the wonderful iconic food of Disney World (like the Dole whip,or the caramel appels...) are worth to try?We have planed to go to Walmart first to get snack and food as you said but I know some things are too special to miss.
Thank you very much in advance
Hi Marta! Thanks so much for reading my blog as well as supporting my YouTube channel! <3 To answer your first question, I believe you can buy a 2-day park hopper, but I would contact someone in the ticketing department at Disney or a vacation planner to confirm!
DeleteFor your family - I think mugs are great but they are expensive. If you want to get a mug for one or two relatives, and then souvenirs from walmart (tshirts, mugs, keychains, etc) for the rest of the family - that might be an option! When you go to Walmart to get snacks, peruse the souvenir section real quick and see if you think that's an option! Magnets are good too!
Iconic Disney World snacks: Dole whip, mickey bar, violet lemonade in epcot (might be a seasonal drink though), and sweet pork fries in Animal Kingdom at Flame Tree Barbeque! I've heard really great things about the bowls served at the Quick Service place in Pandora, but I personally haven't been there! I definitely recommend walking into the Germany and Norway pavilion and checking out their bakeries, and then I've heard good things about the gelato in Italy, but again, I haven't tasted it before so I can't offer my opinion. I hope this helps! :) And Congrats on getting married!!! <3
Oh my God, Olivia, I LOVE your you tube channel and your blog. You are so fun. I'm going to Port Orleans on the 7th June (a decision I'm regretting now due to finances but it's too late to change it now ... hope it's a nice hotel. It's been getting a lot of bad press lately but I'm going to chill and see how it is for myself).
ReplyDeleteAnyway I mainly wanted to thank you for your blog. You do a wonderful job. I'm a little nervous about Flight of Passage (my friend said the 'vehicles' look dangerous - I'm almost blind so I can't tell (that's why I'm going now - it will be the very last time I will guarantee I can see everything. We are considering everest but I'm a bit of a wuss about going backwards. I guess as long as I know it's safe I'll be OK.
So, bearing in mind my sight problems, where would you sit for the shows such as Finding Nemo - and where for the castle (what is the earliest I can stake my place as close to the castle as I can for that wonderful castle show?) Once I lose my sight it's gone for most of hte day so it's vital I get everything done while I can. Where would you suggest eating in Animal Kingdom (last time I went I lived on hotdogs (LITERALLY - morning, noon and night because my friend didn't want to stop!) and I don't want to do that again. My friend is pescatarian which makes life difficult. I just want to make the most out of this trip. I THINK I'm right in saying that it doesn't matter where you watch Reflections of Earth from? I'm happy to sit for a few hours if necessary to make sure I have a good spot! Christine and I are THE most patient people and don't stress about the long lines. Finally, what are the must dos to make the most out of this trip? Rides? Shows? Whatever you think! Sorry to bombard you and bore you. Just thought you might have some ideas. One final thing. I know there's a Publix just outside the Ticket and Transportation Centre - well, it's on the corner of the road that leads to Crackerbarrels - but is there a nearer Walmart than the one that is in Celebration (I think?)
Thank you so much and keep up the good work. I love your videos