5 Painfully Infuriating Disney World Mistakes People Are STILL Making

There are some continuously-made Walt Disney World mistakes that drive us up a wall!

We completely understand that planning a Walt Disney World vacation can be incredibly stressful. There are a ton of things to know about ticketing, hotel stays, park reservations, and etc. On top of that, things are always changing, and information someone “knew for sure” a couple of years ago may be completely out of date by now. That said, some mistakes can really be disastrous — and we’re here to stop  you from making them!

Let’s take a look at five mistakes people make on their Disney World trips — so you don’t have to make them.

People Still Think the Magical Express Exists

Disney’s Magical Express, first introduced in 2005, was one of the best perks Walt Disney World offered. When you landed at Orlando International Airport, you could walk off the plane and board a special Disney bus that would bring you straight to your Disney World hotel. Until 2020, you didn’t even need to pick up your bags, as a baggage service worked with Disney to pick up the luggage and deliver it straight to your room.

The Magical Express was an integral part of many Disney World vacations for over 15 years. BUT the service was discontinued in 2022. Despite this, there are still travelers arriving at MCO expecting Disney to transport them to their hotel. Unfortunately, this is no longer an option. Instead, your options are now to rent a car, book travel with a third party bus transportation company like Mears, or take a taxi or rideshare vehicle directly to your resort.

Here’s What You Need to Know About Mears Airport Transportation

People Don’t Know that They Need to Go Through the Transportation and Ticket Center to get to the Magic Kingdom

When the Magic Kingdom was being built, one of the key design principles was to space everything out across the vast swath of land the company purchased, so that the park wouldn’t feel crowded by the outside world the way Disneyland had become.

One of the key ways they went about this was building the Magic Kingdom’s parking lots far away from the theme park. Instead, guests would park at the Transportation and Ticket Center and take some form of transportation — ferry boat, Disney Monorail, or bus — to reach the park’s entrance. Despite this being the case for over 50 years, there still seem to be many people who park and are surprised to learn they need to take another vehicle — or a very long walk around the Seven Seas Lagoon — to get to the Magic Kingdom.

Our best advice if you make this mistake is just to relax and enjoy the ride — the ferry boats and Monorails are rides unto themselves, and a key part of the Disney World experience. Just remember that they take time — it can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour to get from your car at the Magic Kingdom parking lot to the tapstiles and into the park.

Here’s a Complete Guide to Parking at Disney World

People Don’t Realize They Need Dining Reservations

Disney World has a lot of really good restaurants spread across its property, with menus catering to every taste. However, it’s nearly impossible to get into many of them by simply walking up the day of, despite the fact that many people still try.

Instead, dining reservations are necessary nearly everywhere, and fill up well in advance. Currently, Disney dining reservations can be made 60 days beforehand, and we’d advise trying to get the one you want as soon as that window opens.

So what if you didn’t make dining reservations? Well, there are a couple of tactics you can use. First, some restaurants offer a walk-up waitlist, which you can join either through the My Disney Experience app on your phone, or at the host stand at the restaurant. Another option is to keep checking for last-minute reservations on the day you are in Disney World. You can cancel reservations up to two hours before your reservation time, so people change their plans — and new reservations pop up — close to the last minute.

Finally, keep in mind that some popular restaurants at Disney World have adjacent lounges that serve a similar menu, and they often take walk-ins. Some options to try include:

• Steakhouse 71 Lounge at the Contemporary Resort
• Tambu Lounge at the Polynesian Village Resort
• Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge in Disney’s Hollywood Studios
• Nomad Lounge in Disney’s Animal Kingdom
• Space 220 Lounge in EPCOT
• Dahlia Lounge at Coronado Springs
• Sanaa Lounge in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge – Kidani Village
• Ale & Compass Lounge in Disney’s Yacht Club
• Citricos Lounge in Disney’s Grand Floridian

People Haven’t Read Up on Genie+ and Lightning Lane

Since its introduction in 2021, the Genie+ and Lightning Lane systems have fundamentally changed how visiting a Disney theme park works. Despite this, there are many visitors who simply don’t read up on how they work beforehand.

If you haven’t heard of Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, these are systems you use (and pay for) within the Disney World app that allow you to make reservations to return to rides without waiting in a long standby line. Instead, you enter a shorter Lightning Lane for each ride.

If you get to Disney World and aren’t familiar with how these systems work, you will be behind the eight ball when your visit starts. Fear not if you’re in this boat! We’ve got everything you need to know about Genie+ before you go covered. You can watch our video about it right here!

People Still Look for “Harry Potter World” at Disney

It’s been well over a decade since the first Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened up at Universal Studios Florida. In that time a second (and soon a third) land have opened in Orlando, with further expansions in Hollywood and Tokyo Universal parks. However, even with all that and Universal’s marketing machine, there are STILL guests who think the Potter lands are located in Disney World. That was almost the case at one point in time, but that ship has long sailed.

Cast Members will tell you they are asked about where the Harry Potter ride is on a daily basis. And if you want to go to Harry Potter World, do it! Just understand that you’ll need to go to Universal by taxi, rideshare or rental car — and your Disney tickets won’t work there.

While some of these mistakes are more understandable than others, all of them can be a bit infuriating as they each pose the threat of potentially ruining the vacation of someone who doesn’t know any better. Stay tuned to AllEars for more Disney World tips so you don’t make these mistakes!

People Keep Making These Mistakes in Disney World 

What’s the Walt Disney World mistake that infuriates you the most? Let us know in the comments below.

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