If you’re planning a trip to Disney World, you’ve probably been scouring the Internet for tips and tricks that can help you have the best trip possible.

Chances are you even heard them from us! But Disney World is always changing, and that means that those tips may not always be as evergreen as they once were. So, we’re sharing five proven Disney World tips that just don’t work anymore.

We know — planning a Disney World trip comes with a lot of moving parts and you might feel overwhelmed by all the information out there. What worked for you on your last trip may not work this time around, so don’t make the mistake of counting on these once-proven tips.

Go During the “Off-Season”

Back in the day, you used to be able to plan your trips during the “off-season” at Disney World. And, while you still may be able to plan a trip based on when kids go back to school or when things slow down after the holidays — you can’t really count on it being a ghost town. Disney World doesn’t really have a non-peak season anymore!

You’ll still see discounts offered on things like tickets and hotels if Disney anticipates lower-than-average crowds — which can still be a good time to plan a trip — but historically “empty” months like January and September haven’t been as empty in recent years. It’s possible that we saw an uptick of “revenge travel” post-Covid that contributed to higher than average “slow seasons” as well.

On the flipside, we tend to tell folks to avoid long holiday weekends because they tend to be busier. That’s still the case from time to time, but so far in 2023 we have seen several holidays not boast the same crowd levels as we’ve seen in the past. The Saturday and Sunday before both Memorial Day and Labor Day were busy this year — but the holidays themselves weren’t too bad.

Go on a Weekday

We used to tell people to plan as many weekdays in the parks as possible — whatever you do, avoid those weekends. But with so many locals with Annual Passes and more flexible work schedules for a lot of people, we can’t predict that any given weekday is really going to be any less busy than the next, or a day on the weekend for that matter.

A lot of Disney World events kick off during the week — new treats may debut, an EPCOT Festival officially begins, or even a new fireworks show lights up the sky for the first time. Sometimes these events take place on weekdays and people (it’s us, we’re people) make it a point to be there when they do.

Of course, weekends are when you can still expect higher wait times on average, but that doesn’t mean you can expect perfectly smooth sailing just because you’re in the park on a weekday.

Rope Drop the Parks

You HAVE to “rope drop” Disney World. Essentially, getting to the parks before or as soon as they open isn’t as foolproof a plan as it used to be. Early Theme Park Entry is a special benefit that all Disney World hotel guests can take advantage of which allows them access to the parks up to 30 minutes before they officially open. And y’all, there are a lot of Disney World hotels — meaning this applies to a lot of people.

Rope dropping ain’t what it used to be, and with Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes, often times you can experience all the attractions you’re trying to ride without having to be in the parks so early — though you will have to wake up early if you want to snag those more popular Lightning Lanes!

Not only that, but from what we’ve seen recently, wait times can drop drastically at night. Even for incredibly popular rides like Rise of the Resistance — you can walk right on that bad boy with a posted 5-minute wait on some evenings. There’s no guarantee that waits will be that low, but it’s worth a shot.

Buy Souvenirs as Soon as You See Them

Package delivery is a thing of the past — or at least, it still hasn’t returned to Disney World hotels yet. People staying on Disney World property had the luxury of being able to buy souvenirs in the parks and have them transported back to their hotel for them so they didn’t have to lug things around all day.

But, when Disney World ceased operations for the global pandemic, package delivery went away — and it never came back. Now, if you want a particular souvenir but don’t want to carry it around with you all day, you might want to wait to purchase it until the end of the night.

Of course, you run the risk of a super popular item being sold out, but if it’s something you know you can get anytime, anywhere — it can probably wait.

Take the Free Magical Express

This one really stings. The Magical Express was a shuttle service that provided transportation between Orlando International Airport and Disney World. People staying at a Walt Disney World resort were able to reserve seats on free transportation to get them from the Orlando International Airport directly to their Disney World Resort.

This is another service that went away with the pandemic, and has since been replaced by Mears Connect Driven by Sunshine — a new, paid service. It’ll still take you to and from the airport and Disney World, you’ll just have to pay for it.

Whew. We know that planning a Disney World trip is A LOT – which is why we bring you posts like this so often. But we’ve also put together a complete guide in ebook format that gives you all of the info you need, all in one place! Use code WDW2023 for 25% off our DFB Guide to Dining at Walt Disney World.

For more Disney World tips and tricks, be sure to stay tuned to Disney Food Blog.

Disney World Secrets No One Will Tell You (But We Will)

What’s your best Disney World tip? Tell us in the comments.