Top 5 Disney Time Saver Tips

Kristen

I know, I know, you are on vacation.  It's a time to relax and go slower, but if you follow that mentality while in Disney, you will miss out on a lot of opportunities.  So here we go, the 5 best ways to get the most time out of your Disney vacation.

 

5.  Do not stop for breakfast upon entering the park.  This will waste a minimum of 30 minutes that you could be using to get fastpasses or getting on a few quick rides while everyone else is standing in line for coffee or pastries.  We bring pop-tarts and cereal and eat in the room or on the bus.

4.  Make use of the fastpass system.  When we enter the park each morning we have a plan in place.  For example-at Animal Kingdom we split.  My husband takes everyone's Key to the World card and goes to the Safari for fastpasses while the rest of us meander to Everest.  He meets us at the ride entrance and we ride Everest without losing any time.  He can move a lot faster without the kids and I don't have to hurry the kids along too much.  As soon as the next fastpass becomes available we get the next one.

We have also had fastpasses that we couldn't/didn't want to use-feel free to pass them on to someone else-people are more than happy to accept them!


3.  Take an afternoon break.  I know this sounds counter-intuitive, but when the kids are getting hot, tired and cranky it makes sense.  We don't always leave the park to take a break, there are plenty of long rides to catch a few zzz's.  Ellen's Energy Adventure is a perfect example.  It's at least 45 minutes long-a perfect place to cool off, take a quick nap and just chill out.  Some days we head back to swim for a few hours.  The break in the afternoon refreshes everyone and gets you away from the highest crowds of the day and ready for a fun-filled evening. 

2.  Take the 5-10 minutes to get things ready the night before in case you want the 10 minutes extra sleep.  I always re-pack the bag, get breakfast started and lay out everyone's clothes.  In the morning, when I am trying to stumble around in the dark so the kids can sleep as long as possible I know that everything is ready to go.

1.  Be at rope drop.  We are always standing in line at the gate at least 20 minute before the park opens for the day.  We consistently do more in the first 2 hours then the rest of the day-especially at Magic Kingdom.  My husband is high energy, so I let him lead the first few hours and then we slow things down for the rest of the day knowing how much has already been accomplished.