Last month, my family and I traveled to Disney for the first time.

Needless to say, I learned A LOT! Here are some of the things I wish I had known before we went (and some things I’m so glad I knew).

*Note: This week’s post will deal with everything you need to know BEFORE you arrive at Disney. Next week’s post will deal with everything you need to know WHILE you are there!

The world of Disney can be overwhelming if you don’t plan ahead. To make your trip less stressful, here are some things you definitely want to plan ahead of time:

• Travel Plans-Decide ahead of time which park you plan to visit when.

There are 4 major parks at Disney World: Magic Kingdom (known for the huge castle), Animal Kingdom (which is like a super-fun zoo), Epcot (which is full of educational, hands on things about the world), and Hollywood Studios. There are also two Disney water parks and Downtown Disney.

When you are planning which park to see when, keep a few things in mind:

1. Some parks have Extra Magic Hours for those guests who choose to stay on property. If extra hours is something your family would enjoy, make sure and visit the park offering the extra hours.
2. If you’re able to do so, build in a day or two of rest. Disney is fun, but it’s also exhausting. If I could change one thing about our trip, this is what I would change. We didn’t build in days of rest, and I definitely would next time around.

• Accomodations-We stayed on Disney property and were happy with our choice.

When you stay on Disney property, there are a number of choices including (from most expensive to least expensive) Deluxe Villas, Deluxe Resorts, Moderate Resorts, Value Resorts, and Campgrounds. We chose a Value Resort because we wanted a nice hotel with a good price.

One thing I loved about staying on property is that the magical experience continues once you leave the parks. At our resort (All Star Movies), there were Donald and Daisy statues, Mickey standing above a fountain in the pool, Dalmatians, a huge Mickey hat, Herbie, large ballerinas, tons of tires (which my boys loved!), and more! One great thing about staying on property is the free transportation to all things Disney…which brings me to my next point…

• Transportation-If you stay on Disney property, you don’t have to worry about transportation at all. There are shuttles running to and from the parks and resorts all day, every day. There is even a Disney Magical Express service to and from the Orlando International Airport.

So, if you are planning to stay on property, all you have to do ahead of time is set up your Disney Magical Express service (which is free-you just need to tell them when you will arrive at the airport and when you will depart). To get to and from the parks, you just show up at the shuttle service right outside of  your hotel whenever you are ready to go to a park.

If you don’t stay on property, though, you will need to secure transportation to and from the parks and airport.

Another thing about transportation: If you are flying in, I highly recommend you fly in early enough to arrive at your resort before sundown. The resorts are so neat, and kids will want to explore when you arrive. This is another thing I did wrong. We arrived late. My boys were exhausted but also really wanted to see the resort. So if possible, fly in early. Also…fly out late if you can. Our flight out of Florida was at 8:30, which meant we had to be up and waiting for the Magical Express at 5:30 AM. UGH! It was early!

• FastPasses-With each park ticket, you can choose a certain number of FastPass selections (about 3 per person per day).

My best advice is to plan most of your Fastpass picks during the morning hours (or whenever you plan to first arrive at the park). That way, you have a better idea when you will be arriving at the select attraction.

As you plan your Fastpass selections, don’t get too stressed. There is an hour window for each selection, so there’s some flexibility build in to the system. Plus, you can change your selections or times while you are in the parks either using your phone and the Disney app or using a kiosk in the park. There is no penalty for missing a Fastpass reservation either, so don’t worry about your credit card being charged 🙂

We chose Fastpasses for the following rides (Keep in mind that I have 2 boys, a 5 and a 2 year old. If you have older kids, little girls, or are not traveling with kids, you will probably choose VERY different selections):

The best way to choose which rides to use Fastpasses on is to study the parks, figure out what rides you think you’ll want to ride, and then check the Wait Times (using the free Disney app) periodically.

Book your Fastpass reservations for the rides that 1) You really want to ride and 2) Typically have a long wait time

• Dining Plans- Disney offers a variety of dining plans that you can include in your reservations.

You don’t have to choose a dining plan but for us, it was the right choice. We chose a plan for 3 reasons: 1) We wanted to know exactly how much money we were going to spend on our vacation ahead of time and didn’t want a bunch of extra expenses to catch us off guard (which could easily happen with all of the expensive food at Disney). 2) We wanted the convenience of having everything already taken care of.  3) We wanted to enjoy character meals, and these are pretty expensive if you are paying for them outright.

If you do decide to try a dining plan, I would recommend the middle option. You will have way too much food to eat with the most expensive option, and you don’t have the option of character meals with the least expensive option. The plan we chose is called Magic Your Way Plus Dining. We each got 1 snack per day, 1 table service (sit down meal), and 1 quick service (think of a drive through restaurant). We also got refillable mugs that we could refill at the resorts all week long. (More information about the dining plan in next week’s post!)

Keep in mind that with the dining plans, your meals are covered but your tips for Table Service meals are NOT included. For our family of four, tips for 4 meals ended up being about $75.00.

• Character Meals-Begin planning these as early as you can, especially if you plan to dine at some of the more sought-after restaurants. For these meals, you have to make reservations ahead of time (and reserve your spot with a credit card, that you will be charged if you don’t show up!)

For our character meals, we ate at Chef Mickeys (located in the Contemporary Resort right outside of Magic Kingdom-kids get to meet Mickey, Pluto, Donald Duck, and Goofy), The Crystal Palace (located inside Magic Kingdom-kids can meet the Winnie the Pooh gang), Tusker House Restaurant (located inside The Animal Kingdom-kids can meet Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald, Daisy, and Goofy), and The Garden Grill (located inside Epcot-kids can meet Chip and Dale and Mickey). We don’t have any girls, so we bypassed the Princess dining; however, if you have little girls, they would probably LOVE to eat with Cinderella.

• My Disney Experience App-Get this free app for your phone. You can view wait times for attractions, make or change Fastpass selections, view dining reservations, and more! This was a LIFE-SAVER for us!  Download it early and play around with it before  you go on your trip.

• Pack well-You might have read all sorts of blog posts about what you MUST bring to Disneyworld. And though some of these things do come in handy, don’t stress yourself out.

Here are the must-haves: clothing for everyone in your party (plus a couple extra outfits), swimsuits, GOOD shoes (a couple of pairs so you can switch off), cash, your Magic Band (which serves as a room key for on-property guests as well as a theme park admission and a credit card to make purchases), sunscreen, and a camera. That’s about it.

Other things you might want to consider packing: An autograph book is fun, but honestly, my boys weren’t too thrilled about getting signatures. They mainly just wanted to interact with the characters and get their pictures taken. Bubbles for waiting in line might be helpful (but honestly, I forgot to bring mine with me from the resort and didn’t miss it). I brought ponchos and a towel into the parks on the first few days (in case of a sudden downpour) but I never touched either of these items. I also brought glow sticks because I read somewhere that this was a must-have. My boys used them for a few minutes and then were done.

Do these things BEFORE you come to Disneyworld, and I promise you, your trip will be MUCH less stressful!

Come back next week for my best tips for WHILE you are in Disney!