Answering the Most Frequently Asked Disney Park Questions

You could legitimately ask 10,000 questions about Disney theme parks if you tried.

Anyone who has ever tried to persuade a friend into trying Disney knows this.

Your friend inevitably peppers you with questions about the parks, and you feel like you’re pals with The Riddler.

Even worse, you may not even know some of the answers because, again, there’s so much information to learn.

So, I’m here to help, as is our new friend, DeepSeek. I headed over to Robot HQ and asked the AI for a list of popular queries.

Now, I’ll answer the most frequently asked Disney theme park questions.

What is the best time to visit Disney parks?

First, I’ll quickly explain the format here. I asked the (hopefully) friendly robot to list a series of questions.

Deepseek surprised me by returning a categorized list of 38 questions across eight diverse topics.

Some of the questions were, well, stupid. That’s AI in 2025 for you.

So, I’ve discarded a couple like, “Where can I buy Disney merchandise?” I swear that’s a real one.

When a question was particularly stupid, I skipped it and moved down to the next one under the same topic.

Also, I’ve recently answered a couple of these questions, including the one at hand.

Every three months or so, MickeyBlog publishes an updated schedule of our suggested best times to visit.

Here’s one I wrote just last month. Long story short, some excellent target dates are May, September, and mid-November.

What are the must-see attractions at each park?

This is obviously a loaded question, but since Deepseek is about two-years-old, I’ll consider it a “from the mouths of babes” thing.

Also, I’ll note that by the time you read this, MickeyBlog may have already fully opened this particular can of worms.

I’ll decide the One True Disney Ride later this month and presumably make most of you hate me by the end.

For now, let’s just agree that the following attractions are the most popular ones at each Walt Disney World theme park.

Magic Kingdom:

• Haunted Mansion
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
• Space Mountain
• Tron Lightcycle / Run

EPCOT:

• Frozen Ever After
• Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
• Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
• Soarin’
• Spaceship Earth

Disney’s Hollywood Studios:

• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith
• Slinky Dog Dash
• Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge
• Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

Disney’s Animal Kingdom:

• Avatar Flight of Passage
• DINOSAUR
• Expedition Everest
• Kilimanjaro Safaris
• Na’vi River Journey

I’m probably leaving out a few that you like, but that’s a good starting point.

Walt Disney World is overflowing with excellent attractions.

Should I stay at a Disney resort or an off-site hotel?

I recently touched on this a bit in this article. The gist is that you gain access to world-class amenities when you stay at Disney.

The official hotels on the Walt Disney World campus feature some of the best pools, restaurants, and shops in Florida.

Also, all the hotels entitle you to Early Theme Park Entry, an amenity only available to guests staying onsite.

Early Theme Park Entry rewards Disney hotel guests by allowing them to enter Disney World theme parks 30 minutes early.

Let’s say that the park opens at 9 a.m. You can strut ride in at 8:30 a.m., which other guests look on in envy.

Meanwhile, that’s you waving at them from the front of the line at Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.

That feature alone is reason to stay onsite. But I’ll add that Disney restaurants are so great that one even has a Michelin star!

What are the best restaurants in the parks?

I’m about to roll out a new set of rankings, as I just noticed that my last set of articles about this are several years old.

As with the attractions question, a lot of this is argumentative and debatable. Still, I’d suggest the following:

Magic Kingdom:

• Be Our Guest
• Casey’s Corner
• Cinderella’s Royal Table
• Columbia Harbour House
• Liberty Tree Tavern

EPCOT:

• Biergarten
• Le Cellier
• Space 220
• Sunshine Seasons
• Teppan Edo

Disney’s Hollywood Studios:

• 1950s Prime Time Café
• ABC Commissary
• The Hollywood Brown Derby
• Woody’s Lunch Box

Disney’s Animal Kingdom:

• Flame Tree Barbecue
• Satu’li Canteen
• Tusker House
• Yak & Yeti

Note: ALL the food at EPCOT is amazing. There are only like three restaurants I wouldn’t whole-heartedly endorse.

Conversely, I’d suggest that you mostly skip eating at Hollywood Studios. Simply take the Disney Skyliner to EPCOT instead.

Woody’s Lunch Box is the huge, glaring exception to this statement. Everything else is meh to a lot of people.

What are the best shows and parades to watch?

Ooh, that’s a good question. Well done, lil robot!

Every Disney World park hosts its own shows, but you’ll only find one true parade right now.

So, the Festival of Fantasy Parade at Magic Kingdom wins by default.

However, Magic Kingdom will also introduce Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away this summer.

The parks also offer the occasional cavalcade, which is like a microwaved version of a parade.

Plus, Magic Kingdom offers seasonal parades during Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party and Disney’s Very Merry Christmas Party.

As for the shows, here are a few I highly recommend:

• The American Adventure
• Awesome Planet
• Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along
• Country Bear Musical Jamboree
• Festival of the Lion King
• Finding Nemo: The Big Blue…and Beyond!
• For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration
• Hall of Presidents
• Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular!
• Mickey’s PhilharMagic
• Turtle Talk with Crush
• Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress
• Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room

I could mention several others. Disney does an amazing job with its shows.

I’ll add that new shows based on The Little Mermaid and Disney Villains will debut at Hollywood Studios this summer.

They immediately belong on this list when they open.

What should I pack for a day at the park?

That’s another great question. MickeyBlog sometimes posts packing lists for Disney vacations.

We’ve been doing this since the site’s beginning, but I’m now debating whether we’ve ever done one for a single day.

So, let’s presume you’re already at Disney with your luggage in tow.

What should you pack for the park? Well, you’ll want sunscreen, a rain slicker/umbrella, and a phone charger at a minimum.

These items protect you from all kinds of weather and make sure your precious phone holds its power all day.

That last aspect is huge because the My Disney Experience and Disneyland apps are infamously hard on phone batteries.

If you still use a MagicBand, you should pack that as well. I’d also suggest sunglasses and possibly even a backup pair.

You may want to pack some backup clothing as well. Some wet rides will leave your socks dripping for hours.

These are specific suggestions. I’d also strongly encourage you to take a backpack or something similar with enough room to store everything.

In a perfect world, you want something large enough to hold everything but not so big that it bogs you down all day.

That’s a tricky proposition, as I’ve watched my wife cycle through countless bags over the years.

Are There Any Tips for Visiting with Young Children?

Yes, my first two tips are simple. One is that you never forget to have fun, no matter how stressful your visit gets.

You’re at Disney with your child, something you’ve probably dreamt of doing since your precious baby was just a notion.

Savor every second of it, no matter how tired and/or frustrated you get. The stroller life ain’t easy at Disney.

The second tip is that you ALWAYS honor height requirements at attractions.

Disney has tirelessly researched child safety. If a ride says your child must be 42”, please don’t try to sneak them on at 40.5”.

The Cast Member won’t let you because they care about your child’s well-being. Just respect that.

You’ll just have something for you and your child to look forward to doing next time you’re at Disney.

Can I use mobile ordering for food?

All the questions in Deepseek’s final category are insipid, but this one’s the least stupid of them. So, let’s go with it.

Long story short, if you’ve paid no attention to Disney since 2017, you’ve missed a lot.

Park officials added Mobile Ordering to the Disney app back then, and the pandemic caused everyone to use it more.

Nowadays, I’d estimate that most Disney restaurant orders go through My Disney Experience’s Mobile Ordering.

You’ll find the process straightforward and user-friendly. Even better, you can make special orders much more easily now.

In the past, you had to speak as loud as you could to make sure the server heard you.

So, not only is Mobile Ordering available at Disney World, but it’s also MUCH better than standing in line.

I already think of those as the dark ages at Disney.

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Feature Photo:  Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg via Getty Images