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. develope 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.

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!