You’ve put work behind you and you’re finally on vacation.  The last thing that you are going to want to do is get up early on your precious days off.  Who am I to tell you what time you need to get up on your Walt Disney World vacation?  Well, I’m probably not much different than yourself.  I love going to Disney World for vacation.  I also love knowing that if I plan a tiny bit more than the next family that I’ll be able to get a lot more done in the parks with a lot fewer lines.

My two biggest tips for vacationing in Walt Disney World are utilizing the FastPass system and getting to the parks when they open.  This article will focus on the latter.

The first thing that you’re going to want to find out is if any of the parks are going to have an Early Magic Hour (EMH).  Disney opens its gates an hour early to one of their parks (sometimes more) each day.  This is generally reserved for guests staying on the Disney property.  This sounds like a great opportunity, right?  Wrong.  I feel that you should avoid these parks on EMH days.  The extra hour of park time does not outweigh the hordes of people that think they know something that everyone else doesn’t.  You’re better off in a less crowded park and you get to sleep in an hour more.

That said, if you want to make the most out of your day at the parks you will want to be through the turnstiles and waiting for the rope to drop before the scheduled opening time.  This may seem like overkill but I can promise you that you will be able to get in so many more attractions in the first 2 hours of your day if you are there early.

If you have children, each of the parks has a small rope drop ceremony where many of the characters will perform.  This is a great chance to see a lot of the characters together.  Once that rope drops though, you should be on your way to your first attraction.

The next time you’re in WDW, and you’ve already done 5 major attractions in the first hour, you can thank me.  My wife and I generally take a few moments to make fun of the people who are just entering the park at 11am only to find long lines everywhere they look.  Meanwhile, we’re getting hungry and are ready to grab some lunch.