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10 Do’s and Don’ts Planning a Disney Vacation

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My wife and I had always planned on taking our first Walt Disney World trip this year so when the New Year ball dropped and 2019 began, we decided to finally schedule our first trip to Walt Disney World. My wife had never been, and the last time I visited was during Walt Disney World was 2011, so we knew we’d need some help with planning. A friend of mine had just taken her first family trip to Walt Disney World, and recommended Visit Orlando.

Each month brought more Disney trip planning and brought us closer to the big day. I checked our countdown clock on a regular basis as I made lists, searched for discount codes, and waited for the appropriate dates to make priority seating’s. I dreamed of how we would surprise our kids with the big news!

When all was said and done, we had a fantastic trip! My kids were totally surprised, we loved our hotel choice, had wonderful weather and the parks did not feel crowded. I now think that I am VERY ready to plan our next trip based on the advice I’m glad I took, and the advice I wish I had taken. I’ve included examples of both to help my fellow planners:

10 Tips and Vacation Advice!

1. Book your room early

I found that our hotel of choice (Disney’s Art of Animation) was very popular and room availability was scarce.

2. Check for discounts

I checked MouseSavers.com, as well as the Walt Disney World Resorts posting boards on WDWinfo.com, on a daily basis. I was able to book a woods view room at the Wilderness Lodge for a great discount because of tips I received from these websites.

3. Use a scooter rental service

We had a scooter rental delivered to my Disney resort a couple hours after I arrived. The driver texted me to confirm the delivery time, then brought it directly to the hotel. We didn’t have to wait a long time and the mobility scooter rental was in excellent condition. Kudos to Scootarama

4. Buy the unlimited refill mugs at Disney We bought our travel mug the second day we were there, and I don’t know why we waited until then! We regularly enjoyed soda, coffee, iced tea, and hot chocolate.

5. Schedule when you will visit each park ahead of time

There’s really something to be said for planning ahead. I reviewed early entry days, projected daily attendance rates, scheduled events, such as Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at the Magic Kingdom, park hours, our priority seating’s (especially Cinderella’s breakfast since it was difficult to obtain) as I made our schedule for the week.

6. Plan some down time

Because this was our first trip, I wanted to plan as much as I could, but we were buying five-day Pass Hopper tickets and we were staying for eight nights. We had tickets for some of the night time extras, such as Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, so we used those days to relax by the pool. I also scheduled character breakfasts on our “down days.”

7. Tell Disney staff about any birthday and/or anniversaries

This trip was full of celebrations. Both my daughter’s and my wife’s birthdays (which happen to fall on the same day) were while we were at Disney World. My wife and I were also celebrating our tenth wedding anniversary (which had occurred the week before we left). When I made our priority seating’s, I told them about the birthdays, and we were pleasantly surprised. My daughter has a keepsake place mat, and enjoyed a cupcake for breakfast. Cast members constantly wished my daughter and wife a happy birthday, and one cast member in England even called Mickey Mouse to have him personally wish them a happy birthday. My wife and I also shared a delicious dessert to celebrate our anniversary that was delivered by Cinderella herself.

8. Do not plan more than two or three character meals

I wanted my girls to experience as much as possible, so I scheduled a character meal for almost every day. By about the second day, we realized it was too much. It’s fun to see the Disney characters and get autographs, but it definitely takes time away from the parks. Next time, I’ll schedule two character meals.

9. Stay on track with planned schedule

Our first few rides based on our guide books. We followed the plans for two or three rides, but then would somehow get sidetracked. Had we followed the plans for the majority of the day, we would have experienced more rides and attractions.

10. Take the “classic” family photos.

Everyone said, “Take lots of pictures,” and we did, but we didn’t take many of the “classics.” I’m talking about pictures often seen in Walt Disney World advertising – smiling families in front of Cinderella’s castle, Mickey’s Sorcerer’s Hat, and Spaceship Earth. We were often in such a rush to go to our first ride when we entered each park that we didn’t want to take any pictures then. We figured we would take “the picture” later. Later, we would be tired and have cranky girls who didn’t want their picture taken. We took several pictures of the various parades and of all the animals we saw in Animal Kingdom, but we neglected to take many pictures of ourselves. For many families, including ours, this type of a trip may only happen a few times in a lifetime — don’t miss out on taking the pictures!

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