Days at Disney are long, meals are expensive, and the never ending lines make any day in the park hard. I have established a list to help make Disney, a little less hard so you can enjoy the day with Mickey and Cinderella (my two favs).
1. Make a Plan – whether it’s a quick trip to Disney Springs or a day hoping from park to park, decide your must see and dos before entering the park. Make sure to check out my 5 Day Plan.
2. Download the Disney App – use the app to buy tickets, reserve fast passes, and make food reservations before hand. It is the greatest planning tool. Then, after entering the park, check the app as wait times for rides to make the most of your day.
3. Make Reservations – Unless you want to be eating Mickey ice cream sandwiches all day, I suggest reserving at least one meal a day. It’s a great chance to cool off and just rest for a little bit. Yes, most of the time it is possible to walk into a sit down restaurant , but I’ve also been there many times when if you don’t have reservations, you are eating off a cart.
4. Extra phone battery – if your like me, your phone always dies. Buy a small, plugin phone battery to make sure you are never cut off from the Disney App!
5. Enter the park early or late – if you have little people, like we do, I suggest entering the park super early and missing the night life or entering the park later in the day and seeing the lights. We have personally done Disney both ways and found lines are the shorter very early or very late.
6. Camalpak – yes, I know how nasty that is but it will save you $$$.
7. Backpack – carrying your group supplies in a backpack. Protein bars, water, ponchos, & sunscreen are all must for your day. It will be hot, it will rain at some point, and you will spend a fortune on food and drinks. Since Disney allows you to pack into the park these items, save yourself some time and money by packing them with you.
8. Get an autograph book – you may think you don’t need one, but once you miss a characters autograph it’s too late. This could be a fun craft before hand (or you could buy one) and is a great keepsake. A couple of trips ago, a couple of us broke off from the group to see how many princess’s we could get to sign our book. The answer ? Cinderella, Rapunzel, Ariel, Belle (who doesn’t sign your book but gives you a signed bookmark), and Prince Gaston. (We had achieved Anna & Elsa on a earlier trip). Bonus: you will need your own pen!
9. Buy the Photo Pass – yes, it’s expensive but photographers are stationed all around the park. It is too easy to pop in for a photo, which downloads straight to your app. You can also buy prints at the end of your day at a discounted price.
10. Grab a freebie – stop by the guest services office and pick up a free button for whatever holiday you are celebrating. First trip to Disney, anniversary, birthday, engagement, yes, it all counts!
MORE DINSEY INFO:
Disney: 5 Day Plan
Disney on the Cheap
Wow! You’ve really thought this all out! Disney land scares me with the amount of things I would need to pack! You’re a brave mama!
These are great tips, especially the app. I live about an hour from orlando so we fo often, and we love the fast passes.
These are great ideas! The app must be new from the last time we went, but it sounds like a must-have for a day at Disney. Funny how the kids are always tired and cranky by the end of the day at the happiest place on earth 😉
I can’t wait until the day that I get to use these tips lol.
Nice! I use most of these for our family trips too! I totally agree with the PhotoPass!
This is great! I didn’t know that Disney had an app. And the photo pass! I am going to do this with my family !
I’ve read a few different posts on how to survive Disney trips in the last couple of weeks. So many tips, yours are great too!
My step son wants to go to Disney really bad. We are hoping to make a trip in the near future. This list will help us when we go!
Hello, I read your blog on a regular basis. Your story-telling style is awesome, keep doing
what you’re doing!
Hi there, just wanted to say, I enjoyed this blog post. It was funny.
Keep on posting!