Having planned campaigns to visit the Disney Themes Parks on three separate trips I thought there would be some useful tips that I could pass on. Some of these are tips that I have read, others I have been told by others and some I have learnt, but all are aimed at making the most of your magic time at Disney.
The first thing to do is to sit down and plan your trip. Alternatively, lie down and plan, or plan while walking, but I think you get the hint that planning is good idea! Hitting the Parks in a random fashion can cause you to miss things that you really shouldn’t have!
Remember, there are the four major parks of Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom and the fabulous main water parks of Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon. All this to see and we haven’t either thought about Downtown Disney and Boardwalk!
Plan to spend a whole day in one place. Don’t change parks during the day, you are simply wasting time! Just visiting the above takes up six days! Remember the parks have different things happening in the evenings, often with spectacular firework displays, you do not want to miss these!
Dress seriously! You are going to spend a lot of time on your feet! You need seriously comfortable footwear, such as trainers/sneakers. Remember with all the activity you will get warm too, so think about shorts and a light weight tops, but with sleeves. Don’t take great coats etc as you will have to carry them! There are often lockers available at the entrance to the parks if you do need to leave stuff, but the parks are huge so don’t plan on returning frequently to these lockers!
Take a bum/fanny bag! Keep all your bits in these. You need somewhere to put your camera, money, glasses etc while on the rides! You often need two hands and carrying stuff all day around the park can be a real chore.
Get there early! Be there at least 30 minutes before the park opens! It won’t seem like you are alone, there will be plenty of people there, but as soon as you get into your Park they seem to vanish! As it now about time for breakfast….don’t! Everyone else will be doing just that which means two things, one the restaurants are full and two the rides aren’t!
Hit the major rides first! Know your rides before you get there so you know what you are looking for! I can guarantee that the waiting times will be much longer later! But also remember to check out some of the bigger rides before closing, quite often they can be quiet then too as everyone has done them!
As soon as you enter the park ensure you each pick up a park guide! These are fold out colour plans of the Park, a great souvenir but your guide to getting around.
Do everything! Whatever your age or attitude, it’s a must that you go on every ride or visit everything! That way you can guarantee you don’t miss out on anything and quite often things you suspect aren’t for you turn out to be wonderful!
Drink plenty of water! Having this much fun can be exhausting and you’ll be surprised how much better you cope if you keep drinking water. There is always plenty of places to buy some.
Remember to take time to eat too! And remember, as with breakfast the restaurants all get very busy at normal meals times. At 6pm the restaurants are full, but leave it until seven or later and you will often walk straight to a table!
What ever you do, have fun and don’t take it too seriously! It’s a fantasy!