Tips and Things to do on your first visit to Walt Disney World

Walt Disney World HUGE and it is definitely one of those places where, if you go in with absolutely no plan, you can spend hours and hours doing nothing.Or you will over-plan, and end up rushing from ride to ride, not really getting to actually experience any of the Disney magic.

So when anyone asks me how to plan a first Disney Trip and Tips, one of the things i tell them is to choose a few must-do things like which i have listed below.

Stay at Disney Resorts :

I would highly recommend staying at Disney Resorts as there are a lot of perks which you get to experience.Here are a list of my favorite few.

• You don’t have to rent a car as the transportation to all the Disney parks and resorts is complimentary
• You will be provided with magic bands during the check-in and trust me, that will make your stay easier and also works as a sovereign.
• You can make any dining reservations for your entire stay 180 days in advance of your trip and 60 days in advance for FastPass+ reservations.
• You will have the benefit of ‘Extra Magic Hours’ where you can get into the parks an hour before it opens or stay 2 hours after it closes. These are the best times to ride on some of popular attractions.

Check out all the Disney Resorts :

Whether you stay or not at Disney Resorts , I would recommend you to actually go check all the Disney Resorts so that you can experience the Disney’s magic or get an idea of where to stay on your next visit.

You can read my review on some of the Disney resorts here

• Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside
• Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge

Take a Break :

Whether your travelling with kids or no kids, i would highly recommend taking a Mid day break (which is when the temperatures are at peaks). Because , i remember during my first visit, we were totally exhausted by the end of the day and ended up going back to the resort early.

Clothes for kids :

Almost all the Disney Parks including Disney Springs have splash areas where I am sure your kids will have the most amazing time getting soaked. And why not? This is the best way to beat Orlando’s heat and humidity after all. So when looking at what to pack for Disney World it’s always best to pack some extra clothes for the kids for when they get wet!

Wear the right shoes :

Am sure you must be thinking its ‘common sense’ but wait, what if i tell you that i always see a bunch of ladies in high heels struggling to walk or walking bear foot carrying the heels in their hands? This is a very common mistake first-timers makes, I know you want those perfect instagrammable pictures but am sure you are here to have fun equally. Better wear comfortable pair of shoes and throw those heels in your backpack so that you can swap them only during your photo session.

Take a Free Boat Ride: 

Do you know, you can take Free Boat Rides within the Disney boundaries??Yes, you’ve heard it right, there are boat services which runs in between Disney Resorts and parks which are free of cost and the best part is,you can take a ride even if you are not staying at the Disney Resorts.

Prepare for rain :

You can never predict the rain in Orlando.But don’t worry, the showers last only for few minutes and it is also the best time to do the rides as there will be less people in the line. Pack a poncho if you wanna save few bucks.

Ride the Minnie van :

Am glad Disney World has made it easy for everyone to ride this via lyft app. All you need to do is open the app from anywhere within Walt Disney World Resort to access Minnie Van service, request a ride and pay for it through the app.That’s it !!

Plan a head with fast passes :

As i said, you can reserve your spot 60 days in advance which means, you don’t have to waste your time in those long waiting lines.Make sure you choose the attractions wisely as you can only reserve upto 3 attractions at once but don’t worry, you can select more three after you are done with the previous one.

Character Dinning :

I would highly recommend doing the character dinning for two reasons

• The food is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G . One of  the best quality and delicious food i ever had.
• You will get to meet the characters in person as they come to your table to greet you.If you do the dinning, then you can skip the meet & greets at the park which will save a lot of your valuable time.

Don’t forget to get your first time button :

I have visited Disneyland an Disney World a lot of times and i never forget to collect these free buttons at both Disney Resorts and Parks. You can ask one during the Check-in at your Disney resort or at the guest relations which are located right after you enter the park.

Take a picture with the Balloons :

This is my favorite thing to do when am at Disney Parks.All you have to do is ASK,  ask any balloon vendor if you can take a picture with the bunch of balloons and am sure they won’t let you down. I’ve done this during all my visits to Disneyland and Walt Disney World and the vendors are really sweet to handover them to me.

Do the Kilimanjaro safari :

This is one of my favorites and its a must do thing at Animal kingdom. Your trip to Animal Kingdom will be incomplete if you miss this(unless you’ve been to Africa and did the original Safari there).We got to see many wild animals but I have never seen a Lion or a Rhino so close in my life like i have seen here.This would be your best experience if you are travelling with kids.I would highly recommend having fastpass because we had a fastpass to go on this ride but still, we had to wait for 20 minutes in the fastpast lane for our turn.You can imagine how popular it is.

Ride it’s a small world :

This is another favorite ride at magic kingdom which I never miss at both Disneyland and Disney World. No matter how old you are, you are going to enjoy this indoor ride where it takes you to the different parts of world. And also, it is one of the best ride to do when you are tired walking or when it’s raining.

Don’t miss the Parade :

If it’s your first visit, then you should definitely not miss the parade because it is the only place where you can see all the Disney Characters at one place and it’s not just a parade but it’s a total celebration. Honestly, I would never miss watching Disney parades even if it’s my 100th visit to the Disney Park lol

Watch fireworks from main street :

You can’t end your day without watching the fireworks at Magic Kingdom.After Numerous visits to Disney Parks, I can say The best view to watch the fireworks is not in the front rows or right infront of the castle but it is from the Main Street. If you are visiting during winters then you can also experience snow fall in the main street as soon as the show ends.

Take a photo infront of castle :

How can you not take a picture infront of the castle? This is the iconic spot of the Walt Disney World where thousands of family pictures are taken in a day. If you want to avoid photo bombing, the try taking picture after or before the parade like we did in the picture below. And If you want better quality pictures then here’s the good news, Disney actually offers Magic Kingdom photo shoots where you can have professional pictures taken in front of the castle.check out their website to see the prices.

Eat Mickey Ice cream bar : 

This was the first thing i did during my first visit to Disney World in September because it was super hot and humid and I can say , it is the cutest ice cream you could see anywhere which puts it on the list of  must-do for your first trip .

Ride the Monorail : 

I would highly recommend dong this as it gives you a glimpse of Disney Resorts and Parks and moreover it is a Free. One can easily spend an entire day visiting the Disney resorts in the monorail even if you don’t have a park ticket. Click here to see the list of things you can do at Walt Disney World even without a park ticket.

Meet Mickey and Minnie :

Of course you wouldn’t wanna miss this. You will definitely see them during parades and shows but meeting them personally is definitely a worth. No matter how old you are, I  bet you will be star-strucked when you meet them. If you have planned a character dinning with Mickey and Friends then I would suggest you to skip this in the parks as it will eat up a lot of your time due to the long waiting lines.