A comprehensive Walt Disney World planning guide is a really big project. Really, 90% of this site is a Walt Disney World planning guide. You can’t fit all of the content into one post!
But what we can do is help you organize our content. This guide doesn’t itself tell you everything you need to know to plan your Walt Disney World vacation. What it does is provide an overview of a wide variety of topics and link to related pieces on the blog.
Brief Look at the Next Two Years
Before I even get to the contents, we need to talk about what to expect from 2024 and 2025. We cover the topic of timing 2024 - 2025 visits in more depth here.
Lets start with some stuff that’s behind us, because there have been major changes recently:
January 22, 2023 - Last day of Splash Mountain operation
April 4, 2023 - Debut of TRON coaster at Magic Kingdom
October 16, 2023 - Debut of Moana Journey of Water at Epcot
December 5, 2023 - “Luminous” nighttime show debuted at Epcot
January 9, 2024 - Disney Dining Plans returned
January 9, 2024 - Park Pass reservations no longer required for date-based tickets
January 9, 2024 - All day park hopping returned
And now there are several things that have been announced with no set schedule. Splash Mountain is set to reopen as Tiana's Bayou Adventure in “summer 2024”. Beyond that, we’re expecting:
A Test Track “reimagining” sometime soon
“It’s tough to be a bug” becomes Zootopia show sometime soon
Dinoland USA converted to “tropical Americas” land…sometime (including closure of DINOSAUR)
New land opens at Magic Kingdom opens…sometime…eventually
As discussed more in that 2024-2025 post we linked above, timing your visit over the next two years sort of depends on what combination of new things (and the chaos new things bring) you’re hoping to catch.
Contents of our Walt Disney World Planning Guide
Those contents are a little deceiving, as the last two are probably much more important for most readers than the rest. If you’ve already booked much of your vacation, feel free to stick to those sections and the second section (Basics and Tips).
About This Planning Guide
Not a day goes by when someone on the internet doesn’t bemoan the amount of planning that goes into Walt Disney World vacations these days. Some people think Disney requires too much planning, and others think that bloggers (like us) simply tell you there’s too much planning.
While this guide doesn’t cover every nook and cranny of Disney World planning, it is pretty thorough, and we won’t apologize for that. We write primarily for people planning a first or only visit who want to put in all the time they can to make sure their experience is magical.
Can you have a magical experience at Walt Disney World with no advance planning? Definitely. Will you miss out on a ton with no planning? Definitely.
Here’s the thing: you can always stop reading about Walt Disney World if you feel you’re just getting too deep or you run out of time. You cannot go back in time to learn things you missed out on once you’re there.
At about 8000 words, this guide could take about 40 minutes to read straight through. Of course, as I said, this guide links out to a ton of other material, and even without the links, it still takes time to digest and understand the things we cover throughout.
Regardless, 40 minutes to introduce you to pretty much every concept you need to know for booking a Walt Disney World vacation really isn’t a bad use of time, especially as some of the tips and tricks in here (and on this site) can save your hundreds—even in rare cases thousands—of dollars.
So if you’re interested in an extensive guide to putting together a great trip to Walt Disney World, pour yourself a cup of coffee (or tea…or lemonade) and get cozy.
Planning your Walt Disney World vacation is a holistic / interconnected process, and there’s no perfect order to put this content in. If we mention something you don’t understand, it’s likely that we cover it in more depth later. We just don’t always want to say “(more below)” every time something like this pops up (though we still say it a lot).
Relatedly, feel free to use the contents above to jump around the guide. If you’ve already booked your hotel, tickets, and flights, you can skip over a lot of sections.
(FYI: Many of the links throughout this guide mostly open in new tabs. This is intentional so you can jump deeper into a topic without losing your space on this guide. We apologize if this harms anyone’s browsing experience.)
Walt Disney World Basics and Essential Tips
Walt Disney World is a vacation destination just outside of Orlando, Florida with four theme parks, two waterparks, numerous hotels, world class dining, and several other offerings (golf course, mini golf, conference centers, etc.).
If you’re brand new to Walt Disney World planning, start with our Basic Things To Know About Walt Disney World. That’s a quick read that will get you familiar with Walt Disney World.
Then move on to our Essential Tips for Planning Your First Disney World Vacation. There’s some overlap between that list and this guide, but that’s okay, you’ll just be a little ahead of the curve in the rest of your planning.
If you’re traveling with a small child (toddler or infant), check out our Complete Guide to Visiting Disney World with a Toddler. That supplements this post with discussions unique to those sorts of trips.
How Much To Budget For Walt Disney World
Here’s are three numbers: $5,472, $6,865, and $8,434 Those are the numbers from our in-depth post on “How Much Does A Disney World Vacation Cost?” for a budget, standard, and expensive Disney World trip for a family of four in 2024. The 2025 figures will probably be about 5% higher.
Those prices include flights, park tickets, dining, transportation between MCO and Disney World, and hotel stay.
If You Want To Spend A Bit Less…
The budget figure given above $5,472 involves a stay at one of Disney’s All-Star hotels, few-to-no table service meals (so all fast food), and a discounted ticket option. It’s a relatively low target if you’re booking a “traditional” Disney World stay.
To go below that, you’ll need to start thinking out of the box—booking around only the best Disney deals; booking non-Disney hotels or Airbnb; waiting for deep deals on Priceline; cutting a day off your tickets; buying groceries and bringing your own food. We cover much of these in the rest of this guide in the appropriate sections.
Beyond the rest of this post, we also have a separate post of 50+ Ways to Save On Your Disney Vacation.
If You Want To Spend A Bit More…
The sky is the limit for how much you can spend at Walt Disney World. But if you want to spend a bit more, we say do it with a budget mindset.
You can sometimes save 50% on Disney’s deluxe hotels easily by renting DVC points, for example. If you’re buying 10-day tickets, you’ll still save buying discount tickets! If you want to fly first class, consider using points.
If you really have infinite money available for your trip, you skipped over this section. Since you have some finite amount, make sure you’re getting the most you can out of it! Read the rest of this guide (and site) with a budget mindset, and apply those tips to your deluxe vacation.
Picking Your Dates
You don’t have to start planning by picking your dates, especially as you might find that things like flight prices or hotel availability impact your dates. That said, it still seems a natural place to start.
How Long To Visit Walt Disney World
To start, we have a few posts for shorter visits that go through some of the decisions you’ll be making on a shorter visit:
For a first visit, we recommend at least three full days. That’s four nights, and with the arrival and departure days, five days. Obviously this is better if you can fly in very early and out very late. With three days, you can spend two full days at one park each, and split the third day between the remaining two parks.
Four full days is better. If flight prices work out, consider flying in one night earlier than planned and staying at the cheapest Disney room you can find. Wake up the next morning, tell them to send your bags to the Disney hotel you booked the rest of your trip at (a “split stay”), and go enjoy the parks.
Five full days, or four full days plus a solid half day (e.g. your flight out is 4PM or later), is ideal. This will allow you full days at each park and an extra half day at Magic Kingdom.
We’ve done ten-day vacations at Walt Disney World and month-long Airbnb stays off property. There’s really no amount of time we’d say is “too long.” After six to eight days, you’ll need look beyond the standard plan though, and to things like water parks, spa / no parks days, and backstage tours.
Selecting Dates - Price
If you’re looking to select your dates based on price, you’ll want to look at three resources. First, we’ve got a post specifically discussing the cheapest times to visit Walt Disney World. That post looks into the question in depth and offers a few different ways to look at the issue. The big takeaway from that post is this chart, showing how prices deviate from the average for the calendar year. The cheapest dates in 2024 are in January and August:
Second, the MouseSavers Disney World rack rates table tells you hotel prices for every night of the year.
Third, the Walt Disney World ticket buying tool tells you how much tickets cost at different times of the year. Here’s a chart of those prices for 2024:
Selecting Dates - Park Pass Reservations
Ordinary, date-based tickets no longer need to worry about park pass reservations. However, if you’re using some other type of ticket (examples include annual passes, Cast Member passes, and special tickets like the Florida Resident Disney Thrills Ticket), you’ll need to make sure there is reservation availability on the days you plan to visit.
Again, we discuss the details of this later, but right now you just need to flag to remember to make sure there is space available before you book your trip.
Selecting Dates - 2024 Changes
Major events were covered at the start of this post, and, as we mentioned there, we have an ongoing post that covers when to visit in the next two years based on what we expect as far as major changes to the parks. We also have a Disney World Ride Construction and Event Calendar, in case you’d like a more complete picture of what’s coming to the resort.
As of yet, the most major change on the calendar is the debut of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure in “summer” 2024. This could mean anytime from May to September, though Memorial Day is something of a traditional day to debut new rides.
While there are a host of other changes coming up—again, mentioned near the start of this post—we really have no idea whether these will happen in early 2024, in 2025, or not at all. Disney has been frustratingly coy when it comes to the actual calendar for these changes.
Selecting Dates - Crowds, Events, and Weather
Generally, we advise against over-reliance on crowd calendars. Holidays are obviously when crowds are worst. The cheapest times are the times with the least demand, and so also when crowds are lightest. If you have a child and you’re struggling to plan around their school schedule—so are most other guests. Or maybe you’re trying to avoid the heat / hurricane season of August and September—so are most other guests.
All that said, if you’d like a crowd calendar, check out the one at WDW Prep School. Personally, I’d be cautious about planning a trip around red dates and not at all care about the other colors. If an orange date works better for me than a green date—for whatever reason—I’m picking the orange date.
Epcot has various festivals throughout the year. If you’re completely new to the idea of Epcot festivals, we have an Epcot Festival Calendar and Tips post that is a good place to start.
Here’s a quick look at the upcoming calendar:
Epcot International Festival of the Arts (Jan. 12 to Feb. 19, 2024) (2025 TBD)
Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival (Feb. 28 to May 27, 2024)
Epcot International Food & Wine Festival (July 27 through November 18, 2023) (2024 TBD)
Epcot International Festival of the Holidays (November 24 through December 30, 2023) (2024 TBD)
Holidays also come with special events. Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party returned in 2022 (select August-October dates), as did Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (select November-December dates). A new event, Jollywood Nights, debuted at Hollywood Studios in 2023.
Christmas season at Walt Disney World also comes with holiday decorations (see our post on Christmas at Magic Kingdom), the Hollywood Studios Christmas theming, and the holidays at Animal Kingdom.
You might be interested in running a RunDisney event or otherwise avoiding these weekends because of increased crowds and slightly impacted park operations. Here are some reviews of the 2019 Disney World marathon weekend races:
Weather-wise, summer is awful, winter is usually okay (but can get awfully cold), and you really never know when it’s going to rain in Florida (except that it’s more likely in the summer, fine).
Disney Vacation Packages
Before we go on, we need to briefly touch on the two main ways to book your Disney vacation. The first is with a room + ticket package (a “Disney vacation package”). With a package, you’re booking your room and tickets through Disney, together, as a single package.
Generally, you need to stay at a Disney hotel to book a Disney vacation package, but other hotels sometimes are available through Disney’s booking system.
The second way to book your vacation is to book your room and tickets separately. Most people staying at a non-Disney hotel will book this way. And generally, we recommend that everyone staying at a Disney hotel consider booking their hotel and tickets separately. We compare a variety of ways of booking your trip, including packages, in a separate post.
In short, if you’re considering a package, it’s easiest to either (1) get a quote from a travel advisor or (2) go to the Disney website and see how much a package costs. Then, compare that price to what you see when you book everything separately.
Disney World Dining Plans
Disney hotel guests have the option to book a Disney Dining Plan as part of your package. When you buy a dining plan, you’re basically buying a set of meal “credits” in advance that you can then use during your trip.
Dining plans aren’t the most important part of most guest’s trips, but it is important to think about them early in the process because you can only get them as part of a package booked through Disney (this doesn’t necessarily require buying tickets through Disney, but it does require booking a hotel through Disney).
We have a separate post on Dining Plans at Disney World, but our bottom line is that unless you’re both really into dining and really into spending the time strategizing how to get the most out of a dining plan, they just aren’t worth the effort. We much prefer to not have the extra burden of paying attention to our “credits” during our trips.
Buying Your Tickets
Unlike, say, flight prices, ticket prices don’t vary by when you make the booking (they do vary by the date you visit, though). They also don’t usually sell out (except maybe a few days a year), like hotel space might. So you theoretically can wait until the day before your trip to buy your tickets (a tempting option given that refund rules will vary depending on how you buy your ticket).
Generally we don’t advise waiting until the last minute. You’ll want to buy your tickets in advance and get them linked to your Disney account. If you’re using a nonstandard ticket type, you might also need to make Park Pass reservations in advance.
As part of picking your dates, you should price your tickets. It’s an easy process, and the price will give you a good idea of where your budget is before you start trying to pick your hotel.
Discount Disney World Tickets
Unless you’re booking a full vacation package in order to access some package-only discount, you’re probably going to want to purchase discount Disney World tickets.
As we discuss in greater detail in our post on discount Disney World tickets (link right above), we recommend purchasing through Undercover Tourist or Get Away Today. You’ll want to look into other discount options, if you have access to them, as well.
Wherever you buy your discount tickets, you’ll be able to link them to your My Disney Experience account (the fancy name Disney gives to your online Disney World account, “MDE” for short). This is a must-do for a few reasons, but basically any technical troubles you run into are going to be much easier to resolve if you have an MDE account.
Types of Disney World Tickets
Disney World park tickets come in basically four varieties. First, there are “standard” one park per day tickets. These tickets allow you access to any of the four Disney World parks on each day of your visit (one park per day). You can visit the same park multiple days, if you choose.
Second, there are “park hopper” tickets. Disney World park hopper tickets allow you access to multiple parks on a single day. (Park Hopper “Plus” tickets also come with water park access.)
Third, there are Walt Disney World annual passes. Annual passes come in a few varieties, but basically operate as park hopper tickets that are good for an entire year.
Fourth and finally, there are special event tickets. Disney regularly has special events that require a separate ticket. The include things like parties (Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party and Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party) and “After Hours” events. During these events, the park is closed to anyone without a ticket to that event, even if they had park admission for the rest of the day.
Pricing Disney World Tickets
Disney prices Walt Disney World tickets on a date-and-length based system. Discount ticket brokers also price tickets this way. Now, when you purchase a ticket it will:
have a start date at which it becomes valid
have an end date—the date by which your visits must be complete
have a set number of days you can visit the parks during that window.
You choose the start date and the number of park days. The end date is automatically set by the system. Price is determined by the number of park days and the start date.
So, for example, a five-day park hopper ticket with a start date of October 20, 2025 can be used on any five days during the eight-day range of October 20 through October 27. That ticket costs $847.60 for an adult directly through Disney and $794.90 through Undercover Tourist. Party and event tickets vary based on date and event but typically cost between $150 and $250 per person.
Park Pass Reservations
Guests on ordinary, date-based tickets no longer need to worry about theme park reservations. You can simply show up for the parks any date your ticket is valid.
Passholders and guests using other special tickets—like the Florida Resident Disney Thrills Ticket or other special deal tickets from Disney—will generally still need park pass reservations. Read more about the reservation system here.
Choosing Your Hotel
Choosing accommodations for your Disney World vacation is a two step process. First, you’ll need to choose whether you want to stay at a Disney hotel or not. Then, you’ll need to choose what sub-type of accommodations you want.
Disney Hotels vs. Non-Disney Hotels
A “Disney hotel” is one that is owned and operated by Disney. It is staffed by Disney Cast Members, and it has restaurants that participate in the Disney Dining Plans. A non-Disney hotel is any other hotel, including other hotels on Disney property.
The perks of staying at a Disney hotel include the following (some of these are available at select non-Disney hotels, too):
7AM booking time for Individual Lightning Lanes
(deluxe resorts ONLY) access to evening hours at select parks on select nights
free, regular transportation to all Disney parks and Disney Springs
that unquantifiable, indefinable “Disney magic” quality
All of this comes at a price. It’s safe to say that—theming aside—you’re paying about 30% to 40% more to stay at a Disney value or moderate resort than a hotel of comparable quality (more about these hotel types below).
For the deluxe resorts, it sort of varies. We think Animal Kingdom Lodge is one of Disney best-priced options. Others think Polynesian Village Resort is one of the best hotels they’ve even seen. Disney’s Deluxe Hotels are nowhere near the quality of say, the Four Seasons Orlando—but they’re also nowhere near the price (for the most part).
For what it’s worth, we highly recommend staying at a Disney hotel on your first visit. We’re actually big fans of the Disney World value resorts. We find the roughly $50 per night premium to be well worth access to Early Theme Park Entry, relatively convenient transportation to the parks, and a touch of Disney magic.
We’re going to move onto choosing your Disney hotel before covering non-Disney options.
Choosing Your Disney Hotel in 2024-2025
The Disney hotels are broken into (roughly) three groups: value, moderate, and deluxe. We have an entire Disney World hotels guide. That guide links to reviews of individual hotels and provides some basic information about each. We also have:
Benefits of Staying at a Disney Hotel — covers the perks associated with Disney hotels
Best Disney World Value Hotels — in-depth mostly objective look at and ranking of the value resorts
Best Disney World Moderate Hotels — in-depth mostly objective look at and ranking of the moderate resorts
Best Disney World Deluxe Hotels — in-depth mostly objective look at and ranking of the deluxe resorts
Ranking of the Best Disney World Hotels — our subjective ranking of all the Disney hotels
Value resorts are the lowest-priced hotels, with rooms occasionally priced on third-party sites at under $100, and sometimes available through Disney directly as low as $130 per night. These resorts have the smallest rooms, food courts instead of restaurants, and bus access to all the parks.
A value room at Walt Disney World
Moderate resorts are priced in the middle of value and deluxe. They have slightly better rooms and theming than the value resorts. They have a mix of dining options, and bus access to all the parks.
Deluxe resorts are Disney’s finest resorts (at Walt Disney World). They have better theming and more of a luxurious feel to them. They have some of Disney’s best table-service restaurants (though their quick service can be limited, a frequent complaint of mine). They have excellent pools, and generally better location than the other resorts, typically including monorail, boat, or walking access to at least one park.
Deluxe resort guests also have an exclusive perk—extended evening hours at select parks on select nights. We’ve visited both Extended Evening Hours at Magic Kingdom and Extended Evening Hours at Epcot. Is this a good perk? Definitely. Is it worth the cost of upgrading to a deluxe hotel? Not really.
The monorail resorts (Contemporary, Polynesian, Grand Floridian), had an obvious location benefit over the other deluxe hotels. Besides their overall quality, these hotels are still desirable because of their easy access to Magic Kingdom.
But the Boardwalk area resorts (Beach Club, Yacht Club, BoardWalk Inn) have closed the gap because of their easy access to Hollywood Studios and Epcot, which combined have seven of the eight newest rides at the resort (now that TRON has opened at Magic Kingdom).
Moreover, Caribbean Beach, Pop Century, and Art of Animation all have Disney Skyliner access to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. The Skyliner isn’t quite a game changer, but it can be a great convenience.
Pro Tip: Disney Hotel Split Stays
If you’re considering one Disney hotel, why not two? Disney will transfer your luggage (for free) between any of their hotels. This makes doing a split stay—where you stay at two different Disney hotels on the same trip—quite convenient. In particular, we like to pair hotels across tiers, usually a longer value stay with a shorter deluxe stay.
Our preferred way to do split stays is with a strategic focus on location. Our gold standard is a monorail resort with easy access to Magic Kingdom paired with one of the moderate / value resorts on the Skyliner for easy access to Hollywood Studios and Epcot.
Picking a Room
We don’t put much effort into room choices at hotels, but we want to highlight two big things. First, the Savanna View Rooms at Animal Kingdom Lodge are a unique offering and some of our favorite rooms on property. We don’t stay at that hotel without a Savanna View.
Second, a big bucket list item for many is a Theme Park View of Magic Kingdom—and we have a post comparing your options for those views as well.
Beyond that, Disney offers a wide range of accommodations. Besides standard hotel rooms, usually fitting up to four people, there are five-person rooms at Caribbean Beach and Port Orleans Riverside. There are also “family suites” at Art of Animation and All Star Music, plus full suites at most of the deluxe resorts.
There are also lots of DVC Villa options, that vary in size and can offer different amenities (like microwaves).
Finally, if it’s theming you’re really after, be careful. It’s easy to find sources that mistakenly say “all the Contemporary rooms have great Incredibles theming!” While most rooms do, there are a few with no or very limited theming. You’ll be able to see this when booking a hotel on the Disney website.
Choosing Your Non-Disney Hotel
This is definitely the area of Walt Disney World planning where we have the least expertise. There are several categories of hotels here. If you want to dive into these deeper, you’ll need to do some separate research, but we want to give you a lay of the land.
The Walt Disney World Swan, Dolphin, and Swan Reserve are three Marriott hotels between Hollywood Studios and Epcot right off of the BoardWalk. Location-wise, these are equal to Yacht Club, Beach Club, and BoardWalk Inn. Swan and Dolphin guests:
have access to Early Theme Park Entry
have access to Extended Evening Hours
have access to purchase individual Lightning Lanes at 7AM
do not use Disney buses (but do have walking and boat access to Hollywood Studios and Epcot)
The Disney Springs Resorts are seven hotels operated by a few different major chains located within walking distance of Disney Springs. Guests at these hotels (except B Resort, as of early 2024):
have access to Early Theme Park Entry
do not have access to Extended Evening Hours
do not have access to purchase individual Lightning Lanes at 7AM
Guests at these hotels also do not have direct access to Disney’s free transportation system, though they do have a shuttle to the parks every 30 minutes, and anyone (guest or not) can use Disney’s transportation system once they have access to it (e.g. once at a park, you can take a Disney bus to another park, a Disney hotel, or Disney Springs).
The Four Seasons Orlando has access to Early Theme Park Entry but not to Extended Evening Hours. Guests do not have access to purchase individual Lightning Lanes at 7AM.
Walt Disney World Good Neighbor Hotels are 50ish hotels located within 14 miles of Walt Disney World. These are hotels that have been given something like a stamp of approval by Disney. They all offer transportation to Walt Disney World (some with a fee). They do not have access to any of the aforementioned perks.
Beyond that, there are a wide range of hotels that aren’t good neighbor hotels. Honestly, there’s little reason to consider these hotels.
Besides weighing price and the importance of the Disney perks, the biggest factor in picking your hotel near Walt Disney World is going to be transportation. To that end, we highly recommend reading review on Trip Advisor, Google reviews, and different blogs to see how people describe the transportation.
Considering a Walt Disney World Airbnb
One thing budget travelers will need to consider is renting an Airbnb near Walt Disney World. Airbnb is a service that allows people to rent out their apartment like a hotel room. But near Walt Disney World, it’s more common to see apartments, condos, or vacation homes that are rented out exclusively to vacationers.
Airbnb rentals tend to have good price, and you’ll have the space of an apartment, usually including a full kitchen. This makes an Airbnb a great savings option if you’re willing to cook some meals or pack lunches.
The biggest downside of an Airbnb is transportation. You’ll need to either drive or rely on Uber (or taxis) to get to Walt Disney World. As Disney hotels now charge for parking, drivers may find great value in Airbnb rentals that include parking. Those who rely on Uber can find rentals that are a $10 Uber ride from the parks, which means you’ll spend an extra $20-$25 per day on transportation.
Booking Your Hotel
Unlike buying tickets, you won’t always want to go with a third-party “discount” option for booking your hotel. As we cover in our guide to getting the best deal on your Disney World hotel, you’ll want to compare prices at Disney (or the website of whatever other hotel chain you’re considering) to prices on sites like Expedia, Hotels.com, and Booking.
If you’re going to book through Disney directly, we strongly advise working with a travel advisor. The reason is that your travel advisor will keep an eye on your reservation and modify it if any offers from Disney arise that lower the price.
If you refuse to use a vacation planner, at least make sure you’re looking at Disney’s lowest prices for their hotels. They sometimes hide these (seriously).
If you do book through a third-party service like Expedia, it’s always important to confirm your reservation with the hotel directly. The easiest way to do this with a Disney hotel is to link your hotel reservation to your My Disney Experience account.
Booking Your Flight
We have a post on getting the best deal on your flight. Generally, we’re fans of packing light and relying on low-cost airlines (when the price is right). Besides price, you’ll want to keep a few other things in mind regarding your flight to Walt Disney World.
Fly to Orlando International Airport (MCO). There only reason to consider Orlando Sanford is if it is significantly cheaper after you take into account flight and transportation costs.
Mind your transit time. Taking a shuttle with no checked luggage, we plan for two and a half hours from flight arrival time to when we get to the gate of a Disney park. That means a 2PM arrival won’t get you in a park until 4:30PM. (Uber could probably save you 45 minutes here.)
We definitely think you can have an awesome day at a park starting at 4:30PM. We also think that if you’re looking at a 2PM arrival, you should consider alternatives. Maybe you can save some money by flying in at 10:30PM and then use that money to add a night to your stay, for example.
The Disney World Luggage Problem. Let’s be real. Are you going to buy a bunch of souvenirs at Walt Disney World? If so, make sure you have a plan for the extra luggage. This is especially important if you’re flying a low-cost airline, where the fees for having to add a last-minute bag can be astronomical.
Preparing For Your Time At Walt Disney World
Now, you’ve booked your trip, and it’s time to start planning your time at Walt Disney World.
Packing for Walt Disney World
Rather than an extensive packing list, we offer simply 10 items we always forget to pack for our Disney trips. These are ten things you might not find on every other list if you Google “Disney World packing list”.
Booking Airport Transportation
Disney has ended its Magical Express service, but we have a post on the best ways to get from Orlando International Airport to Disney World. The short version—Uber is our preference.
Picking Your Park Days
A lot goes into figuring out which days you’ll go to which parks. This starts with figuring out how many days you need at each park. Magic Kingdom is the only park that absolutely needs a full day, and an extra half or second day is preferred. Each of the other three parks can easily fill a full day, but each has highlights that can be experienced in half a day (if you have park hopper tickets and can split a day between two parks).
If you want to know more about what the parks have to offer, we’ve got rides guides to all four parks (these also cover other attractions and some entertainment):
Thrill seekers will want to check out our ranking of the best roller coasters at Disney World.
If you’re traveling specifically with a small child, you will also want to read the following posts:
And if you want to know what a full day at each park looks like, we’ve got one-day itineraries:
Next, you’ll want to figure out what days you spend at which parks. Here are some of the factors you’ll want to consider…
Park Hours. If you’re spending a full day at a park, you want to have the most hours possible. If you’re park hopping, consider starting at the one that’s open earliest and finishing at the one that’s open latest. We have posts that cover the hours (along with extra-hour events) at every park:
Early Theme Park Entry. If you’re staying at a Disney hotel you’ll have access to every park every day for 30 minutes before other guests. This allows you to get a head start on the day, and even if you don’t think 30 minutes is a big deal—other people will, and you’ll usually want to be ahead of them in line! You can read more about Disney World’s new Early Theme Park Entry offering here.
Extended Evening Hours. Guests of deluxe Disney hotels (including DVC properties) have access to extended evening hours at select parks on select dates. Note this is in addition to Early Theme Park Entry, discussed above, but this evening perk is restricted to deluxe hotels. You can read more about the new Extended Evening Hours perk for deluxe resort guests here.
Dining Reservations. We discuss dining more below, but you’ll want to mind dining reservations when scheduling your park days. If you’re scheduling a meal at a park or at a hotel near a park, you’ll want to plan to be at that park the rest of the day. For example, we sometimes schedule Kona Cafe brunch (at Polynesian) on our Magic Kingdom day.
Transportation Between Parks. This is more about park hopping. When planning a split day between two parks, you’ll want to consider how easy it is to get between the parks (including whether or not you want to Uber). Generally, Animal Kingdom is the toughest park to get to and from, as it is only accessible by bus or car. You can take the monorail between Epcot and Magic Kingdom, and you can walk or take a boat between Hollywood Studios and Epcot.
Character Greetings
No visit to a Disney park is complete without meeting a character or two. We have a few posts to help you meet characters:
60 Days In Advance - Advance Dining Reservations
You can make Advance Dining Reservations (ADRs) at Disney restaurants up to 60 days in advance. The reservation phone line opens at 7AM Eastern Time, but restaurants may be available for booking online as early at 5:45AM Eastern. If you want to dine at Disney restaurants, the most popular ones will book 60 days in advance. If you miss a reservation, you can continue to check on your own or use a service like MouseDining to alert you to openings.
We’re not dining experts by any stretch of the imagination, but we do have a few quick thoughts. First, if you’re looking for ideas, read Disney Tourist Blog’s top table service restaurants at Walt Disney World. Our favorite restaurant is Sanaa, which comes in at number 9 on their list.
Second, consider a character meal. These are meals where characters walk around, greeting each table individually for signatures and pictures. Most Disney experts will (rightfully) point out that Chef Mickey’s, for example, is a very overpriced dining experience for the quality of food. But breakfast at Chef Mickey’s is also a chance to meet the “Fab Five” (Mickey Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, and Donald) before walking right over to the Magic Kingdom. Here’s our ranking of the best character meals at Disney World.
Learning About Genie+ and Lightning Lanes
Lightning Lanes are Disney’s “skip the line” system for Walt Disney World rides, having replaced the old FastPass+ system.
At each park, most or all of the rides have Lightning Lanes, and they can be broken into two groups. Most of the Lightning Lanes are included in Genie+. Guests who pay for Genie+ will be able to select (with some important exceptions) one Lightning Lane slot at a time, and they’ll visit these throughout the day.
Each park also has one or two individual Lightning Lanes. These individual Lightning Lanes are not a part of Genie+. To access these, guests buy specific timeslots for these rides. More on Genie+ and Lightning Lanes can be found at:
Welcome Home! (And Everything Else)
Once you’re at Walt Disney World, it’s time for all of your planning to pay off. We’ve already provided links to our one-day itineraries and our Genie+ strategy, which are our two big pieces of “day-of” content. Here are some other quick pieces to prepare you for your time at Walt Disney World…
My Disney Experience
By now, you’ve probably gathered that Disney’s name for your online Walt Disney World account is “My Disney Experience” (“MDE”). MDE is available online through Disney’s website and through the My Disney Experience / Disney World app.
Essentially, MDE is where all your digital Disney World records are kept—Genie+, PhotoPass, hotel, dining reservations, linked MagicBands, etc. It can also keep track of who is in your “party” or “family.”
A really random way to get more acquainted with Walt Disney World is to simply browse the app. I just pulled it opened, scrolled a little bit, and discovered there’s a “Chip ‘n’ Dale Campfire Sing-A-Long” at Fort Wilderness. I had no idea that existed until just now!
MagicBands
MagicBands are bracelets used for a variety of purposes by Walt Disney World guests. Each MagicBand has a chip that allows it to be used at different “tap” points.
While guests at Disney hotels no longer get MagicBands for free, anyone can buy a MagicBand in a Disney World park or online and link it to their Disney account.
We have a guide to MagicBands and MagicBand+ at Disney World.
If you’re staying at a Disney hotel, your MagicBand will serve as your room key, your park ticket (including for using Lightning Lanes), and for charging purchases to your room. Anyone else can use a MagicBand in place of a park ticket, but it cannot be used for purchases without a hotel stay.
More broadly, MagicBands act as a sort of ID. For example, using their long-range sensors, Cast Members can identify guests who are approaching restaurants (to match them to reservations) or identify what table guests are sitting at.
In 2022, the MagicBand+ debuted. These have more special effects and the ability to interact with different elements around the theme parks.
Transportation at Walt Disney World
One important decision is deciding whether or not to have a car at Walt Disney World. Even if you’re sure you want a car, we recommend you read some of our tips about having a car at Walt Disney World.
Generally, you’ll be relying on bus, monorail, Skyliner, boat, or walking to get to and between the parks. We have guides specifically to the:
You can also Uber around Walt Disney World. If you’re unsure how to get between two points, ask the concierge or desk staff at your hotel, or ask a Cast Member at a park (or ask me, if you see me).
Transportation at Walt Disney World can, unfortunately, be quite slow. This is especially true of bus and boat transportation. If you’re in a hurry, consider Uber.
Disney has its own rideshare system—Minnie Vans—through a partnership with Lyft. The high prices of Minnie Vans make them not worth considering for most purposes other than getting to the Magic Kingdom, where other drivers are not allowed to make drop-offs. They’re also good if you need two car seats, as Uber Car Seat cars typically only have one.
PhotoPass and Memory Maker
PhotoPass and Memory Maker are Disney World photography services to help you preserve your memories from your trip. That link goes to our guide to the services, but here’s a quick rundown.
PhotoPass is a photography service offered throughout Disney World. Professional photographers—and in some cases, machines—are stationed at different points throughout the park and at character greetings to take pictures for you. They use professional cameras and, via your MagicBand or park ticket, link those pictures to your Disney account for purchase.
PhotoPass photographers also have the ability to take “Magic Shots.” A Magic Shot is essentially a photograph where they edit the photo to add in a special effect, like Tinkerbell sitting on your hand or you holding Simba.
Notably, PhotoPass photographers will take photos for you on your own camera if you request. They offer this service free of charge. Obviously they cannot produce Magic Shots using your camera.
Ride photos are also available. Some of these, notably Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, automatically load onto your Disney account via long-range technology. You don’t need to take any action, other than riding the ride. At most other rides, you’ll need to touch your park ticket or Magic Band to a tap point that beneath the screen with your ride photo on it after the ride.
After this, I stopped putting my hands up when I’m there for work (sorry!!!!)
Once you’ve gotten your photos taken, you’ll need to purchase them. Memory Maker is a purchase that gives you access to downloads of all PhotoPass photos taken by your party during your trip. It costs $199 + tax or $169 + tax if purchased more than three days in advance of your trip.
Tours
There are a variety of tours (including backstage tours) you can take at Walt Disney World. We’ve reviewed the very popular Keys to the Kingdom tour, along with Caring for Giants and Up Close With Rhinos.
Resorts and No Parks Days
If you have some free time, or if you’re planning a meal at one of Disney’s hotels, you may want to set aside some time to explore their resorts. This is particularly a good idea if you’re planning a future visit and want to scope out the hotel.
You can easily visit the monorail hotels (Contemporary, Grand Floridian, and Polynesian) by riding the monorail between them. You can easily visit the Boardwalk hotels (BoardWalk Inn, Beach Club, and Yacht Club) by walking between them, particularly while walking between Epcot and Hollywood Studios.
And if you want a full day of relaxation (or not, really), you may want to set aside time for a no parks day. This is a day where you don’t go to the parks, instead focusing on the other activities your resort and Walt Disney World have to offer.
Celebration Buttons
If you’re celebrating something—like an anniversary, birthday, first visit, or anything else—swing by the front desk or Guest Services to inquire about a celebration button for your stay.
Fuel Rods
I use my Fuel Rod daily and think it was an excellent purchase. Tom Bricker vehemently disagrees, but he’s known to be wrong about other things, most notably the brilliantly designed Dino-Rama.
Disney Springs
Disney Springs has come up a few times already, but we haven’t really talked about what it is.Disney Springs is an outdoor restaurant and shopping complex on Disney property. It features a variety of restaurants, stores, a movie theater, a bowling alley, and other experiences.
We don’t typically recommend a visit to Disney Springs for first timers, but if you have an evening to spare or really are into shopping, it can be worth a visit.
Water Parks
If you’re interested in visiting Disney World’s water parks, you’ll first want to make sure to budget for it in your tickets. The park hopper plus option includes visits to the water parks, or you can go ahead and buy a separate single day admission if it makes financial sense. We have a complete guide to Typhoon Lagoon and a complete guide to Blizzard Beach.
Special & Ticketed Events
There are several special, ticketed events at Walt Disney World throughout the year. We have guides to the two most popular—Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party.
We’ve also reviewed the following ticketed events:
Other Resources
There’s so much to be said about Walt Disney World, and we can’t fit it all on this post or even our own site. Here are a few resources covering topics we’re not well-versed in:
Kenny The Pirate is a good resource for those heavily interested in meeting characters at Walt Disney World
Information on the Disability Access Service from WDW Prep School and Million Mile Secrets
Tips for using a stroller at Walt Disney World from Undercover Tourist
MickeyBlog has a good piece on the Spas of Walt Disney World