6 Things My Mother Learned on Our Trip to Walt Disney World

Over the Fall of 2018, I treated my mom to a mother and daughter only Disney vacation. It was one of the things on my 27 before 28 list so I was very excited. Disney trips, or any trip really, are more fun with someone who is just as in love with the destination as you are. My mother and I share our love of Disney and Disney Parks. I have previously shared the five things I learned during my trip with my mom. As I was writing it I wanted to see if my mother had any ideas and she came up with a completely different list! It just goes to show how every person experiences vacations differently.

The Importance of Character Meals

As I have said before, we are a family that loves eating in the parks. We regularly get the dining plan and aim to get a free dining option over a room only discount. While there are standard restaurants we like to revisit most trips, we also like to change it up and explore. It is a bucket list item to eat at all restaurants after all!

My mother is in her mid-50s and I am in my late 20s. We were not going with any kids on this trip, it was just the two of us. It would have been incredibly easy to avoid a character meal for the entire trip, but we ended up planning three!

Character meals are a great way to see all of your Disney favorites without waiting in line. They can often be viewed as meals just for children, but it isn’t the case at all. We made the reservations based on the ratings for the food, not because they were character meals. My mom was pleasantly surprised to realize how much magic those interactions can bring.

We have gone to Disney numerous times, but it is easy to forget how seeing Mickey Mouse can just bring an immediate smile to your face. Regardless of the age breakdown of your group, I highly suggest fitting in at least one character meal. It is Disney magic after all!

Gift cards can be used for anything

I use Swagbucks throughout the year to put the money towards vacations. Most of the time it is Disney. I have also received gift cards for various presents or bought them at a discount from a retail site.

My mom was unaware just how universally accepted a Disney gift card is. She was surprised to find out it can go toward much more than merchandise. You can pay for meals, drinks, even hotel charges! It is a great way for people to prebudget their trip. You can only spend what you set aside for!

How close Art of Animation and Pop Century are

We stayed at Pop Century during our stay. I had stayed there on a previous trip with my boyfriend and was pleasantly surprised by the value resort. My mother really enjoyed the resort, but her biggest take away was just how close it is to Art of Animation.

We had stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter years ago, and you can get from French Quarter to Riverside. However, it is not nearly as quick as the walk from Pop Century to Art of Animation.

This comes in handy when you are waiting for buses. For some unknown reason, Epcot to Pop Century is the worst wait. This wasn’t just one experience, it was like this when I went in 2017 as well. Luckily, Art of Animation’s bus stop is almost always right by Pop Century. This means if you are waiting for one, but notice the other is coming and has a short line you can hop right over. It is a quick walk across the bridge to get back.

We also went over to eat at Art of Animation’s food court! I have heard for a long time now that they have a great food court and had to try it out. So glad we did!

You can take the bus from theme park to theme park

My mom hadn’t been to Disney for a few years. The last time she visited the only way to get from one park to another is to visit a resort first. There weren’t direct buses from each park.

Much to her surprise when we went down, Disney has finally added park to park transportation! You have always been able to walk or take the boat between Hollywood Studios and Epcot (and soon the Skyliner in fall 2019!). Going from the Magic Kingdom to Epcot wasn’t an issue with the monorail. However, besides those separate forms, you used to be forced to go to a resort first.

When we were making our Disney itinerary we would purposely split up park days (we always have a park hopper). This meant we had to return back to our resort, so if we were tired we could nap or go to the pool. The problem is you don’t always need that break. Disney now lets you hop on a bus and head right to the next park!

How easy it is to split your bill at a resort

A lot of adults do joint Disney vacations and decide to stay in one hotel room because it is cheaper. Even if it is just two friends in a room this could come in handy. The night before you have to check out, go up to the concierge and ask for a breakdown of the room charges. They will give you a complete list of everything that was charged including the amount, where it was charged, and whose MagicBand was scanned.

Once you have reviewed the charges you can split up the charges. You will need to have whatever form of payment you plan on using at that time. We typically go back and review what was a group expense, like a dinner charge, or an individual charge, like a drink purchase. Then you just go back to the front desk and inform them how much you want on each card.

This can be time-consuming but it is definitely easier than trying to figure out who owes what as you go along.

The usefulness of MagicBands

If you haven’t been to Disney World in a while (or ever) you might not be familiar with MagicBands. The bands were announced back in 2013 and have been rolled into most aspects of your park stay.

You can open your room, pay for merchandise, get into the parks, and scan for a PhotoPass all from your wrist. My mom was surprised to see just how universally used they are. It can save a lot of time in lines and it is really easy to review your purchases.