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Unless you’re one of those frequent Disney World flyers (we are not) or have 2 weeks and a bazillion dollars to spend (we do not), there WILL be moments where you think “what is this nightmare and why am I here”. Full disclaimer: we had a wonderfully magical experience at Disney. We really did. But if you are planning a family trip, there are a few things you should be prepared for so that, when they happen (because they will happen – unless you go the day after Thanksgiving, evidently), you and yours can avoid getting bogged down by complaining and make the best of it.
Now, going to Disney is a lot like getting a haircut – even if you walk into a salon and ask to “look like Jennifer Aniston”, you will not, in fact, look like Jennifer Aniston. Which is why I find articles, blog posts, and advice from friends who have gone minimally helpful.
Maybe you’ll pick up a helpful tidbit here and there, but everyone’s goals for Disney are so different, it’s hard to find that *one right way* to do it. So instead, I offer you this post with my top 5 observations from our recent trip. As obvious as it may seem, this post, at the very least, will serve as a reminder for the next time we go so that we can manage our expectations accordingly (lest we forget the reality of Disney World). Maybe you’ll find something helpful; at the very least you’ll get a good chuckle out of it.
1. Everyone is NOT happy and smiling all the time.
Much like the scarcity of negative or bad pictures on social media, it is likely that you will rarely see a picture of screaming kids and arguing adults with Cinderella’s Castle lit up in the background. But because EVERYONE is sleep deprived and over stimulated, there will be screaming kids and arguing adults scattered throughout the streets of Disney. You WILL experience meltdowns – related to wanting something and not getting it, getting something and not wanting it, sheer exhaustion, or a combination of the all of them (most likely the latter). If your kids aren’t screaming and crying and/or passed out crook-necked in a stroller… well, you’re not doing it right. The staff, however, was always cheery and bright.
2. There are no “villains”.
Just about the only adults that you WON’T see arguing or zonked are cast members (and potentially the adults that come without kids… they may be on to something… but that’s another post #adultsonlyvaca). For those of you who are not familiar, “cast members” are all members of the Disney staff, and they are typically dressed in as a main or peripheral character from your favorite Disney movie. (side note: there will also be people dressed like this who ARE NOT cast members… Just FYI.) But you know who you WON’T see? Villains. Now if you see one of the live action shows, some of them have villains. But I did not see one single villain roaming about the streets. No Cruella De Vil, no Ursela, no Maleficent. So this in particular bummed me out. And, honestly, other than Elsa and Anna, the one other person Emily was hoping to see was Maleficent (hence her face paint). She even asked why Maleficent wasn’t an option at the Bipidi Bobidi Bootique.
3. You will be waiting in line… always a lot.
At Disney World, you’ll wait in line for everything – bathrooms, rides, attractions, food, transportation… Duh. I know. Probably as obvious as crowds and mouse ears. But it needs to be said BECAUSE going into your Disney trip you’ll have all sorts of ideas on what you’re going to get accomplished each day. You can try and build in “enough” of a buffer to account for wait times, just don’t get discouraged when you don’t do all that you want. The good news is that, with the exception of the bathrooms, Disney has built in ways to minimize the wait times: the ability to reserve fast passes, complete mobile food orders, make dining reservations, as well as an app that estimates current wait times for each park. But beware of over-scheduling, too. Some dining places will charge you a late cancellation fee if you miss a reservation.
4. You can find delicious food. But it’s expensive.
According to the Disney World Help Center:
Guests are allowed to bring outside food and nonalcoholic beverage items into the park for self-consumption, provided they are not in glass containers and do not require heating, reheating, processing, refrigeration or temperature control and do not have pungent odors.
Disney World Help Center
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS! The food isn’t bad… I would even argue that the majority of it is good. But one of the days we spent $75 on lunch for the 5 of us, which didn’t even include alcohol. If you do opt for bringing food in, I recommend getting one of these cooler backpacks. It fit a TON, but was still light to carry and it is leak proof and insulated so it kept things cold all day! And if you’re not bringing food in. Eat at Epcot. We did every single night.
Beyond the quality of the food, the restaurants are some of the best places to see and visit characters. We thoroughly enjoyed the character dinner at the Crystal Palace.
The fireworks were happening so the kiddos missed Eeyore.
5. There are some pretty good accommodations for the physically impaired, but some pretty lousy-mannered humans.
Less than a week before our Disney World trip, I fell playing soccer and injured my knee really badly (see picture). After the initial wave of pain and panic, I settled into the realization that I wasn’t going to be able to do all the walking/standing/etc. required at Disney. I started looking into my options and luckily (also unfortunately?) my sister’s friend had a similar thing happen to her before their Disney trip… and she had rented a scooter. So for about $160 for the entire 4 days, I had a shiny red scooter waiting for me upon our arrival at the resort. It was mine to keep for the duration of our stay (and also mine to plug in at night… be sure to check that the outlets in your room are functional). Now, I’m not going to say you should draw straws before your trip and club someone on the knee a la Nancy Kerrigan circa 1994. I WILL tell you that not only did the scooter help immensely with getting around (for me AND for tired children), but because I was unable to walk long distances or keep my leg in a “down” position for extended periods of time, I was able to get a disability access card for our whole group. Which essentially allowed us to access a virtual queue; we were in line without having to be in line. And every single cast member we interacted with was extremely helpful – from parallel parking me on the buses (because YIKES), to transferring the scooter from the entrance to the exit of rides, to allowing me to charge up while eating lunch… Customer service A++.
The only downside was navigating the crowds. PSA: be kind to the wheelchair-bound and scooter-driving population. Acknowledge them, but don’t stare. Make space for them and don’t cut them off, just like you wouldn’t cut off a human walking. And if you do, say excuse me. Even though I was averaging some decent speeds, I frequently lost the group because I was avoiding pedestrians, only a handful of which apologized. (Shout out to Jonathan and Matthew who were VERY good at setting picks!)
Are you planning a Disney World trip? Have you recently gone to Disney World? What am I missing? Tell me in the comments below!
