We went to Walt Disney World in February 2020. We flew on Southwest (first time traveling with no strollers or carseats… hallelujah!), took the magical express to our resort Port Orleans- French Quarter, and used on site transportation the entire week. When planning our trip, I loved reading tips and tricks so I wanted to share some of my own! Enjoy ºoº

1. Use a WDW travel agent | It doesn’t cost any extra!!! Our travel agent quoted us several packages before we decided on our resort and exact week. Once we finalized our itinerary, she booked our hotel and most of our dining. She also took care of renting our stroller. We had a hiccup with a dining reservation while we were there. I let our travel agent know, she handled it and got the exact outcome we hoped for. It’s worth it! We used Anna Petry (you can find her HERE).

2. Rent a stroller | I’ve rented and also taken my own stroller to Disney. I prefer renting. Upon arrival, we picked the stroller up at the airport and dropped off before boarding our flight home. We used Kingdom Strollers- they were great! We rented a double city mini gt. Our five year old is almost 48 inches tall and she fit. It worked equally well for our one year old. Check out Kingdom Strollers HERE.

3. Packing the stroller| I packed the stroller before going to bed each night and it was the best decision I made. While the girls were getting ready for bed, I pulled out the things from under the stroller and repacked for the next day. The MOST annoying thing about the stroller is that you have to collapse it to get to and from parks on the busses. It’s not ideal, but we figured out a system that worked great for us. Each day, I packed a large tote bag. I used packing cubes for the following items: all things needed for autographs (we did a picture mat, an autograph book (both of those in baggies in case of rain), and sharpies), an extra set of clothes for both girls, and one for snacks. You could set this up with whatever works best for you. The point is all items were in a packing cube with like items. When using transportation, all the packing cubes went into the large tote. We also took a diaper bag that had all things baby. My husband carried the diaper bag and the stroller. I carried our one year old and the large tote. After going through bag search, we unpacked the tote and put the packing cubes under the stroller and folded up the tote to fit underneath too. There is a good amount of storage underneath but a large tote is not going to fit without taking everything out. We used two stroller hooks while in the park. The diaper bag went on one, and the other was used for purchases in the park or whatever else was needed. At the end of the night, everything loose went in the large tote, and off we went on the bus. The first night we were literally carrying so many items in our hands because we just put stuff under the stroller without thinking about how we would get it all home.

4. Use the app | You can do everything from checking into your room, reviewing purchases, modifying fast passes, checking wait times, and so much more. Game changer!

5. Refresh, refresh, refresh…. the app | We literally did not wait in one line without a fast pass. If you continue to refresh, times magically appear. Snag it quick though, because it may disappear before you get it. This worked for dining reservations as well. If I had a time that I didn’t love, I tried to modify (keep trying at different times if it doesn’t pop up immediately) and we got every time we wanted.

6. Do not push your kids too hard | When you spend thousands of dollars to go on vacation it’s easy to have the mentality of “getting your money’s worth” The repercussions of pushing my kids too hard is not worth any amount of money! Prioritize what’s most important for each park and do that first! When your kids are done- go back to your hotel.

7. 1 table service meal a day | We did the meal plan and I am glad we did. We did one character meal each day. This pretty much covered all the characters our kids wanted to see, which meant we didn’t have to wait in long lines in the parks to see them. Sitting down for one meal each day gave us time to relax and recharge to conquer the rest of our day.

8. Take rest days | We did five days in the park. On the third day, we had a slow morning and didn’t get in the parks until 2 pm. I wish we would have used the whole day to rest. And by rest, I mean swim, shop, go to Disney Springs. So not true resting, but also not walking 10 miles for the day. Next time, I will also build in a rest day after traveling. Our very first day in the parks was exhausting for our kids, because we had traveled the entire day before.

9. Mobile order- preview menus | I have celiacs disease, so I usually always preview menus so I can figure out what I want. (Sidenote: Disney was amazing with my food allergy.) If you aren’t one that usually previews menus or orders ahead, you will definitely want to do this in Disney. Especially, if you are traveling with kids. We did mobile orders for every quick service and also for breakfast at Be Our Guest. The app allows you to also preview the menus under your reservation. Im sure you could also find it on the website but the app is so easy to use! Previewing or ordering allowed us to have food quickly and to avoid hangry children. Everyone should avoid hangry children (and husbands for that matter) in all circumstances. Can I get an amen?!

10. Gift cards for spending money | We gave our daughter her spending money on a gift card- she’s five. She got $50 for the week. There were absolutely no stipulations on what she could buy; she had total freedom. We helped her reason through purchases and to understand prices. When she said, “I wish I could get that toy.” I would respond, “You can! But you have to use your gift card.” She ended up with two toys. Thankfully, she was content with her purchases and didn’t whine and complain about not getting all the things. I think she felt completely in control of how she spent her money and she loved that! We bought her a few things here and there that was extra but it was things we chose not necessarily stuff she picked out. She wasn’t able to buy something every day or even at each park, but it was just right for us. We also have a one year old, and she clearly didn’t get a gift card but she did have the same budget. I just got to spend it for her 🙂 She also got two toys.

11. Pack outfits in packing cubes | I started pulling all of our Disney shirts out of our closets about a month before I packed. I then shopped locally or made what we still needed. We didn’t match every day but we had a theme. For example, in animal kingdom we all wore Lion King shirts. Target pulled through with the disney tees! Then the week of I added jackets and bottoms after looking at the weather. Packing everyone’s outfit in a cube for the day was huge for us. It did take extra work but at 6:30 am pulling a cube out and handing everyone their outfit was much easier than looking through suitcases or drawers trying to decide what to wear.

I hope this is helpful for you and your family! Most of all, go in with knowing that you will most likely have hiccups throughout the trip (at least one) but enjoy your time with your sweet family. After all, Disney is the most magical place on Earth!

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Here are some of the items we packed with us!

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