Best Disney World Tips
Sometimes you just need to go back to basics. With that in mind, here are some of the most popular tips that you’ll need to know before heading to Disney:
Disney transportation typically starts around 90 minutes before early entry, which is 2 hours before official park opening. Disney will say it’s only one hour, but it usually starts before that. Don’t fall behind before the day even starts.
Additional Genie+ selections pop back up after the initial drop at 7am. The “cart” that guests hold their Genie+ selections in time out after about 10 minutes. Those times that were being held are then re-released into the app for other guests to select. If you don’t get one of the high demand attractions right at 7am like Slinky Dog, Rise of the Resistance, Remy, or Kilimanjaro Safaris, keep refreshing between 7:10am and 7:20am. You could still find availability.
If you’re skipping Genie+ or Individual Lightning Lanes, rope drop or end of the night are the perfect times to hit the most in demand attractions. Rope drop and Early Entry for on-site guests allows you to beat out the crowds to the biggest attractions like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Flight of Passage, Remy, and Rise of the Resistance. Likewise, many guests leave the park before park close or head to the nighttime shows. Hitting the attractions with the daytime longest lines right before park closing will give you a much shorter wait.
Additionally, Disney tends to inflate its posted wait times right before park closing to deter guests from getting in line. You can get in line for most attractions up until the minute before closing.
If you want to use Genie+, but it stresses you out, try the Standby Skipper app. This is an additional cost, but you can purchase it to cover your entire trip, and it will make your Genie+ selections for you. You’ll then get push notifications of what your selections are. It gets you off your phone, and lets you be more present in the park. I’ve been very happy with Standby Skipper and have used it during all of our 2023 trips last year. It does the refreshing for you to snag that Slinky Dog time that popped up later in the morning.
Mobile order quick service food first thing in the morning. Consider what you’re doing that day and where you’ll be. Put in your mobile order while on the bus, Skyliner, boat, or Monorail to the parks for lunch or dinner. You aren’t charged until you are in your return window and hit “Prepare My Order”. You can always cancel or modify later if your day changes, but this gives you the most amount of choice when it comes to ordering. Don’t wait until your whole family is hangry to start looking for mobile order availability.
If you want the best pictures of the parks without the crowds in the background, stay until after park closing. The rides won’t be running, but the parks usually stay open for an hour after closing for guests to make their way out of the parks or do some shopping. (Yes, the shops usually close an hour later too!) This is when you can get that coveted shot of the castle without all the people around it or the Millennium Falcon all to yourself.
Reservations for dining officially open up at 6am ET 60 days in advance. For those staying on-site, your whole trip becomes available 60 days prior to your check-in date (up to a 10-day trip). This is important because those staying off-site can only book 60 days in advance. You have a huge leg up. Book those really elusive dining reservations for the back half of your trip because less people have access to searching that far out. These include Topolino’s Terrace, Space 220, Cinderella’s Royal Table, and Be Our Guest to name a few. Start searching before 6am though. Many times, these reservations appear earlier in the morning. I always start searching around 5:30am. It’s not always the case, but I do see reservations released earlier than 6am. Also, don’t panic if you don’t get them on the first day. Due to cancelations or even late releases, you can still find reservations later. When you book with me, I will continue looking until the start of your trip, but you can use services like Mouse Dining or Mouse Watchers to get alerts about reservations.
If you have kids and don’t normally use a stroller, you may want to consider one. Disney World requires a lot of walking that wears out those little legs. Strollers not only allow for those little legs to get a break, but also provide a place for them to take naps and a location to store extra bags, snacks, water bottles, etc. You can rent a stroller from Disney directly, but then you can’t bring that stroller out of the parks. I recommend booking from a service that gives you access to the stroller for your entire trip - Kingdom Strollers or ScooterBug.
Choose your resort and room based on your REAL PRIORITIES. Many guests will choose the least expensive room possible, but then realize once they are on the trip that they really would have preferred a room that was closer to transportation so that they didn’t have such a long walk at the end of a long park day. Others, find that they would have preferred a resort that had more than just a bus option to get to the parks. Still others (especially those with multiple children) found that they would have preferred more space for their family. Really think about what your REAL PRIORITIES are. If you or someone in your group would really do better with a conveniently located room, look at Preferred Rooms. If you really want to rope drop daily, staying at a resort closer to the parks where you can walk or take the Skyliner, boat, or Monorail to will make a difference in your “commuting” time.
Now you know everything you need, right? …yeah right!
These are just a few of the many tips that I use on my own trips as well as what I recommend to my clients when planning their trips. Your trip is and should be unique to your own group’s wants and needs. Always feel free to reach out and ask questions. I’m here to help you make your family’s Disney dreams come true!
(Stay tuned for my best tips for Disneyland!)
And don’t forget, you can book your 2024 Disney World trip now! It only takes $200 to deposit on your room and ticket package. Request your quote today.
