Going on a Disney World vacation requires a lot of planning. It is a complex place with many factors to consider. Lack of planning will inevitably lead to waiting in long lines and paying too much money. Personally, I won’t pay thousands of dollars to stand in long lines. Call me crazy, but that doesn’t sound like a wise way to spend money–or to have fun.
In order to get the most bang for my buck, I’ve become something of a Disney expert. I’ve researched, read books, joined forums, asked questions, tried out planning tools, and experimented in the parks to find what worked and what didn’t. I spend much time each week talking Disney to friends and strangers, giving them advice and sharing my experiences. And one of the things I share the most is a list of my favorite resources. The best way to enjoy Disney World is to arm yourself with all the information so you can make well informed decisions on how to spend your days–and your money. Here are my top five resources for helping you make the most of your trip.
There are, what seems to be anyway, thousands of hotels in the Orlando area. And then to complicate matters, past hotels there are countless Air BnB, VRBO, and other condo rentals available. Deciding where to stay can be a tough decision because there are just so many options. But overall, your choices can be split into three categories: Disney hotels, often referred to as “on property” which are owed and run by Disney; all the other hotels in Orlando which are considered “off property” (including, confusingly, several that actually are located within Disney’s property in Orlando); and finally, individually owned condos all over the greater Orlando area that can be rented through AirBnB, VRBO, etc.
This is the AirBnB we rented. It was exactly what we needed for that trip.
I like staying on property at Disney World. I like all the extras you get when you are not just a park guest, but a resort guest. I actually have a lifetime goal of staying at EVERY Disney hotel on property at least once. So far, I’ve been lucky enough to stay at Port Orleans Riverside, Port Orleans French Quarter, Art of Animation, Caribbean Beach, Pop Century, Animal Kingdom Lodge, Contemporary, and my dream resort, Polynesian (it was just as amazing as I had hoped and dreamed it would be!). (continue reading)
On our most recent trip to Disney World, we had the opportunity to try Early Morning Magic at both Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom. It was kind of meant to be–we were only doing two part days, and we had already determined which would be Hollywood Studios and which would be Magic Kingdom. And then BAM, Disney offered Early Morning Magic at the correct parks on the correct days. How could we say no to that?
So what exactly is Early Morning Magic? Don’t confuse it with Extra Magic Hours, which are extra park hours open only to those staying at Disney resorts. We were staying in a rental house this time, so Extra Magic Hours did not apply to us. But Early Morning Magic is open to everyone (at least, everyone willing to pay for it). At Magic Kingdom, you are allowed into the park at 7:45am and are walked back to Fantasyland as a group. Then you get until 9am to ride rides in Fantasyland with virtually no wait at all. And you have until 10am to go eat breakfast, which is included in the price of admission to Early Morning Magic. We had breakfast at Pinnoccio’s Village Haus, but it has since moved to Cosmic Ray’s.
We started our day as a group being walked back to Fantasyland by several cast members. The group will “feel” too big to you. THat’s because you are with people who have 8am breakfast reservations at the castle, at Crystal Palace, and at Be Our Guest. On top of that, you also have the people who have 8am appointments at Bibbidi Boppiti. I felt a little annoyed at first that they were letting SO MANY people into Early Morning Magic. At Hollywood Studios the crowd was very small. But then I realized so many of them did not have EMM wristbands on–they were going to other reservations around the park. In reality, by the time we entered Fantasyland and got on our first ride, we really had a fairly small crowd, although it was bigger than at Hollywood Studios.
Entering Magic Kingdom for Early Morning Magic
We headed immediately for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and rode it without a wait.
Ready to board!
In fact, we were able to ride Seven Dwarfs Mine Train a total of six times. And we also rode Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh once each. When we went, those were the only rides available. Now pretty much all of Fantasyland is open (other than Barnstormer and Dumbo) so you have a lot more options. We just rode Mine Train over and over and over again.
Breakfast after all the riding was very good. You can check out the official Disney Website to see what is available here. They continually restocked the buffet tables with food right up until 10am, so you really had plenty of food, even if you rope dropped other rides and came back at 9:45 or so to eat–which is exactly what we did.
We decided to rope drop Big Thunder Mountain. We thought we’d get a head start being so deep in the park already but in reality, they held us and walked us over so we reached Big Thunder at exactly the same time was those entering the park for normal opening. I was really disappointed in this. Allowing the few of us who already paid insane amounts of money for Early Morning Magic to have a 3 minute lead on those just entering at 9am would not affect their wait times at all. By holding us, it created absolute, terrifying chaos when we were shoved into the hoards of people entering and rope dropping Big Thunder. A fifty year old man grabbed me by my shoulders and tried to throw me to the ground, just to get in front of me in line. And I was holding hands with my five year old at the time. Disney really made the wrong decision on this front. I have never been so scared for my physical safety and I was inside a Disney Park. This is just not cool.
I would guess, however, that now that breakfast is served at Cosmic Ray’s, you would have a far easier time rope dropping Space Mountain or Buzz Lightyear because they are letting you into Tomorrowland anyway for breakfast. And that would be the wiser way to go–ride everything in Tomorrowland, ride Dumbo and Barnstormer, and then go back and do breakfast. Save your fast passes for Splash and Big Thunder, and a third ride of your choice.
So was it worth it? Not as much so as Early Morning Magic at Hollywood Studios, honestly. In that park, there are so few rides that lines build up so fast. Even on a low crowd day, you might wait 45-60 minutes per ride in Toy Story Land. Early Morning Magic eliminates those waits and leaves you free to do anything else all day while the crowds fight amongst themselves in Toy Story land. But at Magic Kingdom, there are so many rides available, and so many fast passes available, that it’s not as big of a deal if you get a head start on Fantasyland. The exception is on an especially busy day–we were there Thanksgiving week so it was nice to have Peter Pan, Mine Train, Big Thunder and Splash Mountain all done by 9:30am. The rest of our day was slow paced and easy. We took our time and enjoyed everything.
Other notes are that we were in the very first row of the parking lot because we had to be there so early. And no one works the parking booths that early, so we didn’t have to pay to park. So that was a bit of savings, I guess. And it was nice to not have to wait for the tram at night in the parking lot, because we were in the front row and could walk.
Whether you are planning your fifth trip this year or a once in a lifetime experience, you want your Disney trip to be as magical as possible. While Disney does a tremendous job sprinkling pixie dust on everyone but if you’d like to take the magic into your own hands, here are five affordable ways to make your Disney trip extra magical.
In a previous blog post, I shared with you the horrible experience we had with stroller theft at Walt Disney World. We felt so violated and just so broken-hearted to have something so cruel happen to us in a place that is always supposed to be HAPPY!
Keep your stroller safe and happy at the most magical place on earth!
After the stolen stroller incident, I was very anxious as we planned our next Disney trip. I ended up deciding to re-purchase the same stroller that was stolen because quite frankly, I loved that stroller and wanted it back. I was so scared of dealing with it being stolen again but we really still needed a stroller–my four year old could simply not walk 10-12 miles a day in the September heat of Orlando. And so, I scoured the internet for all the ideas I could find to protect my stroller. Here’s the best tips I’ve found. Continue reading “How to Prevent Stroller Theft at Walt Disney World”
Ya’ll, I don’t mean to scare you. I really don’t. But the reality is, as magical as Disney World truly is, there are still some people there who aren’t nice. And sometimes, when you are in that happy Disney bubble, you forget that not everyone is honest and not everyone has the best intentions. At almost any other tourist destination, you’d be hyperaware of being safe and careful but at Disney, we let our guard down. And that’s part of the fun and magic, isn’t it?
But sometimes bad things do happen at Disney World. And unfortunately, I know from personal experience. My family headed down to Orlando a few years ago when Disney did a special event where you could stay in Magic Kingdom for 24 straight hours, 6am Friday to 6am Saturday. It happened to land on the weekend my oldest child turned ten and we just lost our minds a little bit and drove 17+ hours down there to spend 24 straight hours in the park. And most of the experience was spectacular, but at 3am, we parked our stroller outside of The Carrousel of Progress and when we came out, it was gone. Just completely gone.
There’s a dark side to Disney, and it has nothing to do with Star Wars! It’s all about how rough the parks are on your feet!
Did you know that most people who record their steps at Disney World report walking eight to ten miles PER DAY while at Disney World?!? Your feet will take a beating. Add in the heat and humidity and you are looking at the perfect recipe for blisters. Disney World may be the most magical place on earth but if you don’t take care of your feet, they’ll be feeling less than magical by the middle of the week!
After taking seven trips to Disney World in eight years, I’ve got foot care down to a science. It takes some careful prepping and planning but if you take care of your feet, they will take care of you. Here is my ten step process for happy feet at Disney World. Continue reading “Ten Steps to Happy Feet at Disney World”
