Some of you Disney vacation veterans may file this under the “Duh” heading, but for Disney newbies, here’s an important tip: If you are using the Disney Dining Plan, make your dining reservations as soon as you possibly can. For most restaurants and most time periods throughout the year, Disney allows guests to make ADRs (Advanced Dining Reservations) up to 180 days before their arrival. During a season when the Dining Plan is offered free, this is especially important, as more guests that usual are snatching up those precious dining spaces.

And here’s a bonus tip: If you’re using the Disney Dining Plan–or even if you simply plan to eat at a lot of table service restaurants that require ADRs–I highly recommend buying Park Hopper tickets. Without them, you’re basically forced to let your ADRs dictate which Park you visit on a particular day. But with a Park Hopper ticket, you can “hop” over from Disney’s Hollywood Studios to dine at Epcot, for example, and then “hop” to the Magic Kingdom to finish out your day. In other words, you have much more freedom with both your ADRs and your touring plan.

Disney is offering a new discount pass for Florida residents, the “Wild for 3″ Pass. For $99 plus tax, FL residents with valid identification can get a 3-day ticket, good at any of the four main Parks (one Park per day–not a Park Hopper ticket; guests can add a fourth day for an additional $30 plus tax). The “Wild for 3″ pass can be purchased from January 4 through May 21, and is valid for most dates now through May 24. Blackout dates include February 14-20 and April 1-13.

I know I have shared this tip at one time or another, but it’s so important that it’s worth repeating. (And, if my Facebook “likes” are any indication, I’ve gained a few new readers since the last time I shared it…so it’s new to some of you, right?) When you purchase a Disney Parks ticket, the first thing you should do as soon as you have that ticket in your possession is copy the long series of numbers and letters underneath the bar code on the back and then put that piece of paper somewhere safe. Why? That number is your key to replacing your ticket should it be lost, stolen, or eaten by a FASTPASS machine. (Don’t laugh…it happens.)

Should any of the afforementioned mishaps occur, simply go to Guest Relations and give them the ticket number(s), and they’ll be able to re-issue your ticket within minutes. (I know this from firsthand experience. Really not kidding about the FASTPASS machine thing.)

If you have a good camera, you can simply take a digital picture of the back. (Ours doesn’t work so well on close-ups, but you can see where the number is located, underlined in green.) In the past, I have also sent my mom (’cause I can usually get in touch with her fast) an email with our ticket numbers in it, so that I could call her if anything happened and she would relay the numbers back to me. Sometimes we store them in my husband’s smart phone. But the simple method of writing the numbers on a slip of paper and placing it in the care of someone NOT holding the actual tickets works quite well too. However you choose to do it, I highly recommend storing those numbers in a safe place. You never know when you might need them! (FASTPASS machine…that’s all I’m saying.)

Here’s another sub-tip: If you only lose one ticket, you can take a ticket from another member of your party to Guest Relations, providing they were purchased together. When you purchase multiple tickets in one transaction, they are all linked together in Disney’s computer system. So you can use any ticket in the group to find another related ticket’s bar code and, thus, have the lost ticket replaced. (Again, I know this from experience

Disney really threw me for a loop on this one! Traditionally, they raise park ticket prices in August, but I just learned that Both Walt Disney World (and Disneyland, but I only deal with the World on this site) will increase ticket prices beginning Sunday, June 12. One-day, one-park ticket prices are going up $3 from $82 up to $85. Likewise, a 10-day ticket is now $30 more than before. Prices for DisneyQuest and the water parks are increasing as well. The official Disney Parks Blog has an article detailing the new ticket prices here.

If you know you’ll be going to WDW this year, you might want to purchase tickets online now. Tickets without the “no expiration” feature do not expire until 14 days after first use. So, conceivably, you could purchase your tickets now for a trip well into the future.

Outside ticket vendors will likely begin raising their prices as well, once their current ticket inventory is depleted. So…get ‘em now while they’re cheap! (OK, not cheap…just not quite as expensive.)

In addition,

This tip is for veteran Disney travelers. Do you visit Walt Disney World yearly, or close to it? Do you spend at least 4-5 days in the parks on each visit? Are your travel dates flexible (within reason)? Here’s my tip: Consider planning your yearly trips, say, 11 months apart (instead of a year) and purchasing annual passes. It’s probably a better deal!

It’s really just a matter of doing the math. An adult annual pass costs $499 plus tax (or $459 if you’re renewing a current pass). A 5-day adult Park Hopper ticket is $291 plus tax. (You’re already saving $83 on just one person’s ticket over a 2-year period.) Of course, you could buy a 10-day non-expiring ticket for $529–but that’s still going to cost you $30 more than the annual pass.

And here’s the other thing: you get some lovely perks from an annual pass. For starters, free parking! Granted, you get free parking if you’re staying at a Disney Resort too, but if you stay off-site it will cost you a whopping $14/day to park. There are often room discounts that are available only to annual passholders–sometimes up to 40% off. Passholders also get discounted pricing for special ticketed events such as Night of Joy, Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, and they enjoy 50% off at Disney’s miniature golf courses. Finally, there are a variety of passholder events, dining discounts, sales, etc., and you never know what might be added/offered.

And, hey, if you purchase an annual pass, you just might fit a third trip to WDW in there somewhere during the year…or more! I know I would!

Florida residents can now purchase a 4-day “Wild 4 Disney” park ticket for just $119 plus tax (adult or child). Tickets are NOT park hoppers, but you can add that feature (or Water Parks & More) for around $27 per ticket. Florida residency is required for EACH adult ticket (that means you can’t get Aunt Helen in Tampa to buy your tickets for you if you’re from Tulsa!), and you must use at least your first day by May 26, 2011 (they expire 14 days after first use).

There is one block-out week for these special tickets: April 17-24.