I’m a big Disney lover and my kids are too. We recently got back from Walt Disney World where we stayed at the Art of Animation resort for four nights. We had the absolute best time! We went to Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom (our favorite), enjoyed character dining, our daughter had a makeover at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, and we also attended our first Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party — it was an amazing experience!
I know a Disney trip takes a lot of planning and can seem overwhelming, so here are some tips and tricks to hopefully make your next Disney World trip a little bit more enjoyable:
1. Use a travel advisor.
Of course this is personal preference, but we used a travel agent and it took the majority of the stress away from the trip planning process. If you’ve never used a travel advisor before, most of them are free to use to the client and they will plan pretty much every detail for you. My travel advisor was amazing and made our dining reservations, booked our hotel/tickets, and even offered to book our lightning lane experiences when it came time to do so. They also have so many tips to give you that you’d never know on your own! I cannot recommend enough to have a travel advisor help you plan your trip. There are so many you can choose from; I’ve used A Mouse and A Beach for all my trips and they’ve been wonderful.
2. Buy Disney gift cards in advance when they’re on sale.
This can save you some money as you can use Disney gift cards for almost everything on Disney property. We bought ours from Sam’s Club as they run promotions where you can save money on certain amounts of gift cards you buy. When you do this, you end up saving $5-20 depending on the gift card amount you purchase. I know other stores run promotions on gift cards as well (like Target and Costco), so be on the lookout for that this holiday season especially if you have a Disney trip coming up! On that same token, Disney also has a Chase Visa card where you can earn lots of points on purchases and also get some good discounts when at the parks or on other Disney purchases. It’s worth looking into!
3. Bring snacks/drinks/small toys for your kids into the parks to save money and time.
Disney lets you bring in food and drinks which saves a lot of money while you’re in the parks. We take a backpack cooler and it helps so much. I’d recommend some of your kids’ favorite snacks and lots of drinks! The parks have water stations and will give you cups of water for free as well. Also, for long lines (especially if you have smaller children), I recommend buying some fidget toys for them to play with while in line. You can prevent a lot of meltdowns this way and make it a more enjoyable experience for everyone. 
4. Don’t over plan.
I know this seems crazy and you definitely should have a plan, but don’t plan every little detail to the last second. Things are going to happen that are out of your control and kids (and adults) are going to get tired and the plans are going to change. We planned our trip to be six nights and seven days, and had to cut our plans short because a hurricane ended up closing the parks for a day and a half and no one expected that. There’s always going to be some hiccup whether a big one like we had or some smaller inconveniences and everyone is going to need to be a little flexible. It’s so much more fun to enjoy the ride and make some beautiful memories with your family regardless of these changes in plans.
