Disney World Vacation Tips

My childhood friend Kelly messaged me via Facebook yesterday regarding tips learned from our families recent trip to Disney World.  I thought it would be good information to share, so here's a simple cut-and-paste. 


Watch out for Tiggers and start saving your pennies now. 

Tip #1 Stay at a Disney Resort:
We stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge and really enjoyed it. Staying at a resort allows you to bus in from the airport and use the Disney bus system to get to and from parks. No need for a rental car or dealing with parking and traffic. And it was cool to look out the window of the lodge and see giraffe's and elephants having a good time. Very cool.

It was our first time so we just went with singel day passes for each of the parks. You can get a "park hopper" pass which allows you to skip back and forth, but we would not have had the time or energy to take advantage. And again, it's cheaper the way we did it.

Tip#2 Go with the Food Plan:
We opted for the food plan, which really took the stress out of paying for a meal. There are multiple plans. We chose the plan where you get a snack (multiple options at every park in multiple places) a "quick meal" (think fast food) and a sit down meal every day. If you do the sit down option, start looking at reservations now. Some sit down places fill up fast and you don't want to miss an opportunity if there is a place you really want to go. You can make reservations online. Overall, the food plan saved us a few bucks, but the convenience of it was the best part.

Tip #3 Use your smartphone:
Another convenient thing to consider: I downloaded a Magic Kingdom iPhone app on my phone (the paid version is $3.99). This was a great investment. It has a GPS map of each park, so you can know exactly where you are all the time. It also gives you "wait times" for the rides so you can manage your time well. It also allowed me to input my dinner reservations so I didn't forget what we had planned that day.

Tip #4 Get in shape:
We visited all four parks in four days. Best investment leading up to the trip: go for walks and buy some quality walking/running shoes. You will walk 5 to 7 miles easily at a park. If you come in cold, you'll be exhausted the first day and never recover. 

Tip #5 Bring a poncho:
Also, plan for some rain. It's Florida. Buy a $2 poncho at Walmart before you leave home. They are $12 bucks at the park.

Tip #6: Book ahead, pay ahead:
Finally, it's a major family event. Start planning now so you can invest the $$$ in a quality visit. I started saving six months in advance and had it paid for before we got on the plane. It made dropping an extra $300 bucks on souvenirs and little perks so much nicer and less stressful. 

What are your best Disney World tips?