Today’s guest writer is a Disney expert! She has been to Disney World countless times with AND without kids! This lady knows her stuff when it comes to everything Disney! The best rides, times, food, etc! This was so helpful for me since we are going to Disney this month! The last time I was at Disney I was around 8 years old! So it’s been a minute! Let’s dive into all the goodies!!

Stacie Perry

I have been traveling to see the MOUSE since I was a 3-year-old little girl in 1984. EPCOT had just opened and I literally squeaked on to ride Space Mountain because I had on mouse ears and they didn’t make me take them off to measure my height.  I’ve seen upgrades, teardowns, re-imaginings, and additions. I’ve done special events, been every month of the year, gone to the Disney water parks, and my family became Disney Vacation Club members and Season Pass holders in 2012.  I. KNOW. DISNEY.

Always Have A Plan For Disney

I know what you’re thinking. “Stacie, you’ve been so many times. You can just wing it and have fun.”  Your mind starts playing the commercials. You know, the ones with the perfect family in their perfect matching shirts with cute Disney puns strolling down an uncrowded Magic Kingdom park.  They walk onto the rides, they eat the dreamiest foods, and they end their day with an unobstructed view of Cinderella’s Castle watching the perfectly timed fireworks. 

Let me tell you.  This can (almost) be your trip, but my friend it also requires SO MUCH PLANNING!  If you intend on going without planning and just “wing it” you will end up sitting on a curb of Main Street USA crying. I know. I’ve tried it. I sat on the curb of Main Street crying. So, if you do anything when going to Disney, please do me, your family, and yourself a favor, plan!

When I know our family has an upcoming trip to Disney World, we plan these 3 things in advance:

1. Where will we stay?
2. How will we get there?
3. What parks/places are we intending on visiting?

Where are we staying?

Being a DVC (Disney Vacation Club) member usually answers the question on “Where will we stay” a pretty easy one.  I highly recommend staying on Disney property.  You can go to Disney’s website and they quickly navigate you to 5 different resort types.

Deluxe Villas

Deluxe Resorts

Moderate Resorts

Value Resorts

Campgrounds

Villas are where our family stays and let me yell this: IF WE WERE NOT DVC MEMBERS, WE COULD NOT EVER IN A MILLION YEARS AFFORD TO STAY IN THE DELUXE ACCOMMODATIONS!

My point; Find a friend or a person who knows a person who is a DVC member who is looking to share their points with you and you will end up paying an average of $15-$25/point for 148 points. You can sleep in a villa with a washer and dryer, a full kitchen, nice bedding, rainfall showers, and a giant soaker tub, and giraffes eating outside your balcony. For about the same price you can stay in a value resort that is nothing short of being a Disney version of Red Roof Inn (I’m not joking).

Furthermore

If you can’t find a friend of a friend with a DVC connection, I would stay in a moderate resort.  More often than not, Disney will offer ticket/room plans so always check their website for any deals.

Staying on property means you get to utilize Disney transportation which is a free service to you.  It also means you get the Disney theming and treatment.  It really is world-class.

How will we get there?

Out of all of our trips, 9/10 times we choose to drive the 8.5 hours (perks of living in the south) to Disney. 

Here’s why:

• We bring our dark college style mesh laundry basket for our dirty darks and our white mesh bag for our whites along with laundry detergent.
• Also, we bring dish soap.
• We bring $1.50 Target loofas to throw away our last day of the trip. We bring our outfits for each day hanging on hangers, so we know what we are wearing at each park. (Remember Disney has professional photographers at every park ready to snap memories for you and if you hand them your camera or phone, they will take the pictures on those so you want to look cute). 
• We bring a fun Bath and Body soap to put in our bathroom so that when we go home and wash our hands, we are reminded of our magical time in Disney.
• And we bring our Disney popcorn buckets from 5 years ago because their corporate partner decided that it was pointless to keep charging folks to buy refillable buckets so you can refill your popcorn at any park with any bucket for $2.00

Plus

• We bring ponchos from the Dollar tree because they are way cheaper than $10-$15 a pop
• Food. We bring breakfast items, sandwich items, lunch packs, fruit, drinks, crackers. Plus, we bring Mickey or Toy Story Goldfish.  We bring refillable water bottles to refill at any quick-service sit-down dining at the parks for free.   
• Also, we bring over the door hooks to have extra space to hang towels
• We bring a pool bag with pool essentials and towels.  These come in useful at the pool and you can use the towels to save spaces at fireworks and parades.
• We bring light up toys and bubbles.  Definitely, don’t enjoy spending $30 for bubble wands.
• We bring a backpack to carry the towels, food, water bottles, sunscreen, medicine, Band-Aids, hand sanitizer, Chapstick, baby wipes.

AND

We bring Tinkerbell’s Rules and little surprises she leaves each morning if her rules have been followed.

If we checked all of these items in at the airport, we would be homeless because of fees from the added weight of our luggage.

When we have flown, we have taken advantage of Disney’s Magical Express.  When you stay on property, you can be picked up by a really cute and air-conditioned Disney bus that loads your luggage for you and everything.  Check this link here for more info.

What parks/places are we intending on visiting?

There are some really cool and fun parks at Walt Disney World. You could literally go to Disney Springs shopping district and Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon Waterpark and you would have an incredibly fun trip. You need to sit down with your family and decide what everyone is up for.  Do you want to ride the thrill rides like Everest or Tower of Terror?  Maybe you want to visit the new lands like Toy Story or the highly anticipated Star Wars land- Galaxy’s Edge?  Do you want to sit by the pool and go shopping and maybe have a really nice dinner?

Look at the crowd calendars some incredible people have put out there on the web and decide if you would like to walk on to rides or possibly be turned away because the park has reached capacity. (That’s a HARD PASS FOR ME).

Talk. Think. Research. Ask. This will make your planning of WHAT you will do at each park much easier.

Once your family decides the intention of the trip, you can not only make your plans on the parks you want to visit but also decide what rides or shows you are going to do each day. Disney offers Fastpasses (FP) for its parks.  This is a system where you reserve a time to ride a specific ride. You get to start each park day with 3 at the same park.  You CANNOT make multiple parks in one day.

Here is a sample of what part of my schedule looks like:

Sample

Tuesday– Travel, check-in, pool at resort, Disney Springs for dinner. Reservation: The Edison 8pm

Wednesday – sleep in, head to Magic Kingdom . FP- Space Mtn at 11. FP- Seven Dwarfs- 1pm FP Splash 3

Pick up FP for Under the Sea Ariel 5ish.

End day with Happily Ever After fireworks.   Dinner reservation: The Plaza 7pm

Thursday- 9 am opening to Animal Kingdom – Pandora stand-by line.  FP Dino 12:30 FP Everest 2 FP Safari 6    Lunch: Yak and Yeti 11:00  after Safari- pool at resort for night swim/hot tub. Order pizza

Final Words of Advice for Disney

I have been to Disney so many times, but I will say it is VERY rare that I park-hop (or jump from park to park).  I suggest buying single-day tickets and saving the money you would spend on park-hoppers and use it toward a fun dinner or a keepsake you would cherish like a painting from Disney’s Boardwalk or a special event like Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party.

The ticket navigation is VERY simple and my family honestly found that it was so worth the value of getting the Season Pass because we knew we would go more than one time a year and that we would go to more than one park.   If you ever have questions about tickets, go to the site (linked here) and the cast members will be AMAZING at walking you through your best options.

So to recap, DO NOT GO TO DISNEY without a plan.  Think about where you are staying. Think about how you’ll get there. Also, think and plan your intention of parks/activities you want to accomplish on your trip. This will help the fun commercials you see on T.V. be more of a reality for you and your family.

Talk about a great breakdown! So many tips and tricks to make the most out of your Disney World adventure! There’s nothing worse than a vacation gone wrong! Thank you Stacie for all the Disney knowledge (& pictures) you’ve shared with us! If you would like to contact Stacie you can reach her at staciecarterperry@gmail.com with Disney in the subject line!

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