Tips for a Successful Trip to Disney World

Our first trip to Disney World was a success.  So much so that we're already planning our return. In the process, we learned a lot and for those of you, who like us, are newbies, here are some of my best tips on how to plan for a trip to Disney World.

• Get an order from Amazon Prime Now.  We figured this out after our first day in Orlando. We stayed at a Magic Kingdom resort which was great in many ways. The most expensive thing about a trip to Disney is the food.  Rather than spend $4 on a bottle of water (yes, true), we ordered a case of water from Amazon Now along with some other drinks and brought it with us in a back pack every day.  It didn't stop us from buying drinks but it helped.  Also, tap water in Florida tastes bad.

• Other food tips.  We did a lot of character dining as well as eating at the park restaurants. That's part of the fun in my opinion.  But if you are looking to save money, we saw tons of families pack ham and cheese sandwiches in baggies, eating as they walked.  We even saw a family bring in a loaf of bread, a prepackaged deli meat package, cheese, and condiments and make their own sandwiches on site!  Maybe this type of preparation isn't worth it to you (it wasn't to us), but it's definitely an option as Disney allows you to bring your own food.

• What to eat.  Food wasn't horrible, but not great.  What really worked for my boys is roast chicken.  So many restaurants had roast chicken on the menu - either halves or quarters - served with mashed potatoes or roasted potatoes.  I wish there were more vegetables but I was pleased to see the chicken.  BB also really enjoyed the massive Tom turkey legs sold at all of the parks.  These to me were healthier, tastier options than the standard chicken nuggets.  Most of the kids' meals at restaurants were crap so the boys mostly had adult entrees.  DD loved the popcorn served at Disney.  To save money, we probably should have purchased the souvenir container that allows you to get very discounted refills on all the days you are at Disney but who is going to clean that and remember to bring it with you?  Not me.  DD was also a fan of the Mickey soft pretzels.  I liked them because they weren't overly salty like much of the food at Disney.

• Coffee is weak.  There is really no good coffee to be had at Disney.  All four parks now have a Starbucks so if you can find that and get through the line, you can have something decent that you are used to.

• Factor in transportation time.  If you stay at a Disney resort, the Magical Express will shuttle you to and from the Orlando airport.  Also, there is the monorail and shuttle buses that go between all the properties, the parks, and Disney Springs.  But you have to take wait times in to consideration when planning your day.  The first night we arrive,d we had a character dinner at Epcot.  From our hotel, this required a transfer on the monorail and we almost missed our reservation.  Similarly, we made plans one night for dinner at Disney Springs.  It took a while for the shuttle bus to show up and then the ride was incredibly long.  We were planning to go back on another night to eat dinner and do some shopping but the thought of the commute made us stay put.  Instead, the boys went for a swim and then we all had dinner at our hotel restaurant, commute-free.

• Shop the shops.  If you are looking for special merchandise and souvenirs, don't neglect to pop in to the numerous shops in your hotel lobby and at the properties.  Many of them carry different things.  I'll write up a post of the many things we purchased for the holidays, but it took visits to several stores to see all of the merchandise. It's part of the fun.

• Bags requires a separate line.  If you pack a bag to bring with you to the parks (and why wouldn't you?) make sure to pack just one so that only one of you has to go through the bag line.  There are separate security lines for those with bags and those without.  A went through the bag check line while I went through first with the boys to get a head start checking out shops, decorations, characters, whatever.

• November is great!  This was our first time at Disney and my god, early November is a dream time to go to Disney.  The weather was absolutely fabulous, 75 to 80 during the day, mid-60s in the evening.  Our first weekend was Daylight Savings, which again, was fantastic for us because it gave us an extra allowing to get to the parks earlier than we normally would have without doing anything.  And all of the holiday decorations and trees are up at all the parks!  Yes, the day after Halloween they put up the holiday stuff.  Everything was beautiful and festive.

• FastPass.  Use FastPass and download the app.  The app is not error free but it's the way to go for planning your day.  Disney World is like one large logistics puzzle and doing it well can really affect the quality of your experience.