Now I'm not one of those people that have gone to Disney World over and over again my whole life. My parents took me when I was a baby (running from a hurricane that drove us from the beach), I went around the age of 6 and we went back for a one day trip when I was around 13. That last one was in July. First tip: DO NOT go to Disney World in July! Ever. Just don't do it. It's hot. It's crowded. And it's just not the best time to go. Also, I don't recommend going for just one day.
So, I didn't go back for many, many years after that one day July trip as a teenager. My sister and her family went when my niece was very young and got annual passes. She is also friends with several Disney "experts". She learned a lot about doing Disney World right very quickly.
We passed on the first round of annual passes even though they kept trying to convince us to go and telling us that we would love it and it was awesome, but I was not convinced. We finally decided to go the next time they planned a trip a few years later. It was the first time my entire family had gone anywhere together in years and we'd added my husband and niece to the fold since the last time we'd vacationed all together.
By the end of the trip I was convinced and we upgraded our tickets to annual passes along with the rest of the family. During that year we went a total of four times, and had it not been such a long drive we would have gone more.
We got to experience the Christmas season twice, the Food and Wine Festival (our favorite) and early summer time.
So during all that travel we learned a lot about how to get the most out of a Disney vacation and here are a just few of my tips.
This one is actually a tip for travel in general. Make a packing list. I keep several packing lists so that whenever we have a trip coming up I just pull the appropriate one up and modify as needed. It takes so much of the stress of packing off and also helps me to not forget anything important.
I have a beach packing list, a cold weather one, a specific one for Disney World and it's even broken into cold and warm weather for Disney and one modified for flying vs driving which we did on one of the shorter trips. I'll keep it to the basics for this post, but trust me I get really specific on these things. If I'm taking it, it's on the list.
Appropriate clothes. So the main differences in the summer and winter time WDW lists are for winter I take layers, for summer it is pretty much just going to be hot so there is no real need for layers beyond a light jacket or a long sleeve shirt for cold indoor places or a freak chilly night.
Winter can be much trickier. We've been in December when we wore shorts and short sleeves the enter time and we've been when it was 40 degrees out and we had on layers, fleece pullovers, scarves, hats and gloves at night. That was usually after wearing jeans and short sleeves during the day. There were some interesting temperature swings. So for winter, be prepared with some layers. Most importantly, no matter the season, check the weather forecast before you go and make sure you take the right kind of clothes.
My biggest tip for WDW travel is to research and plan ahead of time. This makes all.the.difference. You can search online to find blogs that have everything from food recommendations to crowd calendars to ride and attraction info. I have heard from so many people who went and just wanted to play it by ear. While that sounds like it's more relaxing than planning everything out. Trust me, it's not.
Have at least a general framework plan like what day you're visiting which park and which rides you need fast passes for, plus make any special dining or event registrations well ahead of time. Like as soon as they open them up for reservations. These book up way in advance at some places and you'll be glad you thought ahead. You can always cancel or change most of them as your trip gets closer if you change your mind, but you may not be able to find a space if you wait too late.
Magic Bands I highly recommend getting these if you're going to be there more than a few days. They make things so much quicker and easier and there is no keeping up with cards. Plus they are a fun fashion accessory and souvenir. If you don't know what they are, check them out. They are your ticket to get into the parks and your fast pass tickets are kept on there too.
Speaking of Fast Passes. These are awesome. Check out the blogs out there on WDW and you can also what rides you better have a fast pass for if you don't want to spend your whole day in line. (We plan all of our trips using the crowd calendars.) They make a huge difference in your experience. Plus once you use all your pre-booked fast passes for the day you can visit the kiosks around the park and make more depending on what's available.
Sunblock, Sunglasses and a Hat/Visor. You will be so glad that you have these no matter what time of year it is.
Swimsuit and pool shoes. Because you don't want to be running all the way from your room to the resort pool in your walking shoes, but you don't want to go barefoot either. You will most likely want a break from the theme parks and hit up the pool at some point so don't forget about swimsuits and pool gear.
A poncho or other easy to carry rain gear. No one wants it to rain, but we've been there during some pretty good rain storms and still had a great time with our ponchos and umbrellas keeping us (mostly) dry. It's a great time to check out the indoor attractions.
Phone and camera chargers (if your phone isn't also your primary camera). You will most likely be in the parks all day and using your phone a lot. It is not easy to run back to the car or hotel and get something so bring a charger of some type with you. You don't want your phone or camera to die mid way through the fun.
Snacks and drinks. This is one of the things that both surprised and delighted me about WDW. They let you bring in your own food and drink. You can save a lot of money by bringing in either a refillable water bottle or your own cooler/backpack. We used a soft sided cooler that went down inside my husband's backpack. My niece was still young enough that we had a stroller with us that the whole family used to stow items like this so that was helpful, but we've also been just the two of us and he's carried the backpack with a few waters and some light snacks. We usually just go ahead and plan to buy food there and bring only snacks, but you could totally pack a picnic lunch if you wanted to.
Hand sanitizer and wet ones or baby wipes. There are a lot of people there. Need I say more?
A change of clothes/shoes. This will be different for some people, but if you have small kiddos I'd say take them some clothes. Something easy to pack in your day bag. Also, if you are going to be hitting up the water rides, you might want a change for yourself, or at least some dry shoes. If you have some water proof shoes you might just want to wear those on the water ride days. You can always throw a cheap pair of flip flops in your bag and just use them on those rides too.
Cross body bag This for me is a must have. I don't want to carry a huge backpack or a normal purse. I can put one of these on, put my essential items in like credit card, ID, money, phone, lip balm, etc. and it can go with me on any ride and stay securely around my body at all times. I pretty much don't take it off the entire time. I sit to eat and it stays on and out of the way. I go on a ride and it stays on and secure. You don't want to get up and leave a restaurant or get off a ride and realize you left your bag behind. This has happened to a friend and it was no fun. Of course part of the reason I get to just carry this is my wonderful, strong husband carries the backpack with everything else. We do take turns with it but the majority of the time it's him carrying it.
A good comfortable backpack as mentioned above. Having a good one that is comfortable to carry is huge if you're walking around with it all day. This is where we keep drinks, snacks, jackets, extra clothes and any souvenirs we pick up along the way. We try to keep it light but some days it is a must have to make the most of the day in the park.
Zipper bags and laundry or trash bags. These come in handy for dirty clothes in the hotel, wet items from the park, the smaller zipper bags can be used for carrying small amounts of snacks inside the parks, etc. They are just always good to have on a trip.
Well, now that I've written a book and have just barely scratched the surface, I think I'll stop for the day. I have so many tips and tricks for travel I don't realize how many until I start writing them down. Most of these tips are geared for adults since that is what I pack for on our trips but they are applicable to any age.
I love to hear others tips too so let me know what you take when you travel. I need to go plan a vacation now! :)
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