A trip to Walt Disney World might sound like a very busy vacation. Indeed, it’s often joked that if you’re visiting the Most Magical Place on Earth, you’ll need another vacation just to recover from the experience. This doesn’t have to be the case though.
While it may be tempting to fill every moment of a Walt Disney World vacation with rides, dining, and character experiences, there are some real benefits to planning time into your trip where you can slow down. Not only is some unhurried time important for your energy levels and sanity– having the freedom to slow down for part of your trip opens a whole new world of possibilities within Disney parks, hidden experiences beyond attractions that really set Disney apart from the competition.
If you’re a frequent visitor like a Passholder or Disney Vacation Club member, you may already have the option to do this over your visits. Even if you’re not, however, you can still accomplish this by either deliberately planning downtime into your trip or just planning to visit more than the average 4-5 days.
Curious? Here are ten of the best ways we found to enjoy Walt Disney World when you actually have time to SLOW DOWN.
1. Pin trading
Disney pin trading is an insanely popular secret activity that most guests don’t even know exists. The premise works very simply: guests can trade Disney themed pins of just about any type with cast members to build a fun collection. All you need is some Disney-themed metal pins, even if you didn’t purchase them in the parks (buttons don’t count).
Throughout the parks, you may notice cast members with lanyards, belt clips, or giant cork boards full of Disney pins. You can approach these cast members and ask to trade one of your pins for any of their pins (except their nametag). You keep your own pin backing, make the exchange, and it’s as simple as that. The only extra rules are that certain teal colored lanyards are only for children to trade from, and you generally can only trade three pins at a time.
Once you get the bug, pin trading becomes seriously addicting, especially when you realize that cast members often are given exclusive pins at the beginning of the day that cannot be bought in shops (these are marked with a silver hidden Mickey). You’ll quickly find your eyes roving like a treasure hunter every time you spot a new lanyard or giant corkboard. Over time, you can build up lanyards and collections of your own, and kids especially really love the activity.
You can either purchase pin starter packs in Disney parks or you can go the cheap route and buy some online via eBay, Facebook, or even Amazon before your trip. Do be cautious who you purchase “grab bags” of trader pins from as knockoff Disney pins are common. While these don’t affect the average pin trader at all (cast members don’t care), fake pins are a point of extreme frustration to collectors who don’t want to accidentally trade for a bogus pin. Whenever possible, do your research and go with a reputable dealer.
2. Indulge your senses exploring World Showcase and Epcot’s Festivals
Image: Disney
Epcot is one of Disney’s best parks if you just want to slow down—there is just so much to experience if you’re willing to take your time. World Showcase alone offers an entire collection of gardens, art galleries, and immersive courtyards best enjoyed without hurrying. Our favorites are the gardens in the Canada, Japan, and China pavilions, as well as the winding streets of the Morocco pavilion.
Depending on when you are visiting, you can also use your unhurried-time to enjoy one of Epcot’s eclectic festivals. Throughout the year, the options are the International Festival of the Arts (January-February), The Flower and Garden Festival (March – June), The Food and Wine Festival (August – November), and the Festival of the Holidays (December). All four festivals offer unique activities for guests to enjoy throughout the park, as well as unique food offerings available at booths and other select locations.
Each festival has a strong point. The Festival of the Arts is a great time to peruse the work of artists displaying their wares, as well as to enjoy creative activities and Photopass opportunities. The Flower and Garden festival holds up to its namesake with stunning floral displays and topiaries, as well as a lovely butterfly garden. The Festival of the Holidays is best for its decadent sweets, light displays, and holiday treats, and finally, the International Food and Wine Festival is the best for FOOD, FOOD, FOOD. If you have to choose one of the four, definitely go with the food and wine festival! Some of our favorite items continue to be the Kenyan/Berbere Beef at the Africa booth and the Liquid Nitro Chocolate Almond Truffle!
3. Start a photo collection (or Instagram)
Image: Jett Farrell-Vega (@mykingdomforamouse Instagram)
Walt Disney World is a great place to take up photography, especially if you’re willing to fore-go the classic shots everyone else chooses and pay attention to details. If you have the opportunity to take your time at Disney, make it a point to slow down and start a photo collection.
We touched on this briefly on our guide to upping your Instagram game, but the trick is to identify something you really love about Disney and go from there. Maybe it’s the food. Maybe it’s unique encounters with characters. Maybe it’s tiny details like flags, banners, and hidden Mickeys. Whatever your Disney passion is, take time on your trip to capture it. You can even enlist the help of some Photopass photographers to help you get there! Often, they are willing to take photos with guest phones if you ask! Keep an eye out for anything that matches your theme and build a collection of photos you can enjoy once your trip is over and share with friends and family.
4. Try the Play Disney Parks app (especially in Galaxy’s Edge)
Image: Disney
Play Disney Parks is a newer addition to Disney’s app lineup, and it really seems to be coming into its own as a fun addition to the Disney experience. For those unfamiliar, Play Disney Parks is an app you can download that provides companion games to enjoy during your Disney parks excursions. Throughout all four parks, you’ll find opportunities in the app to check out unique musical playlists, trivia challenges, and collect achievements for visiting attractions.
The app’s strongest features are attraction-specific games and guided tours. In the Magic Kingdom, you can access mini-games in the queues for Peter Pan’s Flight, Space Mountain, and Splash Mountain to help pass the time in line. At Epcot, the app ties into the Soarin’ Trivia Challenge displayed on the screens along the queue for Soarin’ Over the World, turning your wait into a fun team competition with your fellow guests. Kids can also enjoy additions to the Kidcot Puzzle Tours and Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure scavenger hunt. At Disney’s Animal Kingdom, the app provides several self-guided tours through Discovery Island, The Maharajah Jungle Trek, the Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail, and even the World of Pandora.
The place where the potential of Play Disney Parks really shines is in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Within Galaxy’s Edge, the app gives guests access to Star Wars Datapad, an ultra-interactive free-exploration experience that turns guests’ phones into a Datapad that can interact with real-life elements inside the Black Spire Outpost. The game’s functions include translating Aurebesh and alien languages, tuning into secret frequencies and communications, scanning crates to find secret contents inside, and finally, hacking terminals, droids, vehicles, and ships throughout the land—often triggering real responses like engines powering up or droids whistling in response. The app even includes a “quest” feature where guests can chat with famous Star Wars characters and take on jobs for Batuu locals to build reputation in the land. It’s seriously intricate and addictively fun once you get the hang of it. There’s even a special queue game for Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run. For more details, be sure and check out our ultimate guide to getting the most out of Star Wars Datapad!
5. Watch the wildlife
Image: Disney
Walt Disney World is a really special place if you love nature, whether you’re visiting wildlife-specific attractions like Kilimanjaro Safaris or just talking a stroll. You can’t walk a stone’s throw in Florida without running into waddling ducks, anahingas sunning their wings, curious ibis, obnoxious seagulls, or skittering lizards. On rare occasion, you may even spot fish, turtles, and even small alligators in Disney’s waterways… and that’s just the Florida wildlife that like to hang around!
For a more concrete wildlife-watching experience, you can’t go wrong with a trip to The Seas With Nemo and Friends at Epcot or a tour of the walking trails at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. You can easily let minutes fly by at The Seas watching manatees, dolphins, turtles, sharks, and tropical fish, and that’s not even considering special presentations you can enjoy hosted by Disney cast members.
Within Disney’s Animal Kingdom, really take your time when you visit the Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail and the Maharajah Jungle Trek. The latter is the less busy of the two, but both offer multiple opportunities where you can just sit back and watch the resident animals do what they do. Our favorite stop is the aviaries at both locations. Sit still long enough, and you’ll get to see colorful birds sneak out of the plants to explore around you while weavers squabble over nesting material. Outside of the aviary, we even saw a fledgling horned owl learning how to fly once. Slow down, pay attention, and you never know what wildlife might do at Walt Disney World.
By the way, keep an eye on those fish n’ chips if seagulls are around, or you may find the wildlife watching you.
6. Go on an Easter egg hunt
Image: Jett Farrell-Vega (@mykingdomforamouse Instagram)
Eagle-eyed guests can enjoy quite the hunt if you know where to look: Walt Disney World is a bursting basket of Easter eggs. I’m not referring to literal Easter eggs but rather to secret tributes to Disney films and properties hidden throughout the parks. Disney imagineers love planting these little gems throughout Disney lands, resorts, and attractions.
The most famous Easter eggs to hunt for are, of course, hidden Mickeys. Entire books have been written about these little tributes to the silhouette of Mickey Mouse hidden everywhere from the aquarium floor of The Seas with Nemo and Friends to some curiously coiled cables in the pre-show area of The Rockin’ Roller Coaster. You can find hidden Mickeys almost anywhere in Walt Disney World, and keeping a tally of the ones you’ve found can prove a very fun family activity.
If you’re a Star Wars fan, you won’t want to miss Star Wars Launch Bay. This mini-museum of Star Wars fandom houses dozens of hidden Easter eggs from throughout the films. Even more than Launch Bay, however, you will want to plan some extra time in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. The Black Spire Outpost was designed to house tributes to Star Wars from across the whole history of the saga, from the podracer engine used as a grill at Ronto Roasters to the silhouette of a porg chewing on a cable somewhere in the queue for Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run. As an example, if you happen to head to Oga’s Cantina, you might notice the DJ looks very familiar if you ever rode the original Star Tours– stick around long enough and Rex even reverts to his old programming from his Endor Express days!
The best place to go Easter egg hunting in Galaxy’s Edge is definitely Dok Ondar’s Den of Antiquities. This place is bursting with tributes to Star Wars both recognizable and obscure—and according to rumor, there’s even a miniaturized version of the Indiana Jones Ark of the Covenant somewhere in his collection. Can you find it?
7. Go transportation sightseeing
Image: Jett Farrell-Vega (@mykingdomforamouse Instagram)
Disney transportation doesn’t always have to be about dull bus rides and crammed Friendship Boats. If you have time around mid-day when crowds are concentrated in the parks, take a sightseeing tour on Disney transportation.
The most obvious candidate for this is taking a monorail ride. Even if you aren’t heading to a specific destination, there’s something so iconic about riding the monorail, particularly if you do the full loop from Epcot to the Magic Kingdom resorts. Another great option for sightseeing is taking a ride on the Magic Kingdom ferry. We don’t normally recommend the ferry for speed, but if you’re looking to take a tour of Bay Lake or the Seven Seas Lagoon, the ferry makes for a very pleasant ride between Wilderness Lodge and the Magic Kingdom.
Finally, despite some initial shaky press, we really have been impressed with the arrival of Disney’s Skyliner, connecting Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios with the Caribbean Beach Resort, Pop Century, Disney’s Art of Animation, and Disney’s Riviera Resort. The Skyliner cabs are quite comfortable, move quickly, and offer unsurpassed views of Epcot, Disney’s waterways, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. A trip from one park to the other takes between 20 and 30 minutes depending on waits at the transfer stations. Definitely give it a try on your next visit!
8. Take a walk
Image: Disney
Walking may be the last thing you want more of on a Walt Disney World vacation, but if you’re looking to get away from the crowds and take a peaceful stroll, Disney offers several delightful walking trails guests can enjoy away from the bustle of the parks.
The most popular is probably the walkway that stretches between Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The path is just under a mile long, and though it can prove tricky to find the first time, it does offer a very pleasant alternative to the friendship boats if your feet are up for it. In our experience, the walk takes about the same amount of time as the Skyliner, but you don’t have to speed along that fast. Other walking trails include the Conch Flats / Old Key West Trail that stretches between Saratoga Springs, Old Key West, and Disney Springs, as well as the nature trail at Disney’s Fort Wilderness, where guests can see local wildlife like rabbits and even deer.
9. Character watching
Image: Disney
All Disney characters are fun to watch, but some are real gems if you have time to slow down. Instead of speeding past Disney’s most colorful characters like Gaston, the Evil Queen, or Cinderella’s stepsisters, find somewhere to stand back and enjoy their antics. Gaston, in particular, is a comic relief gold mine in his cavalier interactions with both men and women who brave his tavern—anything from a push-up contest to insult swordfighting with a ten year old dressed as Belle could take place. Grab some popcorn and have your phone ready.
One place that really caught us by surprise for character watching was Galaxy’s Edge. Keeping with the land’s immersive theming, Galaxy’s Edge brought back the concept of wandering characters, and a number of different “scenes” play out throughout the day if you just slow down and watch. These can range from Rey and Chewbacca recruiting kids to join the Resistance or repairing an X-wing to stormtroopers arresting Leia’s top spy, Vi Moradi. The stormtrooper patrols, in particular, are seriously fun to watch, especially if either Kylo Ren or a First Order officer is with them. We’ve seen some of the First Order lieutenants give James Bond-villain-level monologues about their ardor to crush the Resistance “like a spider whose legs are plucked off one-by-one”. You’ll completely miss moments like this if you speed through the land. Slow down, sip a blue milk, and watch the story play out.
10. Explore the resorts
Image: Disney
Finally, an opportunity to slow down at Walt Disney World means you aren’t confined to the parks. If you have time, take an afternoon break and go explore Disney’s beautiful resorts. Take the monorail over to the Grand Floridian, The Contemporary, and Disney’s Polynesian to take in some of Disney’s most iconic theming. Take a stroll at Disney’s Animal Kingdom to watch giraffes and ostriches on the resort’s savannah. Enjoy an ice cream at the Yacht and Beach Club or sit on the porch at Disney’s Boardwalk.
Oh, and if you’re looking for dining, don’t count out The Swan and Dolphin. Even though these two hotels are not Disney-owned, they have some of the best restaurants on property, including the il Mulino Italian Restaurant, Shula’s Steakhouse, the outstanding 24-hour quick service eatery Picabu Market, and the best coffee you’ll find on property at The Swan’s Java Bar.
Besides taking a much-needed rest, what would you do at Walt Disney World if you had time to slow down?
