Heading to Disney World? You’ve got to wise up!

Disney World vacation planning requires quite a bit of thinking — from deciding on your dining and hotel to planning out your daily itineraries, there’s a good bit of decision-making involved. And recently, there have been so many changes that you might be out of the loop on the NEW tips if you haven’t been to the parks in a few years. That’s why we’ve rounded up the smartest ones here!

Book a “Throwaway” Lightning Lane

Our first new tip is that when using Lightning Lane Multi Pass, you need to book a “throwaway” Lightning Lane! How does this work? Well, with Lightning Lane Multi Pass, you can book in advance of your visit, but if you do that, you’ll be limited by the tier system. At Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Hollywood Studios, there are two tiers for all the Lightning Lane Multi Pass options.

When booking ahead of your visit, you’ll be limited to choosing ONE Lightning Lane option from Tier 1, while your other choices must be from Tier 2. However, once you get inside the park and use your first Lightning Lane of the day, the tier system disappears and you can book whatever you like. Because of this, we recommend that one of your Tier 2 selections be a “throwaway” option — go for the earliest time that you can get for the day and scan in as soon as possible.

Some of our recommended choices for this Lightning Lane selection are Mad Tea Party, The Seas with Nemo and Friends, Journey Into Imagination with Figment, or Star Tours. After you scan into any of these rides (hopefully very early in the day), you will be able to go ahead and book another Lightning Lane, regardless of tier!

Use MagicMobile

Sadly, MagicBands are no longer included in your Disney World Resort stay, and they’re also not as affordable as they used to be! Disney seems to be phasing out the regular MagicBands and heavily pushing the MagicBand+ design instead. And while these are a cool offering, they’re definitely not necessary for your Disney World trip. If you want to save money, we recommend MagicMobile instead.

Disney’s MagicMobile service allows you to connect your party’s park tickets to your phone’s wallet, then simply scan them by tapping your phone at the touchpoints. You can use MagicMobile to enter the park, to scan into Lightning Lanes, to stop at PhotoPass spots, and more. And since the My Disney Experience app has the capability to unlock your hotel room door, you don’t really need MagicBand+ for your party unless you’re looking to use its interactive features.

Check Walk-Up Waitlists

One of the more stressful parts of planning a Disney World trip can be picking your dining reservations 60 days before you travel. Who knows what you’ll want to eat two months from now? And if you’re more of a last-minute kind of person, then you should definitely use the Walk-Up Waitlist in the My Disney Experience app.

The Walk-Up Waitlist allows you to check for last-minute availability without actually visiting a restaurant’s host stand. However, it’s important to note that you do need to be NEAR the restaurant to join the waitlist (usually inside the park and on the same side of the park as the restaurant). This is a great way to snag hard-to-get reservations or a great way to fit dining into your schedule as you go.

Go to Animal Kingdom in the Afternoon

In 2025 and 2026, Animal Kingdom is a bit sad. Why? It seems like half the park is closed! It’s Tough to Be a Bug shut down to be replaced with a Zootopia show, and DinoLand, U.S.A. is being overhauled into a Tropical Americas land. With all these changes, quite a few things are closed, and Animal Kingdom is feeling more like a half-day park.

So if you’re planning to only visit Animal Kingdom for half a day, we’ve got an important tip for you — go in the afternoon! You may be tempted to go first thing in the morning because this is the theme park that opens the earliest, but that’s what everyone else is doing. If you go in the afternoon instead, you’ll be met with lower crowds and shorter wait times…you’ll get things done so much faster. 

Arrive EARLY for Your Vacation

Finally, we’ve got to mention one of Disney World’s newer hotel perks. For those staying at a Disney World Resort, you can get into a Disney water park for FREE on your check-in day. This deal applies to Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon — whichever one is open during the day of your visit.

So nowadays, you may actually want to arrive EARLY on your check-in day to get the full value out of this perk. Consider staying in a hotel nearby if you’re arriving in the Orlando area in the evening, that way you can check into your Disney World hotel in the morning and head straight for the water parks!

You’ll need to be SMART when planning your Disney World trip — gone are the days of just showing up and going with the flow if you want to get a lot done. So make sure to try these new tips if you’re visiting soon!

Check out the video below to see things you should always do at your Disney World hotel!

Stay tuned to DFB for more tips and tricks for Disney World.

These Are the Disney World Ride Hacks That Work Every Time!

Don’t want to go through all of the stress of booking your Disney World trip alone? Reach out to our friends at Small World Vacations! Their experienced agents monitor your reservation for possible future savings, compare discounts and figure out which one works best for your travel party, dates, resort, and touring plans. And, they share expert tips and first-hand advice with you about your magical vacation.

What’s your new tip for surviving Disney World? Tell us in the comments!