The Pixie Dust Principles of planning your Disney World vacation

Pixie Dust Planning Principle 1 – Your travel day shouldn’t be Day One of your vacation

Unless you are planning an extremely short visit, or you are a regular visitor to WDW then I’d prefer you not to think of your travel day as Day One of your Disney vacation.

No matter how excited you are to hit the parks there are better ways to spend your time, and your money, on your travel day. Don’t forget that there is more to Disney World than just the themeparks and travel days are the perfect days to experience the rest of the magic.

Keep in mind that you should aim for an early night so that you are up bright and early the following morning, which brings us on to Principle 2…

Pixie Dust Planning Principle 2 – Early risers experience more magic
If you’re a morning person then you’ll find this principle easy to accomplish. The big secret to Disney vacation success that not many people realise is that you can see and experience more in the first couple of hours after park opening than you will in the remainder of the day.

Why is this?

Because everyone is on vacation – which means that most people like to sleep in.

Remember Family X? They didn’t even make it to the park gates until 11.30am and then during their 12-hour stay they managed to experience just 3 attractions and the evening entertainment.

If you are willing to rise early and be at the park gates at least 15 minutes before the scheduled opening hours it is possible for you to experience 8 or 9 attractions before Family X even reaches the entrance!

Pixie Dust Planning Principle 3 – Pretend you’re Spanish
If the thought of setting an alarm clock on vacation fills you with dread then don’t worry – you might be up early but you also need to factor in some Spanish Siesta time.

Remember Family X? They slept in and had a leisurely morning, but by 2.30pm they’ve only just experienced their second attraction and they’re feeling tired and grumpy.

You on the other hand arrived in time for park opening, have experienced 12 or 13 attractions and are back at your Resort hotel having a refreshing swim or a nap!

Pixie Dust Planning Principle 4 – Make a reservation
Walt Disney World has some amazing, world-class restaurants, but if you want to experience them you need to make a reservation.

Once you have decided which parks to visit on which days you will want to consider which restaurants will fit with your plans and make a reservation.

If a park has evening entertainment that you wish to experience then you can work your dining plans around them.

Pixie Dust Planning Principle 5 – Evening entertainment is not to be missed

The evening parades and fireworks spectaculars are world class and should not be missed. At certain times of the years the evening entertainment is limited to a few days a week, if this is the case then plan your evenings first and then let that guide your plans for both the day time and dining reservations.

Pixie Dust Planning Principle 6 – Try not to burn the candle at both ends
If you are travelling at a time of year when the parks are open late you could find yourselves enjoying the evening entertainment at 10 or 11pm. If you aren’t likely to be back in your hotel room until midnight or later then you should try and avoid an early start the next day.

Of course this seems to be in complete contradiction to Principle 2, but it isn’t really. If your travel plans permit you simply need to follow a late night with a ‘rest day’.

Pixie Dust Planning Principle 7 – Don’t forget your rest days
Even with your Spanish Siestas you will still find yourself tiring after a few days at the theme parks. You will spend hours on your feet and will literally walk for several miles a day. Don’t forget that you are on vacation and try and factor in some ‘rest days’.

If you have had a late night the previous evening then a rest day might consist of a lie in, a wander around Downtown Disney and then a couple of hours at a Water Park. You could then spend the evening playing a round of miniature golf or doing some shopping at a local outlet mall.

Alternatively, you might keep your early morning schedule at one of the theme parks but leave in the early afternoon and take the rest of the day off. After your siesta you could experience some of the non-theme park magic the Resort has to offer.

The length of your stay will influence the number of rest days you should take in order to recharge your batteries!

Pixie Dust Planning Principle 8 – Skip breakfast
Well, not entirely – breakfast is the most important meal of the day after all. I just need you to skip restaurant breakfasts, or save them for rest days.

Remember Family X? They were busy eating breakfast in a restaurant when they could have been at the parks. Not only does eating breakfast in a restaurant cost you money (about $10 a head) it also costs you time (about an hour).

Save time and money by eating cereal in your hotel room on park days – and save restaurant and character breakfasts for your rest days when you have time to enjoy them at a more leisurely pace.

Pixie Dust Planning Principle 9 – Avoid Extra Magic Hours
One of the ‘benefits’ of staying in a Disney World Resort hotel is that you are able to access the parks at times that off-site guests can’t. This is generally one hour before park opening or three hours after park closing on certain days of the week.

Sounds good right?

Unfortunately not.

Parks with morning Extra Magic Hours (EMHs) attract guests and lots of them. It’s probably the only day that they set their alarm clocks LOL. Of course, even if they can’t get out of bed in time to take advantage of the EMH they end up at that park anyway since that was their ‘plan’ so the park is generally busier on days with an EMH.

The problem with morning EMHs is that you have to get up so early to take advantage of this extra 60 minutes and if you happen to be running even a little late the whole advantage disappears. Take my advice and let all the other guests go to morning EMHs, while you enjoy the peace and quiet of the other parks!

Now evening EMHs are another matter, sort of. I’d still recommend you avoid them as the park is likely to be busier on a day with an EMH and you have to stay well into the second or third ‘free’ hour to take advantage. For those late sleepers they might need that extra time – but trust me you’d be better off getting to bed at a reasonable hour and hitting the parks early the next morning

If your vacation time is short however then you may have to take advantage of the EMH to be able to experience everything you want to.

Pixie Dust Planning Principle 10 – Avoid hopping
Unless you have an Annual Pass or a UK Disney’s Ultimate ticket (both of which include park hopping privileges) I recommend trying to keep your itinerary to one park per day.

Park hopping privileges let you visit more than one park each day – but they are quite expensive. Unless you have no choice due to the length of your stay or the time of year try and stick to one park per day and you’ll save yourself a couple of hundred bucks.

Pixie Dust Planning Principle 11 – Go out with a bang!
Make your last evening a really memorable one by making sure you attend one of the evening entertainment spectaculars. You can either plan one in at the planning stage – or if your vacation length and the entertainment calendar permits you could leave the evening empty. Then after you have witnessed all of the entertainment once go back to experience your family’s favourite one on your last evening.

Pixie Dust Planning Principle 12 – Make a plan and stick to it
Remember Family X? They wasted so much time deciding which park to go to before breakfast and then which attractions to ride when they actually got to the park.
By making a plan before you leave home you will know which parks you are visiting on which days, you’ll know which attractions to hit in which order when you get to the gates and you’ll experience ten times more than Family X!

Pixie Dust Planning Principle 13 – Don’t forget that plans change
I know I just told you to make a plan and stick with it. And I really mean that – but sometimes you will be forced to change your plans.

Let’s say for example that you plan a rest day with swimming at one of the water parks, and then when you arrive that day is forecast for thunder storms, doesn’t really make ideal swimming weather does it?

Or let’s say you arrive at the Magic Kingdom with plans to experience the whole park, but your little one insists on riding Dumbo seven times in a row.

Or you arrive at Epcot for Illuminations and inclement weather means they have to cancel the show (Note this really doesn’t happen very often).

If any of these things happen then you need to be able to change your plan.