The Top 5 Strategy is something that I’ve been using since early 2019. I was planning Ezra’s very first Disney trip (he was 4 at the time… keep reading to see some cute pictures from that trip) and I was getting soooo overwhelmed with all there was to do. At that time we had no idea that we would be making Disney World an annual thing, so I wanted to make sure we hit the must-dos for our family. So, let’s talk more about the Top 5 Strategy and how it helps my family and my clients.
What is the Top 5 Strategy? This is my name for picking your 5 must-do things for each park day. This does not mean your top 5 rides, this means the top 5 things you want to do. For example, a day in Magic Kingdom for my family of 4 (2 adults & 2 kids) may look like this: 1. Buzz Lightyear 2. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad 3. Meet Mickey Mouse 4. Dining reservation at Be Our Guest and 5. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Do we want to do more than that? ABSOLUTELY! & we likely will be able to do more than that, but if we have our top 5 planned out then, a. we know what our first Genie+ selection is going to be at 7 am (Big Thunder) b. we know where we are eating one of our meals, and c. we have added structure to our day so we aren’t running around the park like chickens with our heads cut off. Everything else we get to do will be “icing on the vacation cake” as I like to call it!
Please, for the love of all things Disney World, learn the My Disney Experience app well before your vacation begins. This app is amazing when it comes to getting the most out of your Disney vacation. Soon I will be diving deeper into all of its powers, but as a quick overview you can purchase and use Genie+, see wait times, see parade and show times, find characters, order food, check in for meals, see Photo Pass photos, and so much more. On that note, since this app does so much, make sure you take a phone charger with you to the parks!
It’s no secret in my little online corner that I am very much pro Genie+. I use it with my family, I use it by myself, doesn’t matter. If you are already spending literally thousands of dollars to go on a vacation to Disney World, get Genie+ unless you just love stand-by lines. We could have a whole conversation about this (yes, I wish we still had FastPass+ and that it was free) but the bottom line is that Genie+ is the current reality of Disney World and I say buy it. I will do another blog post soon about exceptions to my Genie+ rule, but for today, the message is to buy Genie+.
So… is there any point in purchasing Genie+ if you don’t know how to use it? Nope. It is really not complicated if you take the time to figure out how it works and how to maximize it. I highly recommend 2 things: using a travel agent that knows Genie+ (hi, it’s me) and also watching a few YouTube videos on Genie+. My favorite videos are by Molly at Mammoth Club and you can check them out here.
If you do just these 3 things to prep for your Disney World vacation, it is going to make a world of difference. You are going to give yourself the confidence to really tackle the vacation and make it the most that it can be. Now, as promised, here are some pictures from our very first trip to Disney World (as a family) in April 2019.
Thank you so much for spending time with me here today. See you back here next week and every day over on Instagram!
