First Time Disney World Visit Tips
First time visitors to Walt Disney World make a lot of mistakes. There are many things that are simply impossible to know until you go, and due to many planning resources being written by seasoned Disney veterans, it can be easy for those sharing tips to completely gloss over something because they are so familiar with the parks and just take certain things for granted.
With that in mind, we’ve written this blog post with some important things that first time visitors ought to know. If you’ve been to Walt Disney World even one time, you will know most or all of this information. In that case, you might ‘pay it forward’ by sharing a basic bit of info about Walt Disney World that you didn’t know before your first trip, but that you consider important.
Okay, let’s dig into our list of some basic things first time Walt Disney World guests should know…
Walt Disney World is Huge
If you’ve done any amount of research, you probably know that Walt Disney World is the “big place” in Florida and Disneyland is the “little place” in California.
It bears reiterating: Walt Disney World is HUGE. It’s located on 25,000 acres, has 24 hotels, 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, and more “other stuff” beyond the parks than you can shake a stick at. On the one hand, it’s awesome to have so many different great things to do.
You could easily visit for 2 weeks and not run out of things to do–the options beyond theme parks, from fishing to golfing to spas and more are staggering. On the other hand, because there is much, the distance between hotels and parks, parks and other entertainment, etc. can be fairly substantial. Walt Disney World is not a place that you can cover on foot.
The other consequence of this is in terms of time. Whether you rent a car or use Disney’s free transportation, you are going to spend a lot of time during your trip commuting. The best case scenario, if you only visit one park per day and rent a car, puts your total commute time at an hour.
If you park hop and use Disney transportation, you might spend 3 or more hours per day commuting. Yes, all of those options are great, but the time it takes to get from one of them to another is not. We have a post dedicated to Walt Disney World Transportation Tips that can help you take shortcuts (not literally) to save time with Disney’s transportation system.
Make Advance Dining Reservations
You can make Advance Dining Reservations (ADRs) to Walt Disney World restaurants 180 days before your trip. Take advantage of this, because popular restaurants like Le Cellier, Cinderella’s Royal Table, Be Our Guest Restaurant, and Chef Mickey’s book up months in advance.
While the importance of ADRs isn’t as significant as it once was thanks to Disney putting in a new deposit system, if you want to dine at the most sought-after restaurants or you travel during busy times (or during the “Free Dining” promotion, the importance of ADRs for popular restaurants cannot be understated.
We’ve heard horror stories from guests who book Free Dining, then just show up, expecting to eat anywhere…and unable to find a table at even the most unpopular restaurants. Make your reservations as early as possible. When we have used the Disney Dining Plan in the past, we’ve made reservations months in advance. Sometimes, even at 170+ days, we still didn’t get what we wanted.
Rental Cars Are Expensive in Orlando (But Don’t Have To Be)
We normally use Disney’s Magical Express, which is a complimentary transportation service from the Orlando International Airport to Disney-owned hotels, and that’s partly because renting a car at the airport can be prohibitively expensive. In fact, when we’ve priced it out in the past, the prices have often been substantially more than we’re used to paying whenever traveling elsewhere.
There are two ways to avoid this. The first is renting a car at an off-airport location, and taking a shuttle to get it. Likewise, you can use Disney’s Magical Express (if you’re staying at a Disney-owned hotel) and then take a bus to the Swan & Dolphin to pick up a car when you need one. An Alamo/National rental desk is located near guest services at the Dolphin. This can be a real money saver if you only need a rental car for a day visit to SeaWorld, Universal, or another theme park.
Another option is using Uber or Lyft. We started using these services instead of rental cars a few years ago (see our Uber v. Rental Cars at Disney World post for more), and we haven’t looked back. Uber and Lyft are inexpensive and drivers are abundant so waits are minimal. In our view, these services mixed with using free Disney transportation is the best of both worlds–and better than having a rental car.
Visiting Walt Disney World is Physically Exhausting
Walking around the parks for a day will tire you out. Walking around for an entire week can leave you downright exhausted. Seriously.
This is not to say that you need to do some sort of marathon training regime prior to visiting Walt Disney World. However, if you plan on lasting the entire day in the parks without fatigue and blisters, you should physically prepare yourself for the trip.
How you prepare is ultimately your call, but you’ve been warned. (This could explain why moleskin is one of the top recommendations from commenters on our Unique Disney Packing List post.)
Everything Takes Longer Than Expected
What’s that saying about the best laid plans of mice and men? That might as well have been written about you and Mickey. Once you’ve developed a daily itinerary for your trip (and you absolutely should make at least a loose one), take a red pen and randomly cross off about half the things on that list. That’s how much you should actually expect to get done–if you end up finishing more, consider it a pleasant surprise.
Everything takes longer than you’ll expect at Walt Disney World. The odd thing here is that this is usually not a result of waiting in lines longer than you expect (in fact, usually posted wait times are higher than actual wait times). Instead, you’ll find that transportation, walking between attractions, dining, and various other things all take longer than you plan.
In some cases, this is a good thing. There will be times in the parks when you’ll stumble upon roaming entertainment or a fun detail that will preoccupy you for a bit, and these diversions are a pleasant surprise. Other times, this is a not so good thing. You plan for 30 minutes to get from your room to a park, but due to bus delays or parking time, it might actually take an hour.
Disney Springs Is Better Than Ever
The heading on this one used to be “Downtown Disney is Not for Everyone.” However, a lot has changed since this post was written a few years ago. At that time, Downtown Disney was basically just a mix of stores selling the same merchandise and a bunch of stores selling virtually identical merchandise to what was sold in the parks, plus a few third party options that were uninspired.
Since then, the area has transformed into Disney Springs, adding a slew of new dining and retail options in the process. Now, Disney Springs features some of the absolute best restaurants at Walt Disney World, and plenty of interesting retailers that are worthwhile. It’s a mix of Disney-owned and third-party options, and a lot of things you can’t find inside the parks or in most cities in the United States.
In addition to a better mix of shopping and dining options, the layout has been improved, transportation and parking are now significantly better, and the ambiance of Disney Springs is significantly better than what you would’ve found only a few years ago at the previous incarnation of this area.
Basically, if you’ve read criticism of Walt Disney World’s shopping and entertainment district (here or elsewhere), that is probably outdated, as Disney Springs is better than ever, and now definitely worthy of your time. We do several meals at Disney Springs each trip, and find visiting this area well worth our time.
Long Wait Times Do Not Equal Popularity or Quality
“If there’s a long line, it must be for something good.” While this sounds a bit silly, this describes Disney guest behavior to a degree.
Just because an attraction has a long line doesn’t mean you’ll enjoy it, and just because it has no line doesn’t mean it’s no good. There are a lot of factors affecting wait times, including an attraction’s hourly guest capacity, its location in the park, the type of attraction it is v. other attractions in the park, etc.
Some of our favorite attractions at Walt Disney World rarely have waits, and that’s often because they have highly hourly capacity or aren’t thrill rides (as a general rule, thrill rides have the longest waits–even though they’re typically the shortest and least-detailed).
Rider Switch Allows Both Parents To Do Rides Their Kids Can’t
Beyond Disney’s free FastPass+ system, another similar time-saving option is the Rider Switch Pass (more commonly known as a “Child Swap”), which can be obtained from Cast Members outside attractions with height limits. This pass allows one parent to stay with the kids who don’t meet the height requirement for an attraction while the other parent (or group of above-height people) waits with the kids.
When the riding parent/group is done, the waiting parent/group (up to 3 per pass) can use the pass by going to the FastPass+ return line. Since three people can use the pass, your kids or other party members who are tall enough to ride the attraction can conceivably go twice: once in line with the first parent, and the second time by using the pass with the parent who did the watching the first time!
You Can Schedule Attraction Times in Advance
As part of a system called MyMagic+, guests can now schedule time windows for bypassing the lines at attractions via something called FastPass+. FastPass+ can be obtained via the My Disney Experience app or via in-park kiosks and are stored on the MagicBand. Guests then “redeem” their FastPass+ by swiping it against an RFID reader outside applicable attractions. Guests are able to book 3 FastPass+ tickets in advance of their vacation (so, from home) 60 days in advance.
This can be a confusing and convoluted system for the first time guest to understand. For further information about FastPass+, check out our Guide to FastPass+ at Walt Disney World. To figure out where you should use your initial 3 FastPass+ selections per day, check out our Disney Ride Guides.
Suffice to say, you’ll definitely want FastPass+ for Slinky Dog Dash, Frozen Ever After, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, and other popular attractions. Having FastPass+ for these attractions can save you hours in line per day and be the difference between experiencing only a handful of attractions per day and well over a dozen.
Lines to Meet Characters Are Often Long
A lot of Disney commercials show kids and Disney characters romping around the parks hand-in-hand, as carefree as can be. While there are some spontaneous character interactions, most of the time you will need to wait in line in order to meet Disney characters. In some cases, these wait times are longer than what you’ll encounter for popular attractions.
While Frozen is a bit of an anomaly due to its incredible popularity right now, it’s not uncommon to wait 30 minutes or more to meet “ordinary” characters. That can be less or considerably more depending on the time of year you visit, and the character’s popularity. To make matters worse, many of these lines are outdoors and do not offer shade.
If you must meet characters, doing a character meal is a good way to save time by having the characters come to you while you eat. Of course, there is an additional charge for these meals, and most of them are not cheap. (Here are our recommendations if you’re on the Disney Dining Plan.) Still, it can be worth your time, money, and sanity if your kids are really into characters.
Disney Doesn’t Have to Be Expensive
In pop culture, Disney trips are portrayed as expensive, highly commercialized affairs. This sentiment has become so commonplace that Jungle Cruise skippers often joke that everything leads to a gift shop. While much of this is deserved, visiting Walt Disney World doesn’t have to be ridiculously expensive.
Guests can stay in cheap, off-site hotels that are in abundance around Orlando. (We far prefer staying on-site; click here to read our article weighing the pros and cons of off-site v. on-site.) Disney allows guests to bring their own food to the park (a rare policy among theme parks), but even if you don’t do this, prices are still significantly lower than what you’ll find at a movie theater or ball park.
You can buy discounted souvenirs at nearby outlets or online, or have freebies offered in-park substitute as souvenirs. About the only thing significant aspect of a Walt Disney World vacation that can be done significantly cheaper with an alternative approach is theme park tickets. Then then, though, you can save money by purchasing them from a third party.
Walt Disney World will never be as cheap as visiting a state or National Park, but compared to a lot of other entertainment and vacation options, it can be a better deal. It’s just a matter of perspective and being willing to do things a certain way to save money.
PhotoPass Photographers Will Take Free Photos
PhotoPass is a free service where Disney photographers around the park will take photos of you in front of park icons and other photogenic scenery. Normally, the catch is that while the taking of the photos is free, downloading and printing them costs money (as does the Memory Maker package).
This would render that “free” tag illusory, but for the fact that PhotoPass photographers (and any Cast Member, for that matter) will also take photos for you with your camera.
Given the fact that PhotoPass will take photos of you with your own camera, I have always had a really hard time recommending guests purchase Memory Maker. Granted, there are benefits if your camera isn’t very nice, and the PhotoPass photographers are more “aggressive” in getting good photos with their own cameras than with yours, but to me, that’s not enough to justify spending a lot of money on Memory Maker.
Most guests would come out ahead buying a camera (or even having PhotoPass photographers use their phones to take photos), having PhotoPass photographers use that to take their photos, and then purchasing photo books through reputable online services.
Advance Planning is Necessary
One theme of this post is that planning is important. This really cannot be understated. While it’s true that every destination you visit is best experienced with advance planning, this seems especially true at Walt Disney World. There is so much to do, and so many of the things that exist at Walt Disney World involve waiting or lines, making it seriously advantageous for anyone who is knowledgeable or has an efficient plan of attack.
Some guests go all out, planning every detail of their trip, making binders full of color-coded stuff, and all sorts of other craziness. This type of thing is best reserved for those who actually enjoy doing those things–more power to you if that fits your personality. That degree of planning is not necessary, and the amount of time you’ll expend on those efforts will be grossly disproportionate to the amount of time you’ll save over someone who is moderately prepared. (Moreover, you’ll put pressure on yourself to have an unattainably ‘perfect’ vacation.)
To avoid first-timer pitfalls, read a variety of blogs and find some planning tips on Pinterest or Facebook. We also recommend reading a comprehensive book, like The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2018 or The Easy Guide to Walt Disney World. You’ll spend anywhere from a few hours to several days doing this, but you will poise yourself to have a great vacation.
Planning, or a lack thereof, is ultimately the key difference between those who visit Walt Disney World for the first time and have a great time, and those who have an awful time. As with all things, you get out of it what you put into it.
That’s it for our list of first timer tips. If you are planning your first trip to Walt Disney World, make sure to check out our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for comprehensive planning ideas, our dining reviews to find the best restaurants, and our 101 Great Walt Disney World Tips posts.
Your Thoughts…
If you are a Walt Disney World veteran, what other ‘overlooked’ things to know would you add to this? Which would you emphasize, and with which do you disagree? If you’re a first-timer, is there anything else you’d like to know? Chances are if you have questions still, so does someone else! We love hearing from readers, so please share your thoughts in the comments.
I have terminal cancer and will be visiting DisneyWorld in February as one of my bucket list items. Biggest issue is energy levels, so I need to pick and choose what I will do carefully. Don’t care about thrill rides – just want to experience Disney. Money is an issue, so staying any closer than Value isn’t an option. What do you recommend as a must do? I’m 51, and most looking forward to seeing Cinderella’s Castle!
Hope you were able to really enjoy your trip! I’ve never been to Disney and taking my daughter for the first time in May and I’m feeling overwhelmed lol
Try Beauty and the Beast’s place! definitely recommend ‘It’s a Small World’ and ‘Peter Pan’s Flight.’ I hopr you have a good time!
Try Beauty and the Beast’s place! definitely recommend ‘It’s a Small World’ and ‘Peter Pan’s Flight.’ I hope you have a good time!
I have never planned a trip to Disney ever and I am 56 years old. For one, it seems very complicated to me with all the different parks and passes and pass +. It sounds like it is just to crowded to have any fun. From what I have read, you have to buy tickets to each park which are VERY EXPENSIVE, and it also seems like there are lines everywhere you go, and you can’t just go into a restaurant and expect to sit down and eat unless you have reservations. I read there is a lot of walking and even the free travel buses there are lines to wait in. To me, you spend all your time walking, waiting in the heat for everything. It just does not seem like much fun to me. If that many people go to Disney, it seems to me that Disney would have more than enough money without being so expensive. Seems like you would take some of that money and work on making it easier to get to do things without all the waiting and walking and lower the prices so families that do not make a lot of money could afford to take the little children that would love to go too. Come on Disney, are you that stingy and greedy that you have to KEEP RAISING PRICES and making things at the park so expensive??? What a shame, I think it is pathetic that food, drinks, keepsakes are priced so high as well, when it already cost a family fortune just to get in the place. I wish people would quit saving their money to give it all to you people. So, so sad you have to be that GREEDY!!!!
Everything you said after “I have never planned a trip to Disney ever” is null and void!
Gwen, you’re projecting and guessing a lot here. You’ve never planned a trip to Disney and then you go on to make a lot of assumptions. You mention that you’ve heard how crowded things and lines are everywhere. What do you think would happen if they lowered ticket prices? Do you think they’d have more or fewer people that would make a trip to Disney? So, maybe you think they should charge less and spend more on upgrading the park? I’m guessing, in addition to never planning a trip to Disney, you’ve also never run your own business. I don’t really care for some of the prices at Disney either, but I also realize Disney has a right to charge whatever they want. I’m not entitled to a trip at Disney just because it’s there. If enough consumers decided they can’t afford it, their revenue will slump and Disney will have to make adjustments. Maybe Disney just isn’t for you. And that’s ok. I just don’t understand someone taking the time to bellyache about a business when she’s never been a customer. There is most certainly a ceiling in the price for Disney, but it’s just as obvious they haven’t hit it yet because people keep going and keep paying. Don’t like it? Don’t go. Very simple.
What would be the first park to visit on a 7 day trip to Disney? There’s just so much to do I don’t know where to begin…
This is our first time to Dis we world and we are so excited and a bit overwhelmed with all the things to do. We have 5 one day park passes and will be there for 8 days.
Which parks would you recommend we go to first and in which order?
Also, are there any must get fast passes and restaurant reservations you recommend?
TIA
One of the best tips I ever got was from “The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World” (sorry, Tom).
Schedule a mid-day pool/nap break!!! Granted, it is geared towards family with kids (that would be me), but still, getting out of the hot Florida heat and humidity at the middle of the day (say, 1-4 PM) for a pool break, or to just relax in a room with AC, can be so relaxing and refreshing. It also can help prevent little ones (and grown ups) from having a meltdown and becoming miserable.
Interestingly, although this tip is common, I don’t get it. Walking all the way out to the buses or parking lot, wasting time driving back, and then doing it in reverse never made sense to me. We always preger to either start early and leave by 4 or 5 to go to dinner or start late and stay until close to eliminate multiple travel trips.
Tom, you may want to consider updating this First Time Disney World Visit Tips blog. Lots of the nomenclature and information is outdated. Especially the Downtown Disney information. I was going to send it to friends for them to review for their first visit but found that they would be confused by some of the info.
Thanks for all the great posts. My family and I find that your thinking is spot on with ours.
Thanks for the heads up on this. I just updated all of that Downtown Disney information…and basically rewrote that section entirely since what was there was no longer good advice!
Hi! So it’s going to be me and my boyfriends first time to Disney world is in a few months! Was wondering which park you recommend when we only have a day or two vacation time? I’m the Disney fanatic end he likes more thrill rides! Thanks!
Hi! I would highly recommend magic kingdom. Magic kingdom is a mixture of all four parks meaning it has tones of rides, shows, stores, characters and so many things to look at. If u wanted to see more shows I would recommend Hollywood studios, Hollywood studios also has a few thrill rides. Epcot has a lot of rides and also has the world showcase where u can experience so many cool new cultures, however Epcot doesn’t have many shows. Animal kingdom has a lot of cool things to look at such as animals or the overall decor, not many rides though. The water parks are really great as well and u can do all of the things in the water parks at least once, maybe even twice. Downtown Disney just has stores but all the stores they have are scattered all around the parks! Hope I helped and have a great Disney trip!
The Dine with an Imagineer option was a fantastic experience! It was a small group (I think its limited to about 15) and he talked with us for about 2 hours, so there was plenty of time for anecdotes and to answer everyone’s questions. I believe it cost about $60 (so, pretty much the same as most character dining options), and was at the Brown Derby.
We just returned from our Disney vacation. One advise for first time visitors is to get to the park early. We took a Uber directly from our hotel to the Disney Ticket and Transportation center which was free. Then hopped on the Ferry to the Magic Kingdom, total travel time less when 20 minutes.
We got to the park right as it opened for public at 9am and went directly to the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train ride. Almost no wait time. Be advised that the fastpass+ for this ride has been booked 60 days in advance so there is no fastpass+ available. The normal wait time for this ride is about 60-90 minutes. So getting to the park early really helped us avoid the long lines. Most of the rides during the morning hours have short wait lines which increase as the day goes on. So plan ahead. I am glad we did and we had a fabulous day at the Park.