the good in us: Disney is Full of Magic…But it Helps to Have Some Tricks Up Your Sleeve, Too

We went on our family’s first trip to Walt Disney World in Florida this past May. We invited my parents to come with us, which was probably the best decision we made about the whole trip! Not only was it nice to share the memories with them, but a 4 to 2 ratio of adults to kids was pretty sweet. We had a truly magical time, but there were certainly ups and downs to the trip. Here are some of my tips and tricks that I learned along the way.

Booking:

We booked through CAA (my mom has a membership) thinking that a) we’d get some sort of discount and b) it would be easier to have a travel agent help us with planning. Our particular agent was flighty, rude and sometimes impossible to get a hold of. At one point, I called Disney directly to get something done on my own, and they regretfully told me that since I had booked through an agent, everything had to be done through her, going forward.

Bottom Line Advice: Skip the agent and book directly through Disney. They are EXTREMELY helpful, and the “My Disney Experience” program on their website is so easy to use.

Flights:

We were originally quoted an astronomical amount for our flights out of Pearson Airport with Air Canada. I scoured the internet for days and finally found an AMAZING deal through Southwest, flying out of Buffalo.

Bottom Line Advice: Fly out of Buffalo. You’ll get customs over with when you drive across the border, parking is super cheap ($60 for the week), Southwest crew are fantastic and you won’t pay an arm and a leg for taxes on your flight costs (Pearson is apparently the worst for taxes).

Where to Stay:

CARS Family Suites at Disney's Art of Animation Resort

We stayed in the CARS family suite at The Art of Animation resort. IT WAS WONDERFUL. The resort itself is beyond beautiful, with Disney characters – more than life size – around every turn (CARS, Finding Nemo, the Lion King and the Little Mermaid). The rooms were big and comfortable and well maintained, the staff were very helpful and friendly, and the amenities were spectacular.

The only downfall of staying at AoA is that it is literally the farthest resort from the Magic Kingdom. Shuttle buses come every 20 minutes, but the ride to Magic Kingdom was another 22 minutes. Staying at the Contemporary resort, which is a 5-minute walk from Magic Kingdom might have been a better option, and is something we’ll certainly consider next time.

Bottom line advice: Stay at a Disney resort! You get free transportation for your entire trip, and the service is unsurpassed.

Dining Reservations:

Count down to when you are 180 days out from your trip, and be ready to book your dining reservations AT THAT EXACT MOMENT. I booked a few hours later, and all of the reservations for the highly sought after “Be Our Guest” restaurant (the Beauty and the Beast castle at Magic Kingdom) for the week of our trip were taken. ALL OF THEM. But not to worry, we were still able to get some awesome character meals! I highly recommend:

Cinderella’s Royal Table, (Magic Kingdom)
This one is even great for the boys! My son was SMITTEN with the princesses, and my daughter was in complete awe. If you’re on the dining plan, it will cost you two table-service vouchers. You are paying for the atmosphere, not the food (it’s good, but not two table-service vouchers good), and it is totally worth it. We met Snow White, Jasmine, Aurora, Ariel and, of course, Cinderella. You’ll get your picture taken with Cinderella upon arrival, and the printed pictures will be brought to your table during breakfast.

Cinderella's Royal Table

The Crystal Palace (Magic Kingdom)

This place happened to be our safe haven during a torrential downpour on our fifth day at Disney. It’s lovely inside, has a delicious buffet with lots of vegetarian options, and features the adorable characters from Winnie the Pooh!

At The Crystal Palace

Hollywood & Vine (Hollywood Studios)

This was most certainly a favourite for my kids. Handy Manny, Sofia the First, Doc McStuffins and Jake all visited our table and spent lots of lovable time with us. The buffet here is yummy, especially at breakfast (we went for lunch and breakfast during our stay).

At Hollywood & Vine

Bottom Line Advice: Book exactly 180 days in advance. Also, keep in mind that while character meals are super fun, they are VERY stressful for parents. I barely ate at any of these meals because I wanted to be locked and loaded with the autograph books and cameras. Save a few meals for some quiet conversation about how fun your day has been!

Fast Passes:

Use this feature, and book as soon as you can! I think we were able to book them 30 days prior to our trip. People made fun of me for making an itinerary for each day, but I did that, too. It was so helpful to have a guideline to follow that we could change up depending on our mood or the weather (I’ll get more into the itinerary later). The great thing about the fast passes is that you can update them, change them, cancel them, re-book them on the My Disney Experience app right from your smart phone. Countless times, I used the WI-FI in the park to do this, right up to the last minute! It’s super easy, and so convenient.

Bottom Line Advice: Book your fast passes early for the rides and attractions you REALLY want, and book the rest knowing that they’ll be easy to change later.

Drafting an Itinerary:

Meeting Ariel at her Grotto

I may have gone a little overboard with the way I planned our itineraries, but I’m glad I did it. I tried to book our Fast Passes in groups that went together geographically but also in themes. For example, our first day at Magic Kingdom included Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid followed by meeting Ariel at her Grotto. So I made sure my daughter and I were dressed in Ariel colours (I even made themed hair accessories for her for each day). It was SO nice to have a guideline to follow for the day, but thanks to the amazingness (yes, that’s a word) of the Disney app, we were able to make changes to some of our fast passes when necessary.

One thing I would have done differently is book at least one more “resort day”. We were there Saturday – Saturday, and our only day of just staying on our beautiful resort was on Tuesday. All the other days involved visiting either the Magic Kingdom or Hollywood Studios, and while it was fun, it was EXHAUSTING. We even asked our son at one point what his favourite part had been so far, and he said, “swimming in the Nemo pool [at Art of Animation]”.

The Big Blue Nemo Pool at Art of Animation

Packing for your day trips:

Pack light!!!! The essentials are water bottles, sunscreen, baby wipes, small snacks, rain ponchos (get them at the dollar store at home), mini first aid kit, sunglasses, hats, and your camera.

Parades:

Festival of Fantasy Parade

I highly recommend the 3pm Festival of Fantasy parade, and the nighttime Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom. If you have small children, it’s a good idea to grab a spot at the very bottom of Main Street USA for the nighttime parade, especially if you’re planning to stay for the Wishes Nighttime Spectacular fireworks display afterward. There will be a MAD DASH for the exit after this, and if you’re at the bottom of Main Street, you’ll be one of the first out, and therefore one of the first back to your resort bus stop. We secured our spot at 7pm and the parade started at 9pm (take turns saving the spot and take this time to check out the shops on Main Street). We brought glow sticks and glow bracelets from home (super cheap from Michaels or the $ store), but spent $12 on a glow-in-the-dark bubble maker that my son was desperate for from one of the many carts of goodies they push around before the parade.

Electrical Parade

The Wishes Nighttime Spectacular was truly magical! Images from Disney movies were projected onto Cinderella Castle and music pumped through the speakers all around us. I got very emotional sitting there with my little family, surrounded by such wonder; especially seeing the pure joy on their faces as the fireworks shone in the night sky. This was probably my very favourite moment of our entire trip.

Bottom line advice: Secure your spot early, and ENJOY!

Other Tips:

Get someone to be your “Fairy Godmailer” (ask someone who is visiting Disney before you to send a postcard to your kids from Disney – have them sign it from your kids’ favourite characters to get them excited about the trip!)

DATE NIGHT!

Bring Grandparents – they will be invaluable to you!!

Schedule a date night (if you bring grandparents)

Bring daily envelopes for “Mousekeeping” and leave $3-5 in each

one (they are so appreciative of this)

Rent a stroller from Kingdom Strollers (they drop it off and pick it up from your Disney resort – so easy!!). They rent City Mini Doubles, and they are a DREAM. Every time you get on and off of a bus or train, you have to fold up the stroller - these are super easy to fold, and very easy to carry.

Be smart about your dining plan (there is SO much food… it’s

easy to share one Quick Service meal, so you can eat smaller portions more often throughout the day)

Bring Ziplocks - you'll need them all day long! Left over food, wet clothes, things you don't want to lose...

Starbucks = 1 Snack on your meal plan. Enough said.

When you see something you like in one of the shops, buy it – you may not see it later, and it could be gone by the time you get back. If you’re staying at a Disney resort, you can have it delivered to you so you don’t have to carry it around all day!

Don't worry about whether your kids nap or stay up late. They will adapt, and you can always go back to your resort hotel when you need to! My kids both napped on and off in the stroller when they wanted, and were totally fine to stay up late.

Buy Memory Maker a week before your trip! It’s $150, but you get ALL the digital images any of the Photo Pass photographers take of you throughout all of the parks. You can stop and have your picture taken whenever you see one of them! They’ll even do creative shots – you may feel silly at the time, but when you see your photos later you’ll understand what they were doing (see below)!