If you’re in the early stages of planning a Walt Disney World trip and are starting to feel yourself getting overwhelmed, I am here to assure you that I have been in your shoes and I can definitely relate. Even with a number of Disney vacations under my belt, there are plenty of moments along the way that I find to be challenging. The landscape at the Disney theme parks is ever-changing. Whether it is the addition of new attractions, the launch of new services, or updates to existing experiences, there always seems to be something new to consider when planning. To help ease some of the stress you may be feeling, I thought I’d share the steps we typically follow to plan our own trips and some of the strategies that have proven to be helpful to us when preparing for this complex destination. This is certainly not the only way to approach your planning, but perhaps you’ll glean some valuable insight from the methods of our madness that will help you create your own blueprint for success.
There are three key decisions to make in Part One of Walt Disney World vacation planning.
- When will you go on your magical vacation?
- Where will you stay?
- How many days will you visit?
I really do think planning a Disney vacation is half the fun of the entire experience, so let’s not waste another minute and get right into it!
PICK YOUR TRAVEL DATES
There are many factors to consider for the timing of your trip – including the weather, school and work schedules, and special events – and it truly all comes down to personal preference. For our vacations, we have found Thanksgiving week to be the ideal time for our travels. We used to visit the theme parks at all times of the year, but our kids are now high-school and middle-school-aged and prefer not to miss school. We also love the seasonal festivities that begin in November in the parks and the milder weather that accompanies that time period. So, we now plan most of our trips around the Thanksgiving holiday.
CHOOSE WHERE TO STAY
Next, is the matter of choosing your home away from home for the duration of your trip. Deciding where to stay on vacation is admittedly not an easy choice to make (there are SO MANY options!) but certainly is a lot of fun to mull over. All of the resorts on Disney property are wonderfully unique and highly immersive and are great for travelers who want to be in close proximity to the theme parks and take advantage of exclusive benefits such as early theme park entry and early access to advance dining reservations. The tradeoff to these perks, however, could be a higher price tag. So, venturing off-property can be a great solution for those looking for more budget-friendly hotel options. Larger groups and multigenerational travelers may also have an easier time finding more spacious accommodations off-property. There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to choosing where to stay – it is simply a matter of finding the accommodations that best suit your party’s needs.
ORGANIZE YOUR TIME AWAY
Once you’ve established the WHEN and the WHERE of your Disney vacation, it’s time to think about the HOWS. And yes, I’m sorry, that is plural – please don’t hate me! There are quite a few decisions to make here, but I promise after they are all squared away you can take a very well-deserved little break before moving on to Part Two of your planning. So, ready or not, here we go!
1. Trip Length: How long will your trip be? How many days are you able to get away from home for your pixie-dusted vacation? Whether it’s short and sweet and action-packed or longer and more leisurely, once you’ve established your trip length you can then move on to…
2. Park Days: How many days do you plan to visit the parks? Will you squeeze every bit of time out of the parks from the moment you arrive until the day you depart, or will you pick and choose only certain days for your park visits? Once you’ve settled on the right amount of park time for your vacation, then it’s time to decide on…
3. Ticket Options: Last but not least, how would you like your park visits to look? Do you want to stick to one park per day or do you wish to explore multiple parks on the same day? And perhaps you’re interested in golfing or checking out one of Disney’s water parks during your time away? Disney offers a variety of ticket options tailor-made to suit your needs and preferences.
ALMOST THERE…
Congratulations! Just like that, you now know when you’re going to visit the Walt Disney World Resort, your accommodations for the duration of your stay, and the basic structure of your park days. With these preliminary decisions taken care of it is a good time to make the trip official and secure your resort and park tickets. This step will be dependent on where you’ve decided to stay. If you’ve decided on an off-site hotel then you’ll reserve your stay there and purchase your park tickets separately. If you’re interested in one of the resorts on Disney property, however, you can book a package that includes your resort of choice and theme park tickets.
I know I promised a break right about now, but there is just a bit more work to be done! The final step of Part One of my Disney vacation planning process is to visit MyDisneyExperience.com. When you visit this webpage, you’ll begin by either creating a Disney account or signing in if you already have one. You can then set up your account profile and link your vacation package or theme park tickets in the My Disney Experience section. Once you have completed these steps, be sure to download the My Disney Experience app to your phone and sign in to your account. Everything that you set up and linked online will appear here in Walt Disney World’s official mobile app. Having everything set up and easily accessible in My Disney Experience will come in very handy as you move forward with the next phases of planning!
BREAK TIME!
You have now reached a major milestone in Walt Disney World vacation planning and have rightfully earned a quick breather before the next onslaught of decisions! Enjoy the downtime, and I will catch you again soon in Part Two!
