In December of 2022 I went to Disney World as a parent for the first time. If you are thinking of purchasing Disney World tickets for your family these are a few things I learned along the way, that may help you as well. Read more to find out random Disney World tips and tricks for parents!
There are a lot of Facebook groups devoted to Disney. Search to find one that fits your needs. By the time I discover Disney Facebook groups, I had already purchased our Disney World tickets, even still I was able to make some changes. I turned a two day one park trip into a four day, four park trip with park hopper. I also went from a so so hotel to and fabulous Disney resort. The group I joined helped me so much and completely transformed my Disney experience.
YouTube
Every ride you can think of is on YouTube. This was helpful not only for myself, but for my kids. We didn’t watch every ride, but there were a few that I wanted to preview before our trip.
For example, I had no idea what Rise of the Resistance (at Hollywood Studios) would be like. Would it be too scary for me? Too scary for my kids? I watched it on YouTube to see if it would be something that we should ride.
Another example is Dinosaur (at Animal Kingdom) which is categorized as a scary and bumpy ride. I had my kids watch a video of the ride and asked them if they would like to ride it. They did agree to ride it, but spoiler alert they both got off crying. (I loved it though.)
Disney Plus
There are several shows on Disney Plus that feature Disney world. They are great to learn behind the scenes information or to build the excitement for your upcoming trip.
My favorite show was Behind the Attraction, and Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom actually convinced me to add an Animal Kingdom day to our trip. I even saw the same gorillas featured in the show.
Hotels and Resorts
Sorry not sorry but I will die on the hill of arguing that you need to stay at a Disney resort.
What you need to know is that they are grouped into roughly 4 categories based on price. To search through all the resorts at once it’s very overwhelming, but if you can decide on your budget category and then search it is a lot easier.
After you chose what category you’ll be searching through, look for things like transportation, room size, and food. If it matters to you some resorts only have bus transportation, while others have a sky liner, monorail, and ferryboat.
Some resorts will only accommodate so many people. And a Facebook group is a great place to get input of the dining options within the resort.
Staying at a Disney resort will also get you into parks 30 minutes sooner than other guests. 30 minutes doesn’t really seem like a lot of time, but it really is a great opportunity to knock out those super popular attractions before it gets crowded.
We chose the Disney Resort called Pop Century. It is in the value price category. We loved being able to hop on the Sky Liner, food is good if you need quick service, little shop is great, room was ascetically pleasing with very comfortable bedding. Next time we go we actually won’t be able to stay at Pop because there will be too many of us.
Disney resort housekeeping does leave a lot to be desired That is probably my one and only gripe about Disney resorts. They come every-other-day and even still, don’t make the bed.
Comment If I’m wrong but to my knowledge every Disney resort has heated outdoor pools. My kids swam at night in January and they didn’t say anything about feeling cold. There were also two extremely attentive life guards on duty as well.
Disney App
As soon as you start brainstorming your Disney trip go ahead and download there app. The app can be used to navigate parks, order food, get into your room, and sign up for rides. There is also a chat feature that is so helpful. Using the app can really drain your phone battery so I purchased a case with a battery from LuxyLemon.com.
Weather
I knew I needed to be prepared for rain. We had ponchos because I believe umbrellas are not allowed in the parks. I say “I believe” because I did see people with umbrellas. We never did need our ponchos, but I did wear one on Kali River Rapids ride in Animal Kingdom.
I also brought a cheap plastic table cloth incase we needed it to keep our stroller dry in a down pour, but we never needed it.
Our trip was December 30-January 2 and it was hot and humid. I have no idea how people do Disney in the summer.
I wore leggings and a tshirt each day. The rest of my family wore t-shirts and shorts. We had light and heavy jackets packed, but never used them.
You really do have to be prepared for all types of weather in Florida.
Parks
My trip started as two days at Magic Kingdom and was 4 days at 4 parks by the time it rolled around. If you are going to go to Disney, you really should check out all four parks.
Animal Kingdom:
We spent our first day at Animal Kingdom. It was very crowded and very hot (December 30). Because AK was our first day, looking back I realize I was super overwhelmed. We did find a super yummy grown up drink in dinosaur land. In my opinion the animals in Animal Kingdom are very visible and active. I can’t get over how many gorillas we saw. At our local zoo we rarely ever actually see the gorillas. I realized on our way home from Disney that we never even made it to the Pandora section of Animal Kingdom.
Hollywood Studios:
We spent our second day at Hollywood Studios. We used the early entry feature that comes with staying at Disney resort. Cast members made it very clear which lines early entry people should get in. We are able to knock out some popular rides and then head to Hollywood and Vine for our breakfast reservations. I enjoyed a grown up drink called “Snake Bite” it was good, and I ate way too much funnel cake. We really enjoyed Hollywood Studios, my 7 year old said it was his favorite park.
Epcot:
We got to Epcot fairly early in the morning and it was so empty. There were a lot of things that weren’t opened yet, but we got to see Belle and Snow White with no line at all. There is a drink, I believe in Japan, called the Violet Shake (adult drink). It has such a unique flavor, I highly recommend trying it. My husband and I fought over ours.
Magic Kingdom:
We arrived at Magic Kingdom early enough to use the early entry feature, but we could not figure out what line we needed to be in. I was very aggravated that we busted it to get there early, and still ended up entering the park at the regular time. Also, after three days of adult drinks at the other parks, we were pretty bummed about no alcohol at Magic Kingdom. We enjoyed snacking on the cheeseburger egg rolls in the park, and I finally got to try Dole Whip.
Eating
I planned our Disney World trip from A to Z. My husband was just along for the ride, literally. Disney is a 7 hour car ride for us so I packed a lot of snacks, mostly for the kids.
I had zero intentions of us eating at any table services restaurants within the parks because of the price. Looking back it seems a little silly, but I guess my intentions were that we were going to eat 100% quick service meals, and the snacks we brought ourselves.
On our first day we had breakfast at Pop Century, a very quick service/cafeteria setting, and then for lunch we had quick service in Animal Kingdom. Both times we sat in a facility, at a table, but had to retrieve our own food and fix our own drinks. Two meals in and my boujie husband was like “I can’t do this.” He wanted a waiter and more choices besides burgers and fries.
Some days we’d have breakfast and then snack through lunch, or snack through breakfast and then have lunch.
We also discover popcorn buckets. In any park you can buy a bucket of popcorn and then refill them for a much lower price. The popcorn is so good, we snacked on that a good bit.
We used Doordash and Ubereats for dinner each night.
Hollywood and Vine (Hollywood Studios):
We had breakfast at Hollywood and Vine and absolutely loved it. I made the reservations the night before.
The character experience is phenomenal, the characters were Goofy, Vamperina, and Fancy Nancy. (Doc McStuffins is supposed to be there but she wasn’t.) The characters spend a lot of time with you and came back to the table several times.
The food was so good. It was a breakfast buffet with so many delicious choices. Our waitress handled the drinks and we hit the buffet a couple of times. We were stuffed.
Jungle Navigation Co. LTD Skipper Canteen (Magic Kingdom):
We did not have reservations for Skipper Canteen, but through the Disney World app we were about to join the walk up list with a return time. We squeezed in a few rides and then walked up, we were seated within five minutes. Skipper Canteen does not have characters but every staff member is playing this sarcastic-humor-navigation-themed part. There were only a few menu choices and I honestly was having second thoughts. I just didn’t see anything on the menu that I wanted.
Obviously I could have looked at the menu before we went, but I was in such a rush to find a restaurant that was offering the walk up wait list that I didn’t stop to look at the menu.
The food was good, just way too complicated for me. We also were able to order alcoholic beverages with our lunch even though we were in Magic Kingdom.
Restaurantosaurus (Animal Kingdom):
Restaurantosaurus was the basic burger and fries quick service establishment. I love cheeseburgers so I was fine with it, but my husband was not impressed. Another Disney World blog DisneyTrippers.com actually listed it as one of the worst quick service restaurants, and I can see their point of view.
Regale Eagle Smokehouse (Epcot):
I felt like such a basic b when I realized we were eating lunch in ‘America’ while at Epcot. Regale Eagle is a quick service restaurant, but we were very impressed with the food.
Park Hopper
I have mixed feelings about park hopper. I added it to our tickets because we were doing four parks in four days and I didn’t feel like one day at Magic Kingdom was going to be enough. We hopped everyday (except our last day, it was not added to our 4th day’s ticket). You do have to wait until 2pm to hop. We typically would leave the first park around 1 or 2 pm and then head back to our hotel to nap and just hang out. For example my daughter and I took a nap and my husband and son went to the resort’s arcade.
I think park hoping created a problem of us burning a candle at both ends. We were trying to rope drop in the morning and then staying out way too late in the evening in a different park. I ended up having to fight off migraines from lack of sleep.
One plus is you are able to book a genie plus ride in another park. For example while in Hollywood Studios, I booked a ride in Epcot knowing we were going to hop to Epcot later on. It just needs to be a time that is after 2PM.
I think park hopper is a great value and really adds more choice to your trip. In the future I may add it so that the option is there, but I don’t think I will extensively plan to use it because on more than one occasion I think I was so focused on hoping that I was robbing myself of park I was already in, and also the candle at both ends dilemma. I don’t want to do that again.
Stroller
Six months before our Disney trip we spent a day at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Halfway through the day my daughter (who was 4 at the time) completely gave out, she was tired and complaining that her feet and legs hurt. I had to carry her which in turn wore me out. We left the park after only being there for a few hours.
I knew we would need a stroller for our Disney trip. We only have an umbrella stroller at home, but I realized you can rent a stroller in Florida. I rented a Bob Revolution Flex 3.0 Double Stroller from Scooterbug.com. They dropped off the stroller at the hotel, so it was there waiting on us when we arrived, and the day we left we dropped the stroller off in resort lobby to be picked up.
The stroller absolutely revolutionized our trip. My kids were 5 and 7 at the time of our trip. They fit into the stroller just fine. They were able to rest when needed. The best part, me and my husband could move. We could walk at adult speed and not kid speed which was nice.
A Sea of Strollers:
I was so worried we would have a hard time finding our stroller. I bought some neon luggage tags, and battery operated Christmas lights. The neon tag did help, but finding our stroller was not as difficult as I thought it was going to be.
We did lose our stroller in Epcot on New Years Eve. It was so crowded, and apparently I parked the stroller in a non-stroller area. We rode the Frozen ride, came back and it was gone. It was dark, crowded, and I was almost panicked. I found the closest cast member and showed her where we left the stroller, she took us to the closest stroller parking area and helped us find it. So word to the wise, be sure to park in a designated stroller parking area.
We did have to fold our stroller to get on the Disney buses, and sky-liner. The stroller was quick and easy to fold, but awkward and heavy to carry.
Travel Agent
I used a travel agent because I had no idea where to begin in regards to booking a Disney World trip. It was frustrating because I’d call Disney to change something and they’d say my travel agent would need to do it. Sometimes they’d tell her that I needed to do something. It just felt like Disney wouldn’t even communicate with me about my own dang trip.
Young Kids
My husband and I have always said that we would tackle Disney once all our kids were out of diapers. In December 2022 our kids were 7, 5, and 2. I felt torn because while I’m waiting on the youngest to get out of diapers, the oldest is getting older and older.
We took our 7 and 5 year old and left our 2 year old home with grandparents. It was the right decision for our family. The car ride alone would have been too much for our 2 year old. I felt guilty about not taking the youngest to Disney, but knew that by taking him, we would not be able to do everything that our older two wanted to do.
We plan to return when the youngest is 45 inches tall, so that he can ride the majority of the rides available. He is current 43 inches tall, so we are getting excited.
Bookbags
I took a little backpack and a regular size book bag. My plan was to keep the book bag on the stroller, and the backpack on my back at all times. After the first day I realized I did not need the large book bag, so I only used the small backpack. It was big enough for a few snacks, medicine, and wallets.
MagicBands
Disney World trips add up fast and I was really on the fence about whether or not we needed to pay for MagicBands. Eventually I decided to purchased them because we would be park hopping. I highly recommend MagicBands. I honestly can’t believe they are mandatory for the trip. We used them to get into our room, to scan into rides, and to get into the parks. I also found them for $10 within the Disney app. I used these from Amazon to keep them from falling off and getting lost.
Shoes
I packed at least two pairs of shoes for everyone. My kids and sneakers and Crocs, my husband had two different pair of sneakers, and I had Nikes, On Clouds, and Crocs. I actually liked wearing Crocs (with socks) over the sneakers. The Crocs were very comfortable.
Genie Plus
We used Genie Plus each day. The Genie Plus price fluctuates. At the time of our trip it was $29 a day per person. I highly recommend Genie Plus, it is a great way to skip some of those terribly awful lines. It does seem to lose its edge as the day goes on, less and less rides are available to sign up for. Our first day I was overwhelmed and found Genie Plus confusing and difficult to use. If using Genie Plus, the “Tip Board” in the Disney app will list the rides you can sign up for, along with letting you know what time you can pick your next ride.
Park Activities
Bippity Boppity Boutique (Magic Kingdom):
Our trip was planned in a months time, so even if I wanted to, I never would have been able to snag a spot at the Bippity Boppity Boutique. So we weren’t signed up, and I really did not think my daughter would be aware the the boutique even existed. But when my daughter saw other made-over girls in princess dresses she got really upset. There is a store near the castle called “Sir Mickeys” that sells princess dresses. We slipped in and picked out a dress and changed in the bathroom. The dress was expensive, but it is excellent quality. My daughter has a ton of princess dresses from Target andAmazon, but the one from Disney World is far better quality.
When we head back to Disney World in the future, I still will not sign up for the boutique. I read a lot of people say that it can take a major chunk out of your day. I’m not sure how much it cost, but its Disney, so let us assume its expensive. Also, and I don’t mean to rude, but the hairstyle that comes from the boutique is not appealing.
In the future I plan to have a little makeover session at the resort. Maybe some makeup and glitter hairspray, and then again we can swing by Sir Mickeys and pick out a dress.
Droid Depot (Hollywood Studios):
We were going to be in Hollywood Studios on my son’s 7th birthday, so I signed him up for the Droid Depot. The entire time I was confusing the word “droid” with “drone.” So I told my son he was going to be building and keeping a drone, and I was definitely wrong. My husband and son went to the appointment and built a droid, which is like a robot. The base price is $120, but I think with add ons it ended up costing closer to $200. The whole experience was only about 15 minutes. Then we rented a locker to store the droid for the remainder of our time in the park. My son enjoyed the experience, but he has not played with the droid at all since that day.
He also built a light saber (which is at the end of the Star Tours ride). You do not need an appointment to do that, it is cheaper, and he has played with that a lot more.
Rides
I have so much to say about rides, that I dedicated an entire blog post to it!
Thank you for reading my Disney World tips and tricks! I hope you found some helpful information and your trips is a magical as ours was!
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