Planning a Walt Disney World vacation can be overwhelming, especially if it’s your first time visiting. Purchasing park tickets, selecting a hotel, and learning the ins and outs of Lightning Lanes can be a lot. That’s not to mention setting your budget and choosing dates that work for everyone in your travel party. During my time as a Disney cast member, I observed many first-time guests learn things that I wish I could tell every person who walks into the parks for the first time. Some of these unwritten rules and realities really catch guests off-guard.
In this article, I’m sharing some of those tips in the hopes that you can feel confident about your own first visit to Disney World. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including our timestamped report of what we accomplished at Disney After Hours and a food brand integration changing Disney theme parks.
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My Cast Member Days
Long before I was a senior writer with Mickey Visit, I worked as a cast member at Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World. My role was unique in that some shifts took place inside the park, interacting with guests all day, while other shifts were predominantly behind the scenes, tending to tasks that guests never saw. This experience now gives me a perspective on varied disciplines at work on any given day in a Disney theme park. There is so much that goes into each moment every guest enjoys.
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During my guest-facing shifts, visitors would often ask the same questions about their day in the park. Even though I worked in merchandise, I was expected to be knowledgeable about everything in the park, or be able to find an answer quickly to something I didn’t know. Within conversations I had with guests, a few common topics frequently came up.
As I share these observations, I don’t attempt to speak for the tens of thousands of Disney World cast members who work in the parks today, or worked there in the past, nor do my words represent Disney as a company. These simply reflect my personal experience from a job I loved.
Here are 10 things that Disney cast members wish every first-time visitor knew.
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1. This Place is Huge
The entirety of Walt Disney World Resort is 43 square miles. That’s roughly 27,000 acres, twice the size of Manhattan. First-time guests often don’t realize just how huge Disney’s property is until they arrive. That’s not their fault, as there truly is no comparable vacation destination of this scale anywhere in the world.
Even if first-timers are aware that Disney World has four theme parks and nearly two dozen hotels, it’s tough to picture the geography of how that all fits together and is contained within its own borders, uninterrupted by the outside world, without having seen it in person.
As it relates to planning a trip, the takeaway from this information is that 1.) it can take a while to get from point A to point B, so allocate ample travel time, and 2.) familiarize yourself with Disney’s expansive transportation network. Disney provides transportation for free to all guests. This includes monorails, buses, boats, and aerial gondolas. Know which transportation options service the hotel you’re staying at, and how to get to the places you plan on visiting.
2. Park Opening Time Isn’t Really Park Opening Time
Every Disney theme park has a scheduled opening time, but first-time guests might not realize that “park opening” is a bit of a misnomer. The posted park opening time is when rides begin operating for all guests. 30 minutes before that is the posted Early Theme Park Entry time, when rides begin operating for guests staying at official Disney hotels. Roughly 30 minutes before that is when the park physically “opens,” when guests are admitted through the entry gates. Before that time, guests can file through the security checkpoint and wait outside the ticket tapstile.
Some guests prefer to know all of these various times exactly. Others take their visit more casually. Either is fine. The main thing to keep in mind is that if you’re referencing the park opening time to discern the earliest you can enter the park, you’re sourcing the wrong metric, and a lot of guests will already be in the park by the time you arrive.
3. Park Closing Time Isn’t Really Park Closing Time
The posted park closing time has similar flexibility. Park closing time is not when Disney physically kicks guests out and closes the gates. Park closing time is when Disney stops admitting guests into ride queues.
Any guest can enter a line, no matter how long it is, right up until closing time. For example, if Magic Kingdom closes at 11:00 PM, you can hop in the Space Mountain line through 10:59, even if it still has a 120-minute wait.
On many evenings, nighttime spectaculars such as the Disney Starlight parade at Magic Kingdom or the Fantasmic! show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios even have showtimes that begin at the “park closing” time.
In this regard, guests can physically stay in the park longer than the closing time may indicate.
4. You Should Have a Plan, But You Don’t Need Every Moment Scheduled
“Go with the flow” vs. “plan every second” is the age-old question of planning a Disney World vacation. Different journalists, content creators, and travel agents have different opinions on this, but I personally think that Lightning Lanes, rope drop, advanced dining reservations, etc., are not requirements for a fun trip. Knowing all the ins and outs of those systems might help you accomplish a greater quantity of attractions, absolutely. However, I think it’s a false narrative that the person who shows up at a park without an itinerary is doomed.
If you want to read up on Disney’s various planning tools, that’s great, and we have quite a few guides to help you do so. For the person who wants to take on absorbing that information, those processes can be helpful in getting more things done. They are not necessary, though, to have a fun family vacation.
A happy medium is probably the best approach to have. On a macro level, I would say at least know which park you want to visit each day of your trip ahead of time, and know its operating hours. If there’s a ride or experience that’s a must-do for you or someone in your party, prioritize that first and know how to guarantee that you see it, whether that means arriving first thing in the morning to avoid a long wait, obtaining a Lightning Lane reservation, or accepting the possibility of a long wait time.
5. Pace Yourself, Especially on Arrival Day
This tip is easy to write, but hard to practice. Even after working at Disney World, I still have to remind myself to pace myself on return trips. Especially on your arrival day, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of the vacation and hit the ground running, but that usually leads to feeling exhausted on the first full day of the trip and having to correct accordingly.
Don’t try to be on the go all the time. Build in time for rest. Being out in the parks, walking upwards of 10 miles every day, in the Florida heat, is a big ask on your body. Midday naps at your hotel can be lifesavers. If your trip is more than three days, consider the flow of the week and the park hours for each day, and choose at least one day to sleep in. Going hard all day, every day can take its toll.
6. Mickey is at Every Park
Looking for Mickey Mouse? You can meet him at the following locations in the parks:
- Magic Kingdom: Town Square Theater on Main Street, U.S.A.
- EPCOT: Mickey & Friends near CommuniCore Hall
- Disney’s Hollywood Studios: Red Carpet Dreams Starring Mickey & Minnie on Commissary Lane
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom: Adventurers Outpost on Discovery Island, near the bridge to Asia
Mickey also meets at the following character meals:
- Chip ‘n’ Dale’s Harvest Feast at Garden Grill Restaurant at EPCOT | Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Minnie’s Seasonal Dining at Hollywood & Vine at Disney’s Hollywood Studios | Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Tusker House Restaurant at Disney’s Animal Kingdom | Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Chef Mickey’s at Disney’s Contemporary Resort | Breakfast, dinner
- Best Friends Breakfast featuring Lilo & Stitch at ‘Ohana at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort | Breakfast
- Breakfast à la Art with Mickey & Friends at Topolino’s Terrace – Flavors of the Riviera at Disney’s Riviera Resort | Breakfast
- Good Morning Breakfast with Goofy & His Pals at Ravello at Four Seasons Resort Orlando | Breakfast, select days only
7. Don’t Spend Money on Bottled Water
DASANI bottled water costs $4.25 throughout Disney World. There’s no need to spend money on that unless you really want to. Cups of water are free at any dining location. Take advantage of this at any opportunity you can.
Bring a refillable water bottle to fill up at water fountains or bottle-filling stations throughout the park, too. If you’re thirsty, that means your body is already dehydrated. Drink water!
There’s also a first aid center in every park if you need to lie down for a moment. First aid is at the following locations:
- Magic Kingdom: Next to Casey’s Corner on Main Street, U.S.A.
- EPCOT: Between The Odyssey building and the Mexico Pavilion
- Disney’s Hollywood Studios: At the very front of the park, next to Sid Cahuenga’s One-of-a-Kind
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom: On Discovery Island, next to Creature Comforts/Starbucks
8. Prepare for Rain
Yes, Florida is the Sunshine State, but it’s also notoriously rainy. Even if your weather app calls for sunny skies all day, expect rain at some point. This is especially true during summer months, when quick, afternoon thunderstorms are the norm.
Many outdoor attractions still operate in the rain, but all outdoor experiences strictly close at the first sign of lightning or thunder.
See our guide on what to pack for rainy weather.
9. There Are Details Everywhere
Similar to the huge size of Walt Disney World, the notion of architectural storytelling and visual details everywhere might be difficult to grasp without having experienced it firsthand. Walt Disney Imagineers are storytellers at their core. Yes, they build incredible rides that are capable of dropping you and spinning you every which way.
Unlike typical amusement park rides, though, Disney attractions function in service of a story. They are meant as conduits to fantasy. Expedition Everest at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, for instance, isn’t a mere roller coaster, but a trek up and into a nearly 200-foot mountain that’s not a mountain at all, but a towering feat of architecture created by artists.
This storytelling goes beyond the rides themselves and extends into every area of the park. Look up, look down, look everywhere, and look closely! Every visual contributes to the placemaking of the story you, the guest, are stepping into. Sometimes even the ground is themed! Peanut shells are embedded into the concrete of Storybook Circus at Magic Kingdom, for example.
The Disney World visitor who takes things slow enough to notice what the Imagineers have created is rewarded with an abundance of eye candy that most guests overlook.
10. You Can’t See It All
It’s a hard pill to swallow, but there is simply too much at Disney World to see everything in one visit. I would argue it’s next to impossible to see everything in one lifetime, let alone one week. There will be some rides, shows, restaurants, and experiences that you miss on your first visit. As best as you can, prioritize the most important things to you, do those first, and consider everything else gravy.
As a first-time guest, one advantage you have over returning visitors is you don’t know what you don’t know. You can’t regret not seeing something you didn’t know existed. In this regard, the curse of knowledge works at a disadvantage to those who know everything about the parks, and sets up the first-time guest to actually have a happier experience than the superfan.
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