Here We Go! A Walt Disney World Podcast

20 Walt Disney World Myths You Need to Stop Believing Before Your Next Trip

• Herewegocast.com | Disney Vacation Planning Experts • Season 1 • Episode 21

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Do you really have to rope drop every day? Is Park Hopper always worth it? Does the Disney Dining Plan actually save money? Should you always stay at a Deluxe Resort?

The truth might surprise you.

In this episode of Here We Go! A Walt Disney World Podcast, Mitch and Kim are debunking the Top 20 Disney World myths that thousands of families still believe—and some of these misconceptions could be costing you hundreds of dollars, hours of waiting in line, and unnecessary stress.

Whether you’re planning your first Walt Disney World vacation or you’re a seasoned Disney veteran, we’re separating Disney facts from fiction with honest advice, real-life experiences, and practical planning tips you can use on your very next trip.

We’ll cover everything from Lightning Lane Multi Pass, Park Hopper, Disney Dining Plans, Disney Resorts, rope dropping, Disney budgeting, transportation, Disney hotels, dining reservations, and vacation planning—plus plenty of myths you’ve probably heard from Facebook groups, YouTube videos, or even well-meaning friends.

In This Episode:

✅ Do you really need to rope drop every day?
 ✅ Is Park Hopper worth the extra cost?
 ✅ Does the Disney Dining Plan actually save money?
 ✅ Are Deluxe Resorts always worth the price?
 ✅ Can you visit Disney World on a budget?
 ✅ Is Lightning Lane Multi Pass really confusing?
 ✅ Do you need to plan every minute of your vacation?
 ✅ Are the longest lines always the best attractions?
 ✅ Should every family stay on Disney property?
 ✅ And 11 more Disney myths you need to stop believing!

If you’re looking for Disney World planning tips, Disney vacation hacks, Disney World advice, Disney travel tips, Disney World secrets, Disney vacation planning strategies, and honest opinions from experienced Disney travelers, this episode is packed with everything you need to plan a smarter, less stressful, and more magical Walt Disney World vacation.

📧 Have a Disney question or episode idea?

Mitch@HereWeGoGetaways.com

If you enjoyed this episode, please follow the podcast, leave a 5-star review, and share it with someone planning a Walt Disney World vacation. Your support helps us reach more Disney fans every week!



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#Disney #WaltDisneyWorld #DisneyPodcast #DisneyPlanning #DisneyTips #DisneyTricks #DisneyHacks #DisneyBudget #DisneyOnABudget #DisneyVacation #ParkHopper #MagicKingdom #EPCOT #HollywoodStudios #AnimalKingdom #DisneyFood #DisneySnacks #DisneyDining #DisneyCoffee #JoffreysCoffee #TowerOfTerror #SlinkyDogDash #Fantasmic #DisneySouvenirs #PopcornBucket #DisneyTravel #DisneyTravelTips #ThemeParkTips #WDW #FamilyTravel #TravelTips #VacationPlanning #RopeDrop #LightningLane #DisneyWorldTips #DisneySecrets #BestDisneyFood #DisneyValue #DisneyItinerary #HereWeGoPodcast


SPEAKER_00

Alright, caffeinade hydrate! Throw on some Mickey Mouse ears so you look like the nerdiest dad in the park. Because today we're debunking a bunch of lies. Here we go.

SPEAKER_02

Come on, everybody. Here we go.

SPEAKER_00

All right, welcome back to Here We Go, the Walt Disney World Podcast where we talk all things ride, food, news. Yeah, we got some news. And you know what? I don't care if you're planning your first trip or your 15th trip. Today we're gonna drop some knowledge on you. My beautiful wife Kim is here with me today. Kim, say hello.

SPEAKER_01

Hey guys, how's it going?

SPEAKER_00

All right, today on the podcast, we got a little bit of news for you. Uh, just about one restaurant in particular, and then we're gonna do something kind of fun here. Uh, we're gonna debunk some myths and lies that you've all heard of and thought of about Walt Disney World, you know?

SPEAKER_01

There's a lot of what's true and what's not.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, we are gonna tell you the truth about certain things. So this is gonna be a fun episode. I can't wait. So I just want to get into um a quick news. So for those of you who like Gideons, who doesn't like Gideons?

SPEAKER_01

I mean, I did love them, but now I cannot eat any of the same that you like Gideons.

SPEAKER_00

Let's pretend that you don't have celiacs and the coffee is amazing. That is like some of the best coffee of all time. Well, uh, Six Ravens is opening up soon. Uh, it should be open by this week, is what they were. They were saying July 20th before, but they lied. We're debunking that lie right now. Uh, but uh, this place, Six Ravens, they're selling something called coffins. Uh, here it is on their their the description of a coffin. Hark! Our coffin is a yeast roll stuffed with sustenance required for a valiant quest. Each offering is wrought by hand from the choicest fare found within the kingdom. Know this coffin was the original term used for hand pie.

SPEAKER_01

Now I like the accent. I you like it. I kind of developed as you kept reading.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, well, that's how it goes. That's what how accents go. Now I'm gonna tolerate that the rest of the podcast. Don't mess with me. Um, yeah, who knows if coffin was the original term. I feel like that might be a lie I have to debunk or no. Uh, it sounds like a lie, but we'll go with it. Um, so all of these are 1099. They're hand pies, but they kind of look like big fluffy hot pockets. Okay, that's what yeah, so they look delicious. Um, they all come with a saw dipping sauce, which is kind of cool. And uh they have the peasants patty, which is like a cheeseburger type of hand pie. So there's an American cheese, they'll pickle bits encased in a sesame seed sprinkled coffin, and they're pairing it with pink salamander dipping sauce, aka what Thousand Island dressing. I know. I wish they wouldn't have called that. What are they? Yeah, they're squeezing salamanders for this. Yuck. Um, I say that, but I'm gonna eat like probably three of these. They look pretty good. Uh, the villain of Valentina, house basil, pesto, chicken, balsamic tomatoes, and the kingdom's garlic. Trapped in an herbed panko splashed coffin. It's pairing it with Bruno's garlic knot juice. I don't like I don't like that at all. Well, is it juice? We don't talk about Bruno or as juice. All right, the next one: The Wizard's Wonder Mac and Cheese with pickled poblano peppers, pulled pork barbecue. What is it? Pulled pork?

SPEAKER_01

Oh, it barbecue alliteration there.

SPEAKER_00

Pickled pickled poblos, pickled poblano peppers, pill pulled pork, barbecued seasoned panko bread crumbs, shrouded in a barbecue crumb covered coffin. They're pairing this with Prince Donuts Smoke and Cherry Barbecue sauce.

SPEAKER_01

They got some interesting names.

SPEAKER_00

Well, I think it's vivid imagination, so don't knock it until you tried it. We're doing the Imperial Idol here. Mildly spicy chicken. Oh, this is like a co all right, with potato and carrot coconut curry in a fried garlic covered coffin, harmonized to create this flavorful offer. You know what we're pairing it with? Red panda's dipping sauce. They squeeze a red panda to make the dipping sauce. This one's called the Moorish Monk. Middle Ages grilled cheese using Vermont, white cheddar, Havarde, and house tomato jam wrapped in a parmesan smothered coffin. You know what we're pairing it with? Wolf peach dipping sauce. Uh the last one here is the Foragers Find spiced sweet potatoes, black bean, corn salsa, crushed papitas, queso, cotiha in a pumpkin seed topped coffin. And we're pairing this with, of course, Tropic of Mango Aeoli dip.

SPEAKER_02

All right.

SPEAKER_00

Uh, they got some sides here. This might be gluten-free. It doesn't say on the website, but a mini bucket of baked smashed potatoes, perfectly seasoned with the king's spices, served with a realm of famous honey mustard.

SPEAKER_01

That's a weird dipping sauce. Yeah. One of the other dipping sauces with the potatoes. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Hopefully they're gluten free.

SPEAKER_01

You mean the pink panda dipping sauce?

SPEAKER_00

I think it's going to be the squeeze salamander Bruno juice. Uh, they got sweet nothings here, uh, Tarte Tempt Temptus. Oh, wait, those potatoes were 866, by the way, which is a weird number. Uh, these Tart Tempest is 766. And what this is is a Gideon's chocolate chip tart filled with chocolate fudge and topped with a house-made raspberry jam. So they got some cool stuff here. I don't know. They have uh Six Ravens House Tap Root Beer, sassap sassafras forward with vanilla bean finish. Maybe they're trying to get after that butter be butterbeer crowd. You know what I mean? Let's go. Trying to lure them in.

SPEAKER_01

So if it'll fix you, let's get to.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Well, that was a little rude.

unknown

Just kidding.

SPEAKER_00

I don't need fixing. All right, so let's get into this podcast right now. So today we are going to give you 15 lies that everyone thought that were true. And today we are going to debunk them right here on this podcast, right now. Here we go. All right. Let me start.

SPEAKER_01

All right. Yeah, give me your first one.

SPEAKER_00

My first one is going to be um, you have to rope drop every day. Like, no way. You can't do it. You can't do it.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, we used to think we used to think that that was true, but then yeah, yeah. It's a lie.

SPEAKER_00

It's a lie. Then I became 40 years old, yeah, and my organs were like, go back to bed. Yeah. Don't do this.

SPEAKER_01

I mean your body needs to sleep more than it needs an extra, you know, go around on Tron.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, you can't rope drop every day. It's just like absolutely impossible. Yeah, sometimes just sleeping in, enjoying the pool, you know, plan yourself a party day, like uh, you know, go to a Halloween party, go to a Christmas party, sleep in that that that morning, go to the pool, have a resort day.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and then if you sleep in, then you can like close the park down.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, you know, and we say before, like, listen, if you go in at like 10 o'clock, 9 30, even you might not need that 2 p.m. come back to the the hotel and dunk in a pool, you know? Yeah, it's it's not I've gone before where I've done five rope drop days in a row. Five. Well, uh I can't imagine that and it was just crazy. And I had little little kids at the time, yeah. You know, usually a grandparent would come with me, but you know, my stepmom was probably like you know, but two hours in, where's the beer? And I'm like, we're in Magic Kingdom, so yeah, and it's 9 a.m. It's 9 a.m. So no and no. So so you don't need to rope drop every day. Honestly, like start splitting up your trip, plan appropriately. Your body doesn't need to wake up every single day at six o'clock to get the most out of it. Because if you're planning correctly, if you're getting your correct lightning lanes, if you're booking your ADRs the right way, listen to this podcast and we'll give you these hints and tricks. You do not need to rope drop every day.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

All right, you ready for the next one?

SPEAKER_01

All right, yeah. Let me let me do one.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, I said go ahead.

unknown

Go ahead.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. So this lie is park hopper is always worth it.

SPEAKER_00

Park hopper is always worth it, so that's a lie.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it's a lie. Okay. I mean, I love the bar, I love the parkopper, but and sometimes it will be worth it. But if you're gonna be there for like a whole week, like you don't need to go to two parks every day.

SPEAKER_00

No, that's true. If you it let's say that you've got four or five days in the parks, you're there for a week, right? Yeah, you don't need to parkop necessarily because mosey in, rope drop that park, or not rope drop that park, and get a full day inside that park and do everything that's there. You know, the only thing that I'll say in that is if you're staying on property, you could leave and you could come back, you could park hop, it's a lot easier. Yeah, for the people that are are not staying on property. Let's say you're you know coming in uh you know from uh a place that you rented, or you know, you're staying one of those good partner hotels or something like that, no need to parkop. Yeah, it could be like a pain. So yeah, parkoppers not always worth the money, especially I think that really depends on who you're traveling with too. Like me and you, but let's park up.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, but if you have little kids, like don't try like carting them to and from different parks in a day, like that's a lot.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

But for like, you know, just like an adult couple, like, yeah, it probably would be worth it, especially if you're just going for two days and you want to try to get all four parks in.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah. You can you can make that work, but if you're there for a week, go ahead, spend spend the time and really get to know each park. I would say park hopper is definitely not worth the money if it's your first time going. Yeah, no, because you won't have you won't know how to go back your bearings. Yeah, your bearings, you won't have it. Honestly, I don't think I park hopped until about my third trip there. So there's no real reason for it. Plan your days accordingly, really get the milk the most out of uh Magic Kingdom Day, Animal Kingdom Day. Yeah, all right, yeah. Let's go on to number three here. What I have for number three is I have the dining plan always saves you money. No, like we can debunk that over and over again. Now I've done the dining plan a couple different times. I'll tell you what it does does, and like just so everybody at home knows, I'm a over six feet tall, 255-pound man that can like put back some food, right? A large male. I can put back some food, and the times that I've done the dining plan, at the end, I'm like, man, I gotta I gotta get these snack credits, I got extra snack credits. I'm like looking to buy goofy, goofy gummies to take home with me and stuff. It's yeah, that's absolutely insane. Uh it's expensive if you if you're like it's too much food.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I mean, if you're willing to once in a while have a kid's meal, if you're not like somebody that wants like alcoholic drink with every meal, like it's probably not worth it.

SPEAKER_00

No, if you're drinking a lot of alcohol, you can make it worth it, and then like you're trying to you're trying to like almost beat and cheat the system a lot of times, like, oh yeah, we're gonna eat this. It might even be something that you want to eat. Yeah, you know, it it's the simplicity of oh, I don't have to think about it, but at the same time, cool, do your dining plan if you want to do it. You don't want to think about it. But for me, I'm tapping my magic band or I I'm uh you know using Apple Pay, I'm good. I'm using mobile, uh you know, mobile ordering, I'm good to go.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and I guess like if you want to do the dining plan, I would wait until like they have a deal where like kids dine free now you're something. Yeah, yeah. Well, and then if you are gonna do it, I would you know go online on Instagram and search like reels where people like show you how to like budget it, yeah. Well, how to like make it work for them where you're like getting way more for your money's worth, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Gaming the system, so yeah. I think that it doesn't always save you money, and then you gotta think about it. I don't know, even for me going, I'm gonna want some table service meals, yeah. And you if you have to get the table service plan, that's like a whole other that's so expensive, yeah. And you know, it it's okay, but at the same time, like I don't know, it's not gonna save me money if I want to go have a Topelinos or something like that. That's not even be covered, so yeah, it it will not uh always save your money.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so really think about it. You know, you can chat with you know Mitch if he he helps you plan your trip and he can kind of give you like whether he thinks it would be a smart idea for you and your family.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I'll gauge how you guys are eating. I'll come to your house, show me a typical dinner for you guys. Yeah, all right, no, but include me in on it. All right, the chicken looks good. I'm in, you're in. We're spending the weekend together. Let's see how many snacks you eat a day. Uh no, honestly, I'll help you book anything. Mitch at herewego getaways.com. That's Mitch at HereWegoGetaways.com. Please use me, it's a free service.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. All right. Disney lie number four. Lightning lane is too complicated.

SPEAKER_00

No, I mean, that's a lot. That's a huge lie. And I will say, if you can use it, anybody can use it, and that's not a that's not like a thing against you. I'm just saying, like, you can use that, you're helpful in it.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and like the first time that we went as adults a couple years ago, and I was like not even really paying attention to you using the app and stuff, and I'm just like, how do you how do we just have these rides that we can just like walk on to and you're like, Oh, yeah, I'm using the lightning lane app. And I it was a full foreign concept to me, but like once you showed me, like, it's pretty easy to like oh yeah, you know, see what's going on.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and like you were my passenger princess. Yeah, now you're like my navigator with me, which is great. We're looking together, it's easy to use. Please learn the Disney my Disney Experience app. You should the lightning lanes are not too complicated. I I can teach you know, I taught my dad how to do it, and he's you know 65 years old, so he's got it. They're not too complicated. Um, you know, it looks intimidating once you start to use it. And by the first trip, you're you know, not even halfway through your first day, it's gonna become second nature. But there are tips and tricks in that. Keep listening to our podcast for lightning lanes tips and tricks. Uh, we'll we'll let you know some of them coming up. We're gonna do um a full ride podcast with lightning lanes very soon. All right, all right, we're on to number five here. Deluxe resorts are always a better option when staying at Walt Disney World.

SPEAKER_02

Bang!

SPEAKER_00

Now listen, I love the resort hop, I love the Polynesian, I love the beach club. The Grand Floridian feels like I shouldn't be in there when I walk in. This is like, sir, no flip-flops. You're out of here. Your shorts are wet. Yeah, they're always wet. Don't touch me. You're out of here, sir. Yeah, I mean, they're gorgeous, right? But they're not always the best for your trip. I want to talk about um transportation, what parks mean a lot to you. I think of value more in every single thing I do. And in this economy, in this day and age, I think value is everything. And so I'm not saying it has to be the value resorts, but you know, maybe something like Caribbean Beach with a flip, a fifth sleeper might be something for you. Yeah, you know, what kind of theming does your family like? For us, I could stay at Pop Century or Art of Animation a ton of times. I love it. Yeah, you know what I mean? They're they're just fine for me when I'm trying to plan that that budget. Um, but yeah, if my dad's gonna pay for it or something, like let's go to the Polynesian, let's go to the Polynesian.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, but and like the thing is you're gonna find like the same amazing customer service, whether you stay at a value resort or like one of the deluxe resorts.

SPEAKER_00

They're gonna treat you the same, exactly. It's not just because you're at uh All-Stars or something, they're gonna, you know, be like, you know, hold out your hands, you're bad. End of the line. Like, that's not how it happens. Um, you know, there are perks to the nicer hotels, they're gonna have water slides, they're gonna have better pools, better theming sometimes. But man, I love the theming of pop. Yeah, I love the theming of our art of animation of those family suites. I think they have great, great theming. They have the skyliner. You know, think about everything when it comes into um into booking a resort. I think Animal Kingdoms are gorgeous Animal Kingdom Lodge is um a uh a gorgeous resort, right? Yeah, but man, you're bus only and you're far away from every single park, except except for you know Animal Kingdom, which you can't even walk there, it's still like a 15-20-minute walk, you know what I mean? So I don't know. Deluxe resorts are not always better. Myth debunked.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, all right. Let's move on to number six. All right, number six travel agents cost more.

SPEAKER_00

Um, yeah, yeah. Using a travel agent cost extra. No, we can immediately this is a quick one. It it costs nothing. If you want to use me as your travel agent, it literally costs you nothing to use me. Uh, a good travel advisor such as myself, and I'm not here to toot my own horn, can actually save you money, headaches, time, the whole nine yards. Yeah, we're here, I've gone to Disney so many times, I've had to make those mistakes with young kids and now teenagers and everything else to know hey, this is where you should stay. Let me help you book your eight your advanced dining reservations. Here's how you use my Disney experience. These are free free service. You don't pay me anything. Guess who pays me? Uncle Walt Disney. He he pays. So yeah, uh, using a travel agent does not cost extra. It is a free service. And again, if you want to use me, Mitch at here we go getaways.com. All right, uh, let's go into number seven. Uh, Disney is too expensive for regular families. Um, no, yeah, absolutely not. Uh let's talk about Kim and I just went to a uh a week-long trip, right? Yeah, I mean, that was so inexpensive. I we did some we did some higher-end restaurants that we didn't have to do. If we didn't do that, it was tons, yeah, yeah, tons of money. And like you're using a travel agent, you will know that you can get deals like 30% off. We're going right now, there's 30% off, 35 uh percent off, I believe, on our full trip. Yeah, you know, with the park hoppers, with everything. Sometimes if you're a Disney Plus subscriber, you're gonna get special rates and offers, knowing the times when you want to go. You know, it it's not always if you're a family of four and you think you're gonna go there for a week and you're gonna spend ten thousand dollars. No way, no, not even close. I'll I'll get it, I'll get it half of that for you. You know what I mean? So um it is not too expensive for regular families. Right now, I look at vacations all the time, you know, doing some of this travel agent stuff, and I look at vacations during the summer to go to places like the Outer Banks or uh you know Cape May, you know, so these certain places like that, like going to like Ocean City, Maryland.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, these vacations are just as expensive.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And the amount of again, I talked about value because the amount of entertainment per dollar you're getting in a place like Walt Disney World with the best customer service you could ever get in your life, uh, it's yeah, it's crazy.

SPEAKER_01

Isn't bad when you think about it like that?

SPEAKER_00

No, not at all. So, again, it's not too expensive for regular families. You there's deals all year round, and we can get you in there for you know, not even five thousand bucks for a week sometimes.

SPEAKER_01

So, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Uh all right, what's going on to what are we great? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So how about this lie? The longest line mean it means it's the best ride.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, that's no way. Yeah, the longest line is not the best ride. You have to think. Um, when we think about the longest line being the best ride, that that no, not always. I mean, let's talk about lines that are always long. Always. How about seven dwarves mind train? Is that the best ride in Magic Kingdom? Not by a long shot.

unknown

You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00

Uh Tron's way better.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

You know, how about even like Slinky Dog Dash? It's a great smooth ride. I don't want to not do, I could probably not do seven dwarves on a trip. I don't want to not do Slinky Dog, but man, if it's 99 degrees out and that whole entire queue is outside outside and you're baking, like I could I could pass on that and go ride the Twilight Zone Tower Terror a couple times. Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railways can get uh you know that 20 minute. Let's think about even like Ebcot. Going to Ebcot. How about living with a land?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it's great. Great ride.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, usually just walk right on. Spaceship Earth, walk right down, right? Walk right on. Go over to Magic Kingdom, Pirates of the Caribbean, always under 30 minutes for the most part. You know, walk right on that thing, people move. Yes, please. Walk on it. You know, the longest lines are not always the best ride. So don't be sucked in by that. Like, oh, it's 180 minutes. It must be great. Let me stand in here. That's not always the case. I mean, think about Peter Pan.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Peter Pan is an overrated ride. It's fun. It gives me the nostalgic feels. But man, when that thing's over an hour, not going on it. Not going on. Sorry. I'd rather, you know, I'd rather go over to like Haunted Mansion. I'd rather go over to, you know, Tiana's, any of those other rides at the same wait time. Yes. All right. Moving on. Yeah. Yes. So we are at what are we at? Number nine?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, number nine.

SPEAKER_00

Number nine. You don't need to plan every minute of your day.

SPEAKER_01

Well, the lie would be that you do need to plan to.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, oh, oh, sorry, sorry. Yeah, yeah. The lie is you need to plan every minute of your day. All right. So that's a lie. Um, you don't need to plan every minute of your day. We've talked about this many times. Like, hey, have a loose plan of how things are going to go. Not loose, but mildly type plan of how things are going to go. Map it out. Get your lightning lanes, get your advanced dining reservations, know what you're going to do for that day, but be ready to pivot. You don't have to plan every second of the day. Things are going to pop up. Get to you, learn how to use that app and then learn how to be able to pivot. Some of the best Disney memories that we've ever had is when you wander into something unexpected.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Like people mover.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. And you might think, like, you know, you have your lightning lanes booked, and you're like, all right, it's noon. We have, you know, 10 minutes to get over to the other side of the park. But really, you have what a two, three-hour window to like get that lightning lane. Yeah, you have a three-hour window in there. Yeah. So like you don't know. If you want to stop at something on the way over that has like a short wait time, do it.

SPEAKER_00

Do it. Yeah. We've the tested this out. Uh, your your lightning lanes will be held up to three hours. So 301, that thing disappears. Yeah. But three hours is the cutoff. You can go. So if you're like, oh, I'm going to miss it. I need to go there. They used to be super stringent on that, but recently with how things are three-hour threshold for that lightning lane. So don't be afraid to book something else on the way over. Stop and go on something else.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

You know, learn how to use utilize those lightning lanes and be ready to pivot. You're going to find little areas, you know, stop in, get an ice cream somewhere, or oh man, look at this little you know, character that walked out. Like, go see Buzz or something, you know?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Yeah. All right. Number 10. You need a table service meal every day.

SPEAKER_00

That's a complete nutterline. Yeah. We've done it before where we've had quick service, especially at like a place like Magic Kingdom or or Hollywood Studios. Yeah. Even like, man, Epcot when they got a festival going, you do not need a table service meal.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, definitely not.

SPEAKER_00

And you know, Animal Kingdom's got some cool restaurants, but they always have great snacks, great food food, Harambe Markets, a Thule Canteen, that Smiling Crocodile. I'm gonna get those Arapas. Oh my gosh, I can't wait. I remember I watched a video with somebody eating it today and it was like dripping. I was like, oh my god, yeah, get that thing.

unknown

Eat that thing.

SPEAKER_00

I went in my head, I'm like, man, do I have to stay there until these things are open? Yeah, 11. So I'll eat breakfast at nine. I'm gonna need a rape at 11. Who cares? Yeah, uh you don't need a table service meal every day. There are plenty of places, even if it's hot out to go get reprieve from the sun and quick service, you don't need that table service meal every single day. Quick service has gotten so good that you could eat great all week and not miss a single table service.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. All right, number 11.

SPEAKER_00

All right. Summer is the worst time to visit. Okay. Now we're going in August for the first time. Kim and I have gone have gone before. Uh I've gone in the summer when I was a kid and I lived, it was fine. Yeah. And we've gone in September. We've gone at the end of um the end of June. Like we went to the end of June, and it was like you know, 90, 95 every single day we were there. And we actually did a four-park hopper day. Yeah. We look like wet rats. Yeah. But we lived and we were fine. A little chafe happened, so we had to prepare for that, you know, the next time. But it is not the worst time to visit. Lines right now are record low wait times.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And I don't know about you guys at home, but I know my wife and I, we want to get them rides in.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So, like, listen, the sun's gonna go down. You can have the whole night there during the day, just plan accordingly. Make sure you're hydrating, make sure you're wearing the correct clothes. SPF. Yeah, SPF, and take care of your DO for your BO.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and if you go like in the second half of August, all the Florida kids are back in school. So I feel like that cuts down on the crowds a lot.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, August is a great time to go. So yeah, it's not the worst time. Um, you got water rides, you got nighttime entertainment, fewer school constraints can make it worthwhile. Think about getting a free water park if you stay on your check-in day. It's great. I'd want to do that in the summer. We're doing it. We're going to Typhoon Lagoon. You're gonna catch me like wiping kids out on this body, me body surfing in their in their wave pool. Make way, family. Becomes a beached whale. Yeah, that's a complete lie. Summertime is not the worst time to visit. Debunked. Uh, what do we got? Number 12 here.

SPEAKER_01

You have to buy every souvenir in the parks. No, I I mean, I mean, yeah, the kids are gonna want stuff. Mitch is gonna want stuff. I'm the one who's like, I don't need a souvenir. But also, you can tell your kids, like, hey, when we get home, you know, there's stores that have like Disney things.

SPEAKER_00

I think buying it ahead of time is the smart way to do it. Yeah, right. So if you have little kids, I think this works with little kids better. Our kids are way past that. They're like, nah, dude, nah, bruh. They call us, they call us all brah. Yeah, even mom gets called brah. Nah, bruh. This is what I want, brug. Like, you're like, okay, got it. But if you have little kids, uh go to Amazon Target, Walmart, at C shop Disney, get your Disney, your family Disney hats and your shirts on Etsy before you go. Uh, make sure you get your bubble wands ahead of time. There's no need for that. You can get bubble liquid when you're there because it's not that expensive, but buy your bubble wands ahead of time because these things are astronomical, they're stupid, they cost a lot of money, and your two-year-old's gonna drop it on the ground right after they get me in a faceful of bubbles as I'm eating a dole whip. You know what I mean? So you don't have to buy souvenirs in every single park. Plan ahead. Uh, there's tons of different Disney stuff you can get online. We we buy shirts on Roosevelts all the time, you know, matching Disney shirts. Yeah. Roosevelt's, if you're listening, I am a 2X, sometimes a 3X, depending how bloated I am. And my wife here's a medium. All right, let's go to number 13 here. You need to stay on property. I mean, I'm divisive on this one, but you don't need to stay on property. We haven't always stayed on property. It depends on how many people you have with you. Uh we stayed at the Marriott World Center one time. That was amazing. Yeah, I love that place. It was great. There's uh good neighbor hotels. You could go and stay in a big Airbnb with a you know private pool and a kitchen and a rent a car. Um, these are great choices for larger families or families traveling together. You don't always have to stay on property. I will say that you know, for us, we've made the decision that staying on property is right for us, yeah. And that's how we vacation. But if you're somebody who wants to take multiple days off and hang out and go see, you know, go to Universal, uh, go to other parks. Love SeaWorld. Go to yeah, if you want to go to SeaWorld, go on, go to see. You want to see a fish? Go.

SPEAKER_01

They got cool coasters, they got some cool coasters.

SPEAKER_00

It's yeah, I don't know. Maybe maybe some day. I have never been like a huge pole to SeaWorld, but I won't knock it until I try it. All right, number 14. Disney food is just burgers and chicken nuggets.

SPEAKER_01

Like some of the best meals I've had have been at Disney.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I would say that as well. Some of the best food I've ever had in my life, especially like even junk food. I'll tell you this: I'm 44 years old. That caramel bacon pecan covered talking about it. I can't help it. What is in that? They're putting crack in that. Yeah, there's something in that that I should. What about the soul from Topolino's Terrace? And that the Dover Soul from Topolino's Terrace. There are steaks there that I've never been able to recreate. Uh like Cinderella's Royal Table breakfast had that steak and egg dish that was amazing. Satulli canteen's Ube Cold. There are so many different foods. It's not burgers and chicken nuggets. Sure, if you're a little kid and that's what you want to eat, go for it. But even if you're a little kid, you can go get a tomato biscuit and a grilled cheese from Woody's lunchbox and get tots and a cutie and a drink for $8.99.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

These are not just burgers and fries. Okay. Think about how inventive they've been getting with the Arepas, those corn cakes uh at um at the beacon barrel. Oh, yeah. I mean, just all the food. It's skipper canteen. It's gluten, most of that menu is gluten-free, and it's to die for like it so much.

SPEAKER_01

I know.

SPEAKER_00

And I think it's absolutely delicious. So uh yeah, debunked number 14. Food is not just burgers and chicken nuggets. It is absolutely amazing, and I will die on that hill every single time. Walt Disney World food is some of the best food I've ever had in my life, and I have a pretty refined palate. Yeah, if you follow us on any kind of social medias, you'll see I'm cooking it up over here.

SPEAKER_01

So, yes, you are, baby.

SPEAKER_00

Um, I'm gonna I'm gonna give you this this last one here, okay? Um you need to have a perfect plan to have a perfect trip trip, and that's almost like planning every minute of every day. It's a little bit off of that one, but Disney's gonna throw you some curved balls. Yeah, all right. It could rain. You could get stuck on riots. Yeah, we've been stuck on Tiana's bayou for like an hour before, and we had a walk off of it before. June crying during it, like the magic ruined. I saw the back of Tiana's head and it's wires.

unknown

You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00

Uh, you know, you're gonna miss reservations, you're gonna have tired kids, unexpected crowds, somebody could get sick. Um, you you don't need to have the perfect plan, you need to be able to be flexible. I believe that the families who have the best trips are usually the ones that can pivot and enjoy the unexpected. And we are very good at pivoting. So I need to like put that in people's heads. All right, we can plan XYZ, but you need to be able to pivot and be open to anything uh that can happen to you because a new experience is gonna happen. You're gonna go, oh my gosh, the Starlight Parade is amazing. I've never seen this before. Oh, I'm riding a ferry boat over to get beignets. This is great. You know, there's a ton of different things that you can do. So um those are that's 15 of them. I I mean I could probably throw off a couple more right now just for posterity's sake's sake if you want. Um like like rain ruining your Disney Day. No, it'll it'll thin out some crowds for you, you know what I mean? Um Animal Kingdom is a half day park. You know, I I believe that you could stay at Animal Kingdom all day, depending on how old your kids are. There's a ton of great food there, you know, and you can ride certain things. And I mean the park's only open until six o'clock. Yeah, you know, so yeah, it's a full day if you're doing a 7:30 to six o'clock. That's fine. How about this myth? Disney adults are just weird in the best way. In the best way, I take Umbridge. How about this? Ebcot is boring for children. No, our kids love it. Our kids love it, and they've always loved it. Even the littlest ones, like, we gotta have Ebcot. Just watching him uh open his eyes to eating a seafood roll during last year's uh what were we at uh uh food wine? Yeah, oh my god, he wants me to recreate at the house. It's got base scallops and shrimp and crab in this thing. He's like refined little pallets of our uh of our guys. Uh Cooper eating a uh I had a seafood pot pie. Like oh, you did? I can't get you to eat a ham and cheese sandwich with the house. Yeah. So the kids love the rides. I mean, having rides like Ratatouille there and having Guardians of the Galaxy there.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, Frozen. Yeah. Um Soren's great for kids that are old enough for that.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, absolutely love it. Um, here, how about this this one here? So we'll get to almost 20 probably today. How about lightning lanes? Um, and lightning lane multipass is a scam. No, not at all. You need the lightning lanes. I will tell you this: if you're not getting the lightning lanes, please call me and I will talk you into it in two seconds. Yeah, I think that if your kids are big enough, parkoppers and lightning lanes are are a must if you're staying on property.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Uh with parkoppers, but but lightning lanes for sure, and single lightning lanes, if you want to ride Tron maybe twice or or some of these other Guardians of the Galaxy. Um, the last one I'm gonna do here is character dining is only for little kids, and that should get us to 20 right there. So, character dining, here's the that's 20 different ones. Character dining is just for little kids. I object, I object to it. And uh, I've been there before when Mickey's come in, and there's just something about that. Even talking to my friend Tito and him getting emotional when he saw Mickey. You do get emotional, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

You want to tell him, like, oh bro, makes you a kid again.

SPEAKER_00

Makes you a kid, and like watching your loved one, like watching you become a kid again, and like you just want to tell him, like, hey, thank you for being there when I was little, being there for my kids, and like there's just like, and I know that it's uh uh probably some 18-year-old college student in this thing, yeah. But I don't know, there's just something magical about it, and I I I I staunchly object to character dining is only for little kids. I cannot wait for Tobolino's Terrace breakfast. I've loved Chef Mickey's in the past and some of these other character dining experiences. And this time I might even go see uh Sully, Mike and Sully. I want to go, I want to go see him, you know. Yeah, I think I might see some of these characters during the um Mickey's not so scary Halloween party, too. I want to see Stitch in his Elvis costume. Oh, yeah, that's awesome. I think that'd be a cool picture. Um, all right, so we we've gotten definitely over 20 here, uh, or or 20 or so. Uh uh here's one last one I'll throw at you. Okay, I'm gonna throw one last one just so you get your money's worth. Fireworks are a must on every trip. No way. No, and I think the fireworks are great, but you get so exposed to fireworks that you're like, oh, they're everywhere. You know what I mean? You start to get like a little bit uh almost desensitized desensitized by them. Yeah, and I think that while the fireworks are going, I'm usually trying to get to tomorrow to get on some rides.

SPEAKER_01

So honestly, what like a good hack for that is to book a reservation, like at a restaurant that has a view of the fireworks. That was perfect our last trip. Perfect.

SPEAKER_00

And I I'll say this, we were trying to do it twice because we were trying to go over to La La Hacienda de San Angel. Yeah, like even on the last trip, we were gonna book La Hacienda de San Angel. Uh like I I can't, I'm not I'm not sure. Yeah, La Hacienda. The three Caballeros Fiesta Tour boat ride. You can do that one. But right across from that, outside there at dinner time, man. You book something at like 7:30, 8 o'clock there. Yeah, well, maybe at eight, eight o'clock, 820 reservation, you're gonna get the uh illuminations, you're gonna get that fireworks show right there uh on the water.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, but like you could even book something on a non-park day and watch the fireworks, you know what I mean? Like don't waste the time on your park day. That's a great idea. So, like Topolino's, you can see the Epcot fireworks, and then you go over to California Grill. Yeah, California Grill, you can see the Magic Kingdom, and it was perfect.

SPEAKER_00

And you could actually even go over, you don't even have to be staying there. Go over to the Polynesian, sit on the beach, watch the fireworks right from the Polynesian, the Magic Kingdom fireworks from their beach. Yeah, there's a ton of different ways to get in fireworks. So fireworks are not a must on all your park days. Just remember that you can see them everywhere else. We've given you way too many today. You got everything for your money today, guys. The value we talk value. I think this podcast was a value. Yeah. Hey, that's a good one. I love doing this with you today. I love you.

SPEAKER_01

I love you too, baby.

SPEAKER_00

With all my heart, and I cannot wait for our next vacation. So excited! Our trip is less than a month away. It is, man, that's crazy. Yeah, we got like three weeks, huh? Oh my gosh, yeah. Yeah, we got like three and a half weeks. So it's crazy. It's coming up. We'll be able to report back on a bunch of stuff. But we we we love our listeners. Thank you guys. If you have any questions, we'll do some listener questions next week. We'll get into some more news. But please rate, share, follow. If you want me to help you plan your trip, again, it's free. Contact me at Mitch at hereweigogetaways.com. Please share the podcast. Get more people to listen. We love doing this. We love having you as an audience. And I need you guys to remember your next magical vacation to Walt Disney World is only a moment away. Here we go.