My “I’m So Glad I Had That or Did That” Disney List

People are beginning to pack their suitcases again and head on the trips they have had waiting on the sidelines for the past two years of quarantine days. For many, this includes the streets of Disney World along with the other thousands of others who are journeying there as well. 

It can feel crowded to navigate through the many lands at the several different parks, but it can still feel like an efficient flow when you have gathered some tips and highlights before you go. 

There are many different routes to take (drive or fly, go with a Disney agent, self-research, etc), but you know which path works best for you and your crew.

I know from a mama standpoint, I gleaned from reading other mama blogs who had tips to share on their Disney experience, you never know what is truly helpful until you have gone with your crew. I wanted to share this blog with you on the “I’m so glad I had this” topic from one mama to another – my kids are 9, 10, and 11 years old – to give you a gauge on what connects to your family. 

I realize that different trips have varying budgets, so use what feels helpful within your financial planning on this trip for you. 

We went the driving route and it was about a 14-hour drive from Cincy for us. For this particular trip, it was a better fit for us to break up the drive, so we drove about seven hours on Friday, then the rest of the drive on Saturday. 

Amazon has great Disney activity books for cheap and for the road trip, I had a brown paper bag for each of my kids with a different activity book and favorite road trip snacks of theirs (this helps save time at the gas station). The Dollar Store is SO great for buying candy and chips. We also pack a backpack cooler with ice in our van with special treat drinks, turkey, and cheese for sandwiches, so that it helps with stop times as well.

Also, Pinterest has some fun printables for the license plate games you can check off, and my kids loved being challenged with finding as many license plates as possible this road trip!

We stayed at the Fort Wilderness RV Camp, and it is a fun and nice place to rest and have downtime. We took Sunday to rest from the days of traveling and lounge by the pool for the day. If your travel time allows, it served us well to have that day to step our minds into vacay mode before spending multiple days at the parks.

This was our itinerary for the week.

Monday and Tuesday: Magic Kingdom

So thankful we chose two days to walk through the park (day one – Fantasyland and Frontierland; day two – Tomorrowland and Adventureland). It really helps you enjoy and savor those favorite rides and get to experience the park at a different kind of pace.

Wednesday: Rest Day  

It was the best decision to have a rest day in between park days. We slept in, had a slow morning, and each of us was able to either rest at the RV or lounge at the pool, and it was a replenishing time.

Thursday: Hollywood Studios  

We all loved Star Wars Land and kids can make their own light sabor in the gift shop there, instead of going to the class that is $200 per person to build. This was a tip someone had given us that kids really enjoyed doing because it does not take long and they get to pick their colors and different parts on it.

Friday: Animal Kingdom 

Our kids all love the big rides so we were in planning mode to tackle the flow of our day based on the long wait lines. It can feel early, but making it to rope drops is so worth it in order to tackle multiple rides in a shorter period of time.

Other Tips:

• Download the Disney Experience App and get on at 7 a.m. every morning to get your Genie+ Lightning Lane reservations to guide the flow of your day. Place your top two rides on the tip board the night before so when 7 a.m. hits, they are the first to come up. Pinterest has great mama blogs on rides to choose for the Lightning Lane that I used and it was like gold! I watched the app the day before we went to the park to see which rides sold out early in the morning and which ones were still available later in the day, and that really helped with our choices.
• We bought the Disney Memory Maker this trip and it provided great options throughout all of the parks for different spots to get some family photos that instantly go into your app. Then it captures all of your ride photos and my kids loved those the most! I used most of these to make a Snapfish book after our trip!
• I used my extra phone battery pack daily while at the parks because I managed the lightning passes for our crew, and the battery on my phone went quickly in the park. I bought a solar battery pack off of Amazon, and it charged on my backpack while we were walking around and always stayed charged that way!
• Bring an extra pair of tennis shoes/sandals and rain ponchos. It can rain daily depending on which season you go in (we were there in June), and it can be helpful to at least have two pairs of shoes to rotate out for wet times.
• Pack cooling gear. We used each of these items daily – cooling towels, portable fan, and spray fan mister.
• Bring a refillable water bottle. Water in the park is so expensive, so carrying a refillable bottle in your backpack is super helpful on the budget!
• Walgreens, dollar stores, and Walmarts all carried great Disney-themed gifts options that we used for “souvenirs drops” in the morning before we went to the park. A favorite one was a penny press souvenir book so in each park, they were able to find the different presses and collect those.
• I did research before on “best snacks in each park” and had our break times set for Dole Whip always and one fun-themed snack in each park we wanted. Then we brought other snacks for the lines and used mobile lunch ordering and reservations for early dinner at Hollywood Studios (the Sci-Fi restaurant was so fun to experience).
• Something fun that the kids loved was I made up a collage at the end of every park day and gave out “awards” for the day. I shared with them what awards everyone got on the way to the next park and they loved contributing ideas all day, and it helped with savoring fun memories shared together.

What are some things you would add to the “I’m So Glad I Had That or Did That” list for fellow Disney adventurers out there?