I have been going to Walt Disney World ever since I was born and now have had the amazing opportunity to work there for the past 7 months. Between going practically every weekend to now working there, I have picked up on quite a few things that not everyone would know.

1. Always carry some cash with you

After working on a cart that is cash only, having cash to pay for Disney merchandise is a plus. Yes, there are the magic bands that are connected to your credit card, but come on, it is technology. Technology, even at the most magical place on earth, doesn’t always work.

2. You can get free water

And no, the water is not from those nasty water fountains. The price of water bottles went up to $3, which is a lot for a bottle of water. Go into any quick service location and just ask for a cup of water. Boom, free water. You’ll thank me for that on those hot, muggy Florida summer days.

3. You do not need to watch the parade on Main Street

Watching the parade on main street isn’t really the best place to watch, unless you want to wait almost three hours roasting in the sun. For the Festival of Fantasy parade at 3 pm (“what time is the 3 o’clock parade?” asks every guest), sit in Frontierland or Liberty Square. You can even find a spot 30 minutes before the parade and then run over to Splash Mountain to cool over. Trust me, you’ll definitely want to take advantage of the short wait. And besides, with the sun out pretty much all the time, except for during the afternoon storms, you’ll dry pretty darn quickly.

4. Same goes for the night time parade and fireworks

I have watched families stake out a spot for the Main Street Electrical Parade starting at 7 pm and the parade doesn’t start until 9. So don’t even expect to find a seat on Main Street 30 minutes before the parade is set to step off. Everyone is going to want to stand on Main Street to watch Wishes post parade, so if you don’t feel like standing around with 40-50 thousand of your closest friends who have spent all day outside and don’t understand that you need to reapply deodorant, then go stand in Liberty Square or Fantasyland. Yeah, you don’t get the same view of the castle, and in Fantasyland the fireworks are shot off behind you, but you’ll have quite a bit more room to breath.

5. Need to escape the heat? Visit the resorts!

At Magic Kingdom, there are three resorts along the monorail track. All have quick service, as well as table service restaurants. Just by hoping on the resort monorail, there are three new places to explore, especially when the heat of summer starts to kick in. The pool isn’t open to guests who aren’t staying at the resort, but there are shops to explore and restaurants to eat at.