First off, congratulations on your new Disney Annual Pass! Welcome to such a wonderful community of Disney fans! Being a Disney Annual Passholder for the first time is one of the greatest feelings in the world. Your year will be filled with more magic, joy and memories than ever before. With more than thirty-seven trips this year, I wanted to share 8 ways for you to take advantage of your new Disney Annual Pass. Let me help you maximize the benefits of the pass and create a year of Disney you will love!
1. Do Some Research To Familiarize Yourself With Disney World
Map of Magic Kingdom on the My Disney Experience app.
If you’ve invested in the Annual Pass, it’s worth your time and energy to learn how Disney operates and learn from people who go all the time. How do guests get around? How do you park hop? What should you bring in your park bag? How can I save money? What do the ‘pros’ know about how to maximize the day? What restaurants are great for introverts? Don’t think of this like a chore. Get excited! Knowing that you have a year ahead of you, it should be fun to research and learn these insider tips. You and your family will actually get to use the information on your visits.
After getting the Annual Pass, I made it my full-time job to learn everything I could about Disney. Even though my husband and I made a trip to Orlando to go to Disney once or twice a year, I wasn’t as proficient as I could be. My first step was to ask advice from my friends who are Annual Passholders and get their advice. They had personal advice and stories, and it was a great way to bond with my friends and colleagues who share my love of Disney.
My next step was to listen to Disney podcasts. Whether I was commuting to work or going for a long walk, I’d fill the time with different episodes of tips and tricks. There are many great Disney podcasts out there; I personally listened to Disney Travel Secrets, Unlocking the Magic and Rope Drop Radio. Because of my research, my husband and I learned we could watch fireworks on top of the Contemporary after eating at the California Grill, or meet rare characters outside the American Pavilion at EPCOT.
2. Invest in Fun Disney Gear
Creations Shop in EPCOT
One of the fun parts of a Disney trip is dressing in Disney gear. In looking around, the majority of park guests have invested in shirts and ears that match the park they visit on that day. So fun! Since you’ll be visiting all the parks multiple times, it makes sense to invest in some Disney gear you like.
It’s not necessary to get new items for every trip, but take the time to invest in some quality items that you can wear throughout your year. You can get these items online, but I recommend getting them at a park so you can utilize your 20% off merchandise discount.
I recommend investing in:
- Disney t-shirts (1-2 for each park)
- Ears: (1-4 that work with multiple parks, outfits or holidays)
- Jewelry: Choose a necklace or earrings that you can wear on each trip.
- Loungefly bag: There are so many cute designs to choose from! These bags are sturdy, perfect for the park and will last for many trips. You’re welcome to splurge on many, but I have one that has lasted me all year and works great.
On one of our first trips after getting the Annual pass, my husband and I visited the Disney Springs World of Disney store that has a huge t-shirt section. Not only do you get a discount for buying two or more shirts, you can get your 20% Annual Pass discount on top of that. So, when we did this, the $30 shirt ended up costing us $20 each.
Lastly, once your friends and family know that you are Annual Passholders, ask for Disney gear for holidays and birthdays. It’s a great way to curate a collection of gear to wear without breaking the bank.
3. Visit as Often as You Can
Main Street in Magic Kingdom
It wasn’t soon after getting the Annual Pass that it hit me, ‘I can go to Disney almost any day of the year!’ Even though I wasn’t planning on waking up every day and going to Disney World, I could. That made every day instantly happier!
Most people who get the pass plan on going enough times to pay for the pass, but why stop there?! My husband and I actually decided that if this was our ‘Year of Disney,’ we were going to go as many times as we could. Boy did we live up to our plan! If we had time off from work, we were carving out time to head to a park. Holiday? Park time! Free weekend? Park time! Summer break? Lots of park time!
Therefore, I highly recommend grabbing your calendar and carving out when you will go. That way, when new plans arise, you know you aren’t available and your Disney trip becomes the priority. It also allows you to be able to make those coveted dining and resort reservations that are difficult to get at the last minute.
4. Pace Yourself and Relax During Your Park Days
View from the Japan pavilion in EPCOT
One of the joys of getting to go to Disney frequently with your Annual Pass is that you and your family are not going to have to cram every experience into one day. Those families that have their one trip of a lifetime with one day at Magic Kingdom don’t have that choice.
Take the pressure off having to do everything. If a ride temporarily closes down for the day, do it the next time. If an attraction has an unusually long line, skip that attraction. Too tired for the fireworks show? Carve out time another day. Maybe you’re done with the crowds for the day or just need a break from the heat. Don’t feel guilty about taking a break and hanging back at the resort. As a passholder, you really do have the luxury of enjoying your time because you can come back and do those experiences when it works better for you.
I love Living With the Land at EPCOT. Most days that ride has a lower wait, but sometimes on a busy day it will end up at a 25-30 min wait. So if the wait is longer than 5 min, I wait until the next trip and 9 times out of 10 I’ve been able to ride it with no wait at all. Additionally, if you want to ride a popular ride that traditionally always has a long wait all day long, I recommend rope dropping those rides. We will often do this for Rise of the Resistance at Hollywood Studios or Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom.
5. Book the Extras
Keys to the Kingdom Tour check in
Whether you are going on a tour or a character meal in the park, those experiences require a park ticket purchase in addition to the tour or dining reservation. Since you have the luxury of coming to the park without paying for a park ticket and parking each time, plan to experience some of the fun extras that cost a little extra. Not only that, Annual Passholders will often get a discount on tours and party tickets.
This year we were able to experience the Keys to the Kingdom tour. This amazing tour is a 5-hour backstage tour at Magic Kingdom that gives insider facts about the rides, allows guests backstage and even tours underground in the utilidor system. If my husband and I only had one day at Magic Kingdom, it would be difficult to give up 5 hours of that day for a tour. Plus, we didn’t have to purchase additional park tickets and pay for parking on top of the tour price. Since we have the Annual Passes and the luxury of coming to Magic Kingdom many times, it was a no-brainer to sign up for the tour.
Disney offers multiple tour options at most all the parks. EPCOT has the Behind the Seeds tour. Animal Kingdom offers the Caring for Giants and Up Close with Rhinos tours, just to name a few. When booking your tour, always remember to ask for an Annual Passholder discount.
6. Invite Friends and Family To Join Your Trip
Tree of Life in Animal Kingdom
This year has been very unique because we have vacationed with a lot of people we wouldn’t normally travel with. If we had our one vacation as a family, we wouldn’t typically invite others to join. Knowing that we didn’t have only one time to go, my husband and I started inviting friends and family to spend time with us at the parks!
When this year is over, we will have spent time at Disney with over 15 friends and family. Some of those trips were day trips down and back, but others were longer trips where we stayed on property and stayed for days. Since we could be more flexible, we usually let the guests going with us decide what they were up for.
When traveling with others, I always let it be their trip. (Ride things they want to ride, eat places they want to eat…etc.) Since we go all the time, there wasn’t an urgency to do what we wanted. Each of those trips took on the character of the people on the trip. It also allowed friends and family members who would have been too overwhelmed to plan their own Disney trip the opportunity to go. They felt comfortable with going to Disney because we could lead them around and help them navigate the parks.
The memories created this year have been truly irreplaceable and I highly recommend sharing your year of Disney with those you love.
7. Create a Tradition To Enjoy Every Visit
Carousel of Progress show in Tomorrowland
This is your year! You will be going to Disney a lot. Therefore, figure out something that you and your family can do every time you visit that is unique to you. Get creative! There are no wrong answers and many ideas don’t have to cost anything.
Some of my traditions: I play “When You Wish Upon a Star,” every time we get off I-4 and go through the Disney gates. I always have to ride the Carousel of Progress if I’m at Magic Kingdom, and I get a pin of the resort we stay at. These little things make the trip special to me and make it mine.
Ideas to get you started:
- Always get your favorite snack.
- Always ride your favorite ride.
- Give a surprise token or compliment to a cast member.
- Strike a signature pose for a ride photo.
- Get a new character autograph each visit.
- Get a treat at the Confectionery on the way out for your ride home.
- Take a group photo in front of the castle (or Spaceship Earth, or Tower, or Tree of Life).
8. Design a Special Way You Will Commemorate Your Year
Whether you are a first-time Annual Passholder that has the pass for a year, or you catch the Disney ‘bug’ and want to renew your pass each year, it’s important to think of something you’d like to do to commemorate your year. It could be a big experience on your last trip. It could be a souvenir. Whatever you decide, your year at Disney is special, and you’ll want a way to remember it forever.
I have chosen my favorite park photo and ordered a canvas print of it to hang in my house. It is a photo of the railroad station at dusk. It shows the WDW logo on the wall, the staircase, a beautiful sky and the architecture that is so characteristic of Disney’s attention to detail. Every time I look at that print, it makes me smile and I’m flooded with memories.
Ideas to get you started:
- A meal at a Deluxe resort.
- Getting an item from the ‘year’ collection. (Disney has a line of merchandise that has the current year on it.)
- Purchasing a family Disney ornament from Ye Old Christmas Shoppe.
- Framing the best family photo in your favorite park.
- Stay at a Deluxe resort.
- Create a homemade video slideshow of your photos and videos set to music.
It has been my pleasure to get to share some of the tips that I’ve learned this year as an Annual Passholder. Just as others have helped me make the most of the year, I hope that there is something here that will help you make this year filled with more joy, happiness and, of course, magic!
