What are some tips and tricks for Disney world?! Must dos and sees.
Thanks in advance.

F

If you know when you’re going. Get your park tickets now so you can sign up for fast pass for the popular rides. Download the Disney world park app and you can figure out which ride is popular and try to reserve your time slot accordingly.

Henry can you do the fast pass over the app?

Yes you can providing you are within booking dates.

Henry we already got our tickets and we’re going on November 10th so I just register and make an account and can start to do fast track passes?

My Disney Experience is the app. I wrote more about it below haha

Go to the farthest point from the gates first, or go to the most popular rides first. Head to the left as you enter the parks as most people go to the right. Saturdays and Sundays can be the least busy days of the week as they are changeover days for people coming in and out of Orlando.

We got a 7 day pass, which we used over two weeks. Spend a day at each park, then use the extra days to go back to the ones you like. Go first thing on the morning, then back to hotel at 1 or 2 for a rest. Return for evening festivities. We broke up the Disney stuff with other things.. swamp tour, science centre in Orlando. Doing disney 4-7 days straight would have been a nightmare for my kids.

We are trying to wing it in 2 days and do all the parks haha. That is why we were wanting to do lots of planning and do the stuff that is worth visiting.

Yikes! Good luck on that. How old are your kids? Younger ones will like the regular Magic Kingdom and maybe Animal Kingdom. My older kids (13 and 9) found Epcot quite lame as it looked like it hadn't been updated in years. They really liked Hollywood Studios bc that's where the bigger rollercoasters were located.

so long as you don’t expect you’ll be able to fit it all in, you should be ok (I.e. manage your expectations). DW is BIG and doing 4 Parks which are far apart in 2 days in next to impossible.

Kristina

Barb Adrian thanks!!!

OOH. I just went in the spring with my friends and their family (so 3 adults + 3 kids). Here's what I learned:
1. I'm not sure if you booked a hotel yet, but staying on property may not be worth it. Because we had a larger group, we would have needed at least two rooms, and the Disney hotel rates are crazy. There are certain perks -- free MagicBands, extra 30 days to book FastPasses, early access to the parks on certain days -- but to us, the cost wasn't worth it.
2. Speaking of MagicBands, get them. It's worth it. Make sure you download the app (My Disney Experience) and get used to it before going. It'll save a lot of learning time during your actual trip.
3. BOOK YOUR FASTPASSES AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. If you're on property, it's best to start right on the 60-day mark. I believe that you are able to book FPs for the entirety of your stay on that first day (so 60 days from the first day of your visit), if you are on property. (We were off property, so we had to do each day separately.)
4. Speaking of FastPasses, keep in mind that a] after you use up the initial 3, you can book the next one (so once you scan the third, you can immediately choose a 4th ride while you're in line) and b] you can edit the FastPasses on the app as you go. Because people swap all the time, you may be able to get to rides earlier, or get the ones you want on the day of. We were able to get FastPasses to Avatar: Flight of Passage (Pandora, Animal Kingdom) in the middle of the afternoon this way. That ride can have 2+ hour waits otherwise.
5. In terms of must dos, most of the long-line rides are must dos, but NOT all of them.
MAGIC KINGDOM -- the 3 mountain coasters (Splash / Space / Big Thunder), Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Jungle Cruise. Jungle Cruise is longer here than at Disnelyand; in contrast, Pirates here is SHORTER. Both Peter Pan's Flight and Seven Dwarves Mine Train will probably have long lines. Peter Pan isn't really worth the wait other than for nostalgia, in all honesty. Mine Train was fine -- I'm glad I went on it -- but we only did it cuz our wait (non-FP) was under an hour. We missed the fireworks as a result.
EPCOT -- they're changing so much right now that it's hard to keep track. The Frozen ride is nice but not the most exciting. I would recommend Test Track and Soarin' for sure (def. over Frozen), but these three are all Tier 1, so you can only choose one of them for the FastPass. Spaceship Earth and Livin' with the Land were both great "edutainment" rides but not exactly exciting (I did like both a lot, though), along with the Three Caballeros ride in the Mexico pavillion. We didn't do any of the movies so I can't say how they were.
HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS -- this was our least favourite of the four because Star Wars wasn't open quite yet, and most of the "rides" here are actually just shows. That said, Tower of Terror was the best, and the Rockin' Rollercoaster was awesome as well. WARNING: Toy Story Land has pretty much no shade. It's NOT worth standing in line for Slinky Dog Dash for over an hour in the hot Orlando sun; it almost ruined our vacation day before I told everyone to wait for evening. (It was AWESOME in the evening, and the wait was under an hour.) I loved the ride, and the Blasters as well (but that's also in Disneyland). They just redid the Tier system, though, so keep that in mind (I think Tower of Terror is now Tier 1). I think with Star Wars, we would appreciate this land more, because it seemed somewhat small without it. Oh, and I liked the Muppet show as a Muppets fan, but this section of the park is overall somewhat disappointing. The Muppet history show in Magic Kingdom was great, but they JUST closed it.
ANIMAL KINGDOM -- I honestly think this was our favourite, as it's themed so well. Do both Avatar rides (Flight of Passage is amazing; Na'vi River Journey is great but it's a calm water ride like many others). Do the Safari. Do Dinosaur. Do Expedition Everest. (The River Rapids were closed when we went, sadly.) Definitely do Festival of the Lion King if any of you are into Lion King, wonderful musicals, or both.
6. FOOD: www.disneyfoodblog.com is a NECESSITY, along with their YouTube videos. This is how I was able to plan out the food. One tip, though: it's best to not buy each person the same thing. Since we just wanted a taste of something -- therefore trying out more food -- it was best to share, like, one item between 2-3 people. Otherwise, it's a sugar/caloric overload.
MK -- get whatever versions of Dole Whip they have available. I did regular (pineapple), orange, raspberry, and I think lemon? Also, we did Be Our Guest for lunch, which awesome, as my BFF and I LOVE B&TB. Breakfast isn't worth it, and Dinner is EXPENSIVE. Lunch is the best.
EPCOT -- This is basically like Heritage Festival with the different countries' foods, so keep that in mind. If you go during a festival (like arts, wine, etc.) check out the different special booths they have. Again, DFB is an amazing resource in this regard.
AK -- the Avatar food was pretty good, especially this blueberry cheesecake thing. Also, there's one main restaurant in the middle (Flame Tree BBQ) that had awesome food.
HS -- Honestly, I forget what we had for meals. Toy Story has a quick-service area that had this Powerade-based drink that was nice. The Incredibles area had an awesome cookie and Key Lime Pie bar. (Star Wars has good food, apparently, but not everything is delicious.)
Beyond that, you may wish to bring snacks to cut down on costs, and your own water bottle too. They JUST raised prices for food this month, AGAIN.
7. We did 5 days, one for each park, with an extra MK day. We were able to make it work because, well, efficiency. We didn't miss any major rides or food; I honestly have no regrets with how we did things. We had boys of 6, 8, and 10 years of age. With younger kids, this is grueling and not recommended.
8. Don't forget the Canadian resident discount going on right now.
Sorry for the word vomit; let me know if you have any questions!
DISNEYFOODBLOG.COM
the disney food blog | food IS a theme park

Oh, and if you're doing Universal at all, I have separate tips for that (haha). Basically, the food is mediocre except in Harry Potter World.

Download touring plans. They’re awesome at telling you expected crowd levels and you can plan out your day (it predicts ride line times and will give you an optimized plan for the day). If you don’t want to plan your days, it’s still good to know which park is less crowded on which days. You’ll want to get your fast pass plus passes as soon as possible (can do it on the app or the computer. Register yourself and link all of your tickets for your entire party). You can book up to three fast passes a day at one park. You can start booking fast passes 60 days in advance if staying at the park and 30 days in advance if not. It might be hard to book some now for mid November. You’ll also want to book any dining reservations ASAP (some restaurants fill up 90 days in advance). If you have little ones or enjoy characters, I highly recommend a character breakfast. This is the best and quickest way to meet some characters (character lines can get pretty long). If staying at a resort, you’ll also get a magic band. This is a bracelet that has a smart chip in it that you can use to scan for your fast passes at the entry of rides, get into your room, and even pay for things (with a credit card and chip PIN number set up). They’re pretty awesome. You can get the plain colour ones for free if staying at the resort, so make sure to go on the app and choose yours (you’ll have to sync your reservation). If not staying at the resort, you can still buy them for $15 USD each. Once there, you’ll want to go for park opening as there’s way less lines for the first hour or so and you can get on way more rides. If staying on Disney property, take advantage of extra magic hours. Also, have your phone with you so you can check ride line times on the app. Disney has free wifi in the parks (though I found it was a bit slow). There’s also photographers everywhere. If you get pictures taken, you can buy them on the app. If you think you’ll buy several of them, it can get expensive and it may be cheaper to get the memory maker package (all pictures for free and high quality). Also, make sure to bring good walking shoes. I switched between sandals and runners. Oh yeah - and have fun!

can we buy the magic band online and is it worth it? We are not staying at Disney resort. But only staying for 2 days so hoping to do everything in 2 days haha

I didn’t bring a bag into the parks (except the water park). But we also do not have children, so was easier that way not to. We each brought our cell phones (I bought a case that also charges your phone) and my husband had our id’s. We also had a water bottle holder (not a bag, just had straps that could hold a water bottle, but couldn’t fit anything else, though I did tie a sweater to it one day). We put sunscreen on at the beginning of the day before we left (but found we didn’t need much since it’s so shaded and never burnt). At counter service restaurants you can also ask for free ice water.

Check out these sites: www.undercouvertourist.com and www.mousesavers.com

Kennedy space center for a day trip is well worth it. Take a bus out from Orlando that includes the launch pad tour.

Ramie Browatzke should we buy our tickets!!!?

I would then you can book your fast passes. They fill up and won't get any or good times.

We just went last winter. If you happen to have a little person with you, like too little for riding some of the rides, take advantage of the parent switch pass so you and your spouse can both enjoy rides. Your older kids can also re-ride with the parent switch. It’s awesome!
The biggest thing we learnt was not to wait in lines. If you can’t get a fast pass for a popular ride, it will NOT be worth it to wait 2+ hours in line. Just skip that ride and know that you didn’t waste your precious Park time waiting for a 2 or 3 minute ride. We learnt after a 2 hour and 40 minute wait for the dwarves ride (which we happened to rush the park opening for, AND the line up said 60 minutes when we got in line) It was a fun ride, but my kids were bawling after waiting in line over 2 hours at the first ride of the whole trip. After that, if we didn’t get a fast pass, we skipped the ride and had a great time!

Think through your food plan. We found it useful to reserve one lunch at a sit down restaurant in magic kingdom and one dinner at Disney studios (at a diner where the waiters make fun of you, it’s a hoot). It meant we didn’t have to wait in line for food and we knew we’d be getting at least one solid meal. The food in the restaurants isn’t cheap but seems better than the quick-serve places. It did mean we had to plan ahead to be at a certain place / time, but that worked for us.
You can make the reservations through the app. Definitely get the app, it’s so handy! But don’t underestimate the psychological effect of the magic band—spending money is SO easy, it really does seem like magic.
I haven’t eaten there but I heard the African place at the animal kingdom hotel is good.

Is it worth spending extra money to go to restaurants in the park? Our plan was to have a big breakfast, pack some snacks and maybe a sandwich and gran snacks as we go and have a big supper.

Eat at the brown durby it was amazing! And you must take in the Fantasmic show, it was incredible

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We packed sandwiches and frozen foil tetra juice packs which made great afternoon slushies. We had one backpack with plastic rain ponchos and a big bag for over backpack. Kids had hip pouches from MEC for sunglasses and maps also to attach hat to when not wearing on some rides

Get there early and head to the far side and work backwards...we found this less busy.

Don’t be afraid to go as a single rider. Rather than waiting to go together as a group, you can get more rides in going in the single line. The Cars ride is a great example.

Master the art of the ‘fast pass’.

We bought After hours passes for MK and AK. They were expensive but SO worth it! We almost had the parks to ourselves, no crowds, next to no lines, really amazing. Rode flight of passage - best ride ever - 4x in a row with no line & it's normally a 2-3 hour line. Ran all over MK doing rides, didn't even have to get off It's a small world just went round again and again. As I said the passes are expensive but you get to do SO much more than with a regular pass. Have a fabulous trip!

Do research as to what rides you are really important so you can fast pass them and get to them at “low ride” times. If you want a sit down dinner at the park then make reservations in advance otherwise you will wait. Download the Disney app. It will give you access to tickets, reservations and maps.

it's a money sucking pit

A small money-saving tip (that I didn't really take advantage of cuz I had gifted US cash lol) -- you can buy gift cards at any Disney store and use them in the parks. What Disney will do is convert the Canadian into US but they won't charge a processing fee like credit cards do. This can also be a way to budget, if you need or want to do it this way.

Stephen Disney stores in Canada you’re saying to buy them at? So is it one to one exchange for money kinda thing? Do they take them only at gift shops or food as well?

It's not a 1-to-1 thing. They still convert the balance to US dollars; however, you save a bit of money vs. using a credit card cuz you won't be charged that conversion fee that credit cards do. So it's not a LOT of savings, but if you're constantly putting things on your credit card, it can add up (even for tickets). But then, if you get points/rewards on your credit card, you lose out on that.
And yes, the cards can be purchased at any Disney retail store (like West Ed).
To quote their site: "When visiting Walt Disney World Resort, you'll find that Disney Gift Cards are accepted at all Disney owned and operated locations where credit cards are accepted, including all Quick Service and Table Service restaurants. You'll be able to use your gift cards at all four theme parks, Disney Springs, Disney World Water Parks, and resort hotels. Disney Gift Cards can be used to purchase admission tickets, annual passes, resort hotel rooms, spa services, merchandise, dining and recreation. You can even use a Disney Gift Card to pay for theme park parking!"
So like I said, it's a small tip, but it's something to consider, depending on how much you're spending.

A few people have referred to touring plans / ride plans - the best site is www.touringplans.com. You can specify what pace you want to go at and what rides are your priority, and it’ll use crazy on-point algorithms to tell you *exactly* what rides to go on when. You can specify what FastPasses you have and for what time, and they’ll work those into the plan, too. TOTALLY worth the few dollars it costs, and you won’t spend a moment more in line than you need to.
There are some good WDW podcasts, like Disney A To Z, that have episodes on first-time visits, what to/not to pack, etc. If you’re a podcast person, they’re fun to listen to!
The photographers stationed around the park for PhotoPass (a paid service) will also happily take pics of you with your own camera or phone.
Bring a portable phone charger. They’re available to buy in the parks, but are crazily marked up. You’ll burn through batteries taking photos and using the MDE app.
If rain is in the forecast, pack dollar-store rain ponchos. They’re like $15 USD in the parks.
One of the best-value snacks is popcorn. You can buy a bucket for about $12, which sounds crazy, but you can refill it all over the park and there are a million flavours.
As for seeing four parks in two days - well, you COULD do it if it were a serious #lifegoal or if you’re trying to win a bet or something
Otherwise... I don’t know if I’d bother. The parks are beautifully themed, and some of the most pleasurable part of a visit is being able to enjoy the surroundings and attention to detail. You’ll lose a lot of time travelling from park to park (going from the far end of Magic Kingdom to the monorail to Epcot and through Epcot security, for example, is at *least* an hour).
Unless you’re a huge Star Wars fan, Hollywood Studios is probably the most-missable park. As someone mentioned before - the rides are the least epic. Also, there’s almost no shade
Magic Kingdom = Classic Disney. Epcot = fancy Heritage Days and the most “grown-up” park (look up “drinking around the world at Epcot” to see what I mean
). Animal Kingdom = awesome Avatar land plus incredible theming.
Don’t stress about doing everything; you could be there for a month and still not see it all! Decide what’s most important - relaxing wanders; taking rides; sitting down for meals?... and let the rest go.
TOURINGPLANS.COM
Touring Plans | Disney World | Disneyland | Universal Orlando - Vacation Planning Tools

This is just a general tip for any USA or international travel...but, if you qualify, you should think about applying for a rogers world elite mastercard. It has no annual fee, and it has an effective 1.5% cash-back on all purchases made in a non-CAD currency (like most credit cards it has a 2.5% currency conversion fee, but offers a 4% cash-back on those conversions....so effectively is 1.5% back). Also gives you 1.75% cash back on all Canada purchases. It's my main credit card for those reasons. It's not a huge amount, but every dollar back helps right?

Stay at a Disney property...extra hours, easy access, super transportation to and from the parks...so great! Just stay at the lowest level budget resorts...really not worth the $ to stay at a better property. We went a few years ago, and back then the Disney dining plan was AWESOME!