1. Stay close to the parks. Ideally, you want to be able to walk or take Disney transportation between your hotel and the parks (at Disney World, this almost forces you to stay on property). If you must drive, the total drive time each way should be less than 10 minutes (keep in mind that driving involves navigating a huuuuuge parking lot, from which it can take good amount of time to get from your car to the park entrance).

2. Arrive at least 20-30 minutes before rope drop.

3. Have a well thought out plan for what you'll ride standby and what you'll fast pass (if you do your homework and plan this part well, you can hit a lot of attractions quickly with minimal wait times). Generally, you want to strategically use fast passes for attractions with the very longest wait times and ride standby attractions in order of next longest projected wait times. In that regard, it's usually best to hit a few standby attractions first (while lines are shortest) and then start sprinkling in those fastpasses.

4. Don't be in the parks between about 1 and 5 pm (instead, go back to your hotel during this time, which is one of the main reasons to stay close to the parks). Along those lines, don't succomb to the thought that, "if we're not in the parks all day, we're not getting our 'money's worth'." Remember, the goal is to maximize the enjoyment of your vacation and, in that regard, I typically find that afternoons are much more enjoyable relaxing at the hotel pool than they are at the crowded parks.

5. Don't feel like you need to necessarily visit every attraction in every park as some attractions suck (again, do your homework).

6. Even if you do all of the above, realize that some parks will require more than one day (particularly, Disneyland and Magic Kindgom) if you want to hit all of their major attractions with minimal wait times (if you plan for two days at one park, try to split the most popular attractions as close to 50/50 as you can).

7. Generally avoid quick service dining inside the parks during traditional meal times (particularly lunch) as those places typically become mad houses (the combination of getting your food, paying for it, trying to find a place to sit, all while trying to watch your kids is anything but a relaxing meal experience). Instead, either bring in a lunch, get something from a food cart (e.g., turkey leg, etc.), or, if you have the means, go for a sit down lunch after you've hit all of your planned attractions (even though it's more expensive and time consuming, a sit down lunch is just waaaay more relaxing and enjoyable). This is particularly fun at Epcot, where just about every International Showcase "country" has at least one sit down lunch option.

8. Avoid any Disney park the week between Christmas and New Year (too insanely crowded). In addition, avoid Disney World between about mid-May and mid-October (too hot and humid).

Finally, if you want to avoid all of that madness but still want a Disney experience, consider a Disney Cruise (generally, much easier to plan and much more relaxing). Another relatively relaxing option is Aulani (Hawaii).