It's Magic

There are only a handful of places where wearing sequined mouse ears and fanny packs while consuming daily Dole Whips is socially acceptable. Orlando’s Disney World is one of them.

Sign me up.

Also, we call fanny packs “belt bags” now, so they sound much cooler.

In case you’re hoping to squeeze in a late summer tip to the mouse’s house, let me give you a few pointers. I’m no Disney travel expert, but we’ve been enough times that I’d like to share some of what we’ve learned. 

Beating the heat

First, let’s talk about that heat.

People will ask you, “Why would you visit Florida in the summer?” It’s a valid point. But let me point out that most of the days were there in mid-June, it was hotter in Cincinnati than in Orlando.

But dealing with the heat there can be difficult.

You know the obvious: hats, light colors, sunscreen. But be careful: my younger daughter got sunscreen in her eye, prompting a visit to the Disney First Aid building. (An overly cheerful urgent care.) The medical professionals inside were extremely nice and sent her on her way with eye drops and stickers – and a story we’ll tell for a while.

Back to the heat: choose your park wisely. EPCOT is 95% concrete. There’s not a ton of shade to be found, even in the World Showcase. So maybe this is one to visit on a cloudier, rainy day. Animal Kingdom, on the other hand, has tons of gorgeous shade trees, not to mention water rides.

Hollywood Studios has the most shops and boutiques, so you can duck in for a quick shot of A/C and a $40 T-shirt.

Magic Kingdom has a fair number of air conditioned rides, which are a nice way to break up the day. Family favorites include Haunted Mansion, Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor, and yes, for some reason, the campy Carousel of Progress.

Smaller crowds, shorter waits

This was our seventh Disney trip, and by far the one with the smallest crowds. And this meant wait times for most rides were better than any year prior. 

I’m assuming it’s because Disney is limiting crowds. Of course, it won’t confirm that, or say how many daily reservations it’s allowing (more on that later). But what it means to tourists is that your wait times will likely be shorter. The longest line we waited in on our most recent trip was 40 minutes. 

It also means you have to plan ahead. To enter a Disney park now, you have to have a ticket AND a reservation. The ticket gets you into the park, the reservation lets the Disney folks know which park you’ll be visiting. And some parks WILL SELL OUT. 

We were walking into Hollywood Studios this summer when the family next to us was told that because they had only tickets – no reservations – they couldn’t enter the park, since it was “sold out.” We scurried out of there before the inevitable meltdown happened. So just be forewarned.

“Be sure you have a fully charged battery – because once that phone dies,
so does all of your ticket info.”

Technology is great, until it isn’t

Everything is paperless at Disney these days, which, on the surface is amazing. You just hold up your phone (you don’t even have to open an app!) and you’re scanned right in. The problems arise when the virtual tickets just don’t work, like they did with two of our four. Be sure you have a fully charged battery – because once that phone dies, so does all of your ticket info.

No more Fast Passes

Gone are the days of getting free Disney Fast Passes, those “go to the head of the line” tickets. Instead, you pay extra now for the Disney Genie service and Lightning Lane passes. It’s $15 per ticket, per day, and I’ll tell you that this is the best money you’ll spend. Using your phone, you can reserve the rides you want starting at 7am, and then pick another ride or attraction every two or so hours until the parks close. Certain rides have an even more expensive “save my seat” situation, but for most of us, this is the only upgrade we’ll need.

Sometimes, spending money to save time and sanity is absolutely worth it.

Other times, find ways to save a few bucks. Did you know Disney allows you to bring in food and drinks! We packed snacks for long lines and bottles of water that we could refill throughout the day. And the day we hopped parks, we stopped and ate a quick fast food lunch – off-campus – to break up the day. 

But don’t you fret: we sought out those cult-favorite Dole Whips – a delicious reward for a trip well-planned. 

– Kathrine Nero