8 Habits of Successful Disney World Passholders

Our reporters are in the parks every day, and even our writing team visits often, so we know a few things about having a successful Disney day.

Magic Kingdom

Being an Annual Passholder comes with some perks. We get discounted merchandise, discounted rooms, and food. Sometimes we get exclusive access to new rides through Passholder previews. But, the best perk is the knowledge you gain from visiting Disney World a lot.

This knowledge helps you have a successful vacation, and we are here to share our tips with you!

1. Packing Your Park Bag

What you pack in your park bag can make or break your day. Passholders know to pack those reusable straws so you don’t have to drink your margarita through a paper one. We know to also pack reusable utensils because no one wants to hunt down a fork in the middle of an EPCOT festival.

EPCOT

We know that packing an umbrella during the storm season is worthless because the wind will break it, so ponchos it is. Making sure you have sunscreen, water, and even extra deodorant can help you have a successful day.

Rainy Day

2. Double Check Park Hours

While Disney does put park hours online in advance, these can change. Special events and other issues can come up that make the park hours shift. Before we go to bed the night before a park day, we double-check the hours so you aren’t at Animal Kingdom at 7:30 AM when the park doesn’t open until 9 AM — has this happened to us? Possibly.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

3. Book Those Dining Reservations ASAP

Passholders know that good restaurants fill up fast. If you are hoping to snag a reservation to a popular dining spot like Artist Point, California Grill, or Cinderella’s Royal Table, you’ll want to be ready to book those exactly 60 days in advance.

Cinderella’s Royal Table

The reservations open around 7 AM, 60 days beforehand, so set those alarm clocks and get up early. However, we also know to keep checking for reservations the days before or even the day of! We’ve had luck with securing a few last-minute reservations, too.

Be Our Guest

4. Use Your AP Discount

Annual Passholders know that we get a discount on select food and merchandise. But sometimes, we forget to use it. You can even use it at Joffrey’s for your morning coffee! Be sure to ask everywhere at Disney that you are buying something because you might have not assumed you can get a discount there.

Annual Passes

5. Not Waiting For Rides

Passholders know when to skip a ride that has a long wait. For example, we probably are not going to ride “it’s a small world” if it has over a 25-minute wait. We know that we can skip the ride this trip or wait for the line to calm down.

“it’s a small world”

Some rides just aren’t worth a long wait. You can use that time to get in your must-do rides or even better, eat those snacks! We keep our eyes on the wait time and when it dips lower, we are ready to jump in line.

Wait Time Board

6. Planning Out Your Day

Passholders know that to be successful, it takes a little bit of planning. We don’t want to wander around Magic Kingdom until we stumble upon a ride we want to do.

Cinderella Castle

We’re going to have at least some kind of general idea of what rides we want to do, what shows to see, and where we want to eat. This can save a lot of time in the parks to know these things ahead of time.

EPCOT

7. Talk To Cast Members

We LOVE talking to Cast Members. They are so knowledgeable, and you can learn a lot about the park by chatting it up with them. They might have a fun fact for you to learn or may even just give you a great snack recommendation. Plus, we all owe them a huge thank you for helping create the magic in the parks.

Disney World Cast Members

8. Book Lightning Lanes Right at 2 Hours

If you are purchasing Genie+, Passholders will tell you to set an alarm on your phone to be sure to book those reservations right on time.

Genie+ Lightning Lane

You see, once you use your first Lightning Lane, you can book your next one immediately. But, if you have a reservation for later in the day, you can begin booking more reservations 2 hours after the park opens or 2 hours after you last booked.