Disney Tips Your Guide To A Great Disney Vacation
If you are planning a vacation to Walt Disney World, you might feel like you will be visiting a whole new world. With all the decisions you have to make from Resorts to Disney Park Pass Reservations to dining, Disney planning can be a lot to figure out. To help make your trip easier, we have some key Disney words that you need to know before a Disney vacation.
My Disney Experience
The first phrase you might come across when you are planning a trip to Walt Disney World is My Disney Experience. This refers to Disney’s official planning tool that will help you with your vacation and navigating a Disney Park as well as your Disney Resort.
My Disney Experience is where you will link your reservation, make your Disney Park Pass Reservations and dining reservations, see Wait Times and so much more.
With how essential this service is to a Walt Disney World vacation, we highly recommend that you download the app prior to arriving at your Walt Disney World Resort.
Credit: Paula K
Disney Park Pass Reservations
Since reopening, Guests are required to make Disney Park Pass Reservations in order to visit a Theme Park during their Disney vacation.
In the My Disney Experience app, once Guests have purchased Walt Disney World tickets, they can select which of the four Theme Parks (Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios) they want to visit each day during their Disney World vacation.
This is important to do early on in your planning as Park Passes can fill out. You don’t want to get blocked out.
You will not be allowed into a Theme Park without a park reservation so set this up for everyone in your party prior to travel.
Genie, Genie+, Individual Lightning Lanes
Disney just added even more Disney words that are key to being prepared for a Disney vacation and they all involved Disney Genie.
Disney Genie is the new, free planning service provided by Disney. You can find Genie in the My Disney Experience App.
Guests can use Disney Genie for tips and suggestions while in a Theme Park. It provides up to date Wait Times and uses projected crowds to suggest rides and experiences.
Genie+ is a paid section of Disney Genie. Guests can choose to add Genie+ for $15/person/day. This gives Guests access to the Lightning Lane for over 40 attractions, therefore skipping the standby line.
You can hold only one Lighting Lane return time at a time. When you use that, you can make another.
Lightning Lane refers to the actual lane Guests use to get onto the ride. This is the old Fastpass lane and allows Guests to access the ride quickly.
Guests who purchase Genie+ are given access to these lanes throughout the four Theme Parks.
Individual Lightning Lanes: Finally, there are rides in each of the four Theme Parks that aren’t part of Genie+. If Guests wish to experience them using the Lightning Lane option, they need to purchase them individually.
These rides are currently Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in Magic Kingdom; Avatar Flight of Passage in Disney’s Animal Kingdom; EPCOT has Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind; and in Disney’s Hollywood Studios it is Rise of the Resistance.
The cost for these rides varies from $8 to $18 per person. So keep that in mind when determining if it is something that will be important to your family.
All of these rides except for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind still has Standby, so you can always choose to enjoy them that way. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at EPCOT uses a Virtual Queue, which is free to join.
Credit: Disney
Advance Dining Reservations
If you are looking to enjoy a full service meal at Disney, you will need to make Advance Dining Reservations or ADRs.
Currently 60 days prior to check-in, Guests can book dining reservations through the My Disney Experience app or on the Walt Disney World website.
Many reservations fill up quickly at highly popular dining locations like Space 220 Restaurant, California Grill, O’hana, and more. To ensure you have a better chance of getting these, you will want to make those Advance Dining Reservations early.
Mobile Ordering
Also found in the My Disney Experience app is the Mobile Ordering feature. Guests are asked to use this in order to order food at a variety of locations throughout the Theme Parks, Resorts, and Disney Springs.
When you know where you want to eat, you can select the location and order your food all through the app. Times can fill up so make sure you plan ahead.
Once you are ready to pick up your food, you can select “prepare my order” and after a short wait you will be ready to eat.
Mobile Walk-Up
A new feature that has been added to My Disney Experience is Mobile Walk-up. At select sit-down locations, Guests can go into the app and add themselves to the Mobile Walk-up list.
This is a great feature for those that might not have been able to snag an advance dining location at the 60 day mark. If a dining location has openings, they allow walk-ups.
You have to be near the restaurant in order to join, but it is a fantastic way to visit some dining locations the day you are in a Disney Park or at Disney Springs.
Quick Service and Table Service
Two other phrases that you will need to be aware of when dining in Disney are quick service and table service.
Quick service refers to those quick meals that you get at a counter or a stand. Examples would be Sleepy Hollow, Flame Tree Barbecue, or Woody’s Lunch Box.
Table service is where you will be waited on throughout the meal and you typically need dining reservations to eat there. These are longer experiences and where you want to go if you prefer to have a more relaxing meal.
Planning a trip to Walt Disney World might make you feel like you need to learn a whole new language. We hope that going over these important words and phrases will help you feel confident heading into the vacation.
