● 4 Theme Parks (Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Epcot, & Animal Kingdom)

● 2 Water Parks (Blizzard Beach & Typhoon Lagoon)

● 25 Walt Disney World Resorts

● Disney Springs

● 5–Golf Courses, three are 18 hole (Disney’s Palm, Disney’s Magnolia, & Disney’s Lake Buena Vista) and two are miniature golf courses (Fantasia Gardens & Winter Summerland)

● Wedding Pavilion

Many people planning for Disney do not realize how big Disney property is.

2. Plan your transportation

Each Disney Resort has different transportation to each park and place on Disney property. Before you pick your resort make sure you look at what modes of transportation the resort has. Disney Resorts all offer busses to all four parks, two water parks, and Disney Springs. Make sure you think about what is best for your family, do you want to take the Disney busses, or do you want to rent your own car for your stay? Parking at the parks can be expensive, so the busses can help cut down on that cost. Disney also offers at select resorts the monorail, boat transportation, and the new Disney Skyliner.

3. Get to the parks before they open!

If you are going to the parks for the rides, you will want to be there for Rope Drop, or when the park opens. When you get to the park the font gate opens before the actual time of park opening. You can walk through the park and they have you wait before you can go back to the different “Lands” of Disney. At the time the park opens they will drop a rope (aka rope drop) and you can go back to the rides. Most people on vacation do not want to get up early to make it to the parks, so early morning you are able to walk on most rides. Getting to the park early can let you ride most of the big rides without waiting in a line.

4. Get the My Disney Experience app

This free app will help you plan not only your day but your whole trip. You will need to make reservations for theme parks and you are able to make them through this app. You can also book dining experiences, check wait times for attractions, and buy your pictures from Photopass.

5. If you have young kids, bring your stroller

Walking through the Disney parks can be exhausting for adults and dragging the kids along won’t be much fun if they are too tired. Make sure you bring your stroller so kids can take a break and rest their legs to be able to make it to the fireworks. You can rent a stroller from Disney and if you are park hopping your rental is good for the day, you can just get a new stroller at each park for no additional cost. This makes it easy not having to struggle taking it on and off transportation.

6. Bring snacks!

When going to Disney you are going to want to make sure you bring plenty of snacks for the kids. The kids are going to be hungry walking around and food prices at Disney are sky high! Save some money and bring snacks and eat your main meals at the park so you can fuel up throughout the day and cool off indoors while dining.

7. Bring souvenirs ahead of time for the kids

Buying Disney merchandise can come with a hefty price tag! Instead of spending time going through all the shops looking for souvenirs, buy them ahead of time and bring them. We usually give our kids a toy that associates the theme park we are going to on the way to the park so they are not wanting to by everything they see in the park and it also keeps them entertained in the lines for rides.

8. Check how tall your kids are before going to the park

Many attractions at Disney have height restrictions. Make sure you know how tall your kids are so you don’t have to waste time waiting in a line they can’t ride. Most rides at Disney do not have a height limit, so even if they can’t ride some rides, they can ride most.

9. Make sure you take advantage of your resort activities

All Disney resorts offer great recreation activities. Each resort offers different activities! Animal Kingdom has safari animals on property you can see, and the Polynesian Resort has a beautiful beachfront you can watch the fireworks and the nightly Electrical Water Pageant. Make sure you plan time to enjoy your resort!

Going to Disney is the trip of a lifetime for most people who go. Make sure you plan what you can and remember to make as many memories as you can. We hope you have a dream Disney Vacation!