Things People Have to Stop Doing in Disney World

do you want to create a Disney World

vacation that's not gonna have hurt

feelings and major regrets attached to

the memories then it's time to stop

doing this

[Music]

hey everybody it's AJ for Disney food

blog there are so many tips and travel

videos out there telling you what you

must do on a Disney World trip but if

you only focus on the green lights and

aren't aware of the red then you could

still find yourself in a problem

situation so today we're gonna go over

plans you actually need to avoid the

rules you should never ignore and the

new Disney editions that you should not

take for granted okay first thing to

stop doing in Disney World Is Gonna

sound a little topsy-turvy for a food

blog site but it's booking really big

meals one after the other I get it it's

exciting when you've somehow been graced

by the advanced dining reservation gods

and you actually find not just one but

multiple table service restaurants that

you really want to experience in a

single day but you don't want to get

overzealous and book multiple giant

meals for breakfast lunch and dinner

think of it this way let's say you're in

Magic Kingdom and you find a breakfast

reservation for Crystal Palace late

lunch reservations for Cinderella's

Royal table and dinner reservations for

Skipper canteen now it looks like you've

really hit the jackpot there right but

if you end up booking all these

reservations they're going to wind up

hurting you more than helping you in the

end first off table themed and signature

dining experiences are expensive so

you'll be looking at a mighty Hefty

dining bill by the end of your day my

second concern is that that is a lot of

food I know you'll be burning a lot of

those calories while you're walking

around the park but you're more than

likely not going to be ready for another

filling meal for lunch only a few hours

after a full-on breakfast buffet and

then having a full dinner on top of that

you're gonna be stuffed to the brim

Disney meals are not small they do not

skimp on portion size and walking around

in the heat of Orlando all day sometimes

heavy heavy meals aren't what you

necessarily want to be looking for

especially not three in a row third not

only is that a lot of food but it's a

good chunk of time taken out of your

Park day table service restaurants

usually take an hour to experience at

the least so you're talking about

potentially three hours or more out of

your already limited Park date just to

eat and lastly the more reservations you

hold at one time the fewer reservations

will be available for everyone else so

dining reservations are hard to come by

it's always good to be mindful of other

guests and not hold on to more

reservations than you actually need just

because you see them so what should you

do instead well simply put don't knock

those Quick Service options till you try

them not only are they less expensive

than the table service restaurants but

you can order smaller portions that'll

keep you satisfied without making you

too full for your specialty sit-down

meals later on in the day having one

table service meal per day is great but

when you rely on Quick Service or even

pre-packed meals that you brought along

with you you'll be saving a lot of time

in the Parks and you'll be saving a lot

of money you can use that saved time to

instead get on more rides see more shows

browse through more gift shops you can

save even more time when you mobile

order your Quick Service meals through

the My Disney Experience App instead of

waiting in those potentially longer

physical lines for the fast food

locations and when it comes to the table

service restaurant you do plan on

booking but get smart you might be able

to cover breakfast and lunch in a single

meal if you play your cards right when

you book a meal that features a

breakfast buffet like Crystal Palace us

or Cape May Cafe at Disney's Beach Club

in Beaumont Disney's Animal Kingdom

Lodge you might just be able to try

their breakfast and lunch portions in

one go aim to book your dining

reservation toward the end of the

breakfast hour like around 10 45 and

that way you can get the tail end of the

morning grub and be there for when the

buffet switches over to lunch at 11 and

you're paying the breakfast price which

is usually going to be lower but

seriously take it for me someone who

eats in Disney World for a living I

usually have three or four meals plus

when I'm in Disney World just so that I

can cover all the stuff I want to cover

and eating that much can really weigh

you down in the first place but it's

also going to take a lot of that hard

earned cash and budget out of your

pocket and it's going to shrink your

available time to ride those rides and

do all that Disney World stuff you want

to do

so the next thing I hope people stop

doing in Disney World is compromising

safety sorry kids you might not like

this tip too much but I just care too

much about y'all to not talk about it

many of Disney's rides have height

requirements Tower of Terror Expedition

Everest Tron Sauron even Barnstormer and

if you're not tall enough you're not

making the cut but this isn't because

Disney's trying to bully your kids and

make them cry if your kid is even an

inch Too Short The Ride will be

physically unsafe for them and that's

why cast members are very strict when it

comes to measuring those younger guests

and making sure they hit the all clear

portion of their measuring stick I've

seen parents in the past try to do weird

things to help their kids out like Spike

up their hair or buy shoes with thicker

soles but I promise you these sort of

things don't help kids they only provide

kids with these false pretenses that

this kind of strategy is going to work

which will disappoint them even more

when they don't it's better to keep our

kids safe and listen to the cast members

instead of challenging them on this

subject I know not being able to ride

something can be a major major Downer

for your kids so make sure you research

the different rides ahead of time on the

Disney website and the My Disney

Experience app to learn about the height

requirements well in advance that way if

you know there are certain rides your

kid will not be able to ride you can

inform them ahead of time to ease them

into the idea instead of breaking their

hearts while they're smacked out in the

middle of their Disney vacation and for

every ride that your kid can't ride make

sure to get them excited for the Dozen

odd rides that they will be able to ride

so many classic Disney World rides don't

have height requirements whatsoever we

have a full list of those free for all

rides on our dfb website which I'll link

down in the description and here are a

few you can keep in mind in the meantime

there are no height requirements for

Dumbo the flying elephant Under the Sea

journey of a Little Mermaid and Peter

Pan's flight in Magic Kingdom among

others spaceship earth living with the

land and Frozen ever after an Epcot

making a Mini's runaway Railway in Toy

Story Mania in Disney's Hollywood

Studios and Navi River Journey in

Kilimanjaro safaris and Disney's Animal

Kingdom oh one last note about

Kilimanjaro safaris if you do bring your

little ones onto this ride make sure

they stay CC did they may want to stand

to get a better look at the animals but

your tour guide will not be able to

drive the vehicle unless everyone sits

down

the next thing you should stop doing in

Disney World is forgetting about the

newest way to skip over the lines and

I'm not talking about Genie Plus at the

beginning of this year Disney World

reintroduced After Hours events for

Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios and

now there's an all new after hours event

coming to Epcot with this event you'll

get exclusive access to Epcot for three

hours after the park closes to regular

guests top attractions are going to

remain open for you to experience

including rides like frozen Ever After

Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic rewind

and Remy's Ratatouille Adventure this

could be your chance to experience some

of the Park's most popular rides with

shorter wait times while also grabbing

some photos with Disney characters and

enjoying complimentary ice cream

Novelties popcorn and Beverages and

although the event officially starts

after Epcot closes you'll still be able

to get in the gates as early as 7 PM

with your event ticket to give you even

more time in the park so yes this is

your chance to ride Guardians of the

Galaxy Cosmic rewind enough to get all

the songs this event is going to kick

off at Epcot on June 1st and we'll have

select offerings until August 24th but

tickets are on sale right now so if you

want to go ahead and secure your spot

ahead of time go ahead and get them

sooner rather than later only a limited

number of tickets are sold for each

party which is why they are totally

incredible it's like empty in those

Parks but Disney's Typhoon Lagoon water

park is also getting ready to reopen and

Disney announced that the H2O glow

nights would be returning to the water

park for the summer season those are

basically after hours for the water park

H2O glow nights include special snacks

throughout the park fun entertainment

and access to all the attractions with

shorter wait times than you'd see during

the day these events will be available

on certain evenings between May 20th and

September 2nd nope still not done at

Disney's Hollywood Studios more after

hours events have been added to the

Disney parks online calendar for May and

June these dates all happen on select

Wednesdays throughout these two months

and are now available for booking by the

way this could be a really Stellar way

to skip over those massive ride lines

that you're going to find in Hollywood

Studios during summer vacation just

saying also you're gonna skip out on on

the heat of the day and the sunburn all

right next thing to stop doing in Disney

world is getting hyped for something

that you can't do on your Disney World

vacation there are a few things quite as

disappointing as getting yourself all

hyped up for a ride or experience just

to find out it's going to be closed and

not just temporarily either we're

talking about it being closed for the

remainder of your trip sometimes Disney

has to close attractions for an extended

period of time to either give them some

much needed refurb or a major overhaul

recently Rock and roller coaster in

Hollywood Studios went dark for some

extended Renovations and if you've

ridden that coaster recently then you

know why it's been feeling a little

rough as of late so hopefully this

Reverb will make the high-speed

attraction less headache inducing once

it reopens later this summer and more

reliable in general and if you're

planning on staying in Disney's Fort

Wilderness in the near future or at

least visiting it to experience some of

the Resort's unique outdoor activities

note that this spot will be short on its

table service dining very very soon

Trails on restaurant a place known for

its family style meals and moderate

prices is shutting its doors and when it

reopens it'll be a whole different

dining experience instead of those all

you care to enjoy Skillets Trails End

will reopen later this year as a

Marketplace concept with expanded Quick

Service options Disney hasn't announced

a specific closing date for Trails End

but the restaurant is still showing

hours through mid-april for the release

of this video so if you want to

experience Trails End before it changes

for good you best make reservations real

soon several other closures and

refurbishments are currently happening

around Disney World property which is

why it's always important to check on

the Disney website and make sure the

attractions you're anticipating don't

have any future closure scheduled during

your trip by the way this goes for pools

at your hotel as well you're going to be

able to find these types of updates on

the main Pages for the rides and the

shows and the restaurants but we make it

real easy for you on the Disney food

blog newsletter that goes out for free

right to your inbox and every week we

tell you exactly what's going to be

closed and for how long so you can just

count on that newsletter to come in and

you don't have to go to each individual

visual page of each ride you want to

ride I'll link our newsletter sign up

page down in the description just in

case you want to stay informed and

entertained after all we write about

more than just closures in these

newsletters we've got tips

recommendations discounts and more next

thing you got to stop doing in Disney

World is forgetting that time is money

believe it or not those additional

splurges that you might pay for during

your Disney World trip could actually

save you money in the Long Haul here's a

little scenario for you just so you can

visualize what I'm talking about let's

say you're staying at Disney's All-Star

Sports Resort but you have a dining

reservation for Sanaa over at Disney's

Animal Kingdom Lodge If you flew in for

your Disney vacation and don't have your

car at your disposal then you might find

yourself relying on Disney's

Transportation but the Disney buses

don't travel between Resorts and that

means that even though All-Star Sports

and Animal Kingdom Lodge are like next

door neighbors you're still gonna have

to take a bus all the way to Disney

Springs and transfer to the Animal

Kingdom Lodge bus from there just to get

to your dining reservation and the whole

travel period could eat away 2 two hours

of your very expensive Disney World

vacation in a case like this paying for

a ride share like Uber or Lyft to get

you the couple of miles from All-Star

Sports to Animal Kingdom Lodge could

cost you around 15 bucks depending on

the time of day but you're also going to

get there in like 10 minutes instead of

two hours so if you stop to consider how

much you're already paying for your

vacation when it comes to airfare hotel

rooms food Etc then dropping some extra

bucks for extra convenience means you're

spending less time stressing and more

time actually enjoying this trip that

you've worked so hard to save up for in

the first place the same thing can be

said for Disney's premium services like

Disney Genie plus individual lightning

Lanes minivans preferred parking and

Park Hoppers will all of these be

necessary for you to have a successful

trip not at all but depending on your

group's itinerary and what things you

want to prioritize these Services could

help you save time in the Parks and give

you the ability to do more things in one

trip and doing more things means you'll

be getting your money's worth out of

your vacation and General it's science

kind of make sure to research these

different Services ahead of your trip

and discuss which ones you and your

group might want to budget for because

having a plan of attack already laid out

before your vacation is one of the best

things you can do before you cross over

into the most magical place on Earth

that's why you're here at dfb after all

right because we make the mistakes so

you don't have to alright the next thing

to stop doing in Disney World missing

out on reservations for brand new

restaurants we finally got opening dates

for Disney World's most anticipated

restaurants and they may be way sooner

than you think Roundup Rodeo barbecue is

a new table service restaurant come in a

Toy Story Land in Disney's Hollywood

Studios finally and it's officially

opening on March 23rd Roundup Rodeo is

going to feature all you care to enjoy

family style house Smoked Meats barbecue

sides and sweet treats for 45 dollars

per adult and 25 bucks for kids though

the restaurant hasn't opened up just yet

you can start making your Advanced

dining reservations now we expect this

place to be super popular when it first

opens up since the Toy Story theming and

colorful props will be a big draw for

this spot so don't forget to make those

reservations 60 days before your trip

for the chance of getting a table here

and let's not forget about the classy

Grand Floridian restaurant narcoosis

this fan favorite seafood restaurant has

been closed for refurbishment since last

summer but we recently found out it'll

reopen on April 1st and that's no April

Fool's joke unless it is and that would

be mean Disney really mean much like

Roundup Rodeo you can start making your

Advanced dining reservations for

narcoosis now and if you're itching to

check out the restaurant's enhanced menu

in its classic Waterfront setting during

your next visit now's your chance

next thing you want to be careful of

doing when you are in Disney World

purchasing a souvenir when it's too late

so this might not be what you think it

is there's a right time to purchase

popular Disney souvenirs but there's

also a wrong time to do so for example

if you're planning on purchasing one of

those collectible refillable popcorn

buckets that some Disney fans go Bonkers

over do that at the start of your trip

rather than later on that way you can

really reap the benefits of this

purchase each time you want more salty

buttery popcorny goodness during your

Park day all you got to do is stop at

one of the participating popcorn snack

carts and fill that bucket back up for

the low low cost of 225. this makes for

one of the cheapest snacks you're going

to be able to buy on Disney World

property for the duration of your stay

but if you wait and don't buy a popcorn

bucket till the end of your trip you're

not going to get as much of your money's

worth out of it as you could have been

if you've been using it every day same

thing goes for the refillable mugs for

the hotels if you purchase a resort

refillable mug at the beginning of your

trip then you can get free refills of

soda coffee and tea at all participate

in quick services around your Disney

hotel during your entire stay and that

means you can fill this mug up each

morning and already have a beverage in

hand before you enter the park so no

waiting in that long long long Starbucks

line and by the way you can fill this up

at any Disney hotel not just your hotel

but if you're purchasing one of these

refillable mugs for 21.99 or more

depending on what design you you choose

on the very last day of your trip you're

not even going to be able to Rapid

Refill enough times to break even with

that initial cost and if you're sitting

there thinking well then I'll just bring

that mug back for my next Disney World

vacation and use it then you know like

we used to back in the day Disney's

already thought about that loophole and

has nipped it in the bud at this point

these mugs have an RFID bar code which

enables the mug to deactivate when the

designated time is complete after 14

days from that initial purchase so the

lesson here buy these items as soon as

you can to milk them for what they're

worth now this next point is about

Disney Genie plus but it's something you

maybe haven't heard before about it just

because Disney Genie plus is a premium

planning service with a whole lot of

controversy surrounding it that doesn't

mean it's not popular jump back in time

with me back to this year's President's

Day weekend on February 19th and 20th

Genie plus completely sold out in Walt

Disney World for all four Parks this

skip the line service was available

throughout the morning but by the

afternoon it was no longer purchasable

so in case you were wondering no Genie

plus isn't always a guarantee if you

want to add this service onto your day

purchase it sooner rather than later on

especially during those Peak holiday

times but even on the days when Genie

plus doesn't completely sell out which

is pretty much most of the time that

doesn't mean every lightning Lane will

continue to be available for you all day

long let's say there are two groups

we'll call them group a and Group B

group a decided to purchase Genie plus

after they Park hopped over from Epcot

to Disney's Hollywood studios around 2PM

but come to find out all those major

rides they'd wanted to get lightning

lanes for like Slinky Dog Dash Tower of

Terror Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run

had either already been snatched up or

had super late return times that clashed

with Fantasmic which they so don't want

to miss out on so that 15 per person for

lightning Lane access is gonna feel like

a waste for group a at least we hope

they only paid 15 bucks if it's a

holiday weekend they probably paid twice

that much but Group B story has a

happier ending because Group B decided

to purchase their Genie plus before the

lightning Lanes went live for the day at

7am and if Group B starts their day in

Hollywood Studios that means they can

start making lightning Lane selections

for the park immediately they can even

stack these reservations if two hours

have passed since their lightning Lane

selection even if the return time for

their last LL hasn't happened yet again

my friends time is money in Disney World

so if you don't waste time you won't

waste money so let's all be like Group B

and make the most out of these premium

Services if we're gonna get them anyway

the next thing on our list of things to

stop doing in Disney World is something

that we've made the mistake of doing

many many times you think the parks are

the only places in Disney World that get

busy no no no no no no Disney Springs

can quickly transform from a nice easy

going stroll around the shops and

restaurants into a I must enter survival

mode and remember my training situation

Springs is going to be at its busiest on

Friday and Saturday nights and that's

for multiple reasons first restaurants

and shops stay open later than the parks

do two you're gonna have out of town

guests and locals crowding in ready to

celebrate the weekend and three live

entertainment and drinks are plentiful

so you're bound to run into some of the

nightlife people on these evenings ready

to tear up the town if you're looking

for a way less busy Disney Springs

shopping and dining experience then

visit the shopping district during the

week right around when the shops start

to open so 10 a.m ish it's like a ghost

town in there at that point this should

provide you with a much more relaxed

shopping experience and not make you

feel like you accidentally stumbled onto

more of a club like scene that's packed

shoulder to shoulder and an extra heads

up if you plan on driving to Disney

Springs and you're driving on Friday

night or Saturday nights maybe you have

a dining reservation have the number of

the restaurant handy because we have

been caught in hours-long traffic trying

to get into a Disney Springs parking

garage or even surface parking on Friday

and Saturday nights so you may need to

call your restaurant let them know

you'll be a little bit late if you don't

give yourself at least an hour to get

there now if you like high energy

experiences then a weekend in Disney

Springs could be just the vibe you're

looking for but again traffic is no joke

so factor in lots of time to get to the

Disney Springs area if you plan on

driving yourself there on the weekend

we want you to stop doing in Disney

World is missing out on deals discounts

and savings Disney is not really good

about promoting their discounts they

tell you about it once and then you just

kind of have to know about it or follow

us here at dfb and we'll tell you about

it over and over again Disney discounts

are great and missing out on them is not

great Disney puts out a handful of deals

and promotions throughout the year but

not only do they not promote them a

whole bunch those discounts do expire in

fact one of the more recent promotions

that's about to end soon could help you

save on your Disney dining the dining

promo card is basically a gift card that

you can use at certain Disney World

restaurants to qualify you got to book a

minimum four nights day at a Disney

World hotel with at least four days of

Park tickets you get one gift card per

room not per person but this card could

still reward you with 750 or more that

you can use at Disney owned restaurants

not too shabby but the dining promo card

offer won't be available for too much

longer this deal is available for guests

who are visiting between June 25th and

September 14th but here's the catch

you'll need to book that qualifying trip

by March 27th in order to get that money

loaded card so don't miss your chance to

book a trip and get that dining promo

card at no extra cost also don't apply

this advice to just the dining promo

card deal if you see other deals pop up

on Disney's special offers deals and

discounts page or coming up on our

newsletter as well check and see when

the cutoff date for said deal actually

is because even if a discount doesn't go

into effect until later on in the season

that doesn't mean you won't still need

to book your vacation in advance to

actually get these offers applied to

your reservation now if you're stressed

out about potentially missing out on

some really great savings you can reach

out to our friends at Small World

Vacations they're travel agents they are

certified Disney travel agents and they

won't only help you plan your Disney

vacation for no extra cost but they're

going to make sure to keep an eye on all

the latest Disney savings opportunities

and get them applied to your trip

without you having to track them down

yourself I'll drop the info for Small

World Vacations down below so you can

reach out to them in your own time

seriously you won't regret it something

else you got to stop doing in Disney

World y'all block and other guests views

okay in just a few weeks starting on

April 2nd we'll be able to hear happily

ever after after again as well as watch

the new projections on Cinderella castle

and down Main Street during the Magic

Kingdom's returning nighttime

spectacular well we're gonna try to

watch it but there's always the

possibility of our visibility being

completely blocked you see the trouble

with the nighttime spectacular fireworks

at Magic Kingdom is that clear

visibility isn't always guaranteed and

what could make matters worse is that if

you get behind someone who's holding up

their phone way up high to record the

show the whole time or if a parent

decides to hoist their kid up on the

shoulders for the duration of the show

you might not be able to see the castle

at all now before we absolutely snap we

gotta take a deep breath and walk in

these folks shoes for a second because

I'm a parent too if you paid a lot of

money for your kid to be at Magic

Kingdom and you want to make sure they

can see everything then yeah the

temptation to hold them higher up so

they can see Tinkerbell flying across

the night sky is legit and if the person

recording the entire show is like

FaceTiming their grandparents back home

so they can experience it too then again

the temptation to hold the camera or

iPad way in the air in front of others

can be very very real but let's flip the

script everyone else behind these people

have also paid a lot of money to be

there and also want to see the show and

it's hard to see the show when there's a

clear obstruction blocking your view if

you're planning on recording the show

for whatever reason you might have or if

if you know those younger folks in your

party are going to struggle to see

against the thousands of other guests

packed into Main Street USA then try to

stake out a spot closer to the front of

the castle at least 40 to 60 minutes

before the show starts that way you

automatically have a clearer View and

angle for yourself from there you can

lift up your phone or your kiddo to the

height of your own head instead of

hoisting either of them well above you

that way you won't be blocking guests

too much more than what you would have

already been accomplishing while

standing there like a law-abiding

citizen I know it's hard Golden Rule and

all that

now the next thing I hope you stop doing

is overpaying for Disney

there are tons of cute shirts in the

Disney shops and if you're not totally

in love with any particular one you're

not going to want to drop a ton of money

when you could invest in a different

Disney souvenir instead so we've got a

plan B of course if you're looking for a

mighty fine Disney tea that has a unique

design you're not going to find in the

Disney World shops it's a comfy fit that

comes in a wide range of sizes features

different colors and comes in different

styles too like tees and sweatshirts and

midriff cuts then you need to head to

dfvstore.com check out what designs

we've currently got for you to choose

from a couple of our hottest outfits on

the site include our Tiana's princess

shirt the flower and garden festival

teas and the Briar Patch band farewell

tour any of these speak to you

specifically make sure to grab them

today by the way we just switched store

suppliers so our costs are down and the

shipping is faster

and the next thing we want you to stop

doing in Disney World is arriving at a

show too late you know what they say

about assumptions yeah there's no

assuming when it comes to a Disney World

trip especially when it comes to the

shows and that's because Disney World

show times can change a lot more

frequently than you think this is

important big example Fantasmic

Fantasmic showtimes always happen at

night toward the end of the day but

that's basically all we can for sure

rely on for this one now let me show you

why by giving you a glimpse at

fantasmic's March showings from March

1st to March 11th fantasmics at 8pm and

9 30 p.m but on March 12th through March

31st that changes to 8 30 p.m and 10 p.m

sometimes during Disney's slower Seasons

fantastic may not even do two shows per

night but that just drives my point home

you need to keep an eye on what

showtimes are gonna look like before

your trip in order to plan ahead I do

this for nighttime spectaculars and

fireworks by searching directly for them

on the Disney World website on the days

I'm going to be there specific show

times should be available for you to

check out at least a couple of months in

advance but you can also check out

showtimes the day of your visit too on

the My Disney Experience app just go to

the attractions and shows tip board and

switch over to the park you're currently

visiting then scroll down to the show

you want to know more about this is

going to tell you when the next show

will be happening and any additional

show times that'll be taking place that

day sometimes times change because the

parks are open later or closing earlier

and sometimes it's simply because it's

getting dark out later so they have to

do the fireworks later as well so that's

a lot of the reasons why these shows

change all the time lower crowds shorter

park hours earlier closing time okay now

that you know all the things people have

got to stop doing in Disney World this

isn't even close to all of them this is

just a few you got a pinky promise me

right now you won't go out there and

make these mistakes too like we have got

it good I knew you wouldn't let me down

thanks for listening everyone and thanks

for watching let us know some of your

pet peeves in the comments below as

always this is AJ for Disney food Vlog

and we'll see real soon