Last night my husband and I sat down to look over our 2022 calendar and carve out some dates for family vacations. It must be that time of year because it seems like all my friends are doing the same thing! I’ve got a few friends planning trips to Disneyworld this year and I am so excited for them! I shared on Instagram that we were able to visit Disneyworld back in November. The friends who are planning their 2022 trips are now reaching out to me asking if there’s anything specific I would recommend to do/see/eat/bring on their upcoming Disney trip. And if you know me, you know I always have a lot of recommendations! These simple tips will help you have the best time on your trip to Disney World!
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1- Download the app “Magic Guide for Disney World.” There are multiple apps that will help you navigate and get the most out of your Disney trip. But Magic Guide is the official app. It’s through this app you’ll keep your pass, order your food, schedule your fast passes, and check wait times.
2- Phone chargers! To go right along with downloading the Magic Guide app… make sure and bring a fully charged portable phone charger and cable! Everything in the park is digital! You can’t walk up to a restaurant counter and order food anymore, you have to order food through the app. You’ll also need your pass to download pictures and get the most out of rides like the Test Track at Epcot.
3- Bring water bottles! It is so dang hard to get a drink of water in the parks! Yes you can get free water at any restaurant but that entails ordering through the app and scheduling a pick up time or waiting in the long line at the park Starbucks. Drinking fountains are almost non-existent, and water fill up stations are few and far between. Bring water bottles! I’ve found that the most convenient water bottles at Disney are bottles with lids you can hook, clip, and tote around easily. A Hydroflask with a handle on the lid is a great choice.
4- Order groceries. We weren’t about to eat every meal every day from a restaurant inside the park. I can’t imagine what that would cost! And even if you’re renting a car, it’s going to be hard to find the time to make a grocery store run to stock your mini fridge. We used a grocery delivery service called Shipt. Download the app, choose your store, and the app will give you a list of available delivery times. The delivery times will typically be between 3 and 6 hours of you placing your order. Check with your hotel on the policy of having groceries delivered. We stayed at a Disney Resort hotel, and were able to have our groceries dropped off at Luggage Services. Luggage services put our groceries in the fridge and we were able to pick them up at whatever time we returned from the park that day. Things we ordered to keep in our hotel room and snack bag: uncrustables, lunchables, trail mix, fruit snacks, beef jerky, bagels and cream cheese, yogurt, clementines, and chocolate milk (because my kids are obsessed with chocolate milk), and Diet Coke (because my husband and I are obsessed with Diet Coke.) We also used Shipt to get diapers and wipes delivered.
With most credit cards, you can get a free Shipt membership. Otherwise it’s $10 a delivery. There’s no upcharge on the groceries, but you are expected to give your shopper a tip. I believe you’re expected to tip the same way you would at a restaurant which means around 20 percent the cost of your groceries. Totally worth it!
5- Plan what restaurants you want to eat at ahead of time. I hate being on vacation and eating the next available option just out of desperation. While in a new place, I want to try the exciting must-eats and treats! Every park has so many fun restaurants you’ll want to experience! When you plan out which restaurants to eat at before you even get to the park, you won’t waste time finding it on your map and app while your party gets hangry. We’ve all been there.
6-Disney World Food Recommendations:
Animal Kingdom: Satu’li Canteen in Pandora, World of Avatar. We got the cheeseburger pods, which I would highly recommend, but all the food there looked so good! The smoothies at Pongu Pongu in Pandora are also popular but we didn’t get a chance to try them. They looked great!
Magic Kingdom: The Spring Roll cart in Adventureland!
Epcot: We ate at a Mexican restaurant that was just ok. The treats at Epcot are the best though! And you don’t have to order them through the app… at least when we were there… We just walked to the counter and ordered. Kringla Bakeri serves delicious Norwegian pastries. We also loved the German caramel shop! Karamell-Kuche.
Hollywood Studios: All the restaurants at Hollywood studios were dang packed! We really wanted to eat at Woody’s Lunch Box but the wait was three hours long. I don’t remember what we did for meals that day because the restaurant situation was chaotic. The treat situation was also chaotic but that was just due to lack of planning. Despite the chaos, we did get our hands on a blue drink from the Milk Stand in Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge. This a welcome and refreshing treat you won’t want to miss!
*We didn’t do any character dining during this trip. We didn’t know how worth it it would be while in a pandemic, and our kids were more interested in riding rides anyways.
7- Genie Passes/ Fast Passes: Are they worth it? This gets confusing. You can pay for Genie Passes and/or Fast Passes through the Magic Guide app. They are essentially two different things. A Genie pass will get you a fast pass to multiple rides throughout the park. However, each park has two rides that don’t accept Genie passes. The two rides that don’t accept Genie passes have single use fast passes available for purchase. Here’s my opinion:
Magic Kingdom- get the Genie Pass! You’ll get on so many rides!
Epcot- buy a fast pass for the Frozen ride. This ride usually has a 2+ hour long wait!
Animal Kingdom- buy a fast pass for the Avatar ride. We waited in line for two hours for this ride, I wish we would have just bought fast passes!
Hollywood Studios– by far the most crowded of the parks. Depending on what rides are on the top of your list will determine if you should buy fast passes, genie passes, or both.
8- Rider switch! Use this to your advantage whenever you can! The rider switch program is for parties with guests who are too small to ride all the rides. The way it works is you all go to the line entrance and the cast member will give a fast pass to whoever is hanging back with the guest who is too small to ride. You can also choose one extra person to give a fast pass to. That way, when the first riders are off the ride, the guest who hung back can go to the front of the line with their buddy who also got a fast pass.
9- Park Hoppers: Are they worth it? This also depends on how many days you’ll be at the park and how you’re pricing all your passes. Here’s some information that might help you make your decision.
Magic Kingdom: You can very easily spend a full day in Magic Kingdom! There are so many classic Disney rides here!
Epcot: Epcot doesn’t have a lot of rides but it is full of shows, exhibits, and restaurants. We only did a half day at Epcot and it was plenty of time.
Hollywood Studios: Big kids and adults could easily spend a full day here. Hollywood Studios is the park with the most thrill rides. There isn’t much for little kids to do here though. We had little kids with us, so we only spent half a day at Hollywood Studios, then went back to Magic Kingdom.
Animal Kingdom: I was surprised how much I liked Animal Kingdom! I would say spend a full day here, but there isn’t much to do after dark. So if you’re going in the winter (when it gets dark early) you’ll want to park hop once the sun goes down.
10- Misc items to pack for Disney: Comfortable shoes! I love my Under Armour sneakers. I’m also glad I brought toys for my kids to play with in lines. Fanny packs or cross body bags are nice to have for easy access to your phone and wallet. Policy is always changing, but if masks are required, these mask lanyards were a must have! If you bring a stroller, you will be leaving your stroller at the designated stroller parking while you wait in lines. I recommend bringing something to make your stroller stand out and easy to find once you’re ready to pick it back up. A flag, banner, tassels, or hammock lights are all great options. It’s also a great idea to bring a baby carrier for when you’re waiting in long lines without a stroller. I loved using my Tula. While wearing this, my baby was able to sleep comfortably when we waited in lines with him!
Here’s a quick link to my amazon storefront that includes my whole list of Disney must haves!
Bonus- Stay at a Disney Resort Hotel! There are so many perks to staying at a Disney Resort hotel! We stayed at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort and have so many good things to say about it! It was nice to have a restaurant on site if we wanted to grab a quick meal before or after our park time. Another perk of the resort was the tram and shuttles to and from the Disney parks. By using Disney transportation, we didn’t have to mess with or pay for parking! Another awesome perk of staying at a Disney resort is that you get into the parks 30 minutes before anyone else. Those early 30 minutes really put you ahead of the game if you are trying to hit as many rides as possible! We also loved that the resort stored our groceries from Shipt in a fridge at luggage services until we were able to pick them up. and they provided a crib for our baby to sleep in. Lastly, our family unfortunately experienced a major mishap while on our trip, and the staff at the resort were so helpful! I’m sure there were other perks to staying at such a nice place, but these are the biggest ones that stood out to me.
Let me know if you’re planning a Disney family vacation, and if you have any more questions for me! I hope you found this information helpful and I hope you all have an amazing time at Disney!
