What do you do when you beat cancer for the second time, and you are turning 40? You go to Disney World!
One of the first stops on our long-term travel journey was Disney World. We conquered six parks in nine days with nine people, the youngest being 3 years old.
Planning the trip was overwhelming with the Disney App, fast passes, dining reservations, deciding what to pack, deciding which park to go to on what days. I joined Facebook groups for Disney World to try to get tips, but that just increased my anxiety.
After going to the parks, these are the things we did that made it a great experience.
- We went during a less busy and cooler time
- We bought the mytouringplan app
- We brought our food for lunches
- We got to the park early
- We didn’t stress about doing everything
Go When it is Not a 10 out of 10 Crowd and Not 90 Degrees Outside
Although we picked the only holiday week in January, it was still much less crowded than in the summertime. It was also much cooler with temperatures, averaging around 65 degrees.
I have heard that lines can get up to 3 hours long in the summer. The lines were still long in January, but they only averaged 45 minutes. Only at Disney World can they trick you into voluntarily paying a ton of money to wait in line and then praise the line for only being an hour-long instead of 3.
Cooler weather also made it more bearable. The parks are a concrete jungle. It can get hot waiting in line. The 49-degree day at Epcot was a bit chilly, but it helped keep the crowds away.
We were walking around Epcot when we stumbled upon a group of characters that just showed up for a meet and greet. We got to see all of the characters in less than 15 minutes.
The Mytouringplan App Helped Save Us Time
We did not stay on property so we could only pick fast passes 30 days out. Even so, we were able to get fast passes for most of the rides we wanted. For the rest of the time, we used an app called touringplans (touringplans.com) that was recommended to us by our friends Brent/Holly and Denise/Michael.
We paid for the app, but it was worth it. The app will help you organize your day based on wait times. You can see wait times in the Disney app, but touring plans automatically optimizes your day, so you do not have to spend time thinking about it.
We Brought Our Food
The food at Disney World is expensive. The food is delicious if you eat in a sit-down restaurant and just okay everywhere else. We wasted less time and saved probably close to $1,000 by eating breakfast before we left, packing a lunch to eat in the park and then eating dinner when we got home at night.
We brought sandwiches, veggies, and chips. It was way better than the giant hotdog smothered in Mac’n’cheese that I had on the first day at Magic Kingdom (not the best choice, I know). Also, you can get a free cup of water at any food places and there are water fountains around to fill up water bottles.
We did one character lunch at Hollywood Studios’ Hollywood and Vine. It was a buffet, but it was excellent.
Also, the kids got to meet Micky, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Daisy at lunch, so we didn’t have to wait in line around the park to meet them. Having two boys, we did not have to do princess lunches. Michael’s sister booked two princess meals with her kids and they loved it.
The Early Bird Rides Rise of the Resistance
We arrived at the parks before they opened on 4 out of the 6 days. It was better for us with small kids, because the kids were fresh. Parking was a breeze and we could usually get on one ride before our first fast pass.
Hollywood Studios is the park where getting their early is important. The Star Wars attractions bring out the crowds. Right now, the Rise of the Resistance Ride is on a first-come, first-served basis. To get into a boarding group for the Rise of the Resistance, you must be in the park when it opens.
Michael went on the Disney App right after we entered the park at 7 a.m. to register our group and we were boarding group 106. We were wondering how the number could be so high, then we found out that they let people into the park at 6:30 a.m. to register.
At 5:30 p.m. we got the call for Rise of the Resistance. We rushed over to the ride and got in line. We waited for about an hour in line after our boarding group was called. The ride was incredible, and I am not a huge Star Wars fan. It took over 20 minutes to do the entire experience.
If you are going to Hollywood Studios, it is worth it to get their early to get a boarding group. If you want to hear all about the ride let us know. We do not want to spoil it for anyone thinking of going on it.
We Did not Stress About Seeing and Doing Everything
We had no big agenda for this trip. We did our fast passes and then we played it by ear to see what we were able to do the rest of the day. Not having dining reservations made our day more flexible and less stressful. Going back to two parks also helped lower our stress levels, because we had two days to see those two parks.
I know many people stay late, but we did not have the stamina and being off property, we chose not to go back to our Airbnb and rest in the middle of the day. We toughed it out until around 6 or 7 p.m. and then called it quits. We were able to ride all the rides we wanted to ride in the time we were there.
Our Airbnb was perfect for us. It was about 4 miles from the parks and had a great heated pool, water slides, parks, and a movie theater.
I am glad we did Disney with the kids. At 7 and 9 they are sadly starting to lose some of the magic of make-believe. They were in awe of the stormtroopers and the Incredibles characters, but spotting Mickey and Buzz Lightyear was not exciting to them.
Here are some highlights of our trip. If you have any questions about our trip or planning process, let us know.
