Headed to Disney World? A superfan shares tips for a fun family vacation.

It's 6:59 a.m. and I'm feverishly refreshing the app on my phone, the glow of my screen illuminating the pitch-black bedroom of the Orlando villa that's ours for the week.

I'm waiting to book rides on the My Disney Experience app, where Walt Disney World guests can see estimated wait times for rides and shows, make dining reservations, and — my favorite — reserve Lightning Lane passes, which allow you to skip the sometimes hours-long standby lines at Disney theme parks. At 7 a.m. sharp, I book my family on the Slinky Dog Dash roller coaster, in Toy Story Land at Disney's Hollywood Studios, for the 3:30-4:30 p.m. time slot.

You can only book a ride with the Lightning Lane pass, which costs an additional $22 per person, every two hours starting at 7 on the day you enter the parks. So after eating breakfast, followed by a light workout, I schedule us on Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway at Hollywood Studios for 1-2 p.m. I also confirm a lunch reservation at 50's Prime Time Cafe. Later, I purchase lightning passes to Rise of the Resistance, the "Star Wars" experience that opened in 2019.

Before we leave our villa at 11 a.m., I've already reserved expedited passes for three rides, and lunch in a sit-down restaurant at a time that works for us. We'd grown tired of resorting to burgers or pizza on the go, so having a dining reservation was a revelation.

I'm elated, to say the least. We don't have to rush. Two days later, I would repeat the same routine to organize our day at Epcot.

I've heard people suggest arriving early, when the park first opens, to be among the first in line for rides. I applaud them. My crew, they like to sleep in, enjoy breakfast and take our time.

Others may choose to be more spontaneous when it comes to visiting Disney. They go where the pixie dust takes them. That route is not for us.

Prepare for (smaller?) crowds

This year, bloggers and other commentators have alluded to attendance being down at Disney.

From May through July 2023, Disney World reported decreases in occupied room nights and attendance. Airline passengers from Minneapolis-St. Paul to Orlando also dropped 8.5% to 482,000 from July 2022 to June 2023, compared with 527,000 in the same period a year earlier, according to the Department of Transportation.

Higher admission costs is one theory bloggers are floating. A one-day ticket at Disney World, depending on the day of the week, is currently between $109 and $150. In 2004, it was $52. In 1982, the year I was born, it was $15.

Other travel writers attribute it to nearby Universal Orlando Resort eating into Disney's market share, summer heat, fewer international travelers, or possibly politics (Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is caught in a First Amendment lawsuit with the corporation).

But if attendance has been down at Disney, it sure didn't feel like it when we visited in June.

When we arrived at Hollywood Studios — the smallest of the four major Disney World parks— around 11:30 a.m., it was already fairly packed. The atmosphere felt similar two days later at Epcot, more so because it was the annual International Flower & Garden Festival. At every turn, there was a bush, tree or scrub sculpted in the shape of a Disney character. "Toy Story." "The Lion King." Donald and Daisy Duck.

A fairly new batch of classic attractions is emerging at Disney World. Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway is one of them. We arrived in our time slot and immediately boarded a train clumsily steered by animated conductor Goofy. Unlike older rides at the Magic Kingdom, where you slowly tour through scenes of a story, this ride is an immersive adventure as Mickey and Minnie try to rescue your out-of-control train car. The screen and video technology, mixed with sounds and lighting effects, thrust us in the middle of a cartoon world.

Disney smarter, not harder

My wife, Corneshia, and I have visited Disney World for 20 years, since we were college students opting for mouse ears and photos with costumed characters instead of beaches and nightclubs during spring break. Once our children — Layla, now 13, and Nicholas, 10 — were born, though, we changed how we did Disney.

It changed more when we relocated from Tampa to Minnesota in 2016, and started flying into Orlando instead of driving.

Lodging became the new challenge.

We've stayed at Disney hotels and resorts — I'd recommend the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin resorts — and in nonaffiliated places a few miles outside the Disney grounds.

It soon became more about the room, not the location. Many of the places we've stayed served continental breakfast or offered room service, but a room with a full kitchen has been our best fit yet, thanks to a timeshare we acquired. Prior to owning the timeshare, we found rooms with full kitchens by searching Hilton or Marriott vacation club websites — two hotel brands we have rewards memberships with — and by using travel sites like Expedia. Fast food can become mundane, and hotel-prepared food can get expensive, so we learned to stack the fridge with fruit, water bottles, to-go snacks, breakfast foods, ready-to-eat meals ... and some adult beverages.

Controlling when we arrive and depart the parks, and our mode of transportation, is also something we've improved on.

Most hotels and resorts offer shuttles or bus rides to the theme parks. While this allows you to avoid renting a car and paying for parking, it also means you're at the mercy of pickup and drop-off times. After standing on a crowded bus while carrying a heavy stroller in one arm and a sleeping child in the other, we knew having a car was best. And with my wife's premium status with a certain rental car company, it's pretty inexpensive.

Visiting multiple Disney parks over consecutive days is exhausting, and walking through a park for hours requires stamina. In one day, we logged over 6 miles of walking inside Hollywood Studios. At Epcot, we walked more than 5.

So on the day in between visiting the parks, we relaxed at one of the seven pools at the Sheraton Vistana Resort where our villa is located. We also spent time at Disney Springs, the shopping and dining area of Disney World.

A day away allowed us to recharge. We needed it.

Worth it?

At the end of our first day, we entered the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge section of Hollywood Studios to get on Rise of the Resistance. The magnitude of the design, animatronics and thoughtfulness for the immersive feel of fighting with the Resistance against the First Order was more thrilling than any roller-coaster loop or drop. I've often imagined what it's like to absorb the fantastical environment of the "Star Wars" characters. Disney allowed us to sample that with this experience.

Two days later at Epcot, I was able to reserve our spot in the virtual queue for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, a newer thrill ride based on the Marvel Studios movies. There is not yet a standby line or Lightning Lane pass for the ride, so booking a reservation sent me over the moon.

The ride is a high-speed, indoor coaster that takes off going backwards. We're hyper-jumping through space portals and solar systems, traveling sideways, spiraling down and up, all to the tune of Earth, Wind & Fire's "September."

Also at Epcot, we took a ride around the globe, literally, on Soarin' Around the World, an 80-foot hang-gliding simulator.

Within these parks, I'm free to be a big kid. My wife is, too. For some of these experiences, we're just as excited as our children.

It's expensive. It's tiring. But for us, it's worth it. We're enamored of the Disney magic.

During our trip to Disney World just days before Christmas in 2021, I shed a few tears during the fireworks show at Magic Kingdom. I was overwhelmed with gratefulness for being blessed with such an amazing family.

Anything that can evoke those feelings is worth the price of admission.

Disney World tips

Download the My Disney Experience App in advance.

Buy tickets to rides and attractions before you go, and link them to your account on the app. A standard one-day theme park ticket starts at $109.

In addition to tickets, plan on spending a little more for Lightning Lane passes.

Take days off in between visiting the various parks. Relax at the pool or go shopping.