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Disney World Tips for First Timers

Hey y’all!

I’m a ghost / content writer & recently I was  invited to write a post for one of my clients, a travel agent. ��The request was  for Disney World Tips for first timers.  I had a lot of fun writing this article and complied it by asking hundreds of people what their top tips were.  Without going into specific ride & park information, I think it’s one of the most comprehensive guides you’ll find.  

Anyway, the guy didn’t pay me, and hasn’t responded, so here’s the article!    I’ll post more relevant stuff here as I go, or content that people might find interesting.   Let me know if I missed any tips and if you found it helpful!

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Disney World is the most magical place on Earth, few people would argue that, except for maybe some first timers who have gone there unprepared.  Here’s everything you need to know to make sure you have a vacation filled with the special moments that your family will remember and cherish forever!

The park is a lot bigger than you think.

Disneyland (in California) isn’t small by any means, but you can still walk from park to park and to Downtown Disney.   Disney World, by contrast, is the size of San Francisco.  It’s twice the size of Manhattan, New York.  This is no joke.  This means the following for you:

*  You need comfortable shoes, that are broken in.  These should be able to get wet without being uncomfortable,  and it wouldn’t hurt to bring extra socks in a ziplock baggie in case you do get splashed or rained on .     You should bring extra bandaids, moleskin, or blister spray to be extra prepared for blisters.  Some of my friends bring baby powder, or a Gold Bond friction stick, in case their thighs start chafing from all of the walking around.

You need to factor in at least a half an hour, but realistically more like an hour, of transportation time from park to park, park to parking lot, and park to hotel.   If you stay on Disney property, the transit time is cut in half, but still substantial.  Factor in that you never know if a kid is going to have a melt down or if you will run into a street performer or have a random magic moment, and your travel time may multiply.

There are buses, trams, and monorails involved.  Even the occasional boat!   If your kid (or travel companion) is afraid of heights, doesn’t like loud noises, gets motion sickness, or bored easily,  you may want to add dramamine, coloring books, and earphones to your stash of goodies to bring.  Make sure you’re familiar with the system, because it’s not a fun feeling when you get on the monorail at the end of the day to find out that they’re all going back to the parking lot, when you have to go back to a Disney hotel.

2.   There are a lot more people there than you think.

  50,000 people attend Disney World every single day.    Which means the following:

Restaurants are often booked to capacity, 180 days ahead of time.  Make the reservations for the places you really want to eat at as far in advance as you can.

Rides are often booked, too.    Get there early and head straight to the most popular ride, this is a pro-tip I learned from Disney insiders.   You can get Fast Passes or Fast Pass plus tickets for the other rides throughout the day.  Ride wait times are generally overestimated by about 5-15 minutes, so they will go down.  If a ride has a 5 minute wait time, this means no line!   Ride it, even if it might be something you were on the fence about.    Switching Rider passes is useful if you have children who are not tall or old enough to ride a particular ride.  One parent rides the ride with the eligible children, while the other parent stands somewhere with the younger children.   Afterwards, the parents switch, and board the ride without a wait, and the good news is that the older kids get to go on the ride a second time!  This is another way around some line times.

Your stroller, car seat, bag, or whatever you’re using throughout the day is not as unique as you think it is.   It’s a purple stroller with polka dots?  Unless it was custom made for you, I’m pretty sure someone else has it as well.  Think luggage at baggage claim at Heathrow Airport, and make sure you have streamers or some kind of colorful ribbon combination on your stuff so you know what’s what. It also wouldn’t hurt to have your name, picture, and contact information on it because let’s face it, some people are crooks or accidental thieves.

Character lines are often a long wait as well, and usually in the heat,  so make sure you don’t wait for characters unless your children have to see them.    You’re better served sometimes booking a character breakfast because while costlier, it’s easier to see more characters who come to you while you’re eating.  This saves on valuable time and avoids meltdowns.

3.  A good deal of Walt Disney World is outside.

Make sure you bring sunscreen.   Even if it’s a cloudy, overcast day, this is Central Florida and the sun does not discriminate.  The worst hours are between 12 and 2, so make extra sure if you’re not back at the hotel napping at this time, you’re reapplying your sunscreen.

There will be water.  Even if you manage to not ride Splash Mountain, there might be rain.   Bring an extra change of clothes in ziplock bags.   Bring a ziplock bag to stash your phone in so it’s still operable at the end of the day.   Wear waterproof makeup and sunscreen.    You can bring your own ponchos that are much cheaper than the ones sold in park, not to mention, more convenient when the drops start falling to just pull it out of your bag.

You can bring your own refillable water bottle into the parks.  You can also buy a cup and visit any Disney World restaurant counter for free water and water refills throughout the day. Try to stay hydrated to avoid feeling terrible on the following days of your vacation.

There are baby stations that have high chairs, microwaves, and changing areas in each park, and it’s a great way to get a baby or small child out of the chaos.

4.  Disney World can be expensive if you have a small budget or a large family.  Fortunately, there are some things you can do to alleviate this:

Bring snacks and food from home (Disney is one of the few parks that allows this).

If you don’t want to carry a lot of food, you can also work the Dining Plans and swap credits around to get the most bang for your buck.

We’ve talked about bringing ponchos before, you can also bring other items from home to avoid buying them again.  Tylenol, bug spray,  and hair ties are just a few examples.

* Bring your own glow and light up toys to pull out at the nighttime parades or fireworks shows so your kids don’t want what the other kids have.

5.   Disney World has a ton of attractions, but there are probably some fun and games you probably didn’t know about!

You can bring pins of Disney characters to the park, and trade with other guests.  If you ask to trade with a cast member, they are required to trade with you in most cases (There is a list of rules you can look up).  This is a really good way to gain valuable or rare pins, and it becomes a really fun game seeking out those pins that are especially memorable.

Hollywood Studios has some Star Wars fun, and there are Jawas there who will trade trinkets and toys with your children, just like the pin program mentioned above.  Buy some dollar store toys and have them on hand so you don’t have to buy a ton of expensive stuff in a gift shop.

Hidden Mickeys are images that look like Mickey Mouse’s head and they are hidden throughout the park on everything from architectural elements to handrails.   Show your children or friends a Hidden Mickey, and for the rest of the trip you’ll be hearing about them being located everywhere.  It’s a really fun scavenger hunt, and takes away some of the boredom of waiting in lines and walking from ride to ride.

There are free events at many of the resorts, like their Under the Stars Movie Nights.

6.  There are memories to be made everywhere

Make sure you bring a cell phone charger,  or use Forever Chargers.  You can pay $30 for a cell phone battery charger brick, and when it runs out, you just replace it at a kiosk for another one.   It’s expensive but very convenient.

You can buy the photo package, which comes with a DVD and book of all of your pictures and memories throughout the trip.  This is great if you don’t remember to take pictures or want every family member to be in every picture. You can also ask the photographers to take the pictures on your cell phone, if you don’t want to buy the package.

7.  There’s so much to do,  you couldn’t do it all if you had an entire month.

Make a list of what you want to do, and then cut it in half.   That’s a more likely representation of how your day is going to go, and how much you’ll actually be able to accomplish.

Have a back up plan.  If the kids are tired or hot,  take them other places, like rides with air conditioning or to Tom Sawyer Island for a little bit of a break.

Hotels, when staying on property, are a great place to go back to and take naps in-between rides, parades, and meals.

Use the Fast Pass system to your advantage and strategically plan out your day to make the most of your time.   The worst thing that can happen to you is that you wander around all day without doing anything because you didn’t want to wait in lines and by the time you found a ride that didn’t have a line the entire day was almost over.

Go to your most sought after ride first, ride it early in the morning, and then get a fast pass for the same ride when you exit.  You’ll be happy you did.

If you can’t get every ride and every thing you want,  it’s okay, because there will always be a next time!

Here’s a handy-dandy list of what to bring:

comfortable shoes

extra socks and clothes in a Zip Lock bag

another baggie for your smartphone

refillable water bottle

snacks

coloring book & crayons, activity books

earphones, pressure point  bracelets, dramamine

sunscreen

band-aids or moleskin

baby powder or Gold Bond friction stick

bug spray

hairties or hairclips

your list of things you must do so you don’t forget anything

phone charging cable, or you can use the Forever Chargers on property

a camera

an amazing attitude