Beginner Tips for Disney World

“There is the whole world at your feet.” -Mary Poppins

This post is for any newbie Disney World peeps, like I was just a few short weeks ago. Even though we have been to Disneyland hundreds of times, Disney World is a completely different story! Yes, they are both Disney theme parks, yes, they even have some of the same rides, but besides that I would say the differences outweigh the similarities.

Here are my tips after using a 5-day park hopper with my husband and two kids; ages 5 and 3. These tickets were purchased by us at a discounted price for the Disney Social Media Mom Celebration. But as always, all opinions are my own.

1)  Research and find out which rides you want to book fast passes for ahead of time. You can book 3 fast passes per day, per person, in advance. If you are staying at a Disney resort you can book them 60 days in advance, if not then 30 days in advance. As soon as your window opens up, book those fast passes knowing you can try to change them later if your plans need to adjust. BUT, the big/newer rides like Flight of Passage at Animal Kingdom and Mine Train at Magic Kingdom book up super fast and you might not get another option at a later time.

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is a minimum height of 38 inches, our daughter just squeaked by, but remember you can always ask for a rider swap so one parent doesn’t miss out.

Flight of Passage is a 44″ height requirement, so neither one of our kids were tall enough, but we did a rider switch so both my husband and I rode it. This is probably the most incredible ride ever. A virtual reality like you are really flying over Pandora and becoming an avatar. Simply amazing!

2) Book a few restaurant reservations. I thought we might just want all quick service type eateries, but I learned it was nice to have a few breaks where we actually sat down and had a good meal. There are some restaurants that book up very quickly like Be Our Guest at Magic Kingdom. Everyone said to keep checking for cancellations, but that never worked for us and we were not able to eat there.

So, if there is one particular place you want to go to, make sure to book it as soon as possible. You are able to book a dining reservation 180 days in advance! A few of my other suggestions would be Via Napoli at Epcot, which is a fun Italian place with great pizza and Jiko at Animal Kingdom Lodge, a nicer dinner with amazing food.

3) Avoid Park Hopping. Park hopping at Disneyland is no problem. There are only 2 parks and they are right next to each other. This is not the case in Florida. The parks are all spread out and each one is so huge! You will want to spend at least one full day at each park. In fact, there are some parks I could have spent multiple days at in order to really see everything. Plus, you can only book your first three fast passes at one park.

4) Stay at a Disney resort. Unless you plan to rent a car and want to do other things besides just Disney World, I would highly suggest to stay at a Disney World hotel. There is a bus system that comes to all the resorts and takes you to any of the parks you would like to visit, or even their “Disney Springs” area, which is like California’s “Downtown Disney” only bigger. You can also get extra “magic hours” when you stay at one of the resorts as well as booking your fast passes 60 days in advance, which is exclusive to those guests.

We stayed at 3 different Disney resorts; the All Stars Music (which was definitely my least favorite), Coronado Springs and Animal Kingdom Lodge. Coronado Springs was very nice, but nothing beats the views of the Animal Kingdom Lodge!!! We literally had giraffes and other wild animals right outside our balcony. This was a dream come true for me to stay there!

5) Be prepared to walk A LOT!! We visit Disneyland at least twice a month, so we understand walking theme parks, but never have I ever done so much walking in a single day than when we were at Disney World. Wear comfortable shoes and bring a stroller for young kids.

6) Download the Disney World App. Much like the Disneyland app, which I talk about in this article, you are able to book fast passes, dining reservations, check wait times, even order food ahead of time for a quick pick up, find characters and see your photo pass pictures.

7) Stop to see some characters. Character meet and greets at Disney World are much different than Disneyland. Originally I didn’t plan to stand in line for any characters since we have seen so many here in California, but it turns out there were so many cool locations that we ended up wanting to meet some of our favorites. We met Ariel in her mermaid fin, which you can no longer find at Disneyland. 

We saw Enchanted Tales with Belle, which was so sweet in her library and the kids also get to help play different parts of the story, which made it even more fun and interactive.

We met Minnie and Daisy in the circus tent and saw Mickey in his sorcerer outfit. I loved seeing the different costumes and sets, it was definitely worth doing.

8) Order your quick service food for pick up. I quickly learned that you want to make the most of your time, trying to avoid the long lines, which included the lines for food. On the Disney World app you can actually pull up a quick service restaurant, view their menu and order your food for pick up. You link your credit card to the app as well so you can pay for the food before pickup. Once you reach the restaurant they have a line just for pick up orders and it’s so much faster!

9) See some shows and parades! The entertainment and talent at Disney World is phenomenal. I was blown away by the shows, parades and especially the fireworks. At Magic Kingdom we saw the Festival of Fantasy parade, the Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire castle show, the Move it! Shake it! Dance and Play it! Street Party parade and the Happily Ever After fireworks.

We also saw the Finding Nemo show at Animal Kingdom, which is about a 45 minute musical that is a Broadway caliber type show. I also suggest the Festival of the Lion King show at Animal Kingdom as well, we just didn’t have enough time to do both.

We also saw Illuminations at Epcot, which is a firework show on the water. All shows were fantastic and even left me teary eyed. Try to allow some time to see a few of these.

10) Schedule a “rest” day. If you can, I HIGHLY suggest scheduling a day to just sit by the hotel pool and chill. We were on the go every day and it started to wear on all of us. You are paying a good amount of money to stay somewhere with a pool and sometimes even fun hotel activities, but you won’t get to experience it if you are constantly on the go to the parks. I say do 2-3 days in the parks, then take a day to sleep in, enjoy the pool, maybe walk around Disney Springs, but don’t have a schedule, just relax. You will thank me later for this I promise!;)

BONUS TIP: You can’t do it all. Unless you plan on staying there for well over a week there is just no way you can do it all. In the beginning of our trip I felt a bit of pressure to try to see and do it all, but once I accepted that it wasn’t going to be possible, I started to relax a little bit. No matter how early you get to the park or how late you stay you just can’t see it all. But isn’t that good news? It means that there is still so much to look forward to the next time we go. BUT, if you do want a little more help navigating the parks I HIGHLY recommend a tour guide. We used one of my best friends from MYVIPTOUR.com on the first day and she was a lifesaver. If interested, ask for Roberta, she is clearly the best in the business. It isn’t cheap, but worth the investment if you feel like it is too overwhelming!!!

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