Our Disney Experience: Tips for a fun filled trip!
Our oldest son turned 7 this month and my Husband and I decided to give him an experience as opposed to gifts for his birthday this year. So, we headed to the most magical place on earth…Disney World for an entire week! Full disclosure, I planned our trip in 3 weeks or less! We discussed going however, with Thanksgiving, Our Vow Renewal, and Christmas – my attention was elsewhere. I have 5 tips for what worked for us! We’ve been to Disney in year’s past but of course with Covid-19 so much has changed. Which brings me to my first tip.
#1 Hire a Disney Planner: We went with our Family Friend, Chelsea from The Wander Ears (IG: @thewanderears). Chelsea and her team were amazing to work with and like many Disney planners charged us zero dollars!!! Yep, FREE! I reached out to Chelsea shared my thoughts and within a few hours she sent over all the booking information and trip details. A few days before our trip, Chelsea provided us with our daily itinerary paired with ride recommendations, showed me how to navigate the app, and a cool gift basket filled with Disney goodies for my kids to enjoy. Do yourself a favor and hire a planner. It’s a great decision.
#2 Plan your trip during a non-busy season: With Covid still in the picture, Disney parks do require a reservation. Once they are at capacity, you’ll have to find another date. However, for us we decided to visit in January (not too hot, not too cold) and 2 weeks following winter break for many states. Now don’t judge us. Our son was out of school for a few days, but we were able to get all his work ahead of time and he was caught up upon our return home. We couldn’t have planned our time to go any better. We didn’t deal with a ton of people and no crazy wait times for rides. #Winwin
#3 Stay on Property: Staying on property afforded us with a few benefits. Resort parking was cheaper than the park parking. The resort shuttles to the parks were hassle free. AND..we were able to get in the parks 30 minutes earlier than regular park guest. 30 minutes is a ton of time! At least 2 rides!
#4 Leverage the App: I knew nothing about the app before our recent trip. However, so many Mama’s encouraged us to use and it was one of the best tools. We were able to follow the itinerary given by our planner but check out real time things like ride times, wait for food, use the step-by-step maps, and so much more.
#5 Plan to buy: Disney can get costly, so plan and order your goodies ahead. I purchased our matching t-shirts, ponchos (FL weather is unpredictable), backpack filled with goodies, & souvenirs from Amazon, Target, & The nearby Walmart. By doing this, we saved so much money!
All in all, Disney was a success. The kids had an amazing time and our family made so many memories. Now, it’s on to planning our adult only, vacation! LOL
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