Disney World!! Planning your first Walt Disney World experience can be overwhelming. You might even be confused. As you are planning you will want to make sure you optimize your vacation time and budget. I will share some important information to help make your first experience at Walt Disney World MAGICAL!
You can’t do everything on your vacation! Walt Disney World is MASSIVE. Disney World is 43 square miles- that’s about the size of San Francisco! You can fit 51 Disneylands inside Disney World. It contains four huge theme parks: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. Animal Kingdom is the largest theme park in the WORLD. Disney World is also the home to 2 water parks, 25 resorts, and Disney Springs. Trying to do it all will definitely ruin your Disney experience. I would make a list of the most important things you’d like to do. You need to plan, but not over plan. Prioritize your wants first. What rides do you want to make sure you ride? Do you have dining reservations for that special character meal? These can be made 60 days in advance. Regardless of what experience you choose to do everything at Disney World is wonderful.
Download the My Disney Experience App well before you go. You can familiarize yourself with the parks and Disney technology. This is the best planning tool for your Walt Disney World Vacation. You can access maps of parks, look at wait times, make dining reservations, get in line for virtual queues, check into your hotel, and use Mobile ordering. This will also allow you to know the transportation options for your resort. Plus much more! Knowing the My Disney Experience App can help you enjoy your trip and plan accordingly.
You will easily walk 10 miles in a day at Walt Disney World. Which is A LOT of walking! Make sure you select the best shoes for your and your children’s feet. I suggest bringing a couple different shoes. I love Birkenstocks and Nike Pegasus. I also suggest bringing moleskin. Your trip can be ruined by blisters TRUST ME! Body Glide is also a must. I also want to mention strollers are very important even if your children are older. Did I mention there is a lot of walking at Disney? In the past we have always taken our double stroller with us, however, the last Disney trip we decided to rent from Kingdom Stroller Rental. It was so convenient. They met us at our resort and they were amazing. I highly recommend this stroller renting service.
Disney Cast Members will sprinkle Pixie Dust wherever they can! I have so many experiences I could talk about with this subject. Disney has the absolute best customer service. If there is an issue go and talk to a Cast Member. They will fix it to the best of their abilities! Trust me! The Cast Members truly are part of the magic of Disney. I have been hesitant to share our most magical Pixie Dusted moment, but if you message me I’ll tell you!
There are First Aid Stations and Baby Care Centers in each park. You will find a nurse in each station that will help with your emergency or non-emergency needs. The nurse can make an appointment with a local urgent care if you need one. They also have private rooms like a doctor’s exam room. You’ll find IV pole, sinks, blood pressure monitors, and a table. You can also access bandaids and over the counter medications such as Tylenol and Neosporin. On our last vacation my two year old got his foot stuck in the stroller wheel. It was a pretty yucky burn. I took him to the First Aid Station and had the best experience. The sweet nurse put a numbing cream on his foot, cleaned his wound, applied an antibiotic cream, and then wrapped his foot for us. She also gave us supplies for his wound to take back to our resort. AMAZING! The Baby Care Centers are also fantastic. There are private nursing rooms, rocking chairs, changing tables, bottle warmers, and family restrooms. Plus play areas for toddlers. They also sell formula, diapers, wipes, and baby food! Disney has thought of everything!
Fair warning-you will have to wait in line at some point on your Disney vacation. Disney has done a wonderful job with attraction standby lines. They are so well themed and they are nice distractions. I especially love the standby line for Peter Pan’s Flight and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. My family also likes to play Play Disney Parks App and Heads Up! Disney App with our smart phones!
Arrive 30-45 minutes before the park opens! This is VERY important. I am a ROPE DROP Mom – although there is no official “rope drop” anymore. I also like to shut the parks down. My husband loves this about me. (can you sense the sarcasm?) Have a plan for the first rides and attractions of the day. This will save you hours of waiting in line.
Let me start this by saying part of the Disney experience is eating the delicious food. If someone tells you Disney doesn’t have great food they aren’t doing Disney right! However, Disney is expensive-this isn’t news! A great tip is to order grocery delivery. All Disney resorts are equipped with a mini fridge. We purchase breakfast bars and plenty of snacks for the stay. We also purchase bottled water. We do bring reusable water bottles, however, I don’t like the taste of Orlando water. We are still able to indulge on the amazingness of Disney’s food, but we are also able to save a little money.
My last and maybe most important tip is IGNORE THE WORLD! Stay away from your email, stay off of social media-unless you are posting about your trip, and enjoy the moments! The beautiful thing about a trip to Disney World is all the memories you make along the way.
If you need help planning please send me a message. A Disney Travel Planner can save you a lot of time, stress, and money. I hope you are sprinkled with Pixie Dust on your Walt Disney World Vacation!
See ya real soon!
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