The first time you visit Disney World you are extremely excited and want to see and do it all! Pump the breaks!!! No matter if this is the one and only visit you will take or if it’s the first of many, the last thing you want to do is try and do it all. You will make the trip unpleasant for everyone.
I took my mother once when we first started visiting and I tried to make sure we did just this, everything and by day 2 my husband had to say “slow down, you aren’t letting anyone enjoy this!”
Start your planning by knowing what theme and vibe each park has. Magic Kingdom is just that magical and all things Disney. Animal Kingdom is exotic, fun, and zoological. Hollywood is fun, exciting, and I feel always fast paced in my opinion. It is Toy Story vs Star Wars, for sure! Epcot is more adult with limited draw for younger kids, but every Frozen fan will want a visit! Look and see what rides your party will be most interested in in each park. List them out. If your children are toddlers you may want to start with just Magic Kingdom and Hollywood studios, depending on if you have any little Jedi’s. If not, then Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, depending on the amount of time you plan on spending at Disney World in Orlando.
Teens are going to be able to enjoy all parks for various reason, but mine do enjoy the rollercoasters more these days. Each park has this draw now with the addition of Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind in Epcot.
If you have plans to do all 4 parks, know what rides you want to do and prioritize them when you are able to make Lightning Lane selections. Having a plan and knowing what you want to do will make for less chaos and disappointment and more enjoyment during your trip.
My Disney Experience App
The first thing to do once you book a Disney World vacation is download the My Disney Experience App. This is your navigation tool to all things Disney world. Located here are all the maps, wait times for rides, Genie Board where you make your Lightning Lanes choices, order quick service dining (think fast food), make sit down dining reservations, check park hours, receive photos from rides if wearing your magic band, enter virtual queues, check-in to your Disney World resort, etc.
You want at least 2 people in your party to have access to the My Disney Experience App at all times. Also keep a portable charger with you to make sure that you can keep your phone charged at all times while you are in the parks. If you forget a charger many of the shops in the parks have Fuel Rods for purchase and exchange throughout your stay.
Lightning Lane
I will still refer to this as “fast passes” by mistake if you speak to me directly, so forgive me. This is Disney’s latest way to make your visit less hectic if you’re willing to pay you can avoid standing in line for every attraction you ride. This is now called Lightning Lane, found on the app and can be navigated through the Genie Board.
There are a few types of Lightning Lane passes for purchase. This can be confusing. First there is the conventional Lightning Lane Multi Pass. Multi Pass you purchase per day, per person for a price. This price will vary depending on the amount of traffic following through the park that particular day. I’ve seen prices range from $16 to $39 per person per day. Here is where you get 3 passes to begin with and then cycle through them until there are no longer options available in the park(s). Multi Pass does follow you to other parks if you have a park hopper ticket (another add-on to the base ticket that allows you to visit multiple parks in one day.)
Single Lane Lightning Lane purchases. These are an additional cost on top of the multi pass, and they are for newer, more popular rides in each park, for example Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Tron (Magic Kingdom), Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind (Epcot), Avatar Fight of Passage (Animal Kingdom), and Rise of the Resistance (Hollywood). These are again a price per person per ride. If you plan on purchasing, choose these if you can when you make your first 3 Lightning Lane choices. You can add them later, but they fit in better to your daily plan when bought as early as possible.
Then there is the BIG DADDY Lightning Lane Premier Pass. It is available to purchase for a price that varies each day and by park. Animal kingdom is normally the least expensive as low as $119 on low traffic days and Magic Kingdom can be in the mid $400s per person per day. It is one time entry to the rides that have Lightning Lane experience with no set time. If you know you are only going to Disney once and you want to go big, then by all means do it. I don’t know if I would do it for every park, but maybe for the one park you personally feel will make it worth the bang for the big bucks!
If you are staying at a Disney World Resort property you can make these Lightning Lane selections 7 days prior to your first park reservation or visit. If you are staying off property it is 3 days prior to you first visit. I urge you to do this the first day that you can. You will get more choices. This opens at 7am EST on the first day of eligibility. SET THE REMINDER!
Important! You will be able to pick 3 Lightning Lanes passes per person in your party. One tier 1 pass and two tier 2 passes. Depending on when you decide to get into the park, pick the earliest time you are comfortable with. Take into account time for breakfast and transportation to the park. Pick the earliest Lightning Lane you can, usually that will be a tier 2 pick, UNLESS you can get 3 in sequence that are your top 3 picks. Thats rare, so if you can’t get your top 3 picks, pick something from tier 2 that is early, but that is at a time you can definitely make into the park. Then once you use your first Lightning Lane and everyone has scanned through in line, go to the Genie Board and make your next Lightning Lane selection. Keep this going throughout the day to get the maximum use out of your Lightning Lane purchase. Sometimes you are lucky enough when doing this to get another tier 1 Lightning Lane.
Park entry/timing
We normally are in the parks by 1030am, we are not “rope droppers”, we close down the parks and have a nap or pool break some days. We have gone a little over 30 times in the past 12 years. We know what and how we want to do it.
For toddlers and young kids, I suggest breaking up the day, so the kiddos aren’t cranky. Of course, toddlers wake up earlier than teens. So, when the kids were younger, we were in the park by 830am rode our fun rides, ate lunch, and went back to the hotel for a nap between 130p-2pm. Then returned to the parks around 4pm and continued our fun, ate dinner, then back to the resorts for maybe a movie or fun activity around 8pm.
I never suggest pushing it too close to park closing with small children, unless you are hitching a ride in a Minnie Van, otherwise you may be waiting in long transportation lines with unhappy kids and cramming into a bus or monorail with 100 of your closest Disney friends. Of course, you have to do this for fireworks unless you are staying at the Contemporary, Grand Floridian or Polynesian. If you are at one of these resorts, you can enjoy the fireworks at Magic Kingdom from your resort. We most frequently stay at the Contemporary and we walk “home” when we close down Magic Kingdom and its so convenient!
When we arrive at 1030am that means we had a fast pass that started around 945am. We go straight to that ride and everyone scans in with their Magic Band. God willing the app has service and I refresh my app and pick another Lightning Lane, and that will normally get me a tier one pick if it isn’t peak tourist season. In the Fall and Summer that works. At Christmas and Presidents Day Weekend that doesn’t happen. I still get many uses of top tier picks. I can’t deny the earlier you get into the park, and choose the earliest Lightning Lanes, the more use you will get out of it, maximizing the amount of Lighting Lane passes you will get in the day!
I also take advantage of single pass for Seven Dwarf’s, Tron, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avatar Flight of Passage. I do not Buy Rise of Resistance. The ride goes down too frequently. Disney will give you a pass to ride later once the attraction is up and running or a refund, but for me we ridden it several times and just stand in line near closing if we want to ride on that visit. Again, if you are visiting once and done, buy the pass. It is a fantastic ride!
In between my Lightning Lane passes I look at the Genie Board to see what the wait times are for rides close to my next pass. I then choose a ride near my next pass and wait in line to ride that until my next Lightning Lane pass is ready.
Meals
As I mentioned in a former post about eating in Magic Kingdom, we do both quick service meals and some sit-down dining options in all the parks. My tip on maximizing your day and time in the park is to stick to quick service the first few times you visit, except maybe a very desired character meal like Cinderella’s Royal table or a similar experience. We didn’t incorporate sit down dining meals until our 3rd visit and learned a cadence to the day.
If you incorporate a sit-down meal remember to choose your Lightning Lanes around the meal. Give at least 2 hours for your meal. Those 2 hours may include walking across the park, pictures and the actual meal. Also remember you can book your sit-down dining meals 60 days from your arrival date.
For first time visitors I suggest sticking to quick service meals. Always use your “My Disney Experience” app to order your meals at a quick service restaurant of your choice. You can hit the “I’m here, prepare my order” button when you are within a certain radius of the quick service restaurant. This saves you time from standing in line waiting to order.
You made it to the end…
Over the years I’ve combined a little research with knowing what we like, using Lightning Lane, and timing our meals to help maximize our experience, while getting our money’s worth out of the tickets and Lightning Lane.
I learned we don’t enjoy being “Rope droppers”, we are more ” Park Closers.” At the end of the day near closing time the lines are shorter for most rides, especially the ones for older and larger kids. The little prince and princesses have already headed home, and we can hop in line for those popular rides right before park closing. We have our favorite sit-down restaurants and work them in but also know where to grab a quick bite.
Bringing the most joy to your visit is understanding how to make it work for you. Are you a morning person or a night owl? Do you want to have long meals and experience all the character dinners, or just nourish yourself for the long days of 15k steps at a quick service? Next ask if the additional cost of Lightning Lane is in your budget. If it is, definitely purchase. It makes all the difference skipping lines versus standing an hour or more for every popular ride you want to experience.
Hope these tips help you plan your next or first Disney Vacation! If so, find and follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/wheatless_wanderers
