The Secrets To A WALT DISNEY WORLD VACATION

Carissa Vannoy
Feb 17, 2022
8 min read

Please remember before you start reading you may always contact our office for help in planning your vacation. This is a quick overview of the following. There is so much more information I have I can share with you.

Time of year
Where to stay
Children what age to go
What tickets
Dining
Getting around
Parks
Final thoughts

To start planning you have to think of what time of year you want to go. There is no wrong time to go. That being said some times are better for different people for different reasons. Summer when you have kids in school, Christmas family vacations, early in the year Jan through March time cooler temps.

I have been many times, different times of the year each one has been a great trip. The last trip was Aug 2021 which was a great trip heat and covid and all. Like I said no time is the wrong time. I personally love fall and Christmas. The decorations are great this time of year. There are also after-hours events you can attend. If you plan your trip for the end of Oct you can get in on both fall and Christmas decorating in one trip.

As far as crowds they are always there as Disney grows in popularity it now seems they are always busy. I felt my last trip in August was just as busy as my Christmas/New Years' trip in 2019. Just go in knowing that there are going to be lines and people make the best of it and enjoy your vacation. Some people may be on a once-in-a-lifetime trip while others are there all the time. If going with kids just prepare yourself for waiting you know your kids better than anyone come up with a few ideas of entertainment for them while you wait. Lots of attractions have entertainment in the waiting lines. If you have never been there is much to look at sometimes I feel like I miss the little details that Disney has put in.

Where to stay

You have on-site Disney resorts and other private off-site resorts. This depends on your budget and preferences of what you like. My family usually stays in a resort on-site. We like that once you are there you don't have to worry about getting around. As my husband says you get in the Disney bubble. That being said we have done Disney and other parks on the same trip. No wrong answer to where you stay. Disney has resorts that are budget-friendly up to their deluxe resorts with villas. Each of their resorts has different themes and amenities. when looking at the resorts think of your budget and remember you don’t have to have the best view in the resort to enjoy your trip.

Many years ago we took our youngest son for his second birthday. We stayed at the animal kingdom lodge in a savanna view. I was so excited both our boys loved animals and watching them. Well we get to our room and they spend a whole ten minutes looking at the animals and that was it. Lesson learned we didn’t spend much time in our room to enjoy our room. There were lots of areas in the resort to see animals other than our room. Our family tends to be the family that we only sleep in our room. While other families spend more time in their room and enjoy it that may be a decision-maker for you on what type of room you want. Now we pick our resort on convenience of what we plan to do on our trip. ( I will do a future blog on a few of my favorite resorts)

View from room at Animal Kingdom Loge

Children

If you have children what age should they be? Well, I guess you could say I was a child that has grown up at Disney. I have heard and been told to wait till your kids are older so they will remember. Well, that may be true on they will remember part. I am so glad I did not wait to take my children. Both of my boys have been fortunate to be able to experience Disney at lots of ages. They may not remember all of the trips but boy do I and not the bad memories of we are hot and tired and need a nap. Of course, I remember those too. I guess the first time I realized was the first trip me and my husband took without our children. We loved the trip but seeing other families enjoy the little kids and the magic you see in their eyes when they see a character brought it all back. I was so glad I was able to see the different stages of my boys visiting Disney. If you can afford to go more than once then I say yes go when they are young. If you are more a one time trip then I would say yes wait till they are a little older. They will be able to ride more rides and remember Disney for themselves.

Tickets

Here again, Disney has many to choose from and to fit your budget. From single day to multiple days to season passes. We have done them all. For us, it depends on our trip. We usually do Multiple day ticket with park hopper. There are also tickets for water parks and other attractions. We have bought park hopper plus water park tickets in the past but never seem to use that part. Please think about your family's interests and budget. You really can’t go wrong and you can always upgrade when you are at the resort. We like at least the park hopper tickets. We start our day at one park and then end at another. This depends on how long we stay if it’s a quick trip we tend to do a full day at a park then we can enjoy the evening in that park.

Dining

This is now my favorite we love eating at Disney World. There are so many choices to choose from. We were big Disney dining plan people. Now with covid, they have not been offering the Disney dining plan. I will not discuss the benefits of the dining plan since you can’t purchase it right now. More and more restaurants are opening back up hopefully it is getting back to old Disney pre covid. That being said when we went in August we ended up eating at restaurants we have not eaten at before. We have favorite restaurants and not so favorite that we tend to eat at every trip. Disney has quick service restaurants And table service restaurants and of course lots of snacks and grab-and-go choices. You really can spend tons of money on food in Disney but you can also set a budget and find food that is within your budget. Of course, quick-service restaurants are going to be more budget-friendly than a lot of table service restaurants. I can say if you are doing table service restaurants make a reservation. I say again make reservations before you ever get there. They book up fast. When you are at Disney try foods you would not normally eat. It may surprise you. Of course, restaurants in Disney are themed and some have characters. You can experience something different at each meal.

Getting around

Getting around Disney is easy if staying inside Walt Disney World resort. You can arrive and let them do the rest. They have buses, boats, Skyliner, and monorails and of course, walking. I remember our boys when little just wanted to ride the monorail around. Even if you are not staying at a resort with a monorail it’s worth taking a ride around on it. Of course, if you are at Magic Kingdom you can ride over to Epcot on it. The Skyliner is another you may just want to take a ride on even if it’s not going where you want you can see so much of Disney you get a different view from up in the air. Take a relaxing trip and take in the view on your ride. Depending on which resort you stay at you will have different options of how to get to a park. You can always ask Disney employees they are always friendly and helpful. Don’t think twice about asking how the best way is to get somewhere or other advice from cast members. By the way, cast members are what Disney calls their employees. They always have name tags so you will know. Don’t forget sometimes there may be more than one option to get to a park or restaurants from where you are some take longer than others. Sometimes it may be quicker to walk if a path goes to where you are going. If you have a reservation be sure to allow plenty of time to reach your destination.

Parks

Last but not least parks. The major parks are Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. Then you have Disney Springs and the two water parks Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon. Disney spring is free lots of shopping and restaurants. The water parks may not both always be open check before you arrive.

Magic Kingdom I have heard that is a little kids' park. They do seem to have more rides for younger children but all ages enjoy Magic Kingdom. I believe Magic kingdom is my favorite. Magic Kingdom has lots of the original rides a lot of us remember from a trip we took when we were younger. Dumbo, Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion just to name a few. It has changed over the years it’s still one of those places you can remember when you went when you were younger.

Epcot you can travel around the world in a day. You can try food and shop from different countries. Meet different cast members that work in the counties they are from. You feel like you have stepped into those countries. Epcot also has special events that take place throughout the year. Make sure to check out some of the events like Epcot International Festival of the Arts, Epcot flower and garden festival Epcot Food & Wine Festival, Epcot International Festival of the Holidays.

Animal kingdom I have to say I have never given this park all the credit that it deserves. There is a lot to see and do here if you take the time to go through the park and not just run to the few rides that you want to ride. They have lots of animals and shows to see. Of course Avatar Land. If you can see at night a must-do. Avatar Land looks nothing like it does in the daytime. I highly recommend seeing it both in daylight and nighttime. Not going to spoil it but worth waiting till dark and if nothing else walking through on your way out of the park.

Hollywood studios it has taken some changes over the years also. Now two lands that are hit Toy Story and Star Wars. Toy story as rides a lot of younger kids love and us big kids too. Star Wars is another one of those to take time and see at night. It looks so different at night you feel as you are right in the middle of the action. Of course, there is more to Hollywood studios than the two lands.

Final thoughts

My final thoughts.

There is so much more information that I can tell you or that you can read about Disney. But in my opinion, there is no bad time to go to Disney. Whenever you plan to go take the time to enjoy and let the stuff you can't control go. Where to stay can’t go wrong no matter where you stay hey you are going to Disney. If you can afford to take your children at different ages. If you are not able to go multiple times go when it is right for your family they can be young children or teenagers you all will still enjoy your Disney trip. Tickets, food, resorts, and the number of days all depends on your budget. I will say if you can try to see all the parks but you need at least a day in each park not to feel rushed. If you only have but a few days pick a couple of parks and just do them. If you have never been you don’t know what you are missing in the other parks so pick 2 and spend your time doing those parks. Hopefully, you will be able to return in the future to see more.