Top 5 Things I Did Right On My First WDW Trip

Last week's post was all about mistakes we made on our first family vacation to Walt Disney World. I thought it would only be fitting to follow that up with 5 things we did RIGHT on that trip! Despite being sick for half of our trip, there was a lot that went great but I'll try to narrow it down!

5. Taking Rest Days

For our vacation in 2017 we had 5 days of parks planned, 3 days of travel and 2 rest days. Those rest days were a total life saver! Doing parks open to close is EXHAUSTING! Not only do you do a ton of walking and standing, but it's hot and humid in Florida which can be physically draining as well. Our schedule looked something like this:

• Day 1-Epcot

• Day 2- Animal Kingdom

• Day 3- Rest Day/Dinner at T-Rex in Disney Springs

• Day 4- Rest Day/Dinner at Chef Mickey's 

• Day 5- Magic Kingdom

• Day 6- Hollywood Studios

• Day 7- Magic Kingdom 

Thankfully we were taking a rest day on the day Sofia started to get sick so we were able to take it a little easier than we would have if we'd been in the parks. The only thing I would maybe do differently would be to spread those rest days out a little bit better instead of taking them back to back. Those last 3 days were really tiring because we tried to do 3 parks in a row. 

4. Staying on Disney Property

There are SO many benefits to staying at a Disney Resort! The perks started on arrival day when we were able to take advantage of Disney's Magical Express. 

Magical Express will pick you up at Orlando International Airport, grab your checked luggage for you, drop you off at your resort and put your bags in your room for you. They also will grab your bags before you check out and shuttle you back to the airport. You can reserve your spot on Magical Express by phone, online or through your Disney Travel Agent.

We chose to stay at Art of Animation for their Little Mermaid themed rooms. Sofia's bedroom at home is mermaid themed so she obviously loves Ariel and was so excited to be surrounded by all things Little Mermaid. The Little Mermaid section is located at the far end of the resort so it was a bit of a walk to and from the buses every day but it felt a lot more secluded so it was quieter and our pool was empty when we used it on our first rest day.

Other perks to staying on property include:

•  Online check-in on the My Disney Experience App which allows you to skip the check-in desk and go directly to your room. 

• The ability to schedule Fast Pass+ 60 days in advance to your arrival day as opposed to 30 days for off-property guests. This allows you to claim your spot for the really popular attractions a lot easier than someone who has to wait an extra 30 days. 

• Complimentary Magic Bands that act as your room key, park tickets, fast passes and can be used to pay for purchases in the parks and at your resort. 

• Extra Magic Hours on select days which allows you to be in the parks either in the morning or in the evening when off-property guests are not. We took advantage of Evening Extra Magic Hours at Epcot on our first night. We were able to stay in the park an hour after normal park hours which allowed us to walk on to several rides. 

3. Using Lots of FastPass+

This one is pretty much a no-brainer but I feel like I still need to talk about it! FastPass+ saved us so much time! 60 days before our arrival we were able to go onto the My Disney Experience App and reserve passes for some of the more popular rides. You are able to choose up to 3 FastPasses for each park day. Once those 3 are used, you are then able to open up the app and select another FastPass.

If I had to change anything about the way we did our FastPasses, I would make sure to schedule the first 3 right away in the morning. The mistake we made our first day was that we had them spread out through out the day. So we did end up having to wait in some long lines because we had to wait to book another FastPass until the ones later in the day were used up.

So my advice would be to get those first 3 advance FastPasses out of the way in the first few hours. Then you can grab passes for other popular rides as you go! 

2. Purchasing the Disney Dining Plan

Character Dining at Crystal Palace

One of the things I'm SO glad we purchased before our trip was the Disney Dining Plan. We went with the standard Dining Plan where each person gets 2 snack credits, 1 quick service credit, and 1 table service credit per night. You also get a complimentary refillable mug that you can refill for free at your resort. I knew this would be a good idea for us so that we didn't have to worry about budgeting for food while we were in the parks.

One of the best things about having the dining plan was that we were able to do several character meals. Those meals are pretty spendy and I knew we wouldn't be able to afford doing all of the ones we had planned out of pocket. One thing I didn't plan for was just how much food we'd be getting. It's a LOT of food! By the end of our trip we were treating other people in our party that didn't have the dining plan to snacks. On our departure day we actually went to the food court at our resort and stocked up on snacks to take home with us.

When we travel as a family we will most likely always purchase the dining plan. But it's not always the best value. You really need to make sure you're planning on eating at the most expensive spots to maximize your credits and get your money's worth. One of my favorite tools when I'm planning is this website where you can put in where you're planning on eating to see if the dining plan will be worth it for you! 

1. Utilizing Disney PhotoPass Photographers

We discussed PhotoPass a little in last week's post but it's definitely worth mentioning again. Before our trip, I didn't think we'd need it. We were traveling with my parents and my grandparents so I knew there would be plenty of cameras and I figured we had the picture department covered. I didn't want to shell out the cash for something we could do ourselves. But I was so wrong! 

I'm so glad that we actually used the PhotoPass Photographers in the park even though we hadn't purchased Memory Maker. They captured so many great photos of character meet and greets and the picture quality was miles above what our smart phones captured. We were able to purchase Memory Maker after our trip so we could have all of those great pictures but in the future we'll purchase BEFORE our trip to save ourselves $30.

So there you have it! 

These are my top 5 tips from our first family vacation to Walt Disney World! Now I want to hear from you! What are some things you've done on past trips that made things even more "magical"?! Let me know in the comments below!