Don’t Let These Disney World Disasters Happen to You

Is there such a thing as a perfect Disney World trip?

As magical as Disney World can be, there’s no denying that a trip there requires a lot of patience, planning, time, and effort. And no matter how much you plan, there’s likely to be a hiccup or two along the way. However, it is possible to make things go as smoothly as you can while visiting the Most Magical Place on Earth. We’re sharing a few potential Disney World disasters — and how to avoid them.

Dining Disasters

Mobile Order

Picture this. You’ve rope dropped the park to get on all the rides you want, and so far the day has been a success. But, it’s approaching lunchtime, and you’re realizing there are no spots available for dining mobile order.

Our best advice is to NOT wait until you’re hungry to mobile order if you’ll be going to a quick service restaurant. Instead, set up your mobile order for later in the day in the morning, that way you can enjoy your day and have your lunch ready for pick up when you need it.

Advance Dining Reservations

If there is a restaurant you desperately want to visit in Disney World, there can be few things more frustrating than seeing it’s already completely booked for your trip at the 60-day window.

Advance Dining Reservation can be made 60 days in advance, but even with that large window, there’s no guarantee your restaurant of choice won’t already be booked.

However, there’s no reason to despair. You will want to make sure to keep checking back for reservations, especially as you get closer to the date. With the new cancellation policy that allows guests to cancel their ADRs only 2 hours in advance, chances are good that you can even snag the restaurant you want to visit last minute!

Planning Disasters

Not Checking the Calendar

Some times of the year are busier than others. While your schedule may make it so you have to visit during one of the more crowded times of year at Disney World, if you do have some flexibility, make sure you are checking out the calendar beforehand.

Specifically, you’ll want to check that you’re not visiting on major dates, such as ride openings, or the last day a certain ride is open. Additionally, there are busier times of year you’ll want to look out for, including marathon weekends, holidays, and spring break. Looking at these dates ahead of time and planning accordingly can make a major difference in the crowds and wait times for your visit.

Park Passes

When you’re planning your Disney World trip, you’ll need to make sure you have a Park Pass for the first park of the day you will be visiting.

If you show up at a certain park without a Park Pass attached to your ticket, you will not be let in. We do see days sell out with Park Passes, so make sure you plan ahead and get your Park Pass as soon as you figure out you want to.

Ride Closures

Looking forward to your favorite ride, only to arrive and realize it’s closed? Make sure you check out our calendar of refurbishments and closures before your trip to know what will be closed when you go.

Additionally, if you happen to catch a day-of closure, don’t panic. Make sure to keep an eye on My Disney Experience, as most ride closures are temporary and will reopen shortly.

Transportation Disasters

Walt Disney World transportation includes a variety of ways to get around the parks and hotels, including the Monorail, Skyliner, buses, and more! But there are a few potential pitfalls you’ll want to plan for.

Not Planning for Internal Stops

When you’re staying at certain Disney World hotels, you’ll want to prepare for internal bus stops. What does that mean, exactly? Well, at many resorts, you will have one bus stop where guests can get on a bus to any location.

However, at many of the larger resorts (especially the moderate and value resorts) you’ll need to plan for internal bus stops. What this means is that these hotels have multiple bus stops within the resorts themselves so guests don’t have to travel a huge distance to get to just one stop.

While this is useful when traveling from your hotel room, it also means you’ll likely need to be prepared to wait, for both getting picked up and dropped off.

You will want to make sure to plan for plenty of extra time in your day if taking the bus so you don’t run late for any reservations.

Not Planning for Weather

For guests staying at a Skyliner resort, they will also want to plan accordingly. The Skyliner is an incredibly useful transportation system that connects EPCOT and Hollywood Studios to Caribbean Beach Resort, Riviera Resort, Art of Animation, and Pop Century.

However, when there is bad weather in the area, the Skyliner will pause operations, waiting to resume until any storm has cleared up.

For this reason, we recommend you always have an alternate plan in place, and are frequently checking the weather to know if you may need to make different plans.

Want even more planning tips for your Disney World vacation? Check out the links below!

What is your best advice for a first-timer visiting Disney World? Let us know in the comments.

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