My previous article (“Time is Money: Saving Time Through Smart Planning,” from November 11, 2011) identified understanding expectations and setting priorities as two keys to a great trip to Walt Disney World. Today, let's cover more ways to save time before you leave home.
Go in the off season
As most travel resources tell you, if you have the option, go in the off season. In general, this means planning a trip outside of summer, Thanksgiving, Christmas and spring break weeks. It's mostly a no-brainer, although off-season travel does have its disadvantages, such as more rides and attractions closed for refurbishment, chilly swimming, fewer shows, and shorter park hours.
Traveling during the least crowded seasons, however, offers the biggest bang for the buck from a time-savings perspective; the time you save on ride lines, shopping, and dining, significant. Since most of us are limited in the time of year we can travel to Orlando, the key becomes making the best of what we have to work with.
Stay on-site
Stay on-site. This is a bit counterintuitive because frankly, the Disney transportation system is not always efficient and a personal vehicle is often faster to move between resorts and to/from Downtown Disney. However, I am a true believer not only because of the joys of being immersed in Disney theming, but also because of the time you save through planned and unplanned down time.
Traveling the relatively short distance to your next destination within the Walt Disney World Resort on a Disney bus, boat or monorail is usually quite relaxing and affords the opportunity to observe and meet fellow travelers.
In addition, down time during the day is important in order to maximize the play time you get for the rest of the day. That is, the hour or two you “waste” in the comfort of your resort in the middle of the day will actually provide significant time savings by preventing meltdowns and exhaustion later in the day. It's much more difficult to take that break if you stay off-site.
Regardless of where you want to stay, research it well, and decide early in the planning process.
General Information
Obtain basic information early; you can get more details later, before you start planning your itinerary (or at least before you arrive in Orlando). And while you can find this information on several websites, it's best to confirm the first two on the official WDW website:
- Park hours, including Extra Magic Hours, parade and nighttime entertainment times
- Closures
Additional information to know as you start planning your itinerary includes:
- Height requirements, if traveling with children
- Touring plans/crowd calendar
- Orlando weather
You can find a crowd calendar at TouringPlans.com (a subscription fee applies). As a sponsor of MousePlanet, the weekly Walt Disney World Park Update here also publishes the Touring Plans crowd calendar for the coming week for free. Using the fee-based touring plans from the Touring Plans website is also a great way to save time in Walt Disney World. The site can customize daily plans based on your party's priorities in each park.
Research and decide what type of ticket media to purchase. There are extensive options for Disney's Magic Your Way ticketing, including park hopper, expiring/non-expiring, and water parks and more. Since much of that decision is based on your personal finances, priorities, and package, and there is a wealth of print and online resources available to compare options, I won't try to tackle that topic here. To avoid an unnecessary wait at a ticket booth upon arrival, order your tickets and have them sent to your home.
Once you research, decide priorities, and order park tickets, it's time to develop a rough itinerary for your trip. I suggest planning each day into morning, afternoon and evening segments, then sketching out where you might want to be during each period. Given the variables once you're in Walt Disney World, such as weather and illness, it's pointless to be much more detailed than that before arrival.
Leave some blocks open for rest, particularly after a scheduled late night, as well as towards the end of your trip, when you want to shop, return to favorites, and ensure that you knock off those must-do items on your priority list.
Take Extra Magic Hours (EMH) into account when planning your itinerary. EMH provides an extra hour of park time in the morning or three hours at night at the selected park/s, and is only available to those staying at a Walt Disney World resort.
Using EMH can be a nice benefit, but only if used wisely. The parks with EMH will almost always be more crowded, so one way to use EMH to your advantage is to arrive at a morning EMH park at opening then head to another park after a few hours when the EMH park becomes crowded. Generally, avoid the parks with EMH unless you use that morning strategy or if your only opportunity to complete a high priority item, such as Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios, requires use of evening EMH.
With the exception of height requirements, check all information one final time within a few days of your trip. Disney often extends park hours, for example, if higher crowds are anticipated. For even greater efficiency, while you are doing that last bit of checking, complete any online check-ins possible, such as your resort (up to 10 days prior) and airline (24 hours prior).
Time is a precious commodity on a Walt Disney World vacation. Take advantage of the planner in your family, or at least your own latent planning gene, to make a plan before you arrive. Completing some basic research and creating a rough itinerary based on your priorities, accommodations and park information will be time well spent. And most find this planning stage a great part of the fun of a Walt Disney World vacation!
