Disney World Tips

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Disney World Tips

If a Disney vacation is in your future, you'll love these Disney World tips!

From money saving ideas to advice that will help you to make the most of the time you have in the parks, the ideas here will help you to have a great time.

Before You Arrive

Planning ahead is most definitely a good idea. You'll want to be sure to have a few necessities with you for your theme park adventures, including:

Comfy shoes, a must! This is one of the very few places that I wear sneakers...

Sunscreen - a bad burn can literally ruin your vacation.

Snacks & water bottles - this can save you alot of money. Park policies allow you to bring your own, just be prepared to have your bag checked before entering. Water bottles can be frozen ahead of time, providing cold water for a good portion of the day.

If you're visiting during the summer months, consider bringing umbrellas or ponchos. Summer days in the Sunshine State typically include sudden downpours that come and go quickly. Rain ponchos are available for sale but you'll save alot of money purchasing them at a discount store prior to your trip.

A fanny pack or small backpack for each family member. Younger children can carry their own small toys to help keep them occupied while waiting in lines.

Plan Your Days
You'll also want to make every effort to plan your days as well as possible. The Disney theme parks are enormous, and it's very reasonable to expect to spend more than 1 day at each - based on your family's interests.

Free Brochure - Full of Disney World Tips
The first thing you'll want to do is to pick up a free brochure for the theme park you're visiting.

Take a look to rule out rides that have height or health restrictions that will exclude family members. Also take into consideration the motion sickness and scare factor warnings that are posted in the brochures.

Trust me when I tell you that 1 bad experience on a ride that's just a bit too scary for a child can ruin an entire trip!

A park brochure will give you Disney World tips to help you to map out your day, and will prove to be an invaluable tool as you progress through the park.

As soon as we get a brochure, we scan the list of Fast Pass rides and decide which of them to go on first. Then we break up and 1 adult goes to get the Fast Passes, while the rest of us get into line for our first adventure.

Fast Passes
Understanding and maximizing the Fast Pass system will help you to breeze through the most popular rides and get the most from your day.

Each Fast Pass is stamped with a return time, which specifies the time that you can enter the Fast Pass and bypass the long lines for that ride. Once your return time has arrived, you can obtain a Fast Pass for another ride, whether or not you've used your first pass.

Single Rider
This is one of the Disney World tips that's not very well known. If you're familiar with the seating system used in the parks, you know that the rides have varied rider capacities.

A family of 4, going on a ride that holds 3 people in each seat, will be seated with 3 of the riders together and the 4th seated alone.

Rather than break up another party of 3 or more people, the 2 empty seats will be filled with single riders, taken from a separate line.

This is a great way to get onto your favorite rides repeatedly, without taking up a whole day waiting in line. This is one of the Disney World tips that only works if your kids are old enough to ride without your supervision.

Consider Renting a Stroller

I'll never forget our first family trip to Disney. My boys were 6 and 8 years old, too old to ride in strollers, right? We had spent 2 great days at the parks. On day 3, at about 10:00 in the AM, my 6 year old laid down face-first on the walkway and refused to move!

We quickly proceeded to the stroller rentals and asked our oldest son if he wanted to walk or ride. Needless to say we ended up renting a double stroller for the remainder of our Disney days! Great decision!!

Lots and Lots of Water
While in the theme parks, make sure you're all drinking lots of water. The days are (usually) warm, the sun is hot, the days are long, and for most of us, the level of exercise is much higher than we're accustomed to.

Staying hydrated will keep everybody comfortable and healthy.

Park Transportation

This is Disney, so you know that every detail has been considered and taken care of for your convenience. This holds especially true for the park transportation system.

If you have Park Hopper tickets and plan to visit more than 1 park in a day, you'll find the monorails, ferries, and buses that travel between parks to be of great value.

Locker Rentals
Each park has lockers available for rental. For a small fee you can store your belongings and have access all day.

Dining

The Disney parks offer various dining options, including everything from fast food to fine dining.

If you'd like to have a nice dinner at a park, or plan to dine with Disney characters, you'll want to make reservations at least 2 weeks prior to your trip (earlier if traveling during a high traffic season, such as school vacation weeks).

Don't Forget to Relax!
One of the most important of all Disney World tips - schedule some down time! The parks can be exhausting, so it's a great idea to plan to spend some time relaxing by the pool or visiting one of Florida's beautiful beaches.

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