If you’re heading to Disney World for a vacation, you may encounter some problems along the way!

Even though it’s “The Most Magical Place on Earth,” not every moment is going to be perfect. Unexpected things happen all the time, but they can be no big deal if you know how to handle them! We’re sharing 10 problems that you may encounter and how you can solve them during your trip!

There’s A Long Wait for the Skyliner

It’s happened for many guests at Disney World — you arrive at the Skyliner station only to find that there’s a ridiculously long line, meaning that you won’t be getting to the parks as soon as you hoped. So what do you do?

First of all, our best recommendation to avoid this scenario is to arrive early. And when we say early, we mean EARLY (seriously, whatever time you think you should get there, just arrive 30 minutes before that!). Especially at the main Caribbean Beach Skyliner Station, we’ve seen very long lines in the morning before EPCOT and Hollywood Studios open.

If you’re already at the station and you’re looking for a fix, your only real option to skip the wait is to order a rideshare like Uber or Lyft. The problem with this is that rideshares can get expensive (especially with rising fuel costs), but if you’re willing to pay extra for the potentially shorter wait it may be worth it!

Here’s What to Do if the Skyliner is Closed!

Your Cell Phone Dies

These days, cell phones are involved in a LOT of planning at Disney World. You’ll be using the My Disney Experience app to order food, make reservations, check wait times, and so much more, not to mention using your phone to take hundreds of vacation pics! So what do you do if your phone dies?

To solve your problem quickly, you can head to a FuelRod station in any of the parks and buy a portable charger for $30. They’re pricier than other portable chargers, but you’ll be able to swap them out for fully charged versions at FuelRod stations around the park. If you don’t want to pay that much, some of the gift shops sell other brands of portable chargers. 

If you have a phone charger cord on you, but you’re not sure where to plug in, there are several locations around the parks where you may find outlets. Across from the Tangled Restrooms in Magic Kingdom, there’s a seating area with outlets inside the “tree stumps” and you’ll also find outlets inside Star Wars: Launch Bay in Hollywood Studios. Besides that, be on the lookout for outlets inside quick service restaurants!

Parents — We Packed Your Park Bag So You Don’t Have To — Click Here!

There’s a Long Wait for Mobile Order

If you go to place a Mobile Order and you find that there aren’t any windows available soon at your restaurant of choice, you’re not out of luck. The best way to prevent this issue is to place your orders early in the day (i.e. make your order for noon at 10AM), however, if it’s already too late to do that, there are some other options.

First of all, you could simply snack your way through whatever meal you’re supposed to be eating. Disney World is full of delicious treats (both sweet and savory!) that you can fill up on instead of eating a full meal. You could also go ahead and place a Mobile Order for a later window and snack until then. Other than that, you may just want to look at a different restaurant and see if earlier times are available.

Here’s What You Need to Know About Mobile Order!

It’s Late and Your Dining Options Are Limited

When Disney World first reopened, the parks were closing earlier…and so were the restaurants. While there are more dining options now for later in the day than there were, you’ll still want to plan ahead where and when you want to eat dinner. But if you make it to the end of the night and find yourself without food, we’ve got you covered!

First, try visiting somewhere else on property that’s still open. Disney Springs and EPCOT are both often open later than other places, so you may be able to visit one of the many delicious restaurants there. Also, some hotel lounges stay open later than other dining locations, so check into the options at your resort. Finally, if all else fails, you can use a food delivery service like Doordash, Grubhub, or UberEats to deliver food to your hotel!

Click Here for a List of Cool Things to Have Delivered to Your Resort!

You Can’t Book the Hotel You Want

If you REALLY want to stay at a certain Disney Resort, you’ll want to book your trip as early as possible, as we’ve found some places are filling up much faster than usual.

If you go to book your trip and you can’t stay where you really want to, you can always book somewhere else and keep checking back to see if more availability opens in the future. Even if you have to stay somewhere else, you could try booking a dining reservation to your desired hotel during your trip so that you’ll still get to check it out!

The Best Disney World Hotels for Large Groups — Click Here!

You Can’t Get the Park Passes You Want

Similar to resort bookings, you’ll want to take care of your Disney Park Pass Reservations as far in advance as possible. A reservation is required to visit a Disney World theme park and they can fill up quickly, especially for holiday weekends, breaks, and smaller parks with lower capacities like Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom. If you can’t get into the park you want right now, your best course of action is to keep checking back leading up to your visit.

Then, if one still doesn’t pop up, purchase a Park Hopper ticket. With a Park Hopper, make your reservation for whatever park you can get, and then try hopping to the park you want to visit after 2PM. You’re not guaranteed to get into the second park, but you can check availability by calling the Park Hopping hotline before you leave the first one. And also, make sure to join the DFB newsletter, because we share every time Park Pass availability is added!

There’s Unexpected Bad Weather

Florida is the home of unexpected weather. You’ll definitely want to check the weather forecast ahead of your trip, but also pack for whatever strange weather patterns may just pop up out of nowhere. (ALWAYS bring raingear!).

If you find yourself in the middle of a rainstorm at the parks, try sticking it out. You can purchase ponchos in Disney gift shops (although they won’t be cheap). If you’re unprepared and don’t want to purchase raingear, then head to some indoor attractions or time your meals with the bad weather. Florida rainstorms often disappear as quickly as they came, so you shouldn’t have to wait around too long. It does rain nearly every day in the summer though, so keep that in mind!

Click Here to Check Out Our Review of a Disney Rain Poncho!

You Forgot to Pack Something Important

Before you head to Disney World, we suggest taking a look at our packing recommendations to make sure you have everything you need. Make a list, and double-check your suitcase and other bags before you leave.

But, if you find yourself missing something once you get to Disney World, you can have groceries and other necessities delivered to your hotel through a grocery delivery service. Also, Disney Resorts have gift shops with sundries, although you’ll likely find yourself paying a higher price for the items than you would if purchased off-property.

Things You’ll Need to Pack for Disney World Now! — Click Here

You Can’t Get the Dining Reservations You Want

Lastly, let’s talk about dining. You’re going to want to make dining reservations 60 days out from your visit (for up to 10 days of your vacation if you’re an on-site guest) so that you can score the most popular restaurants. However, if you book a last-minute trip or miss the booking window, there are some things you can do.

You can try checking out the Walk-Up Waitlist to see if any restaurants have day-of availability. You may also be able to make last-minute dining reservations in the week leading up to your visit — especially if you’re flexible on dining time. Many people cancel a day ahead of time (there’s a fee if you cancel within 24 hours), so check the night before and you may have good luck!

3 Huge Tips for Snagging Hard-to-Get Reservations! — Click Here

Those are some problems that you may have to deal with on your trip and what to do when you encounter them! We hope that this list saves you some stress in the future. Stay tuned to DFB for more tips on how to successfully navigate the Disney parks!

Here Are Some Tips You’ll Need in 2022!

Have you ever had a problem while at Disney World?