50 AWESOME Secrets for Your Disney World Trip

planning a trip to disney world the first thing you're probably thinking is hooray and the second thing is where do i even start don't worry we've got all the tips you need to know so that you can have the best and least stressful because yeah disney world can be stressful experience and we're not going gonna waste any of your time or money you can conquer this disney trip we promise after all a dream of a smooth disney trip is a wish your heart makes hey everybody it's aj for disney food blog there is so much happening at disney world right now and things are constantly changing there is a lot of information to digest and it can be very overwhelming no matter how many guidebooks you buy that's why we've narrowed down the tips you will absolutely need for your disney trip and we put them all in one place we are here to make your life easier that's what we get up in the morning to do now don't worry about taking notes either we've pulled all this information into a handy printable pdf for you head to disneyfoodblog.com awesomesecrets sign up for our free newsletter and we'll send that pdf right to your inbox ready to relax and pick up a ton of new tips here we go all right let's talk about technology believe it or not that is absolutely going to be a part of your disney world vacation and not just on the rides this tip is about a brand new service in disney world and i'm going to tell you to learn about magic mobile this is disney world's new shiny thing that has just been released it basically transfers your magic band's functionality onto your phone what's a magic band well it's a little thing you wear around your wrist that can basically function as your room key your credit card the thing that taps you in for your fast passes it uses rfid technology and it basically stores everything it needs to know right around your wrist now disney world's sort of phasing in new functionality that's based right on your smartphone so with magic mobile you can open doors tap into the park and pay for things in disney world using your phone all through this new system some guests love it most guests hate it because if your phone wasn't losing battery too quickly already right but it's the wave of the future so best figure it out before you head to disney world and yeah don't worry you can still use your magic bands but they're no longer free to hotel guests so budget anywhere from five to thirty dollars each to buy them for your brood if you want them or use old ones you've probably made a wreath out of to hang on your front door they still work okay our next tip kind of builds on the first you're going to want to add charging capabilities to your magic band or magic mobile this is actually a separate step and you need to know about it if you do want to use your phone or magic band to pay for stuff in the parks and hotels on disney world property you gotta authorize it your hotel can add charging capabilities using the same credit card that you have on file you'll just need to set up a pin number to authorize the payment anytime you're purchasing anything on disney property you can pay via your magic band or your magic mobile on your phone which will use that credit card this can be handy since you don't need to bring out your wallet over and over again but we always advise bringing a backup method of payment just in case things glitch out because it does happen also keep in mind that if you don't want your kids to have charging privileges work with a cast member to ensure that you take the charging privileges off of their particular accounts now something to keep in mind if you're not staying at a disney world hotel then you can't charge on your magicband or magic mobile so you'll definitely need to bring a method of payment if that's the case okay now like i said a lot of people are not loving the new magic mobile why because it drains your phone even faster and believe me your phone drains quickly in disney world anyway because you're using the my disney experience app all the time that app stores all of your information about your trip including your fast passes your dining reservations your hotel information etc etc it also lets you know how long the weights are where to find bathrooms etc so it is a very very useful app but you are on your phone all the time in disney world so big tip here bring a phone charger and a cord there are several spots to charge your phone if your battery's low so definitely bring that cord to use in the ports and that's of course going to be a usb cord that will go from the port to your phone but bringing a mobile charger or some people call it a power bank very very useful as well so you can charge your phone while in line for an attraction or while you eat i always have a giant power bank in my bag and i also have a little lipstick charger as well just in case i need to kind of have my phone out all the time and need something real quick and easy okay next tip in our technology section use the reservation check-in on my disney experience if you make a table service or sit-down dining reservation on the my disney experience app you'll be able to use their online check-in system once you're close to the time and location of your reservation click on your reservation in the app and there will be a start check-in button available for 20 minutes prior to your reservation by using this feature you can bypass the check-in line at the podium at your restaurant and it also allows you to put yourself in line 20 minutes earlier in case you're wanting to dine as quickly as possible that's a huge tip that i don't hear anybody talking about all right another great technology tip download a good weather app use whatever you like but make sure it has minute by minute radar updates and predictive radar that way you can keep an eye on what's coming your way and make decisions about outdoor rides like test track and big thunder mountain railroad before they close for a storm nobody likes to admit they waited an hour for a ride they get shut down for a storm right before they get on the attraction but it happens nearly every day be smart check the weather before you get in line oh and don't leave outdoor rides for the afternoon especially if you're visiting in the summer our reporters in disney world all have really good weather apps on their phones and they use them regularly it's not just smart it's a pro tip and another app you want to have on your phone a ride share app download it before you go figure out how to use it disney world is super weird right now transportation is taking longer ride queues are longer and it's very easy to miss your reservation so download a ride share app and load in a valid payment card so that in an emergency you can just call a ride to your next location it will be much faster than disney transportation and usually the nominal cost of a ride share is less expensive than being charged ten dollars per person for missing your dining reservation and of course you can always take taxis there are always going to be taxis sitting outside theme park parking lots and a hotel can always call you a taxi as well all right moving on to our dining tips now heads up i'm just gonna let you guys know this is a very very long video but we still are not talking about every single tip we know of so you gotta subscribe to our channel you gotta watch the rest of our videos because so so so many tips did not make it into this video even though they're awesome tips now these are great things good information to know but you gotta check out our other videos because there's so much more on the channel all right going into our dining section first tip here is to make a sit-down lunch reservation so if you're planning on spending a whole day in the parks rope drop to fireworks make a reservation at a table service restaurant for lunch while you're seated and eating you're able to take off your mask and a lunch reservation gives you the opportunity to sit and relax for a little while have a long mask break in the middle of the day maybe have some ac and just to chill out a little bit this is also a great opportunity for your littles to have a quick nap we always do advise that people head back to their hotel in the middle of a long day so they can nap maybe swim in the pool and then head back to the park after things cool down a little bit but if you're not able to do that if you're just go go going all day long then book a table service lunch reservation sit down and relax for a little bit you're definitely going to need it all right our next tip is to use the walk up wait list now this is another thing that's brand new if you aren't able to make a dining reservation check the my disney experience app when you get into the park and see if they have any last minute availability i love that disney has added this to the app several restaurants on the app will have a join wait list option additionally you can search in the app for all the available dining seatings in that park once you arrive just click check available dining once you have entered the park if you have issues guest relations can also look to see if any restaurants have an opening but it's a great tip if you're on a last minute trip or you didn't make a dining reservation for that day and you'd like a sit-down meal there are lots of ways to figure out that information okay now this next one is a really really big tip and a very important one for basically anybody visiting a theme park right now in disney world be smart about the state of mobile order this mobile fast food ordering feature is basically a requirement right now since disney's implementing social distancing and there isn't room for a bunch of lines at the ordering kiosks back when a select few knew about mobile order it could actually save you time but now that everyone's basically required to use it there are some drawbacks first you need to choose a time window to pick up your order these are limited to a certain number of orders so if everyone wants to dine at the same time that time sells out quickly as a result mobile order isn't just order when you're hungry and go pick it up anymore now you'll need to select your time window and make your order as early as possible if you want to eat at noon better make that order at 9 00 a.m in order to secure the noon time window also if you're dining at a busier time the glut of guests picking up their mobile orders pretty much rivals what the ordering kiosks used to look like so if you want to socially distance or just get your food a little more quickly after all mobile orders are taking up to 30 minutes to prepare when you're dining at a busy time right now eat in an off time that's not as popular with other guests have a super late lunch have an early dinner that's definitely going to make things go faster and it's going to make things smoother now it also might behoove you to practice mobile ordering maybe at a counter service location in your hotel or at a fast food spot when you're not in a rush so that you understand the system that way things won't be brand new when you're in the middle of a crowded magic kingdom with a family who's extremely hangry hot tired and thirsty alright next tip is to splurge on a character meal now of course this isn't the right tip for everyone but i'm gonna explain who it does work for if you want an even more personal experience with the characters than you can get right now in the parks book a character dining meal at toppolino's terrace garden grill hollywood and vine or chef mickey's the experience is different than it's been in the past but it will allow you to have a closer interaction than you would in the theme parks can you hug mickey no is it more expensive than other restaurants sometimes but this is the best way to feel like you're getting personal interaction with a character right now so if that's important to you go for it we always recommend garden grill for the best food and the best opportunity to see the characters the most continually check the disney world website or dfb to see if any additional character dining restaurants have opened because they will they're gonna come back slowly but surely and if you're watching this in the after times booking a character meal is usually a good idea when you want to get autographs for several characters at once without waiting in line plus you get to eat as well which means you don't have to spend time doing that later and it's all about time conservation here you only have so many days in disney world so you might as well kill two birds with one stone plus air conditioning all right now while you're planning your restaurants you want to check for the updated menus many restaurants have reduced menus right now and may not have your favorite dish that you had last time you were there so check ahead of time on the disney world website on dfb or with our friends at ollyers.net for up-to-date menus so you can plan to go to restaurants you really want to experience and make sure they have things that your whole family can eat checking menus at disney world is a tried and true tip absolutely do it so you can budget your meals and make sure everybody's covered now this next one we mentioned in the mobile order section but it also makes sense for table service kiosks and very popular snacks eat during non-eating hours for fewer crowds shorter lines less chance of your favorite treats selling out looking at you spring rolls and more chance of scoring your reservation at a popular restaurant visit during those abnormal dining times this would potentially mean eating lunch before 11 30 or after 2 and dinner before 5 or after 7 30. make sure you check the opening and closing hours of the quick service or table service location before you visit so you're not sort of messing yourself up by going when they're closed and this is especially true for places like small kiosks or even lounges kiosks are weird and they only serve certain meals at certain times lounges are weird sometimes they're not serving food at all until a certain time of day so you'll definitely want to look at those hours check disney food blog because like if you want that nutella fresh fruit waffle sandwich thing at sleepy hollow they may only have it at certain times of the day that's just one of those idiosyncrasies that happened after the parks reopened so things can be weird so you definitely want to check those hours all right now of course we're going to recommend that you visit epcot festival booths but there are some tips around that if you're visiting epcot during one of their many festivals at this point i think they're pretty much year round and you're going to be eating around the booths there they have food booths at epcot festivals then don't let your eyes be bigger than your stomach we highly encourage you to not make a table service dining reservation on these days eat what you want from the booths then if you're still hungry head to one of our recommended restaurants that you can get into without reservations it's not worth spending a ton of money on a big meal when you're not hungry and if you decide not to go and didn't cancel yesterday you'll be charged the cancellation fee also lines can get very long especially during the weekends and most of the lines are outside and in direct sunlight for these booths so plan ahead and eat at the booths first thing when they open or later at night disney may extend the hours for epcot on friday and saturday evenings during festivals so keep an eye on the park hours online or join our newsletter to get the latest details delivered directly to your inbox all right another tip about the epcot festival food booth you're going to want to budget yourself when it comes to those at each merchandise shop you can purchase and load a disney gift card if you're planning on spending the day enjoying the food booths that i've caught it may be smart for your budget to grab one of these gift cards extra credit if it's one of the ones that can hang on your wrist since the portions are small and chances are you'll be trying multiple items this will help you keep track of exactly how much you're spending because it's real real easy to go around the festival booths and drop a hundred bucks before you know it especially if you're sharing all right huge huge huge disney world dining tip here ask about allergy friendly menus disney restaurants have several allergy friendly options and if someone in your party has an allergy let your server or quick service cast member know about it they're going to provide you with an allergy friendly menu that lists all the options available for the most common types of food allergies if you have an unusual allergy or special request don't be afraid to ask about it disney will accommodate usually a chef will come to your table to discuss your specific needs with you and if they don't have something on the menu that will suit your needs they'll create something specifically for you nobody's going to go hungry in disney world so please don't be shy about talking about those special dietary requirements they are 100 used to it and they 100 want to accommodate all right next dining tip check out our dfb snack hacks yeah we know one of the main reasons you may be visiting disney is for the food same and we don't blame you so don't forget to be creative here at dfb we love a good snack hack whether that's adding peanut butter sauce to an ice cream sandwich combining two unique flavors of dole whip or changing up our mac and cheese we're always looking for unique ways to plus up our disney snacks just remember though no snack hack is worth making a cast member's day worse if the cast member has to do something extravagant to accommodate your snack hack just take a pass it's not worth it and another quick festival tip grab a festival passport if you're visiting the epcot festivals get one of these little passports from any merchandise shop or booth there is dietary information in there plus you can plan out all of the delicious food that you want to try a full guide to each festival is also on the my disney experience app on the home page and don't forget sometimes there are food crawls at the epcot festivals that end in a prize like a meals fromage montage or garden graze your passport is a great way to track your progress and you'll get stickers or stamps from cast members to confirm your purchases so you can get your prize also dfb puts out a printable pdf of every single epcot festival food item for each festival so that's another great way to track your purchases and plan what you want to eat as well okay we're moving on now to our hotels and transportation section of our 50 awesome secrets for your disney world trip now what if you have champagne taste but want to maintain a sparkling cider budget well disney categorizes their resorts into three tiers value moderate and deluxe the amenities and theming between each resort category vary and the price increases as you move up each tier if you're wanting to experience deluxe resorts but have a tighter budget we've got two options for you first stay at a moderate or value resort then use the monorail and skyliner transportation to resort hop between the deluxe resorts you can visit the polynesian village resort contemporary resort and grand floridian resort and spa via the monorail and the yacht and beach club boardwalk inn and riviera resort via the skyliner remember that right now you'll need a dining reservation to visit any resort you're not staying in that's a covid19 precaution and disney will probably roll that back in the future now you can also opt to stay in the grand astino tower of disney's coronado springs resort this is your second option if you've got that champagne taste but sparkling cider budget now this spot caters to conference goers so even though the price is that of a moderate resort it boasts several deluxe amenities like fitness centers more on-site dining options a salon and even a club level or concierge level choice coronado is pretty far from just about everything and has a few other drawbacks but if you're looking for a deluxe feel at a moderate price this could be it for you now one more option i know i said two but i got one more one more option if you'd like to feel like you're staying at a deluxe resort but don't want quite as much of a wallet squeeze consider the swan and dolphin resorts i talk about these a lot because they make a lot of sense these are marriott hotels but they're afforded most of the same perks as disney resorts they're also within walking distance to both epcot and hollywood studios that's right walking distance two parks you're not gonna get that without paying like 400 or 500 bucks for deluxe resort hotel rooms but at swan and dolphin you're not going to pay that much now the rooms are similar to deluxe resort rooms and there are lots of dining options at these two hotels they do slap a hidden resort fee onto the cost but even with that you're still coming in lower than most disney deluxe resort hotel rooms in most cases so it's usually a win-win and don't forget you can use your marriott points you can earn marriott rewards points here and you can look for discounts which is going to bring the price even further under that of a disney deluxe resort all right next awesome secret is that transportation has limited capacity right now now disney transportation from the resorts and parks is operating at a lower capacity which means it could take longer to get on a bus monorail or boat you want to plan for extra travel time and leave early to give yourself plenty of time to get where you are going how long is this going to go on we don't know but it's definitely the case at the moment and i don't see it going away too soon so plan ahead disney always says leave an hour to get from point a to point b at this point you might want to leave an hour and a half all right now this is a great hotel secret stay close to the park you want to visit the most often if your plan is to spend the majority of your time at a specific park like magic kingdom book a resort closest to that park if you can afford the price tag if you know you'll want to visit an epcot festival multiple times then stay close to epcot and if you want to have the easiest trip into hollywood studios to ride rise of the resistance every day grab a hotel near hollywood studios all of these parks have hotels that are in walking distance to the parks are most of the more expensive yes but time is money in disney world and sometimes it's worth the squeeze now you will be able to enter and exit easily if you stay close to that park which means you can maximize your time at that park you don't have to worry about dealing with crowded public transportation all right now we've got a whole slew of transportation and ticket center tips for you now if you don't know what the transportation ticket center is that is where you park your car if you're going to the magic kingdom yep when walt was building magic kingdom he didn't want reality anywhere close to his park so he surrounded it with empty land and a big old lake so when you go to the magic kingdom from the parking lot you actually have to park across the lake and either take a monorail a ferry boat or a bus across the lake or around the lake to get to magic kingdom he did not want anyone to feel like they were even being touched by reality after what happened in disneyland which is as soon as disneyland opened tons of non-disney hotels and restaurants and stores and shops and gas stations popped up all around disneyland so you can basically see the real world from walt's fantasy world and he did not want that to happen in disney world that's why he got the transportation ticket center so if you parked in the magic kingdom parking lot you can use either the monorail or the ferry or now the buses from the ttc which is what we call the transportation and ticket center to reach the entrance of magic kingdom now at the ttc there are two monorail choices one is the express that goes straight to magic kingdom the other is the resort monorail that stops at each hotel around the magic kingdom now both the express and resort monorails stop at the magic kingdom and the transportation and ticket center so even though you're not going to the hotels it doesn't take that much longer to stop at each of them and you might have a much less crowded monorail and a shorter line to get on the monorail now when you're exiting the park to head back to your car if both monorails are running choose the shortest line which is typically the resort line since both will get you to the transportation and ticket center eventually keep in mind that the epcot monorail from the transportation and ticket center is currently not running so you will need to take a bus from the transportation and ticket center if you're planning on going to epcot after magic kingdom again that's a covet 19 precaution eventually that epcot monorail will probably return to service oh and if you park at the ttc in the morning and the lines for the monorails and fairies are atrocious which they usually are look for the bus there's often a bus running from the transportation to ticket center to magic kingdom and nobody ever wants to take the bus because that's not magical but you want to take it cause it's the fastest route with the shortest line all right now speaking of those giant disney world parking lots sometimes you're so excited to get in the park that you don't think about remembering where you parked your car the parking lots are huge so you want to take a photo of which lot you're in and which row you're parked on don't assume that you'll remember because you will forget believe me now another great way to find your car is to put a car flag on one of your windows that way you don't have to be like me and press the panic button on your keys to try to find your car every single time yep yep do disney stuff for a living still can never find my car now if you just absolutely can't find your car and even the panic button is not working for you you can always ask a cast member tell them what time you parked and they should have a map showing the general location of your car they do track what rows they fill at what times that's a special super duper tip that i didn't even know until i talked to a former guest services cast member who knows everything all right another quick transportation note for you currently there are no trams running in the disney world parking lots usually there are little trams that take you from your car to the entrance of the park because those parking lots like i said they're real huge but right now you need to walk to the entrance of the park if you're bringing your own car even if you're parked way way way far away so if a member of your party has difficulty walking or any sort of mobility issues go to the passenger drop off first the passenger drop off is right at the front of the park and all the parks except for magic kingdom have these just tell the cast member as you're headed to park that you need to drop somebody off at the drop-off this is also by the way where rideshare services can drop you off if you take a ride share so once you drop off that member of your party you can loop around back to the lot to park the car this is also a good tip if you're running late for a reservation drop off one member of your party at the front of the park or hotel so they can go in and let the restaurant know that you're all on your way now what happens if you have car trouble or need to rent a car for the day well lucky for us there is a car care center on property right next to the magic kingdom if you're having car trouble you can drop off your car at this shop to be inspected they will offer free transportation back to your hotel and if worse comes to worst they also have a car rental desk here yep even if you're just needing to rent a car for one day to head to the beach you can do that here additionally there are three gas stations on property one next to this car care center near the exit of magic kingdom one across from disney springs and one next to the boardwalk resort on buena vista drive that's the one i always end up stopping at and getting random sandwiches wrapped in cellophane at one o'clock in the morning because i'm starving and i didn't eat enough food that day all right here's a great hotel tip we've mentioned on the channel before but we don't talk about it enough use the secret doors at your hotel yep disney hotels are massive and for many of the rooms the lobby doors aren't the closest doors you'll end up backtracking to get to the lobby and then retracing your steps to get where you're going next so look for the stairs if your party can do stairs then the staircase exits are often closer than the lobby for many hotel rooms and it might actually bring you outside closer to your destination like in the case of the secret door right by epcot at the beach club resort now remember that you may need a room key magic band magic mobile something that can get you back in the secret door when you come back because they really don't want just random folks going in there you have to actually prove that you're staying there now this is one of my pet peeve tips that i tell you guys about all the time but it's really important pool view rooms seem great but they are really noisy yep a lot of pool view rooms will actually cost you a premium they'll cost a little bit more than standard view rooms but note this pool of your rooms can be super super loud if you have a napper these are bad for during the day because usually the pools have all kinds of stuff and games and stuff happening at pools lots of people read kids are screaming and the pool cast members also often use megaphones or sound systems to run the games that they do throughout the day so there's a lot going on at the pool it is not completely blocked out by your room door or windows so pools can be a pretty loud next-door neighbor now i've had plenty of pool view rooms also where people were up frolicking late into the night as well so even if you're thinking well it's 11 o'clock of course everybody's in bed no no they're not always a lot of times they are in the pool so if you get a pool view of a quiet pool it'll be a little bit quieter during the day most likely but you never know what's going to happen at night so plan ahead for that if you've got a napper or if you're an early to bed kind of person now here's a quick disney springs parking tip when you go to park at the orange or lime garage at disney springs you're going to want to park on the second floor or higher why because the second floor is the one that has the direct entrance to disney springs if you don't park on the second floor you're gonna have to take an elevator or an escalator down to the second floor so if you're wondering why it says there aren't any parking spots on the second floor that's why look at the map to see where you're going then park close to that location the orange garage is all the way to the west side the lime garage is kind of in the middle but if you're going someplace like house of blues or splitsville you might want to park in surface parking which is way way over to the side all right let's dive into our park secrets first tip is that the lines might not make sense anymore to you especially right now during the era of covid precautions due to the social distancing guidelines right now all of the cues for the attractions stores kiosks and restaurants have markers encouraging each party to stand six feet apart because of this some lines can trickle outside and even wrap all the way around various buildings which can be shocking for those who were expecting to easily walk up to a store a restaurant or a kiosk but don't worry these lines move pretty quickly the social distancing markers can cause the line to extend further as opposed to there being a large number of people in line it just looks worse than it is keep in mind too that stores and restaurants do still have capacity limits which will affect how quickly that line is moving you can also look to see if a virtual cue is in effect when you're there we usually only see these for gideon's bake house and world of disney in disney springs but they can be implemented in other locations too if things are particularly busy disney food blog has published maps for every single park that show designated entrances and exits for each store restaurant and attraction as well as the traffic flow pattern for ride queue lines because you may not understand why you're standing in china to get on the ride in norway so grab those maps so things aren't quite as confusing when you arrive at the parks all right next awesome secret for the parks arrive before park opening nope i don't mean right at park opening i mean before each disney park will often allow you in about 30 minutes before opening time the attractions usually will not be open yet but you can typically begin queuing in line during this 30 minutes and sometimes you can get lucky some rides do start loading early so make sure you account for travel time parking bus stops etc as well as time to get through the security and entrance if you need to visit the ticket windows for any reason before you enter the park arrive even earlier it really might be worth it alright now these next two tips are kind of strange but stick with me through these first one hit the more popular rides first as of right now there are no fast passes which is a way to reserve your spot in line in advance at a designated time so you don't need to wait in the standby line so if you're dead set on riding a certain ride on your visit arrive early and go straight to that must do first ride you will knock it out early while the crowds are low and will feel very satisfied that you can cross it off your list which rides will get longer lines throughout the day base mountain peter pan's flight splash mountain tower of terror rock and roller coaster seven dwarfs mine train flight of passage and frozen ever after mickey and minnie's running away railway and millennium falcon smuggler's run are some of the newest attractions and are very popular as well attractions typically have the shortest wait time right at park opening and right before park close so plan to enjoy the most popular or newest attractions during those times okay now our next tip don't hit the more popular rides first sounds contradictory right yep it totally is welcome to the world of disney well the do the most popular ride's first rule is often the right one to follow our empirical data tracking wait times has been showing that with park hopping in place and animal kingdom being the earliest park to open that the flight of passage wait time actually lessens during the day so in the hour or two before closing it's often a fraction of what it was at park opening will this always work maybe not but right now that's what we're seeing also there is a little known tip that actually works pretty well that you should ride a few of the less popular rides at park opening like it's a small world in peter pan instead of running to the mountains in magic kingdom this theory is that you can knock out several short rides that will have much longer waits later in the day and then hop in line for the most popular ride right at park close you'll still be waiting an hour or so for that most popular ride but since all the rides will have closed you won't be using up valuable park time waiting to ride is your brain exploding yet i promise it all makes sense all right next awesome secret for your disney world trip is understand the new park hopping rules park hopping is when you visit two different disney parks in one day or three or four now park hopping returned to the disney world parks on january 1st 2021 if you have a ticket that allows park hopping you will be able to hop to another park after you visited the park you originally had a park pass reservation for got it straight okay disney said that you will not need to make a reservation for the second park you visit but the entrance may be restricted due to park capacity so this is the only time you may run into difficulty if the second park you want to go to or third or fourth park is at capacity you won't be able to get in so to determine whether it's at capacity before you arrive and get turned away call 407-560-5000 that's the park hopping phone number for some reason they don't have this on the my disney experience app i have no idea why you have to call this phone number but that's the phone number to call to see if a park is at capacity now another park hopping tip be sure to note the staggered park hours epcot usually opens last around 11am or 12pm animal kingdom usually opens first but closes first as well so plan around the park hours to determine where you want to start and where you want to hop on the day or days you're planning to park hop plan on going to the park that opens the earliest first and then the park that stays open the latest second this will allow you to maximize your day in the parks and spend as many hours in the parks as you can but also note everybody else is going to be doing that too so it may make sense to hit one of those later opening parks first and then head over to animal kingdom in the afternoon because then everybody's leaving and going to abcot and then you'll get to ride flight of passage super quick i know like disney world wasn't hard enough to plan before and now it's kind of like taking calculus all right next awesome secret for your disney world trip check for soft openings now new offerings like a new attraction a new ride a new restaurant often do what they call soft openings prior to their official opening this is where they don't say that the thing is open they don't announce anything but the cast members have to practice and they want to try some things out and they want to see how things are working so they just kind of quietly open their doors and invite some people to come in and you might be the lucky one to try a ride first or a restaurant first even though it's not officially open so what you want to do to get access to one of these soft openings is check the entrances of those new offerings in the parks to see if they're letting guests in and you may get lucky coming up this year check for soft openings at remy's ratatouille adventure space 220 and la creperie over in the france pavilion and maybe guardians of the galaxy cosmic rewind we'll see next tip for the parks veer away from the crowds now this is no shocker right of course you don't want to be around the crowds but we've got some tips for you on this in the magic kingdom typically people tend to go to the right first so start from the left in adventure land it's going to be less crowded when the park first opens on the contrary in epcot's world showcase people tend to go to the left towards mexico so it may be wiser to start in canada if you're venturing around the world especially if there's a festival because people are going to start in mexico and they're going to go to all those booths and you may be able to avoid some of the lines by going the other direction and a great tip for the parks ask for a specific attraction section or ride seat if you have a preference on a certain section of a ride just ask a cast member if you can be seated there for instance certain seats on sauron give different perspectives during the ride and sitting closest to the middle is going to give you the best views by the way always request b1 b1 very important on sauron or you may have a little one that wants to sit up front and it's a small world or big thunder mountain which is usually no problem you may just have to wait for the next attraction cycle before you can ride in order to get your perfect spot but there's a big butt be sure to gauge the stress level of the cast member before you ask these questions if things are hairy and you can live without your request eg you aren't inviting a toddler meltdown then go ahead and skip it don't bug the cast member if they're already having a bad day but usually cast members are super used to and comfortable with people requesting certain sections all right now we're moving into some packing tips these are some of my favorites because it's very very important to pack well and i'm also super weird about packing okay first one is bring your own plastic baggies one of the best tools at the parks is a plastic ziploc bag you can use it for a leftover snack you couldn't finish to hold your phone in case it starts raining or you're on a water ride or for your sunscreen and hand sanitizer to keep them from spilling all over your bag i've also been known to use them to wrap up used diapers that are a threat to humanity before i throw them away yes you're welcome oh and to hold wet ponchos that i don't want to put in my bag to drip everywhere and to hold wet clothes after a kid has an accident or frolics in a splash zone oh by the way parents and caretakers be sure to bring extra changes of clothes into the park if you don't bring them you will for sure need them also i use baggies to hold wet shoes garbage that's been created where i can't get to a trash can quickly etc etc etc i mean these are little miracle products when you are in theme parks bring your baggies and of course bring those layers florida weather is super unpredictable we talk about it all the time if you're visiting in the late fall winter spring the mornings and evenings can be chillier but the middle of the days can be super super hot bring a few jackets and socks you can use it the cooler times plop them into a locker during the heat of the day or buy those fancy ones that just scrunch down into a little tiny 1 by 1 inch cube and stick them in your bag but layer up so you can take that stuff off through the day all right shoes shoes in disney world is a super big deal so our tip here is to bring flip flops or wear quick drying shoes here's why you will definitely want your comfiest shoes while at disney and if you're planning on riding a water ride and are wearing tennis shoes boots or nice sandals don't wear nice sandals bring flip-flops to wear on the ride this is key if you don't want to walk around in wet socks this is also a great tip if there is a chance of rain you can wear the flip-flops while you're trekking through the puddles but honestly my favorite tip and i've said it before and this is what i always do break in a good pair of quick drying sandals that have a back strap in my script right here those words are all in caps and i did that way on purpose the back strap is key if you've ever walked for long and wet flip-flops you know what i mean you're basically sliding all over the place so a good pair of quick drying sandals with a back strap will go with you everywhere on water rides through puddles and rainstorms and they'll dry super quickly no change of shoes needed and a lot of these sandal brands are made for walking they're even made for hiking i usually rely on tevas for this but many of you have other brands you like a lot so feel free to drop those in the comments there's lots of cute styles there's lots of good looking super quick drying sandals so definitely check those out but i will say wear them around a bunch before you go break them in because i've definitely had tevas that i've brought and was wearing for the first time in the parks that gave me huge blisters so just be prepared and pack that moleskin just in case all right the next thing you gotta pack a portable rechargeable fan these are easy to find online or in walmart target etc they're small plastic handheld or clip fans some even have a strap to go around your neck and they can make all the difference on a 95 degree day with a hundred percent humidity many caretakers also clip these onto strollers most of these fans have rechargeable batteries that you can just plug into usb port at night and your phone charger will work to recharge these guys too so another good reason to bring those phone chargers all right moving on to budgeting and planning book your park passes early this is another thing i have all in caps in my script super super important if there's only one tip we give you it's going to be this one even super planners like me are not used to this little glitch in the system and i'm kind of freaking out right now that i do not have park passes booked for this summer yet so yeah i'm freaking out we've seen too many guests complaining at their hotel about not being able to get into the park that day and that's because they don't have park passes and the parks are sold out remember disney world is still operating under limited capacity so if you don't book those park passes ahead of time to get into the parks on your chosen days especially busy days like holidays and school vacation times it is very possible you won't get in think of park passes the way you used to think of flight of passage fast passes or be our guest restaurant dining reservations they sell out and it can happen within minutes so if you're already too late for some of your dates please read disney food blog we report on when disney replenishes their park passes for popular dates and those will go fast so something like october 1st the 50th anniversary if you're hoping to get in a magic kingdom that day you're out of luck right now but we are gonna post as soon as we find out there's more park passes available so keep an eye on dfb and for the love of all that is good please book your park passes today if you're planning on going to disney world in the next year i don't want you guys to be stuck without being able to get in the parks i won't be able to live with myself if i let you down that way all right next tip big tip talk about it a lot still very important because i know some of you have never watched one of our videos check for special offers and discounts when you're booking your trip make sure you're saving money where you can and don't overpay for that hotel room check the special offers tab on the disney world website and subscribe to our newsletter when there's a new deal we'll send it right to you or use a travel agent we love small world vacations they're experts in all things disney and they will make sure you get the best deal possible and by the way if disney releases new discounts that they can apply to your trip they will do that and you don't even have to lift a finger all right now this is another really really really good budgeting tip that everybody needs to know about save before you go no i don't mean save money for your trip i hope you're doing that already this one's a little more intriguing okay use a target red card to buy disney gift cards this gives you five percent cash back on your purchase and you can use these gift cards to pay for everything in disney world from food to hotels to souvenirs and everything will be five percent off because you got five percent cash back using your target red card smart also keep an eye on your local costco or sam's club for disney world ticket deals we've seen steeply discounted annual passes regular park tickets and more in the past so discounted that it was worth it to get a club membership just to buy them so definitely definitely look at those and you know if we see them we'll post about them too so we'll be sure to let you know just follow that newsletter all right next one get the whole family involved to snag a rise of the resistance boarding group we've been talking tips for getting a boarding pass for the virtual queue for rise of the resistance since the ride opened in summer 2019 and things have just changed a bit you can now join a boarding group before the park opens at 7 00 am actually and you can do that from anywhere you will need to have a ticket and park pass reservation for hollywood studios the day you want to ride set an alarm for the whole family prior to 7am and try to have as many people as possible logged into your my disney experience account at 7am everyone can try to get a boarding group the more people clicking the better the chances are keep in mind that you will only be able to join one boarding group and remember in order for this tip to work you need to have everyone signed up on my disney experience and already linked to you in order for them to be connected to your boarding group so do that ahead of time it's very important there are lots of approval emails and things like that don't wait until you're in disney world do this before you go all right next tip for your trip stay aware of travel restrictions some states require self quarantine when visiting or returning from certain locations so stay up to date on that info so you know what you need to do stay on top of your state's requirements as well as florida's requirements and factor any quarantine time into your vacation plan will you need to take more days off of work when and where can you plan to get tested after you return from your trip and keep an eye on the news for vaccine passports and the news for which airports are offering covet 19 testing there is a covid19 testing site available on disney property if you need a negative covid test to avoid quarantine when you return to your home state note how many days before you return that test has to be taken sometimes it's 48 to 72 hours and we actually have a whole video about what it's like to get a coven 19 test on disney world property and go check that out okay and of course you're staying aware of your state's policies but you also need to stay aware of disney's policies because you know what they are changing all the time from mass policies to refund and change or cancellation fees for hotels and packages this stuff changes frequently as disney adapts to the current situation disney's extended their flexible cancellation policy several times which means right now change and cancellation fees are waived up until the date of check-in currently it's april 30th 2021 but that will likely change as we get closer to that date using a travel agent can help you stay aware of these policies that may affect your trip again we love small world vacations they can answer any questions you have and keep you up to date on the latest changes also of course disney food blog we are publishing every single change every single update to the website every single update to what's required in the parks all right huge tip here be flexible because right now park hours are changing a lot more entertainment may come back characters may return to some restaurants that festival of the lion king coming back and a lot more stuff like that could be returning so much could change it's a very unprecedented time for disney world we're always going to be reporting on the latest breaking news here on the channel and over at dfb if you want to make sure you get the absolute latest news as soon as it happens then sign up for that newsletter it's free and if you head to disney foodblog.com awesome secrets you can sign up for the newsletter and get the full list of tips we've shared in this video all right next tip i want to share with you is about disney springs and i have some personal frustration around this one disney springs is the shopping and dining district on disney property it's free to visit anyone can go but to limit capacity issues at disney springs the parking garages will close if they get too crowded if you're driving and the garages are getting close to capacity and you have a dining reservation have the reservation confirmation pulled up to show a cast member just in case i have personal experience with this and it was horrible this is the exact kind of thing that when it happens to me i mentally make a note to tell you about it so that you don't find yourself in the same situation i had a dining reservation saturday night in disney springs i was meeting a friend who was already there so i really couldn't skip out the garages were closed surface parking was closed because everything was at capacity i called the restaurant and they said yep just show a cast member the reservation and they'll let you in so after waiting in no joke one and a half hours of traffic to drive from one side of disney springs to the other side of disney springs i finally got a parking space springs was packed to the gills uncomfortably so even if we weren't in a pandemic so my advice don't book plans to be in disney springs on friday or saturday nights just skip it don't do it all right now the next tip find medical aid and nope i'm not going to tell you about the first aid stations in the parks this is a totally different tip so surprise if you are at a resort and need minor medical assistance like a band-aid medicine etc and there's a long line at the front desk ask a lifeguard they will have medical supplies on hand and they are also trained to assist if you're having a medical emergency i never knew that the lifeguards have band-aids good to know now if you get sick and need prescriptions there's another situation entirely if you feel yucky while you're in disney world there are several urgent care locations nearby but if you don't have a car and don't want to deal with a ride share consider a telemedicine app many insurance companies have telemedicine apps where you meet with a doctor via video on your phone i used one of these to get prophylactic flu medicine prescribed when my son was diagnosed with flu on a vacation to the beach once and it was super super helpful if you need prescriptions delivered to the parks turns out that's easy as pie as well my son has asthma and we needed prescriptions for breathing treatments and a steroid we didn't have time to go to a pharmacy and wait and we had a dining reservation at epcot that night luckily turner drugs will deliver prescriptions right to the park first aid center for you to pick up just make sure you have the physical prescription to turn into the first aid cast members when you get there they will give the scripts to turner drug staff the next time they come by this is a huge time saver if you need prescriptions that aren't for communicable diseases if you are contagious obviously stay in your hotel room and don't go to the parks all right now we've got a few more tips i know we've already had 50 but i've got a couple more that i think you're gonna want to hear these are tips that are under my headline don't miss out so the first one is to focus on the far targets this is all about buzz light your space rangers spin and toy story midway mania these are interactive attractions where you shoot at targets to win points when riding these attractions focus on the targets furthest away or the hardest to hit obviously they are worth more points additionally the guns at buzz lightyear have buttons that can be very hard to press at times if you can just hold the button down and it will continue to shoot continuously because that's what continue means now we actually do have a video kind of giving you more specifics about how to win at these attractions so you can go ahead and watch that video for details okay next way to not miss out pick the quickest side okay many attractions have two different sides to their queue and you can choose which side you'd like to go on it's best to veer towards the left because most people go right similarly when you are entering the parks by car through the gates focus on going to the furthest entrance on each side as those lines are typically shortest and resort activities at night several resorts offer super fun free activities one of which is usually an outdoor campfire so make sure to check your resort guide to see if this is available at the campfires there will be supplies given for s'mores and it's a fun and free way to enjoy a snack and that's not all restaurants also have lots of fun often free activities for their guests so be sure to ask for an activity sheet at the front desk when you check in so there are 50 actually 53 awesome secrets for your disney world trip if you are new to our channel welcome welcome welcome thank you so much for hanging with me through all of these and if you are a channel subscriber and you've been with us forever thank you for hanging with me through all of these as well i know this is a lot to take in so if you want just a full pdf with all of this information in it you don't have to take notes head to disneyfoodblog.com awesomesecrets and you can sign up for our newsletter it's totally free and we will send you a pdf of all of this information including all the detail it's not just the you know the headlines it's all the detail in there too so i hope this helps with your trip thank you guys so much for listening thanks for watching as always this is aj for disney food blog and we'll see you real soon you

Channel: DFBGuide

Views: 800,302

Rating: 4.9343634 out of 5

Keywords: disneyfood, disney, disney world, disneyland, disneyvideo, disneyvacation, food, disney parks, disney travel, disney tips, disney guides, disney planning, disney trip, disney how to, disney vlog, disney vlogger

Id: IKL2nZN2jZk

Length: 50min 58sec (3058 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 21 2021