053 Walt Disney World Vacation Tips

Planning a trip to Disney World can be so overwhelming! Where to stay, how to make the most of your FastPasses, whether or not the dining plan is worth it, and how to book advance dining reservations. This week we chat with Karyn Locke from Sand and Snow to get her top Walt Disney World tips. ON THE PODCAST 00:25 - Talking with Kim about Idaho 08:36 - About Karyn Locke 11:08 - When to go to Disney 14:43 - How long to spend 17:27 - Where to stay, in park vs out 20:49 - Hotel breakfast tips 22:10 - Karyn’s favorite hotels 27:22 - When to book 31:10 - What is Fast Pass 36:43 - What rides to use your Fast Pass On 40:46 - Karyn’s favorite restaurants 47:25 - Final tips 49:19 - Favorite travel gear 52:39 - App of the week 53:55 - Shout out! ABOUT KARYN LOCKE Karyn Locke is creator/lead writer for the travel/lifestyle website Sand and Snow...and everywhere in between! A Disney fan for as long as she can remember, Karyn's happy to share vacation planning tips and tricks to her readers with weekly Disney posts. Follow Karyn on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. WALT DISNEY WORLD TIPS If you are planning a trip to Disney for the first time, Make sure you can spend at least a week to enjoy the parks. To save money on breakfast and snacks, if you have Amazon Prime, a good idea would be to order a prime pantry box and have it delivered to the resort you are staying. Make sure you put the resort you are staying and check in date along with your name, and you can pick it up at the front desk. It is a great idea to book tickets and hotel at least a year before your trip. Another thing to book are advance dining reservations. Advance dining reservations can be made 180 days in advance. FastPass + allows you to book three rides/attractions in advance. After you use those, you can then book another on-site. FastPasses can be booked 60 days in advance (plus the number of days of your stay) if you are staying on-site and 30 days in advance if you are staying off-site. In Animal Kingdom, the safari is best to go at night because the animals are more active and you will not be as hot. Make sure to do your homework before your tip. It will make your vacation less overwhelming. FAVORITE TRAVEL GEAR Karyn and her family love to wear their Disney t-shirts, and great walking shoes! APP OF THE WEEK My Disney Experience is a great app where you can keep all you tickets and reservations. You can also get wait times and character locations, etc. MENTIONED ON THE PODCAST Disney World Crowd Calendar FOLLOW US AND SPREAD THE WORD! If you liked this show, please be sure to subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play and leave us a review! Have a question or comment? Send us an email or leave us a voicemail at +1.641.715.3900, ext. 926035# You can also follow our travels on Stuffed Suitcase and We3Travel, or follow the Vacation Mavens on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. Thanks for listening!