If you are going to watch the Festival of Fantasy parade at 3:00PM, I have found the best place to watch it is at the town square train station in the very front when you walk in, it’s also where you get on Walt Disney World Railroad. Get there about 30-40 minutes early to get the front spot! It’s cool to watch and then you won’t get trampled on by people.
Get your firstpass for 45 minutes to an hour after the park opens so you can run to a ride that you didn’t get a fast pass for. We usually run to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train or Space Mountain!
Utilize the My Disney Experience app! The app has come so far and it seriously so helpful if you just use it you can see wait times for rides, when your next fast pass is, where restaurants are, times when shows are happening, where you can meet your favorite characters, bus times and ordering your food! So much information in one free app!
Use mobile ordering in the My Disney Experience app. Lunch is always the meal that we seem to have little to no time to eat. We usually have fast passes that are right around then and lines can be intimidating if you are trying to make a fast pass time slot.
If you are not staying on property, save your shopping for the end of the day, this way you are not lugging around your purchases. The stores on main street USA stay open a bit after park close as well so you can get what you want! If you are staying on property then utilize that the cast members at the store will have your purchases sent back to your resort for you!
If you get to Magic Kingdom really early, about 45 minutes to an hour early before rope drop, you can get really good pictures in front of the castle with out other people in the pictures! It makes that iconic shot a lot more special when there aren’t other families in the background getting their picture taken as well. Aside from pictures all of the stores are open and you can get a head start in the Starbucks line!
Have a game plan for your day but don’t get worried or stressed out when plans change. It is good to go into the day with a list of the rides you want to ride and some of the snacks and foods that you want to try. But with that being said, know that wait times for rides will change and plans don’t always stay the same. Me being the “planner” that I am, I always have to just be okay with how the day goes. But really once you are in Disney World, to me anyways, I’m always happy and ready to go with the flow and see where the day takes us.
On the other hand, if you are in a lull of the day, check the My Disney Experience app to see which of your favorite rides have lower than normal wait times! You might be surprised to see that something on your list has a low wait time. Checking the app also helps because you can know how long the rides wait time is before making the trek across the park to see if it’s short in person.
The last time we visited, we rode Big Thunder Mountain again at night and it felt much faster, we loved it! We also felt the same about Seven Dwarfs Mine Train!
Speaking of night time, you can get in line for any ride up until park close. So plan your evening accordingly and get in line for one of the big roller coasters a couple of minutes before park close and you can ride one last ride before the night is over and you head back to your resort or hotel.
I hope that you find some of these tips helpful! What are your favorite Disney tips and tricks? I have a Disney trip coming up and would love to hear them!