Staying on Disney property puts you right in the magic! You'll get some major perks by staying on property including early park entry, extra evening hours (for guests at Deluxe resorts), and more dining availability.

1. Value Resorts - Value Resorts are a great option for families that plan on spending their days at the parks and need a nice place to lay their heads at night. Most value rooms have two queen beds. Value resorts have outside room entrances. You'll notice larger than life Disney theming with characters from your favorite Disney films! All value resorts have pools, but no water slides. Parking at Disney's value resorts is $15 per night.

Amber's favorite value resort: Pop Century! Pop Century is my favorite value resort for several reasons. It has recently renovated rooms, a dedicated bus route (no sharing buses with other resorts), and is on the new skyliner route, giving you quick access to Epcot and Hollywood Studios!

2. Moderate Resorts - Moderate Resorts offer a step up from values. The most noticeable difference is room size. Moderates offer larger rooms than value resorts. Most moderates have two queen beds and some offer a 5th sleeper option. Pools at Moderate Resorts feature water features such as splash areas and water slides. Parking at Disney's moderate resorts is $20 per night.

Amber's favorite moderate resort: Port Orleans Riverside! I love walking along the serene Sassaagoula River after a busy day in the parks. Port Orleans Riverside also features Royal Guest Rooms for your favorite princess and pirate rooms for your favorite scalawags. It is also a quick walk to their sister resort, Port Orleans French Quarter.

3. Deluxe Resorts - Deluxe Resorts are the tops in comfort and convenience when you're at Walt Disney World. Deluxe resorts offer the largest rooms with the highest accommodations. Most Deluxe rooms feature two queen beds along with a 5th sleeper option. Parking at Disney's deluxe resorts is $25 per night.

The three resorts that are on the Monorail are deluxe resorts: Disney's Contemporary Resort (right next door to Magic Kingdom and a quick walk to the front gate), Disney's Polynesian Resort (island themed), and Disney's Grand Floridian Resort (Victorian era elegance).

For larger families and families who want the very best in accommodations, Disney's deluxe resorts also offer studios and villas that have a living area, kitchen, and one, two, or three bedrooms.

Amber's favorite deluxe resort: This is a tricky one! If my family is doing more than one day at Magic Kingdom, I like to be at one of the monorail resorts for quick access. If we are doing more of an Epcot/Hollywood Studios trip, I like to stay at Disney's Beach Club. It is a 5 minute walk to Epcot. I love to go there at night at stroll around the countries and catch their fireworks. Beach Club also offers the largest on property water slide and a sandy-bottom lazy river. If we are traveling near Christmas, I love to stay at Disney's Grand Floridian, which is dressed to the nines in Victorian Christmas decor.

Disney often offers money-saving promotions for their rooms. One benefit of using a travel agent is that I will apply any available discount to your room when it comes out!

When you book your Disney Vacation, you'll be able to choose the number of days you'd like to visit the parks. I suggest at least 4 days because there are 4 parks at Walt Disney World:

• Magic Kingdom

• EPCOT

• Hollywood Studios

• Animal Kingdom

You can either choose base tickets which allow you to visit one park per day, or hopper tickets which allow you to visit multiple parks per day. We can chat about which ticket type is best for your family.

This video does a good job at highlighting each park. His rankings are very subjective and are not necessarily what I would choose, but the video gives a nice summary of each park. If you are not sure which parks you'd like to visit, you can take a look to get a feel for what's in each one.

MyDisneyExperience (MDE) is your one-stop shop for Fast Passes, dining reservations, Memory Maker photos, park hours, show times, and even current wait times!

You can create a MDE account at MyDisneyExperience.com or on the mobile app.

ProTip: I suggest making screenshots of your MDE plans each day instead of opening the app to check them. Sometimes the park's wifi or the MDE server might run slow, so having screenshots will have them handy at all times. It also helps saves your battery!

After you buy your park tickets, you must make reservations for the parks you want to visit each day. PURCHASING TICKETS DOES NOT GIVE YOU PARK ACCESS - YOU MUST MAKE RESERVATIONS IN ADDITION TO PURCHASING YOUR TICKETS.

Park reservations can be made on MyDisneyExperience.

Coming Fall of 2021, Disney Genie is a free feature that will help plan and streamline your day! Check out the video! Disney Genie will be part of the MyDisneyExperience app, so no need to download anything extra.

An extra, optional service, Disney Genie+, will allow you to skip the lines on may rides (sort of like the old fast pass system). Genie+ can be added to your package for $15 per person, per day.

And finally, Disney's Lightning Lane will allow you to skip the lines on the most popular attractions. The price for Lightning Lane will vary by day.

Genie + is an optional service that will allow you to pass the standby line and ride more rides during the day. You can add Genie + to your tickets for $15 per person, per day. If you would like to add Genie + to all of your park days, I can add it to your package before you travel. If you want Genie + for some - but not all of your park days - you can purcahse it day by day when you arrive. (You can purchase starting at midnight for the next day.)

You can make your first Genie + selection at 7 AM. You can make your next seletion after you use that pass OR 2 hours after park opening, whichever is later. You can then continie making them every two hours OR as you use them. You do not have to be in the park to make your selections. If you wanted to relax at the hotel poool for the morning, and make ride selections every two hours for that evening, you could do that. You CAN hold multiple Genie selections at once by booking them every two hours.

There are two headliner rides in each park that are not included in Genie +. If you would like, you can purchase Individual Lightning Lane for these rides. The price of these ILLs vary, but are usually around $10-15 per day. You do not have to purcahse Genie + to purchase ILLs. On property guests can book ILLs at 7:00 AM; off property guests can book them at park opening.

As a reminder - You do not *need* to purcahse Genie+ or ILLs to enjoy rides and attractions. All rides still have standby lines. However, you will likely see and do more if you do purchase them. I definately suggest purchasing them for high-crowd days, but are not as important during low-crowd times.

HOW TO PURCHASE GENIE +

1. Log into your MyDisneyExperience account

2. Tap the three lines in the bottom right corner

3. Tap My Genie Day

4. Under "My Day," tap to eh purple banner that says "Take today to the next level - Get Genie + for today."

How to purchase ILL

1. Log into your MyDisneyExperience account

2. Tap the three lines in the bottom right corner

3. Tap My Genie Day

4. Tap Tip Board

5. Scroll to the attraction you'd like to purchase and tap Individual Ligntning Lane

There are two types of restaurants at Disney World: Quick Service and Table Service.

Quick Service (QS) is Disney-speak for fast food. At these restaurants, you order at a counter, then take your food to an open table. QS restaurants do not require reservations.

Table Service (TS) restaurants are "sit down" style with a wait staff. TS restaurants do require reservations.

TS reservations can be made 60 days before check-in at 6:00 AM (eastern). I am happy to make recommendations for you based on your family's preferences! I can make your reservations for you, or you can do them yourself - whichever you prefer! I will need your MDE login info to make your reservations.

You may be interested in adding a dining plan to your reservation. It's so nice to enjoy a great Disney meal, then tell your spouse, "It's already paid for!" We can discuss whether or not the Disney Dining Plan is a smart add-on for your family. (Dining Plans are currently not offered.)

Click here to learn more about Disney dining plans

When you add the Park Hopper option on to your tickets, you are able to visit multiple parks in one day.

Currently, Disney has modified park hopping rules. They are:

• In order to park hop, you must have hopper tickets.

• You need a park reservation for your FIRST PARK ONLY.

• You can move to a second park at 2:00 pending availability (and third...and fourth)

• You can call 407-560-5000 for a recorded message telling you which parks have availability for hopping.

Remember to pack: Cooling towels and/or handheld fans, rain coats, extra clothes if you plan to ride wet rides, face coverings, hand sanitizer, wet wipes, phone charger and external charger, purse or backpack, straws, sunscreen

Instead of (or in addition to) character autograph books, consider bringing a matte frame for characters to sign. It will make a nice decorating and conversation piece when you return home!

Buy discounted gift cards at Sams or with your Target red card then use those gift cards to pay for your trip. Note: If you cancel your trip or get a refund for any reason, your payment will be returned to the original form of payment.

If you are not checking out within the next two days, you can have park purchases sent to your resort.

All Disney resorts have free bus transportation to the parks. Some also have monorail, boat, or skyliner access! Talk to me about the best way to get from your resort to the parks!

Resort guests can also drive to the parks and park for free.

Disney employess are called Cast Members (CMs) and they are very helpful. Show your child what the CM's name badge looks like, and tell them if they ever get lost, find someone with a nametag like that.

You can get a free cup of water from any quick service location.

If you have a small child, your family can use rider switch to make sure everyone gets to ride and you don't have to wait in line twice! (Older siblings love rider switch because they can ride the ride twice - once each with Mom and Dad.)

When waiting for the nightly fireworks show at Magic Kingdom, try to get a seat just to the right of the Partners statue (Walt & Mickey).

There are some experiences that are currently modified at Disney World. They inclide:

• Instead of a 180 day booking window for dining, the window is 60 days before check-in.

• Dining plans are currently not available. This just means you will pay out of pocket for meals instead of having them be prepaid. If you still want that prepaid feeling, you can buy a Disney Gift Card before your trip and use that for meals.

• Socially distanced character meets are starting to pop up!

• There are currently no parades, but you never know when an unexpected character calvacade might pop up!

• There is currently no dining with character meets, but there are some dining experiences with socially distanced characters. As more are slowly being added, ask me what they currently are!

• Mobile ordering is required at all quick service locations. You can place your mobile order on MyDisneyExperience (you can even place it that morning) and choose your pickup time.

• Face coverings are required in all indoor places and on all forms of Disney transportation.

If you have an iPhone or Apple Watch, you can use your device as a Magic Band in the parks!

Click here for directions on how to use this service!

Want to take your Disney vacation to the next level? Consider using a VIP guide! VIP guides will take you through the parks and give you front of line access. They'll even share their Disney knowledge along the way. More information about VIP tours can be found here.

Please let me know if you are interested in having a VIP tour guide. I can make arrangements for you.

Helpful services and access options are available throughout Walt Disney World Resort for Guests with mobility disabilities. I can arrange for a mobility device to be dropped off at your resort to use for the duration of your stay, or you can rent them in the parks each day. I recommend getting one for the duration of your stay as rentals are on a first come-first serve basis and they cannot be reserved in advance. Additionally, having an ECV for your stay will eliminate the need to wait in line and reserve one each day. You can read more information about ECV rentals here. Please let me know if someone in your party requires an ECV and I will help arrange it.

Information about which rides allow ECVs on them and which rides require the guest to transfer onto the ride can be found here.

Additionally, if someone in your party has a disability that prevents them from being able to wait in lines, you may qualify for Disney's Disability Access Service (DAS). The DAS will allow the guest's family to wait for rides without standing in line. The DAS process is:

When you arrive at the park, go to Guest Services (located at the front of each park) and tell them you reqire a DAS. You do not have to provide documentation of the guest's disability. They will scan your Magic Band or ticket and get you set up. When you would like to use your DAS, see the Cast Member at the front of the line. They will scan your band (or ticket) and give you a return time based on the current standby wait time. For example, if the current wait time is 45 minutes, you will be able to return in 45 minutes. At that point, you will be able to use the Fast Pass line to get on the ride. More information about the DAS pass can be found here.

NOTE: Having a mobility issue and using an ECV does not necessarily qualify a guest for a DAS pass. Guests with mobility issues and/or using an ECV will be able to use their ECV in ride lines.

I am proud to be one-third of an All-Things-Disney podcast called the Fairy Podmothers!

Here are some episodes that might be helpful as you plan your trip!

Disney Resorts

Top Ten Tricks for Plannning Your WDW Vacation

Top Ten Tricks While You're in the Parks

Our favorite Table Service Restaurants

Follow these pages for more Disney tips!

My Facebook Page

My Facebook Page for Currently Booked Guests

The Fairy PodMothers' Facebook Page

Our Agency's Facebook Page: Main Street and More Travel

Our Agency's Website

In addition to Disney, I work with Universal Studios, SeaWorld, virtually every cruise line, and all-inclusive resorts like Beaches and Sandals.

Whether you're going to Disney or elsewhere, I'd be honored to help plan your next vacation. My services are always 100% complimentary; these partners compensate me for helping you have a great trip. When you work with me, you are helping your family have a great vacation they will always remember AND supporting a small business. Thank you!