A Disney World Expert Reveals The Mistakes Too Many Visitors Make — And How To Avoid Them
For over 50 years, Disney World has been offering people of all ages the chance to skip out on reality for a day or three and experience a shinier, sweeter, more idyllic life. Between the rides, the princesses poised for photo ops and the enormous turkey legs, there’s something for everyone.
However, the “happiest place on earth” isn’t exactly cheap. If you’re going to fork over your hard-earned paycheck(s) to go, you’ll want to pack in as many magical moments as possible, right? So how can you ensure that you’re doing Disney right — and not making amateur mistakes that will cost you your time, money and sanity?
That’s what we — Raj Punjabi and Noah Michelson, the hosts of HuffPost’s “Am I Doing It Wrong?” podcast — asked Mouselet 1 from the TikTok-famous duo The Mouselets, who use their account to share their best Disney tips with their 1.2 million followers.
Press play to listen to the full episode:
“You need to book your dining reservations in advance,” Mouselet 1 told us. “If you’re going to do Lightning Lanes, you have to book them in advance, which a lot of people don’t know or don’t like doing.”
Doing a little prep work will score you big rewards, according to our Disney expert, and hitting the park without a game plan can leave you hungry, cranky, and standing around in too-long lines.
Speaking of lines, Mouselet 1 suggests downloading the Disney World app, which can help you hack the ride system.
“A lot of people will just go walk from ride to ride and just be like, ‘Oh, this ride has an 80-minute wait right now. Oh, well,’” she said. “But in the app, you can see all the wait times. And so you use that, even if it’s a little bit more walking, [and find another ride]. If a ride takes like 70 minutes, don’t get in line. Go to a different ride because you’re just going to waste time.”
And we all know wasting time at a theme park is a cardinal sin — especially at Disney World.
Long lines can also be more of a problem during certain times of the year and days of the week, so choose wisely when booking your trip.
“Generally, long weekends, vacation times like spring break, summer break, or when there’s a Run Disney race going on, it’s really, really crowded,” Mouselet 1 said. “Later in August and early September is fairly not-crowded … because most kids have gone back to school and people don’t want to pull their kids out in the first couple of weeks of school.”
She added that January through March can be slower, but only if you avoid the holiday weekends during those months. The same goes for the week after Thanksgiving, before the holidays at Disney really ramp up — Mouselet 1 warned that Disney World is extremely crowded on Christmas Day, so avoid a trip then unless you’re just going for the novelty and aren’t worried about having to wait in long lines for rides and food. Her personal favorite time to go is “a little pocket in early May, before summer starts” and while kids are still in school.
“Weekends are more crowded. There’s a lot of locals who go to the parks … particularly on the weekends,” Mouselet 1 said. “Tuesday through Thursday is going to be the lowest times, because you miss people who are doing just a longer weekend. Wednesday is the least crowded day because it’s furthest from a weekend.”
No matter when you go, make sure you’ve got everything you need to stay healthy and happy while you’re there.
“Another [mistake] is people just not being prepared — like not drinking water or not wearing the right shoes,” she tells us. “Disney is like a marathon. You’re walking like 30,000 steps a day.”
Wearing your comfiest kicks, making sure your phone is charged and stopping to take a rest when necessary will keep you from burning out before you’ve had your Disney fill.
“There’s a lot of small shows, like [the] Carousel of Progress, or Turtle Talk with Crush … that I feel like a lot of people would skip because it’s not a ride, but some of them are actually really, really good,” Mouselet 1 said.
And you can recharge your batteries in between hunting for hidden Mickeys or queueing up for another Dole Whip.
“You get to sit down for 10 or 15 minutes and take a break,” Michelson added. “You’re in air conditioning, it’s nice — and you might see something you haven’t seen before.”
This week’s episode is packed to the brim with more Disney tips, as well as some secrets that the average park goer doesn’t know about — like how you can get a VIP tour for way less than you might imagine. Listen to the full episode here or wherever you get your podcasts.
Make sure to subscribe to “Am I Doing It Wrong?” on whatever podcast platform you prefer so you don’t miss a single episode, including our investigations of the ins and outs of tipping, how to apologize or vanquish your credit card debt, how to find love online or overcome anxiety, tips for online shopping, taking care of your teeth and pooping like a pro, secrets to booking and staying in a hotel, how to deal with an angry person, cooking tips from celebrity chef Jet Tila, shocking laundry secrets, the tips and tricks for cleaner dishes, getting your best workout and more.
A special thanks to our friends at Amazon for featuring the show! You can listen to the podcast on Amazon by clicking here.
Need some help with something you’ve been doing wrong? Email us at AmIDoingItWrong@HuffPost.com, and we might investigate the topic in an upcoming episode.
