Beginner’s Guide To Disney World

TMP 79 - Disney
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Meggan: Hey everyone and welcome back to the Travel Mug Podcast to continue our Beginner's Guide series, which people seem to enjoy. Jenn is actually going to be doing a Beginner's Guide to Disney World today, so we really want you to buckle up. Because there's a lot of info.

We're gonna pause for five seconds so that you can grab a pen, piece of paper, get your phone out so you can dictate some notes into your phone, whatever you need to do and go.

Jenn: Yes. All right, wonderful.

Meggan: So Jenn, I'm gonna hand it over to you. As we all know, I am not a Disney person. I've been once and loved it, don't get me wrong, but I don't go frequently. So that is why I think this is definitely your forte. And so over to you.

Jenn: Okay, first things first. First things, very first, Disney World: Florida, Disneyland, California. I just wanna get that right outta the way because I know Disney World very well. I have never been to California, so I am not talking about California today. So if that's why you're here, I'm very sorry.

Meggan: We'll, maybe we'll see you in a few years or something once she's been.

Jenn: So I do want to mention if you're planning your first ever trip to Disney World or if it's your first visit in a long time, I seriously recommend working with a Disney travel agent. They don't cost anything extra, like there is a lot to know about a Disney trip and you know, we're gonna get into it in this episode, but like I can see people getting really overwhelmed. So a Disney travel agent can do like most of these things for you, and they are amazing. So we're doing this episode in June 2023. By June 2024, this stuff could be outdated, like Disney changes a lot.

I mean, this could be outdated in 20 minutes. Like it's

Meggan: right, right, right.

Jenn: It all of a sudden Disney puts out news and it could change everything. Like so much has changed since I started going like yearly in 2017 ish. So if you want a travel agent recommendation, Please send us a message on social media or send us an email.

Our emails travelmugpodcast@gmail.com. I will hook you up with some of the people that I have worked with in the past. If you DIY it- totally cool, I recommend doing everything through the Disney website and not buying your tickets through an unofficial source because if they don't work, you're screwed. And nobody wants to get to the gates and find out that their tickets don't work.

Meggan: Well, it's kind of like going to a ballgame and buying scalper tickets. A lot of people have done it, however it is that moment of will this ticket work when they scan it? So that's, I totally get that. And I wanted to mention as well, the one time we went to Disney, we worked with a travel agent and it was seamless. So there is a lot to know, a lot to learn and I definitely recommend that as well. She was very helpful for us back in 2011.

Jenn: Perfect. Alright. Let's move forward with all that in mind and talk about where to stay. So a lot of the questions I've gotten around where to stay is staying on property, which is staying in a Disney resort worth it.

And in my opinion, yes, if you are planning to do a multi-day Disney vacation staying in a Disney hotel is worth it cuz there are perks that you get and you're closer to the park. So Disney hotels have different types of transportation from your hotel to the parks. It could be a bus, it could be a monorail, it could be a boat, it could be a skyliner, which is like a gondola type thing.

It just gets you around a lot faster and you don't have to worry about driving or parking. And also you get free parking if you're staying on a Disney resort. If you choose to drive yourself to the park that is another perk as well. So Disney obviously has different price points. They have different categories of resorts.

We've only stayed in the value resorts. We're not in the room very much. The pool doesn't really matter to me. But of course, do your own research. Pick the best resort for you and whoever you're traveling with. This is where a travel agent could be very helpful. Um, But we really like pop century, so it's a good price. The rooms are comfortable. It has the skyliner that takes you to Hollywood Studios and Epcot, and then buses to Magic Kingdom and Animal kingdom.

So the more expensive the resorts, the closer you are to the parks and to, for a lot of the, like deluxe resorts, you do get to walk. So that is a nice perk. I would love to stay there, but I have a hard time justifying the cost for how much I'm in the room.

Meggan: Yeah, I could see that as well because it really is not why you're going now, if you have a bigger family and you know you need those creature comforts, I could see it maybe, but you could also get those at the value resorts honestly, as well. And that's where we stay too.

Jenn: Mm-hmm.

Meggan: And I do recommend, much like you do staying on property, the transportation and the ease of transportation itself is 100% worth it because it can feel overwhelming and a little bit complicated at times.

But if you know how to get to and from, they make it easy for you. And especially at the end of a long day, you just want the easiest way back to your room. You've been on your feet for 12 hours like it is. One of the most enjoyable parts that we had was staying in a value resort and having that proximity for sure.

Jenn: Yeah. Yeah. There is nothing worse than like leaving the Magic Kingdom after fireworks and getting on a ferry boat to get to the parking lot to get to your car. And then, then you have to drive back like, no thank you.

Meggan: No, no.

Jenn: All right, so let's kind of get into you planning your park days. So first, there are four theme parks that are part of Disney World.

So Magic Kingdom has the castle. You've probably seen it. Epcot has the, the "Epcot ball" or the giant golf ball, as some people like to call it, and kind of the World showcase. Hollywood studios known for Star Wars land. Maybe the Tower of Terror, if you've heard of that one. And then,

Meggan: oh, my fav.

Jenn: And then Animal Kingdom has the avatar themed rides and sort of the tree of life.

So there are also two waterparks. If you're planning your like first or only trip to Disney, I really wouldn't bother with them too much. They are there, I have gone to them. They are enjoyable. I just don't know if they're like, worth taking time out of your vacation when there's so many other things to do.

Meggan: We did do one day as kind of like, not a down day, but like a day away from the, the sort of typical parks. And I found it, it really split things up and was a really like a bunch of different fun. Do you know what I mean?

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: Like, It was, so, yeah, like whatever, if people aren't even really into water parks or whatever their tolerance is, but I thought it broke things up really well and enjoyed that kind of in the middle.

Jenn: Yeah, I think you could definitely do that as kind of a breaking it up. You could also do like a pool day at your hotel. You could do shopping at, we, I haven't even mentioned Disney Springs, but it is a whole like shopping and restaurant part, it's not part of the parks. Like anyone can go there. You don't need a ticket to go to Disney Springs.

So that's a really good kind of like down day type of thing to do. But yes, you're right. The waterparks are good for that. I'm sorry, waterparks.

Meggan: I'm so sorry. So sorry.

Jenn: So as of this recording, as of you know, 15 minutes ago, the last time I checked social media you have to make park reservations in order to enter a park, but Disney announced a couple weeks ago that starting January 9th, 2024, you will no longer have to make park reservations if you have a date based ticket.

Which most people listening to this will because they're talking about like annual pass holders or other like special types of tickets. Most people, when you buy a vacation package, you're gonna have date-based tickets. So it seems like annual pass holders are still gonna have to make park reservations at this point.

Yeah. It all depends on if you're going between right now and January 9th, 2024 or in the future. If you're going before January, they are really simple to make online. We have made them. In really busy times, so like at Christmas magic Kingdom can sell out of park reservations that you won't be able to like get into the park.

So is something to be aware of, but it's not like a problem on a general day.

Meggan: Right.

Jenn: Okay. Park Hopping

Meggan: Let's, let's, let's get into what that means and should, or should people not do this.

Jenn: So what is park hopping? So that is when you're visiting more than one theme park per day. So you have to add the park hopper option to your ticket in order to do this. It'll depend on like your length of ticket, how much it costs. It's between like 70 to a hundred US, US dollars per person for the whole cost of your ticket, not per day.

Meggan: And should you, is that something you do in advance?

Jenn: Yeah, so it's that you would do, when you're purchasing your package, I'm assuming that most people are going to be purchasing a package that is tickets and hotel. And all of this is prompted for you on the Disney website with like add-ons. There'll be like a waterpark option where you can get tickets to the waterpark or you can do like a one theme park per day ticket or the park hopper. I like the park hoppers and we usually get them. I like eating at Epcot. It has the best restaurants. So for me to like be able to do-

Meggan: priorities.

Jenn: I know it's always the food. It's not necessary. And actually on our last trip, we did not do a Park hopper for the first time ever. And I didn't really miss it. It was a short, we only had four days at Disney, so we did one park per day, and that was it.

If you're trying to cut costs, I think that this is a good thing to cut. It's not super necessary. There are park hopping rules, so these are since covid. I hope that they go away soon. And again, this could change in the next, you know, half an hour. But right now, if you are park hopping, you can only enter your second park after 2:00 PM so whatever park you have a park reservation for, you have to go there in the morning. You have to scan in at that theme park. So let's say you have a, a reservation for Magic Kingdom and you wanna go to Epcot for dinner, you have to go to Magic Kingdom. You have to scan to get in either your ticket, or your magic band, which is something that you wear. That's basically your ticket, it's in a bracelet form. And then you can go over to Epcot after 2:00 PM and be let in if you have a park hopper ticket. I know it's confusing. I hope they do away with this 2:00 PM rule soon. I was surprised that they didn't announce it when they announced the end of park reservations, but, Here we are.

Meggan: Here we are hopefully soon indeed, cuz that, that seems cumbersome. I can see maybe for a point in time, but, but now that seems a little outdated, so yes, hopefully soon for that.

Jenn: Yes. Okay, this is where it gets in the weeds and confusing. So I'm gonna talk about Genie Plus. Individual lightning lanes and virtual queues.

So I would say before I dive in as a little caveat, you don't need to do these things in order to have a great vacation. They are great tools that you can use to maximize your time. But these things two of them, two of the three things. No. Yeah, two of the three things cost extra money. So if you are cutting costs or if you just don't wanna bother with doing this, you can still ride rides without it and have a great vacation.

So, okay, Genie Plus,

Meggan: let's get into it.

Jenn: Let's do it. Genie Plus, not to be confused with Genie Disney Genie. They're two different things. Why did they name these two very similar things? I dunno, Meggan, I dunno.

Meggan: I dunno. These are the questions.

Jenn: Okay. Genie Plus. So it is an extra cost. It varies per day. It could be $15 per person per day, or as much as like $35 per person per day, yes, it can swing very high.

So buying Genie Plus allows you to select a certain time to ride some rides using what they call the Lightning Lane entrance so you don't stand in the regular standby line. So when you're like looking at the rides there, they'll have like a standby and the time, how long you'll wait in the line ish and then there'll be a lightning lane with a clock.

Meggan: Okay.

Jenn: So if you have a Genie plus you'll go in that lightning lane, have to scan your ticket or your magic band. So that they can prove that you actually have this, if you've gone to Disney World in the past, it is very similar to the Fast Pass or Fast Pass plus that they used to have, except it's not free anymore, of course.

And of course with Fast Pass plus, you used to be able to select these 30 days in advance of your trip, and you can't do that now. You have to do it on the day. So it doesn't work on every single ride. It works on most of the popular ones except for one or two in each park, which I'll get to you in a minute.

But to, to use Genie plus, so on the day of your trip, you'll log into the My Disney Experience App. You'll purchase it and then you'll book your Lightning Lane by selecting a Ride. It will give you automatically the next available time. So once you use that, or two hours after you've made your selection, you can book another one so you can stack them a little bit.

There are strategies out there. It could be a whole episode. It is a whole episode for our friends over at Rope Shop Radio, so

Meggan: Wow.

Jenn: I'll defer to them cause they're like the experts in this. I've used it once, we used it in our trip, my girls trip in October, Ryan and I did not bother with Genie when we were there in February.

So, Like I said, do your own research. Decide if it's right for you, if it's gonna be worth the cost for you, and

Meggan: yeah. Okay.

Jenn: Alright. Individual lightning lanes, so the most popular rides. Ride or rides in each park aren't part of Genie Plus, but if you want to ride them with a minimal wait, you can buy them individually.

So prices vary by day. Again, it could be anywhere from $10 a person to $25 a person to ride. So, At Magic Kingdom. Magic Kingdom has two. So right now it is seven Dwarfs Mine Train, which is like a snow white rollercoaster. It's newer it's not brand new, but it's newer, it's short. I personally, for me, I would not buy this ride. I think that it's a little bit overhyped, but it's good for kids. A lot of kids really like it. And then Tron Light Cycle Run just opened. It's based on the Tron movies, which I don't know if I, I've actually have never seen it, but anyway, that's neither here nor there. It's a rollercoaster. It just opened.

Much more intense than seven Dwarfs Mine Train. People really like it, and it opened after I was there, so I haven't gotten to ride that yet. Hollywood Studios the individual Lightning lane is Star Wars Rise of the Resistance. It's a Star Wars based ride. Shocker.

Meggan: Yes, yes.

Jenn: It's honestly like a whole experience.

In my opinion, it's one of the best rides in all of the parks. It's like a 17 minute ride, so it worth it, worth the money to pay to do it, in my opinion.

Meggan: Nice.

Jenn: And then in Animal Kingdom it is Avatar Flight of Passage. So if you've seen the Avatar movies, you're riding on the back of a Banshee. It's very 3D glasses, screen heavy. I get a little bit motion sick riding it, and I have to close my eyes sometimes, but it is very cool. Very beautiful. A lot of people love this ride. It's not one of my personal favorites, but that's okay.

Meggan: That's okay

Jenn: And then in Epcot it is Guardians of the Galaxy: cosmic Rewind. I haven't done this. I've heard a lot. Of people with motion sickness issues, having trouble on this ride because you are moving in like a rollercoaster, but there is screens as well.

Meggan: Mm-hmm.

Jenn: It sounds difficult to me for me to like get through it.

Meggan: Yeah.

Jenn: So I would like to do it once just to like say I did it. I haven't like gotten brave enough to do it yet.

Meggan: Yeah, I have slight motion sickness. And my, when we were ride Disney with my dad, there was a a, a Bart Simpson ride at the time. This was like 2011. He, he did not do well. I could feel the sweat through his shirt into my shirt. I'm like, oh, this ride is not for you, sir.

Jenn: No, no, that one's over at Universal. But yes. Yes. Not, not.

Meggan: Oh yeah, we did Universal while we were there. That's right. So yeah, it was, it was a lot. So if you really pay attention to, to what Jenn's saying, cuz if you have motion sickness, you, you can find it there.

Jenn: Oh listen, like message me and I will talk you through Which ride. Do not do star tours. I had to lie on a bench for like 20 minutes after.

Meggan: Oh my goodness.

Jenn: It was not, it was not pretty.

Meggan: It is real.

Jenn: Okay, so the last thing, virtual queues, the only free thing. So there are two rides right now that are using virtual queues. So they don't have a regular standby line, so you can't go get, just stand in line.

They are difficult to get though, of course, because they're free. So you have to join the virtual queue in the My Disney Experience app at 7:00 AM. You get another chance at 1:00 PM they sell out like instantly. It is ridiculous.

Meggan: Wow.

Jenn: Um, But when, if, if you get a virtual queue, the app will send you a notification when it's your turn to ride.

So the two rides currently using it are Tron, light Cycle Run, and Guardians of the Galaxy cosmic Rewind those some rumblings in the Disney groups this week that the Guardians of the Galaxy One is going to go to standby line. Because they're putting out the chains for kind of like a line outside the ride right now that wasn't there before.

So that's one of those things this could be completely useless in the next 30 minutes, but right now, as of 6:53 PM on June 13th, It is Guardians of the Galaxy Tron.

Meggan: We're, we're timestamping ourselves, but what can you do? Because things do change so quickly. That's all we got right now, you know?

Jenn: Yes. Yeah.

Meggan: All right. Well, thank you so much for running through all that. People might have to go back through, get a second listen. It's, it's good information though to have, if people are interested in doing the extras that you've mentioned. But let's maybe do some FAQs things people might be wondering, especially as they get ready to plan maybe their, like you said, their first trip, or even if they haven't been in a long time.

So what are your thoughts if you only want to go to one Disney Park, Jenn?

Jenn: Hmm. It's so hard. So I'm, I'm questioning your life choices if you wanna only go to one Disney Park, but that's, that's okay. If you're not doing a whole Disney vacation, I would suggest looking at the rides that are available in each park and just seeing what you and your travel party are most interested in.

Obviously if you're like huge Star Wars fans, you're gonna wanna go to Hollywood Studios. Like that's just gonna be the place for you. If you have little kids. I don't know if Hollywood Studios is the best place for you. There's not a lot of like little kids rides, so look at the parks and what they offer.

For me. I'm a sucker for the castle. I'm gonna say Magic Kingdom, it has the most rides as well. But if you like to eat, I'm saying Epcot.

Meggan: Right. Okay. Well, that's good. And I think you're exactly right. Like, what is, what do you want from your trip? Who are you taking? What is, you know, what do you wanna do? I think that that's solid advice. Yeah. So what is the dining plan?

Jenn: All right, so the Disney Dining Plan, I, I used to love it. It has been on hold since the pandemic. They just announced that it is coming back for 2024. So it is a way for you to prepay for your meals and get credits to use while you're in the parks. It might not save you money. So you do, you have to do the math. It depends on how much you eat. So there are two types. The Quick Service Dining Plan gets you only access to quick service restaurants, which are more like fast foodie, like takeaway type things. And then the regular Disney Dining Plan gets you one table service, one quick service, and one snack per day.

So the quick service is two quick services and one snack. So it depends. We've used it. I really like it, but now- it used to be two snacks per day and now it's one. So that annoys me. And the price went up.

Meggan: Of course.

Jenn: Of course.

Meggan: Less for more.

Jenn: Yeah. So you can look at it and see if it would be worth it for you, but it, you'd have to eat a lot, I think, to make it worth it.

Meggan: Right. That makes sense. In your opinion, best months to visit?

Jenn: Hmm. I think. That February, like we went the beginning of February, and I think that was one of the best times that we have ever gone. There were lower crowds. It was warm, hot, but not like so hot. We went in 2017 the last week of May, like first week of June and I, it it was very hot and we've gone in September and it just very hot.

I love the Mickey's not so scary Halloween party though, which takes place August through October. There are crowd calendars online, so you can kind of look and see like what times are the busiest. But yeah, like in general, I would probably avoid like June, July and August because it is the surface of the sun there and it,

Meggan: right, right. Oh, we were there in November around Canadian Remembrance Day. Okay. It wasn't that busy. And the weather was perfect. So I, I, I would recommend November just based on my past experience. I can't of course, account for the busyness these days, but the weather that it was bearable for sure.

Jenn: Yeah. Yeah. It's we, we've gone the first week of December too, and the weather was like really nice, but yeah, the two, we've gone twice in September and it is, you're sweating like a lot.

Meggan: You're sweating through the shirt there. And finally, what is the memory maker? Tell people about that.

Jenn: Yeah, so the memory maker is a photography package that you can purchase and you can get some of the rides have photos that you can get. And then there's also photographers throughout the parks and with the characters to take your photo.

So it's $169 US dollars. If you purchase before you go, it's$ 199 US dollars. If you purchase like while you're there or within three days of your trip, I think it is cut it out if you wanna cut costs, but I like it. We usually get it. But the photographers will take photos with your phone or camera if you ask them to use. So like, It's not a need, but it's cool.

Meggan: Right. If you have the extra, do the dough do it.

Jenn: Honestly. I mean, if it's your, like once in a lifetime trip, I would do it. But that's me.

Meggan: Capture the memories I say. Yeah, if you can.

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: All right. Now we've, it's been a while since we've done some tips and I think that this is the place to do it. So what would you say are your top tips for the best Disney vacation, in your opinion?

Jenn: Okay. First thing, download the My Disney Experience App before you go and get used to it. It has ride wait times. It's where you're gonna buy your Genie plus and individual lightning lane. It's where you're gonna see your memory maker photos. If you're staying in a Disney hotel, they will send you a notification of like your room number. You don't even have to go check in at the front desk. You'll literally get a notification that says your room is ready. It's this room. And if you already have your magic bands, and even on the phone actually through the app, now you can just hold your phone up to the door and like unlock your door.

Meggan: Nice.

Jenn: So like, it's crazy. It's amazing. Download the app and get used to it because it's really important. And kind of on the coattails of that, bring a power bank for your phone cause it'll drain your battery.

Meggan: Mm-hmm.

Jenn: Yeah. And also on the app, you can mobile order food to avoid waiting in line at the quick service restaurants. I loved this. So you go on, you can look at the whole menu. If you have food allergies, you can still do it through the app and you order, you pay through the app. When you get to the restaurant or when you're like close-ish to the restaurant, I would say hit the "I'm here, make my order button", and then they'll make your order, and then they tell you where to go get it, you know, go to section two, whatever go pick up your food and leave. It's amazing, right? You don't have to stand in line. We're all about not standing in line.

And so if you wanna eat at table service, restaurants, make dining reservations before you go, do not expect to be able to walk up and get a table. There are some restaurants that you can't even get reservations to because it's so difficult. So

Meggan: Oh, wow.

Jenn: Yes, plan your food. And I would say know your travel limits and your travel companions limits here because so many people promote rope dropping, which is getting to the parks before they open. So- they used to physically drop a rope, but they don't anymore anyway. It can be a great way to visit parks when they're less crowded.

But if you don't wanna get up that early, it won't ruin your vacation. Like I'm usually basically never there before the park opens and like, I don't feel like I'm missing out really. And if you need a break in the middle of the day, take it. Like honestly, you don't have to be no vacation. No. You don't have to spend 12 hours in the a day in the parks.

Meggan: No. No. So I have to go back to the rope dropping, and I know it's, it, it in theory now, but does that mean you're just lining up to be there when the park opens so that you can be one of the first people in and just experience it less busy? Is that what you mean?

Jenn: Yes. Okay. So you're, you can scan into the parks, but like the rides aren't open yet and some of the parks, like the lands aren't open, like parts of the park aren't open yet.

But it gets you in. And then you can kind of like disperse, but it is Like, there's not as many people there, like who, most people aren't getting up that early. Most people are, you know, have kids and they gotta get ready. But like real rope droppers and I, I've mentioned rope drop radio a couple of times and I've been on their podcast and they've been on our podcast and I love them.

But I don't really like, want to be at the park an hour before it opens, and that's basically what rope dropping is.

Meggan: Gotcha.

Jenn: And it's just, it's just not for me. I like to sleep. And that's, I mean, I'm not sleeping in until like 10, but like I'm not getting up at 5:00 AM either, so.

Meggan: Right. You're a happy medium girl with this one.

Jenn: That's just the way it's, yeah.

Meggan: I like that. All right, cool. Well thanks for that explanation, just cuz I think that that's, that's good to know. Yeah, so I think maybe to finish things off, and I know there's been a lot of info, but I think it's been a lot of useful info. But what would you say is your biggest piece of advice for someone planning their first trip?

Jenn: Mm-hmm. So if you're in the process of planning your first trip and decided to listen to this episode to get some ideas try not to get overwhelmed, which I know is like easy to say. And it was funny, Meggan, when we were planning this episode, I'm like, I'm afraid that I'm too Disney. Like I'm using too much lingo that people aren't gonna understand.

And I'm trying to make it as simple as possible for you guys, but it, it can be a lot. But try not to, to put the pressure on yourself to plan the perfect vacation or the best vacation. And I mean, this goes for any, any vacation, right?

Meggan: Correct.

Jenn: I don't want you to get too stressed about having a strict schedule or like riding as much, riding as many rides as possible.

Like it's not a competition and I feel like you have to decide what's important. I. And the rest is kind of just gravy. Like you can't do everything unless you're spending like a month there.

Meggan: Sure.

Jenn: You literally can't do everything. So do the rides you really wanna do, see the shows you really wanna do, and then just like enjoy the rest.

Meggan: I think that that's solid. Amazing.

Jenn: Mm-hmm. Yes. I know that that was a lot to take in. I'm gonna put lots of resources in the show notes for you guys. I also love talking Disney, so like please, if you have any questions, Send me a message. You can send me a message on my will Save for Travel. You can send us a message on the Travel Mug podcast like social media, email.

I'll talk Disney with you anytime, day and night, any place,

Meggan: anytime.

Jenn: So that is all that we have for this week. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram at Travel Mug Podcast on our web website. Site travel mug podcast.com or on YouTube Travel Mug podcast where you can see my adorable hair. And

Meggan: you should tune in for that people

Jenn: and you can support the show by buying us a coffee.

You'll get access to fun stuff like bloopers, and you can leave a review on Apple Podcast or Spotify and share the show with a travel loving pal. And until next time, bye

Meggan: bye everyone.