Growing up, I think I went to Disney two times. Maybe even once. I honestly cannot remember. However, my cousins were frequent Disney visitors, multiple times a year, and they still are. So when it comes to taking our kids to Disney now, I know exactly who to ask for all my Disney needs. The advice I could give you would be mediocre. But the advice my cousin Alyssa could throw your way (check out her YouTube here for more Disney insights!), that’s gold. So naturally, I asked her to help me out here.
So here we go, top tips for families visiting Disney!
1. Download My Disney Experience App
This is an absolute MUST! This app does it all for you. It holds your tickets for you if needed, gives you the projected wait times for all the rides + experiences, park hours, has an entire park map, Photo Pass links, Lightning Lane purchases (another must!), and more! This app is most definitely the first thing anyone should do before heading out to Disney.
Best part, skip the long food lines by mobile ordering directly on the app!
2. Snag Lightning Lane Passes
While this one isn’t necessary, it definitely does spare you a lot of time. Especially when running around the parks with littles. The lightning lane passes work differently at different parks, but essentially allow you to reserve a “ride time” for 3 different rides in the park (excluding a few). My best tip is to grab these passes and snag reservations for the rides with highest wait times (7 days in advance if staying on Disney property and 3 days in advance if staying off property). This helps save time in your day by avoiding those lines with 60+ minute wait times. While waiting for your reservation times, you can hit all of the smaller rides.
If you’re unsure of which rides have the highest wait times, download the My Disney Experience app long before your trip and check out the wait times during the daytime hours. You don’t actually need to be near the park to see the wait times. The app updates it in real time to be viewed from anywhere.
3. Hit Animal Kingdom’s Kilimanjaro’s Safari at park open
The kids LOVE this one! Yet, this is one ride that notoriously has a long wait time. It’s an open car safari ride where animals roam freely around you. So my best advice is to hit this one immediately when the park opens. By doing this, we’ve never waited more than 30 minutes for the ride. Not only do you avoid a 90-120 minute wait time, but you also get the animals when they are most active.
4. Rider Swap!
Take advantage of this one parents! If one parent has to stay off of a ride with another child, you can tell a cast member that you would like to rider swap. So say Mom and daughter ride a ride while Dad and son wait for them. Dad can then go through the Lightning Lane and swap with Mom to ride the ride again with the daughter. That way both parents can get on the ride but avoid waiting in the lines twice.
5. Pack food and snacks
Food purchases can add up pretty quickly inside the park. Disney allows you to bring in food and snacks, just not in a hard cooler. Otherwise, you can pack up and bring in as much as you’d like. We always pack some sandwiches, snacks, and drinks to bring inside the park to avoid dishing out hundreds for meals all day long.
If staying on property, you can order groceries ahead of your trip and have them delivered to your resort. The resort will hold them upon your arrival. One less thing for you to have to worry about getting out to do.
6. Staying On Property vs. Staying Off Property
We have done both, but have leaned more into staying off property the larger our family has gotten. The size of our family makes staying on property a bit pricier- as we would have to either stay in a villa or two hotel rooms. However, if you have less children/adults traveling with you (we always bring my Mom with us), on property could be the way to go! If you are wanting to stay on property versus off property, there are different value resort options. The rooms are super affordable, you get free transportation to and from the parks each day, and there are tons of activities around the resorts for kids to do. The theming at the resorts are often times immersive and interactive for the kids.
Staying off property this time, we stayed at a house in a resort in Kissimmee. It had plenty of space for the kids to run around, entertainment, an arcade room in the house, a pool in the backyard, a community pool, mini golf, restaurant, etc. This time around we also rented a sprinter van which was game changer. We didn’t have to fold up the stroller not one time. We simply popped it back into the trunk. We paid $55 for Preferred parking at the parks each day ($30 is standard parking) and had just as great a time. Parking vouchers work at each park, so even if you decide to park hop you are not paying that again. As our children grow out of strollers, we may like the convenience of park transportation more. But currently, having to bring on a stroller for the buses/trams/monorails is just a headache to us (all a personal preference, of course!).
Check out where we stayed this time HERE!
7. Bring ponchos!
Florida is notorious for getting random bouts of rain. And often times that rain will be a complete downpour for 30 minutes and then be done. Bring ponchos with you and buy them long before you go. You can get them for super cheap on Amazon versus the cost of them in the park. Better to be prepared than not! We always bring a stroller poncho with us as well.
8. Skip the Fireworks to Ride the Rides
If you are there for the rides and don’t mind skipping the firework show, this is when the wait times are at their lowest. So if you are okay with missing the show- go get on the rides!
Our kids still won’t let us do this, nor will they let us miss a parade, but there will come a day!
9. Find a Spot for the Parade Early
If you are a first time Disney visitor, don’t do what I did the first time and show up for the parade at show time. You will not find anywhere to view it. If the end of the evening parade is something you are wanting to see at Magic Kingdom, be sure to find a spot to sit at least 30 minutes before the parade (you can find parade times on the My Disney Experience app).
Regardless, just have fun!
Any way you do Disney, just remember to have fun. It can all feel very overwhelming and stressful. I have found the more I have planned, the more stressed I feel about fitting it all in and then the more disappointed I feel when there isn’t time to get to everything. So just have fun! You spent a whole lot to be there, shit an entire mortgage and then some! Lower those expectations and go with the flow- you’re in freaking Disney!
