Walt Disney World Vacation Planning Tips
Walt Disney World: Answers to frequently asked questions about getting the most from a Walt Disney World vacation.
First time visitor? Get started with our introduction to theme park vacations.
Walt Disney World is the world's largest theme park resort. Located southwest of Orlando in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, Disney World opened in 1971 with one theme park, the Magic Kingdom. Today, Disney World includes three other parks, Epcot, Disney-MGM Studios and Disney's Animal Kingdom, as well as two water parks and the Downtown Disney shopping and entertainment district.- When should I visit?
- Walt Disney World is open every day of the year, though opening and closing hours vary by season. Check Disney's Web site for specific hours, as well as lists of attractions closed for refurbishment. Summers are the toughest time to visit, with large crowds, hot temperatures and high humidity. But the week between Christmas and New Year's is the busiest of the year. If you can travel mid-week, the weekends offer the lightest crowds, as most visitors travel on those days. And if you don't have kids, visit when school is in session to enjoy the shortest lines.
No matter what time of year you visit, consider taking a break mid-day during your trip, especially if you do have kids. A nap, a swim or a long lunch can help anyone recover from the humid Orlando weather and recharge for the rest of the day at the parks.
- Where should I stay?
- Check our Walt Disney World hotel listings for reviews and ratings by recent visitors. Disney's official on-site hotels offer free bus transporation to all attractions within Walt Disney World to their guests. Some off-site hotels also offer shuttle service to the major theme parks as well.
Visitors typically stay at least a full week to take in Disney World, as well as Orlando's other theme park resorts: Universal Orlando and SeaWorld. All three complexes are located within a short drive of each other, allowing visitors to pick a hotel from among those near any of the three.
- How do I get tickets?
- If at all possible, buy your tickets in advance, to save yourself a nasty wait in the ticket queues at front of each park on your first day. Disney sells tickets on its Web site and through its Disney Stores, and many indepenent brokers also offer tickets. Check with the human resources department of your company, the student service desk at your school or your union's local office to see if it sells discount theme park tickets, as well.
You'll want to buy a multi-day pass, rather than single-day passes to each park. You get a better price per day, plus you can go from park-to-park each day. A one-day ticket limits you to getting into only one park. Disney World's multi-day tickets never expire, so you can use unused days on future visits. Some multi-day tickets offer "bonus" admissions to other attractions, such as the Pleasure Island nightclubs, and you should note that those bonus admissions do expire seven days after the ticket's first use.
- What should I do first?
- Check out our "Plan Your Day" articles for the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney-MGM Studios and Animal Kingdom for specific advice on what to see first in each park.
No matter which park you visit, arrive early and use Disney's FastPass system to get the most number of rides out of your day. FastPass is a ride reservation system that allows each ticketholder to get a pass to return to a particular ride later in the day, when they will not need to wait in the regular queue.
You get FastPasses at a distribution center next to the entrance of each ride. Stick a valid park admission ticket in the machine, and it gives you a FastPass ticket for that ride. FastPass is not available for all rides -- just the larger, more popular ones. You can send one person in your party ahead with everyone's park admission tickets to get FastPasses for your group -- you don't all have to go together to get them. Once you get a FastPass, you may not use your admission ticket to get another for a different ride until either the return time for the first ride has passed or two hours have gone by, whichever comes first.
Remember, there's nothing keeping you from waiting in the stand-by line of a ride for which you have a FastPass. Wait in the stand-by line, ride the ride, then go again with no wait when your FastPass time arrives.
If you are visiting with kids who are too small to go on some rides, the rest of the group can go by doing a child swap. Ask the attendant at the attraction's entrance. Basically, one adult waits with the kids who can't ride while the others go. When they get back, the adult who watched the kids rides with no wait.
- How can I make restaurant or character dining reservations?
- Call Disney's preferred seating hotline at (407) WDW-DINE 90 days before your trip. Or stop by the restaurant as early as you can on the day of your visit and see what times are still available.
- After I get home, how do I contact Disney World (about something I lost, a compliment, a complaint, etc.)?
- Call Guest Relations at 407-824-4245 for lost and found or 407-824-4321 for general information, or write:
- Walt Disney World Guest Communications
- P.O. Box 10,400
- Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
- How do I get a job at Walt Disney World?
- Visit Disney's careers Web site at http://www.disney.com/disneycareers/wdwcareers.
All 4 parks have Fastpass, but it is not available for all attractions. If it's a big or marquee attraction, expect it to have fastpass, and use them wisely. Some Orlando Fastpass attractions include:
Magic Kingdom
Space Mountain
Splash Mountain
Buzz Lightyear
Haunted Mansion
Pirates of the Carribean
EPCOT
Test Track
Mission Space
Maelstrom
Body Wars
Animal Kingdom
Primeaval Whirl
Dinosaur
It's Tough to Be a Bug
Kali River Rapids
Kilimanjaro Safai
Disney/MGM Studios
Tower of Terror
Rock n' Rollercoaster
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular
It's very important to plan out your fastpass use, because frequently the fastpass return times will be 2 or more hours after you pick them up, and once you're holding a fastpass, you can't get another one until the one you're holding expires. Typically, on a busy summer day, you probably will only be able to use 2 or three fastpasses, so pick the attractions you'd most like to see before entering the park, and don't be surprised if all of the fastpasses for some attractions are completely gone before noon, or having return times 8 hours or later in the day.
Many people believe that you cannot get a second FastPass until the return time on your first has passed. Actually, that is not entirely true. You can't get a second FastPass until the first return time has passed OR two hours have passed -- whichever comes first.
So if your return time is three hours in the future, you can go ahead and collect a second FastPass for another attraction two hours after you pick up the first.
From Len Testa
Posted December 12, 2003 at 7:17 PM
It's even more complicated that that, Robert. The "two hour rule" for FASTPASS was stopped earlier in 2003. Rather than try to explain the new system, I'll simply note that earliest time one can get another FASTPASS is now generally printed on the bottom of the current FASTPASS.
Keep up the good work. Love the TSI site.
Sincerely,
Len
Interesting. The two-hour window was still in effect at Disneyland earlier this fall. I'll have to check next time I'm down in Anaheim.
good
I would say to get the fastpass! Use the system to your advantage. It works really well at Animal Kingdom because there are so many trails around the big rides that have the fastpass. Also, if you plan on going on Test Track with your sanity, get the fastpass immediatly when you enter the park!
I have heard alot about Disney World being bad to visit during the summer. But would it still be pretty crowded in the end of june, considernig this is really the first week of summer and most kids up north are just getting out of school this week?
And would anybody with knowledge say it is as bad as going to the park during spring break?
I don't know what up north schools are just getting out in late June - we live in Michigan and my kids are out on June 3 this year.
From Michele D
Posted May 18, 2004 at 2:32 PM
I live in PA and the school my kids go to is out on June 9 (our last day was originally supposed to be June 3, but was extended because of all the snow days!) I booked our Disney vacation the week on 6/5 to 6/12 so now they're missing the 3 last days of school. I'm thinking the crowds won't be as bad. All other schools in my area aren't out until mid-late June. We'll see in a couple of weeks!
good luck with that! different areas get out different times. for example, we here in Florida are done this week.
We in Britain finish in (approx) 6-7 weeks time.
I am a big time Disney Fan.
Epcot does not have fastpasses to Body Wars.
Just: Mission Space
Test Track
Honey I Shrunk the Audience
Malestrom
and living with the land
From PM 24-7
Posted August 2, 2004 at 3:38 PM
Great Tips and Great Re-post. This info is always useful...
Supplement: According to Frommer's "Florida 2004 Guide," the worst days of the week to visit each park are:
AVOID THE FOLLOWING DAYS-
Magic Kingdom-Mon/Thurs/Sat
Epcot-Tues/Fri
DisneyMGM- Sun/Wed
Animal Kingdom- Mon/Tues/Wed
On Multi-park days: Disney parks in Orlando can/should be done in 3 days (with a park-hopper pass)...With half-way decent planning you will have the time to do everything you want to do and have time to spare. I suggest combining the Animal Kingdom and DisneyMGM Park into the same day (doing the Animal Kingdom in the morning and utilizing MGM for Lunch and Dinner---SciFi Diner and 50's Prime Time being my favorites).
Know how the parks are laid out and plan ahead of time (use the strategies for each park outlined in Robert's Article and or check out other postings within these articles for tips on each park). Nothing is worse than making the mistake of fast-passing Winnie the Pooh at 2-1/2 hours wait---not worth a 10 min wait---and having to wait for 2 hours to get another fast pass).
Also, the following tip has greatly improved our trip to Epcot/Magic Kingdom the last couple of times we visited: Spend the Day at Magic Kingdom then go back to your hotel in the mid-afternoon. Go to Epcot that evening to watch the parade and Illuminations. You now have those things taken care of so when you spend your day at Epcot (and you will need a whole day) you can be shopping for souvenirs right before you head back to the hotel (while everyone else is hanging out around the lake for Illuminations).
From MaryAnn S
Posted August 1, 2004 at 5:51 PM
We live in central NJ and my son's last day of school was June 23 of this year. Our schools always get out late June.
Anywhere Around the World Showcase is a good view for the fireworks in Epcot. I always loved to watch it from France, Italy and on the bridges connecting countries. I advise not to watch near Mexico and Canada because it is crowded.
Italy is the best place because you can see the globe! Also, make sure that you go to Animal Kingdon immediatly when it opens because it tends to close early and you must get a fastpass for the signature ride, the safaris because they fill up fast and the animals might sleep during the day!
Hey what are the crowds like in late august? we are there from the 20th to the 26th, is this enough time to see every thing? Any helpful tips for some aussie wanting to see as much as possible?
From Sherly C.
Posted June 24, 2005 at 7:23 PM
i think you should go early in the morning because that's when less people come according to my experince. a lot of people go in the summer so august is a good idea. it's also a little cooler. one time, i went to universal and i almost died of dehydration.
Most Florida kids go back to school in early August, so you shouldn't have to compete with the locals and many of the tourists will be done with their vacations by then. I wouldn't expect the crowds to be too bad. It will be very hot, though, so bring sunscreen.
first trip to WDW in 10 years...any truth to the rumer that not all fast pass stations are connected? i.e., able to get more than one pass at a time?
I am goin to Orlando on the 16th July until 30th July i stay in the Uk will Walt Disney World be crowded in that time?
Yes, and likely very hot as well. You might want to make non-theme park plans for the weekend days of your stay (NASA, beach, Miami, etc...).
I am going there tommorow! Yay!
I've just discovered the "Theme Park Insider" Amazing! I have gotten many great tips. My question is...How busy is WDW from the 2nd of Jan to the 5th? I'm hoping the rush is over. Also any idea where I would find tips on Sea World? Keep up the great work!
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