Top 10 Disney Tips and Hacks

Visiting Disney World or Disneyland is often the trip of a lifetime for some people. It’s a place that calls to both the young and young at heart. There is something for everyone at Disney. Planning a trip to Disney can be a huge undertaking but these are a few tips and hacks to help you make the most out of your trip.

Visit the Disney Store Before You Go

If you have young kids, buy a few stuffed animals or toys from the Disney store before your trip. You can pack them in your luggage and give them to your kids during the trip. They are often a little cheaper than the ones inside the park and saves you a little money.

Install the My Disney Experience App

Have you heard about the My Disney Experience app? This app is a must have in the Disney parks! With this app you can view or make dining reservations, edit your FastPass selections, view show times or character meet and greets, view your photos taken by park photographers, and even view the current wait times for the rides.

It even tells you in real time if a ride is currently shut down. The app can also tell you the current wait times for the Disney transportation system. And if you’re staying at a Disney resort hotel, you can even unlock your hotel room from the app.

The app has so much information!

For scheduled ride closures or refurbishments you can visit  http://allears.net/closures/walt-disney-world or http://allears.net/closures/disneyland. This site is also a wealth of information for all things Disney.

Here are a couple of extra tips regarding the FastPass selections. You can only choose one park per day to begin with. Out of your three FastPass selections, you can choose one major ride and two minor rides.

You will not be able to choose additional FastPass selections until the last time on your current selections. So, if you have a FastPass at 11:55 am, you will not be able to choose another one until after that time.

And if you are park hopping, you will not be able to choose FastPasses at the other park until after that time as well.

Use Garden Grocer to Save on Meals

Did you know that you can get groceries delivered to your hotel at Disney? If you’re staying at a Disney resort hotel, you can order groceries online before your trip and have them delivered to the hotel the day that you arrive.

We typically order breakfast items and a few snacks to take into the parks which saves a little money and also a little time. We’ve used Garden Grocer several times and love the service they provide. You can find them here.

Spend a Day at Disney Springs

Have you heard about Disney Springs? Disney Springs is almost a park of its own. There are so many shops and restaurants here. The hardest part of your day is going to be narrowing down your choices of where to eat.

And best of all, there’s no admission ticket needed. You can visit any time that you want. Disney Springs is also connected by the Disney transportation system which means that you can get there from your Disney hotel or another Disney park.

There are lots of after-hours bars located here and with the Disney transportation system at your disposal, you also have a safe method of transportation to get back to your hotel room without driving.

Make Disney Dining Reservations Early

Make your Disney Dining reservations early and don’t give up! Did you know that you can make your Disney Dining reservations up to 180 days in advance?

Reservations for character dining and popular restaurants can go fast! Be Our Guest, the Beauty and the Beast themed restaurant, opened in 2012 and is still one of the most popular restaurants to dine at.

While making reservations as far in advance as you can is important, you should not give up if you can’t find one on your first try. Dining reservations can open up at any time leading up to your trip.

On our last trip, there were no times available for Be Our Guest when I initially checked. But 30 days out I checked again. In fact, I checked several times that day. And suddenly, one appeared and I had to blink twice to make sure it was real!

I quickly booked it so that I didn’t lose it. Don’t lose hope!

Look for Hidden Mickeys

Have you heard about Hidden Mickeys? Throughout the parks, if you look very carefully, you may notice Mickey heads all around you.

They can be on rides, on walls, on the ground, or in stores. It is said that over 1,000 Hidden Mickeys exist between the parks. You can make finding the Hidden Mickeys a game with your children. It’s a great way to pass the time if you are waiting in line.

Stay at a Disney Resort

I know that there are cheaper hotel options in the Orlando area, but staying at a Disney resort has many benefits. The first benefit is that you can take advantage of the Disney transportation system.

Not only does this give you transportation between the parks, but it also gives you free transportation to and from the airport. It can save you so much money by not having to take a cab or use an Uber.

Another benefit is that you no longer have to carry your shopping bags around at the park. Any items that you purchase in the parks can be sent directly to the hotel for free. It is such a great perk.

The Disney resort will also check you into your return flight home, print your boarding pass, and have it delivered to your room. If you are checking bags at the airport, they can also check those for you so that all you have to do when you get to the airport is walk to security and then to your gate.

Use Disney Transportation

Take advantage of the many forms of the Disney transportation system. Disney has many ways to get around the parks and the hotels. Buses, ferry boats, and a monorail can connect you to all the parks, Disney Springs, and all the resort hotels.

The My Disney Experience app can tell you when the next bus will be arriving. If you are going between parks you may have multiple transportation options. Sometimes the monorail might be faster than waiting on a bus depending on where you are going.

Very soon, you’ll have one more option to choose from. The Skyliner will be able to connect you to Hollywood Studios and the International Gateway at Epcot from various Disney hotels.

While walking is an option to get to some of the parks, after a long day of walking inside the park, you’ll be praising those buses!

Wear Your Magic Band

Don’t forget to wear your Magic Bands! Now if you’ve already purchased your tickets ahead of time and are also staying in a Disney resort hotel, you will have the option to customize your Magic Band about a month out from your trip.

You’ll have the option of picking your color and having your name printed on the inside. They will then ship to your home where you can put them in your suitcase to pack.

If you want a more customized Magic Band with Disney characters on them, you can upgrade or purchase one from Shop Disney and have it linked to your account.

So what does a Magic Band do? Magic Bands allow you to open your hotel room door by pressing it do the door lock. It is your ticket into the parks. It holds your fast pass tickets for the rides and is used by the park photographers to sort your photos.

The photos then appear on the My Disney Experience app for you to view or purchase. This device can also be used to purchase anything in the parks as it is linked to a credit card on file. It can also track you inside the park.

When you open the My Disney Experience app on your phone, it can show you a map of where you are currently at and the attractions that are closest to you. This is a great feature if you need to find other family members in the parks.

Purchase Ridemax

I first discovered Ridemax back in 2009 when we went to Disneyland and it was such a time saver. This app is available for both Disney World and Disneyland. Ridemax takes wait time data from all the rides and analyzes it so that you can optimize your trip.

You simply plug in the dates that you are visiting and which park you want to visit that day, and then choose which rides you would like to go on. The app uses the wait time data to produce a schedule of when you should visit those rides and in what order to save you the most time. It is absolutely amazing!

You can spend a full day at Magic Kingdom and be able to go on the rides, sometimes 2-3 times that day, and still have time to see the parades.

I’ve used Ridemax four times so far and can vouch for the accuracy. It is fantastic! It’s currently $19.95 for a one year subscription for Disney World and $24.95 for a one year subscription for Disneyland. You can find it here here.

A trip to Disney can be such a magical experience and hopefully these tips will help you get the most out of your vacation.