- Enlist Help From a Planner
- Know You’ll Be Opening Your Wallet
- Stay on Property
- Keep Expectations Low
- Utilize the Lightning Lanes
- Let Everyone Do One Thing They Want to Do
- Bring a Stroller (and Label it!)
- Build In Time for Treats And Breaks
- Don’t Miss the Fireworks and Night Parade
ENLIST HELP FROM A PLANNER: If you’re not super enthused about planning a Disney trip, ask a planner! Disney builds in the cost of their team of planners into your vacation so it’s a completely free resource (of course you’re paying for it as it’s built into the cost of your trip, but there is no additional cost). We live about 4 hours from Orlando and wanted to stay in the area the night before and after our park day to make our day feel more relaxed. I talked to a friend who has a Disney vacation planning business (you can contact her here). She was able to find us a fantastic deal on one of the Disney properties, which helped us to plan dates and choose a hotel. She also bought our tickets and helped me understand all of the nuances of Disney such as Lightning Lanes and the timeline for buying them, making dining reservations, and purchasing other extras like photos.
KNOW YOU’LL BE OPENING YOUR WALLET: There’s no way around it; a Disney vacation IS expensive. The cost of tickets is not what it was when I was a kid in the 90s and there are countless extras that are very helpful to have (e.g. Lightning Lanes to shorten your wait times). It can feel like Disney nickel and dimes for everything and it all adds up quickly. There were several times I felt moderately ill thinking of the cost to go to a theme park for a day when we could go somewhere else for a weekend or even a whole week, but it helped to remind myself that this isn’t a trip we plan to do frequently and it was replacing three birthday parties. It also helped that the kids loved the trip and were very grateful. We also saved in small ways like bringing snacks and lunch into the park and limiting ourselves to small souvenirs.
STAY ON PROPERTY: This may be counterintuitive if you’re on a budget, but I actually think it is very worthwhile to stay on property. We stayed at the Art of Animation Resort, thanks to my planner friend, and paid about $300 a night for a Lion King family suite, an excellent price to stay at a Disney property. Staying at the property definitely added to our experience, as we had a themed room and enjoyed exploring the various themed areas of the property (Little Mermaid, Finding Nemo, and Cars).
It was chilly during our November stay, but my kids still enjoyed swimming in the big Finding Nemo pool. I appreciated that the resort supplies life jackets if you need them for littles. The resort also offers fun amenities like an onsite Nemo-themed playground, outdoor movies, and evening s’mores. We also ate dinner at the international food court and got souvenirs at the gift shop during our stay. One of the best features of the hotel is that it is situated on the Skyliner so we were able to take it to the character breakfast we booked at Cape May Sunday morning.
The biggest perks of staying on property are that you can enter the park 30 minutes before the public, you are able to book your Lightning Lanes and dining reservations before the public, and you don’t have to deal with parking. We “rope-dropped” Space Mountain (meaning we walked directly there to ride it), used Rider Swap, and were still able to get through also the entire Fantasyland before the park opened to the public. Getting your Lightning Lanes and dining reservations early gives you a significantly better chance of being able to see your preferred attractions. Finally, resort guests receive complimentary transportation so you don’t have to deal with parking. The resort bus system was easy and quick!
KEEP EXPECTATIONS LOW: I feel like this one is generally true for life, but if you go in with low expectations, it can save you from disappointment later. Know that it’s going to be crowded any time of year. Know that even if you have Lightning Lanes, you’ll still wait in line for something. Know that you might not get to go on every ride or see every show. Whatever your day looks like, it will be fun and memorable for everyone!
UTILIZE THE LIGHTNING LANES: It’s an added cost, but it’s absolutely worth paying for Lightning Lanes. It will save you so much time waiting in line and will allow you to do and see a lot more, which in turn will make everyone happier. Disney allows you to book Lightning Lane Multi Pass (you can hold 3 at a time) or Single Pass (for the most popular rides, currently Tron and Seven Dwarves Mine Train). One of my biggest concerns with the whole process was that I didn’t want to constantly be on my phone getting the next Lightning Lane. I’m happy to report that I didn’t feel like this was the case. The My Disney Experience App is very user-friendly and made the process seamless. Every time we used one of the lightning lanes, we’d just go back in and book another. The only rides we didn’t go on were Tron, because we didn’t get a Lightning Lane for it, and Jungle Cruise, because it was never available to us until after 10 pm.
LET EVERYONE DO ONE THING THEY WANT TO DO: This is another no-brainer that is true for any trip, but if you’re traveling as a family or group, everyone will feel happier if they get to pick one thing that they really want to do. My oldest son loves presidents and American history and the Hall of Presidents was his favorite experience. My middle son loved It’s a Small World. My daughter loved the Little Mermaid. I got to ride Space Mountain and my husband got his Mickey ice cream bar! The flip side of that is that you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do! We know our kids aren’t big character kids so we didn’t waste any time with character meet and greets at the park. Instead, we did a character breakfast the next day.
BRING A STROLLER (AND LABEL IT!): If your kids are a not too far out of the stroller phase, I highly recommend still bringing one. It’s a long day and they will appreciate having a place to sit. It also helps for toting jackets, snacks, waters, and all the things you might want to bring. Just don’t forget to label it and put something on it you can easily spot. There are so many strollers at the park and cast members frequently move them around to keep walkways open. Anything you can do to identify your stroller will have you thanking yourself later. We used a simple red band and had a sign with our name on it.
BUILD IN TIMES FOR TREATS AND BREAKS: Make sure you take time to just relax and enjoy the magic of Disney, whether that is with a Mickey Mouse ice cream bar, Dole Whip in Frontier Land, or LeFou’s brew at Gaston’s Tavern. We packed a lunch and ate it picnic style outside the Country Bear Jamboree. One of the bears even came up and danced with the kids! Moments like this can only happen when you take a minute to sit still. Even rides that you might not think as high priority attractions like Prince Charming’s Carousel, the Carousel of Progress, or the People Mover can be the source of magical memories and might even be some of your favorite experiences.
DON’T MISS THE FIREWORKS SHOW AND NIGHT PARADE: If you make it to the end of the day, the Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away night parade is fantastic. New in 2025, the parade features characters from Moana, Peter Pan, Encanto, Frozen, Coco, the Disney Princesses, and of course, Mickey and Minnie. It is a beautiful parade and so much fun. To avoid the biggest crowds, I recommend finding a spot in Frontierland or Liberty Square to watch the parade. There are usually two night parades (time varies depending on the time of year) so you can choose whichever fits best in your schedule.
Those are my top 9 tips for having a wonderful Disney trip with hopefully minimal stress! I hope this gives you some food for thought. If you are on the fence about a Disney trip, I hope this inspires and encourages you to go ahead and book the trip! If you go once, does that mean you are going to become passholders and go every weekend? It doesn’t have to! Truthfully, we are probably one-and-done Disney people (at least one-and-done for each park) because we love all kinds of travel and don’t want to limit ourselves to theme park travel.
Thank you for reading! Are you also a “non-Disney” family that enjoyed a Disney trip? I’d love to hear your tips for success in the comments!
I’ll leave with a few helpful links for easy reference from Disney’s website.
Disney Theme Park Height Requirements
Age for Child to Ride Alone – this one is important to know if you have an odd number in your party. We have a family of 5 and were not aware that children have to be 7 to ride alone. Many of the rides at Magic Kingdom are made for two people, so my 8-year-old had to ride alone several times (luckily we waited until he was 8!). If your oldest is under 7, you have to do the Rider Switch.
Candie Travels 