5 Things I Did Right On My Last Disney Trip

We planned breaks

It may be tempting to try and squeeze as much as you can into a Disney trip, but it will backfire very quickly. In an effort to make sure I didn’t overload our trip and terrify my boyfriend out of Disney forever, I added in breaks to our schedule. I would purposely start in one park and end in another. This provided us with the opportunity to decide if we were tired to go back and lay down or if we wanted to stroll a bit longer around the parks.

We used our snack credits wisely

There is so much debate behind if you should or should not get a Disney Dining Plan, but we were lucky enough to get the Free Dining Plan, which we then upgraded. For us, dining at Disney is as much of the experience as the rides are. The DDP allows us to have an almost “all inclusive” feel to our vacation. You definitely need to crunch the numbers to (as is true with any type of Disney offer) to figure out what works best for you. We also were there during the Food & Wine Festival! A lot of the food qualifies for a snack credit. As long as you would be paying over $5 for a snack, the credit is well spent. If it is anything lower, you should simply pay out of pocket. The only caveat to this is to make sure you still use them all. If something is below $5, but you don’t think you will use your credit otherwise, get the item. Never use it on water. You can bring in a water bottle and get ice cold water for free at any quick service.

We stayed flexible

This one is a bit easier for us since it was just myself and my boyfriend on the trip (and he had never been before so he just followed my lead), but we stayed flexible with our schedule. We moved around days and decided if we wanted to ride something a bit more or return to explore more of the Food & Wine Festival. You can sometimes get so overwhelmed with what you planned to do, you forget to enjoy what you are doing.

We didn’t give up on getting a reservation

Again – there were only two of us and we were not traveling with children. This makes the ability to be flexible with timing and plans a little easier. You should still never stop checking for a reservation you want. There is no guarantee you will get it. However, you’d be surprised how many people cancel the day before because their plans change. If you absolutely have to eat at Be Our Guest or Chef Mickey’s, never stop checking. Add it to your daily routine leading up to your trip and even while on your trip.

Saving well in advance

I am a college graduate and a millennial which means I have loans that rule my life. I have accepted them and cursed my 18-year-old self for thinking it was a good idea. However, until I can steal a time machine, I just have to deal with them. Currently, I work multiple jobs so I can pay down my loans and not feel confined in my spending. I never wanted to be restricted but what I couldn’t afford, so I do as much as I can with my time to get extra money through side hustles. I have side jobs in addition to a full-time job.

These different side hustles I do are what I like to reward myself with. Whatever I can earn through those is my fun money and helps me save for trips like Disney. I already mentioned that we love the DDP because it gives us the feeling of being at an all-inclusive. We don’t worry if we really want to spend that extra money on an appetizer that looks delicious. Saving ahead of time for the trip allowed me to load Disney gift cards and have money for things like drinking around the world, my rose gold mouse ears, or the souvenir chip cup that was way too adorable to pass up.