10. If your time at Disney is limited, decide what is most important. If you have small children, seeing characters might take up the bulk of your time. If your kids are more interested in rides, you might have to skip the characters. Either way you are going to be spending time in lines. We only waited to see three characters. The rest of our waiting was for rides. Unfortunately you don't just "encounter" characters anymore (at least while we were there). You had to find specially marked spots on your map and seek the characters out. The maps don't tell you which characters will be there, so you have no idea if the trek to that location is worth it.
9. Snacks! Ok, so theme park food is expensive. Really expensive. I have read all kinds of things about bringing your own snacks and drinks to avoid these expenses. We tried. We failed. In temperatures upwards of 90 degrees, drinks don't stay cool and your snack options are limited (when you take into account melting, smashing, etc). Since we didn't have young children, we had no stroller; therefore, a cooler to keep things cool wasn't an option. Who wants to lug that around? So, if you have this brilliant money saving plan in your head, make sure to consider the heat and the weight of the items your toting. However, if you are using a stroller, this might change everything.
8. Timing is everything. Get to the parks when they open. Trust me! There was a noticeable difference on the two days that we did compared to the day that we didn't. Our late arrival was 9:45 instead of 9:00 like the other days. It made a huge difference. Be there by 9:00 am. You'll thank me later.
7. Be Our Guest- Ahh! Magic Kingdom is building up Fantasyland with a whole area dedicated to Beauty and the Beast. This is my all time favorite Disney movie. So, when I read about the "Be Our Guest" diner, I HAD to go. The diner takes you inside the Beast's Castle. You can eat in the ballroom, dining room, or West Wing. If this sounds like something that strikes your fancy, make reservations NOW!!! I tried for two months before our trip, but there were no openings. So reserve in advanced. If you don't get reservations, no worries. You can still go, but there will be a wait. We waited for about 30 minutes in the hot sun with no shade. Luckily, if there is one thing I know about Disney, they are prepared! Staff brought around umbrellas to provide some comfort. I promise this place is worth the wait. The food is fantastic. Might I suggest the chocolate creme puff! To make reservations, click here. 
6. Fast Pass- Use them and abuse them! Ok, so if you find a way to abuse them, you are probably breaking the rules (not suggested). Seriously though, use the hell out of those suckers. We only rode rides with a 30 minute or less wait. We got Fast Passes for everything else. We would get a pass for a ride, then we would go find other things to do (watch shows, ride other rides, etc.). Sometimes our passes couldn't be used for up to four hours later, but luckily you don't have to wait the full four hours before you can get a pass. Be sure to check the time at the bottom of the Fast Pass to know when you can grab another. You can potentially have more than one pass out at a time. Also, if there is a ride you don't want to ride, but your kiddos do-- still get all the Fast Passes you can. My sisters were able to ride some rides twice, because they would use mine and my husband's passes. For more information about Fast Passes, read here.
5. Backpack, Backpack! A few months before our trip, my husband and I encountered the most adorable Disney backpacks at the Disney Store. We had decided that the girls were old enough to carry their own belongings through the parks, and these bags would be the perfect way to do it. We didn't tell them about the bags, but we began to fill them with all things Disney; Disney insulated water bottle, Disney tissues, Disney wet wipes (highly reccommended), Disney bandages, ponchos, autograph books and pens and etc. Most of these things were found at the Disney Store or dollar stores. They loved their bags and were always prepared--rain or shine.
4. Split your day. You don't have to stay at Disney World all day long. We would go from about 9 am to 2 pm. Then the heat of the day started to wear on us. We would leave for a few hours and come back around 5 or 6 pm. We were now refreshed and ready to experience all the night time activities. Remember you must have special tickets to park hop. We actually had free tickets, so ours didn't allow us to hop between parks throughout the day. On our first day we went to Animal Kingdom until about 2 pm, and then we relaxed and went to Epcot from 5 pm until about 9 pm. Since we switched parks, we had to use all new tickets. If we would have went back to Animal Kingdom, we could have used the same tickets. Just double check your tickets before you leave the park. :)
3. The Disney Magic happens at night. This is one of my best pieces of advice. If you can make it to the parks at dusk and beyond, you will love it. The nights were cooler, less crowded, and altogether much more enjoyable. We watched the fireworks at Epcot and Magic kingdom. AAAAMAZING! I recommend them both, but I think Magic Kingdom was a little more...well... magical. The electric parade was beautiful, and their fireworks were simply stunning.
2. Souvenirs are outrageous- not a surprise to us! I was very curious about something I had read about--pin trading. Basically, the concept of this novelty is to trade (shirt) pins with other park goers and employees. I debated on doing it, but then opted to try it. I am so glad that I did. Pin trading can get a bit expensive if you start it out at the parks. A lanyard costs about $10, each pin is from $8-$15. Since I didn't know if we would enjoy this, I decided to look on ebay. I purchased four lanyards and 50 pins for about $40. This gave us each over 10 pins to start our collection. We only ever traded with employees. Just ask the person if you can look at their pins. Employees have to trade with you. If you see something you like, ask them to trade. We always kept our pins separated-ones we were willing to trade and ones that we weren't. Most of our down time was spent searching for new pins. I found my sisters ignoring all souvenirs at the stands and going straight to the workers for pins. We got out of the parks spending less that $100 on souvenirs for all four of us. WOW!!! Read more about pin trading here. If you want to order pins online, be sure it is a reputable seller. It is very frowned upon to have a faux pin. Some ebay sellers don't sell original pins. We had no trouble with any from our purchase. Here is a link to the ebay store.
1. Have a great attitude! Seriously, the happier you are to be there, the happier your kids are that you're there. Please don't be one of those obnoxious parents screaming at the top of their lungs at their children throughout the parks. You don't want to get lost in all the magic either. It is easy forget that you are their parent/ responsible adult. Other park goers will be very grateful to you for attempting to manage tantrums or reprimanding extreme misbehavior. Enjoy yourself. Disney is magical.
