I’ve never been suuuuper into Disney, but when my three-year-old became gradually more and more princess-obsessed, a trip to Disney World started sounding fun. Then my parents asked if we could all go together for their upcoming milestone birthdays and, well, the deal was done!
However, I’m also a human with anxiety, so once the trip was booked, the whole thing seemed very daunting! To help me prepare, I turned to Google, Reddit, and Facebook mom groups to help me find answers to all of the questions that were stressing me out.
I figured I’d compile up all of the questions I searched for, as well as what worked for us (or didn’t!), in case it helps another traveler out there. You can jump to a question below, or just scroll through:
How necessary is ‘character dining’?
If you’re not familiar, there are several different restaurants throughout Disney parks/resorts that have meals with characters walking around and interacting with people. There are different characters at different restaurants. Overall, the meals tend to be more expensive than at other places, and the meals can be lengthy. But people rave about how much they love them, so I was torn!
Verdict: Ahead of our trip, I booked two character meals (one that was princessy and one that had “classic” characters like Mickey and Minnie), but I ended up canceling them both. For my family, I didn’t feel like we missed out at all! My kids barely eat and really don’t do well at long meals, plus I didn’t want one meal to take up 1.5-2 hours of prime park time and about $200.
We might try again next time we go, but I’m honestly not sure! We met all the characters we wanted to while in the parks themselves, so we may continue to skip.
Should we do the Disney Dining Plan?
I made a really really insane spreadsheet listing out all of our potential meals and snacks and costs to see if the Disney Dining Plan was a good idea for us. (Yes, I’m intense.) Ultimately, it looked like we’d have to order the maximum amount of everything the plan allows in order for it to pay off (the spreadsheet factored in the two character meals I originally booked as well).
Verdict: I’m glad we skipped the DDP. For it being our first trip, I’m glad that we weren’t bound by the restrictions of a meal plan while we were getting the hang of the parks. Plus, a lot of the time we just grabbed quick snacks and drinks or shared something (especially at EPCOT!)
What should I do for my motion sickness?!
This is definitely one of those things that depends on your own personal chemistry. Considering that, I stocked up on MotionEaze scented oil, Dramamine Non-Drowsy (ginger root), Dramamine Nausea (meclizine 25), and Scopolamine patches (prescribed by a doctor).
Verdict: I decided to bring everything and start from lowest power and go higher if needed. On our Hollywood Studios day, I took a Dramamine Non-Drowsy in the morning and took another one later in the day. I felt pretty good, but still felt my stomach lurch a little bit on some rides.
The night before our next park day, I took Dramamine Nausea. Some people complain that this medication can make you drowsy, so taking it at night can help. For me, it was perfect! I felt amazing on all the rides, even spinning teacups, something I never would’ve expected!! Because of that, I didn’t end up trying the Scopolamine or MotionEaze at all
If you have the time before your trip, I’d suggest trying out any medications first, so you don’t get surprised by side effects on vacation. It felt so risky, trying this stuff out for the first time – I’m glad it all worked out fine!
Should I buy MagicBands?
At the time of our trip, my littles were 3 & 5, so I really wasn’t sure how the MagicBands would go. I ended up getting them, because I didn’t want to have to be flipping through the Disney phone and scanning for each person every time we used a Lightning Lane.
Verdict – for the kids: The Bands actually worked great for the littles! We used these little plastic things (by FB mom recommendation) to help keep them on their tiny wrists, and we kept reminding them that they didn’t need to keep them on all the time, but they needed to give them to mom or dad when they needed a break or we couldn’t go on rides anymore.
They did great with that rule and had a lot of fun scanning into rides and the hotel room and they liked the colorful lights too!
Verdict – for me: Pass! I wear an Apple Watch and that was perfect for me. I had the Disney pass set up for my watch and just used it to scan into rides, and used Apple Pay to pay for things easily as well. I did wish I had the ability to open our hotel door with my watch, but overall did better with no Magic Band.
Verdict – for my parents: They got a ‘Key to the World’ card for free while checking in to the resort instead of a Magic Band. It worked great for them! They didn’t have to mess with their phones without having to shell out $$ for a watch.
Genie+ sounds stressful… how does it work? Will I be glued to my phone?
Verdict: Genie+ was totally easy to use and so nice! I’d recommend researching it a bit ahead of time, so you’re not confused on 7 am the morning you first use it. Ear Scouts videos are a good place to start!
Candidly, I did spend a decent amount of time on my phone, but I didn’t feel “glued”. It just felt like it required a little maintenance now and then, then I could move on.
Do we REALLY need to rope-drop? Our family likes sleeping in…
Verdict: We never rope-dropped on any of our three park days and I genuinely can’t imagine my sleepy family trying to, haha. I think the earliest we got to a park was 10 am. I woke up early to purchase Genie+ and book a first Lightning Lane, then went back to sleep for a little bit before getting ready and waking up the fam. Then we either grabbed that ride (if it was time) or got into a standby line when we got to a park.
Conversely, we really enjoyed the extended hours night at Magic Kingdom! You know your family best – if you don’t want to rope-drop, you don’t have to (even if people act like that’s “doing it wrong”!).
Should I get my family matching shirts?
Verdict: Honestly, if it’s not your vibe, don’t worry about it. I started over-thinking the wardrobe for sure. We’re not a matchy family, so I decided not to buy something we’d only wear once – no regrets!
Can I order grocery delivery to the resort?
Verdict: You can, and it’s a great idea! We used Instacart and it was very easy; I just met the delivery person out front to collect my items. If I understand correctly, you can get an order even if you’re not around, and Bell Services will hold onto it for you.
It was super nice to have chocolate milk, yogurt pouches, string cheese, fruit, etc, available in our room for healthy snacks, as a break from all our park snacking’.
How is the transportation at the Wilderness Lodge?
Verdict: It was overall easy! The Wilderness Lodge uses buses to go to Disney Springs, Hollywood Studios, and EPCOT (and I think Animal Kingdom, but we didn’t go there this trip), and boats to get to Magic Kingdom. The boat to Magic Kingdom was so nice! It was peaceful and a nice way to start and end the day. My husband and I also took to the boat to the Contemporary for dinner one night and it was just as easy! I felt like the buses to the parks were pretty quick and frequent.
The only things I didn’t love about the buses were: that the ride to Disney Springs felt longish, having to fold and unfold our double stroller each time, and the crushing feeling of walking up to the bus area to find that a bus has just left. (The last one is not Disney’s fault, but still).
Should I pack anything in particular?
This was another area where I really relied on Disney Facebook groups for suggestions. Below, are some things that might not come to mind immediately when making your packing list! :
- Handheld fans – they helped! Next time, I think I’d bring misting ones, though.
- Cooling towels – honestly didn’t do much for me! Maybe I’ll try another brand next time, since people rave about them.
- Reusable water bottles – A lot of people say that the Florida drinking water tastes weird, so we got these Brita water bottles to filter out any funkiness. The stainless steel ones are a little cumbersome, but they kept the water really cold, so I’m happy with them!
- Portable chargers – especially necessary if you’re using Genie+, but just generally a good idea during a long park day! FuelRods are recommended pretty often, since there are stations throughout the parks where you can swap out a dead FuelRod for a charged one.
- Storage bags – I’m generally obsessed with these zip bags. I used them for our Disney packing, putting together each park day outfit in a bag to save time in the mornings. Then I used them for snacks, spare outfits, etc, and threw them in the bottom of the stroller or my bag.
- Stroller accessories – since we had the double stroller with us, we tricked it out, haha. These big hooks are nice for hanging water bottles or bags on. This mesh organizer was helpful for quick-access stuff like wipes and fans. For the next trip, I’ll be getting a rain cover for the stroller – totally forgot one before our trip.
- Raincoats – we ended up super super lucky to not get rain at all, but it still felt like a good idea to throw these in the stroller.
- Spare park shoes – considering how much walking you do on a Disney trip, it’s a good idea to bring a spare pair of walking shoes. This way, if your shoes get wet from a sudden rain shower, you won’t have soggy ones the next day. Also, just a generally good idea to not wear the same shoes every day – keeps your feet fresh.
- Body Glide – if you’ve got thick thighs like I do, Body Glide is v essential to help prevent the dreaded “chub rub”
Do any Disney resorts have pickleball courts?
Verdict: No idea; I didn’t really follow-through on the research, but figured I’d be candid about where my questions started going 😀 (I think some resorts do, though!)
Hope my list helps someone else! One last thing to keep in mind is that you’ll have a great trip, even if everything isn’t 100% perfect! Prepare for as much as you can, then just enjoy the ride!
