As a first timer to WDW

[PrincessSylvia]

What are some of the must haves? Must dos? Must donts? This will also be my/our Disneymoon.

 

[hineshm]

Do bring comfortable shoes. Not new shoes, they must be broke in.
Do not thing that you will "do it all". I have been to Disney World 26 times and I have yet to do it all.
Must have a Mickey Ears Ice Cream bar.

 

[Tricia's mom]

As pp said.. you won't do it all....

comfortable shoes a must !! Really comfortable..like Jogging comfortable...NO JOKE !! Lots of support.

Don't plan to much..let the Magic happen

 

[MrRomance]

My top tips for a first time visit would be...

1. Comfortable shoes - it has been said that the average person walks 26 miles during a day in the parks and I can believe it.

2. Planning - I am not a militant planner as many people are, but it definitely pays to do some planning. As others have said, you won't do it all, so make a plan of things you absolutely don't want to miss.

3. Dining - If you have the DDP, take advantage of making dinner reservations. Popular restaurants can get booked out 6 months out!

4. Bag - Buy one of those swimming bags to take to the parks. They are light, easy to store and waterproof.

5. Rest Days - Plan to take regular rest days. It can be exhausting walking all day in the heat. You can still do other things (Disney Quest, Old Town Kissimmee, Water Park etc.) but don't plan on a park visit every day.

6. DRINK! - Make sure you drink plenty, it's easy to forget and get really dehydrated in all the excitement!

7. "Secrets" - There are a lot of secret little things you can do that a lot of people don't know about. Most of the information is freely available online. For example, the paint brush hunt on Tom Sawyer Island.

 

[Hootch]

1) Understand the fastpass system. It can save you a lot of time.

a) When you get a fastpass you usually have to wait for the beginning time of the return window or two hours. The fatspass will have the return time printed on it.

b) you can return after the fastpass window closes but not before it opens

c) Soarin' and Toy Story Mania run out very early. Splash Mountain, Space Mountain and Test Track run out in the afternoon in heavy times.

2) I used an app to track wait times before our trip. If I had to wait in line for two or three minutes I would pop open the app and get an idea how the lines built up throughout the day. That helped me plan the order of certain attractions even though I had visited several times before.

3) Slow down and take in some of the street entertainers. The DHS ones are my favorites but Divine in DAK and Jammitors in Epcot are also fun.

4) You can't do everything so don't. Make a reasonable list of must dos and fill in your time with otehr things.

5) Be flexible.

 

[JDUB]

Congrats on the engagement and 1st Disney visit. You will find plenty of planning and dining advice on this site and Disney's website. We love planning our days with good food and lots of magic. We try to only book one TS reservations each day. Some try to book a couple per day and you seem so rushed to get to your reservations. Relax and enjoy the Disney magic. If you have the DDP, book your reservations 180 days in advance because they book quick. Understanding the FastPasses are a must.
Enjoy your planning!

 

[seelyt2]

Congrats! We took our honeymoon in the World exactly 16 years ago

If we go during the summer we take a break in the afternoon by going back to the hotel to take a swim and go back to the park late afternoon/early evening. The heat kills us and a swim is very refreshing. I have more energy that way to make it through the night since the heat really zaps me.

As previous people said - bring comfy shoes. I bring Sketcher Shape Up sneakers and their flip flops too, but I know that some people don't like them. They are extra padded so it gives my feet some extra cushion. Regardless of what I wear, I switch out my shoes so that I'm not wearing the same shoes 2 days in a row as this prevents pain and blisters for me.

If you don't have problems with Advil - I take two after breakfast so that I don't feel my aching legs later in the day.

I live by rope drop. The early bird gets the fast passes

ENJOY!!! And congratulations!!!

 

[Blackbeltdisneygirl]

Congrats! Your picture is so sweet! Why don't you give us a couple details of your trip so we can give you pointers tailored to your needs? Where are you staying? How long? Dining plan? etc... That way we can give our best tips!

 

[MHSweb79]

Congratulations! I went on my "Disneymoon" back in 1984, and we're still going strong.

My #1 piece of advice is: Get a good guidebook. I like The Unofficial Guide. Once you read this (you really don't need to read all 800 pages - I love it but not everyone is up to that level of detail) you'll know where to stay, where to eat, and which attractions to hit up first. You'll also know where to avoid (saves time!) and you can even customize a touring plan for romance.

Beyond that, my advice is to come up with a very simple plan: choose which parks you're going to visit on which day, well before your trip. This may seem like something small, but it means your dining reservations will then fall into place much more easily. The park hours are posted 180 days in advance so at that time you can figure out your schedule. Will you get up early for EMH? Probably not. So you'll want to hit the park that had evening EMH the night before, in order to enjoy the lowest crowds. Not up to doing the work yourself? Visit easywdw.com and print out the crowd calendar for the week(s) you'll be there. That makes it very simple.

Have fun!