11 Things Disney World Experts Would NEVER Do

Disney World experts AVOID missing out, NEVER waste a purchase, and STEER CLEAR of the advice that’ll trip up their ENTIRE vacation. Ready to become an expert too? Then you’ve come to the right place!

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Disney World experts avoid missing out never waste a purchase and steer clear of the advice that’ll trip up their entire vacation ready to become an expert too then you come to the right place hey everybody it’s AJ for Disney food blog when you start planning a Disney World vacation you’re going to hear advice coming at you every which direction but just like the pros you need to know which advice sounds fishy and which device you should be taking into the parks with you instead we got a major no no list to go over with you today to make sure you don’t out yourself as being anything less than the Disney World expert you are okay first of all you know we he at dfb are not going to lead you astray and that we’re always going to update you on the latest and greatest tips that’s why you clicked on the video after all but sometimes our best Disney tips are the ones that dismantle The credibility of our once previously reliable ones because they’re no longer relevant yep some of the park strategies we’ve told you about a few years ago or just last year or maybe even last month might not be relevant for your Disney World trip that’s up and coming think about it back in 2020 we were making some wildly different videos with tips and tricks we never thought we’d have to talk about plexiglass and social distancing but it’s not just worldwide closures that mess with Disney’s plans Disney’s constantly changing up the way they operate which is why we’re constantly updating our videos with the latest and greatest advice so you don’t ever fall behind for example we’ve said for years how only part of Epcot opens at 9:00 a.m. cuz the bulk of the world showcase aside from its rides wouldn’t open until 11:00 a.m. the truth still stands that many Epcot festival booths don’t open until 11:00 so let’s look at a complete list of World Showcase restaurants and shops that now open before the clock strikes 11: note Disney hours are always subject to change so these are just the early openings that we’ve noticed when our reporters we’ve sent our reporters in to check it out but you may experience you know variations let us know in Mexico The Pavilion shops open with the park and La Cantina de San hell opens at 10:00 a.m. in Norway kringla Baker Cafe and all the shops open right when the park does that being said the Norway character dining experience here acru Royal Banquet Hall actually opens 30 minutes before those general public hours meaning you might be able to get into Epcot early even without an early theme park entry benefit when you make a breakfast reservation here for around 8:30 in Germany the gift shops including caramel cusha open with the park right at 9:00 a.m. which is also the same for the Japan Pavilion in Italy all the gift shop open at 9:00 a.m. in American Adventure the joffre kiosk and snap cart open at 9:00 while the F and drum kiosk opens at 10:00 in Morocco Oasis sips and suets opens at 9:00 a.m. in France all the shops are open along with the park and L all Baner Patisserie does the same in the UK all the gift shops open right at 9:00 except for the toy soldier which opens at 10:00 don’t know why meanwhile the Rosen Crown Pub opens at 10:30 and the Yorkshire County fish shop opens at either 10:30 or 11: depending on the expected crowds finally over in Canada the Northwest mertile and Trading Post Refreshments open with the park but the maple popcorn cart opens at 10:30 keep in mind though that a lot of Epcot restaurants don’t list their opening and closing times on the My Disney Experience app so you may need to ask a cast member around the park entrance before you walk all the way over to your destination or check the actual Disney World website so you’re not relying on hopes and dreams and pixie dust alone and of course the way we now book restaurants is completely different from how it used to be before we used to have tips when it came to searching for a reservation availability for one day at a time once you’re 180 days away from your vacation but now you can book only 60 days away from your vacation you can see available dining reservations for any given restaurant up to 10 days at a time giving you way more flexibility when it comes to planning meals during your trip and don’t even get me started on Genie plus the way we book lightning Lanes has changed so much since the premium line bypassing feature first launched back in 2021 we’ve seen rides like Remy’s rat toy Adventure in Epcot and Expedition Everest and Animal Kingdom go from being individual lightning Lane purchases where you have to buy them all a cart style to being part of the GD plus purchases where you can have access to a whole gaggle of lightning Lane selections for one price point and we used to be able to purchase Genie plus ahead of our trips but now we can only buy it the day of each Park visit starting at midnight and we’ve seen GD plus make other major changes too like adding that day’s on ride photo pass pictures with each purchase and changing the genie Plus pricing from $15 flat to a more flux scale where pricing depends on that day’s demand and and adding the modification option so we don’t have to keep canceling our Genie plus selections outright every time we want to adjust something and we expect to see more changes for this service in the future too since Disney has hinted that they want guests to have the ability to yet again be able to purchase Genie plus ahead of their trips as well as be able to pre-book some lightning Lane selections without having to stress over booking them during the actual Park day but even though Disney’s previously said that they wanted to roll out these new features sometime in 2024 we haven’t heard much about it since so we’re just going to have to keep our ears open for any new news over on that front all this to say make sure that the advice you’re taking with you into the parks is an outdated advice you can prevent that by well coming back here to your friends at dfb we got reporters inside the parks every single day snooping out the latest changes and testing them out in real time so we can relay all that info back to you not just here in our YouTube but also on our social media and in our dfb guide books over on the dfb store.com website as well as on our blog now Disney experts don’t miss out on rare events just like the wise old band Smashmouth once said there’s so much to do so much to see I don’t think they were talking about Disney World at this point but it applies here regardless so across all of Disney World property you got a ton of rides parades nighttime Fireworks shows and a whole lot of other stuff that hits you right in the fields and Bria just outed herself as a super big Millennial but that’s not all the stuff you can see in Disney World rare stuff happens across all the parks too and experts know exactly when they need to plan their trips to see these rare events take place for example on November 18th each year AKA Mickey and Minnie’s birthday a very special Hidden Mickey and Minnie appear inside the queue for under the sea journey of The Little Mermaid around noon during that time the rock formations around the rides queue area line up perfectly with the sun’s position to project a Mickey and mini shadow on the wall usually you’ll find that cast members will have a separate area for those in the rides queue and those who just want to see the shadow Mickey and Minnie Magic Kingdom also celebrates Armed Forces Day around the 3rd Saturday in May and while this rare event doesn’t always happen we’ve often had a chance to see the US Navy Blue Angels fly over Cinderella Castle during this time while Disney hasn’t promised that we’ll see the Blue Angels in 2025 we’ll let you know if we hear otherwise in the meantime you may still be able to catch the US Air Force Thunderbirds in late October early November in honor of national veterans and military families month other rare events across the parks could include things like rare character sightings in Animal Kingdom or on Earth day like the brotherbear duo or dvine decked out in beautiful flowers or the royal princess Atta from Bugs Life just depends on who wants to show up that day and celebrate celebrity narrators for limited times during Festival of the holidays in ECOT don’t forget usually each celebrity is only scheduled for one or two days to help host the candlelight processional with past celebrities including John Stamos Neil petrick Harris Brendan Frasier Jordan fiser and Steven Curtis Chapman and then there’s the famous May the 4th that happened not too terribly long ago over in Hollywood Studios where Star Wars fans gather together in Galaxy’s Edge and illuminate their Sabers in one big colorful spectacle within the land okay experts don’t overbook their schedules since I’m already quoting musical groups today apparently Aerosmith once said I don’t want to miss a thing which might very well be the motto you’re holding on to when planning your Disney World vacay Bria must be listening to a lot of like 80s and 90s music while she’s writing these right now anyway the Disney Pros know the reality of things you need to leave a little wiggle room in your daily Disney schedules just in casee you need to work around sudden happenings threatening to trip up your whole park visit inclement weather illness ride breakdown you know something unexpected like that this can be especially helpful if you’re traveling with little ones who may need an extra couple hours to take a nap back at the hotel or if you’re traveling with older folks who may also need to take a nap back at the hotel like me I’ll always build in nap time every trip is going to look different for every group so try your best to be as flexible as possible so you can still enjoy your time in the Parks no matter what situations get thrown your way if you need a little help with planning out your Disney itinerary and factoring in those wiggle room time slots be sure to scan the QR code you see on the screen now or head over to disneyfoodblog tocom Disney plans so we can send you our free Disney World planning worksheets which are chalk full of fill-in theblank scheduling Pages packing lists planning timelines it’s an organizer dream come true and Disney experts don’t waste a lightning Lane how you use Genie Plus at after you purchase it is completely up to you but you will definitely out yourself as a newbie if you’re selecting some lightning lanes over others while lightning lanes are a really great way to cut down on the time you spend in cues and maximize the number of attractions you ride there are a handful of attractions that you will pretty much never ever ever need to waste a lightning Lane on some of these include Muppet Vision 3D in Hollywood Studios Mickey’s filler magic in Magic Kingdom the Disney and Pixar short film festival in Epcot Feathered Friends In Flight in Animal Kingdom basically A good rule of thumb here is that the shows aside from the Festival of fantasy parade and Magic Kingdom just aren’t going to be a great use of your lightning Lanes since the rides are pretty much always going to present you with longer wait times and since these attractions are shows even with a lightning Lane you’ll have to wait till the next Showtime like everyone else if you want to know which lightning lanes are more worth prioritizing check out the ride weight times on the My Disney Experience app ahead of time remember you can only select one lightning Lane at a time so you want to choose the ones that have the consistently higher average weights first those are going to sell out first and those are also going to have the longer waights if you don’t happen to get a lightning Lane if given the choice here are the lightning Lanes we would pick first after they go live at 7:00 a.m. Slinky Dog Dash in Hollywood Studios because it is a disaster to wait in that completely outdoor line when it’s really really hot out Peter Pan’s flight or jungle cruise in Magic Kingdom Frozen ever after a Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure in Epcot and na’vi River Journey at Animal Kingdom it’s a hard truth to swallow sometimes but that doesn’t make it any less true sometimes your kidss may enjoy the Disney pools more than the parks and I mean there’s a good reason for that the pools are well themed they keep you cool you don’t have to wait in line to use them except for that one rare time when Stormalong Bay over at yton beach club had a wait right after it reopened post 2020 closure because they were you know limiting capacity and stuff but again we were playing with the whole new deck of cards back then but I digress Disney’s Resort pools are incredible and if you’re shelling out lots of money for your Resort anyways which you will be even at the value Resorts then you need to make sure you take advantage of said Resort by experiencing all the amenities it’s got to offer at the very least when you’re planning your Disney World itinerary designate at least a few hours specifically to hang by the pool for some rest and relaxation I personally love to go to the pool right around like 400 p.m. cuz everybody’s leaving at that point they’re leaving the pool they’re going to take showers they’re going to dinner whatever so I show up at 400 p.m. and there’s lots of lounge chairs available it’s not pain fully hot the pool’s pretty empty sometimes and so that’s just that’s that’s my time I love it you’re probably already aware of the predictably busy times in Disney World like during spring break and around Christmas but Disney World experts know the truth about Disney crowds busy seasons pop up like daisies all year round even when you least expect them aside from the traditionally busy times of year the busiest times you’re going to experience in the parks that tend to fly under the radar include three 3-day extended weekends like Memorial and Labor Day run Disney race weekends the next one coming up for that is Disney wine and dine half marathon that’s October 31st to November 3rd this year big local events like cheer competitions or sporting games and even the extension of spring break crowds like sure mid-march is going to be the peak of the spring break chaos but honestly different schools have different Spring Breaks like around where like in some places spring break is in February and in some it doesn’t happen till April so that’s when all the folks are going to be heading out for their vacation but they come in waves even August this year is going to potentially hit us with an unexpected surge of guests since epcot’s Food and Wine Festival is launching August 29th which is normally when the parks are pretty dead while I’m not telling you to completely disregard these busy days and only go to Disney when it might not be too busy cuz that’s super unrealistic I am telling you that you’re going to want to brace yourself for crowds no matter what time of year you go so here are a few ways to navigate around the Disney crowds to make sure you’re still getting the most out of your Park day regardless first study Disney Genie whether you pay or not even if you’re not too keen on the idea of paying for line bypassing Services you can still use the free Disney Genie tool to help you navigate Disney on its busiest days the attractions and shows tip board will let you see current as well as forecasted wait times for rides and other experiences so you can figure out the best time to get in a certain q line during the day and I’d recommend getting an early start and checking out weit times before your trip kicks off that way you’ve already got a feel for when certain ride lines tend to drag more than others other s our friends over at all.net also track weit times with weekly blog posts for all the four Parks so make sure to pay them a visit and stay in the know also stay in the Parks as long as you can if you’re not big on the celebration Factor but you like the idea of hanging in the Parks after they’re closed to everyone else then you may be more interested in buying a ticket for the after hours events after hours events will be available for Magic Kingdom starting January 9th and Disney’s Hollywood studio starting January 4th these separately ticketed events will give you the chance to stay in the parks for 3 hours after they close though much like the holiday parties you’ll still be able to enter the parks as early as 7:00 p.m. for Magic Kingdom the event will run between 10: p.m. and 1:00 a.m. for Hollywood Studios it’ll run between 9:30 and 12:30 prices for these events can be a little on the Steep side ranging from $129 to $159 per person but this may be worth it if you want to wait less time for the rides you want to experience and not have to worry about making lightning Lane reservations all day long to do it you might even get to ride some of those awesome rides several times and if you’re staying at a Disney owned hotel or at one of the select Good Neighbor hotels in the area then you’ll be able to use the early theme park entry benefit to your advantage early theme park entry allows Resort guests to enter any of the parks on any day of the week 30 minutes before they actually open to the rest of the public meaning you’ll be able to get a head start on the crowds and get in line for your must do experiences right away or if you’re more of a night owl and have saved up for a hotel room Splurge you may also be able to take advantage of a second major Resort benefit extended evening hours are only available to Deluxe Resort guests and allow these guests to stay in the parks on select nights up to 2 hours after they close for everyone else yep that means the ride stay open too in case there were any you couldn’t hit up during the day because of the high crowd levels now there are times that not all the rides are open so definitely study those lists before you take the plunge and do the deluxe Resort just for this benefit also double check the Disney World Park hours calendar to make sure extending evening hours will be readily available during the time you’re planning on going cuz it’d be a shame if you got a deluxe Resort for a 3-day vacation only to find out the 3 days you booked have no extended evening hours available cuz they are kind of few and far between now I know you’ve seen the influencer pictures with the person standing in front of Cinderella Castle absolutely killing it with their Rock and Disney bound but here’s the cold hard truth behind that instaworthy shot if you’re going to be in the Disney parks all day long you’re going to want to prioritize Comfort over fashion pack clothes that you’re confident you’ll be comfortable wearing for a long day in the Rain the Heat and everything in between and if your little princess or Prince has a funfilled day over at bibbity Bobby Boutique in Magic Kingdom please make sure to pack an extra pair of super comfy clothes for them to change into when they get sick of wearing their big poofy gown or other Royal costume around the park and and whatever you do just don’t bring those plastic high heels you wouldn’t want to walk around the park all day in plastic high heels why would your 5-year-old want to so you can bring them for for the picture but then maybe bring some you know gym shoes to change into afterwards not to toot our own horn or anything but toot toot cuz the dfb store.com website gives you the opportunity to address Disney cute and still feel comfortable doing so our reporters are in the Parks daily so we know what kind of outfits we’re a okay with wearing in the Parks and which ones we’re going to avoid entirely because the material is going to start sticking to our po sweaty skin after a while that’s why all our shirts are made with high quality material in all different styles and sizes so you can pick out the the design and fit that’s going to work best for you we’ve even got kids sizes too so the whole family can buy matching te’s to sport around the Parks look out Instagram cuz I sent a photo op in the making recently we learned that Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween party is going to be taking place this year on select night starting August 9th and up until October 31st is it just me or do they start this event earlier and earlier every year like last year I think it was the 12th now it’s the 9th next year it’s going to be like oh 4th of July is over let’s pull out the jack’ lanterns and Grim granny ghost now it’s okay I love Halloween and it’s cool to enjoy it for months and months on end now while not so scary as a capped off separately ticketed event meaning you’ll have much fewer crowds to worry about during the party leading to much less ride line stress that doesn’t mean lines don’t still get long during this party for select party specific offerings so as a Disney expert and all-around Savvy partygoer you’re going to need to know which attractions trigger the longest lines of the event so you know how to beat them to the punch and these attractions aren’t going to be the rides well not all the rides at least the rides with Halloween layovers Like Pirates of the Caribbean Space Mountain mad tea party they might get a little bit lengthy at times and of course Seven Dwarfs Mine Train but your actual highest crowd levels are going to be for the rare Disney character meet and greets this is like Jack and Sally for instance or the entirety of the seven dwarfs posi or the 100 Acre Wood gang and their cute little Halloween costumes or Elvis Stitch that was a huge one last year or a dastardly villain like Gaston or far you don’t normally see that much we’ve seen these wait times soar to multiple hours during the night just for the opportunity to chitchat with the Halloween experts themselves which could eat into a lot or most of your time during the night our best tip to try and meet all these characters especially Jack and Sally who will more than likely have the longest waights of the night shortly followed by the Seven Dwarfs is to enter Magic Kingdom as early as the party ticket will allow you to which will be 400 p.m. and wait to be one of the first to meet them for the night you can also hop in their line during one of the parade show times or towards the very end of the night but don’t wait too late cuz the line could get cut off before you get the chance to jump in it epcot’s cocktails are no Applebees like sugar water concoction the drinks around the world showcase are very strong and if you don’t believe me just search drinking around the world in your Tik Tok search engine and see the proof of how strong these drinks can be now I’m not here to be a fun sucker but I do care about you so when you grab that first ecut cocktail and go oh this tastes like juice this won’t be too bad bad it’s not juice it’s hard liquor and it’s a good amount of it too when you’re attempting the drinking around the world challenge be smart about it just like a Disney expert would be remember to take plenty of snack and water breaks in between the alcoholic beverage consumption and ask for free water cups at quick Services too share your drinks with a friend or family member as long as they want to participate that is don’t mix those alcohol types if you can avoid it and pace yourself don’t be afraid to switch up the challenge with a non-alcoholic beverage instead that’s absolutely something we do and we love doing it is we’ll alternate alcoholic non-alcoholic as we go throughout the world showcase drinking out drinking around the world is drinking around the world it’s okay if you’re drinking some mocktails too I know you really want to be a part of the cool crowd when it comes to Disney dining you want to be part of the hype and go to the restaurants with those hard to get reservations like Cinderella’s Royal table and Magic Kingdom and Chef Mickey’s it can temporary and space 220 in Epcot and rounda Rodeo barbecue and Hollywood Studios and while these restaurants are indeed really fun and immersive they may not be the best fit for your family you might find yourself underwhelmed by the food or find the price tag to be way more than you wanted to pay for a meal or that the experience itself is eating up too much of your time that you could be spending inside the parks riding rides and watching shows just make sure to do your research in advance see which Disney World restaurants will actually best fit your family’s needs and don’t necessarily just go on the recommendation of a friend or family member who went and loved it that’s great that they loved it but maybe they loved it because they were there as a couple without kids and it was fabulous for them at that particular time in their lives or they went as a family with a bunch of kids or as a multigenerational family and they loved it because it suited them at that time so if someone tells you a restaurant was really good in Disney World ask them why ask them was it because you liked the food or it was really easy to get a reservation or it just really hit the spot cuz it was good AC and it was a quick you know fast meal when we wanted get back out into the parks ask them why they liked it and that’ll give you a better idea of if it’s right for you or not and if you’re totally overwhelmed by the choices I get it there’s over 200 restaurants it is overwhelming but don’t sweat it that’s why you’re here with us here at dfb guide and that’s why we make our dfb guide to Walt Disney World dining which covers every single dining spot in Disney World and what to expect while you’re there so you can find the perfect fit for you we’re going to give you the pros and cons we’re going to give you the reasons why people like it why people don’t so you can make a good judgment call for yourself now you can head over to dfb store.com and pick up one of our guides we have lots of them in there along with those cute t-shirts we were telling you about if you do decide to purchase a guide thank you very much we appreciate your support of the channel and also type in code YouTube so you can save some money on your total purchase before checkout being prepared for your Disney World vacation doesn’t mean just packing your suitcase with the essentials you’re going to need in your hotel room it also means packing your Park bag for success but what goes in your Park bag to help your Disney day go off without any major hitches well first and foremost pack that rain gear especially for planning on traveling to Disney World in the summer since Central Florida comes summertime has afternoon rainstorms nearly every day this means packing ponchos or rain jackets or umbrellas so you can avoid overpaying for the ones Disney will have for sale at its gift shops and even their restaurants they you can get a poncho at restaurants and remember how I talked about drinking plenty of water earlier that’s not just a tip for all of you around the world drinkers out there that’s a tip for everybody packing a reusable water bottle is going to keep you hydrated throughout the day and if you’re looking for a place to refill that water bottle inside the parks just search water bottle refill stations on the My Disney Experience app this is going to lead you to all the different refill stations property wide so you can find the one that’s closest to you at the time also pack your Park bag with your phone in mind more than likely you’ll be using your phone a lot in Disney World not only to take photos but to also constantly access the My Disney Experience app that’s why you’re going to want to keep a portable phone charger in your bag too just make sure your portable charger is all Juiced up and ready to go otherwise you’re just be carrying a brick around with you all day long unless that is you’re planning on using fuel rods which you can switch out at various fuel Rod stations around the park in exchange for fully charged up ones okay one last item for you for now for me personally I love having a pack of wet wipes on hand because I eat a lot of melty sticky messy snacks for research purposes always for research so it’s nice to be able to clean up my hands afterward and of course I always have a bunch of Ziplocs in my bag because you just don’t even know how often they come in handy oh and going back to the wet wipes the Quick Service tables in Disney World are sometimes sticky since the turnover is so quick and sometimes cast members don’t have time to wipe down a table before someone just swoops in and grabs the seats so I appreciate having my wipes with me to clean off surfaces every once in a while too all right congrats everybody if you weren’t a Disney World expert before you’re certainly there now but this isn’t the end of the expert advice be sure to keep tuning back in here on the dfb channel for more Pro tips and tricks to come and remember things are changing at Disney World all the time like month to month week to week dayto day things change and as a result we’ve got to change our advice and recommendations so you do want to keep coming on back here and we’ll let you know where we’re making our new mistakes and keep you from making them too hopefully oh and reminder don’t forget to download our free Disney World planning worksheets over at disneyfoodblog plans hopefully those will come in really really handy and again if you’re interested in purchasing one of our guide books we put a lot of time and effort into those like months and months and months of research every year and we update them twice a year so they’re always up to date for you so please go ahead over to dfb store.com check those out if you haven’t purchased one before we’d love to see what you think thanks for listening everyone and thanks for watching as always this is AJ for Disney food Vlog and we’ll see you real soon