*Book early-The earlier you book the better. If you are staying during the busy season I would start planning at least 10 months in advance and book your hotel no later than 8 months in advance. If you are staying during the off season planning 8-9 months in advance and booking your hotel 6 months & 2 days in advance is good. If you book through Disney and a better deal comes along you can always change it. This is actually one of my least favorite things about Disney World but it's a MUST.
*Go Offseason - If you can swing it I always recommend to go in the offseason. Rates and cheaper and it's a lot less crowded. My favorite time is late September. It is Halloween time and they have special parties, rates are great and crowds are pretty much non-existent.
*Get the whole family involved - It is so much fun to research and plan with the whole family. We will sit down in front of the computer and look up restaurants, look at park times, look at rides & vlogs on YouTube, See Ya Reel Soon is a favorite. One of the kiddos favorite things to do is walk through our day at Disney. It is so cute. We also have our count down that my mother-in-law got me. Every day the kiddo & I change the countdown
We also usually get the free planning DVD and watch that and talk about all the fun things we are going to do.
*Stay on Site- With a wide range of hotels and different prices I always recommend to stay on site. We got Pop Century for $55 a night once, and they have other cheaper value resorts. You get to book all your dining reservations early, which means you are more likely to get that coveted breakfast with Cinderella or Dinner at Be our Guest, your Fastpass+ reservations early, hello fast passes for Mine Train, goodbye three hour wait in line. All your purchases can be sent back to your hotel rather than walking around with it all day, the customer service can't be beat, & you get free parking at the parks. Plus you get extra magic hours. Which means on a set day the park opens early or stays open late on specific days and people staying on Disney property can get in early or stay late.
*Rent a car - We have always rented a car rather than rely on Disney transportation. On our second trip to Disney we decided to try the bus for two days. It took FOREVER. You don't always get on the first bus and the buses can get really crammed. Plus trying to get on a bus after the Magic Kingdom closes, is terrible. Even worse than the monorail. Plus this allows us to go to Target to get water, breakfast foods, coffee, & stuff for mimosas :) They don't charge you for parking at the resort or at the parks and it saves a ton of time.
*Bring a stroller - If your kiddo is 5 or less bring a stroller. It is a lot of walking and no matter how hard you practice with them they will get tired & cranky. This way you can let the kiddo nap and you can keep going if you want, or when it's late at night and the kiddo is sound asleep and the last thing you want to do is carry a 25lb kiddo to the car. The hubby & I have a lot of great memories just the two of us hanging out in the parks while the kiddo slept.
*Have a budget - Have an honest budget. Look at the menus for all the restaurants you want to go to. Price it out for each place and use the most expensive thing you might eat. You don't have to stick to what you decide but it gives you an idea. Include all the little things too like ice cream bars, churros and popcorn, I mean who can pass up the best popcorn ever. Figure out how much you think is reasonable to spend on souvenirs. I usually make three separate budgets. One is a dream one, one is moderate, and one is super cheap. As soon as we know we are going we create one. Then I look at our monthly budget and figure out what is doable. I have yet to be able to do the dream one, but that's ok one of these days I will stay at the Yacht Club :)
*Research - I can't stress this enough. Especially before you book any meals or fastpass+ reservations. Know the park hours including the extra hours. When are the parades etc. I chart it out in a notebook. Also check out hotels as well, watch the prices and see if they have any specials.
*Pick must do's - You will not be able to do everything. We have been many times and still haven't done everything. I recommend that every person in your group pick 3 must rides, 3 must eats, and 3 must watch for each park for every 4 days you are in the park. I know too many people who say this is the only trip we are taking for years we have to do everything. Then they get stressed out and cranky and have a miserable time and they spent a ton of money and have terrible memories. Don't be that family.
*Use Gift Cards for kids-We always give the kiddo a set budget of what he can spend. Sometimes that's $25 sometimes its $200 (Thank you to the friends & family who gave him gift cards for his birthday one year). It just depends on our budget as well as if he does his chores. We always buy him gift cards in that amount and put it in his wallet that I carry. He knows how much he has to spend and we never let him buy something more than $5 at first site. We usually take a picture of it and the price then when we are in line or hanging out at the hotel we go through the pictures and prices so he picks only thinks he will really use. I can't tell you how many times it has stopped us from buying misc junk he won't use that will clutter up the house. We do the same with us. We don't usually buy our items until the day before we leave. We have gone through everything and love what we have bought. Plus it's a good way to teach him that money doesn't grow on trees. It can also help you stick on budget as well. So don't be afraid to get them for yourself. Plus I heard a rumor that if you use your Target redcard to buy a Disney gift card you get 5% off. I will test it and let you know if its really true or not :)
*This is a side note. I have read a ton of tips that say hit up the dollar store or Target before you go and bring a bunch of Disney stuff to give to them on the trip. I am one of those people who is on the opposite spectrum. You will spend a bunch of money on junk and your kiddo is still going to ask for stuff while you are there. I say save the money on the cheap junk that will just go into the garbage before you get home and give your kiddos the money you would spend on that and let them buy a few trinkets in Disney. A car or plane is $5-10 and jewelry or a doll is $5-15. Plus the kiddo will love having gotten it in Disney. I remember one year we only had $30 total for souvenirs for all three of us. Kiddo picked out a book and we picked out a magnet. We still have both of them and I can tell you exactly where we bought them and the fun time we had picking out the most perfect souvenirs.
*Go to the grocery store - It's always a good idea to hit up Target or Publix (or your favorite store) when you get there. We always buy a case of water, milk, juice, cereal, yogurt, Go Go Squeeze, nuts, pretzels, berries, & stuff for sandwiches if we are going to eat dinners in the room, ponchos, and of course without fail usually shampoo, or socks that we forgot to pack. Once it was the kiddos swimsuit. We usually will eat breakfast in the room and bring water & snacks like nuts, cheese, applesauces, etc into the parks. It keeps us eating healthier while at the parks.
*Re-watch Disney movies - This is a must do in our household. About 3 months prior we make Friday nights movie nights. We alternate who picks the movie and pop up some popcorn and watch our favorites. It's great family bonding time and really gets us ready for the parks.
These are just my recommendations about what has made our trips more enjoyable and less stressful. We have done many different trips on a multitude of budgets and this is what we have found to work for us.
The one last thing I will leave you with is RELAX. This is supposed to be a fun trip, once you get there don't stress, just enjoy being there.
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