Experiencing the best at any Disney theme park

Yesterday I shared a bit about our family’s adventure at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and promised to share a few tips on how were able to fit in all of our must-sees, even on a crowded day at the park.

Here are my tips for navigating any Disney theme park so that you get to experience your “must-sees.”

1.     Make a must-see list. Ask around or search the web to get opinions on the park you will be visiting. Don’t read so much as to get every detail (You don’t want to ruin it by knowing TOO much!!) just find out what everyone’s favorites are and why. Then narrow it down to your top four or five for each park.

2.     Check to see which attractions offer FastPasses. Many of the most popular rides at Disney offer the chance for you to take a ticket or FastPass, and ride that ride at a later time without waiting in line. Fast Passes are free, but you are limited to how many you can have at one time. Learn more about what Disney has to say about the FastPass program.

3.     Collect Fast Passes as early as possible and gather new ones as soon as you can. FastPass opportunities do run out as the day goes on, so secure them right away. My husband took our tickets and collected our Fast Passes for Expedition Everest while the rest of us waited in line to get into the Festival of the Lion King show. This meant that when the show ended, we simply made our way to the front of the line for Expedition Everest (after the kids and I stopped on the way to grab a snack while my husband picked up FastPasses forKali River Rapids so that we wouldn’t have to wait in line for that!)  We LOVED zooming from ride to ride!

4.     Consult the park map. Find out where each attraction is located and if it has different opening or closing times than the rest of the park. Figure out if it makes sense to group any of your selections together, as we did at the Animal Kingdom. We grouped ours into two’s initially, but ended up moving them into the first three and then the final one by itself. Also double check to see that they will be in operation during your visit.

5.     Experience the most popular items in the morning when the crowds haven’t yet arrived and make your way to the attractions on your list which are in the back of the park first.

6.     Plot your trip and don’t deviate until your must-see’s have been seen. Sure, I felt a little bad ushering my kids past interesting-looking things on the way to the back of the park to experience the more popular rides first, before the crowds hit. I explained to them that we needed to hit four things and then we could explore the park at a more leisurely pace. By doing it that way, we saw much more of the park than we would have otherwise and we spent very little time waiting in line.

Most of what made our day in the Animal Kingdom a success was the fact that we started our day in the park right when it opened and headed straight for the most popular attractions at the beginning. As the day wore on, the crowds grew to an almost uncomfortable level, but we were able to time things so that we didn’t spend too much time waiting in long lines.

Narrow your list down to your top four or five. Plot them on a map to hit the most popular first. Maximize your FastPass opportunities. Don’t get too distracted until you’ve hit all the items on your must-see list. Get to the park early and prepare to have FUN!!


Comments

5 responses to “Experiencing the best at any Disney theme park”

  1. Hey great tips! As we (sadly) don’t live close to Disneyland, world or anything else, we’ve only done trip there… I would also suggest that if you value your child’s health, healthy snacks and bottles of water in the backpack are essential for a happy day! We couldn’t believe that the only meals on offer were Deep Fried. In fact I think the options were Nuggets or Burgers, Nuggets or Burgers ALL DAY, in EVERY RESTAURANT. Despite the food, we loved every minute of it, especially the adults!

  2. Another tip is that if you have a child who is too young to ride some of the rides, ask the ride attendant for child swap passes. If you already have fast passes, they will give you additional fast passes so that one parent can fastpass the ride with the older kids while the other waits with the baby, and then the other parent can fastpass the ride with the older kids. The older kids end up riding every ride twice.

    We also figured out a way for half our family to get fast passes for one ride and the other half for another ride but using the child swap we all got to go on both rides. I found this blog that explains it:
    http://blog.touringplans.com/2010/12/17/fastpasses-and-the-rider-exchange-a-powerful-combination-2/

    Another thing to keep in mind is that while the fast passes give a 1 hour window to ride the ride, you can use them after they they expire.

  3. THANK YOU for sharing this! We’re planning a trip to Disney this summer with our 6 and 2-yr. old girls. Any tips, etc. that I can find are much appreciated!

  4. I totally agree with everything you posted above. When your readers are ready to book their WDW vacation, they should visit my blog (http://www.gointothemousehouse.com). I’m an authorized Disney vacation planner, and I can help them plan their vacations for FREE!!

  5. […] November and today I’m sharing a few tips on my travel site, MomsTravelTales.com to help you experience the best of any Disney theme park. Swing over to see how we fit in all of our favorites and outsmart the crowds. Tweet This […]

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