We went to Disney World for the 2021 Labor Day Weekend, and we had an absolute blast. Actually, I have barely stopped talking about it since we returned! So, it only made sense for me to make sure our trip lived on forever through the blog here. I also thought this post would be helpful for a first time at Disney world tripper like we were!
Throughout the process of planning our trip and sharing from our three days in the happiest place on Earth, I quickly realized just how many of my Instagram followers are Disney obsessed. I had so many wonderful conversations with you all about your tips, favorite restaurants, hacks, etc. so I wanted to make sure and return the favor by recapping everything we did, what helped us the most and sharing any tips I can for those also looking to go for a first time.
I was very open about just how little we knew about Disney before this trip, as I had only been once when I was too young to remember, and Preston hadn’t been since middle school. We actually have several Disney obsessed friends who we’ve gleaned a lot of little tidbits of knowledge from over the past several years, but I still felt kind of worried about the actual logistics of this trip when we booked it.
We knew nothing about the property layout, rides that you can’t miss, best food spots in each park, transportation schedules and options, the list for what we didn’t know goes on.
I am a huge planner when it comes to trips, so I started getting somewhat anxious in the days leading up to our trip. I found it difficult to find just a general guide of what to do for a Disney first timer because a lot of posts were written with a more Disney knowledgable reader in mind (from my experience at least).
Finally, I reached out to one of our dear friends who is a Disney expert and she gave me a list of can’t miss rides and just general tips written out clearly. This was SO helpful. It wasn’t a specific itinerary that we had to follow to the exact, but it was just enough to clue us in on what you cannot miss, what you might could skip if you run out of time, which rides to prioritize if you’re rope dropping (more on that term later) and more. I wanted to share our loose guide we had for ourselves and just a few tips I think would have been nice to have spelled clearly out beforehand.
The Number One Thing I Think You Should Know About a Trip to Disney World
You know that phrase, different strokes for different folks? Well, I think that applies to almost anything, but I really think it applies when talking about Disney. When I shared that I was looking for Disney recommendations online and we asked for submissions for a recent Disney podcast episode, I got so many conflicting points of view. Some people love fastpasses, others are so glad they were taken away. A few of you hate rope dropping, others swear by it. Wearing Minnie ears are essential for some and the last thing on your mind for others. I could keep going. All this to say, just keep in mind that there are thousands of different ways to approach this trip, and this post is just sharing what we did and what worked for us as relative first timers.
Also keep in mind that we did not grow up going to Disney, so some things that are so nostalgic for people just don’t have that same value for us! I think I am going to lean more toward listing the iconic rides here instead of framing the trip recommendations around our personal opinion about some of these- while you probably shouldn’t miss some of the classics, we actually didn’t love them or think they were worth the wait, but we know those are all hot takes. Did we still want to ride them to see what all the hype was about? Yes! But were we raving about them? No.
Know/Do Before You Go
Resorts:
There are a lot of Disney World resorts to choose from. There are value resorts that are going to just have your basic amenities and might not necessarily feel the most elite, but I think these really work if this is one of your first times coming and you know you’re going to spend the majority of your time in the park and only sleep in the room essentially.
If you are going for a full week, I think it would really be worth it to splurge for a mid-tier resort or higher. For this trip, we stayed at the Pop Century, and the room was fine, BUT I think I would have been highly annoyed by the overall vibe and pool area and just everything if we had stayed longer. Next time we go back, I would love to stay at a little bit of a nicer property so we can enjoy our surroundings a little more!
Another option is staying off property, and I can’t speak to that experience since it’s not what we did. I will say though, especially as a first timer, I think it would have been a lot more stressful to have to drive in to the parks every day and wait through parking, account traffic time into the rope drop process, etc.
If you find a great deal though, go for it!
Rope Drop:
What is rope drop at Disney World? This essentially means you get there an hour before the posted park opening time. In some cases, cast members (Disney employees) will open the park early so you can get in the actual park and get set up to wait for a ride, or they can sometimes even open the rides early and let you on. Either way, you will get to ride some usually long wait time rides a lot more efficiently because a lot of people aren’t out and about yet.
For our Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios rope drops, we rode almost everything that we wanted in the park before lunch time. For Magic Kingdom, it did help a lot but we didn’t get through all of them before the crowds got insane.
This sounds like a no brainer- why would everyone not do this? Well, it’s kind of overwhelming. For Magic Kingdom, the entire experience was slightly overwhelming and people were almost pushing and shoving to get even slightly ahead of you in line. We were one of the first people in line for the Tomorrowland waiting area in MK, but because of some aggressive crowd members, we ended up being way further back once we got to the ride. My husband, Preston, has crowd anxiety, and this almost put him over the edge!
This also makes for a really long day if you plan to not leave the parks during the afternoon. It takes a hot minute to get to the parks, especially depending on which resort you are coming from. We needed to leave almost an hour before, an hour before Magic Kingdom opened because it was the furthest away from our resort and the buses took a lot longer (in our experience) than the other forms of transportation we had available for the other parks.
Overall, we were still happy we rope dropped (even including the anxiety-inducing MK morning) because we would have spent so much more time waiting in lines and not enjoying all the parks have to offer outside of rides if not.
Disney Magic Mobile App:
I was obviously not a Disney expert by any means when we went, but people around us in line would hear me quietly telling Preston about wait times at rides all the way across the park and literally interrupt our conversation to ask me how I knew! I thought everyone downloaded this app before going to the parks, but just incase you don’t yet know, I wanted to make sure and mention it here.
This app allows you to place mobile food orders (honestly a game changer), look at ride wait times, unlock your hotel door, check next show times and much more. We couldn’t have done the trip without it honestly!
How to Take on Your First Disney Trip
Let’s get into what we were recommended / What we did for our long weekend at WDW! Feel free to save this on your phone as a quick frame of reference if you find yourself in the parks for the first time and feeling kind of directionless.
I will start with the rides that get really long wait times. I also want to mention that you will have time for and should do any smaller ride I don’t have listed below if you see it and find yourself interested! This is just a guide for those who have no clue what to do like us.
Lastly, Disney is constantly releasing new food items, updates to how they do things and of course new rides. This post is being published in October 2021, so if you see a park without a major new ride that has just been released when you’re reading this, feel free to swap that out for my rope drop recommendation.
Hollywood Studios
Hollywood StudiosRope drop: Rise of the Resistance (if they don’t go back to the boarding pass situation. If they do, make sure to be on the app to get your reservation at 6:58 a.m. that morning and plan your day around your boarding time)
Can’t miss rides:
- Slinky Dog Dash
- Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway
- Smuggler’s Run (honestly didn’t love this one but you have to if you love Star Wars! I would skip it next time we go though.)
- Rockin’ Rollercoaster (we didn’t ride this one, but it’s a classic! I’m just a scaredy cat.)
- Tower of Terror (also didn’t ride this one because I am a scaredy cat!)
Quick Service Food Recommendations:
Woody’s Lunch Box at Toy Story Land
- The grilled cheese is AMAZING
- The pop tart is also so good. Flavors are seasonal, but I would just go for it no matter what.
- Their alcoholic beverages here looked really good but we didn’t try!
Milk Stand at Galaxy’s Edge
- We only tried the Blue Milk, and it was sooo good. I thought it was overpriced but it was so good I didn’t regret paying that much- so I guess that means it isn’t overpriced? Lol! I can’t really describe the taste, but it is so refreshing and not too sweet.
Ronto Roasters
- We got breakfast here, and it was good! I think the lunch would be good too.
- The Ronto Breakfast Wrap was yummy.
Epcot
*We split one day with the morning being Hollywood Studios and afternoon being Epcot. We technically didn’t rope drop here, but this is just what I would think to do! A lot of people recommend splitting Epcot and HS or DAK like this if you’re short on time, but I am glad we did Epcot and HS because it was the perfect amount of time for each honestly.
Rope Drop: Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
Iconic/Can’t Miss Rides:
- Soarin’ – So fun!
- Test Track (we skipped this one, but I’m sure it’s fun!)
- Mission Space
- Spaceship Earth
- Elsa’s Frozen Adventure
Quick Service Food recommendations:
Honestly, Epcot is known for its food and drinks so I don’t want to go overboard with describing our trip. There is almost always some sort of festival going on with special food items, so things change really often. We were there during food and wine, and everything we tried was nice and worth it!
I will say, we were really excited for Germany, but we actually didn’t think the pretzel was amazing and the beer selection wasn’t over the top from what we saw. Just a little tidbit!
Magic Kingdom
Rope Drop: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Can’t Miss Rides:
- Space Mountain (also another good one to rope drop if you would like, but I personally don’t think this one is fun! I think it’s nostalgic for people, but I didn’t enjoy)
- Peter Pan (also didn’t like this one because it was too short for the long wait time we had, but I did think it was cute and loved the London section!)
- Haunted Mansion
- Thunder Mountain
- Splash Mountain
- Jungle Cruise
- People Mover
- Mickey’s PhilharMagic Show (not a ride, but we enjoyed this so much and sitting in the air conditioning was great.)
- Pirates of the Caribbean
Quick Service Food recommendations:
Columbia Harbor House
- This is located in Liberty Square, right across from the Haunted Mansion. I feel like it’s one of the least talked about MK quick service spots, but we LOVED it.
- The Lobster roll, hush puppies, fries and Minnie Chocolate Lava Cake were all INCREDIBLE! I am still thinking about it.
Miscellaneous
- LeFou’s Brew – This taste might not be for everyone, but we personally loved it, and I think it’s worth trying. It’s very refreshing and sweet. This is located at Gaston’s Tavern, which is also famous for the gigantic cinnamon rolls.
- Cheshire Cat Tail – This was so good! Preston went to get this and an iced coffee while I waited in line for us for Seven Dwarves, and it hit the spot.
Animal Kingdom
Rope Drop: Flight of Passage
Can’t Miss Rides:
- The Safari Ride
- Everest
- Navi River Journey (very anticlimactic, but it is really pretty)
- Dinosaur (this one is weird, but it is a classic for some reason? Don’t feel bad if you have to miss it, but we rode it just to see what it was about!)
- The Lion King Show (not a ride but a very good musical show with *air conditioning*!)
Quick Service Food recommendations:
Satu’li Canteen
- This is actually in Pandora (Avatar land) and we got a lot of things to try from here that we really enjoyed.
- They have basically a build your own bowl situation, and it was really good and felt a lot healthier and lighter (but still filling) than many of the other items we had on our trip.
Pongu Pongu
- This is a bar right near the canteen
- We tried the night blossom with rum, it was amazing!
Flametree BBQ – We didn’t go here, but it comes highly recommended by a lot of our Disney friends.
Those are my Disney recommendations and a quick look at what we did! I hope you enjoyed this post and have so much fun soaking up the magic on your next trip to the happiest place on Earth!
Let me know what your favorite ride, spot, food or anything at Disney World is in the comments- I would love to hear!
We also want to go to Disneyland soon now that we live in California, so make sure to keep a look out for that in the next year. Make sure to check out the rest of my travel content in the meantime!
Save this pin for your next Disney trip:
