trip to disney world planning

Stay in the Magic… and Play!

Customize a walt disney world resort vacation package to suit your style and budget., start planning your disney vacation, what’s exciting and new, finding nemo: the big blue… and beyond.

Witness a stirring spectacle of puppetry, music and more during this reimagined stage show set in Nemo’s vibrant underwater world.

Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure

Bring the whole family to zip, dash and scurry through Gusteau’s kitchen as you take in the sights, sounds and even smells from Remy’s world.

TRON Lightcycle / Run

Leave the real world behind in this high-stakes race across the Grid—the dark, computerized world from TRON .

Watch in awe as Mickey Mouse’s dreams come alive in a nighttime musical with stunning effects, dazzling pyrotechnics and more.

4 Enchanting Theme Parks

Magic kingdom park.

During your visit, you can:

• Be dazzled by music, dancing and vivid pageantry during the Festival of Fantasy Parade —a grand tribute to the tales and inhabitants of Fantasyland.
• Enjoy iconic attractions and experiences across incredible lands—including Seven Dwarfs Mine Train , a swaying family coaster ride that will have you racing through a diamond mine.
• Rediscover beloved classic Disney attractions such as Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean and “it’s a small world.”
• Delight in family-friendly thrills on ever-popular coasters like Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad .
• Leave the real world behind for a high-stakes race across the Grid—the dark, computerized world from TRON —on TRON Lightcycle / Run .

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park

• Celebrate the magic of nature at Pandora – The World of Avatar . Here, you can fly on the back of a banshee on Avatar Flight of Passage, hike amid floating mountains in the Valley of Mo’Ara and take a mystical boat ride into a bioluminescent rainforest on the Na’vi River Journey.
• Set off in an open-air vehicle across a lush African savanna teeming with exotic animals on Kilimanjaro Safaris .
• Speed through the Himalayas on a runaway train while avoiding the Yeti as you conquer Expedition Everest .
• Wave to beloved Disney Characters as they sail along the Discovery River on fabulous flotillas.
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios
• Pack your imagination, switch tracks and take a ride on the cartoon side like never before when you hop aboard Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway .
• Live your adventure in a galaxy far, far away at Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge ! Experience 2 thrilling attractions, build your own droid or lightsaber, savor Batuu’s tasty food and beverages, shop for Star Wars -themed merchandise and more!
• Discover big fun for kids and grown-ups alike at Toy Story Land . Take a wild ride on Slinky Dog Dash and go for a whirl on Alien Swirling Saucers.
• Watch in wonder as Mickey Mouse’s dreams come alive in Fantasmic! —an extravagant nighttime musical with stunning effects, dazzling pyrotechnics and more.
• Celebrate every season at themed festivals featuring fantastic food, live entertainment and more—select dates throughout the year.
• Blast off on an intergalactic chase with Rocket, Groot, Gamora and Star-Lord on Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind —a coaster inspired by the rockin’ movies.
• Board an ancient Norwegian vessel and be whisked away to the kingdom of Arendelle during a Frozen Ever After adventure.
• Journey around World Showcase , where you can explore the culture, arts, food and beverages of 11 different countries.

Save Up to 30% When You Stay 5 Nights or Longer

Stay in the magic with disney resorts collection, enjoy more time in the parks.

Early Theme Park Entry Guests of Disney Resort hotels can get a 30-minute jump on their Disney day with early theme park entry —available at all 4 Walt Disney World theme parks. This popular benefit will continue through 2025!

Early theme park entry gives you a head start in the parks, so you’ll have access to select attractions, shops and dining before regular hours. And you can enjoy this benefit on each day of your stay—in any park, subject to capacity.

For early theme park entry, you'll need valid admission and a MagicBand, Disney MagicMobile pass or Key to the World Card. Theme park reservations may be required based on admission type.

Extended Evening Theme Park Hours Guests staying at Disney Deluxe Resort Hotels or Disney Deluxe Villas can enjoy extended evening hours —experiencing select attractions, shops and dining after regular park hours—in select theme parks on select nights. This popular benefit will continue through 2025!

Together with early theme park entry—available to all Disney Resort hotel Guests—you’ll get to arrive earlier and stay later so you can maximize your time in the parks!

Review our calendar for extended evening hours and dates .

If using a ticket with the Park Hopper option that requires a theme park reservation, please remember that you must enter the park where you made your reservation before you can visit other theme parks.

Start Your Stay with a Water Park Day in 2025

With this water park benefit, it’s easy to unwind on the day you arrive. Get ready to zip down thrilling water slides, relax on sandy beaches, float along a lazy river... and let your cares drift away. Learn more about the Walt Disney World water parks .

More details about this benefit will be available in late 2024, and will be shared with you before your stay.

Important Information About This Benefit

• This benefit is exclusive to registered Guests staying at a Disney Resort hotel with a check-in date from January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2025. All Guests must be on the Resort reservation. View eligible Disney Resort hotels .
• This benefit is only on the day of check-in, and is valid for admission to either Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon water park or Disney’s Blizzard Beach water park. Check the park calendar and operating hours closer to your 2025 arrival to plan your check-in day.
• Usage of this benefit is subject to availability.
• At this time, a park reservation is not required to visit a water park; however, reservation requirements are subject to change.
• Water parks are subject to extended rehabilitation, seasonal, capacity and weather closures, or may close for other reasons.
• Each of our water parks is refurbished annually. These routine maintenance periods are staggered, so our Guests should be able to enjoy at least one water park experience year-round.
• Water park admission is nontransferable, nonrefundable and has no cash value, and excludes activities/events separately priced or not open to the general public.
• Parks, attractions and other offerings subject to availability, closures and change or cancellation without notice or liability. No refund or credit given for any such changes or cancellation. Park admission and offerings are not guaranteed.

Savor a World of Flavor

With tasty meals and snacks moments away, it’s easy to make the most of the magic during your stay.

Explore dining experiences available for booking during your vacation.

View a full list of the dining options at Walt Disney World Resort.

Add a Dining Plan

Now you can add a dining plan to Disney Resort Hotel Packages.

Dining plans can add the convenience and flexibility of prepaid meals and snacks to your vacation—and give you peace of mind.

Highlights include:

• Savings: Save up to 20% on dining for kids ages 3 to 9 when you purchase a dining plan for your family as part of a Disney Resort Hotel Package! Savings compared to the nondiscounted price of menu items available to kids ages 3 to 9 at participating locations when purchased without a dining plan. Actual savings vary based on menu items ordered.
• Convenience & Peace of Mind: With 2 dining plans to choose from, you can spend more time with your family enjoying the Disney magic (and less time on meal budgeting). And this gives you the opportunity to say that magic word to your kids... "Yes."
• Flexibility: There are more than 200 locations to dine at throughout our Disney Resort hotels, theme parks and select locations at Disney Springs. So there’s something to delight nearly every taste!

Learn more about dining plans .

Immerse Yourself in the Magic

From unique accommodations to distinctive dining options, themed rooms and more, the Disney Resorts Collection offers Guests a variety of options that exemplify the Disney difference.

Proximity Staying at a Disney Resort hotel keeps you in the magic—close to the theme parks, water parks and shopping at the Disney Springs area.

Activities and Amenities Disney Resort hotels feature amenities that immerse Guests in the worlds of classic Disney tales—including themed pools with slides, poolside activities, Character Dining experiences, unique recreation, delightful surprises and so much more.

Endless Possibilities With all of the great options in the Disney Resorts Collection, you’re sure to find one—or more than one—that fits you. From theme to budget, you have a world of amazing options to consider. You’re not just choosing a place to sleep at night—you’re choosing your home for the duration of your Walt Disney World vacation.

Want to wake up, look out your window, and say good morning to a giraffe? You can when you stay at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge . Ever stayed on the shores of the South Pacific? Drift away to Disney's Polynesian Village Resort . Or come home to larger-than-life recreations of scenes from favorite Disney and Pixar classics at Disney's Art of Animation Resort !

These are just a few of the Disney Resort hotels that await you at Walt Disney World Resort !

Make the Most of Your Visit

Get around with ease.

Resort Transportation

Our complimentary bus , boat and monorail services are available to take you to popular destinations throughout Walt Disney World Resort—some Disney Resort hotels even offer convenient walking paths to nearby parks.

Plus, the most recent addition to our fantastic world on the go, Disney Skyliner lets Guests glide across the sky while traveling between:

• EPCOT (International Gateway)
• Disney’s Pop Century Resort
• Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
• Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
• Disney’s Riviera Resort

Guests staying at Disney Resort hotels enjoy complimentary standard parking at Disney theme parks, Disney water parks and the Disney Springs area.

Add More Magic

As a Disney Resort hotel Guest, you can purchase a MagicBand+ at a special pre-arrival price.

MagicBand+ includes all of the features you’ve come to love with MagicBand—and more! Your MagicBand+ can be used to:

• Unlock your Disney Resort hotel room
• Enter theme parks and water parks (with valid admission)
• Check in at Lightning Lane entrances and virtual queues
• Charge food and merchandise purchases**
• Discover enchanting surprises and interactions across Walt Disney World Resort
• Connect Disney PhotoPass images to your Disney account

Learn more about MagicBand+ .

Early Access to Purchase Individual Lightning Lane Entry

Get quicker entry to a couple of our most popular attractions! If you’re a Guest of a Disney Resort hotel, you’re eligible to make your first individual Lightning Lane purchase starting at 7:00 AM each day of your visit. You can select a one-hour arrival window, one at a time, for up to 2 different attractions per day. Guests of Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotels and Shades of Green may also enjoy this early-access benefit. All other Guests are eligible to make their first purchase when the park opens.

Learn more about our Lightning Lane entrances .

Note: Attractions with Lightning Lane entrances are limited in availability, subject to change or closure, may vary by date, and are not guaranteed. To enter a theme park, valid admission is required. A theme park reservation may also be required. Price, terms and entitlements are subject to restrictions, and change or cancellation without notice.

Make Reservations for Dining and More Get ready to dine or unwind! Here’s when you can make reservations for dining and Enchanting Extras Collection experiences :

• Guests with a Valid Disney Resort Hotel Reservation: Make reservations for your entire length of stay (for up to a 10-night stay) up to 60 days in advance of your arrival! This can help you enjoy streamlined vacation planning , since you can make all your reservations on the same day—rather than checking availability day after day.
• All Other Guests: Make reservations up to 60 days in advance.

To dine at an in-park, table-service restaurant, a confirmed dining reservation for the total number of Guests—regardless of age—is highly recommended. You will also need valid admission for the same park on that same date for each Guest ages 3 and up. A theme park reservation may be required based on admission type. Learn more.

Dining reservations do not guarantee access to a park, and Park Hopper availability may change daily.

** Credit card must be presented at Disney Resort hotel check-in for purchases with MagicBand. Purchases are charged to your Disney Resort hotel account.

Enjoy Magical Extras with Your Package

More fun for everyone, disney water parks.

Zip down some of the world's tallest and fastest waterslides, plunge into fun on a family raft ride, feel your cares drift away on a lazy river or unwind on a sandy beach. Plus, your little ones can splash around in kid-sized areas!

Disney’s Blizzard Beach Water Park – Closed for Refurbishment Chill out in a winter wonderland at a one-time ski resort that melted into warm water.

Here, you can:

• Conquer the slopes of Mount Gushmore on Summit Plummet —one of the world’s tallest and fastest free-fall waterslides.
• Zoom down other thrilling waterslides, like the Downhill Double Dipper and Slush Gusher .
• Float along Cross Country Creek , a 3,000-foot-long lazy river.
• Let your little ones explore Tike’s Peak , a water play area with a snow castle fountain and kid-sized waterslides.

Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park – Now Open! Delight in this tropical paradise that’s been transformed by a legendary storm into an oasis of pure excitement.

• Ride a wave at Typhoon Lagoon Surf Pool —North America’s largest wave pool.
• Grab a friend and take the plunge down Crush ‘n’ Gusher , featuring thrilling dips and turns.
• Watch your little ones enjoy a whimsical water playground with pint-sized slides, water cannons and other fun features at Ketchakiddee Creek .
• Relax as you float along Castaway Creek and take in lush, tropical surroundings.

Important Information Valid water park admission required. Water parks subject to seasonal and weather closures. Disney’s Blizzard Beach water park is currently closed for refurbishment.

Disney Springs

Find happily whatever you’re after at Disney Springs:

• Delectable dining options to please almost every palate
• Shopping galore , from unique boutiques to whimsical Disney-themed stores
• Fun for all ages , with bowling, a movie theater, a carousel and more
• Live entertainment , including Drawn to Life presented by Cirque du Soleil® and Disney—a first-of-its-kind creative collaboration between 2 iconic memory-makers

Delectable Dining

• Character dining (with modifications) at Garden Grill Restaurant, Hollywood & Vine, Topolino’s Terrace – Flavors of the Riviera, Chef Mickey’s and more
• Signature dining where you can celebrate a special occasion in style
• Counter-service restaurants —ideal for grabbing a quick bite on-the-go
• Mobile Order at select quick-service restaurants, which enables you to save time by ordering ahead via the My Disney Experience app
• Spectacular rooftop dining at California Grill, Topolino’s Terrace – Flavors of the Riviera and Toledo – Tapas, Steak & Seafood

When to Make Dining Reservations Get ready to dine! Make advance reservations at select Walt Disney World restaurants.

Enchanting Extras Collection

• Hands-on Star Wars experiences at Droid Depot and Savi’s Workshop – Handbuilt Lightsabers (with valid park admission)
• In-Room Floral & Gifts , featuring beautiful gift and snack baskets, themed balloon bouquets and enchanting floral arrangements—all designed to celebrate your special moments
• Capture Your Moment , a personalized photo session with Disney PhotoPass photographers in a Walt Disney World theme park
• Fascinating tours that take you to special locations at Walt Disney World Resort—including Savor the Savanna and Behind the Seeds

Explore the Enchanting Extras Collection .

Design Your Disney Vacation

Explore places to stay.

Choose from uniquely themed Disney Resort hotels—with options to suit your style and budget.

4-Day, 4-Park Magic Ticket

Enjoy 4 days of theme park fun from $99 per day, plus tax (total price from $396, plus tax). One admission per theme park. One theme park per day.

Ultimate Walt Disney World Planning Guide (2024)

Planning a Disney World vacation can feel like a daunting task, especially for first-time guests. The entire Walt Disney World resort area covers around 43 square miles, which is almost twice the size of Manhattan!  Learning how to plan a Disney Vacation can help ensure you have a great time on your trip.

There are so many engaging activities, exciting attractions, magical details, and wonderful restaurants and resorts.  It’s nearly impossible to experience everything at Disney World over the course of several trips, let alone in a single visit to the park. That’s why it’s important to start your planning early and decide what you should prioritize on your trip.

This guide will take you through how to plan a Disney World vacation step-by-step. Disney vacations have become harder to plan each and every year, with Disney Genie+,  Advanced Dining Reservations, My Disney Experience, transportation, etc.  There’s so much to know, and this Disney vacation planning guide will be your go-to resource.

Do You Need To Plan a Disney World Vacation in Advance?

It’s no longer feasible to go to Disney World without doing at least some planning ahead of time.  Even entering a theme park requires an advance reservation in many cases.

In our view, these are the four bare-minimum planning actions needed to have even a functioning  Disney vacation.

• Decide when you will visit.   Crowd levels can impact your experience and time of year will affect your overall cost.
• Decide which park you will attend on each day.   Theme park reservations are mandatory for some ticket types — no reservation, no entry.
• Decide which hotel you’ll stay in.   While you can technically find a room without a reservation during some parts of the year, it’s not worth the risk.
• Decide if you want to dine at any table-service restaurants.   Dining reservations are strongly suggested; during the busiest days, many restaurants may completely refuse walk-ups.

These are the minimum plans needed to have a tolerable Disney World vacation.  To make your vacation good — or, dare we say, magical — you’ll probably want to do a good bit more Disney planning.  Below, we walk you through the eleven things you need to do to plan the best possible Disney World vacation .

Our planning guide is a great way to get started with researching your upcoming Disney World vacation.  As you’ll see, planning a Disney trip is no small task.  Imagine if you could have someone else do most of the work for you, for free!

That’s why we strongly recommend you contact the Disney travel agents at The Vacationeer .  There are plenty of good reasons why you should use a Disney travel agent , including taking advantage of their years of Disney experience and letting them handle making all of your reservations.

But one of the best reasons is that their planning services don’t cost you anything!

The Eleven Steps to Disney World Planning

There are plenty of ways to plan your Disney vacation, and everybody has their own way of doing it.  Below we’ve outlined what we believe to be eleven critical steps, in roughly the order that you should do them.  We’ve tried not to overwhelm you with too much information at once, but there’s no doubt that planning a Disney trip can be very complicated.  Take your time, read through it all, and follow the links throughout to find out more about some of the items we discuss here.

1. Learn the basics by doing some research

As you start to plan for a Disney World vacation, you should begin researching well in advance of booking the trip.  The information you gather during this important first step will help you through the rest of the process; starting early gives you plenty of time to learn before key dates in the trip planning process.  It will also be key to creating a detailed itinerary for each day so that your vacation will include every event, attraction, and restaurant you wish to experience.

Without a daily itinerary and at least some knowledge of the parks, Disney World can be a confusing and overwhelming place. Informed and organized vacationers are less stressed, save more money, and have more fun!

Being in-the-know will also help you secure your spot at popular resorts, attractions, and dining establishments.

Fortunately, it’s easier than ever to research travel destinations online , and Disney World is no exception. There are lots of Disney World resources online these days (such as our entire website!), so getting up to speed with the ins and outs of the parks is well within your reach.  To get you started, we’ll go over some basic information about Disney World.

Disney World at a Glance

Walt Disney World has four major theme parks:

Magic Kingdom

It’s the flagship theme park of Disney World and a rite of passage for kids of all ages.  Leave the real world at the gate — age melts away as you walk down Main Street, USA to reach Cinderella Castle.  Then, head in any direction to experience Liberty Square, Adventureland, Fantasyland, Frontierland, and Tomorrowland.  Your kingdom awaits with adventures on flying elephants, doombuggies, space rockets, and steam trains.

Rides   |   Dining   |   Secrets

Originally envisioned as a functioning city of the future, EPCOT offers four neighborhoods: World Showcase , a tribute to the global diversity that enriches us as a species; World Nature , showcasing our interaction with the planetary forces that drive us; World Discovery , celebrating humankind’s ingenuity and innovation; and World Celebration , dedicated to the joy and camaraderie that are essential parts of the human experience.

Rides   |   Dining   |  Secrets

Hollywood Studios

Hooray for “the Hollywood that never was and always will be!”  Here, the golden age of motion pictures gets equal billing with modern blockbusters in a park dedicated to an entire universe of entertainment.  Drop into the Hollywood Tower Hotel, find yourself off-world on Batuu, or slink your way into a Pixar adventure.  You’re the star of this silver screen epic — are you ready for your closeup?

Animal Kingdom

Experience the glory and wonder of nature as you immerse yourself into a world that more than 1,000 animals call home.  Set off on safari, where giraffes are free to walk right alongside your open-air vehicle (from which you can also glimpse elephants, lions, and hippopotami).  Then, escape reality by staging a daring mountaintop run from the mythical Yeti, or traveling back in time to rescue a doomed dinosaur.

Other Resort Complex Amenities

In addition to four theme parks, you’ll find a full resort complex covering upwards of 27,000 acres:

• More than 20 large resort hotels are owned and operated by Walt Disney World, with additional third-party hotels nearby
• There are nearly 400 places to eat and drink at Disney World, from ice cream carts to high-end luxury dining, and everything in between
• Disney Springs is the largest shopping, dining, and entertainment district at Disney World ( no tickets required ); Disney’s BoardWalk offers an additional entertainment and dining district
• Disney World has 2 water parks: Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon
• WDW has 5 golf courses and 2 mini-golf courses , an entire sports complex , and several lakes (offering boating, kayaking, parasailing, fishing, and other water sports)

There’s much, much more to learn about Disney World, but the above information should give you the basics that you’ll need to know as you start to plan.  At the end of each of our 11 steps in this guide, you’ll find links to special planning tools and additional articles/websites that further discuss items mentioned in each section of our planning guide.  The tools and links for this step are immediately below:

Planning Tools for This Step:

✔️  Use our  Disney World Map to get the lay of the land

✔️  Use our Disney World Transportation Map to chart your route

✔️  Subscribe to Disney-focused  YouTube channels

✔️  Review some fascinating Disney World Statistics

✔️  Learn the History of Disney World

✔️  Enjoy some interesting WDW Trivia

2. Download the My Disney Experience App

My Disney Experience is Disney’s mobile app & website that serves as a centralized hub for everything related to your Disney vacation.  In the app, you can:

• Create a profile
• Add friends and family members so you can plan together
• View your tickets and reservations
• Access the Disney Genie itinerary planning service
• Purchase priority access to certain attractions through the Genie+ and Lightning Lane service
• Enter a virtual queue for highly-demanded attractions, when available
• Access entitlements under the Disability Access Service, if applicable
• Place mobile orders for some meals, helping you avoid lines at some quick-service restaurants
• Use the MagicMobile service, which lets you use your mobile device as a contactless payment/entry device around Disney World.

Note:  If you’d rather not use the MagicMobile service to access your tickets and services, you can either purchase a MagicBand (a colorful RFID-enabled wristband), or request a plastic RFID card at no charge. 

The app is available for both iOS and Android devices — you might see it listed in the app store as “My Disney Experience” or even just as “Disney World.”  There’s no charge to download and use the app; you might see a notice about in-app purchases, but that refers to the ability to do things such as buying park tickets or placing mobile dining orders.

Once you’ve downloaded the app, you’ll want to sign in — you can use an existing Disney account or create a new one.  You’ll also need to grant it permission to use location services because some features such as virtual queuing are geofenced (only available when you are in a certain location based on your phone’s GPS).

Downloading the app early in the planning process is important for a few reasons.  First, it’s a great research tool.  Second, getting to know it now will make it all the easier to use during your trip.  And most importantly, as you begin to purchase tickets or make reservations you’ll want to link them to your Disney account.  For example, linking your hotel reservation in the app allows you to access an extended restaurant reservation booking window — as well as to access early booking for Lightning Lane attraction entrances.

Many (but not all) of the same services are also available through a dedicated section of the Disney World website.

Ready to talk to someone about planning next steps?

✔️  Download the My Disney Experience app

✔️  Access My Disney Experience via the Disney World website

✔️  Learn more about My Disney Experience

✔️  Learn more about using the MagicMobile service

3. Start Considering How Much to Budget for Your Disney World Trip

On average, a typical Walt Disney World vacation for a family of 4 in 2024 will cost about $6,559. This includes a 7-night hotel stay at a Disney Value Resort, 6 days of standard theme park tickets, Genie+ or Lightning Lane service, and quick-service meals for 4 people over the course of the trip.

Just like any vacation, you might want to plan for additional expenses such as transportation costs, upgrades, a longer stay, and souvenirs; or you might opt to save some money by staying off-site, shortening your trip, spending a day or two away from the parks, or visiting during the off-season.

Not surprisingly, some families end up putting themselves into debt to make a Disney World trip happen.

Of course, you won’t know exactly how much to budget until you make some choices about hotels, dining, tickets, etc. — but now’s a good time to at least begin thinking about how much you’re comfortable spending on your trip so you’re not left with sky-high credit card bills long after.

The resources below are a great way to start that process.  If you don’t want to devote a ton of time to it at this point, we suggest you start with just the first two resources… our How Much Does it Cost to Go to Disney World article and our Disney World Cost Calculator .

✔️  Explore how much it costs to go to Disney World

✔️  Estimate prices with our Disney World Cost Calculator

✔️  Learn about Disney Payment Plan options

✔️  Find the Cheapest Time to go to Disney

✔️  Check out Disney World discounts & deals

✔️  Save on your trip by buying discounted Disney gift cards

✔️  Learn how to do Disney on a Dime

✔️  Explore some free things to do at Disney World

✔️  Read Is Disney World Worth It?

✔️  Leverage your credit card points on your Disney vacation

Consider Working with a Disney World Trip Planner (For Free!)

This is a great time in your Disney vacation planning timeline to connect with a Disney Travel Agent if you’re planning on using one.  Your agent can provide a more accurate estimate of what you can expect to spend by walking you through all of the big choices you’ll be making in the remaining steps of the process.

Not sure which Disney World Travel Agency to use?  We strongly recommend The Vacationeer .  It’s not hard to see why we’ve ranked them as the best Disney travel agency .  First and foremost, they don’t charge anything to use their planning services and there’s never any obligation to book.  And, as an EarMarked Diamond level Authorized Disney Vacation Planner , they’ve arranged Disney trips for thousands of families.  They boast a team of 90+ travel agents, but you’ll have one dedicated agent to serve as your personal Disney trip planner from start to finish.

Contact them to see which money-saving promotions might be available for your trip.  They can book your reservations, set up a payment plan for your trip, and even automatically apply newly-announced discounts to your trip after you book!

4. Decide When to Go to Disney World

Holidays at Disney can be crowded but festive

Deciding which time of year to go to Disney World is a very important part of the planning process, and not just for the obvious reasons of school/work schedules.  Crowd sizes, special promotions, festivals, and weather should also factor in your decision; these can not only affect your overall experience at Disney, but also your overall cost as well.

Crowd sizes are a major consideration when planning a trip to Walt Disney World.  Because park attendance fluctuates throughout the year, there are certainly better (less crowded) times of the year go.

For those of you who are not as tied down with schedule obligations (such as parents who homeschool or people who can work from anywhere), you are in a much better position to be flexible with your travel dates. For the rest of us, work schedules, school schedules, and other factors often influence the timing of our vacations, so we just have to plan a trip around a timeframe that works.

With millions of annual visitors, each Walt Disney World theme park can become crowded. The week you choose to visit the park can have a major impact on wait times for attractions and crowd density on the sidewalks and in the restaurants. Each park also has day-to-day crowd dynamics to consider.

The best way to gauge crowd sizes any particular day – at any one of Walt Disney World’s 4 theme parks – is to consult our  Disney World Crowd Calendar .  By using data compiled from recent years, our crowd calendar determines which theme parks will have the shortest lines and which parks will have the longest lines.

While not everyone has the flexibility to plan their trip around the least-crowded dates, crowd calendars can still be a valuable tool to help you to maximize your Disney experience during your visit.

It’s also worth noting that crowd levels tend to be a good indicator of how expensive your hotel and tickets will be.  Hotels and tickets are both subject to seasonal prices; the less popular times of year are the least expensive, while high-demand times like holidays and summer vacation cost more.

When is Walt Disney World Least Crowded?

Walt Disney World parks are typically less crowded from January 2nd until just prior to Presidents’ Day week (third Monday in February ), the week after Labor Day until just prior to Thanksgiving week, and the week after Thanksgiving weekend until the week prior to Christmas. As a general guide, when schools are in session, WDW is usually less crowded.

When is Walt Disney World Most Crowded?

Walt Disney World parks generally experience their highest attendance around school breaks. These include around Presidents’ Day week (third week in February), the Spring Break timeframe from mid- March through late April , Memorial Day weekend , Summer (mid- June through Labor Day), Thanksgiving week, and Christmas week through January 1st.

Special Promotions

During their slower seasons, Disney World will sometimes offer special promotions to lure guests to the park.

Some previous examples have included a Free Dining promotion which offered meals as part of a package that included non-discounted resort hotels and park tickets.  Other promotions have also been offered from time to time, allowing for discounted hotel rates, special ticket packages, or other benefits.

While promotions have been a bit scarce lately, things do tend to change quickly.  It’s a safe bet, though, that any promotions that come along will be limited to specific hotels or specific travel dates, and will likely be in the off-season.  If your plans are flexible, you’re more likely to be able to take advantage of these.

Walt Disney World is a great destination any day of the year. However, there is something about the seasonal festivals which make the park extra magical.

Besides the spectacular Festival of the Arts (typically in January) and the Flower & Garden Festival during the spring and early summer, most of our favorite seasonal events take place during the Fall and Winter months.

Epcot hosts The  Food & Wine Festival in the fall, and Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party is a real treat for Magic Kingdom guests around – you guessed it – Halloween.

During November and December , the wildly popular Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party takes place at Magic Kingdom, as do a host of other holiday events, such as A Frozen Holiday Wish Show (Magic Kingdom), Christmas Day Parade on ABC (Magic Kingdom), Joyful! (Epcot), Holidays Around the World (Epcot), and much more .

If we had an absolute favorite week to be at Walt Disney World, we may have to choose some time in early December. The park is festive, the weather is comfortable, and the crowds are lighter than normal.

Any How to Plan a Disney Vacation guide must discuss the nuances of Disney’s weather.

First of all, Orlando, Florida is known for its warm and sunny weather. Ice and snow are virtually non-existent here and the temperatures rarely dip below the freezing level.

That said, there are some seasonal differences that you may want to take into consideration when booking your Disney World vacation. January is typically the coolest month, July is the warmest and wettest (though August is a close second for heat), and June has the most sunshine hours.

Daytime thunderstorms are a given during the summer; they often pop up with little warning and disappear just as quickly, usually leaving a rather unpleasant sauna effect in their aftermath.  On the bright side, a storm lasting 30-45 minutes is usually enough to send people scurrying for the exits, leading to lighter crowds afterwards.

Hurricane season technically lasts from June-November, though September has historically been the most active.  Even then, it’s rare for the Orlando area to take a direct hit from a hurricane.  That said, the parks have had to close a few times for hurricanes, though typically only for a day or so at a time.  Thanks to Disney’s generous hurricane cancellation policies , it’s still generally safe plan a trip to Disney World during hurricane season (though travel insurance is still also a good idea).

Our favorite seasons at Walt Disney World are probably the pleasant spring and fall seasons, with October being particularly nice. Our least favorite season is during the summer months — not only are the crowds heavy, but the weather can be quite hot and humid. If you do plan a summer vacation at Disney World, remember to come prepared with the proper amenities to keep you cool and hydrated.

Overwhelmed and ready for some expert help?

✔️  Use our Disney Crowd Calendar to pick the best time to visit

✔️  Research typical Disney World Weather

✔️  Learn about the best time to go to Disney World

✔️  Review our tips to avoid lines at Disney World

✔️  Beat the rain with the best attractions for rainy days

✔️  Learn about Hurricane Season at Disney World

5. Decide on Your Length of Stay (How Many Days)

Because there is just so much to see and do at  Walt Disney World , there is really no right answer for how long your Walt Disney World vacation should last. However, there are several wrong answers. One wrong answer would be staying for only 1 or 2 days!

We recommend that any trip should last at least four days, with an ideal range of a full week or so. Some people buy an Annual Pass and spend 30+ days at the park, so the sky is the limit! It just depends on your budget, time limitations, who you are traveling with, and what the goals of your trip are. But with so much to see and experience, a day or two won’t even scratch the surface of what Walt Disney World has to offer.

How Long Do Most People Stay at Disney World?

Most Disney World vacations last 3 – 7 days. Many guests devote one full day to each of the four Disney World theme parks. Given their size and number of attractions, it’s certainly possible to spend two days each at Epcot and Magic Kingdom. Additional days can be spent re-visiting one of the parks, going to a Disney water park, or doing other various activities, inside or outside of the park.

If your objective is to experience most attractions, shows, parades, etc., you really need to provide yourself with adequate time/days to explore all facets of each park.  If saving money is an important consideration, a shorter trip can help accomplish that.

Many guests like to spend a day or two at other (non-Disney) Orlando-area attractions – such as  Universal Studios , SeaWorld, Legoland Florida, or Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. Other guests set aside a day or two for golfing, boating, or just to simply relax at the pool.

If your trip to Disney World is a “rite of passage” event for the kids – and your goal is to just experience the popular rides and get a feel for the park – 3-4 days is doable. However, just be aware that you may feel as though you are rushing to get as much in with your time constraints.  You probably won’t be able to experience everything that you set out to achieve.

Besides simply having enough time at Disney World, another reason for booking a longer WDW vacation is the financial incentive. The more days you spend at the park, the less the cost of your daily ticket. That’s not to say you will spend less money on an 8-day pass vs a 3-day pass — you certainly won’t. But, the cost per day  goes down substantially the more days you spend at Disney World.

Thoroughly review all current promotions and ticket pricing scenarios before deciding on the duration of your Disney World vacation.

✔️  Compare prices for different trip lengths with our Cost Calculator

✔️  We explore how long to stay at Disney

✔️  See how many days you need for each park

✔️  See our favorite day trips from Disney World

✔️  Extend your trip by visiting one of the beaches near Disney World

6. Decide How to Travel to Disney World

Planning a Disney World trip must, of course, include consideration of how you will actually get there.

The two most common modes of transportation to Walt Disney World are by car and by air.

Buses and trains also come in and out of Orlando, but these options tend to be more problematic with luggage considerations. Consult your bus service or Amtrak for their guidelines on luggage if you decide to go this route.

Driving to Disney World

For guests within a reasonable driving distance (or those who just love a good road trip), there’s some convenience in having your own car at Disney.  Of course, you’ll need to consider all of the costs associated with driving to Disney… fuel prices, auto maintenance / wear & tear, tolls, and parking fees.

An oft-forgotten expense is that those staying in an off-site hotel must pay a daily parking fee at the theme parks (Disney hotel guests don’t pay this fee).

Those who live far away will likely find the cost of driving to Disney World to be prohibitively expensive.  But for those who live in the southeastern US — or who are faced with the prospect of buying airline tickets for a large family — driving might be the right choice.

Flying to Disney World

Since most people fly to Disney World, let’s review some of your best options for booking a flight.

Most people use airline travel search engines – such as Priceline, Kayak, Expedia, or Travelocity – to book their air travel. We also recommend checking Google Flights or ITA Matrix  — both are robust search engines for finding airline deals. If you have flexibility with your booking dates, sign up for Airfarewatchdog alerts. You can get real-time or daily alerts for special offers and flight deals between your departure city and Orlando.

Which airports are closest to Disney World?

Orlando is served by three major airports, all of which have confusingly similar names.

• Orlando International Airport (MCO) is the airport of choice for trips to Disney World.  It’s the nearest airport (about 20 miles away)  and offers by far the most ground transportation options to Disney World.
• Orlando Sanford International Airport (SFB) is located about 45 miles away from Disney World.  Though it’s further away and offers fewer ground transit services, it may be your only choice for a nonstop flight if you’re flying with a smaller/discount carrier or if your home airport is a smaller regional facility.
• Melbourne Orlando International Airport (MLB) is located about 65 miles away from Disney World.  It’s the farthest “Orlando” airport from Orlando (they actually got sued for using the word Orlando” in their name) , and is likely better suited for a Disney Cruise from Port Canaveral than it is for a stay at Walt Disney World.

If you’ll have a rental car and don’t mind a bit of a drive, you can also investigate flights into Tampa International (TPA, about 75 miles away) or Daytona Beach International (DAB, about 70 miles away)… but the flight discounts would have to be amazing to make up for the difference in time and cost.

Tips To Save on Flights to Disney World

Here are a few more cost-savings tips for booking your flight to Walt Disney World:

• For the best deals, book six weeks in advance.
• Scan for deals in the morning, as most airlines offer their best deals at this time. Act fast because good deals get scooped up quickly.
• The most inexpensive flights are often the earliest departures in the morning.
• Wednesdays are typically the cheapest days to fly.
• Credit cards with frequent flyer mile points can save you money on future flights.
• Not all airlines offer their cheapest flights through travel search engines. Check low-cost airlines individually to see if booking directly through their website is less expensive.

Traveling Within Disney World

Regardless of how you get there, once you’ve made it to Disney World, transportation is a breeze.  Disney offers a completely free network of monorails, boats, buses, Skyliners (suspended aerial gondolas), trams, and walking paths to move people from place to place.  You’ll really only need a rental car if your plans take you off-site to a non-Disney destination (and even then, an Uber might be better).

Check out our Disney transportation map in the planning tools below to map out your journey through Disney World.

✔️  Search for airfare on Google Flights

✔️  For advanced flight search options, try ITA Matrix

✔️  Explore our Transportation Map to find out how to get around Disney World

✔️  Review options to get from the Orlando Airport to Disney

✔️  Estimate the cost of taking an Uber

✔️  Learn about parking at Disney World

✔️  Explore the Disney Monorail

7. Choose Your Disney World Resort Hotel

Disney owns and operates more than 20 on-site hotels, which it calls “Resorts.”  This name can be a bit confusing, because you’ll also hear the entire Walt Disney World area referred to as a “resort.”  As an alternative to the on-site hotels, you can choose to stay at a hotel not owned by Disney; that could save you some money, but you’ll miss out on a number of perks offered exclusively to on-site Guests.

Official Disney On-Site Resorts

There is something special about staying at an official Disney World resort.

For one, each resort has its own distinctive character, charm, and identity. You can leave the real world behind and surround yourself with Disney magic, 24/7.

Since all of these resorts are on Disney World property, you will be in close proximity to all the parks and have direct access to monorails, boats, skykliners, and buses.  A few resorts are close enough that you can easily walk to Magic Kingdom or EPCOT.

On-site guests also receive special perks that off-site guests do not. These include Early Theme Park Entry and the ability to book Dining Reservations and Lightning Lane entries ahead of non-Disney resort guests. For 2025, Resort Guests also receive free water park admission on their check-in day.  Make sure you link your Disney World hotel reservation to your My Disney Experience account to take advantage of these perks!

Disney’s on-site Resorts are categorized within the following tiers:

Disney Value Resorts

The rooms at  Disney Value Resorts are smaller and are situated among larger campuses, so you might find there’s a bit of a walk between your room and the bus stops, dining, and front desk.  Transportation to the Disney World theme parks is mostly via bus or Skyliner.  Dining is typically quick-service that’s more akin to a food court, but still usually features a surprising variety that goes well beyond burgers and pizza.  Value resorts are a fantastic option for families who want to keep an eye on their budget but still have all the benefits of staying on Disney World property.

Disney Moderate Resorts

The  Disney Moderate Resorts offer a nice middle ground between the Value and Deluxe resorts.  You’ll have a somewhat upgraded room, good transportation, and usually a few different dining options that may offer a broader menu.  A Moderate Resort is a great way to upgrade your stay at a Disney World resort hotel without a major impact on your budget.

Disney Deluxe Resorts

Deluxe Resorts tend to be closest hotels to the Disney World theme parks, usually just a monorail, boat ride, or short walk away.  Not only is it easier to get to the parks in the morning and back from the parks at night; it’s also easy to avoid the hottest and most crowded parts of the day by returning to your hotel and letting the kids cool down in the pool or take a midday nap.  Then, while everyone else who stayed in the park all day is hot, tired, and cranky, you’ll be refreshed and ready for the nighttime fireworks.  Disney World’s Deluxe resorts also often feature larger rooms, the best pools and restaurants, and a generally upgraded experience.

Disney Deluxe Villa Resorts

Deluxe Villa Resorts offer vacation home style amenities such as kitchens and separate bedrooms, which can be a great option for larger groups.  These range from studios (basically a hotel room that also includes a kitchenette and pull-down bed) to 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom units featuring full kitchens and living rooms.  There are even some unique offerings, such as treehouse villas and over-the-water bungalows.  Even beyond these deluxe villa resorts, many other Disney World hotels offer family suites .

The only major disadvantage of staying at an on-site Disney resort is the cost. With the extra perks and close proximity to the park, these resorts are more expensive than off-site resorts, so your decision will really just depend on your budget and the priorities of your vacation.

Traveling with a fuzzy friend?  You might be surprised to learn that pets are welcome at a select few resorts, and there’s even a facility made exclusively for them.  Check out Pets at Disney World for more information.

Our favorite Disney World YouTube Channel has a great overview of Disney’s official on-site Resorts.

Off-Site Hotels (non-Disney)

Most off-site properties are further away from the park and do not have direct access to the monorail (though some might offer a limited shuttle service). Despite this, many off-site resorts are still quite close to the parks – some, in fact, are situated directly on Disney-owned land.  For example, you’ll find third-party hotels not far from EPCOT, as well as an extensive “Hotel Boulevard” just an intersection or so away from Disney Springs.

While you won’t enjoy the same perks as on-site guests, these off-site properties are generally very nice.  And some  non-Disney hotels do have agreements with Disney to allow their Guests to experience some special perks.

Many have all the amenities of the more expensive Disney Resorts (some even have more), and the rooms are often larger. If your party has 5 or more guests, off-site resorts offer more value, as most of the on-site 5-person+ options are quite pricey.

The bottom line is, if you are sticking to a tight budget and don’t mind being a little further away from the action, a non-Disney resort may be your best bet. You can have a fantastic vacation staying at either on- or off-property resorts.

We recommended that you explore both options and weigh the pros and cons as they apply to your situation. You can certainly split your nights between on-property and off-property. But if you are only at Disney World for a few nights, we recommend just paying a little more to be on the property.

Find the perfect hotel for your budget

✔️  Explore our Disney Resort Comparison page

✔️  See the best Disney Value Resorts

✔️  View the best Disney Moderate Resorts

✔️  Review the best Disney Deluxe Resorts

✔️  Find the best Family Suites at Disney

✔️  See the best Disney Resorts for kids

✔️  Explore the best Disney Resorts for adults

✔️  Learn where to book Disney World hotels

✔️  Find off-site hotels with shuttle service

✔️  Find our picks for the best on-site hotels overall

✔️  See which resorts have the best hotel pools

✔️  Splurge on Club Level at Disney World or a Five-Star Hotel at Disney

✔️  What’s the cheapest on-site hotel?

8. Buy Theme Park Tickets and Make Park Reservations (if needed)

Image © Disney

While it’s certainly possible to go to Disney World without ever setting foot inside a theme park, very few people actually do that.

And given that it’s possible that you may end up spending more on park tickets than on your hotel room, the decision about which tickets to buy is an important one.

We recommend you review all your options well in advance so you have time to think about which package makes sense for your budget and duration of stay.

And remember, you might need to make a theme park reservation (Disney Park Pass), depending on your ticket type.

Disney Theme Park Tickets

Let’s first look at the theme park tickets.

When and Where to Buy your Disney World Theme Park Tickets

As a general rule, you should always purchase tickets either directly from Disney, your travel agent, or an through an authorized seller/reseller — and you should do so well in advance of your departure. This will shield you from any price hikes that might occur and gives you the best chance of securing a reservation to your desired park on your desired day  (if your ticket type requires reservations).

Given that tickets can sell out and that some even require a theme park reservation, it’s not wise to just wait to buy your tickets when you get to the front of the park .

Most importantly, NEVER buy your tickets via eBay, Craigslist, or another unauthorized reseller.   There’s a very good chance that those tickets will be expired, completely used (no days left), or simply counterfeit.  Don’t risk it!

Ticket Pricing

Disney World theme park ticket pricing varies throughout the year.  They’re generally the most expensive during popular times (such school breaks, holidays, and weekends) and the least expensive during slower times. Prices also vary by park; Animal Kingdom is usually the least expensive and Magic Kingdom is usually the most expensive, with Hollywood Studios and EPCOT falling somewhere in between.

You can purchase single-day tickets or multi-day tickets (up to 10 days).  Ticket prices are structured in a unique way that rewards Guests for committing more time to the parks; the per-day price of a multi-day ticket gets cheaper the more days you add.

We have a full rundown of the ticket pricing structure in our How Much Does it Cost to Go to Disney World article.

2024 One-Day One-Park Ticket Starting Price (actual price varies by park)

Types of Theme Park Tickets

The basic Disney World theme park ticket allows entry to only one theme park per day.  But there are optional upgrades which allow you to visit multiple parks on the same day or add other special experiences.

Park Hopper option

The Park Hopper ticket option allows Guests to visit multiple Disney World theme parks on the same day.  After starting the day at one park, Guests may then go to a different theme park later in the day.

We especially love the Park Hopper for spending the first part of the day at one theme park, then spending the evenings at Epcot to take advantage of the wonderful dining options at World Showcase.  It’s an especially great option for those who have a limited amount of time at Disney World, and for those who have short attention spans!

Water Park and Sports option

The Water Park and Sports option allows Guests to visit one theme park per day, while also providing visits to other Disney properties.  Guests who purchase this upgrade will be able to visit water parks, mini golf and nine-hole golf courses, and the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex, when available.

The number of these visits provided is equal to the number of days of theme park admission purchased.  As an example, a 4-day park ticket allows four visits to these facilities.

Park Hopper Plus option

The Park Hopper Plus option combines the Park Hopper option and the Water Park and Sports option into a single upgrade.  Guests who purchase this upgrade will be able to visit multiple theme parks in the same day, and also enjoy a number of visits to water parks, select mini golf and nine-hole golf courses, and the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex, when available.

Disney Park Pass (Theme Park Reservations)

A theme park ticket isn’t necessarily the only thing you need to get into a Disney theme park.  Guests who buy theme park tickets may also need a theme park reservation through a system called Disney Park Pass .

Because of this, planning ahead can be crucial to ensuring you can get into your desired theme park on the day you want to visit.  If you’re traveling during a more popular time of year such as spring break, summer, or Christmas, it is quite possible that tickets or reservations may not be available if you wait until the last minute.

Example of a theme park reservation availability calendar

Park Pass theme park reservations can be made as soon as you’ve purchased your theme park admission tickets.  We recommend you buy your tickets as far in advance as possible to have the best chance of getting the theme park reservations you want.

Park reservations may be needed for Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom — but it depends on the type of ticket you purchased.   They’re not needed for Disney Springs or the water parks.

As of December 2022, all One-Day One-Park tickets automatically include a park reservation — no need to make one separately. And as of January 9, 2024, all date-based tickets will be reservation-free. Other ticket types may still require one, so be sure to check out all the details when you purchase.

If your park hopper ticket requires reservations, you’ll only need a reservation for the park you’ll be  starting  your day at.  You do  not  need a reservation for the  second  park you’re visiting (“park hopping” to) on the same day, but the park still needs to have capacity to admit new Guests.

✔️  View Disney’s official theme park ticket price calendar

✔️  Check Disney’s theme park reservation availability calendar

✔️  Explore ticket prices in our How Much Does it Cost to Go to Disney World article

✔️  Read our complete guide to  Disney Park Pass theme park reservations

Need help navigating all of the ticket options?  Contact the Disney Experts at The Vacationeer .  They can help you decide which tickets are right for you and give you tips on snagging theme park reservations.  And best of all, their planning services are completely free!

9. Select Your Disney World Dining Options

There are literally hundreds of places to eat and drink around the Walt Disney World Resort, from the humblest popcorn cart to the fanciest high-end fine dining restaurant.  If this is your first trip, you may be surprised by all the world-class dining experiences the parks and resorts offer.

Gone are the days when Disney was known simply as a “burgers and kid’s meals” type of destination.  Sure, there are plenty of quick-service restaurants and snack stands around the park, but there is also an eclectic mix of fabulous table-service restaurants to satisfy the toughest of culinary critics.

Some restaurants are themed around Disney attractions, while others are geared towards families or offer formal dining experiences.

All-you-can-eat buffets are popular, as are regional cuisine restaurants. Epcot’s World Showcase offers culinary experiences aligning with the specific country represented, while Disney Springs has an abundance of fabulous dining experiences to choose from.

There’s even a popular dinner show called the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue that features two hours of comedy and music (accompanied by endless fried chicken, BBQ ribs, and strawberry shortcake).

There is really something for everyone’s taste buds at Walt Disney World!

Types of Restaurants

There are two primary types of restaurants at Disney World.

Quick-Service Restaurants

A quick-service restaurant, sometimes also called counter-service, is a place to grab a casual, quick bite.  The ordering, payment, and service experience is somewhat similar to what you might expect at either a fast food restaurant or a “fast casual” place such as a Panera Bread or Chipotle.  You’ll stand in line, order, and pay (or use the mobile ordering service described later in this planning step); then, you’ll either receive your food right away on a tray or be given a pager-type device to alert you when it’s time to come and pick up your meal.  You won’t have a server at your table, and when your meal is over you’re expected to bus your own table and discard your trash.  Despite the ordering experience being akin to a fast food place, your food isn’t necessarily just burgers and fries.  Many locations have innovative menus and substantial meal offerings that rival those of a traditional restaurant.

Table-Service Restaurants

A table-service restaurant, sometimes also referred to as a “sit-down” location, is a more refined dining experience.  You’ll check in with a host/hostess, be taken to a table, and be introduced to a server who will take your order and tend to your needs during your meal.  These restaurants vary from relatively casual a la carte locations, to all-you-care-to-eat buffets, to elegant signature dining locations.  Menus vary from homestyle cooking to authentic international cuisine.  Advance reservations (described below) are strongly suggested, as some restaurants may completely refuse walk-ups during busy times.

Advance Dining Reservations

If you plan on dining at table-service restaurants during your vacation (recommended!), reservations are essential.

Disney calls its restaurant reservations “Advance Dining Reservations.”  Sometimes you’ll hear people call these “ADRs.”  An ADR lets you secure your table at some of Disney’s most popular table-service restaurants (restaurants in which you have a server at your table who takes your order and brings your food to you).

Slots during prime hours go quickly, especially at popular dining locations like Cinderella’s Royal Table and Chef Mickey’s.  Booking your reservations as soon as the reservation window opens is key to getting what you want.

Guests staying in a Disney Resort hotel  may make dining reservations for the entire length of their stay (up to 10 days’ worth of reservations) as early as 60 days in advance of their hotel check-in date.

All other Guests can make their advance reservations for dining as early as 60 days in advance of the meal.

Note: you might have previously heard that dining reservations could be made 180 days in advance.  While that was previously true, the booking window changed in 2020.

We recommend that you spend some time reviewing on Tripadvisor  and  Yelp  before making your Advance Dining Reservations (or speak w/ a Disney Travel Agent first).

Mobile Ordering

Reservations are not offered for quick-service dining at Disney World, though some locations do provide a mobile ordering service through the My Disney Experience app.  For these locations, you can view menus in the app, then order and pay ahead of time.  When it’s time to eat, you can bypass the regular ordering/payment line and go straight to the mobile pickup window to get your food.

Skip the Line with Mobile Ordering

Character Dining

One of Disney’s unique dining offerings is its character dining.  If getting some face time with Disney characters is a must-do for your trip, this is a great way to accomplish it without having to wait in line (and you get to enjoy a great meal, too!).

While you enjoy your meal, several Disney characters will come to your table for a brief visit.  It’s a great chance to snap a photo, ask for an autograph, or just enjoy a personal interaction.  Because the characters are coming to you, there’s no need to wait in any long lines.  And there’s just something special about having the main mouse himself pop up over your shoulder while you’re chowing down on a Mickey waffle!

Each character dining experience focuses on a specific set of characters… for example, the “Fab 5,” Disney princesses, Disney Junior Stars, or Winnie the Pooh and friends.

Disney Dining Plans

For some travelers, one of the best options for dining at Disney is to add a Disney Dining Plan to your on-site hotel stay.  These plans offer a set number of meal and snack credits per person at a fixed daily cost.  Historically, during certain low-demand seasons, Disney has even  occasionally offered the dining plan at no additional charge as part of a vacation package including a hotel stay and theme park tickets.

Disney Dining plans were put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic, but they’re returning for 2024 Disney World vacations .

Until the dining plan fully returns, you’ll be paying out of pocket for your food on-site, unless you opt to bring your own food into the parks (and yes, you can get groceries delivered to your hotel).

✔️  Calculate the date you can book dining reservations

✔️  Explore menus for every restaurant at Disney World

✔️  Use our Disney Dining Plan Calculator (Note: Dining Plans are currently suspended until January 2024)

✔️  Estimate your food costs by viewing examples in our  How Much Does it Cost article

✔️  See how different meal choices affect your budget in our Disney World Cost Calculator

✔️  See our picks for the best Magic Kingdom restaurants

✔️  Explore our ranked list of the best EPCOT restaurants

✔️  Review our choices for best Hollywood Studios restaurants

✔️  Go wild when dining at the Best Animal Kingdom Restaurants

✔️  Explore the best options for Character Dining

✔️  Experience culinary excellence at one of the Michelin Guide restaurants at Disney

✔️  On a plant-based diet? Check out the best Vegetarian dining

✔️  Just love food? Review our guide to Disney World for Foodies

✔️  Learn more about Disney Dining Plans

✔️  Read about Disney World Free Dining promotions

10. Create a Daily Itinerary for Your Disney World Vacation

Now that we have covered the basic elements of your Walt Disney World vacation, it’s time to start thinking about the nitty-gritty details of your trip. Improvising on-the-go can cost you money and lost time while you are at the park, so creating an itinerary will keep your vacation on track.

If your trip to WDW is 4 days or fewer, you will most likely spend each day exploring at least one of Disney’s 4 theme parks. Consider a Park Hopper pass so that you have the ability to jump between parks during the day.

Time is of the essence, so we recommend that you map your route and create an itinerary of high-priority attractions so nothing is overlooked.

If your Disney World vacation is a week or so, consider spending one day at a Disney water park (Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon), at a non-Disney property (such as SeaWorld, Universal Studios, Busch Gardens), golfing, boating, shopping, or just taking a day off to relax.

Reservations for theme parks and dining should be made well in advance of your trip, so the process of selecting which restaurants and attractions are top priorities should begin as soon as you book your trip (if not before).

As you research your options, make notes to help you formulate your Walt Disney World itinerary.

Here are a few things to consider when making your daily plans:

One of the primary factors for your daily itinerary should be how late the park is open each day you’re there.  Park opening and closing times can vary from day-to-day.  So you might want to base your daily park choices on which park has the longest hours — or at least make sure you don’t shoehorn yourself into only being able to visit a certain park on the one day during your trip that it closes early. Some parks take longer to fully experience than others, and you don’t want to run out of time.

A great perk of staying at an on-site Disney hotel is having extra time in the parks when the general public is not allowed in.  While not all attractions operate during these extended hours, it’s still a great way to get a few extra rides in with typically lower wait times.  The previous Extra Magic Hours  program has now been replaced by two offerings:

Early Theme Park Entry

Disney Resort hotel Guests (and Guests of other select hotels) may  enter the Disney parks 30 minutes earlier  than the general public, every day of the week. Each of the four parks offers this perk every day of the week; which park you choose is solely up to you!

Extended Evening Theme Park Hours

Guests at Disney Deluxe Resorts, Deluxe Villa Resorts, and a few other select hotels may also enjoy additional time at specific parks on specific nights.  You’ll want to check the  latest schedule  to verify which dates and parks are available during your trip.

Waiting for Rides/Attractions

It’s an unfortunate fact that a sizable portion of your Disney World trip will be spent waiting in line to get on rides or see shows.  Fortunately, there are ways to minimize this as much as possible.

Standby Lines

When most people think of waiting in line for a ride, they’re thinking of what Disney World calls a Standby queue.  It’s line waiting in its simplest form; you walk up to an attraction entrance, wait in line for as long as it takes, and then get into the ride vehicle.

Standby wait times can fluctuate wildly throughout the day, often peaking in the mid-afternoon.  While you can’t do anything about the length of the line itself, you can game the system a bit by deciding when to enter that line.

For your most important attraction of the day, I suggest doing what frequent visitors call “rope dropping” the park.  This means that you are at the park before it opens for the day, enter the park as soon as Guests are allowed in (as soon as they “drop the rope” that is keeping people out), and go directly to the desired attraction so you can ride it with as little wait as possible.

Other tactics to try to avoid the worst of the standby wait times is to go during the afternoon parade, or to go when most people are having lunch/dinner.  The Disney Genie section of the My Disney Experience app will also show you a forecast of wait times for each hour of the day so you can better plan your arrival time to minimize waits.

One further tip that won’t necessarily help you avoid an extended wait time but will certainly increase your comfort level. As a long-time Floridian, I highly recommend doing all of the rides that have completely-outdoor waiting lines either early or late in the day; when it’s miserably hot/steamy outside during the afternoon hours, I prefer to hide away from the midday sun by experiencing the rides with indoor air-conditioned queues. These rides are also less likely to close during afternoon thunderstorms.

Virtual Queues

If your trip happens to occur in the months immediately following the opening of a highly-anticipated attraction (such as a new roller coaster), you’ll likely find that you can’t simply go stand in line for that ride.  Instead, you might have to use something called a virtual queue .

It’s exactly what it sounds like — rather than physically standing in line, your spot in line is held virtually via the My Disney Experience app.

Virtual Queue

A virtual queue is both good news and bad news for your itinerary planning.

The good news: Historically, people have spent as much as five or six hours (!) waiting in line for a new ride — I did that when Seven Dwarfs Mine Train opened and don’t recommend it.  Those long lines are not the case with virtual queuing.  Your wait might technically still be that long, but you don’t have to spend that time actually waiting in a line.  You’re instead free to go have plenty of other fun elsewhere in the park during that time, and then come back when it’s time to ride.

The bad news: Competition to grab a spot in the virtual queue can be fierce.  Spaces open up daily at 7AM and again at 1PM.  On dates when Extended Evening Theme Park Hours are offered for select Resort Guests, another round of queuing begins at 6PM.  On the busiest days, all available slots can be claimed within seconds of being released. To give yourself the best possible chance of snagging a spot, read Disney’s extensive instructions  ahead of time so you know exactly what to do at 7AM on the day you wish to visit.

Priority Attraction Entrance (Disney Genie+ and Lightning Lane)

Many rides and experiences in the parks have a special Lightning Lane entrance which allows you to bypass the regular line and board more quickly.  If you’ve been to Disney World in the past, you might remember these entrances having been previously called FastPass or FastPass+.  The Lightning Lane concept is still mostly the same, but there’s one big difference: you now must pay to enter the Lightning Lane.

Genie+ Service

Most rides which have a Lightning Lane entrance are packaged together into a bundled service called Genie+.  For a combined fee of approximately $15-$30 (varies based on date/demand/park) per person per day, Genie Plus lets guests make reservations to use the Lightning Lane entrance at more than 40 attractions throughout the parks.  Guests make their first Lightning Lane reservation on the morning of their visit and then make additional ride reservations, one at a time, for the remainder of the day (subject to availability).  Disney says this service will usually help you experience a quicker load time on 2-3 attractions on a busy day (maybe more on less-crowded days), which can help save you hours of waiting in line.

Note: The paid Genie+ service should not be confused with the basic Disney Genie service, which is an itinerary suggestion service inside the My Disney Experience app.  Disney Genie provides suggestions of what to do based on wait times and your interests.  Genie+ saves you time waiting in line by letting you instead select a time to return to ride.

Individual Lightning Lane entry

The Lightning Lane entrances at the most popular attractions in each park are not included in Genie+ and are instead sold separately.  You’ll be able to purchase one entrance per day for each ride offering this individual entry service.  The cost usually ranges from $10-$20 per ride and varies based on the attraction, date, and availability.

If a ride’s Lightning Lane is sold under this individual pricing structure, it will not be included in the Genie+ package offering.

You can’t actually book your Lightning Lane entrances in advance — they’re available for purchase only on the day of your visit — but you’ll still want to research them in advance to include in your daily itinerary.

Disability Access Service

A special service is provided to assist Guests who have a condition that interferes with their ability to wait in line.  This offering, called the Disability Access Service (DAS), assigns return times so Guests don’t need to be physically present in the attraction line (but still experience a similar length of wait as those who are waiting in line).

There’s an important distinction when understanding DAS: qualifying is based on a guest’s ability to wait  in line, not their ability to  stand in line. Most attraction lines are wheelchair accessible , so a wheelchair alone is unlikely to qualify someone to use DAS.  There’s no official list of disabilities which automatically qualify, but some which may qualify include ADHD, autism , or anxiety.  Each decision is made on an individual basis, and Disney alone has sole authority to grant or deny DAS to a Guest.

This is a highly-nuanced topic that we can’t completely cover in just a few sentences.  We suggest you read our extensive guide to the Disability Access Service for further details.

Timing Your Meals

Your itinerary should include a solid plan on when you’re going to eat your meals.

Unless you have breakfast reservations for an in-park restaurant, we do NOT recommend that you have breakfast in the park.  You’ll likely be missing out on some of the lowest ride wait times of the day if you’re off getting food right after the park opens.  One option is to have breakfast at your hotel’s restaurant before heading to the park (the restaurants open early enough to allow this without missing park opening). I personally prefer to just have bagels and cream cheese in my room and opt for an early lunch — that lets me sleep in just a bit and still get to the parks early.

Speaking of an early lunch, having your meals during an off-peak time is a great way to avoid wasting time waiting in long lines at counter-service restaurants.  If you have lunch at noon and dinner at 6PM, you’ll quickly notice that pretty much everyone else in the park had the same idea.  Not only will there be longer waits in line (and for your food to be prepared), but you might even have to “hover” a bit to find an empty table.  If you do have to dine during the busiest hours, take full advantage of mobile ordering within the My Disney Experience app whenever you can.

Of course, should you have dining reservations at a table service restaurant for lunch or dinner, your time for that meal is set and you just need to plug it into your daily itinerary.

Planning When to Stop and When to Go, Go, Go

With the prospect of a full vacation in front of you, it’s easy to either over or under do it.

Yes, you’re on vacation, so it’s tempting to sleep in.  But doing so will put you a step behind everyone else in the park, meaning you’re at the mercy of higher crowds and longer lines.  Waking up early and getting to the parks right away goes a long way toward starting the day right.

On the other hand, if you plan to go nonstop from morning to night seven days in a row, you’re going to crash midweek and have a miserable time.  You’ll probably end up losing more time due to the inevitable meltdown than if you had just planned to take some downtime along the way.

Take it from someone who spend more than a decade battling the central Florida heat: the afternoon sun will suck the life right out of you. A midday break is just the thing to rejuvenate your spirits.

If you’re staying on-site, you can easily go back to your hotel for a midday nap or dip in the pool.  I also like to give myself at least one “day off” during my trip. I usually just spend it relaxing at the hotel or maybe checking out the animals on the Savanna at Animal Kingdom Lodge — but you might want go play a round of golf, sit on the lakeside “beach” at some resorts, or have a laidback day at Disney Springs (go shopping, have a meal, take a balloon ride , or see a movie ).

Giving some thought  now to periods of activity and periods of rest will help make sure your vacation doesn’t veer off track.

Our Top Tips for Disney World Itinerary Planning

With all of the above in mind, it’s really going to come down to a matter of personal preference.  Once you have a good handle on all of the things to do, see, eat, and experience at Disney World — what do you want to do each day?

Only you can answer that question.  But here are a few of our favorites to consider when planning your daily itinerary:

Some of the most popular rides for Lightning Lane passes and Disney Genie+ are:

• Magic Kingdom – Seven Dwarfs Mine Train; Space Mountain
• Epcot – Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind; Frozen Ever After; Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
• Hollywood Studios – Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run; Rise of the Resistance; Slinky Dog Dash; Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
• Animal Kingdom – Pandora’s Na’vi River Journey; Avatar Flight of Passage; Expedition Everest

Some of the other most popular attractions at each of the four Walt Disney World theme parks include:

• Magic Kingdom – Haunted Mansion; Magic Carpets of Aladdin; Pirates of the Caribbean; Splash Mountain (currently closed)
• Epcot – the pavilions of Epcot World Showcase; Mission: Space; Test Track; Spaceship Earth; Soarin’; Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
• Animal Kingdom – Expedition Everest; Jungle Cruise; Kali River Rapids; Kilimanjaro Safaris
• Hollywood Studio – Fantasmic; Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster; Toy Story Midway Mania; Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

Some of our favorite WDW restaurants include:

• Be Our Guest Restaurant , Magic Kingdom – This ornate French eatery with a Beauty & the Beast theme offers fixed-price dining.
• California Grill, Disney’s Contemporary Resort – Contemporary Resort’s premier restaurant is a great spot to watch the fireworks and offers breathtaking views of the park.
• Chef Mickey’s, Disney’s Contemporary Resort – Popular breakfast & dinner buffet restaurant with special visits from Mickey and friends.
• Cinderella’s Royal Table, Magic Kingdom – This Cinderella-themed eatery is set in a room that resembles a medieval castle’s banquet hall.
• Flame Tree Barbeque, Animal Kingdom – Tasty BBQ featuring a relaxing outdoor pavilion with amazing views of Animal Kingdom. And it’s quick-service, so no need for a reservation!
• Hollywood Brown Derby, Disney’s Hollywood Studios – Retro dining establishment with fantastic caricatures of old-time celebrities on the wall.
• Le Cellier, Canada Pavilion at World Showcase, Epcot – Steaks are a specialty at this top-notch table service dining establishment.
• ‘Ohana, Polynesian Village Resort – All-you-can-eat, American-style (with a Polynesian twist) buffet for breakfast and dinner.
• Teppan Edo, Japan Pavilion at World Showcase, Epcot – Guests are seated around the teppanyaki grills as skilled chefs prepare your meal in front of you.
• The Boathouse Restaurant, The Landing, Disney Springs – Upscale waterfront dining experience featuring steaks and seafood, Amphicar tours, Italian water taxi tours, and live music.
• Via Napoli, Italy Pavilion at World Showcase, Epcot – Amazing pizza! Need we say more?

✔️  Find out which rides and experiences have a Lightning Lane

✔️  See the scheduled Disney Park Hours

✔️  Learn about the Virtual Queue

✔️  Learn a few of our favorite Disney Tips and Tricks

✔️  Find the Best Days To Visit Magic Kingdom

✔️  See  What’s New at Disney World

✔️  Check the  Ride Closure and Refurbishment Calendar

✔️  Investigate whether Genie+ is worth it

✔️  Learn if we believe Lightning Lane passes are worth the cost

✔️  See our complete guide to the Disability Access Service

✔️  See our list of fun things to do at Disney

✔️  Traveling with little ones? Find the best attractions for kids

✔️  Want some time off your feet? Plan on attending a stage show

✔️  Find the best places to relax at Disney

11. Create Your Disney World Packing List

Depending on the duration of your Walt Disney World vacation, you will most likely pack lots of items to take with you. Let’s look at some of the things you should include in your WDW packing list.

Luggage / Backpacks for Disney World 

First and foremost, make sure your luggage/backpacks are in tip-top shape for the journey, and of adequate size to hold your travel essentials.

Many families prefer to bring a backpack with them into a Disney World park so they have everything with them. It’s handy to have the essentials (or even a snack) — just remember not to overdo it!  Everything you bring in with you has to be hauled around all day, stowed away for rides, or left in a rented locker at the front of the park.

Some people prefer to skip the backpacks all together and use a smaller pack that goes around the waist.  While not necessarily the height of fashion, they certainly do the job and are much easier to work with when it comes to boarding ride vehicles.

Disney Souvenirs

This tip might sound odd, but hear us out.

Consider purchasing some of your Disney World souvenirs before your departure.

Purchasing items beforehand – like t-shirts, trading pins and lanyards, Disney autograph books, games and toys, and Mickey Mouse Ears hats – can save you money and time spent shopping for these items at the park. Plus, you will have these Disney souvenir items ready to use as soon as your flight touches down in Orlando.

Packing List

And finally, it’s time to think about which clothing items, documents, toiletries, medications, electronics, swimwear, baby items, food and snacks, and other accessories you will need to pack.

From our experience, you will arrive at Disney World – thinking you have packed everything you will need for your trip – only to discover that you left an important item or two at home.

For your convenience, we have created a suggested Disney World Packing List  to ensure that nothing is overlooked during the packing process.

Print this list and check items off as you pack. We have also included a few recommended items on our Packing List.

These include links to inexpensive ponchos, comfortable shoes, external batteries, USB wall chargers, and Disney beach towels, as well as water bottles and Frogg Toggs Chilly Pads for those warm days at Disney World.

✔️  Download our suggested Packing List

✔️  See our suggestions for the Best Backpacks for Disney World

✔️  Review the Best Disney World Fanny Packs

✔️  Scope out the Best Souvenirs in advance of your trip

Final Thoughts on How To Plan a Disney World Vacation

We hope our Ultimate Guide to Walt Disney World Vacation Planning will get you on the right path to planning, prioritizing, and booking your magical vacation to Disney World.  It’s a lot of information, but with enough research and planning, you’ll have a magical trip!

We should point out that this guide is mostly geared towards Walt Disney World in Florida, but many of the basic ideas still apply to other Disney vacations .  If you’re headed to Disneyland in California, you’ll also want to check out our Disneyland vs Disney World ,   Disneyland Resort Map , and  Disneyland Crowd Calendar pages.  We also offer extensive resources for those planning trips with Disney Cruise Line (including a complete guide to planning your first Disney Cruise ), as well as resources on Adventures by Disney .

Contact a Disney Travel Planner to Book Your Disney World Trip

As you’ve seen in this article, there is a LOT that goes into planning a Disney vacation.  Why not call in a professional to help?

The Authorized Disney Vacation Planners at The Vacationeer can plan your trip for you and take care of all of your reservations, all at no additional charge.  You won’t pay a penny more than if you’d have booked it yourself — and you might even pay less !

Their team of 90+ Disney fanatics know all the tips and tricks for hotels, dining, park tickets, and more… and can even apply new discounts to your trip as they’re announced, after your trip is booked!

There’s never any obligation to book and their services are free, so there’s nothing to lose by contacting them for a quote.

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A magical guide for how to plan a trip to Disney World this year

Editor's Note

If you want to know how to plan a trip to Disney World, you've come to the right place. This guide includes tips for choosing the right Disney World hotel for your budget, deciding which ticket type is right for you, determining which extras are worth splurging on and how to plan a trip that's fun and memorable without too much stress along the way.

With four theme parks, two water parks, more than 25 on-site hotels, over 200 dining locations and more attractions, experiences, shows and shops than we can list here, the best way to build a magical Disney World vacation is with planning, preparation and realistic expectations.

Planning a trip to Disney World should be fun and build excitement for your upcoming trip, and this guide can help.

How to start planning your trip to Disney World

There are a few questions you will want to answer early in the process of planning your Disney World vacation.

• What is your budget? Your budget will determine most other factors of your vacation, including where you stay and how many days you visit. How much it will cost you to go to Disney World really can vary widely based on the choices you make.
• When will you go? You may be at the mercy of work or school schedules, but if you have the flexibility, you can plan your trip when crowds are smaller or the weather is better. The summer can be very hot and rainy, the week between Christmas and New Year's is one of the busiest and weekdays when most kids are in school are often the least busy days.
• Where will you stay? You will typically pay more to stay in one of Disney's on-site hotels, especially at the moderate and deluxe tiers, but you'll also get perks like early theme park entry. Before you choose, you'll want to consider your budget, whether you want a themed room like the Royal Guest Rooms at Disney's Port Orleans Resort – Riverside and if you want to be located near a certain Disney park. Pro tip: Renting Disney Vacation Club points can help you stay at a deluxe hotel for a moderate price.
• Which parks will you visit on which days? Depending on the length of your vacation, you may need to prioritize which parks you plan to visit. This will also influence whether you purchase one-park-per-day or Park Hopper tickets that allow you to visit multiple parks daily. If you have little kids, be sure your family will have the stamina for multiple parks per day before shelling out the extra cash to hop.
• Where will you dine? Popular Disney dining reservations are snatched up almost as soon as they become available. You'll want to plan ahead for any character dining or other table service restaurants, so you don't miss out.

It is important to book your hotel, dining and theme park tickets as early as possible for the best rates and availability. Disney also periodically releases special offers on hotels and vacation packages that you can often apply even if you have already made your reservations.

Related: Are the Disney Visa credit cards worth it?

We will dig deeper into each of these topics in this guide. Once you have a rough outline of your vacation based on the questions above, here are important dates to keep in mind so you can make your Disney dream a reality.

How soon can you book a Disney World hotel?

Disney releases hotel availability periodically, so there is no exact date that Disney hotel reservations become available. You can currently book Disney World hotel stays through Dec. 31, 2024.

Disney typically opens reservations for the following year around May or June, so you can expect to see 2025 availability around that time. If your plans change, you can cancel your room-only reservation up to five days in advance of arrival for a full refund. Ticket and hotel vacation packages must be canceled 30 days in advance to receive a full refund.

When can you purchase Disney World tickets?

Disney World tickets follow the same availability calendar as Disney hotel reservations. You can purchase tickets (or vacation packages including a hotel and tickets) through Dec. 31, 2024. Disney typically releases tickets for the following year around May or June, so you can expect to see 2025 availability around that time.

All tickets are date-based, and the price of one-day tickets also varies by park. You can purchase your tickets any time before you visit; the price won't change regardless of how long you wait. Theme park tickets are nonrefundable, but you may be able to change your ticket date if your plans change.

Until Jan. 9, 2024, you must have a Disney ticket and make a theme park reservation to enter a Disney park.

When do Disney World dining reservations become available?

You can begin making dining reservations 60 days prior to your visit. If you are staying in a Disney World hotel, you can make dining reservations 60 days before your check-in day for your entire stay (up to 10 days).

Reservations open on Disney's website or the My Disney Experience app between 5:45 a.m. and 6 a.m. EST or you can call 407-939-DINE beginning at 7 a.m. EST, but coveted reservations may already be snatched up by that time. You can cancel most Disney World dining reservations up to two hours before your reservation. Exceptions will be noted in the confirmation email you receive at the time of booking.

If you're not yet sure where to eat, here are our favorite restaurants at Disney World .

FOR NO-COST ASSISTANCE WITH PLANNING AND BOOKING YOUR NEXT DISNEY VACATION, CHECK OUT TPG'S DISNEY BOOKING PARTNER, MOUSE COUNSELORS .

What are the 4 parks at Disney World?

Each of Disney World's four theme parks is uniquely themed and packed with fun. You can learn more about each park, including attractions, shows, parade times and interactive maps to help you find your way around in the My Disney Experience app.

Here's a bit more information about each and some tips for choosing the right ticket type to visit them all.

Magic Kingdom

Open since 1971, Magic Kingdom is Disney World's original theme park. This park is a world of fairy tales and fantasy, where you'll find five themed lands — Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, Frontierland, Adventureland and Liberty Square.

Magic Kingdom is home to some of Disney's most iconic attractions, including Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Peter Pan's Flight and the Haunted Mansion, but also exciting new rides like Tron: Lightcycle Run and the soon-to-open Tiana's Bayou Adventure .

Epcot opened in 1982 and has changed drastically in the four decades since. Epcot's core message, however, hasn't changed: sparking visitors' imaginations through science, technology, nature and the human experience. The park is sectioned into "neighborhoods" — World Celebration, World Nature, World Discovery and World Showcase, where you can visit pavilions that celebrate the arts, culture and customs of 11 countries around the world.

There are a lot of new things to see at Epcot, including Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind , Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana and the all-new fireworks spectacular Luminous – The Symphony of Us .

Disney's Hollywood Studios

Disney's Hollywood Studios is a movie-themed park that has lands and attractions inspired by blockbuster films and beloved Disney characters. In Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge , you can pilot the Millennium Falcon and meet familiar (and furry) faces like Kylo Ren, Chewbacca and Rey.

In Toy Story Land, visitors shrink to the size of Woody, Buzz, Jessie (who you can meet here, by the way) and Andy's other toys. The land's Slinky Dog Dash coaster is a family-friendly ride that's perfect for a kid's first roller coaster.

Outside of the lands themed to specific films, much of the park evokes an old-Hollywood glamour that makes you feel like a bona fide movie star. In these areas, you'll find some of the park's most iconic shows and attractions are also some of its longest-running, like The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror drop ride, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster and the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular .

Disney's Animal Kingdom

More than 2,000 animals — from about 300 species — call Disney's Animal Kingdom "home," but this is not a zoo. However, you can visit many of these animals via walking trails, the Kilimanjaro Safaris ride and even a petting zoo.

In addition to the creatures and landscapes found on Earth, you can visit another planet at Pandora — The World of Avatar or go back in time at DinoLand U.S.A. The animals aren't the only things that are "wild" at Animal Kingdom — Expedition Everest is a thrilling coaster; Avatar Flight of Passage puts you on the back of a banshee as you fly over Pandora; and Dinosaur sends you careening through the Cretaceous Period in an off-road vehicle.

What type of Disney tickets should I buy?

Disney world base tickets.

You can purchase one-day or multi-day Disney World tickets. All tickets are date-based, and the price varies depending on the date of your visit. If you purchase a one-day ticket, the price will also vary based on which park you plan to visit, with Magic Kingdom being the most expensive.

Disney World Park Hopper tickets

A base ticket only gets you into one park per day. If you want to visit multiple parks on the same day, you will need to purchase the Park Hopper option with your ticket (you can also add it on in person after you arrive). You can save money by only visiting one park per day, but it does limit how much you can see and do during your vacation.

A Park Hopper Plus ticket includes two visits to either Disney's golf courses, miniature golf courses or water parks, but this is only worth it if you know you will use it all.

Disney World special event tickets

Some of Disney's after-hours events , like Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party , require a separate ticket. The park is only open to guests with special event tickets during these events. If you plan on visiting for one of these parties, you may be able to forgo a general admission ticket that day and utilize your special event ticket, as you can usually get into the park a few hours before the party starts.

Disney World ticket add-ons

There are two major ticket add-ons that you should consider. Both can be worth it but will add to the cost of your vacation.

The first add-on you might want to strongly consider is Disney Genie+ . This skip-the-line service allows you to skip the standby line and enjoy shorter wait times for rides by utilizing Disney's Lightning Lanes.

Currently, you can only purchase it on the day of your visit beginning at 7 a.m. and the price ranges between $15 and $35 per person, per day. A handful of attractions at each park require a separate individual Lightning Lane purchase to skip the line, often for the newest rides, but many rides are available with Genie+. You don't need to purchase Genie+ to buy individual Lightning Lane selections and vice versa. The individual Lightning Lane attraction pricing varies by attraction but typically ranges between $7 and $25 per person per attraction for rides like Tron: Lightcycle Run and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.

Another popular add-on is Disney's Memory Maker . Memory Maker gives you unlimited downloads of pictures taken by PhotoPass photographers during your vacation and on-ride photos. You can purchase a one-day Memory Maker for short visits or a multi-day Memory Maker which covers your entire vacation. You can save $25 on a multi-day Memory Maker when you purchase at least three days prior to your visit, so it's best to purchase it when you buy your tickets.

How to get discounted Disney World tickets

Aside from Disney's own discounts, you can sometimes save money on Disney tickets by purchasing them from an authorized third-party reseller. There are a few reputable sources out there for Disney World tickets, but our go-to is Undercover Tourist . Depending on your ticket type, you can usually save between $5 and $100. One of the best ways to save money with Undercover Tourist is when Disney World raises ticket prices , which usually happens at least once per year. Undercover Tourist typically has a limited number of existing ticket stock available at the old prices while supplies last.

Related: We saved every receipt — here's how much it actually costs to go to Disney World

If you are a Florida resident or are an active or retired U.S. military member , there are generous discounted Disney World tickets available directly through Disney's website.

You can also use points to pay for your Disney tickets , and that's a strategy we strongly recommend to keep costs down. For example, with the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card , you can earn a welcome bonus of 75,000 points after spending $4,000 within the first three months of having the card. You can use those 75k points as the same as $750 towards travel . And while ticket-only packages from Disney World typically don't code as a travel charge, buying them from Undercover Tourist — or as part of a larger hotel and ticket package directly from Disney — typically does code as a travel charge, so you could save $750 just like that.

Is booking a Disney vacation package a good idea?

If you are staying in one of Disney World's on-site hotels or a certified " Disney World Good Neighbor " hotel, you have the option to bundle your hotel stay and theme park tickets into a Disney vacation package. Normally, these packages are not discounted, but they can be a great value if Disney runs any special vacation package promotions .

Aside from discounts (and the fact that it all likely codes as a travel charge for point-redemption purposes), there's one major reason to book a vacation package: When you purchase your tickets and hotel together, you only have to pay a $200 deposit at the time of booking. Payment in full is due 30 days prior to arrival. If you purchase your tickets separately from your hotel stay, you will have to pay the full amount at the time of purchase.

This is another great example of why you should book through an authorized Disney travel planner who can compare prices for you and keep an eye out for discounts.

When is the best time to visit Disney World?

Do you want the lowest crowds or the best weather? Do you want to attend a Halloween party or see Magic Kingdom's 65-foot-tall Christmas tree ?

The best time to visit Disney World depends on your reason for visiting.

If you want moderate temperatures and less chance of rain, you may want to plan your visit between October and December. If you want shorter waits, your best bets are late January, early May or just after Thanksgiving before the crowds descend upon the parks for winter break. Of course, weekdays typically see lower crowds than weekends and school breaks.

Or, if you are planning a Disney World vacation on a budget, opt for midweek dates in August and September 2024, when prices start at $109 for a one-day ticket.

Read our full guide on the best times to visit Walt Disney World .

What's the best way to get to Disney World?

Getting to Orlando and getting to Disney World after arriving are two different topics, so let's look at each.

What is the closest airport?

The closest airport to Walt Disney World is Orlando International Airport (MCO). Most major airlines fly into MCO, and you can reach Disney World in about 25 to 30 minutes from the airport, depending on traffic. If you are flying Allegiant or Sun Country Airlines, you'll fly into Orlando Sanford International Airport (SFB). SFB is smaller than MCO and farther from Disney World. From SFB, it is about a 45-minute drive to Disney World.

What is the best way to get to Disney World from the airport?

Because of its size and proximity to Disney World, MCO has more and better options to help you get between the airport and Disney World.

From Orlando International Airport or Orlando Sanford International Airport, you can rent a car or use a ride-hailing service like Uber or Lyft. If you do rent a car from MCO, you can forgo paying tolls through the car rental company (which often comes with an additional fee) and pick up a Visitor Toll Pass to save on tolls during your trip.

Disney no longer charges a parking fee for overnight hotel guests, so if you rent a car, you can park at your hotel and drive to Disney's theme parks without additional fees. Keep in mind that you may not need a car if you don't plan on leaving Disney property after you arrive. Disney has a robust internal transportation system that operates between its on-site hotels and theme parks, water parks and Disney Springs.

You can also use Disney's official airport shuttle, Mears Connect , from MCO.

Mears Connect is a shuttle service that picks you up from MCO and will drop you off at official Disney World hotels and a handful of nearby hotels. Pricing starts at $16 one-way for adults and $13 one-way for children. Mears Connect offers shared shuttles, where you will stop at multiple Disney hotels on the way to your own. You can pay an additional fee for an "express shuttle" that takes you direct to your resort. The easiest way to reserve your ride is online through the Mears Connect website.

What is the best way to get around Disney World?

If you are staying on Walt Disney World property, you can utilize Disney's complimentary transportation for travel between your resort and Disney's theme parks, water parks and Disney Springs. Disney offers transportation by bus, boat, Monorail and Disney Skyliner gondola system. Which transportation options you have access to will depend on which hotel you are staying in.

All Disney hotels offer regularly scheduled bus transportation around the resort. Transportation begins 45 minutes prior to the theme park opening and up to one hour after the theme park closing.

Guests of Disney's Magic Kingdom area resorts — Disney's Polynesian Village Resort, Disney's Contemporary Resort and Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa — can use boat or Monorail transportation to travel to the Magic Kingdom. There is also a monorail line that will take you to the Transportation and Ticket Center, where you can transfer to a separate Monorail line that goes to Epcot. These hotels also offer a walking path to Magic Kingdom.

Guests of Disney's Riviera Resort, Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort, Disney's Art of Animation Resort and Disney's Pop Century Resort can use the Disney Skyliner gondolas to travel to Disney's Hollywood Studios and Epcot. All Disney World visitors can also use Disney Skyliner to travel between these two parks, regardless of where you are staying. It's a fun and scenic way to get around the resort.

Many Disney World hotels also offer ferry boat transportation to nearby parks. The BoardWalk area hotels, for example, offer boat transportation to Epcot and Disney's Hollywood Studios. Fort Wilderness, Disney's Wilderness Lodge and others offer boat service to the Magic Kingdom. You can view a full list on Disney's website . You can also walk to Epcot or Hollywood Studios from any BoardWalk area hotel.

Whichever transportation option you choose, you can view the schedule, routes and stop locations in the My Disney Experience app or on video monitors at each stop location.

You can also utilize Disney's Minnie Van service for door-to-door (or door-to-front gate, as it were) service between your hotel and Disney's theme parks. You can book these private rides in red-and-white polka-dot vans directly through the Lyft app. Accessible rides and child safety seats are available.

Though not "official" Disney World hotels, Walt Disney World Swan, Dolphin and Swan Reserve hotel guests have access to Disney's complimentary ferry boat service to Epcot and Disney's Hollywood Studios. A walking path is also available. These resorts also operate their own shuttles to Disney's theme parks, which pick up approximately every 20 to 25 minutes throughout the day.

Disney Springs hotels operate their own shuttle services, independent of Disney's transportation. If you are staying at one of these hotels, you can inquire about scheduling and pick-up times at the front desk.

What's the best place to stay on a Disney vacation?

There are more than two dozen Disney World hotels to choose from, so your main considerations will be your budget and what type of hotel experience you are after. Whether you want over-the-top Disney theming, an upscale cabin in the woods or a luxury villa with access to a club lounge, you can find it at Disney World.

Disney offers three hotel tiers: Value, Moderate and Deluxe.

Value Disney resorts are the most affordable, with prices ranging between $125 and $300 per night. Value resorts offer quick-service, cafeteria-style dining outlets and large pools but don't have full-service restaurants or pool amenities like waterslides and hot tubs.

On average, Moderate Disney resorts run between $250 and $400 and offer amenities you won't find at Value Disney resorts. Some have full-service restaurants, and the pools are better-themed and equipped with waterslides. Many of them are more centrally located near Disney's theme parks, as well.

Deluxe Disney resorts are the most expensive, ranging between $400 to $700 per night and up for a standard room, but they also have the best locations, amenities and dining. You can expect large, well-furnished guest rooms, pool complexes with hot tubs, waterslides and beach areas, multiple full-service restaurants, spas and more.

Regardless of which hotel you choose, Disney's on-site hotels offer perks to enhance your stay:

• A 30-minute jumpstart on your day with Disney's Early Theme Park Entry benefit
• The ability to purchase individual Lightning Lanes for eligible rides begins at 7 a.m. on the day of your visit (non-resort guests can't do this until the park opens)
• Complimentary hotel and theme park parking
• Extended Evening Theme Park Hours for guests staying at Disney Deluxe Resort Hotels on select nights (this benefit is also available to guests of Walt Disney World Swan, Dolphin and Swan Reserve hotels, as well as Shades of Green)

Best hotels at Disney World

The best Disney World hotel for you depends on what you are looking for in a hotel stay. If you don't plan on spending much time in your room, you can save a lot of money by staying in a Value resort. If you plan on spending part of your vacation enjoying hotel amenities like the pool and restaurants, you may want to choose a Moderate or Deluxe resort. Or, if you have a large family that won't be comfortable in a standard room, one of Disney's family suites might be your best bet.

Here are a few of our favorites:

Best Disney World resort if you are on a budget: Disney's Pop Century Resort may not be the most glamorous hotel at Disney, but the kitschy 1950s through 1990s theming and the starting price of around $200 per night will surely put a smile on your face. This resort has three pools, a playground and an arcade. Guest rooms are furnished with either one king bed or a queen bed and a space-saving table that folds out into a bed. It is also one of two Value resorts with Skyliner gondola access to Epcot and Hollywood Studios.

Best Disney World resort for large families : Disney's Art of Animation Resort is in Disney's more affordable Value category and has family suites themed to popular Disney films like "Cars," "The Lion King" and "Finding Nemo" that sleep up to six guests. The pool here is the largest at any Disney World resort, and you can take the Disney Skyliner gondolas to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. Standard rooms are also available.

Best Disney World resort for swimming : Disney's Yacht and Beach Club Resorts are sister properties near Epcot. The two resorts have rooms that average around $600 per night and share access to Stormalong Bay, the best pool at Disney World . Stormalong Bay is really more than a pool, it is a water park with sand-bottomed pools, a lazy river, an activities pool with a volleyball net and daily pool games and a shipwreck-themed waterslide.

Best Disney World resort for a luxury stay : If the sky is the limit for your Walt Disney World vacation budget, the Copper Creek Cabins at Disney's Wilderness Lodge are some of the finest accommodations you can choose. With two bedrooms, a fireplace, a screened-in porch, a hot tub and lakeside views, these cabins are anything but rustic. The privacy offers you a chance to wind down after a long Disney day, but you are still close enough to take a boat ride to Magic Kingdom and enjoy the amenities and dining in the resort's main lobby.

If you are leaning toward a luxury Disney stay, you may be able to save money by renting Disney Vacation Club (DVC) points. DVC is Disney's version of a timeshare program. DVC members can rent out their points to non-members through sites like David's Vacation Club Rentals , helping you to save hundreds of dollars versus booking directly through Disney. The trade-off is that availability is limited and that the cancellation policies are much less flexible than if you make the reservation direct through Disney.

Read our full guide on the best hotels at Walt Disney World .

Best hotels near Disney World

Disney World also partners with a handful of off-site hotels where you can still take advantage of certain benefits like Early Theme Park Entry and complimentary transportation while also paying less than you would for an official Disney World hotel. These hotels also participate in major hotel points programs, so you can earn or redeem points for your stay.

The Walt Disney World Swan, Dolphin and Swan Reserve hotels all participate in the Marriott Bonvoy program. While not technically Disney hotels, they are located on Disney property between Epcot and Disney's Hollywood Studios. If you are a Marriott Bonvoy elite member , these hotels offer benefits like complimentary upgrades, a welcome amenity and more.

Related: This affordable new Disney Springs hotel includes free hot food and 6 nightly drinks

Disney Springs has seven hotels from brands like Wyndham, Hilton, Holiday Inn and others. All of these are adjacent to the Disney Springs shopping and dining district, and some have room rates that start at close to $100 per night. These can be a great option if you want to save money and don't mind leaving the "Disney bubble" at the end of the day.

Read our full guide to Disney Springs hotels here .

What are the best restaurants at Disney World?

With more than 200 restaurants to choose from, you are going to have to decide which Disney World restaurants you most want to visit. Dining options run the gamut from the predictable burger and fries to an out-of-this-world restaurant in space.

Read our full guide to the best restaurants at Disney World .

Hardest Disney reservations to get (and how to get them)

Many of these restaurants are quick-service or snack stands that don't require advance reservations, but there are a few popular restaurants that book up almost as quickly as reservations become available. If you want to dine with Disney royalty at Cinderella's Royal Table, for example, you'll want to make your reservation as soon as you can. Remember, that is 60 days prior to your visit — if you are staying at a Disney World hotel, you can make reservations for your entire vacation 60 days prior to your check-in day.

Related: 'Be our guest' at these 5 best character dining meals at Walt Disney World

Other reservations that book up quickly include Storybook Dining at Artist Point , Space 220 at Epcot, California Grill, 'Ohana, Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater at Hollywood Studios and Topolino's Terrace, especially for the character breakfast. All of these have great food and atmosphere, making them popular for new and returning guests.

Best quick-service restaurants at Disney that don't require a reservation

Luckily, there are plenty of Disney restaurants with delicious food you can get your hands on without a reservation. Satuli Canteen in Pandora — The World of Avatar at Disney's Animal Kingdom is consistently ranked as one of the best quick-service restaurants anywhere at Disney. The food is fresh, flavorful and surprisingly inexpensive. You can get a build-your-own bowl with beef, chicken or fish for less than $20.

Other must-try quick-service restaurants include Ronto Roasters at Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge (the Ronto Breakfast Wrap is the best handheld meal at Disney!), Columbia Harbour House at Magic Kingdom for New England-inspired fare and Regal Eagle Smokehouse at Epcot for all things barbecue.

Using the Disney app to improve your dining experience

The My Disney Experience app is a must for your Disney World vacation for checking wait times, finding your way around and more. When it comes to dining, you can use it to find walk-up dining availability, score last-minute reservations, see what restaurants are nearby, and place mobile orders at select quick-service restaurants.

When you place a mobile order via the app, you choose what time you would like to pick up your order (with the option to modify if plans change). When you arrive at the restaurant, you can click "I'm here. Prepare my order," and you'll receive a notification on your phone when your food is ready.

Should you buy a Disney Dining Plan?

The cost of dining at Disney can add up quickly, and Disney offers two dining plan options that may help you save money. The Disney Dining Plan lets you prepay for a specified number of meals and snacks for your Disney World vacation. You receive a certain number of meal and snack credits for each night of your stay.

The Disney Dining Plan is both convenient and flexible. By prepaying for your meals and snacks, you won't have to pull out your wallet for every meal and snack, and you aren't required to use a set number of credits each day. You can redeem them anytime during your stay in the way that best works for you.

There are two options — the Disney Quick Service Dining Plan and the Disney Dining Plan. The first is a bit less expensive and allows for more flexibility. The second is best if you plan on more sit-down dining and character meals during your vacation.

Whether or not you can save money with a Disney Dining Plan depends on how you utilize the credits. It is possible to break even or come out ahead if you maximize the value of your credits and actually eat all of the food available on the plan. If you don't use all of your credits, you are essentially leaving money on the table, but our guide can help you out with the math.

Read our full guide to the Disney Dining Plan .

How to save time in line at Disney World

Most Walt Disney World attractions offer a standby line. The only exceptions are new attractions, which will often offer a virtual queue for a limited time after opening. When Disney World is busy, though, standby lines for popular attractions can climb as high as two hours. Luckily, Disney has a service called Disney Genie+ that helps you skip the standby line and get on more attractions with shorter waits.

With Disney Genie+, you can skip the standby line and utilize a much shorter "Lightning Lane" for most attractions. You can only purchase this add-on service on the day of your visit, beginning at midnight (though you will likely be safe waiting until you wake up in the morning except on Disney's busiest days).

The cost of Disney Genie+ varies per park and per day. The service starts at $15 per person per day and occasionally reaches a per-person price of $35 per day during the busy Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season or in April during spring break. You can purchase Genie+ for one of Disney World's four theme parks or a "multiple park" option valid at all four parks when you purchase through the My Disney Experience app.

Most attractions are included in the Disney Genie+ service, but one or two attractions at each park require a separate Lightning Lane purchase to skip the line. It's not necessary to purchase Genie+ to buy individual Lightning Lane selections and vice versa. The individual Lightning Lane attraction pricing varies by attraction but typically ranges between $7 and $25 per person, per attraction.

Read our full guide to Disney Genie+ .

If you are staying in one of Disney's on-site hotels or in select "Good Neighbor" hotels, as mentioned in the section above, you can also save time in line by utilizing Early Theme Park Entry and/or Extended Evening Theme Park Hours. You can get into the parks 30 minutes early with the Early Entry benefit, but you actually want to arrive at the front gates 30-45 minutes before that time. This will give you time to get through security and to the roped-off area where they hold guests, making you one of the first in line to rush to your favorite ride when early entry starts.

Related: Your guide to visiting Disney World with a child on the autism spectrum

If you or someone in your party has a disability that makes it difficult for you to wait in a traditional standby queue, you can also save time by registering for Disney's Disability Access Service (DAS). You need to start the registration process before your visit, and full instructions are available on Disney's website .

How to plan a Disney World trip on a budget

While sensational stories about $2,500 meals at Disney make for good headlines, it is totally possible to visit Disney World on a budget .

Related: Yes, you can visit Disney World on a budget: Here's how I did it

Here are some of the most important things you can do to make your Disney vacation budget manageable:

• Stay at a Disney Value resort like Disney's All-Star Movies Resort or use Marriott points to stay at the Swan, Dolphin and Swan Reserve. Here are the best cards to get those points.
• Utilize Disney's complimentary parking and transportation for on-site guests instead of renting a car.
• Purchase groceries for some meals and snacks, and only buy one or two meals in the parks each day.
• Don't visit the parks every day you are at Disney and stick to one park per day, avoiding park hopping. You can save on tickets by spending a day swimming or visiting Disney Springs.
• Don't forget to periodically check Disney's website for discounts. Even after you book, you may be able to apply a hotel or vacation package discount that can save you even more money.
• Be on the lookout for discounted Disney gift cards to help cover the cost of your trip and/or use points for the tickets.
• Visit during less busy times of the year. Ticket prices are cheapest in August and September, with one-day tickets starting at $109.

Disney World pretrip checklist

Now that you've determined your budget, purchased your tickets, booked your hotel and made a few dining reservations, your trip is nearly planned. There are some other details you'll need to consider to make your trip as magical as it should be. Here's our ultimate Disney World pre-trip checklist:

• Pack accordingly : Depending on when you visit, you could be dealing with heat, humidity, afternoon showers, chilly temperatures or a mix of all of the above. It's important to pack comfortable shoes and clothing no matter when you visit, but you may also want rain gear, sun protection or a warm jacket, depending on the weather. You can read our full Disney World packing guide here .
• Download the My Disney Experience app : This app is an invaluable tool that you will use daily during your visit. You can use it to check everything from wait times to walk-up dining availability. You can also use it to navigate the parks with turn-by-turn walking directions, purchase Disney Genie+ and individual Lightning Lanes and even open your hotel room door.
• Check the park hours before your visit : You can view the park hours on the Walt Disney World website or the My Disney Experience app. Each park has separate opening and closing times, and parks occasionally close early for special events like Halloween and Christmas parties. When you view the park hours, you'll also be able to see times for any parades or fireworks shows happening each day of your visit and plan for early entry or extended theme park hours for eligible on-site hotel guests.
• Check the height requirements for attractions: If you are traveling to Disney World with young children, you can check the height requirements for attractions on Disney World's website or in the My Disney Experience app. There are also measuring stations at all attractions that have a minimum height requirement, but it's better to know ahead of time to avoid tears if your child isn't quite tall enough.
• Know where to find your favorite characters : Most Disney characters have designated meeting times and locations, which you can find in the My Disney Experience app. Booking a character meal can be a great way to meet multiple characters at once, but you can also meet many characters in the parks. Popular meet-and-greets also offer Genie+ Lightning Lane access, which can cut down on the time you spend waiting to meet Mickey, Moana or Cinderella.
• Decide if you want to purchase PhotoPass photos : You can save money on Disney Memory Maker by purchasing in advance before you visit. It's the easiest way to capture your vacation memories and an add-on we highly recommend. You can view and download your photos in the My Disney Experience app.
• Study up on Genie+: As helpful as Genie+ can be, there is a bit of a learning curve. Study up using our Genie+ guide and Disney's own overview before your visit. It's good to know which attractions participate in Genie+, how to reserve Lightning Lane access and how to make the most of the service.
• Plan for downtime: One of the biggest mistakes people make at Disney World is overscheduling their trip and leaving no time for rest and relaxation. If you are visiting for more than a few days, try and schedule a day away from the parks where you swim, explore the other resorts or just lounge around the hotel. It'll help rejuvenate you for the rest of your trip. For shorter trips, you may want to schedule a slow morning or return to your hotel early one day instead of being at the parks from opening to closing every day of your trip.

Read all of our best Disney World tips here .

Bottom line

There you have it — the ultimate guide to visiting Walt Disney World.

In addition to the planning and preparation you've now mastered, there are two very important things you must do during your Disney World vacation — don't overplan and have fun. It's much better to have a short list of "must-do" rides, restaurants and activities than to have a minute-by-minute itinerary that most certainly will not play out exactly how you planned.

Keeping a loose itinerary leaves room for magic moments like stumbling upon a favorite character, noticing a super-short line for a ride or deciding last-minute to watch a parade you happened upon. You can't do everything in one trip anyway, so do the things you can and save the rest for next time when you are a certified Disney pro.

FOR NO-COST-TO-YOU ASSISTANCE IN PLANNING AND BOOKING YOUR DISNEY VACATION, CHECK OUT TPG'S DISNEY BOOKING PARTNER, MOUSE COUNSELORS .

Related reading:

• The best Disney World hotels for your stay
• The 21 most underrated things at Disney World: What to see, do and eat that many guests miss
• Forgetting to do this 1 thing could ruin your Disney trip
• Disney's take on timeshares: Guide to Disney Vacation Club
• 8 Walt Disney World experiences that don't require a park ticket

2024 Disney World Planning Guide

Our Walt Disney World vacation planning guide offers tips & tricks for 2024 on how to avoid crowds, save money & time, with info on Genie+ & Lightning Lanes, best rides, restaurant reviews, and itineraries for Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Animal Kingdom & Hollywood Studios. (Updated February 1, 2024. )

The latest update comes as Walt Disney World is in the midst of more changes to restore normalcy, making the guest experience closer to what it was like in ~2019. With this, theme park reservations have mostly been eliminated, return of the Disney Dining Plan , and resumption of unlimited all-day Park Hopping . Next up is pre-arrival Lightning Lane ride reservations , a system that should closely resemble FastPass+ (but paid).

Beyond the rolling back of temporary changes implemented during the phased reopening and pent-up demand period, a ton is happening and changing at Walt Disney World. There are new attractions, nighttime spectaculars, and other additions on the horizon. We visit the parks regularly, reporting on everything as it happens–if you want to receive updates when discounts are released, new things are announced, etc., sign up to receive our FREE Walt Disney World Email Newsletter .

There are a few important things you need to know if you’re visiting Walt Disney World soon. First, the big new ride is TRON Lightcycle Run in Magic Kingdom. This attraction is very popular and can be difficult to experience due to not having a standby line. Improve your chances for success in scoring virtual queue spots by reading our TRON Lightcycle Run Virtual Queue Strategy Guide & FAQ .

Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at EPCOT, which was the previous big addition, also does not have a standby line. At least, for now. Walt Disney World has been setting up overflow queue and seems poised to ditch the virtual queue for that once the off-season rolls around.

Second, there’s the paid Genie+ service that offers Lightning Lane line skipping service (free FastPass+ was retired a few years ago). This can be purchased in the My Disney Experience app for variable, date-based prices that now differ for each park (Magic Kingdom and Park Hopping are most expensive, costing up to $39 per person, per day plus tax).

Genie can be confusing, but we’ve used and tested Genie+ and Lightning Lanes a ton . Everything you NEED to know, including ride priorities, where it’s NOT necessary to buy Genie+ or Lightning Lanes, and much more is covered in our Guide to Genie+ and Lightning Lanes at Walt Disney World .

If you’re looking for ways to avoid waiting in long lines  without spending extra on Lightning Lanes, see our Best Time-Saving Strategies for Walt Disney World , which covers the best & worst ways to do that in each park–and is accurate for the entirety of 2024. That’s the result of extensive testing, and the optimal methods for outsmarting the crowds aren’t always intuitive. For 3 of the 4 parks, you’re better off using a ‘free’ strategy rather than paying extra for Genie+ and Lightning Lanes!

Winter is also typically ‘refurbishment season’ at Walt Disney World. For a look at what’ll be temporarily unavailable during your trip, see the 2024 Walt Disney World Refurbishment & Closure Calendar , which we update regularly with return and downtime dates. There are some big closures right now, including Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.

The other big closure is Splash Mountain, which permanently closed about a year ago. The good news is that this is also for 2024’s big new attraction: Tiana’s Bayou Adventure . That’s currently scheduled to open sometime this year–the timeline could move forward to Summer 2024…or be delayed until early 2025!

Then there’s the colossal EPCOT overhaul, which is now mostly finished now that new Luminous: The Symphony of Us nighttime spectacular and World Celebration Gardens have debuted. The only thing left is the CommuniCore Hall event space, which will likely debut before Summer 2024.

There’s a lot more on the horizon than just those things–here’s everything exciting being built: What’s New & Coming to Walt Disney World in 2024 & Beyond .

With those updates out of the way, let’s tell you about ourselves and why this guide is useful to your trip planning. We are obviously big Disney fans, but with this guide, we share our objective and unbiased tips. This covers the good and the bad, and the hard realities of planning Walt Disney World trip. We don’t sugarcoat everything or feel the need to put a positive spin on things. A lot about Disney is great, but that’s plenty that’s overpriced and not-so-great. If blunt, honest advice is not for you, there are many other sites that are all-positive.

With hundreds of trips dating back to the 1980s when we were kids, we’ve learned a lot about all things Disney. That now comes full circle as we start taking our daughter to Walt Disney World! We visit every month to see what has changed, taste-test new menu items, analyze crowds, offer recommendations for things you should do on vacation, share updates on construction, and much more.

This guide distills the key things we know about Walt Disney World into something easy to absorb and less overwhelming. Think of this planning guide as WDW101, with everything organized into the most important aspects of planning. The reality is that Walt Disney World is one of the most complicated vacation destinations on earth, and having a smooth and good trip requires doing your homework. With that said, we promise that taking the time to learn about Walt Disney World will be worth it, so let’s get started…

1A. Best Times to Visit for Avoiding Crowds

“When is the best time to visit Walt Disney World?”  This is often the first question readers ask, and it’s not an easy one to answer because it’s subjective. What makes an experience the “best” differs from person to person. With that said, in helping first-timers plan over the course of the last decade-plus, there are usually three distinct components to this:  crowds, cost & fun.

The first two variables are the overriding factors and, thankfully, those are objective. If you’re primarily concerned with avoiding long lines and high wait times, consult our 2024 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendars . That takes into account Orlando area school schedules, conventions, youth sporting events, park hours, special events, and more to provide you with specific dates that are the least and most crowded.

While that’s all about crowds (and can be overwhelming), we also have something more holistic: our list of the  10 Best and 10 Worst Weeks to Visit Walt Disney World in 2024 & 2025 . As the title suggests, that identifies the ‘red flag’ dates to avoid, as well as the ideal times to visit. It’s really more than just 10 weeks, as a number of the good and bad windows are far longer than a single week.

For example, pretty much the entirety of August and September are great from a crowds perspective, but we zero in on a single week that’s the best-balanced (from our perspective) as it combines low crowds, seasonal events, weather, and other factors. Same idea for a number of other dates throughout the year.

Rather than our objective crowd calendars, those are our subjective picks for when to visit. In addition to wait times, those rankings take other things into account: seasonal offerings like Christmas & Halloween, weather, new attractions, and more. If you find the crowd calendars intimidating, go with the Best & Worst Months post instead.

The good news is that, as a general rule, lower prices and crowds coincide with one another. Meaning that if you book your trip around the cheapest dates, you’re more likely to also have lower crowds. Prices are higher and discounts are weaker when crowds are higher, meaning you get hit with a double-whammy if visiting during these times of the year. (Spoiler: the highest prices and crowds both occur when school is out of session.)

1B. Best Times to Visit for Saving Money

The second component is cost. This one is especially significant now, as prices are up across the board. If you’re a first time visitor or it’s been a few years since your last trip, you might be in store for sticker shock. We take a look at this topic in How Much Does a Walt Disney World Vacation Cost? with sample pricing for multiple ‘trip tiers,’ from budget to luxury.

However, it’s not as straightforward as that. Some people don’t realize it, but prices vary significantly based upon when you’re visiting. If you visit for New Year’s Eve, you could end up spending close to double what it costs to visit a few months earlier, in September. Cutting to the chase, here are the Cheapest Times to Go to Walt Disney World .

The good news is that there’s considerable overlap between the cheapest times to visit and the least-crowded times. Visiting during the least-expensive and least-crowded times is entirely possible, and those goals align pretty well. Conversely, the most expensive times are usually also the most expensive.

Intuitively, this should make sense. When demand is highest, prices are highest. Like most other businesses, Walt Disney World charges what the market will bear, raising prices when able and discounting in order to incentivize visits when attendance and hotel occupancy are lower.

To that point, the other good news is that deals are starting to return to Walt Disney World after a couple years of very strong pent-up demand! See All Current Walt Disney World Discounts   for a full rundown of special offers through Spring 2024. There are a TON of discounts available right now, some of which offer up to 40% off hotels!

If you want to save even more money and do WDW as cheaply as possible, we have the 14 Best Tips to Save Money at Walt Disney World in 2024 . Those tips cover a lot of excellent ideas, such as buying discount Disney gift cards or having Groceries Delivered to Your Walt Disney World Hotel Room .

Those are just a handful of ways to save a ton of money on a trip to WDW! It also covers several options for the biggest expense of your trip–lodging. Among other things, you can stay at Walt Disney World’s best resorts for a fraction of full price by renting DVC points .

The idea behind all of these money-saving tips is not cutting corners and compromising on the quality of your vacation. To the contrary, we aim to “cut the fat” from your budget and recommend ways to save while also improving efficiency. Taking grocery delivery as an example–we do not recommend cooking dinner in your room or packing picnic lunches. Instead, we advice ordering nutritious breakfasts (the weakest meal at Walt Disney World restaurants) to have quickly have in your room or on-the-go each morning to save money and time .

1C. Best Times to Visit for Having Fun

Now we’re getting into the much more subjective area of determining when to visit. What makes a time of year more or less fun? Will you enjoy the parks more or less during certain timeframes? That’s really difficult to say. As a general matter, our mantra is this: “A rainy day at Walt Disney World is better than a sunny day at home.”

This is to say that you can have a great Walt Disney World vacation no matter what time of year you visit. The smile and laughter of your child hugging Mickey Mouse for the first time; the delicious taste of a Dole Whip or Citrus Swirl; the sight and sound of fireworks exploding over Cinderella Castle at the end of a long and satisfying day at Magic Kingdom. Absolutely none of that is seasonal. Those joys are possible 365 days of the year at Walt Disney World, and your trip will be made up of moments big and small exactly like those that happen daily.

However, it’s also fair to say that a sunny day is better than a rainy day at Walt Disney World. Most people probably are more comfortable during mild and temperate days than oppressive heat and humidity. Seasonal events can likewise add a lot to the baseline experience, taking a trip from “memorably magical” to “magnificently magical” on our  highly scientific scale of magicalness.

Hopefully you get the point here–that every day at Walt Disney World has the potential to be great, but also, that greatness has its own sliding scale, with weather, seasonal enhancements, and more cranking things up to the next level of magicalness.

The holiday season is our favorite time at Walt Disney World. It’s not even a close call. If we could only visit Walt Disney World one month of the year for the rest of our lives, we’d pick November or December. (Super-specifically, we’d pick the week after Thanksgiving that straddles the two months– that’s our favorite week to go! ) If you’re thinking of a holiday vacation, we’d implore you to start by reading our Ultimate Guide to Christmas at Walt Disney World .

Every park, resort, and Disney Springs gets into the spirit of the season. The last few holiday seasons have been scaled back, first as the parks reopened and then for the 50th Anniversary. With that now over, things are almost 100% normal for Christmas, minus the Cinderella Castle Dream Lights.

Last Christmas, there were two hard ticket events: Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (MVMCP) at Magic Kingdom and the brand-new Disney Jollywood Nights at Hollywood Studios. MVMCP will definitely be back for Christmas 2024, but it remains to be seen whether Jollywood Nights–which received a mixed reception in its inaugural year–comes back for a second season.

There are other seasonal events throughout the year, starting with the EPCOT Festival of the Arts in January and February. Following that is the EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival from March through late May. Notably, Flower & Garden Festival has been shortened by over a month for 2024. Our expectation is that Food & Wine Festival also starts later and EPCOT debuts a new summer festival–but that’s just a guess!

It’s also possible that Magic Kingdom will once again do a special event in Summer 2024. In fact, we’d expect this to occur, with new entertainment debuting and smaller scale additions. Walt Disney World’s big new attraction (Tiana’s Bayou Adventure) won’t be ready in time for Memorial Day, so they’ll need something else to market in the first half of 2024.

Even if a summer-time event doesn’t happen, Pride is celebrated in June, and there are other smaller-scale events spread across the calendar. After Hours parties will once again occur in Summer 2024, too.

The special events kick into high gear in August, which will kick off the 5-month long ‘party season’ at Magic Kingdom. That starts with Halloween time in Magic Kingdom, from August through the 1st of November. Our Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party Guide offers info & tips for Magic Kingdom’s fan-favorite Halloween-themed event.

While it has nothing to do with Halloween, another staple of fall is EPCOT’s annual culinary event. Read our Guide to the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival to prepare for that park’s colossal culinary celebration. This just scratches the surface. You can see everything that happens throughout the year in our Calendar of Seasonal Events at Walt Disney World .

2. How Long to Visit

How long you should stay at Walt Disney World depends largely upon the type of trip it is. If you’re not much of a Disney fan but are taking your kids on a “once in a lifetime” rite of passage trip, we recommend a Walt Disney World vacation of at least 6 or 7 days. The exact length will still vary a bit depending upon how much vacation time you have and if you plan on visiting non-Disney theme parks or destinations.

In addition to visiting Disney’s theme parks, you’ll also probably want to build a day into your itinerary for relaxation, and this is good to plug into the middle of your trip so you don’t get worn out by the theme parks. The other consideration for planning trips to Walt Disney World might be how much time to spend doing other things.

You might want to do Orlando-area theme parks like Universal, SeaWorld, or Busch Gardens. We recommend at least a couple of days at Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure. Use our Universal Orlando Resort Trip Planning Guide for strategy. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is absolutely mind-blowing, even if you’re not a fan of the books. The new Jurassic World VelociCoaster is the best roller coaster in all of Orlando–and that’s just one of several excellent recent additions.

We also have a post titled Walt Disney World vs. Universal Orlando that covers a lot of the pros and cons of visiting Universal. If you want to broaden your horizons and do something beyond Central Florida’s world-class theme parks, check out our 50 Things to Do in Orlando, Florida (Outside Disney’s Parks) . That covers beaches, manatee-watching, outlet malls, and much more.

3. Booking Vacation Packages

Vacations booked via DisneyWorld.com cover some combination of hotel, park tickets, and dining. Sometimes these packages offer excellent savings off rack rates, sometimes they’re merely full price elements of the trip bundled together. If you’re looking further into the future, 2024 Walt Disney World Vacation Packages are now available! (For those already wanting to plan 2025 WDW vacations, you’ll need to wait until late June or early July 2024, unfortunately.)

If you’re already overwhelmed, you might want to consider using a travel agent. If you go this route, look for one who primarily or exclusively does Disney-related bookings. As you can probably gather already, planning a Walt Disney World vacation is incredibly complex. If a travel agent doesn’t specialize in Disney, they probably won’t know the many nuances of Walt Disney World vacations. (For this reason, we don’t recommend AAA or Costco, even though some of their agents have Disney knowledge.)

Most travel agents specializing in Disney are “no fee” agencies, meaning that it costs you no more to book through them than it does to book through Disney (they get commission from Disney). If you are unsure of which package might be best for you–or need personalized help with any aspect of your trip–we recommend contacting a no fee “Authorized Disney Vacation Planner” ( here’s why we recommend one ) to get a quote and to help you plan. Request a quote from our recommended Authorized Disney Vacation Planner here .

4. Park Tickets

If you opt to book things yourself and without a vacation package, we recommend buying your tickets from an authorized third party ticket seller to save money. Read our Tips for Buying Discount Walt Disney World Tickets post for everything you need to know about choosing the right tickets and saving money on them.

Normally, prices increase in February and/or October. They increased twice two years ago, with the second occurring later than usual in December. Last year, the only admission costs that increased were on Annual Passes, which raises a question about whether tickets will increase again in December, or if Walt Disney World is waiting until February 2024. Either way, it’s not a bad idea to buy now to lock-in current prices no matter when you’re visiting between now and December 31, 2024.

If all you want to know is where to safely buy the cheapest, legitimate Walt Disney World multi-day tickets from an authorized reseller click here to buy via Get Away Today , our recommended & Disney-authorized ticket seller.

Disney’s mantra is “the longer you play, the less you pay per day.” It’s corny but true. Single-day Walt Disney World tickets are expensive , but multi-day tickets are much cheaper per day. The cost of additional days on a ticket substantially decreases with each day you add after 3 days. In other words, longer trips are not proportionately more expensive than shorter ones.

This is just one of the many tips we cover in our post about saving money on Walt Disney World park tickets . Whatever you do, don’t wait to buy your tickets at the front gates of the parks or on eBay…they won’t work!

5. Where to Stay

One of the very best posts on this blog is our Walt Disney World Hotel Reviews page . We have stayed at every Disney hotel, plus many off-site ones. That page offers links to each of our hotel reviews, room photos, thoughts on the amenities, pros & cons, and more.

When deciding whether to pay the premium prices that Disney-owned hotels charge, one important consideration for many will be on-site perks. Unfortunately, there aren’t many anymore–basically just some extended hours (see our Guide to Early Entry at Walt Disney World ), location, theme, and more convenient transportation. Since reopening, many benefits have been eliminated–either permanently or temporarily. Read about this in Is Walt Disney World’s On-Site Advantage Disappearing or Reappearing ?

When pricing out Walt Disney World hotels, you’re bound to have some sticker shock. Prices have gone up considerably in the last few years, and discounts are not nearly as abundant as they once were. If your budget is tight but you still want on-site luxury, consider getting a quote from Disney Vacation Club point rental company ( click here to book with the cheapest point DVC rental company ).

For more info about renting points, you might want to read our Guide to Renting Disney Vacation Club Points article. This is a great way to save money on nicer accommodations than you otherwise might be able to afford.

If you’re going to stay on-site at Walt Disney World, the three main tiers are Value, Moderate, and Deluxe, which are exactly what their names sound like they are. There’s also a Deluxe Villa tier, which is basically Disney-speak for “timeshare room.” Looking for the best hotel in each tier? Check out the following posts ranking the various Disney hotels:

• Value Resort Hotel Rankings
• Moderate Resort Hotel Rankings
• Deluxe Resort Hotel Rankings
• Deluxe Villa (Disney Vacation Club) Resort Rankings

Debating whether to stay off-site to save money or on-site at Walt Disney World for convenience and to be immersed in the magic? We have an Off-Site vs. On-Site Walt Disney World Hotels article that goes into great depth about the pros and cons of both options.

If you’re also visiting other theme parks in Central Florida, one alternative is to stay off-site. Our Universal Orlando Hotel Rankings & Reviews covers the pros & cons of those resorts, many of which we love for their locations, theme, on-site perks, and value for money. Additionally, refer to Universal Orlando v. Walt Disney World Resorts for a comparison between Disney’s and Universal’s hotels to see what each does better.

6. What to Pack

It might sound hard to believe, but packing for Walt Disney World offers ways to save money and improve your experience. There are some wrinkles to Walt Disney World that make packing a bit different, and by bringing certain “clever” (we think) items in your luggage, you will improve your experience. We go over the best stuff in our Walt Disney World Unique Packing List .

Two of our favorite examples from that list are Frogg Toggs Chilly Pads and this Compact External Charger . Seriously, you’ll wonder how you ever travelled without these (and many other) items on our list!

One of the most important things to pack for Walt Disney World is comfortable shoes. This can trip people up, as you probably walk  far, far less at home than you will at Walt Disney World. Suffice to say, what’s best for logging tens of thousands of steps could differ from your day-to-day footwear. See our picks for the Best Shoes to Wear at Walt Disney World for guidance–and be sure to plan ahead, breaking in your shoes before your trip!

Comfort is also key when planning your clothes for Walt Disney World–and weather can make that challenging. If you’re going in the colder months, check out our Packing for Disney in Winter post. For summer months, read Tips for Beating the Summer Heat at Disney .

7. Itineraries & Attraction Advice

Having an itinerary is a big deal, even for some frequent Walt Disney World guests. Some visitors create binders, spreadsheets, and schedule every step of their day. People get serious and obsessive about this. We are not those people. Planning is important, but going to those lengths is unnecessarily stressful and creates unrealistic and rigid plans. The best laid plans often go awry, and when that inevitably happens, it can be disappointing if you’ve over-planned.

With that said, we also recommend first-time visitors do not “wing it” for your daily itinerary . You don’t need to plan every movement so that there’s no spontaneity in your trip, just make sure you have at least a loose plan of what you’re going to do. As with most things in life, balance and moderation are key.

We have the following flexible step by step plans for each park that cover our perfect days using standby-only:

• 1-Day Magic Kingdom Park Itinerary
• 2-Day Magic Kingdom Park Itinerary
• 1-Day Epcot Itinerary Park Itinerary
• 1-Day Animal Kingdom Park Itinerary
• 1-Day Hollywood Studios Park Itinerary

For step-by-step single day itinerary using Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, see these itineraries:

• 1-Day at Magic Kingdom with Genie+ and Lightning Lanes
• 1-Day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios with Genie+ and Lightning Lanes
• 1-Day at Epcot with Genie+ and Lightning Lanes
• 1-Day at Animal Kingdom with Genie+ and Lightning Lanes

Additionally, we have itineraries for Universal Orlando offering the same type of step by step advice:

• 1-Day Universal Studios Florida Itinerary
• 1-Day Islands of Adventure Itinerary
• 1-Day Universal Park Hopping Itinerary ( both Islands of Adventure & Universal Studios Florida )

If you’d prefer to create your own itinerary, we recommend reading our Disney Parks Ride Guides and getting a rough idea of which attractions you want to do:

• Magic Kingdom Park & Attraction Guide
• Epcot Park & Attraction Guide
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios Park & Attraction Guide
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park & Attraction Guide

We also have guides for the Walt Disney World water parks and Disney Springs:

• Blizzard Beach Water Park Guide
• Typhoon Lagoon Water Park Guide
• Disney Springs Shopping & Entertainment District Guide

With that said, we’d strongly recommend using our pre-made Walt Disney World Park Itineraries . Those step by step guides are maximized for efficiency, and will save far more time than ones you put together yourself, or just winging it. These are good, flexible itineraries that offers attractions, dining, and other things to enjoy without going crazy with mapping out every bathroom stop of your day.

Those with small children should also know that some Walt Disney World rides have height restrictions, requiring kids be a certain number of inches tall (usually 38 to 44″) in order to experience. Measuring sticks are outside attractions with a requirement, and kids who do not meet the minimum height are not allowed to enter the line. There are no age requirements for any attractions. See  Height Requirements at Walt Disney World for a comprehensive list, updated with Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.

Attractions that have height requirements also offer Rider Switch (also known as child swap, baby switch, rider swap, or parent swap). This is Walt Disney World’s system that allows parents with small children to take turns experiencing thrill rides and other attractions with height requirements via Lightning Lanes. See our  Guide to Rider Switch at Walt Disney World   for everything you need to know about this service. If eligible, it can save you a ton of time.

8. Where to Eat

A lot of the posts on this blog detail dining at Walt Disney World, which is a surprisingly complex (and fun!) topic. The most important thing for first-timers to know is that the tired stereotype that Disney dining is all burgers, hot dogs, and other fast food is not even remotely true. Disney has a lot of wonderful dining options that can be an experience in themselves.

To figure out where to eat, consult our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews page. That page has reviews of 75+ restaurants at Walt Disney World, plus other resources like our Magic Kingdom Counter Service Restaurant Rankings , and lots of other specific topics. Another great post with random quick-tips is our 101 Walt Disney World Dining Tips post.

Good dining experiences can make a trip, so if you only read more on one topic in this guide, make it dining. We know a number of people who have had their opinions of Walt Disney World changed for the better simply because they “discovered” the right places to eat.

If you’re starting the planning process far in advance, you might want to subscribe to our free newsletter for updates . We also provide subscribers with news from the parks, and have given a heads up on Free Dining and ticket price increases before they have been officially announced. This makes the newsletter especially handy for scoring discounts and being in the know as to what’s going on before your trip.

It’s also worth noting that if you’re trying to do “Disney on a Dime,” one of the easiest ways to save money is to not eat at Walt Disney World restaurants. Dining at Disney is expensive, and unlike park tickets, it’s not mandatory . You can save a lot of money by eating off-site, or better yet, getting groceries and preparing your own meals. We have a comprehensive Tips for Buying Groceries at Walt Disney World post that covers grocery delivery, local stores, and much more.

Even if you don’t want to make your own meals, grocery delivery is great for getting fruit and other small grab and go snacks, both of which are really over-priced at Walt Disney World. It’s also excellent for beer–for less than the cost of a single beer in the parks, you can have a 6-pack delivered to your hotel room!

9. Transportation

Walt Disney World transportation can be hit or miss, and can take a lot of time. For the most efficient transit options, read our Time-Saving Walt Disney World Transportation Tips post. This covers shortcuts, when to use buses v. monorail v. boats v. your feet, and more!

One of the other big considerations is whether you want to stay at a Walt Disney World hotel that offers a unique form of transportation, such as the monorails to Magic Kingdom or EPCOT, or the boats, walking paths, or Skyliner to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and EPCOT. These can be a huge time-saver.

Disney’s Magical Express has now ended, and following a merger of two competitors, it’s indirect replacement is essentially Mears Connect Driven by Sunshine. This does cost money, but otherwise it’s roughly analogous to Disney’s Magical Express–it’s even operated by the same vendor that ran Disney’s Magical Express (same buses and everything, just no Disney branding!). For a broad overview of alternatives, see our Airport Transportation Guide to Walt Disney World .

An alternative to a rental car is Lyft (or the Minnie Van service powered by Lyft) or Uber. For the basics on using these ride-sharing services, read our Tips for Using Lyft or Uber at Walt Disney World post. This post also shares the easiest way to get to Universal Orlando Resort (in case you want to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, too)

10. What Else to Do

Your imagination is really the limit here. Most first-time visitors only know about the theme parks, Disney Springs, and the water parks. That’s just the surface of what Walt Disney World has to offer. There are tours, golf, fishing, nightlife, shopping, fireworks cruises, babysitting, spas, and much more. An exhaustive list would ultimately be longer than the rest of this already long blog post!

Most of our favorite things are couples or adult-oriented, which you can read about on our Walt Disney World for Adults page . Honeymooners (aka “Disneymooners”) should read our Walt Disney World Honeymoon Tips article. Here are some other posts that cover “other stuff” at Walt Disney World, and other ways to improve your vacation, that don’t really fit the categories above:

• Free Things to Do at Walt Disney World
• Best Magic Kingdom Fireworks Viewing Spots
• Best Harmonious at Epcot Fireworks Viewing Spots
• Tips for Celebrating at Walt Disney World
• First-Timer Tips for Walt Disney World

If all of this is really overwhelming, we (again) recommend contacting an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner and letting them do the work for you. This is Disney’s term for their affiliated travel agents, and the huge upside to them is that they don’t charge for their services–Disney pays them directly at no cost to you! Click here to get a vacation quote from our recommended no fee Authorized Disney Vacation Planner .

Remember, what’s in this post is just a starting point. To recap, you’ll also want to read our When to Visit Walt Disney World post for the best time of year to plan your trip. If saving money is important, read Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post to buy the cheapest tickets from legitimate sources. To figure out where to stay, our Walt Disney World Hotel Reviews page is a great resource. Want to know where to eat or if the Disney Dining Plan is right for you? Our Walt Disney World Dining Resources will help!

These are just a few of many posts mentioned in this article that will provide the foundation for your planning…but these 4 other posts are probably the most important of the bunch! If you enjoyed this Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide, please help us out by sharing it with your friends via social media. We put a lot of ongoing work into this, and hope it’s as helpful as possible to as many trip planners as possible. Thank you so much for your support–we really appreciate it!

Your Thoughts

Are you visiting Walt Disney World in 2024? If you are a Walt Disney World veteran, what tips would you add to this? If you’re a first-timer, is there anything else you’d like to know? Are you excited to experience the parks for Disney’s 100th Anniversary, or will you wait until Tiana’s Bayou Adventure opens or more on-site perks are restored? We love hearing from readers, whether it be questions from newbies or tips from seasoned Disney pros with tips of their own to add!

Written by Tom Bricker

I will l spend my first full day at Disney World on a Sunday should I go to the magic kingdom, Epcot or Hollywood studios first to avoid crowds? Going the first week of March.

Every traveler must read this crucial information before visiting Disney for tourism. I love the way you write for travelers this is easy to understand and the information itself is quality content.

Hey Tom! Will you do an article on how to navigate busy times of year like spring break? We have historically been off season travelers to avoid crowds but older kids in school prevent us from being able to do so and I am a bit anxious about what to expect during spring break and how to best manage the crowds!

Hi Tom, my wife and I are planning a trip to Disney World after Thanksgiving to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. We have never been to Disney World and want to make the most of our time (and money). We are really good at Genie+(Disneyland) and are willing to arrive for rope drop and stay until the parks close.

Which of the following 2 options would you recommend? 1. A 4-Day Park Hopper and do MK on a MVMCP day and park hop to HS. On another day, do a half day at HS and park hop to MK to enjoy the evening with fireworks and the “Frozen” Castle Experience 2. A 3-Day Base Ticket and 1-Party Night Ticket (Jollywood Nights or MVMCP)

Hi Tom. Myself and my family spent 2 weeks in Orlando middle of August, including 5 days at WDW and we would like to thank you very much for all the advice you give. I read all of your blogs and the advice/information was so valuable to help us to get the best out of our holiday (we are from UK so we can’t visit as often as we would like!). Using Early Entry, Extended Evening Hours and very quick fingers on the Virtual Queues, we were able to do everything we wanted to do and much more!! The only thing that went wrong was when after doing Early Entry at MK we took the monorail back to our hotel (Yacht Club) via Epcot forgetting that we would technically be park-hopping so are restricted by the 14:00 rule. We arrived to EPCOT just after 13:00 so had to wait a bit. It was only a minor issue but thought I would mention as reminder to anyone else. We also learnt through this incident that although Park Hopping is officially allowed from 14:00, you can tap through from 13:45. Again, might be useful for others… We are already starting to plan our next trip and I continue to read your blogs every day! Thanks again and hope everything goes well with the baby!

Hi Tom! Do you have any articles or good tips for room requests (timing, method, hotel cast member insight, etc)? I would really appreciate it! I am a bit of a Disney veteran, but the art of the room request has eluded me (for example, old online articles suggest faxing things – that can’t possibly still be applicable, right??) – and if I ever post any questions on Facebook groups, the comment section eventually spirals into negativity and chaos. Thanks!

Hi! Thank you for everything you do, it is such a huge help when planning a Disney world trip when I’m used to just going to Disneyland. Do you have any tips on booking flights? Such as when is the best time to book, how far in advance and recommendations on which website to book through?

This information is crucial for every traveler. It is common to encounter health issues during our journeys, which is why this comprehensive guidance blog is essential for everyone. I greatly appreciate your kind words about the post, and I’m glad that the information shared in the article has proven helpful to you. bali tours

Hi Tom! Any tips for doing the Parks in the rain? We’ve been waiting months and see there maybe showers when we’re there next week. Thanks

Tom, My family and I planned for a 2-day Epcot experience in June. I am using your itineraries for the other parks and I thought I’d ask if you have a 2-day for Epcot?

Just amazing help for us in planning our vacation – thanks, Tom!

This is in dire need of updating. Rock n Roller Coaster is down, Toyland is open and fabulous, we did Lightning Lane at Rise of the Resistance. And more.

Have you heard anything about package service returning? It seems advantageous for Disney. I wouldn’t buy a large collectible if I have to carry it around all day. Having it sent to my hotel would’ve been nice.

I have not heard anything about that specifically, but I have recently been hearing about very big, very comprehensive announcement plans to coincide with 2024 Walt Disney World vacation packages. Normally, that news would be released in June or July, but I suspect it might be coming earlier this year.

Again, no clue if resort package delivery is among the changes (it was not one of the things mentioned to me), but it very well could be given the potential scope and scale of the news.

Hey Tom! What do you know about Typhoon Lagoons re-opening for 2023? I was thinking about adding the water park option to my annual pass renewal but wasn’t sure it would be worth it if both aren’t open. Thanks!

I’m grateful you recommended we consider opting for a week-long Walt Disney World vacation if we want the kids to enjoy the experience and all the attractions available without wearing them out. I’m planning to take my kids to Disneyworld this spring, so I was wondering how I should plan the trip. I’ll keep your suggestion in mind while I look for a Disney VIP tour to book in advance soon.

Hello Tom, I tried to use the code DTB5 at get away today and it says code is invalid?? Do you have another code that can be used? Also I love Sarah’s Mickey Mouse purse, where did she buy it I have to get one!! Thanks Lori

The Get Away Today website tells me that the DTB5 discount code is invalid, so this article may need further updating (that or there is an error on their side – just thought you should know).

This article is awesome. It was wonderful and I really like it. Thanks for sharing this post.

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Home » Walt Disney World » Planning and Tips

2024 Disney World Planning Guide | How to Plan a Disney Vacation

By Author Ziggy Oskwarek

Posted on Last updated: March 18, 2024

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Planning a trip to Walt Disney World in 2024 or 2025? We know it’s stressful, but don’t worry, our Disney World Vacation Guide will give you everything you need to know to get ready for your upcoming trip!

Whether you are looking for information about the Disney World Parks, hotels, dining, transportation, the best rides, how to save money, or how to avoid the crowds, we have you covered in this guide. Think of it as Disney World Vacation Planning 101.

This guide is especially great for beginners who have never been to Disney World or go rarely, but we also pack in a lot of good tips for regular guests too.

While we do have some of the most important tips & info on this page, we don’t have ALL the answers directly written out here. This guide organizes some of the best Disney planning content into categories giving you an overview of what you are looking for and then links to more in-depth guides on each subject.

In this post we will specifically cover:

• How to Plan a Disney World Vacation
• What You Need to Know BEFORE Going
• When to Visit Disney World in 2024
• Important Disney Vocab
• Where to Stay
• Buying Tickets
• Rides & Attractions
• Dining & Restaurants
• Disney Planning Timeline, & more…

Since this guide covers a lot of the planning steps of your whole trip in general, if you are looking for specific info on the Disney World Parks , then check out the following links:

• Magic Kingdom
• Hollywood Studios
• Animal Kingdom

Unfortunately, Disney World is one of the most complicated vacation destinations in the world. We know planning a Disney World vacation has become one of the most frustrating exercises and you’d just like to be there already having fun. Hopefully, we can help you do that as painlessly as possible.

We’ve been going to Walt Disney World multiple times per year since the early 1980s when we were babies, and we continue to spend way too much time there today trying all the new food, rides, events, and hotels. To say we are huge Disney fans would be an understatement.

The byproduct of countless hours spent visiting Disney World means that we have some valuable tips that we are eager to share with you. We aren’t going to lie, it will take some work on your end. But in the long run, it will be invaluable for your trip. Let’s get right into it…

Table of Contents

Changes in 2024 and 2025

Going to Walt Disney World in 2024 or 2025 is a MUCH different experience than it was just a couple years ago, and different again from even last year.

Unless you’ve been hiding in a cave for the last few years, you know that the parks closed down in 2020, and when they reopened Disney installed many new procedures to let guests back to the parks.

Thankfully, for the most part, the Disney theme parks have gotten back to normal again, and the restrictions Disney put in have gone away one by one. The Walt Disney World vacation experience should be “close to normal” once again.

For example, Fireworks are back with nighttime spectaculars happening in the parks nightly.

Many stage shows like Festival of the Lion King, Beauty & the Beast Live on Stage, and Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular are back. There are still some missing, but the lineup of entertainment is heads and shoulders above where it was not too long ago. Not to mention, the overwhelming majority of attractions and restaurants have also returned.

If it’s been a few years, there are a ton of new attractions you have to experience, EPCOT in particular has gone through a pretty big transformation and the construction walls are almost all down now. There are still a lot of additions Disney would like to finish at some point during 2024, including what’s left of the massive EPCOT overhaul project .

There are also new hotel projects on the way including the new DVC tower at Disney’s Polynesian Resort and the Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort .

This should be a great time to visit, but if you are worried about the changes, you may want to wait until the end of the year.

That’s what to expect this year, now let’s get into some of the Disney vacation planning basics.

How to Plan a Disney Vacation

Believe it or not, some of the most important planning steps of your Disney World trip happen as much as one year BEFORE your vacation starts, or even more.

Some things you are going to have to think about are:

• What dates do I want to go? Are those dates flexible?
• What is my budget?
• What type of hotel do I want to stay in?
• How many days do I want to go to the theme parks?

The most important suggestion we can give you is to get organized. The more work you do before your trip to plan everything out, the easier things will be for you and your family once you get there.

Can You Go to Disney World Without Planning?

As always in life, what you CAN do and what you SHOULD do are two entirely different things, and that is also true in this case.

Yes, it is physically possible to go to Disney World without planning your trip, but I would highly recommend against such an action. Organizing everything months ahead of time is a lot of work and a big pain, but it is vital if you want to have a successful trip.

Your choice of hotel will be severely limited if you don’t book it well in advance. You won’t be able to get dining reservations at the best restaurants in Disney World. You won’t know which attractions to reserve with Genie+. Right now, you can’t even get into the parks without a prior reservation.

If you are looking to go to a destination where you can just “wing it” and not have to make any plans ahead of time, we recommend choosing another destination besides Disney World.

How Do I Start Planning a Trip to Disney World?

STEP 1: Write down notes. There are going to be a lot of details, prices, and dates to remember so get a dedicated notebook for your upcoming trip. If you prefer, you can take notes on your phone or computer, but make sure you have a way of jotting down notes in a convenient place where you will be able to find them.

STEP 2: Set a Budget. Make no mistake about it, a trip to Walt Disney World is expensive and costs can add up very quickly. So before you start choosing how many days you want to stay, your hotel, and ticket types, make a budget. It will be much easier to organize your vacation if you already have an idea of how much you are willing to spend.

STEP 3: Get familiar with Disney World. Even if you are not ready to book your vacation yet, start reading up on Disney World and familiarize yourself with all the locations, attractions, restaurants, and special events. A website like this is one way to do that, but also look through the official Walt Disney World website and download the My Disney Experience app on your mobile device.

STEP 4: Choose your Dates. These don’t have to be written in stone, but we recommend at least having some idea of when you would like to plan your trip for. Later in this guide, we will show you how to decide on those dates.

Once you get these four things done, you are ready to start planning the details.

When Should I Start Planning My Disney Trip?

When is the best time to start planning a Disney World vacation? We recommend to start planning as soon as possible , but at least one year before you plan to go.

The sooner you start planning your Disney vacation, the better. In fact, once you finish reading this guide, you should start writing ideas down for your trip.

As you will see in our vacation planning timeline, some of the first steps can be completed as many as 499 days before your vacation starts.

We believe the sooner you start the process of organizing your trip, the better. Starting now will give you a leg up on other guests when it comes to getting reservations for dining, hotel rooms, the parks, and any special events you want to attend+. I will also make you aware of discounts to save money on your trip.

What Do I Need to Know Before Going to Disney World?

Here are 9 main things to know about Disney World before going:

• There are 4 Theme Parks in Disney World: Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom
• There are 2 Water Parks: Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon
• 31 Resort Hotels to stay in.
• There are countless Outdoor Activities to do such as swimming, fishing, golf, boating, and more.
• WDW has 5 golf courses and 2 mini-golf courses .
• Disney Springs is the nighttime entertainment hub with dozens of first-class restaurants and shops
• You can catch a Dinner Show at the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue or dine at one of the many character meals .
• It is a self-contained city with its own fire department, water treatment, waste disposal, and power generation.
• Disney World is HUGE at 25,000 acres. That means travel time can be long between two places.

How Many Days do you Need for Disney World?

There is really no wrong answer to how many days you need for a trip to Walt Disney World, and it depends on many factors, including if this is your first trip or not.

• The ideal Disney World vacation is 7 days long . That allows for 2 travel days (arrival and departure), and 5 open days to visit the parks and have fun.
• The bare minimum we recommend for first-timers is 5 days , ideally with an early arrival and late departure.

In fact, most Disney World vacations are between 4 to 7 days long. That gives you enough time to visit all the theme parks at least once, and have extra time for staying at the resort and swimming or shopping.

If you want to visit any other Orlando-based attractions like Universal Studios, for example, you can still do that in 6-7 days total.

It’s possible to visit Walt Disney World in only 3 or 4 days, but you will feel very rushed. You can make the highlights of each park, but you won’t really have time to do all the rides, see all the shows and take in the details.

One thing to keep in mind is the longer your trip, the less you pay per day for your park tickets. So in a way, it’s advantageous to stay longer than only 5 days.

If you have the time and money , we recommend doing a 9 or 10-night stay and really taking the time to soak it all in. That gives you enough time to visit all 4 parks multiple times, and have days off to relax.

How Much Does a Trip to Disney World Cost?

Let’s get to the bottom line…how much does a Disney World vacation really cost?

Everyone has different budgets, so the cost is going to depend on how many days you go, how many people are in your group, and how you like to vacation. Our Guide to Doing Disney World on a Budget will help you with more of the details.

The major costs to consider for a Disney World vacation are:

• Park Tickets
• Souvenirs/Shopping

We’ve made our estimated costs based on a family of 4 on a 5-Night vacation to Walt Disney World in the Summer, with 4 days of theme park passes.

For a family of 4, a Walt Disney World vacation in 2024 costs: $5,895.26 , $7,378.61 , or $10,757.96 . These prices include the above expenses and are broken down our price estimates into 3 categories: Budget , Moderate , and Expensive .

• For a family of 2 adults , the prices change to: $3,667.10, $4,684.80, and $7,323.00 .
• For a family of 3, the prices change to: $4,689.19, $5,861.19, and $8,768.94 .
• For a family of 5, the prices change to: $8,862.35, $10,005.00, and $12,203.90 .

Of course, there are many more factors to take into consideration, especially the time of year you visit. We calculated these prices based on a Summer vacation, but they can change by hundreds of dollars in either direction, so keep that in mind.

Read our post on the Average Cost to go to Disney World for more details and how to save money on your trip.

Should I Use a Disney Travel Agent?

One option you might want to consider is using an authorized Disney Vacation Planner when planning your trip. Even though there is a ton of great information on the internet to read, sometimes it’s just too much and you prefer having someone take care of the work for you.

The nice thing is most Disney travel agents don’t cost any extra money to work with. That means you can have someone personalize your trip for you and make the tough reservations, all for free. In fact, most of the time, using an agent will actually SAVE you money since they know when the discounts come out.

Using an authorized Disney vacation planner, your trip will be much better organized, less stressful, and save you money.

If you like the hands-off approach to trip planning, we highly recommend Rene Cittadino and her amazing team from Show You the World Travel. We’ve worked with Rene and her team of experts many times before and she is our Disney Travel Planner of choice.

• Contact René at Show You the World Travel for all your trip planning needs, including a FREE quote.

List Your Priorities

There is way too much to do at Walt Disney World, no matter how long your trip is. That means you need to make a priority list of must-dos.

• Is there a restaurant you absolutely must go to? Write it into the schedule.
• What are the attractions you have to do at each park?
• Which shows do you want to see?
• Which characters?

When we are planning a trip to Disney World, we put all the must-dos in one column and then find a place for them in the program. We also have a secondary list of things we’d like to do if time allows, and we fill in the cracks with those.

When to Visit in 2024 or 2025?

Above all things, deciding when to visit Disney World is the most important decision you have to make when planning your trip.

Factors such as crowds, price, weather, and special events should all be taken into consideration when choosing your dates. Unfortunately for some, it’s not always up to us to decide. If you have children in school, you might be forced to only choose dates during the holidays or summer break, and those can be the worst times to visit.

Let’s look at some of the factors, meanwhile, our post on The Best Times to Visit Disney World goes into more depth.

The crowds are probably our most important factor in deciding when to go to Disney World. Trust us, there is nothing worst than going to Disney World when the parks are their busiest.

Crowds at Disney World tend to follow the school calendar, which means holidays and the Summer are when they are at peak levels. If you can avoid going during those times you will be better off, but sometimes this is not possible, especially if you have to take your kids out of school.

Read our 2024 Disney World Crowd Calendar post to see which months are the busiest and least busy.

Whether in Orlando, Florida can be brutal for a good part of the year with scorching temperatures and unbearable humidity. Even though it’s known for sunshine, Disney World also gets tons of rain during some months.

The best weather for the parks tends to be from November to March when the climate is mild and there are few rainy days. You also need to know when there are Hurricanes at Walt Disney World and how to avoid them.

What is the Cheapest Time to Go to Disney World?

Going to Disney World is expensive, so planning a vacation for cheap can be a huge help to many guests. So what is the cheapest time to go?

Disney World offers the best rates and the biggest discounts during the off-season when kids are at school. Prices are the highest during the summer and during holidays. Things like ticket prices, airfare, and hotel rooms are all more expensive during those times.

If saving money is important to you, try booking your trip in January, February, or September.

Read our post on the Cheapest times to go to Disney World for more info and tips for guests on a budget.

Special Events

Disney can throw quite the party, and many people come to Disney World specifically for the yearly special events put on. Depending on your needs, you might want to come during one of the events or avoid them altogether.

Here are some of the biggest special events to make note of in 2024:

• Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend (January 3-7, 2024)
• EPCOT International Festival of the Arts (January 12- February 19, 2024)
• EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival (February 28 – Early July, 2024)
• EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival (Mid-July – Mid-November, 2024)
• Walt Disney World 100th Year Celebration (Most of 2024)
• Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party (Select nights from Mid-August – October 31, 2024)
• Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (Select nights November and December 2024)
• EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays (Late November – December 30th, 2024)

Park Pass Reservations

Right now in 2024, Park Pass Reservations are no longer required for most ticket types (there are some exceptions for Annual Passholders and other special tickets) , and for the most part you no longer have to worry about park capacity.

If your ticket type does require Park Pass Reservations, make sure there are open dates for the parks you want before booking your trip, then once you buy your tickets, make your park pass reservations so you are sure to get in.

However, the good news is that park reservations are no longer required for the majority of ticket holders starting January 9, 2024.

We explain it all in our post on how to make Disney Park Pass reservations .

New Attractions

If you love attractions, then you might want to plan your trip around some of the new rides that are opening up. This is especially true if you’ve been to Disney World many times before and want to hold out until something else is new.

Here are the biggest new attractions opening in 2024:

• Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
• Test Track 3.0
• New Country Bear Jamboree Show

We have been spoiled with a lot of new attractions over the past few years.

EPCOT has been a big focus of recent additions with our favorite being Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind which opened on May 27, 2022, and it has immediately become the most popular ride in EPCOT and a must-do on your visit.

Other new EPCOT attractions include Moana: Journey of Water , Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure , Space 220 Restaurant , and the new Luminous The Symphony of US Fireworks Show .

The TRON: Lightcycle Run Roller Coaster similarly has been a smashing success at Magic Kingdom when it opened on April 2nd of 2023.

Those are just a taste of what’s coming next. Read our guide on New Rides Coming to Disney World which will help you decide when to plan your trip.

What Month is the Best to Go to Disney World?

In general, we find that January and September are the best months to visit Disney World .

Both are incredibly quiet times of the year. January has nicer park weather for long days in the park. September can be wonderfully quiet if you can endure 90-degree days.

For a variety of reasons, we feel that September and May will also be great months at Disney World in 2024. Read our post on Disney World – Month by Month Rankings for a comparison of each one.

Wait Until 2025?

Unlike in 2020-2022 years, most of the health restrictions have now been removed from the Disney parks, making it much more like a normal visit. In our opinion, most guests don’t have reason to be fearful like at the beginning of the reopening.

If you have been waiting for a couple of years to visit, 2024 and 2025 may be the perfect opportunity for your perfect Disney World vacation with all that is coming down the pipeline.

Our article “Should you visit Disney World in 2024?” can help make the case for each year and includes the positives and negatives for both.

No matter what dates you have in mind, check out our post “How Far in Advance Can You Book a Disney Vacation?” That will give you the full timeline and let you know when to get started.

Limited Experiences & Closures

Some of the normal experiences guests are used to at Disney World are not running right now. Since a Disney World vacation is not cheap, this can be a huge factor in deciding whether it’s worth the cost at this time.

Some of the things missing are:

• Some Stage Shows
• Fewer Street Entertainers
• Fewer Characters in the parks

This is another problem brought on by the fact that Disney is not able to find enough cast members to fill the roles required for all the positions in the parks. That’s why we still have limited entertainment options compared to a few years ago.

Thankfully, we have seen the return of fireworks to the parks on a nightly basis and dessert parties to go along with them. Character meets are open again, and at least you can get hugs and autographs from them too!

We are also excited to know that more special events are running again in 2024 with the Disney After Hours Events in full swing. On top of that, the Disney Dining Plan is made its long-awaited return on January 9th, 2024! Guests can begin booking it for trips on that date and after.

At least park hours are pretty much back to normal once again so you can expect to stay in the parks like before.

Important Disney World Vocab

Genie+, PhotoPass, ADRs, MDE, EMH…anyone else confused yet?? In fact, before you start planning your Disney vacation, there are some basic vocabulary terms you need to learn.

Below we’ve listed the most Disney important terms you will see while planning your trip:

My Disney Experience

Everything starts with My Disney Experience when planning a Disney World vacation. Also known as MDE, this is Disney World’s app that handles dining reservations, Genie+, mobile ordering, park maps, resort stay information, itineraries, PhotosPass pictures, and much, much more.

My Disney Experience is accessible through the website or the mobile app on your phone. Get familiar with it, because it’s a necessary tool to use before and during your vacation.

As you may have heard, FastPass+ has been retired and replaced by the new Disney Genie service . Disney Genie is a day-planning app in My Disney Experience that includes two paid ride reservation systems, Genie+ and Lightning Lane selections.

They allow guests to reserve access to the most popular theme park attractions, essentially skipping the lines and saving you time along the way.

Genie+ is not free like its predecessor was and instead costs between $15 and $39 per day, per guest. With that fee, guests can make reservations for attractions they want to ride throughout the day in a specific time slot like FastPass+. They then come back when that time slot arrives.

Reservations are limited to one at a time, so you can’t have 3 all at once like before. Once a two-hour window passes from making your first reservation, you can then make a reservation for the next attraction.

A few of the most popular attractions instead use Individual Lightning Lane selections. These let you skip the line for a one-time fee between $10-$25 depending on the ride. Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane selections are two different pay-to-ride services and guests can use one without the other if they choose.

If you choose not to use either of these services, you will just wait in a standby queue to ride the attraction like normal.

• READ: We cover everything you need to know about Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes in our guide which is essential reading before deciding how to tour the parks each day. I also recommend reading our post “ Is Genie+ Really Worth the Cost? ” which helps you to know if you should spend the extra money.

Early Theme Park Entry

Early Theme Park Entry allows Disney World Resort hotel guests to have access to the theme parks in the morning before the general public . This is one of the biggest benefits of staying at a Disney World Resort hotel with guests experiencing fewer crowds in the parks.

It works in a similar way as Extra Magic Hours did only that Early Theme Park Entry runs every day of the week and lets guests in 30 minutes before the parks open. It’s unclear if EMH will ever return or if Early Theme Park Entry is here to stay long-term.

One thing is clear, you get a big advantage showing up early and it can really help you get the more popular rides in each park done before the crowds arrive.

MagicBands are an all-in-one mobile connectivity device disguised as colorful bracelets. These devices connect with My Disney Experience and can be used by guests to buy food or merchandise, unlock hotel room doors, redeem Genie+ selections at rides, and use them as theme park tickets.

In 2024, MagicBands are no longer free to guests but can be purchased for a small fee online or in the parks. The future of MagicBands and replacement technology is much more clear now that Disney finally launched MagicBand+ a couple of years ago.

Park Hopping

Park hopping is Disney’s system for allowing guests to visit multiple theme parks on the same day. It is an add-on feature to your Disney World theme park admission and is an extra cost. Whether or not it’s worth it to you depends on if you prefer hopping around to multiple parks per day or doing one park per day more thoroughly.

Park Hopping is alive and well in 2024 after being unavailable for a while after the parks reopened. Read our post on Disney World Park Hopping to see what changes there are to the system now.

ADRs is an abbreviation for Advanced Dining Reservations and it is how you reserve a table at Disney World restaurants. Dining reservations are a MUST to get into the more popular restaurants, especially for character meals, theme park restaurants, and the more elegant dining experiences.

If you are staying at one of the Disney World Resort hotels , ADRs can be made 60 days in advance of your check-in date, and reservations can be made for up to 10 days past the check-in date, for a total of 60+10. If you are staying off-site, you are at a disadvantage because you can only make reservations 60 days in advance of the dining date.

Read our Disney World Dining Reservations Guide for more details and tips on getting into the restaurants you want.

PhotoPass & Memory Maker

PhotoPass is Disney’s photography service offered at the Walt Disney World Resort . Professional photographers (and machines) are stationed throughout the parks and are available to take pictures of you and your family as a memory to take back home with you.

These photographers are set up in the most scenic areas, with many of Disney World’s famous icons in the pictures with you like Cinderella Castle, Spaceship Earth, etc. These photos are connected to your My Disney Experience account and can be downloaded or printed at a later time.

Many of the photographs include MagicShots, which are photos with a little bit of extra Disney magic in them, often including the characters and funny poses. On-ride photos are also available on many of the attractions and also can be downloaded.

In order to get these photos, you will need to purchase the Memory Maker package for your trip. It is an additional cost of $210 + tax (or $185 + tax if you purchase it at least 3 days in advance) but gives you unlimited photo opportunities for your whole travel party during your entire vacation.

You also have the opportunity to purchase Memory Maker for only one day, and that costs $75.

Disney photographers will also take photos of you and your family with your own phones if you ask, so don’t be afraid. This service is free of charge.

Where to Stay?

The next step in booking your Walt Disney World vacation is figuring out where you want to stay.

Some of the factors to consider when deciding where to stay are:

• Staying On-Site or Off-Site
• Accommodation Type
• Location and Convenience
• Hotel Amenities
• Airport Transportation
• Extra Perks

Some of these will be important to you while others not so much. Base your decision on the accommodations that check off the most boxes for you and your family.

The first step in this process is deciding if you want to stay at a Disney World Resort hotel (on-site) or outside of the resort property (off-site).

Disney World Resort Hotels

Staying On-Site Benefits

• Location – Resorts are located near the Disney theme parks which means less travel time each day. You can also go back to your hotel for a nap in the afternoon before heading out once again later.
• Genie+ – Staying at a WDW resort hotel means you can make your Individual Lightning Lane reservations at 7:00 am, before guests who are staying off-site.
• Early Theme Park Entry – You will have extra time in the parks in the morning before the general public arrives.
• Transportation – Disney includes free transportation to and from the theme parks, Disney Springs, and other hotels. Free airport shuttle service is no longer provided through Disney’s Magical Express , and you’ll have to take care of getting from Orlando Airport to Disney World on your own. Options include the Mears Connect Shuttle , taxi, or a ride-sharing service like Uber or Lyft.
• Theming – Most Disney World hotels have unique theming that you and your kids will love.
• The Disney Bubble – There is something magical about stepping into Walt Disney World at the beginning of your vacation and then not stepping out until the end. You feel tucked away inside this magical world that you never want to leave.

Staying Off-Site

Benefits of Staying Off-Site:

• Lower Cost – This is the biggest benefit, one that could make a huge difference in your decision. Compared to each other, non-Disney hotels cost significantly less than Disney hotels of the same hotel class (value vs. value, deluxe vs. deluxe). You could save between 30-50% on hotel costs by staying off-site.
• Transportation – Some of the off-site hotels have a free transportation service between the airport and the hotel so make sure to ask for your options.
• Genie+ – While you don’t have the advantage with the Individual Lightning Lane selections, making Genie+ reservations is the same for guests staying on-site or off-site.
• Better if Visiting Other Orlando Destinations – If going to Orlando, Sea World or other destinations, a more central location outside Disney World is nice.
• More Luxurious – Some of the hotels available in the Orlando area like the Four Seasons Orlando or Ritz-Carlton Orlando, are true luxury hotels, and offer more amenities than the Disney World Resorts.

On-Site vs Off-Site

If you are looking for the easiest, most convenient choice and money is not your number one deciding factor, we recommend staying at a Disney World Resort hotel . The only real negative is the cost, and most of the time the benefits outweigh that, but it will depend on your priorities and budget.

We recommend exploring both options and weighing the cost vs value for you and your family. If you are only going for 4-5 days though, we think staying at a Disney hotel is the smart play since time is of the essence. If you have a longer stay (7 days or more), you might find more value in staying off-site.

Our On-Site vs. Off-Site Disney World Hotels Comparison will help you decide if the benefits are worth the extra cost.

Disney Hotel Types

There are 4 tiers of Walt Disney World Resort hotels and they are organized by cost:

• Value Resorts
• Moderate Resorts
• Deluxe Resorts
• Deluxe Villas

Value Resorts are the cheapest of the hotel types and can be booked anywhere from $130 to $415 per night depending on the season. They have the fewest amenities, the smallest rooms, the cheapest theming, the worst dining options, and the transportation is the slowest.

Moderate Resorts are a step up from value, but not nearly as nice as the Deluxe resorts. The rooms are bigger than value rooms, and the dining is much better at most of them. Prices range from $260 to $505 per night.

Deluxe Resorts are our favorite hotels in Disney World and for good reason. Most of the rooms are large and can fit more than 4 people. The best dining locations are located here with some world-class restaurants. The pools are the best and the locations and transportation options can’t be beaten such as the monorail, Disney Skyliner, and most are within walking distance of the parks.

Of course, expect to pay for this upgrade and prices can vary between $490 to $1350 per night depending on where and when you stay.

Deluxe Villas are Disney Vacation Club properties located at the Deluxe Resorts. Some guests own timeshare points they can spend at these resorts, while other rent points from members. This is the cheapest way to stay at one of the deluxe resorts without breaking the bank and a strategy we highly recommend.

We recommend reading our Guide to the Best Disney World Resorts where we rank them all from best to worst and share the pros and cons of each resort.

Vacation Packages 

Disney World Vacation Packages are your hotel room + theme park tickets in the same bundle. These can be a mixed bag. Sometimes they can be a great value and offer deep discounts on room rates or even include discounts on food like the Disney Free Dining package included.

Most of the time we find you can save more money by getting a hotel room-only discount and buying tickets separately. You should do your due diligence and compare prices between the two options. Disney World Vacation Packages can be booked at www.DisneyWorld.com

Again, we highly recommend you use an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner as they will always be able to find the deepest discounts for you and save the most money.

Airbnb and Nearby Hotels

Instead of staying at a hotel, if you are really trying to save money on your trip , then consider staying at one of the many third-party hotels or an Airbnb near Disney World.

If you aren’t familiar with how Airbnb works, it is a service that rents out peoples’ residences to travelers like a hotel room.

The Airbnbs in Orlando include vacation homes, apartments, and condos. Besides the lower cost, guests have more privacy and space in a private residence than at a hotel. There is also usually a full kitchen so you can prepare your meals and save even more money.

Another cheaper alternative is staying at one of the nearby off-site hotels, or a hotel located on Disney property, but not run by the mouse. This can save you a lot of money, just make sure you are aware of the extra costs that could be involved.

The biggest downside for off-site hotels, Airbnb, or vacation homes is the distance from the parks and not being able to use Disney transportation. You will either have to rent a car or use a ride-sharing service like Uber to get around, and that can be inconvenient. If you already will be using a car, then consider this a great alternative.

Read our Complete Disney World Resort Hotels List for a look at all the Disney and Non-Disney hotel options in the area and what to expect.

Park tickets can be the most expensive part of a trip to Walt Disney World, even more than dining and your hotel. That’s why it’s important to do your research beforehand and know how to save money when buying them.

You also need to decide exactly how many days you want to spend in the parks so you don’t end up paying for more days than necessary.

Where to Buy Tickets

Options for buying Disney World Tickets include:

• Directly from Disney
• Authorized Ticket Reseller
• Travel Agent

Getting your tickets from Disney on the official Disney World website is your first option. It’s almost always more expensive, however, and it pays to look elsewhere.

To save money on your park tickets, we recommend using one of the authorized resellers online such as Get Away Today or Undercover Tourist . They are legit resellers so you don’t have to worry about being ripped off like other places online.

If you really want to save money, we highly recommend Orlando Va cation which often has the best prices for any of the Disney World ticket resellers.

Depending on what type of ticket you are buying, these options can save you as much as $50-$70 per ticket! That’s a huge savings, especially if you have a big family. Once you buy your Disney World park tickets, they can be linked to your My Disney Experience with a code.

In our Discount Disney World Tickets Guide , we cover the best places to buy tickets from and how to get the absolute cheapest tickets possible.

Ticket Types

There are three basic types of Disney World theme park tickets: Standard tickets, Park Hopper tickets, or Annual Passes . Both standard and park hopper tickets can be purchased as single-day tickets or multi-day.

Standard Tickets – This is the cheapest ticket type. They allow you admission to one theme park per day for the number of days you purchased. You can visit the same park for multiple days if you choose.

Park Hopper Tickets – This option allows you to visit multiple parks per day for the entire amount of days you purchased. Technically you can visit all 4 parks in one day if you like. There is a Water Park version too. They are more expensive but allow for greater flexibility.

Annual Passes – There are multiple versions with different restrictions but the higher-end options give you unlimited access to the parks letting you visit whenever you want. If you live close to WDW or are planning on visiting multiple times in a one-year period, an annual pass could be a good investment.

Here are some links that explain about all the various ticket types, differences, pros and cons, prices, and their unique features:

• Disney World Tickets Complete Guide
• 1-Day Disney World Tickets
• Disney World Annual Pass Guide
• Florida Resident Disney World Tickets

Disney World park tickets are priced on a date and length-based system. That means the prices will fluctuate greatly depending on when you go.

For example, in 2024, a 1-Day standard park ticket starts at $109 per day and goes all the way up to $189 per day (plus tax) . That’s a huge difference and you can get a lot of savings by going in the off-season.

Another important factor is that tickets cost less per day the more days you have on your ticket. In fact, Disney’s motto is: “the longer you play, the less you pay per day.” Once you get higher than a 3-day ticket, the price per day drops dramatically.

To find out the latest prices and how much they’ve increased this year, read our Disney Tickets Prices Guide .

When to Buy Tickets

There are multiple reasons to buy your Disney World park tickets as soon as possible . One reason is you can’t make Park pass reservations without them. That is important because the longer you wait the less likely you will get into the park of your choice when you want.

Disney tickets never become less expensive, so buying early also locks in your price before the next price increase comes.

Buy your tickets whenever your budget allows, just never wait until you get to the gate or you will pay more.

How to Travel to Walt Disney World

Now that you have your hotel and tickets all set, you need to decide how to get to Walt Disney World. This will depend on how far away you live and what your plans are when you get to Orlando.

Drive or Fly ?

These are the two most popular options for getting to Disney World and depend mostly on where you live.

Drive – If you are within a few hours of Walt Disney World, your best option might be to drive. You also might decide to drive if you are live close enough nearby, or if you are staying off-site and will be visiting other destinations outside of Disney World.

One thing to keep in mind is that many Orlando hotels charge parking fees for each night of your stay, and that will cost you an extra $20-$30 per night. These can be avoided if staying at one of the WDW Resorts.

Fly – For most guests, an airplane is the most convenient way to get to Disney World. The Orlando International Airport is the best choice and is located only 30 minutes from WDW. There are multiple flights per day arriving from most cities in the United States and Internationally.

Airfare is also not expensive and good discount flights can be found online with many between $150-$250.

Booking Airfare

We recommend setting your dates and to start looking for airfare 1 year before your vacation. That will give you the best chance to score a deal.

If you are booking airfare yourself, we usually find the best prices on ITA Software by Google , AirfareWatchdog , or Skyscanner . You can set up price alerts and they give a flexible dates option to find the best price.

Transportation to and from Airport

The Orlando International Airport is located approximately 20 miles from Walt Disney World, which means you will need transportation to get to your hotel.

The popular & free Disney’s Magical Express transportation was discontinued in 2022 so now in 2023, you’ll need another option to get from the airport to your resort hotel, which means you need to pay out of pocket.

One solution when staying at Walt Disney World is the Mears Connect Shuttle , the most similar replacement for the Magical Express.

Other options no matter where you are staying include taxi service or ride-sharing such as Uber or Lyft .

• Taxis are by far the more expensive choice and will cost around $50-$60 each way plus tip depending on where you are going.
• Uber is a much cheaper option and will cost between $30-$40 each way.

Allow sufficient time to get to your hotel from the airport. If you have a 10:00 am arrival you can expect to get to your hotel by around 11:30 am if taking a cab or Uber. It will be longer on one of the bus services and in that case you will probably arrive between 12:00 pm – 12:30 pm.

Read “ How to Get from Orlando Airport to Disney World ” for the full breakdown of all your options and how to save money with transportation.

Attractions and Rides

Most people come to Walt Disney World for the attractions, and you want to plan them out as best as possible in order to do all the ones most important to you.

Pay special attention to this section if this is your first time or you haven’t been to Disney World in a few years as there are many new attractions to experience. Make sure to check the Disney World Ride Closures List to see which rides will be open during your trip.

If you are going to EPCOT, make sure to read our post on How to Get a Boarding Pass for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind , and How to Get a Boarding Pass for TRON: Lightcycle Run over at the Magic Kingdom. These are two of the hardest attractions to ride in Disney World at this time.

You’ll definitely want to experience Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance , and right now you’ll need to use the standby queue to ride. You can also read How to Get a Boarding Group for Rise of the Resistance for the times it uses the virtual queue system.

For a detailed look at all of the attractions, be sure to check out our other Disney World Ride Guides:

• Best Rides in Disney World Ranked
• Magic Kingdom Rides and Attractions Guide
• EPCOT Rides and Attractions Guide
• Hollywood Studios Rides and Attractions Guide
• Animal Kingdom Rides and Attractions Guide
• Best Rides for Toddlers at Disney World

Pick Your Park Days

First, you need to pick how many days you need for each park and how many park days total. Depending on your interests, some parks you can get done in half a day, and some will take you multiple days.

If it’s your first time we recommend 1 full day for each park, and an extra half-day or more for the Magic Kingdom since it has the most attractions.

• Magic Kingdom – The best park for small kids and has the most rides.
• EPCOT – Best park for foodies, festivals, and culture.
• Hollywood Studios – Best park for teens and thrill-seekers.
• Animal Kingdom – Best park for animal and nature lovers and a good selection of rides and food.

The highlights of EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom can all be done in 3 half-days, but we recommend spending at least a day in each to soak up the atmosphere and not feel rushed.

Must-Do Rides

There are some truly special ride experiences at Disney World and each park has a number of Must-Do attractions you won’t want to miss. Here are some of the best ones:

Magic Kingdom – TRON: Lightcycle Run , Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, Peter Pan’s Flight, The Haunted Mansion, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover, Jungle Cruise

EPCOT – Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind , Soarin’ Around the World, Test Track, Frozen Ever After, Spaceship Earth, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure

Hollywood Studios – Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance , Tower of Terror, Slinky Dog Dash, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway , Toy Story Mania!, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, Star Tours: The Adventures Continue

Animal Kingdom – Avatar: Flight of Passage, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, Na’vi River Journey

Those are by far the most popular attractions in each park and the ones that should be at the top of your list. That is a great starting point for any park itinerary.

Make sure to leave enough time to fully explore all the details in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and Pandora: The World of Avatar , two of the most immersive lands we’ve ever seen!

Characters are a huge draw for guests when visiting the parks, especially kids. Character meets can be found in all 4 theme parks and include favorites such as Mickey Mouse, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Princesses, and characters from the Pixar films.

Character meets were suspended temporarily for two years, but they returned in 2022, and you can hug the characters and get their autographs now just like normal! You can also see them in the new Character Cavalcades that go through the parks at various times of the day.

Entertainment

Besides rides, Disney World also offers first-class entertainment with amazing stage shows and nighttime spectaculars. Here is a list of the ones you shouldn’t miss and where to find them:

Fireworks/Nighttime Spectaculars – Happily Ever After (MK), Luminous the Symphony of US (EPCOT), Fantasmic! (HS), Tree of Life Awakenings (AK).

Stage Shows/Street Shows – Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire (MK), Dapper Dans (MK), Jeweled Dragon Acrobats (EPCOT), Voices of Liberty (EPCOT), Serveur Amusant (EPCOT), A Frozen Sing-Along (HS), Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage (HS), Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular (HS), Festival of the Lion King (AK), Finding Nemo – The Musical (AK)

Parades – Character Cavalcades (All Parks), Festival of Fantasy Parade (MK)

Most of these entertainment options are now back in 2024, and we are hopeful more will come back later this year.

High Priority Genie+ and Lightning Selections

FastPass+ has been retired and Disney has shifted to its paid replacement Genie+. However, not all Genie+ or Lightning Lane reservations are equal, and there are some attractions where it’s much more advantageous to use them.

After all, you are limited to one Genie+ reservation at a time for the most part, so you need to choose wisely.

You should use Genie+ selections on higher-profile attractions that always draw long wait times like Peter Pan’s Flight or Test Track. Using a Genie+ on Alien Swirling Saucers at Hollywood Studios for example would be a waste.

Here is our list of High-Priority Genie+ attractions:

• Peter Pan’s Flight (Magic Kingdom)
• Jungle Cruise (Magic Kingdom)
• Test Track (EPCOT)
• Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure (EPCOT)
• Frozen Ever After (EPCOT)
• Na’vi River Journey (Animal Kingdom)
• Slinky Dog Dash (Hollywood Studios)
• Millenium Falcon: Smugglers Run (Hollywood Studios)
• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway (Hollywood Studios)
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster (Hollywood Studios)
• Tower of Terror (Hollywood Studios)

Not all the Individual Lightning Lane selections are worth the money either as some don’t usually have long enough wait times.

Here is our list of rides we would spend an Individual Lightning Lane selection on if the circumstances were right:

• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (Hollywood Studios)
• TRON: Lightcycle Run (Magic Kingdom)
• Avatar: Flight of Passage (Animal Kingdom)
• Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind (EPCOT)

Here are some other posts about Genie+ and Lightning Lanes that you should read before planning your trip:

• Ultimate Genie+ & Lightning Lane Guide
• Is Genie+ Worth It?
• How to Purchase Genie+ at Disney World
• How to Purchase Individual Lightning Lanes

For some, dining is their favorite experience when visiting Walt Disney World, and there is an unlimited number of choices available for every palate. In fact, there are over 400 restaurants at Walt Disney World, with varying menus and themes to choose from.

Some restaurants are table service where you sit down and a waiter serves you and some are quick service/counter service which is more like fast food.

Among the decisions you have to make are where to eat, when to book reservations, and whether or not to use the Disney Dining Plan or not.

Choosing Restaurants

The first decision to make about dining in Disney World is which restaurants you want to go to.

It can be hard to make a decision, especially if you haven’t been to any of them before. We suggest reading through the menus on the Disney World website to see what stands out to you and reading some of our Disney Restaurant Reviews for more info.

Character dining and buffets are options to consider, and some restaurants are more kid-friendly than others.

Here are some of our rankings of the top places to eat at Walt Disney World:

• Best Walt Disney World Restaurants
• Best Restaurants at Disney’s Magic Kingdom
• Best Restaurants at EPCOT
• Best Restaurants at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
• Best Restaurants at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
• Best Restaurants at Disney Springs
• Best Disney World Resort Hotel Restaurants

Making Reservations

Once you’ve picked out your restaurants, it’s time to make reservations. They can be made using the My Disney Experience app on your mobile device or on your computer on the Disn e y World website.

Advance Dining Reservations can be made 60 days before your check-in date for the length of your vacation (Previously 180 days) . We highly recommend making them as soon as possible as the most popular restaurants fill up months ahead of time.

Read our Disney Advance Dining Reservations guide for more tips on how to book the restaurants you want and the highest priority restaurants.

High Priority Restaurants

Here is a list of the hardest-to-book restaurants in Disney World and ones that should be booked right at the 60-day deadline:

• Be Our Guest (Magic Kingdom)
• Chef Mickey’s (Disney’s Contemporary Resort)
• Cinderella’s Royal Table (Magic Kingdom)
• Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue (Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort)
• Le Cellier (EPCOT)
• Oga’s Cantina (Hollywood Studios)
• ‘Ohana (Disney’s Polynesian Resort)
• Space 220 (EPCOT)
• Storybook Dining at Artist Point with Snow White (Disney’s Wilderness Lodge)
• Victoria & Albert’s (Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort)

There are other hard-to-get ones like Via Napoli and California Grill, but the above ones are by far the hardest.

Our Favorite WDW Restaurants

Our favorite WDW Restaurants for First-Timers are:

• 50’s Prime Time Cafe (Hollywood Studios)
• California Grill (Disney’s Contemporary Resort)
• Hollywood Brown Derby (Hollywood Studios)
• Liberty Tree Tavern (Magic Kingdom)
• Morimoto Asia (Disney Springs)
• Pecos Bill Tall Tale Cafe and Inn (Magic Kingdom)
• Satu’li Canteen (Animal Kingdom)
• The Boathouse (Disney Springs)
• Tusker House (Animal Kingdom)

That list has something for everyone no matter your budget or tastes.

Disney Dining Plan

The Disney Dining Plan returned to Walt Disney World on January 9th, 2024 ! For all the news on the new dining plan, check out my post here .

Even though we aren’t fans of the Disney Dining Plan, many guests love to use it and it’s something you need to understand to make an educated decision on how you want to pay for your meals.

The Dining Plan lets guests pay for their meals before their vacation starts giving each person in the group a number of credits they can spend on meals each day. This makes it very convenient since you don’t have to pay for food “out-of-pocket” during your trip, and your budget is already set.

There are 4 levels of the Disney Dining Plan, (Quick Service, Standard, Plus, and Deluxe) each with different prices and tailored to how much you plan on eating during your trip.

In general, we don’t recommend the Disney Dining Plan because it is a bit too expensive. In order to make it worth it, you need to do a lot of research ahead of time, and pick the “right” restaurants and the most expensive items on the menu. Most people don’t end up using all their credits, essentially paying for food they never eat.

Disney World Transportation

Next, it’s important to know how to get around Walt Disney World once you arrive. With almost 500 buses, dozens of watercraft, a monorail, and a gondola system, Disney World has a larger public transportation system than many American cities.

Should You Rent a Car?

Renting a car at Disney World has its positives and negatives and is a big decision you need to make. It comes down to if you are going to visit other places outside of Walt Disney World or stay on property the entire time.

If you are going to spend the entire vacation at Walt Disney World, there is absolutely no need to rent a car. Disney’s public transportation is more than sufficient for your needs.

If you are just going to spend one day in another Orlando destination like Universal Studios, you don’t need a car and you will save money by catching an Uber or a taxi to your destination.

The best reason for renting a car is if you plan on spending multiple days outside Disney World. Just know that parking fees at the theme parks can add up if you aren’t staying at a Disney World Resort, so expect to spend an additional$25 per day on top of rental car fees.

Just remember, if you have a car, in some cases, you will need to pay parking fees either at the hotels or theme parks which is an extra expense on top of the cost of the car itself. Sometimes both. We explain it all in our Guide to Parking at Disney World .

The most common form of transportation at Walt Disney World, and also the worst. No matter where you are staying, you will eventually have to use a Disney bus at some point in your trip to get to at least one of the theme parks.

They can each hold 100+ guests so they can get very packed and uncomfortable. Buses also tend to be the slowest way of getting around at Disney World, so if there is an alternative to where you are going, take it.

If you do end up taking the bus, make sure to show up 20-30 minutes before the time you want to leave as they are notoriously late.

When Disney World’s monorail system debuted back in 1971 it was an instant hit with guests and become the most popular mode of transportation.

The monorail has 3 lines loops. 2 of them (Resort and Express) go around the Seven Seas Lagoon and connect the Magic Kingdom with the nearby hotels at Disney’s Contemporary Resort, Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort, and Disney’s Polynesian Resort, and the Ticket and Transportation Center.

The third line connects EPCOT to Magic Kingdom lines allowing access to the surrounding resorts.

We love the Monorail and it’s still a great time riding from resort to resort, but they are outdated and in great need of refurbishment. The trains haven’t been replaced since 1989 so it’s beyond time for a new system.

This is the newest transportation mode at Disney World and our current favorite. Reminiscent of the old Skyway buckets from the Magic Kingdom, this gondola system brings guests between Disney parks and resorts with a wonderful bird’s-eye view.

Disney Skyliner Stops – EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney’s Riviera Resort, Disney’s Pop Century Resort, Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, and Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort.

Read our Full Guide to the Disney Skyliner for more tips, maps, and everything else you need to know.

Disney World has a fleet of watercraft that 3 of the theme parks with various surrounding resort hotels. It’s a fantastic way to get to the parks, and to relax with great views on the way.

• Parks with Watercraft Service – Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Hollywood Studios.
• Resorts with Watercraft Service – Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort, Disney’s Polynesian Resort, Disney’s Contemporary Resort (and Bay Lake), Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club Resorts, Disney’s Boardwalk Inn Resort, Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Resorts, Disney’s Port Orleans – French Quarter, Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside, Disney’s Old Key West Resort and Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort (Treehouse Villas).

Expect to wait 20-30 minutes between boat arrivals.

Ride Sharing (Uber/Lyft)

Sometimes you just don’t have time to wait for Disney transportation and you need to get to your destination fast. A ride-sharing service like Uber or Lyft is perfect at Disney World in that situation.

Ride-sharing such as Uber will bring you anywhere you want in Walt Disney World. The only place they can’t go is to the front entrance at the Magic Kingdom. Instead, they drop guests off at the Ticket and Transportation Center.

Disney doesn’t offer hotel to hotel bus service, so we often use Uber to get from our hotel to another one where we have a dinner reservation. This is a big-time saver instead of taking a bus to Disney Springs or a Park and then over to the second hotel.

Minnie Vans

Minnie Vans are Disney’s attempt to counter the popularity of ride-sharing services over the last few years. They are now back at Walt Disney World after being discontinued for 2 years.

They were run through the Lyft app and would bring you anywhere on property for a fee. Cars were painted red and black with white polka dots to resemble Minnie Mouse’s patented dress. They were much faster than Disney buses, but in the end, 2-3x more expensive than an Uber and not worth the high cost.

Getting from Park to Park

If you are park hopping you will want to go from one park to the other in the same day. Thankfully, Disney offers park-to-park transportation for resort hotel guests.

You can take the monorail between the Magic Kingdom and EPCOT. If you want to go between the Magic Kingdom and any other park, you will need to take the bus. Right now they run from 2:00 pm daily between parks.

Hollywood Studios and EPCOT have multiple transportation methods between them with boats, walking, and the Disney Skyliner all options.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom is the most difficult park to get to from another park and can only be reached by bus.

Other Stuff to Do

Most guests only come to Walt Disney World in mind, not realizing there is a whole world of other activities and entertainment to enjoy. There are water parks, boating, fishing golf, spa treatments, shopping to enjoy. You can even take a private tour or get a ticket to a special event.

You can celebrate a special moment in your life like an engagement or anniversary. Believe it or not, there are even a bunch of free things to do on your trip! There is something for the whole family.

Let’s take a look at some of the other things to do at Disney World.

Water Parks

Disney World has 2 water parks: Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach. To go, you need to purchase the water parks add-on to your regular theme park admission or buy a single-day ticket.

• Typhoon Lagoon has 7 water slide rides, one kiddie slide, one kiddie play area, one lazy river, one wave pool, and one small exploration trail. More family-friendly.
• Blizzard Beach has seven water slide rides, one kiddie play area, one lazy river, one wave pool, and a chairlift. More thrilling water slides.

Both water parks are fun, but if we are going to spend one day at a water park, we choose Typhoon Lagoon every time. The overall theming of the park is amazing, and the lazy river and wave pool are much better than at Blizzard Beach.

Disney Springs

This is Disney World’s main shopping and dining district and where you go if you are looking for nightlife at Disney World. Disney Springs underwent a major refurbishment and expansion a few years ago and now has countless must-try dining options as well as a Cirque du Soleil show, a movie theater, a fun bowling alley, and more.

Most of the restaurants at Disney Springs are much easier to get a reservation for than the restaurants at the parks and resort hotels, so keep that in mind if you have difficulty.

Read our rankings of the best Disney Springs restaurants for suggestions of where and what to eat.

Resort Days

Disney World can be exhausting running from one park to the next. We recommend spending at least one day doing absolutely nothing at your resort hotel. When I say nothing I mean lounging by the pool with a drink.

A good strategy is to have one resort day in the middle of your trip so you can recharge your batteries before doing the rest of the parks.

What is there to do at the resort hotels you ask? Tons! Here are some of our favorite recreation activities at Disney World:

• Boating/Jet Skis
• Horseback Riding
• Organized Resort Activities & Games
• Painting, Pottery & Crafts
• Sports – Tennis, Basketball, Golf, Archery
• Jogging/Trails
• Movies Under the Stars

Those should keep you busy for a while!

Visiting Other Resorts

Another option is to visit other Walt Disney World Resort hotels during your stay. The theming on some of them is really incredible (Wilderness Lodge, Polynesian, Animal Kingdom Lodge), it’s free to do, and it’s fun to just walk around and check out the grounds.

No, you can’t swim in the pools at a resort you aren’t staying at, but you can scout out the hotels to find the resort you will stay at on your next trip to Disney World. Many enjoy doing this during the holidays to see the various decorations at each resort.

If you don’t want to take a whole day visiting other resorts, we suggest booking a lunch or dinner reservation at one of the restaurants in the resorts and then going early to check things out.

Sure you can go to the parks and ride the attractions, but did you know there are dozens of tours (paid and free) that you and your family can take? Planning a tour can be a great addition to your vacation and there is one for the whole family.

Best Tours at Disney World

• Keys to the Kingdom (Magic Kingdom)
• Walt Disney: Marceline to Magic Kingdom Tour (Magic Kingdom)
• Behind the Seeds (EPCOT)
• English Tea Garden Tour (EPCOT)
• Star Wars Guided Tour (Hollywood Studios)
• Savor the Savanna: Evening Safari Experience (Animal Kingdom)
• Wild Africa Trek (Animal Kingdom)
• Ultimate Day of Thrills VIP Tour (All Parks)

(Some tours are back right now at Disney World and others are still suspended.)

Extra Magic

There are also other special experiences at Disney World we like to call “Extra Magic” as they add just that extra touch you or your family member is looking for on your vacation. Be sure to look into these, especially for a special occasion.

• Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique – This is a special salon that transforms your little princess or prince with a complete makeover. There are multiple packages that include costumes, make-up, manicures, and hair styling. Packages range from $75-$450.
• Dessert/Fireworks Parties – Each of the theme parks holds Dessert Parties on almost a nightly basis. These parties include all-you-can-eat desserts and a reserved view of the fireworks shows. Prices range from $40-$70 per person.
• Hard-ticketed Parties – Periodically there are events at the parks that require an extra ticket to and private from the general public and are some of the most popular events in Disney World each year. These include Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party , Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party , and various Disney After Hours events . Expect to pay between $109-$200 for these events.

Have a Daily Itinerary

No one likes being tied to a schedule on vacation, unfortunately at Walt Disney World that is not an option if you want to have the best experience possible during your visit.

We’re not saying you have to walk around with a clipboard and spreadsheet, but you need to create a general itinerary for the parks you are going to, which restaurants, etc.

The hard truth is, Disney World is too big and you can’t do it all even if you are there for 2 weeks. That’s why you need to make a plan and prioritize the most important things to you each day.

Some of the general questions about your Disney World trip that you need to think about are:

• How many days are you going to spend in the parks?
• How long will you go to the parks each day? Full days? Half days? Leave and come back in the evening?
• What order will you visit the parks in? Do you need to visit some parks more than once?
• How many sit-down meals per day? Where will you have those meals, at the parks or resort hotels?
• Which extra experiences are important to me? Special events?

The clearer your answers are to those questions, the easier it’s going to be to plan your days, and ultimately the more fun you will have.

When You’re In the Parks

Assuming you know how many days you want to spend in each park, the next thing you need to do is choose the attractions that are most important to you. Make a list of the ones you absolutely NEED to go on and prioritize those first.

Once you have your list, you will know which ones to prioritize when making your Genie+ reservations . When you have those it will be easier to map out the park and decide what order to do the attractions in.

We recommend looking at the park maps and doing the rides systematically. If you are in Adventureland for Jungle Cruise, then do the other rides on that side of the park while you are there. It will save you valuable time instead of walking back and forth multiple times.

What to Pack & Bring

We are almost there, the only thing left to do is pack your bags. Walt Disney World is a unique place and there are many things you might not think about packing that will be very helpful on your trip. We usually think we packed everything, but inevitably leave something at home, that’s why it’s best to have a list.

Here are the most important things to pack:

Luggage/Bags – Make sure your suitcases are in good condition before packing and are big enough to hold all your essential items. Decide how many bags each person is bringing. This will also depend on how many bags your flight permits.

We always pack too much on our trips to Disney World and we find ourselves swimming in bags. If you have a room with a washing machine, take advantage of that and do a load of laundry to save space in your bags.

If you have colorful, character-themed bags, this is the time to use them, your kids will love them. Also, make sure to bring a small backpack. We like to carry one during the day so hold our camera, a bottle of water, sunscreen, medicines, and other necessities.

Shoes – This might be the MOST important item on the list. If you don’t have comfortable shoes in Disney World, you are going to have a miserable time. On average, we walk between 8-10 miles PER DAY on our trips. You may not walk as much as us, but it will be at least 2-3 times more than what you are used to back home.

Here are some other important things you need to bring with you to Disney World:

• Medications
• Phone Chargers
• Travel Documents
• Water Bottles
• Frogg Toggs Chilly Pads (when it gets too hot)

Disney Vacation Planning Timeline

Now that you understand the basics of planning a Disney World vacation, it’s time to put it all together. When are you supposed to do all these planning tasks?

Most planning items need to be completed a certain number of days before your trip. We’ve created a planning timeline for you to make it easier to know when you need to get all these things done by.

One rule you should live by with Disney vacations is “it’s never too early.” Start planning as soon as possible and things will go much smoother.

499 Days Before Your Trip

You have to be kidding right? I need to start planning my trip 499 days before I go? While it’s not absolutely necessary to start this early, it will give you an advantage.

Start Thinking about Travel Dates – Get at least an idea of the dates you want to go to Disney World. Consult our Best Times to Visit Disney World guide to see which months are the best and worst.

Research/Book Hotel Reservations – Disney makes resort hotel reservations available for booking as many as 19 months in advance. If you know where you want to stay already, you may as well book your hotel now because you’ll have a better chance of getting a room.

This is especially helpful if you plan on going during the holiday season or other very busy times of the year. Read our article on How to Book a Disney World Vacation for all the details and booking tips.

Download My Disney Experience – Even if you don’t have dates in mind, travelers should download the MDE app and open an account right away to start getting familiar with the layout. It’s also time to go on the Disney World website to start doing research on the hotels and parks.

1 Year Before Your Trip

Decide Travel Dates – By this time you should have picked out when you want to take your vacation. If you need help deciding, it’s wise to look at a Disney World Crowd Calendar to find out when the busiest and least busy times of the year are.

How Many Days at the Parks – You also need to think about how many days you are going to spend in each park and how many days total of your trip. Think about which parks you want to go to and if you want to visit one of the water parks.

Research Attractions – Familiarize yourself with all the top attractions at each park and think about which ones you really want to do.

Price Airfare – It’s never too early to start looking up prices for airfare if you are flying. You should aim to get your tickets no more than 6 months before your trip.

9 Months Before You Go

Make Hotel Reservations – By this time you should know when you are going and which hotel to stay at. If you wait any longer you really run the risk of not getting the hotel you want. Lock in your room and then wait and see if a better offer opens up.

Get Everyone on My Disney Experience – You should already have an account, but you also need to make sure your family and all members of your travel party also are signed up. You will need them to be in the system for your dining reservations and FastPass+ reservations down the line, so take care of it early.

Buy Tickets – It’s always good to buy your Disney World park tickets as early as possible. First, the price never goes down and you will not find a lower price than what you see today so lock it in. Secondly, you need to have your tickets before making park reservations which tend to sell out early, especially if going at a busy time.

Make Park Pass Reservations – Once you buy your tickets, you can now make your park pass reservations. Don’t waste time, they sell out quickly.

180+ Days Before You Go

Park Hours – A few days before the 180-day mark arrives, look at the park hours for each day. This will let you plan out your day and will play a park in where you plan your meals and which Genie+ reservations you plan on booking.

Write Itinerary Rough Draft – Start writing out your ideal vacation itinerary day by day. Go through which parks you will be at on which days and which restaurants you would like to dine at. You now have a good idea of how your days are going to play out. Do this a few days before the 180-day mark as you need to have all the restaurants decided by then.

Book Special Events/Experiences – Decide which special experiences you and your family want to do. After Hours events like Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party or Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party should be booked once they are available. Experiences like the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique take reservations 180 days before and they sell out quickly.

Decide to Rent a Car or Not – If you are renting a car, start looking a prices and book one when possible.

Disney Dining Plan – You need to decide if the Dining Plan is worth it to you or not. If so, you can add it to your package.

Book Airfare – This is a good time to buy airfare and if you’ve been monitoring it for a few months, you have an idea of what a good deal is.

75 Days Before Your Trip

New Hotel Deals – Throughout the year, Disney introduces new discounts on hotel rooms. Periodically during the planning stage, check if any new deals have come out for your hotel. If a better room opens up at another hotel, so still have time to switch resorts.

Last Call on Tickets – If for some reason you haven’t got your park tickets by now, this is almost the final opportunity with park reservations sometimes filling up a couple of months before your trip. Make sure you have your tickets before then.

30-60 Days Before Your Trip

Book Your Restaurants (60 Days before your arrival date) – Wake up early and be on your computer by 6:00 am sharp to make dining reservations. This is the most stressful part of planning as it can be hard to get the most difficult restaurants. Write backups for the most popular restaurants in case you can’t book your favorites.

Write Final Itinerary – Now that you have your parks and dining reservations locked in, you can write a final copy of your itinerary. You can always make adjustments later but you now know how most of your vacation will go.

45 Days Before Your Trip

Order MagicBands – Even though MagicBands are no longer free to guests, we still recommend ordering them for a small fee. They are $5-$20 per guest depending on what type you order. These must be ordered no more than 11 days before your trip to arrive at your house in time, but we recommend doing it earlier.

10 Days Before Your Trip

Shuttle Service – You can make a Mears Connect Shuttle reservation or other shuttles sometimes even 24 hours before departure, but there is no reason to wait. Get it done early.

Online Check-In – To skip going to the lobby upon arrival we suggest using Disney’s Online Check-In through My Disney Experience. You can set your credit card for room charges and set a pin for your MagicBand.

3 Days Before Your Trip

Memory Maker – This is the photo package with unlimited photos and downloads during your trip for you and your whole family. This must be ordered 3 days before arrival to get the lower price.

Pack Bags – We sometimes start earlier if we have time, but you should start getting out everything on your packing list and seeing how it fits in your luggage.

Keep Looking for Dining Reservations – If you weren’t able to get any high-priority dining reservations, keep looking periodically from the 60-day point to now. Reservations are more likely to open up the closer you get to your dining date as other guests cancel and change plans. Keep trying up until the morning of the date you are looking for.

Double Check – Run through the list one more time to make sure you have everything covered.

Get Excited – You are going to Disney World, the most magical place on Earth, so get happy!!

Right now. Do it as early as you can and start making plans even up to a year or more before your trip.

The average guest vacation to Walt Disney World is 4-7 days. We recommend 5 to 7 days for first-timers depending on your budget.

You can, but it is a bad idea. Walt Disney World is one of the most complicated vacations you can take and it needs the proper planning to make the most out of your trip.

Your Thoughts

I want to know what you think about our Disney Planning Guide…

• What are your best suggestions when planning a trip to Walt Disney World?
• What are your biggest questions about planning a Disney vacation?

Let us know in the comments section below!

If you enjoyed this article, as always I appreciate it if you’d share it with others via social media.  I work hard at making this website into a useful resource for you and your family to plan your visit to the Disney Parks and I hope it can help you! Thanks 🙂

My name is Ziggy and I love Disney, everything Disney! I grew up on Disney and it has and continues to be a huge part of my life. I started young when my parents took me to Disney World when I was 18 months old. Little did they know that would be the first of an uncountable number of trips we would take. I have so many amazing memories going to Disney with my family and friends and it has been interwoven into my DNA.

Sunday 14th of January 2024

My special needs son and I are going on the Disney Wish in early March. Have you ever tried a Disney cruise?

Thursday 22nd of June 2023

Can dining reservations be made 6 mo in advance or 2 mo in advance please?

Monday 19th of June 2023

I just love your site. All the information provided is extremely helpful and useful. Thanks so much for everything!!!

Yvette Parent

Tuesday 6th of September 2022

Hi Ziggy I would like to get a PDF copy of your guide. Would this be possible? Thank you

Thursday 3rd of February 2022

Hello my friend. We will be staying on Disney property this Sunday and we have a reservation for Epcot on Monday morning. Our plan is to ride Ratatouille and would like your advice to go directly to that ride and have a short wait. What should our strategy be? Thank you for your help. Dan and Lora ps we also just purchased an annual pass holder ticket that is only valid on weekdays - I am not sure if that helps.

Ziggy Oskwarek

Hi Dan. That's a good question you have. If you aren't planning on using Genie+ or Lightning Lanes, then going to Remy's Ratatouille Adventure right at rope drop is a good strategy. The day doesn't make a huge difference as it will be morning and festival crowds tend to come more in the afternoon. Have an awesome time and let us know how it goes!

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Why doesn’t my MousePlan generate all of my activities for me each day?

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Availability of Fast Passes, dining reservations, wait times, individual preferences and weather are just a few examples of variables that can disrupt a strict schedule. The MousePlanner approach encourages flexibility.

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2024 Disney World Vacation Planner

Our goal is to help you plan your dream Disney World vacation , and that all starts right here.

This page will walk you through planning a trip in 6 easy steps.

After that, we’ll go through some of the other important information you’ll need to know before you go.

Consider this spot a sort of Cliff Notes version for getting started (or even for getting reacquainted) with Disney vacation planning.

Ready to dive in? Let’s go!

In this article

Important updates for 2024

If you are brand-new to planning a Disney World vacation, you may want to skip over this section. But, if you haven’t visited since the parks reopened in 2020, you’ll definitely want to stick around.

The past few years have brought many changes – some of which are fairly significant. Here are the ones that are the most important for you to be aware of:

• FastPass+ service is out and Genie+ is in
• Extra Magic Hours (EMHs) have been replaced with a new program called “ Early Theme Park Entry “
• Extended Evening Theme Park Hours have been added – but only for onsite guests at Deluxe and Deluxe Villa resorts
• Reservations are required to visit the parks (only for trips through January 8, 2024, no reservations required for date-based tickets beginning January 9, 2024)
• Disney’s Magical Express has been discontinued ( no more free rides between the airport and your Disney Resort )
• Park hopping can only be done after 2 p.m. until January 8, 2024. Starting January 9, 2024 park hopping can occur at any time.
• Advanced Dining Reservations are made at 60 days out now (instead of 180 days)
• Disney Dining Plan is not available until January 9, 2024

Our best advice is to make sure you do not assume that everything is the same – because it isn’t .

Take time to explore the links in the box above (and in the sections below!) to get caught up on all that is new.

VIDEO: 9 Ways Disney World Planning Has Changed

Why you should plan

Did you know that lots (and lots) of people visit Walt Disney World every year without doing any planning at all?

And while that may sound like a relaxing way to travel, it doesn’t work for Disney vacations, and here’s why:

Not planning ahead means standing in long lines for rides and struggling to find places to eat.

And that doesn’t sound like much fun at all.

It is important to understand that even with planning, you will not be able to see and do everything at Disney World in 1 trip . You wouldn’t be able to see and do it all in 10 trips.

Instead, the goal should be to have fun and make memories . And it is a lot easier to do that when you’re prepared.

Just like any vacation, how much your trip will cost depends on many different factors, but in general, these are the costs you’ll need to consider:

• Trip length
• Number and ages of people traveling
• How you’ll get there (drive, fly, train, etc.)
• When you’ll be traveling
• Where you’ll be staying
• Where you’ll be dining
• How many extras you plan to spend money on

Despite all of those variables, we can give you some generic onsite prices to help you get a good idea of what to expect.

Want more details on how much to budget? Check out our guide below:

• READ MORE: How much does it cost to go to Walt Disney World?

Important note: Keep in mind that while these prices are full rack rate prices, Disney frequently offers discounts . However, if you are planning for a trip a year or more in advance, we recommend using the rack rate prices as a good starting point.

Budget Trip Example

$4000-$5000 plus the cost of getting to Walt Disney World

• 2 adults, 2 children under 10, traveling during the least expensive time, 1 week onsite, most basic park tickets, staying at a Value Resort, eating at the least expensive places.

Moderate Trip Example

$5500-$7000 plus the cost of getting to Walt Disney World

• 2 adults, 2 children under 10, traveling during a moderately busy time, 1 week, park tickets with Park Hopper option, staying at a Moderate Resort, eating at half Table Service and half Quick Service restaurants , 1 special event planned.

Deluxe Trip Example

$9000 and above, plus the cost of getting to Walt Disney World

• 2 adults, 2 children under 10, traveling during a peak busy time (like the holidays), 1 week, park tickets with Park Hopper Plus, staying at a Deluxe Resort, eating at mostly Table Service Restaurants, 2 special events.

As we said above, those dollar amounts assume full-price resort rates, but there are usually discounts available .

And, the good news is you can always add a discount after you’ve booked your trip.

• READ MORE: Complete Guide to Disney World Discounts

How to plan a Disney World vacation in 6 steps

Disney World vacation planning is kind of like building a house – you start with the foundation and work your way up.

And, just like with building a house, you might end up with something you’re not pleased with if you try to do it out of order.

These 6 steps are the basis of everything you’ll find on this site.

If you’re new to planning, this is where you need to start.

Trip Planning Worksheet

To help you get started, we have a free Trip Planning Worksheet that you can fill out as you work through the steps below.

• Get a copy of the trip planning worksheet

Step 1: Pick a date

When it comes time to decide when to go, you’ll have a couple of different things to consider.

Historically, Disney has gotten excellent at filling what were traditionally less-crowded times of the year with special events, runDisney races, and sport/cheer competitions.

But, despite Disney scheduling things to draw crowds during the slower times of the year, there are still definitely times that are busier than others.

Plus, even though Florida is known for having lots of sun, you’ll likely want to consider the weather , too, especially if you’re trying to avoid the intense heat of the summer or the hurricanes of the fall .

To help you narrow down your options, we have a giant Crowd Calendar post that will show you day-by-day which days we are predicting to be the most (and least!) crowded.

• READ MORE: Disney World Crowd Calendar

Park Pass Reservation System (only required until January 8, 2024)

Guests traveling in 2024 can skip this section, BUT if you are traveling in 2023, you’ll have another critical planning piece to consider: the Disney Park Pass Reservation System .

This system was put into place after the reopening in 2020 and requires guests to make reservations for each day they intend to visit a park .

The good news is the park reservations are free . The bad news is that, at least right now, this is how Disney is controlling each parks’ capacity.

That means there are limited spots available for each day.

Will I be able to get a Park Pass Reservation?

Unless you are traveling during peak times, in most cases, the answer is “yes”.

Disney is continually shifting availability around, and if you plan your vacation in advance, you should be able to get exactly what you want.

But, keep in mind, the busier the time of year, the more in demand the reservations will be. That is why we recommend you make those reservations as soon as you can .

• READ MORE: How to make Park Pass Reservations

How to check for availability

Disney makes it relatively easy to check park reservation availability.

They have a handy calendar that will show you exactly which parks are (or are not) available.

Step 2: Choose where to stay & book it

You have lots of options for where to stay during your trip – including both onsite and offsite resorts and hotels.

Where you decide to stay will have a direct impact on some essential parts of your vacation.

• READ MORE: Ways to Book Your Disney World Vacation

Onsite or off?

Things like Advanced Dining Reservations and Individual Lightning Lane selections are tied to whether you choose to stay on Disney property or venture offsite to where you’ll (typically) find less expensive options.

While the price is understandably often the first factor you’ll need to consider, most guests visiting the Walt Disney World Resort may find that weighing the value of the perks associated with the onsite resorts versus the lower costs connected to the offsite options can sometimes be a bit tricky to navigate.

• READ MORE: Disney World Resort Options

Our favorite way to save money when staying onsite

We’ve already discussed discounts up above, but probably our most favorite way to save money when staying onsite is by renting Disney Vacation Club (DVC) points.

This is especially true right now when you can snag some great last-minute deals.

There are some definite pros and cons to this money saving option, so make sure you check out the link below for everything you need to know.

• READ MORE: How to save big money by renting DVC Points

Consider using a travel agent

Whether you are new to planning or a seasoned Disney World vet, it can be very helpful to have somebody you can turn to for assistance with navigating through it all.

That’s why if planning a trip feels overwhelming, we highly recommend reaching out to a reliable travel agen t .

Not only will they be able to answer all of your questions, but they’ll also keep you in the loop if and when changes happen.

Staying onsite? Consider booking a package.

Booking a vacation package makes it far easier to get all your money back if you need to cancel.

If you purchase tickets separately, you can’t “return” them. That purchase is final, even if you have to cancel your trip.

Don’t packages cost more money?

The argument against packages is that it costs less if you book things separately. And that is partially true.

You can usually save some money if you purchase your tickets separately from an Authorized Reseller. The amount you save typically isn’t a lot , though, at least not when compared to the other components of your trip.

But – the last few years have taught us the importance of being able to easily cancel if needed. And, an easy way to add a layer of financial protection to your trip is to stay onsite and book your trip components as a package so that you have the maximum amount of flexibility if you need to cancel or postpone .

Of course, if Disney cancels a special event or has to close due to something like a hurricane , you’ll likely see that they will work with ticket holders to extend the expiration dates.

But, if you purchased those tickets outside a package or from a third-party seller, you likely won’t get your money back. 

For the maximum amount of security in case things go wrong, if you need tickets, we strongly suggest that you book a package.

Step 3: Make a daily plan and select Disney World tickets

After you’ve decided when to go and where you’ll be staying, the next thing you need to do is determine where you’ll spend each day. Ideally, you’ll have this step figured out no later than 61 days out from when your trip begins because you’ll need to know your daily plan before you can do Step 5.

Disney World is home to 4 incredible theme parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom), 2 world-class water parks (Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach), and a giant shopping district (Disney Springs).

And, although you’ll want to see and do it all, unless you’ll be moving into Cinderella Castle (which unfortunately you can’t), you are going to have to pick and choose.

The first thing is figuring out exactly how much time you’ll want in each park. To help you get started, here are our thoughts:

Suggested number of days in each park

The chart below is just a suggestion. All families vary.

For instance, families with younger children and only 3 days in the parks might want to do 2 days in the Magic Kingdom.

It’s also a great idea to have 1 day out of the parks for every 3 days in the parks.

Arrange it however it makes sense for your family.

Once you have nailed down how many days you want for each park, you’ll need to decide where you’ll plug that into your vacation.

• READ MORE: How to pick the best park for each day of your trip

Here is some general advice to help you decide which park to visit when:

• Magic Kingdom  is the most popular park overall. It is also the park most first-time visitors think of when they think “Disney World”. Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays are the busiest, with mid-week typically the least busy.
• Hollywood Studios also remains busy most days of the week due to the popular Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and Toy Story Land areas. Your best bet here for the shortest lines are Sundays and Wednesdays.
• Epcot  hosts  nearly year-round festivals , and those festivals are popular with both out-of-state visitors and locals. And, since a lot of what the festivals are famous for is the alcohol and food, the areas around the Festival Booths can be a lot busier (and a bit rowdier) than what you’d find during the daytime hours on the weekdays. If that isn’t the vibe you are looking for, you may want to skip Epcot during the nighttime on Friday and Saturdays .
• Even with the new Park Pass system,  Animal Kingdom  remains one of the “easiest” parks to fit into a trip. You should be able to plug it in wherever it makes the most sense for you.

Find your travel month below to see park hours, and any scheduled nighttime entertainment and special events:

Select your tickets

Now that you know how many days you’ll be in each park, you can select your tickets and either purchase a package or, if purchasing tickets separately, you can go ahead and do that now.

When making your ticket selection, keep in mind that you can almost always upgrade a ticket, but you can’t get money back if you don’t use all your days or components of your tickets, such as Park Hoppers.

That’s why we recommend you make that daily plan first, and then use that as a guide for deciding exactly how many days worth of tickets you’ll need.

• READ MORE: Disney World tickets

Secure your Park Pass Reservations (for dates before January 9, 2024; no reservations needed for trips on or after January 9)

As soon as you purchase your tickets, you’ll be able to secure your park dates.

Remember: Park Pass Reservations are no longer required for date-based tickets beginning January 9, 2024. This covers most people traveling to Walt Disney World. Annual Passholders, however, WILL still need to make Park Pass Reservations (even if they have a resort stay booked).

This step is entirely new to Disney World planning. 

Because it is so brand new, we have written a complete guide to help you with the process. 

Step 4: Pick dining options

Disney World is packed with lots and lots of fantastic restaurants.

And with so many fun places to eat, it is common for people to want to decide where they will be dining before they ever pick what park they’ll be at that day.

But please trust us: you do not want to do that.

The reason dining falls at step 5 is that you need to plan your dining after you know where you’ll be each day .

The entire Walt Disney World Resort area is huge (roughly the size of San Francisco), and unless you want to spend hours each day on a bus crisscrossing the property going from meal to meal, you’ll need to be a lot more strategic in how you plan where to eat.

Trust us on this one:

Save yourself a lot of stress by waiting to plan your dining until after you’ve decided where you’ll be each day, and if you do decide to dine somewhere other than where you’ll be, make a plan for how you’ll get there.

Remember: Save yourself a lot of stress by waiting to plan your dining until after you’ve decided where you’ll be each day, and if you do decide to dine somewhere other than where you’ll be, plan for how you’ll get there.

Advanced Dining Reservations

Dining at Disney World is broken up into 2 main categories:

• Less expensive
• Doesn’t require reservations
• Often has the ability to Mobile Order
• More expensive
• Almost always requires an Advanced Dining Reservation (can be made beginning 60 days from check-in)
• Sometimes has “To Go” options (at some resort Table Service restaurants)
• Includes all Character Meals

If your goal is to dine at a Table Service restaurant, you’ll need to make an Advanced Dining Reservation . Make sure you understand how that works, or you may wind up disappointed.

• READ MORE: How Dining at Walt Disney World Works

What about the Disney Dining Plan?

The Disney Dining Plan is a hugely popular component and while sales of it were paused for several years, it is returning as an option for trips beginning on or after January 9, 2024.

The  Disney Dining Plan (DDP)  is an optional add-on that people staying in an on-site Disney World resort can get by booking one of these things:

• A vacation package (that includes a room and tickets) online or by calling Disney
• A room-only reservation by  calling  Disney or having  your agent  add it (this is sometimes called a “ticketless package”)
• A Disney Vacation Club (DVC) reservation

When you buy a DDP you are pre-paying for your food (and snacks!) and then using credits to get meals during your trip.

After a long absence, the Disney Dining Plan returns for packages on or after January 9, 2024!

The Dining Plan can be great if you are looking for that “all-inclusive” feel, but before you purchase it, make sure you understand how it works, or else you may actually wind up spending more on food than what you would have done without it.

• READ MORE: Complete Guide to the Disney Dining Plan (Is it worth it?)

Step 5: Plan park touring

Don’t let the rumors and stories about long lines at Disney World fool you: the people that wait in lines at Disney World are the ones without a touring plan.

Touring plans don’t have to be rigid minute-by-minute lists, but touring plans are something you’ll definitely want to spend some time thinking about.

You can choose to tackle the parks without spending anything extra, but Disney has also introduced an entirely new system called Genie+ which will allow you access to their Lightning Lanes (which means shorter waits).

The Genie+ system can be extremely complicated, but here are a couple of resources we think are good introductions:

• Guide to Genie+ at Disney World
• Touring plan strategies for Disney World (with and without Genie+)
• Best Genie+ Choices (what to book first)

Step 6: Add extra magic

When planning your vacation, the final thing to do is to figure out ways to add some extra magic to your trip .

This step doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to spend more money (although that is certainly an option); it just means you are intentional about ways to add a little extra **pixie dust** to your trip.

For lots of people, this is the step that ties their entire vacation together (and gets them hooked on planning lots more Disney World trips!).

If you want to think of planning a Disney World trip like the steps in the construction process, Steps 1-5 above help you build your house, but Step 6 is where you get to decorate it.

Here are some of our favorite resources to help you add some extra magic to your vacation:

• Create a countdown
• Watch Disney movies and shows that are connected to what you’ll see in the parks
• Plan a surprise
• Listen to some podcasts and trip reports
• Put together some Tinker Bell gifts
• Book a dessert party

VIDEO: 7-Step Planning Process for Walt Disney World Vacations

What to Pack

You’d be surprised just how many questions we get about this topic.

But it makes sense; when you’re far away from home, things will go a lot more smoothly if you have everything you need with you.

In fact, we feel so strongly about packing lists that we have a H-U-G-E post with everything you’ll need to know about what to pack for a Disney World vacation.

And the best part? You’ll find links to free packing list downloads you can use.

• READ MORE: The Ultimate Disney World Packing List

And, while you’re busy working on a packing list for your trip, don’t forget to think about what you’ll want to take into the parks with you.

• READ MORE: What to pack in Your Disney World Park Bag

Preparing for your trip

Your trip is booked, but now what?

We recommend you spend the months, weeks, and days leading up to your trip learning some of those Disney World basics that will help your trip go smoothly.

We’ve listed just a few topics below, but we also invite you to scroll through the hundreds of other posts on the site to find topics that might interest you.

Disney World planning basics

• Navigating Disney World transportation
• 101 of the best Disney World tips
• Ultimate Guide for Visiting Disney World with Toddlers
• Disney World news & updates

TouringPlans

GUIDE ME THROUGH—

Questions? Our community can help!

Forums Thoughtful, engaging talk

Chat Quick answers while in the parks

Subscribe now to create a customized Touring Plan for everything you want to do.

• Crowd Calendar
• Disney Springs
• Transportation

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• sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo mouseover->sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo" class="block text-black text-base font-eucliarSemiBold flex items-center justify-start gap-2 pt-[20px] leading-18"> Live Entertainment & Show Schedules
• sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo mouseover->sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo" class="block text-black text-base font-eucliarSemiBold flex items-center justify-start gap-2 pt-[20px] leading-18"> Refurbishment Schedule
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• Attractions, Parades, & Fireworks
• Height Requirements
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• Park Reservations

• sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo mouseover->sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo" class="text-black text-base font-eucliarSemiBold flex items-center justify-start gap-2 pt-[20px] leading-18"> Basics
• sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo mouseover->sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo" class="text-black text-base font-eucliarSemiBold flex items-center justify-start gap-2 pt-[20px] leading-18"> Build-Your-Own Plans

Magic Kingdom

Disney's hollywood studios, disney's animal kingdom.

• sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo mouseover->sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo" class="text-black text-base font-eucliarSemiBold flex items-center justify-start gap-2 pt-[20px] leading-18"> Ratings for All WDW Restaurants
• sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo mouseover->sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo" class="text-black text-base font-eucliarSemiBold flex items-center justify-start gap-2 pt-[20px] leading-18"> Overview
• Magic Kingdom Restaurants
• EPCOT Restaurants
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• Animal Kingdom Restaurants
• Disney Springs Restaurants
• sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo mouseover->sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo" class="text-black text-base font-eucliarSemiBold flex items-center justify-start gap-2 pt-[20px] leading-18"> Hotel Restaurants
• sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo mouseover->sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo" class="text-black text-base font-eucliarSemiBold flex items-center justify-start gap-2 pt-[20px] leading-18"> Reservations
• sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo mouseover->sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo" class="text-black text-base font-eucliarSemiBold flex items-center justify-start gap-2 pt-[20px] leading-18"> Tipping (Gratuities)
• sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo mouseover->sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo" class="text-black text-base font-eucliarSemiBold flex items-center justify-start gap-2 pt-[20px] leading-18"> Menu Search
• sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo mouseover->sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo" class="text-black text-base font-eucliarSemiBold flex items-center justify-start gap-2 pt-[20px] leading-18"> Disney Dining Plan
• sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo mouseover->sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo" class="text-black text-base font-eucliarSemiBold flex items-center justify-start gap-2 pt-[20px] leading-18"> Benefits
• sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo mouseover->sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo" class="text-black text-base font-eucliarSemiBold flex items-center justify-start gap-2 pt-[20px] leading-18"> Room Finder
• sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo mouseover->sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo" class="text-black text-base font-eucliarSemiBold flex items-center justify-start gap-2 pt-[20px] leading-18"> Compare Hotels
• Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge (Jambo House)
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• Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas - Jambo House
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• The Villas at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
• The Campsites at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort

• sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo mouseover->sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo" class="block text-black text-base font-eucliarSemiBold flex items-center justify-start gap-2 pt-[20px] leading-18"> Early Park Admission
• sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo mouseover->sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo" class="block text-black text-base font-eucliarSemiBold flex items-center justify-start gap-2 pt-[20px] leading-18"> Tickets
• sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo mouseover->sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo" class="block text-black text-base font-eucliarSemiBold flex items-center justify-start gap-2 pt-[20px] leading-18"> Front-of-Line Service: Universal Express Pass
• Halloween Horror Nights
• Rock the Universe
• Gradventure
• Special Needs
• Kids and Babies

• Universal Studios Florida
• Universal's Islands of Adventure
• Universal Epic Universe
• Universal Studios Florida Restaurants
• Islands of Adventure Restaurants
• Volcano Bay Restaurants
• sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo mouseover->sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo" class="text-black text-base font-eucliarSemiBold flex items-center justify-start gap-2 pt-[20px] leading-18"> CityWalk Restaurants
• sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo mouseover->sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo" class="text-black text-base font-eucliarSemiBold flex items-center justify-start gap-2 pt-[20px] leading-18"> Hotel Basics
• Hard Rock Hotel
• Loews Portofino Bay Hotel
• Loews Royal Pacific Resort
• Universal Helios Grand Hotel
• Universal Stella Nova Resort
• Universal Terra Luna Resort
• Universal's Aventura Hotel
• Universal's Cabana Bay Beach Resort
• Loews Sapphire Falls Resort
• Universal’s Endless Summer Resort – Dockside Inn and Suites
• Universal's Endless Summer Resort – Surfside Inn and Suites
• Downtown Disney

• sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo mouseover->sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo" class="block text-black text-base font-eucliarSemiBold flex items-center justify-start gap-2 pt-[20px] leading-18"> Early Entry
• sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo mouseover->sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo" class="block text-black text-base font-eucliarSemiBold flex items-center justify-start gap-2 pt-[20px] leading-18"> Rider Switch
• Lunar New Year
• Food & Wine Festival
• Disneyland Park
• Disney California Adventure Park
• sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo mouseover->sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo" class="text-black text-base font-eucliarSemiBold flex items-center justify-start gap-2 pt-[20px] leading-18"> Ratings for All DLR Restaurants
• Disneyland Restaurants
• California Adventure Restaurants
• Downtown Disney Restaurants
• sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo mouseover->sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo" class="text-black text-base font-eucliarSemiBold flex items-center justify-start gap-2 pt-[20px] leading-18"> Disneyland Hotel
• sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo mouseover->sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo" class="text-black text-base font-eucliarSemiBold flex items-center justify-start gap-2 pt-[20px] leading-18"> Disney's Grand Californian Resort & Spa
• sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo mouseover->sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo" class="text-black text-base font-eucliarSemiBold flex items-center justify-start gap-2 pt-[20px] leading-18"> Pixar Place Hotel
• sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo mouseover->sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo" class="text-black text-base font-eucliarSemiBold flex items-center justify-start gap-2 pt-[20px] leading-18"> The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa
• sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo mouseover->sidemenu#activeChildLayerTwo" class="text-black text-base font-eucliarSemiBold flex items-center justify-start gap-2 pt-[20px] leading-18"> The Villas at Disneyland Hotel
• sidemenu#activeChild" class="text-base font-eucliarSemiBold flex items-center justify-between pt-3 md:pt-14 leading-30"> Planning Your Cruise
• sidemenu#activeChild" class="text-base font-eucliarSemiBold flex items-center justify-between pt-3 md:pt-14 leading-30"> Tips for During Your Cruise

Planning a trip to Walt Disney World is a daunting task, even for repeat visitors. But TouringPlans can simplify the process with our step-by-step guides and easy-to-use tools, saving you time and money all along the way.

Our Crowd Calendar shows when the Walt Disney World parks will have the lowest wait times.

With hotels ranging in price, theme, and location, there are a lot of options. Let us help you decide whether it’s worth staying on-site or off-site with in-depth overviews and photos of every on-site hotel, plus other ways to save money on your stay.

With four theme parks and two water parks, there’s so much to do! Want detailed reviews of every ride, show, and attraction? Want to know the best times to visit each attraction, whether an attraction is right for your child, handicap accessibility features, and ratings? Our 70,000 reviews include comments from other families, so you can get a wide range of opinions on every experience.

Pick how many days you want to spend in the theme parks, and we can help you find the best deals. Disney’s Park Hopper ticket option lets you move from one park to another on the same day, so add that if you'd like to explore one park in the morning and a different one in the afternoon or evening.

Guests with date-specific tickets do not need to make park reservations. If you're using an Annual Pass or some other non-date-specific admission, you’ll need a My Disney Experience (Disney World's official website and app) account and valid theme park admission linked to that account in order to make your park reservations for any dates that are not "good-to-go" days.

Disney's resort transportation was so amazing we will probably never stay off-site again.

October 18, 2020

I think Disney may have won me over - the experience was wonderful. The hotel was quiet, the pool was uncrowded, and the Mickey beignets were as good as promised.

I think Disney may have won me over - the experience was wonderful. The hotel was quiet, the pool was uncrowded, and the Mickey beignets were as good as...

September 22, 2019

I was so pleased with the Touring Plans that were generated on your website. I customized them for our family and used the Optimize feature and the plans sent us right every time! It felt magical!

I was so pleased with the Touring Plans that were generated on your website. I customized them for our family and used the Optimize feature and the plans...

July 22, 2019

Follow our Touring Plans (or create your own computer-optimized plan with our Personalized Touring Plan tool) to help you plan the best times to experience the attractions. Download our Lines app to your phone to help you build plans that let you experience everything the parks have to offer while spending the least amount of time waiting in lines.

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Disney Dish with Jim Hill Podcast

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When to Visit Disney World

The Best Age for Your Child's First Trip

Your Complete Disney World Glossary

How to Get Around at Disney

How to Choose & Buy Disney World Tickets

How to Use FastPass+ & MagicBands

Disney's Single Rider Progam

Disney's Rider Switch Program

The Top 10 Things to Do at Disney World

The 10 Best Rides at Disney World

The Best Rides for Kids Under 10

Disney World's Best Roller Coasters

Character Experiences at Disney World

How to Choose a Dining Plan

Disney World Character Dining

How to Make Dinner Reservations at Disney

Disney's Top Table Service Restaurants

Disney's Best Quick Service Restaurants

The Best Snacks & Sweets at Disney World

How to Choose a Disney World Hotel

The Cheapest Places to Stay at Disney

The Best Disney Resorts for Toddlers

The Best Disney Hotels for Large Families

Planning Your Trip to Disney World: A Guide

Walt Disney World Guide: Planning Your Trip

 Walt Disney World

Florida’s Walt Disney World is one of the planet’s most popular vacation destinations. Its four theme parks–Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Epcot, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom–generate upwards of 60 million visitors each year.   For a good reason. They boast classic, timeless attractions that feature universally adored characters and properties, along with some of the most cutting-edge, immersive storytelling technology ever developed. But with two world-class water parks, a couple of dozen hotels, myriad shopping, dining, and entertainment options at two large complexes, championship golf courses, and other diversions, there’s much more to the massive, 47-square-mile resort than blasting off on Space Mountain and meeting Mickey Mouse. There are many things to consider when planning a journey to the theme park mecca, including when to visit, must-see attractions, how to make ride reservations in advance, where to dine, and where to stay. Let’s dive in.

Planning Your Trip

Best Time to Visit : With the introduction of annual special events such as the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival (held in the fall) and Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend (held in January) that span the calendar, there is no longer a “slow season” at the resort. But some times are busier than others, including peak visitation periods in June, July, the first half of August, Easter week, Thanksgiving week, and, especially, the week between Christmas and New Year’s (when the parks often reach capacity). In addition to larger crowds, it costs more to visit Disney World during these higher-attendance periods. On-property hotels charge higher rates, and, using a surge pricing model, the parks charge more for tickets.

Florida’s heat and humidity can be overbearing from late spring through early fall. The Atlantic hurricane season begins June 1 and runs through Nov. 30  , with the highest storm probability from August through October. If you are concerned about your trip being interrupted by a hurricane, consider buying travel insurance. Or avoid the issue completely by not going to Orlando at that time of year.

Getting Around : You wouldn’t necessarily need a car to navigate around the resort, although it could offer you more freedom and help you avoid the hassle of the resort’s often crowded and sometimes balky transportation systems. To travel between the hotels, parks, and Disney Springs, options include buses, water taxis, ferries, the snazzy Disney Skyliner aerial gondolas, and the world-famous monorail included in ticket prices and hotel rates. You could request a cab or use a ride-hailing company, including the resort’s official Minnie Van Service , which is offered in partnership with Lyft.

Travel Tip : Familiarize yourself with Disney Genie , the new digital service that Disney World introduced in fall 2021. The complimentary, interactive program helps visitors plan their days at the parks by suggesting itineraries and steering them to attractions they want to experience at times when the lines are likely to be the lowest. The service also includes Disney Genie+ , an optional, paid line skipping program that replaces Fastpass+, as well as Lightning Lane Select, which gives visitors the option to purchase access to two high-demand attractions per day. With the elimination of Fastpass+ and the loss of the ability to make advance ride reservations, the calculus of planning and experiencing the parks at Disney World has changed considerably.

Things to Do

Of course, the theme parks will be the focus of any visit to Disney World. Whether you have a limited amount of time and want to make sure you get the most out of it, or you just want to make sure you target the top things to do at the resort regardless of your length of stay, it’s a good idea to scope out the best rides and shows . Maybe you and your park posse want to make sure you scream to your hearts’ content. In that case, you’ll want to identify the parks’ best thrill rides . Or maybe you’ll have young ones in tow and want to find out where to experience the best rides for kids . One of the great things about Disney World is that there are some truly wonderful things for just about everybody to enjoy, no matter your age, interests, or thrill tolerance.

There are many, many highlights throughout the parks, but you’ll want to check out three of the newer lands, all of which are self-contained odes to a movie (or movie series) with multiple attractions, characters, food, merchandise, and more to discover:

• Get the lowdown on the (mind-boggling) rides, visiting tips, and more for the wildly popular and impeccably themed Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge .
• There are some amazing things to do and see in Pandora the World of Avatar , including taking a flight of passage aboard a banshee and encountering a full-sized Pandoran shaman as you float down the Na’vi River.
• Over at Toy Story Land , you’ll be able to ride the whimsical, launched coaster, Slinky Dog Dash, and rack up points playing virtual carnival games in Toy Story Mania.

We have plenty more articles for you to check out, including how to experience Walt Disney World if you are a ride wimp , everything you’ll want to know to plan a visit to Blizzard Beach water park , and more of the best things to do at Disney World . 

Harrison Cooney, Disney

What's New at Disney World?

• In October 2021, Disney World officially  did away with FastPass+ and introduced new digital services to help guests plan and enjoy their days at the parks including Disney Genie, Disney Genie+, and Individual Lightning Lane .
• In October 2021, Disney World launched its 18-month 50th anniversary celebration. Highlights include “Harmonious,” a new nighttime spectacular at Epcot that features choreographed, moving fountains, large LED panels, pyrotechnics, and other effects all set to Disney music as interpreted by artists from around the world. The Magic Kingdom also offers a new nighttime show, “Disney Enchantment.” it includes fireworks and projections of scenes from Disney films that light up Cinderella Castle and extend down the buildings along Main Street, U.S.A. Disney’s Animal Kingdom offers "Disney KiteTails," a new daytime show that features themed kites and windcatchers. All of the parks are featuring Beacons of Magic that are illuminating their signature structures–Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom, the Tree of Life at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, The Hollywood Tower Hotel at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Spaceship Earth at Epcot–with fanciful lighting and effects.
• The France Pavilion at Epcot welcomed Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, a new dark ride themed to the popular Pixar movie, as well as La Crêperie de Paris, a new restaurant, in October, 2021.
• Space 220, a new restaurant that virtually takes guests 220 miles above the Earth’s surface to dine on a space station, opened in September 2021.

What to Eat and Drink

How vast is Walt Disney World? It’s so big that between the theme parks, water parks, many hotels, Disney Springs, and the Boardwalk area, there are more than 400 places to dine  . You can grab a quick bite, plan a memorable, special occasion meal at a posh restaurant, or find a spot that caters to every dining whim in between. Like the lands and attractions in the parks, many of the restaurants feature special themes and offer unique, only-at-Disney experiences. One of the more intriguing ways to meet Goofy, Donald, or one of the many princesses at the resort is by booking a character meal . And speaking of booking a meal, you’ll want to learn how to nab a reservation at the resort’s more high-demand restaurants as far in advance as possible.

When Walt Disney first opened Disneyland in California, he imposed a strict no-alcohol policy. Today, there are loads of places, both within and outside the parks, to belly up to the bar. You might want to consider trying out the libations offered at Epcot’s World Showcase pavilions, which is popularly known as “drinking around the world.” Some other intriguing watering holes include Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto, a hideaway spot in Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, the magic-themed AbracadaBar at Disney’s Boardwalk, and the hugely popular Oga’s Cantina in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.

Explore our articles on Disney World’s best table-service restaurants (including Sanaa and Jiko - The Cooking Place, both at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge–yum!), our rundown of the resort’s best quick-service eateries , and, because it is so huge and a culinary haven in its own right, our picks for the ten best restaurants in Disney Springs .

Where to Stay

Disney operates 31 resort hotels on the property at the resort. They come in five flavors. Deluxe Resort Hotels include the most exclusive places to stay, such as Disney’s Wilderness Lodge and the highly unique Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. Moving down the amenities scale, Moderate Resort Hotels include Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort and Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort. Among the more barebones Value Resort Hotels are Disney’s Art of Animation Resort and Disney’s Pop Century Resort. If you are into roughing it, consider affordable campsites at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort.

Disney World’s fifth category of hotels are its Deluxe Villas. These “home away from home” accommodations include studios and one, two, and three-bedroom villas that are part of the Disney Vacation Club , Disney’s timeshare program. They can be especially suitable for large families or groups that want to stay together.

You could also consider staying off-property at one of the gazillion hotels located near Disney World. While it’s certainly possible to find lower-priced accommodations, you should consider the time that you’d save and the value that you’d get (including benefits such as early admission to the parks and complimentary transportation to and from the airport) by staying at a Disney hotel–not to mention the round-the-clock “magic” that Disney offers to its hotel guests.

There are many compelling reasons why you should stay at Disney World hotels . Check out our picks for Disney’s best hotels .

Getting There

The primary airport serving Disney World is Orlando International Airport. If you are staying on property at one of Disney World’s hotels, the resort offers complimentary motorcoach transportation to Orlando International Airport.

Money Saving Tips

• Disney World’s Ticket Program  Get the info you'll need to navigate through different ticket options, learn how to save some of your vacation dollars, and score the best deals for your getaway.
• Disney World on a Dime We run down strategies, such as how to get discounted Disney gift cards, to help make your next trip to the Mouse House more affordable.
• The Complete Guide to Military Discounts at Disney World If you or your spouse are members of the military, you are eligible for some significant discounts on park tickets and stays at Shades of Green, the Disney World hotel owned and operated by the military.

AECOM and TEA. “Theme Index.” 2019

National Weather Service. "Hurricane Safety Tips and Resources."

Disney. “ Walt Disney World Restaurants and Reservations .”

Best Walt Disney World Resort Hotels in Orlando

Your Guide to Visiting Walt Disney World During the Pandemic

Maps of Walt Disney World

How to Get Around Walt Disney World: The Complete Guide

Disneyland vs. Disney World: Which Is Better?

How to Decide Where to Stay at Walt Disney World

Best Budget Disney World Hotels

Disney World Vs. Universal Orlando

How Do I Make Disney World Dining Reservations?

Disney California Adventure: The Complete Guide

Disney World on a Dime

Your Trip to Universal Orlando: The Complete Guide

Tips for a Perfect Day at Disney World's Epcot

The Complete Guide to Disney World for Adults

Disney Travel Planning: Disney World vs. Disney Cruise

December at Disney World: Weather, What to Pack, and What to See

Accommodations

Theme parks, disney cruise line – what you need to know, cruise line ships, disney private islands, recent walt disney world, recent disneyland, disney world reviews, other park reviews, recent reviews, allears style, newsletter home, planning your trip to walt disney world.

Congratulations! You’re going to Walt Disney World in sunny central Florida, one of the world’s largest and most popular vacation destination.

When should i go | where should i stay | which tickets should i buy | what will it cost | car or not | what about families | special needs | what are some other planning tips.

Planning is the key to making the most of your time and budget and to enjoying this wonderful World of theme parks, shopping, entertainment, water parks, hotels, and much more. But planning a trip to Walt Disney World has never been more complicated and difficult than it is now.

AllEars.Net  is here to help you plan your trip by posing the first essential questions: When should I go? Where should I stay? What tickets should I buy? And the biggie: How much will it cost?

These are not simple questions, and there’s no single answer for everyone. But with our guidance below, we’ll help you answer these questions for you .

In each section below and in the column on the left, there are links to areas on this site that will provide you with additional information to help you make informed decisions about your vacation. And don’t forget to subscribe to AllEars® , our free weekly newsletter about Walt Disney World , which brings Disney news, fun content, and additional tips. Click HERE to subscribe to AllEars® now!

AllEars TV is another incredible source. Our YouTube channel provides information on planning, maximizing your resources, saving money, and more — plus we’ve got ride videos, trivia, and park challenges. It’s fun and it’s informative — win/win! Click HERE to check out AllEars TV!

All right — let’s get into it! Here’s Planning Your Trip to Walt Disney World !

When should i go.

Ideally, you want to go when the weather is moderate and the crowds are low . Unfortunately between vacation schedules and school-age kids, your options might be limited. Plus, anecdotally speaking, it often feels to guests there are fewer and fewer “off-peak” times these days.

Because Disney World now uses date-based pricing for tickets , those can be a guide to which days, weeks, or months are expected to be less crowded (and therefore priced lower) than others. For 2020, dates in January, February, late-August, and September are cheaper and thus expected to have lower crowds.

In addition to the natural ebb and flow of guests due to weather and school vacation schedules, there are special annual events at Walt Disney World that can add to your vacation experience (though crowds may be increased as well). Special events include Epcot’s four festivals, After Hours experiences, and holiday parties.

Take a look at our  Calendar of Events , and don’t forget that busier times of the year will have extended Park Operating Hours , so while it may be slower going with crowds during the day, if you’re a night owl, the busier seasons might actually work really well for you .

Calendar of Events Highlights

Special times of the year are in mid-January through late-February (Epcot International Festival of the Arts), mid-March through May (Epcot’s Flower and Garden Festival), late-August to mid-November (Epcot International Food and Wine Festival), and mid-November through New Year’s (Epcot International Festival of the Holidays and holiday decor in all four parks).

In addition, there are two special ticket parties at the Magic Kingdom — Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party (various dates mid-August through early-November) and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (November – December).

Historic Attendance Calendar of Events Scheduled Refurbishments and Closings US Holidays

WHERE SHOULD I STAY?

Where to stay at Walt Disney World (or nearby) is a major decision. Walt Disney World has over 30 on-site Resort hotels to fit most budgets, and they offer special perks to their guests ( Extra Magic Hours in the parks and complimentary Disney Transportation ).

Staying offsite is likely to cost less, but then you’ll probably want a rental car off-site transportation is sometimes less frequent and less reliable). The Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin offer AllEars.net readers special discounts! Click here to see what’s available now!

There are advantages and disadvantages to staying on-site and off-site — only you can decide for yourself which works best for you!

Here are a few of our pages that might help you with your decision:

Staying On or Off Disney Property Resort Fact Sheets and Photo Galleries Resort Phone Numbers

WHAT KIND OF TICKETS DO I PURCHASE?

Disney offers a wide range of ticket options from which to choose, from one-day/one-park admissions ticket to a Platinum Plus Annual Pass that will get you into all the theme parks, water parks, ESPN’s Wide World of Sports, and Disney’s Oak Trail Golf Course — and every kind of ticket in between!

The ticket structure “rewards” longer stays with a greatly reduced prices for 7+ day tickets. Read through the Ticket FAQ and decide which is best for you.

If you think you may return to Disney multiple times in a year, consider an Annual Pass . By purchasing the Annual Pass, you can return to Walt Disney World over and over and not have to pay for admission tickets each time. Take a look at our analysis of when it makes more sense to buy an Annual Pass over other types of tickets. Sometimes discounted hotel rates are also offered to Annual Passholders and Florida Residents.

HOW MUCH IS THIS GOING TO COST?

Your Walt Disney World vacation is going to be an expensive trip, no doubt about it. There are ways to minimize the cost if you’re willing to do some work. Your major costs will be Transportation, Tickets, Resort Lodging, and Food. Planning ahead by using the information here can save you some money or at least give you an idea of what the trip might cost:

WDW Discounts How to Find Low Airfares Priceline “How To..”

Disney Dining Plan

Magic Your Way Resort Packages

RENT A CAR OR NOT?

Driving at Walt Disney World has some drawbacks, but so does waiting for Disney transportation or needing to hire a rideshare or taxi to travel off-site. Then again, relying on Disney means you don’t have to shell out for parking (Resort or Park) or rentals. You can read more pros and cons and other advice here:

Using WDW Transportation or Renting a Car? Renting a Car – Things to Consider Discounted Ground Transportation

Disney’s Magical Express Disney Minnie Van Service Directions

You can travel to Walt Disney World as a family, as a couple, as seniors, with friends, and even alone! When traveling as a family there are a number of considerations depending on the age(s) of your child(ren).

Activities for School-aged Children Birthday Ideas for Kids Expectant Mother Tips 5-11 Year Olds Tips Infant and Toddler FAQ ChildCare FAQ Stroller FAQ Taking Your Preschooler to WDW

Do You Bring Your Child’s Friend?

Empty Nesters addresses issues for guests traveling without children!

SPECIAL NEEDS

The Cast Members at Walt Disney World know that travelers may have special needs and they do their best to be accommodating. Knowing the ins and outs of how the “system” works ahead of time will make your vacation more relaxing and pleasurable. This section addresses those with special physical requirements, including large-sized guests, as well as those with special dietary considerations.

Visit our Special Needs pages. Here’s just a sample of what’s included:

American Sign Language (ASL) at WDW Assisted Listening Devices Mobility Disabilities Reflective Captioning

Latex Allergies

Visually Impaired

Wheelchair/ECV FAQ Animal Kingdom via Wheelchair Epcot via Wheelchair

WDW at Large for those who know one size does not always fit all!

Vegetarian/Vegan Special Dietary Needs

Also read about PassPorter’s Open Mouse for Walt Disney World and the Disney Cruise Line, written for those who face special challenges.

PLANNING TIPS

Be sure to check out our searchable TIPS database , chock full of hundreds of ideas and tips to make your vacation a magical one!

Other planning tips and hints you might find helpful:

Packing Tips What to Tote Around Summer Sun Survival Ideas for Your First Day or Night at WDW! Tips for Enjoying your Stay International Visitors UK Travelers

Addresses for Disney Officials Disney Links Newsletters Telephone Numbers

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Disney World Trip Planning Timeline & Checklist (2024 & 2025)

Last updated on Jan 1, 2024 by Adam Bryan . This post may contain affiliate links.

Planning a Disney World vacation can be an exciting but daunting task, especially with the continual changes and updates to the process and parks over the years.

However, with our newly updated Disney World planning checklist and timeline, you can simplify the planning process and ensure a memorable and seamless vacation experience in 2023, 2024, and beyond.

In addition to this checklist, I’ll provide you with in-depth details to help you plan the best vacation possible that you’ll cherish forever!

Disney World Planning Timeline and Checklist

8 months before your trip, 6 months before your trip, 4 months before your trip, 60 days before your trip, reserve special experience activities, 1 month before your trip, 1 week before your trip, day of your trip.

• It’s Time To Count Down the Days

Get a Printable Version of this Checklist

Here is an ideal timeline for planning a trip to Walt Disney World:

This is the perfect time to first set your budget and then lock in your trip dates and park days. You can also use this time to identify any special events or attractions that you want to see.

Set Your Budget

Disney World is expensive. That’s why it’s important to set a budget so that you don’t end up overspending on your trip, which can happen easier than you think. Even if money is no object, it’s always great to get a ballpark idea of how much your’e willing to spend.

I break down the costs of a Disney World vacation if you need some more information.

This is also the time to research all of the Disney World properties to see which ones fit your needs, location preference, and budget.

Choose Your Dates

This is when you’ll need to choose the dates that you want to visit Disney World.

I’m not here to tell you what months or time of year you should book your trip because everyone’s situation is different, but I always tell people to plan around things that may interest you.

For example, if your goal is to visit during an EPCOT festival, then you should plan around this festival calendar .

Make Sure There’s Park Pass Availability

It’s important to make sure that the dates that you end up choosing has theme park reservation availability.

You can view the current availability here .

Determine Which Parks You’re Visiting

This is a great time to also determine which parks you’re visiting on which days. If the goal is to limit crowds, these are the best days of the week to visit for each park.

Research Special Events or Attraction Openings

This is the best time to identify if you want to attend any special paid events such as:

• Mickeys’ Not So Scary Halloween Party
• Mickeys’ Very Merry Christmas Party
• Backstage Tours
• Drawn to Life by Cirque du Soleil
• Hoop-Dee-Doo

You can also use this time to plan your trip around any new attraction openings.

This is the time to set up your My Disney Experience account, book your lodging, and purchase your park tickets.

Set up My Disney Experience

This is one of the most important parts of planning your Disney World vacation. This app allows you to use Genie (or Genie+ ), book dining reservations, research park info and attraction times, place mobile food orders, and so much more.

Book Your Hotel

Now that you already have the dates picked out a couple months prior, this is the time that you should book your hotel.

There is nothing wrong with staying off-property, but there are a few benefits for staying at a Disney World resort, especially if you’re at a participating Disney Deluxe, Deluxe Villa, or other select hotels.

You can check out our guide on Disney World hotel room rates if you need help figuring out which resort fits your budget.

Purchase Your Theme Park Tickets

If you are staying at a Disney resort, you can do this process at the same time that you’re booking your hotel.

If not, you can still purchase your park tickets separately at this time to ensure that there will still be park reservation availability.

Please note that at this moment, you will need to select which park you’re visiting and on what day.

Disney Dining Plan

If you plan on staying at a Disney World resort, you’ll also have the option to add the Disney Dining Plan. I won’t go into detail here, but you can decide if it’s worth it or not after reading this comprehensive DDP guide .

If you’re flying, this is when you should book your flights.

Book Your Flights

Generally, booking your flights four months in advance is best.

That said, if you’re traveling during a major holiday, it’s best to book these flights as soon as possible (like when you book your hotels and park tickets).

Book Your Rental Car

If you plan on visiting any nearby attractions in Orlando like Universal Studios, SeaWorld , or even the outlets, then renting a car is a decent option.

Four months prior is when you should book your rental car.

This is when you must secure your advanced Disney dining reservations, as well as make any special experience reservations.

Book Restaurant Reservations

If you’re have a valid Disney World hotel reservation, you can make dining reservations for your entire length of stay (up to 10 nights) up to 60 days in advance of your arrival date .

If you are not staying at a valid Disney World resort, you can only make reservations up to 60 days in advance. This means that you’ll have to book a new restaurant every day until your entire trip is covered.

Reservations generally open up starting at 5:45 am every day.

Book special experiences like Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique , Droid Depot and Savi’s Workshop online 60 days prior to your Disney World vacation.

This is also the best time to book any fireworks dessert parties too.

If you didn’t pay for your entire trip by this time, your final vacation balance will be due 30 days prior to your scheduled arrival.

Make Final Vacation Payment

The final payment for your Disney World vacation is due 30 days prior to your scheduled arrival date.

One month before your vacation is also a good time to arrange your transportation, if you plan on using Mears Connect. If you plan on renting a car or using Uber or Lyft, then you won’t have to worry about this.

Mears Connect

If you plan on using Mears Connect, which is the paid version of the now defunct Magic Express bus service, then this is when you should book your roundtrip tickets.

Now it’s time to start packing.

It’s time to pack for your trip and get everything situated.

If you need some packing recommendations, I got you covered !

The day has finally arrived!

Make Sure You Have Everything

Keys, wallet, license, IDs, passport (if international), sunblock, rain jackets, etc.

Arrive at Disney World and Start Your Vacation

It’s time to start your vacation!

It’s Time To Count Down the Days

When it comes to planning a Disney World vacation, a little bit of preparation and a whole lot of fun can go a long way!

With the help of some updated planning tools, you’ll be well-equipped to navigate the ins and outs of the parks and make the most out of your adventure.

So, pack your Mickey ears, grab your sunscreen, and get ready for an unforgettable trip to the most magical place on Earth.

Subscribe to my email list to get a free printable checklist version of this Disney World Planning Timeline.

More Travel Planning

About Adam Bryan

Hey what's up, I'm Adam, founder of Urban Tastebud Disney and I spend most of my days eating (and researching, but mostly eating) around Disney Parks to create useful travel planning content that will help you maximize your time and money at Disney.

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Save money, experience more.

Walt Disney World 2024 Planning Guide: Experience More, Save Money at Disney

Our Walt Disney World Planning Guide is here to help you plan your entire Walt Disney World vacation from start to finish- all while saving you as much money as possible at Disney.

In this planning guide you'll find links to our most helpful Walt Disney World planning articles including tips, money saving hacks, packing lists, and more!

Common Questions:

• Where to find best discount Walt Disney World tickets?
• Where to find cheap Walt Disney World tickets?
• Which Walt Disney World hotel should I stay at?
• Which Walt Disney Word hotel is the cheapest?
• What should I do for transportation to Disney World?
• When should I visit Walt Disney World?
• How should I plan for food?
• Can I plan a last-minute Disney World trip?
• How much does Disney FastPass cost?
• How much does a Walt Disney World vacation cost?

We have free planning resources like a printable packing list PDF and planning guide ( previously $14.95 ) for people who sign up for our free Mickey Visit planning newsletter. Our newsletter subscribers also get exclusive discounts from Disney's largest travel partner.

Get exclusive access to prices on hotel & tickets just for Mickey Visit subscribers. Don't miss our travel hacks newsletter!

Frequently Asked Questions

In this section of our planning guide we go over our most  current frequently asked questions for a Disney World trip. General information on tickets, crowd calendars, transportation, holidays, etc. can be found after this section on this planning guide.

What is the best touring strategy for rides at Disney World?

We have a touring guide for each of the four Walt Disney World theme parks that we have tested and tried ourselves! We update these plans often and they also take into account how to best use Genie+ (or how to still enjoy the parks without it!) which is the system that replaced FastPass.

How much does it cost to go to Disney World? 

One of the things we love about our travel partner is how easy it is to get a free quote . You can reach out to them at anytime and get a quote for your visit. You can also go on Disney World's website and look at hotel/ticket prices to get an estimate of that portion of your trip. Once you've figured that out, factor in your flights and travel expenses. Once you've done that, the last part to estimate is the cost of food and souvenirs. Our article here on the cost of Disney World also helps break down expenses so you can get an idea of how to budget.

How much should I budget for food per day at Disney World? 

The best way to figure this out, especially if you're visiting while the dining plans are suspended, is to go on Disney World's website to look at the menus for the restaurants. This is the most accurate way to estimate cost when it comes to pricing food options for your family.

For example, if I am visiting Magic Kingdom for the day and I know that I have picked one table service restaurant to eat at I can estimate that cost for dinner. Let's say I pick the Plaza Restaurant. Based on the menu, I can average about $20 per adult for an entree. Add in two fountain drinks (typically average around $4) and I'm at around $50. I always round up to plan (don't forget tip/tax) so let's say I set aside about $60 for dinner. For lunch, we might plan on eating quick-service snacks like corn dogs. If I plan out two corn dogs and two bottled waters, I'm at about $30 for lunch. So based on just lunch and dinner for two people, I'm at about (remember, always round up) $100 for both meals. This is not counting snacks! And you should absolutely plan for snacks. So if I guess that we might enjoy icecream and churros throughout the day, I will set aside another $50 for snacks. So now I've roughly estimated about $150 for two people for the day for lunch, dinner, and snacks.

Keep in mind that I didn't count breakfast (we usually eat at the hotel) and that I didn't factor in other drinks outside of those I mentioned since we will likely just refill water bottles throughout the day. This is my process for figuring out my budget so you can idea of how to best plan. Everyone has their own ‘food style' when it comes to theme parks. We're more of a ‘splurge and snack' family so I budget for that. If you know your family has more self control or you plan on bringing your own snacks, you can adjust accordingly.

What's the best age to take my kids to Disney World for the first time?

This is a tough question to answer because everyone has such varying opinions. Some families might take their kids as infants while others swear on waiting until they're at least 3-5 for their first trip. Disney offers plenty of rides for small children and other activities so really it comes down to personal opinion. Disney also has an abundance of resources for people traveling with small children like a Baby Centers in the theme parks and there's great stroller rental companies to pick from.

Should I add a day at Universal Orlando? 

If you can afford it and you have the time to add on during your vacation then we say absolutely! Universal Orlando (read our guide here) has two awesome theme parks with extremely popular areas like the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Universal Orlando is really close to Disney World so it's not that much of a hassle to spend a day there. Plus there's a lot of transportation options to take you to and from your Disney World hotel to Universal if you don't rent a car.

Have a frequently asked question you want us to address? Drop it in the comments!

Keep reading for answers to your questions on when to visit, how to get cheap tickets, transportation tips, seasonal events, and what to bring!

When to Visit Walt Disney World 2024

The time of year you decide to visit Walt Disney World is one of the first decisions you make for your vacation! There are special events throughout the year to celebrate the different holidays, rotating festivals at Epcot plus pros/cons to the seasonal Orlando weather! In order to help you decide when is the best time to visit Walt Disney World consult our Walt Disney World crowd calendar which includes crowd predictions along with monthly events for the entire year. You can also read all about new rides coming to Disney World to get a sense of what is new and next.

Visiting Walt Disney World during the summer might be the first move guests want to make since it can be the most convenient time for parents with kids out of school. Summers are a great time to take advantage of the two water parks at Walt Disney World: Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach.

Spring at Walt Disney World can be another great time to visit, especially if you're looking for Walt Disney World hotel discounts and cheaper airfare.

Although some guests may prefer visiting Walt Disney World in the Fall to avoid the summer heat. The major draw of visiting Walt Disney World in the fall is the Halloween season including Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. This ticketed event grants you access to all the special Halloween entertainment, trick or treating, Halloween meet and greets, and more!

One of the most magical times of the year to visit Walt Disney World is the holiday season! The big event of the Disney Christmas season is Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom. This ticketed holiday party includes a special holiday parade, themed decorations, Christmas treats, and holiday overlays on attractions. Another consideration to keep in mind is planning a Walt Disney World trip on birthdays or anniversaries which is another special event to plan your trip around!

Picking what time of year to visit Walt Disney World will alter your resort experience whether you visit during the summer, spring, fall or winter because Disney always celebrates the seasons… especially if they include holidays!

Walt Disney World Reservation System 2024

Theme park reservations are a requirement to enter Walt Disney World park: you need both a theme park ticket AND a park ticket. You should reserve your park days the instant you book your vacation package. You can easily change your park days later if you need to but it's best to book your dates the instant you know what days you're visiting.

You never want to be in a position where the park you want to visit is out of reservation spots! Our guide to the Walt Disney World theme park reservation system can walk you through how to make a reservation.

What Walt Disney World Hotel To Stay In

One thing that tends to overwhelm people traveling to Walt Disney World for the first time is the amount of hotels that are offered. Our guide with reviews of every Walt Disney World resort hotel will help you plan which hotel is the best fit for your vacation.

The Walt Disney World hotels are categorized into these three price groups in order of highest to lowest: deluxe, moderate and value. The deluxe category hotels are the most luxurious hotels that Walt Disney World has to offer with top tier amenities, signature dining and conveniently located to the parks. The moderate hotels offer a similar class of amenities although the rooms will not be as upscale as you'll find at the deluxe resorts. The value resorts are the most affordable hotels but don't discount them as not being quality! Our favorite value hotel, the Pop Century Resort , has access to the Skyliner which is one of the best transportation options in Walt Disney World. You can read more about the difference between moderate vs. value resorts to see category fits your needs best.

Walt Disney World hotel guests receive many perks aside from on-site transportation but deluxe resort guests receive access to the popular Disney After Hours access which is a great way to access the parks with minimal crowds! And all resort guests receive the benefit of early entry which allows you into the park before guests staying off site.

You also have the option of camping at Walt Disney World which gives you the same on-site perks but the opportunity to combine two experiences into one!

Our full guide on current Walt Disney World hotel discounts includes current deals to save you money on our next trip. Our budget tip on how to save 5% on Disney gift cards will also help you save money on your Walt Disney World hotel packages.

Walt Disney World Transportation

Walt Disney World Resort is the size of San Francisco which means figuring out your transportation options are the resort is a crucial part of your vacation planning step. If you are staying at a Walt Disney World hotel then on-site transportation is included in your stay. The hotel you are staying at will dictate which transportation options are available to you. The hotels closest to Magic Kingdom that use the Monorail system typically fall into that Deluxe category while hotels further away are more budget friendly. Some hotels offer transportation via the new Disney Skyliner, monorail, and water transportation.

Whether you're figuring out how to navigate getting yourself to/from the airport or looking for the best on-site transportation hacks , it's good to be prepared before your trip. Also check out our guide to Uber and Lyft at Disney World .

Discount Walt Disney World Tickets

One of the best ways to try to save money for your Walt Disney World vacation is to try and save money on your tickets. We have put together a comprehensive page with all of the known discounts on Walt Disney World tickets plus tips on purchasing your tickets and information on Walt Disney World annual passes.

Our travel partner,  Get Away Today , is the best place to book your Walt Disney World vacation. They not only have a lowest price guarantee, but also offer incredible customer service. It does not cost any extra money to use get Away Today and they offer free concierge services for guests booking trips and staying at Disney on-property hotels.

Get Away Today's complimentary concierge services include:

• Consultation call to understand the complexities of your trip and the preferences of everyone in the group
• Walt Disney World dining recommendations  and reservations based on your family
• Tailored advice for how your family can best experience Walt Disney World
• Frequent price checks to ensure that you are receiving the lowest prices possible on your tickets and hotel. This perk comes in handy when Disney releases discounts after you've already booked- Get Away Today will automatically apply them to your vacation package.
• Dedicated support so that you can have the best trip possible!

You can get a a free Walt Disney World quote here!

How to Plan for Food at Disney World

The Walt Disney World Resort provides a wide variety of different types of food. You will find classic amusement park food mixed in with upscale restaurants. Our full guide to dining at Walt Disney World includes reviews of the most popular dining options, tips on getting reservations plus and overview of character dining!

Walt Disney World classifies their dining options in two categories: table service and quick service. Table service is defined as restaurants where you are seated with a typical waiter/waitress and offer advance dining reservations you can reserve 60 days in advance. You can book a reservation on the official Disney website or call the reservation hotline at (407) WDW-DINE. Most of the restaurants are Disneyland that are considered table service book up in advance so its highly recommended you book reservations for the ones you're interested in.

If you miss out and don't find a reservation, I recommend trying  Mouse Watcher  which will search relentlessly for a variety of days/times for your chosen restaurant for $5 per restaurant search. While many free services like this exist, I've found this one to be the most successful.

If you're looking to save money at the parks, cutting down on food costs is one of the best ways to do it and finding the cheap food at Walt Disney World is a great way to save.

Every Theme Park at Walt Disney World

Walt Disney World has four theme parks and two water parks plus a large shopping district! Our attraction guides to the Walt Disney World theme parks will help you decide which park has what and what to prioritize. I recommend reviewing each one as you plan your days at the park and what you plan on doing! Read on guide to park hopping at Disney World for tips  on moving between parks.

If you are an expectant mother planning a visit, be sure to see our guide to visiting Disney World while pregnant for a list of safe rides at the parks and our other best tips.

• The traditional park where you can find Cinderella's Castle and classic rides like Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, it's a small world, and more.
• This is where you can find Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, Toy Story Land and the new Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway attraction.
• This park is known for its safari with wild animals, the Pandora themed land and the Tree of Life.
• You'll recognize this park right away from its iconic ‘golfball' entrance but also is known for its international experiences and the new Guardians of the Galaxy rollercoaster.

Walt Disney World also offers two water parks to choose from:

• This waterpark offers a ski resort themed vibe that many guests enjoy for its unique theming and its large water slides.
• This waterpark offers a traditional vibe with palm trees, beach themed water slides and a pirate ship.

Walt Disney World also has a downtown district known for shopping, restaurants, and other experiences:

• You can find popular themed restaurants such as Rainforest Cafe but also great dining options like Planet Hollywood and the Boathouse.
• Popular shopping in this area includes the Lego Store, World of Disney,

It can be easy to become overwhelmed with the amount of options at Walt Disney World which is why I recommend reviewing our Walt Disney World touring guide to give you an idea of how to approach your day for each theme park.

The other key to managing the theme parks at Walt Disney World right now is being familiar with Genie+ at Walt Disney World which replaced the previous FastPass option. Our guide covers which attractions offer it, how to use it to plan your day and whether the cost is justified! You essentially purchase Genie+ which gives you access to a shorter line than the much longer standby line. If this Walt Disney World trip is a ‘once in a lifetime' visit, then it's absolutely worth the cost! Part of the appeal of using MagicBands at Walt Disney World is using Genie+ as you can tap your MagicBand to scan your pass to access the Lightning Lane (the faster line you paid to access!) which makes your day more hand free.

It's also a good idea to check the Walt Disney World Height Requirements to get the full information on ride height requirements plus the ability to do rider switch – this allows parents with children that don't meet height requirements to only wait in line once so they both can ride! It's also crucial for families to know what tips you should know about keeping your family together and how cast members handle lost children in Walt Disney World.

Walt Disney World 2024 Packing List

Deciding what to bring on your Walt Disney World vacation can be a big decision! From what to wear, what to pack in your bag, and what food to bring are all things to plan for. Our Disney World packing list guide has you covered with everything you need to bring based on our years of experience of visiting the Disney Parks.

There are so many souvenirs to chose from at Walt Disney World , it can be overwhelming to decide what to purchase. While it can be easy to get caught up in the many, many stores you will find at Disney World- there are some souvenirs that stand the test of time. Opt for the more memorable gifts that will stand the test of time.

Another popular item to collect and trade at Walt Disney World are Disney pins which you can trade with other guests and inside the Disney shops. Our guide to Disney Pin Trading gives an overview of this time honored tradition which makes for a great souvenir that can carry over into future park visits as well.

And if you find yourself wanting to purchase something that's too large to pack into your suitcase, Disney also gives you the option to ship your souvenirs back home.

Specialized Walt Disney World Tips for Specific Trips

There are so many different occasions to celebrate and Walt Disney World typically has specialized offerings for each of them. We have guides for everything from taking your teens to Disney World to how to have the best Disney World honeymoon . Also be sure to read our guide to taking small children to Disney World .

For groups and those interested in learning about the next level of experience at Walt Disney World, the guided Disney World tours are something interesting to consider.

Plan Your Walt Disney World Vacation!

That should be everything that you need to plan your Walt Disney World vacation. If you still have questions about planning, see our  Ask Us page .

Be sure to sign up for our  planning newsletter  so that you can get access to our exclusive hotel discounts and special planning tips. We have a dedicated team of writers covering new Disney World content weekly! Check out our blog for everything you need to know to plan a successful Disney vacation!

If you need any other help or have questions, don't be afraid to email me .

Disclosure: We have used all the products recommended on Mickey Visit. We may receive compensation when you click on links to some products featured.

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• Last Updated On
• July 1, 2023

Disney World Itinerary: The Perfect Plan for Your Family Trip

Imagine the perfect Disney World itinerary for your family vacation at Walt Disney World, where every day offers a new adventure and unforgettable memories.

What if I told you that it’s possible to experience the best of Disney World in just 5 days?

Well, I’m an Orlando local with a lot of Disney World experience under my belt. And I’m here to help you out.

My meticulously crafted itinerary will guide you through the magic of all four Disney World parks, plus a relaxing day at a water park, ensuring that you and your family make the most of every enchanting moment.

Ready to embark on the ultimate Disney World adventure?

Let’s dive in!

Short Summary

• Embark on a magical Disney World adventure with thrilling attractions, character meet-and-greets and unforgettable memories!
• Explore Future World, the African Safari at Animal Kingdom and classic Hollywood Studios attractions for an incredible experience.
• Relaxation spots, delicious dining options & transportation tips help make your family’s vacation perfect!

Day 1: Magic Kingdom Adventure

There’s no better place to start your Disney World adventure than at the iconic Magic Kingdom. Filled with classic Disney attractions, mouth-watering snacks, and loads of character meet-and-greets, Magic Kingdom offers a magical experience for all ages.

Begin your day with a visit to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, one of the most popular attractions in the park. As the day unfolds, make sure to check the wait times in the My Disney Experience app and take advantage of Disney Genie+ for the optimal experience.

Morning Attractions

As you step through the entrance gate of Magic Kingdom, the excitement begins! Head straight to Discovery Island and marvel at the park’s iconic Tree of Life. With the morning sun shining bright, take a spin on Tomorrowland classics like the PeopleMover and Astro Orbiter.

When you’re ready for a break from the heat, explore the incredible indoor shows at Magic Kingdom, such as Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room, Hall of Presidents, Country Bear Jamboree, and Carousel of Progress.

Remember, planning is key to making the most of your time at Magic Kingdom, so use Genie+ to buy Lightning Lanes and maximize your morning fun.

Afternoon Thrills

As the afternoon unfolds, don’t miss out on Magic Kingdom’s thrilling attractions like Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Experience the spine-tingling adventures of Haunted Mansion, soar away to Neverland on Peter Pan’s Flight, take a flight on Dumbo the Flying Elephant, and take a thrilling mine car ride on Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.

Remember to stay cool and hydrated, and don’t forget to capture those magical moments with your favorite Disney pals.

Evening Entertainment

As the sun sets on your first day at Magic Kingdom, prepare to be dazzled by the evening entertainment. Character meet-and-greets, the spectacular Festival of Fantasy parade, the awe-inspiring Happily Ever After fireworks, and the magical Cinderella’s Royal Table are all waiting to enchant you.

Indulge in savory spring rolls, regular and specialty Dole whips, and corn dog nuggets with plastic cheese as you explore the park at night. The magic of Disney World comes alive at night, so be sure to soak in every unforgettable moment.

Day 2: Exploring Epcot

On Day 2, it’s time to journey into the realms of imagination and innovation at Epcot. With Future World’s exhilarating attractions and the World Showcase’s cultural experiences, Epcot offers a unique blend of entertainment and education for visitors of all ages.

From the breathtaking Soarin’ to the exhilarating Test Track, you’ll discover a world of excitement at every turn.

Future World Adventures

Epcot’s Future World is home to some of Disney World’s most thrilling attractions. Experience the adrenaline rush of Soarin’ Around the World, the high-speed action of Test Track, and the captivating journey of Spaceship Earth.

For the more daring, take on Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind – a thrilling backwards launch with 360-degree vehicle turns and a unique soundtrack that’s random every time you ride.

Be sure to make the most of your time in Future World by utilizing Genie+ to access Lightning Lanes for popular attractions.

World Showcase Exploration

The World Showcase at Epcot invites you to embark on a fascinating exploration of 11 pavilions representing different countries around the world. Be sure to experience Frozen Ever After in the Norway Pavilion, a thrilling family boat ride featuring your favorite characters from Frozen.

As you wander from pavilion to pavilion, take time to uncover the unique side exhibits and galleries that act as a mini self-guided tour through each country’s history and current culture. Don’t forget to indulge in a variety of delectable dining options, including the Rose & Crown Pub in the United Kingdom, La Crêperie de Paris in France, and Tutto Gusto Wine Cellar in Italy.

Nighttime Spectacular

Finish your day at Epcot with the mesmerizing nighttime show, Harmonious. This awe-inspiring performance combines global influences, incredible special effects, and breathtaking fireworks to create a truly unforgettable experience.

For the best views, head to the front of the World Showcase, between the Mexico and Canada Pavilions. As the night sky lights up with dazzling colors and classic Disney songs, you’ll be reminded of the magic that only Disney World can create.

Day 3: Animal Kingdom Safari

Day 3 takes you on an African safari adventure at Animal Kingdom, where you’ll encounter exotic animals, lush landscapes, and thrilling attractions. Start your day with a visit to Pandora – The World of Avatar, and then head to Kilimanjaro Safaris for an up-close encounter with the wildlife of the African savanna.

Experience the sights and sounds of the African savanna, and get a chance to see some of the most iconic animals in the world, including giraffes, elephants, zebras, and more. Enjoy the thrill of the thrill.

Pandora – The World of Avatar

Step into the breathtaking world of Pandora – The World of Avatar, where you’ll find two awe-inspiring attractions: the tranquil Na’vi River Journey and the exhilarating Flight of Passage. Be sure to take advantage of the a la carte selections for a Lightning Lane for Flight of Passage, as they’re not available with the regular Genie+ choices.

As you explore the bioluminescent landscape, you’ll feel as if you’ve been transported to another world.

African Safari

Next, embark on an unforgettable African Safari at Kilimanjaro Safaris. This 20-minute adventure takes you across an expansive savanna, where you’ll encounter a variety of incredible animals. The best time to experience Kilimanjaro Safaris is during a light rain, when many animals are most active.

After your safari, explore the walking trails such as the Maharajah Jungle Trek and the Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail to see even more amazing animals up close.

Asia and Dinoland U.S.A.

Continue your adventure in Asia, where you’ll find thrilling rides like Expedition Everest and Kali River Rapids. Be prepared to get soaked on the exhilarating Kali River Rapids, or take on the heart-pounding Expedition Everest roller coaster for a different kind of thrill.

In Dinoland U.S.A., step back in time to experience the prehistoric world on the exciting Dinosaur ride. Animal Kingdom offers a unique blend of excitement and exploration that you won’t find in any other Disney park.

Day 4: Hollywood Studios Action

On Day 4, it’s time for some Hollywood Studios action. This action-packed park is home to Toy Story Land, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, and classic attractions like the Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.

Get ready for a day filled with excitement, adventure, and a touch of Hollywood magic.

Toy Story Land

Venture into the world of Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and all your favorite Toy Story characters at Toy Story Land. Here, you’ll find two exciting rides: Toy Story Mania and the Slinky Dog Dash roller coaster. Be sure to arrive early and head straight for Slinky Dog Dash, as wait times can get quite intense.

Toy Story Land is a fantastic place for both kids and kids-at-heart, with larger-than-life decorations and plenty of photo opportunities.

Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge

Next, step into a galaxy far, far away at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Here, you can pilot the Millennium Falcon on Smugglers Run, join the Resistance on the thrilling Rise of the Resistance ride, and immerse yourself in the intergalactic world of Star Wars.

Be sure to plan ahead and aim for the best ride-throughs, as this immersive land is incredibly popular.

Classic Attractions

Don’t forget to experience the classic attractions that make Hollywood Studios a must-visit park. Plunge into the Twilight Zone on the Tower of Terror, race through the streets of Los Angeles on the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, and journey to a galaxy far, far away on Star Tours.

With so much action and adventure, Hollywood Studios is sure to leave you starstruck.

Day 5: Water Park Fun

After four action-packed days, it’s time to unwind and enjoy a day of relaxation at one of Disney World’s water parks. With thrilling attractions, serene relaxation spots, and delicious dining options, a day at a water park is the perfect way to recharge before continuing your Disney World adventure.

Attractions and Slides

Whether you’re visiting Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach, you’ll find a variety of attractions and slides that cater to all ages and thrill levels. From family-style raft rides to adrenaline-pumping waterslides and wave pools, there’s something for everyone to enjoy.

Remember to follow safety guidelines and keep an eye on little ones, as water park attractions can sometimes be intense.

Relaxation Spots

When you’re ready for some downtime, Disney’s water parks offer a range of relaxation spots, such as hot tubs and spas. Find a comfortable lounge chair on a sandy beach or float along a lazy river, soaking in the sun and the soothing sounds of the water.

These serene spots provide the perfect opportunity to recharge and reflect on your Disney World adventure so far.

Dining Options

A day at a water park wouldn’t be complete without some delicious dining options. Both Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach offer a range of quick-service restaurants, snack stands, and even full-service dining options.

From classic theme park fare like burgers and hot dogs to more unique options like tropical-inspired dishes, there’s something to satisfy every craving.

Transportation Tips

Navigating the vast expanse of Disney World can be a little overwhelming, but with the right transportation tips, you’ll be able to move between parks and resorts with ease. From buses and monorails to boats and the Skyliner gondola ride, Disney World offers a variety of transportation options to help you make the most of your vacation.

Whether you’re looking for a quick way to get from one park to another or a leisurely ride to your resort, there’s a transportation option that’s perfect for you. With a little planning, you can make the most of your time in Disney World.

The Disney bus service is a convenient and efficient way to travel between the parks, Disney Resort hotels , and the Disney Springs area. Buses run approximately every 20 minutes, ensuring that you’ll never have to wait too long to get to your destination.

Be sure to allow for some extra travel time, especially during peak hours, and remember to check the bus schedules in the Disney Experience app for the most up-to-date information.

The monorail system is another fantastic transportation option at Disney World, providing a unique and scenic way to travel between the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and select Disney Resort hotels. With three different routes to choose from, the monorail offers a convenient and enjoyable way to explore the resort.

Be sure to take advantage of this iconic mode of transportation during your Disney World vacation.

Boats and Skyliner

For a more leisurely journey, consider taking a boat ride between select Disney parks and resorts. The water taxis offer a relaxing and scenic way to travel, providing a unique perspective on the resort’s beautiful landscapes.

In addition, the Skyliner gondola ride offers a thrilling bird’s-eye view of the resort as you soar between Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and several Disney Resort hotels. No matter which mode of transportation you choose, you’re sure to enjoy the journey as much as the destination.

Accommodations and Dining

With so many exciting experiences to be had at Disney World, it’s important to choose the right accommodations and dining options for your family. From luxurious Disney Resort hotels to memorable character dining experiences , there’s something to suit every budget and preference .

Choosing a Resort

When planning your Disney World vacation , consider the three tiers of resorts available: Value, Moderate, and Deluxe. Each tier offers a range of accommodations , from standard rooms and suites to extravagant villas and cozy cabins.

Choosing a Disney Resort hotel allows you to take advantage of the many exciting amenities and services offered, such as convenient transportation, delicious dining, and thrilling entertainment.

Character Dining

For a truly unforgettable dining experience, consider booking a character dining experience at one of Disney World’s many restaurants. Character dining allows you to come face-to-face with some of your beloved Disney characters while savoring a delectable meal. Options include Chef Mickey’s, Tusker House, Hollywood and Vine, and the Garden Grill, to name just a few.

Be sure to book dining reservations well in advance, as character dining experiences are extremely popular and can fill up quickly.

Quick Service and Snack Options

In addition to table service restaurants and character dining, Disney World offers a wide range of quick service and snack options to satisfy your cravings throughout the day. From classic theme park fare like burgers and hot dogs to more unique options like cultural cuisine and specialty treats, there’s something to satisfy every palate.

Be sure to try some of the must-have snacks at Disney World, such as Dole Whip, Mickey-shaped pretzels, and churros.

Additional Experiences

Beyond the four main theme parks and water parks, Disney World offers even more exciting experiences for you to discover. From the vibrant shopping, dining, and entertainment complex of Disney Springs to special events and festivals throughout the year, there’s always something new and exciting to explore at Disney World.

Disney Springs

Disney Springs is a must-visit destination during your Disney World vacation. This bustling shopping, dining, and entertainment area offers a unique experience away from the parks, with no admission fee required. Browse an array of shops, enjoy a delicious meal at one of the many restaurants, or catch a live performance at one of the entertainment venues.

Don’t forget to stop by World of Disney, the largest Disney merchandise store in the world, for the perfect souvenir to remember your trip.

Special Events and Festivals

Throughout the year, Disney World hosts a variety of special events and festivals that offer unique experiences for guests. From the EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival to the Food and Wine Classic, there’s always something new and exciting happening at Disney World.

Be sure to check the event calendars when planning your trip to see what special events might be taking place during your visit.

Disney World Itinerary for 2024: My Parting Words

My Disney World itinerary has taken you on a magical journey through the four theme parks, a relaxing day at a water park, and a variety of additional experiences at Disney Springs and special events. By following this carefully crafted plan, you’ll be able to make the most of your time at Disney World, ensuring that you and your family create memories that will last a lifetime.

So, what are you waiting for? Start planning your perfect Disney World vacation today and get ready to experience the magic, adventure, and unforgettable moments that only Disney World can offer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is 7 days at disney world too much.

Disney World is the ultimate vacation destination, so going for 7 days will ensure you don’t miss out on any of its exciting activities. You’ll get enough time to explore all the rides and attractions and make magical memories that will last a lifetime.

Spending 7 days at Disney World will certainly be an unforgettable experience!

Is 10 days at Disney World too much?

It really depends on what you want to do at Disney World. Ten days is plenty of time to experience the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios, but if you want to truly immerse yourself in all that Disney has to offer, it may not be enough.

Enjoy your time and create magical moments!

How to do all 4 Disney parks in one day?

Experience all four Disney parks in one day by making a park reservation and utilizing the 2:00 pm park hopping time. Take full advantage of your ‘home’ park before you move on to exploring the other three.

With careful planning, you can conquer all of them in a single day!

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The Ultimate Guide to Planning Your FIRST Disney World Vacation

By Kelly Oliveros Leave a Comment

Thinking of going to Disney World for the VERY first time?

Welcome to Disney World!

There are SO many things to consider and learn. Where do you stay ? What’s the dining situation like ? What types of tickets are there ? It can all be a bit (OK, a LOT) overwhelming. Don’t worry, you do NOT have to figure this all out on your own. We’re here to help!! Today we’re breaking down everything you need to know about planning your very first trip to Disney World with lots of info, links, and videos that will make the process so much easier for you.

1. The Basics

We’ll start with the basics! Walt Disney World is made up of 4 theme parks. There’s Magic Kingdom …

Cinderella Castle — You’re Going to Want to Get a Photo Here!

… EPCOT …

EPCOT — That Giant Ball is Spaceship Earth and It’s a Ride!

… Disney’s Hollywood Studios …

That’s the Tower of Terror!

…and Disney’s Animal Kingdom .

Tree of Life — Get an Up-Close Look at This! It’s Beautiful!

Disney also has 2 water parks — Disney’s Blizzard Beach Water Park and Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park. Typhoon Lagoon is currently open and Blizzard Beach is closed.

Blizzard Beach

There is also an entertainment, shopping, and dining area called Disney Springs that is full of stores, restaurants, and more for you to enjoy.

Disney Springs

There are also mini-golf (as well as full-sized golf!) courses and more on Walt Disney World property. There’s a LOT to see and do!

Click here to see your absolute Disney World must-dos!

There are a LOT of different Disney-owned/run hotels to stay at on Walt Disney World property . There are also some hotels that are technically on Walt Disney World property but are not owned/run by Disney, like the Four Seasons Orlando or the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin. And, there are hotels that are off of Walt Disney World property but very close by.

Gran Destino Tower at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort

Want to stay at a Disney World hotel and wondering which Disney-owned hotel would be best? With a LOT of options, it can be overwhelming to figure out what the right move for your family is . There are three classes of hotels owned by Disney ranging from the less expensive Value resorts all the way up to posh Deluxe resorts will all the amenities you could want. With so much to choose from, we recommend you check out our video on the best hotels for visits this year below!

Also, keep in mind that some benefits only apply to guests staying at select Disney World hotels. Check out our section below on Park Hours to learn more about the Early Theme Park Entry and Extended Evening Hours benefits and how those might impact your decision about where to stay.

Click here to see why people HATE some Disney World hotels!

There are many reasons why you might want to stay at a Disney World-owned hotel — like the free transportation to the Disney parks (a HUGE perk for many guests), the service you get from the Cast Members, and the Disney theming. But, there are also some reasons why you might NOT want to stay in a Disney World hotel — like the cost savings you can find at other places or more space.

Grand Floridian

Should you stay on property or off property? Ultimately, it’ll depend on what’s best for your family.

Are these Disney World hotels underrated or overrated? Click here to see what thousands of our readers said!

Another thing you’ll need to think about is how you’re going to get from Orlando International Airport or any airport nearby (if you’re flying into Orlando) to your hotel.  Disney’s Magical Express was discontinued at the beginning of 2022, so now guests must find their own way to get between the two locations — and, it’s going to cost you some $$$.

Mears, the company that used to operate Disney’s Magical Express, is now offering a paid shuttle service that’s similar , along with a new company called The Sunshine Flyer . You can also choose from a variety of other transportation options that might work better for you and your family .

Mears Connect Bus

Another consideration to make if you plan to drive or rent a car from the airport is parking. Just keep in mind that Disney does charge a parking fee if you bring your car and park it at one of their hotels BUT Disney-owned resort guests get complimentary parking at the theme parks.

Click here to see the BEST ways to get to Disney World now that the Magical Express is gone.

Finally, before you book your trip, you’ll want to check and see if there are any special deals or discounts being offered on Disney World hotel stays.

Disney’s Wilderness Lodge — This is a Gorgeous Resort

Sometimes, you may be able to score the hotel of your dreams for less through these deals. You could also look into renting points to stay at a Disney Vacation Club Villa and that could help you save BIG on some great spots . Check out our video below to learn more.

Click here to see the latest Disney World hotel deals!

Finally, a lot of people make some rookie mistakes planning their first Disney World trip. Make sure YOU don’t make those same mistakes by reading our post about some of the mistakes people make when booking a Disney World hotel .

Click here to see the rookie mistakes you’re making when booking a Disney World hotel!

3. theme park admission.

Okay, so you’ve decided what hotel you want to stay at, but what about the theme parks? You’ll need to get tickets to enter the theme parks.  But, in Disney World, not all days are created equal when it comes to theme park admission prices. Essentially, Disney uses a calendar system for its prices that is based on demand. So, “peak” days — holidays and days that Disney expects the park to be busier — will be priced at a higher cost.

Mickey Balloons — A Classic Souvenir

If you go during a slower period, when the demand maybe isn’t as high, the tickets will be lower in terms of cost. Prices can jump up or down depending on when you’d like to visit, so scouting out a slower time could mean big savings.

Click here to get a look at what’s going on with Disney World ticket prices in 2022.

Also, you’ll want to keep in mind that park tickets now have an expiration date, but that wasn’t always the case. So, while your parents might have tickets from the ’90s that are still totally good, the tickets you buy tomorrow will have a set expiration date. You’ll want to mark that down in your calendar and make sure you get the full use out of that ticket before it expires.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Okay, so we’ve talked about tickets and the calendar, but what types of tickets are available? You can get tickets that give you access to 1 park per day, or you can opt for a ticket with the Park Hopper option.  With the Park Hopper option, you’ll be able to, well, HOP between all 4 Disney World theme parks once Park Hopper hours begin each day (at 2PM daily). Park Hopper DOES add a not insignificant cost to your tickets, but if you’re looking to jump around to different parks for meals or are trying to do it all in just a few days, it might well be worth the added cost.

Pandora — A GORGEOUS Area in Animal Kingdom You’ll Want to Check Out

One important thing to keep in mind: if you don’t get a ticket with the Park Hopper option at first, and later you decide you want it, that is fine. You can always add it on later, once you’re in Disney World, and you can even add it to your tickets in the middle of your trip. But, Disney will charge you for adding the Park Hopper for the full length of your trip (meaning that even if you add on the Park Hopping on day 3 of 5, you’ll be charged Park Hopping for the full 5 days of your trip, not just your remaining days). So, if you are going to add it on during your trip, you’ll want to add it on early so you can take full advantage of it. If you’re going to pay for it, you might as well get to use it to the fullest!

But, also keep in mind that you typically cannot remove a Park Hopper option from a ticket once you’ve bought it. Our advice? You might want to wait to see if you actually NEED the Park Hopping ability before you decide to pay for it, but don’t wait until you’re too late into your actual trip.

Click here to see what Park Hopping is like in Disney World right now!

Also, if you are interested in the water parks or some other activities, you can also get tickets that have a water park and sports option that will allow you to do more.

Just like the hotels, Disney often runs a variety of discounts and deals on its park tickets that you’ll want to look into. Be sure to check those out!

Click here to see ALL of the Disney discounts and deals!

And once all annual pass sales resume , if you’re really planning to commit, you can look into getting a Disney World Annual Pass. The new Annual Passes have some changes when compared to Disney’s previous offerings.

Annual Pass

There are 4 different passes. If you want access to PhotoPass for the year, or you want admission to some water parks and sports options as part of your Annual Pass, those are an additional cost. But keep in mind that currently, only new sales of the Disney Pixie Dust Pass remain available for Florida Residents. New sales of all other passes are currently paused.

There’s quite a lot to break down when it comes to these Annual Passholder offerings. Check out our articles below to learn more:

• Click here to see the blockout dates for the new Annual Passes
• Can you upgrade your tickets to an Annual Pass? Click here to learn more
• If you don’t live in Florida, you don’t have a lot of options when it comes to Annual Passes — click here to see more
• See what’s MISSING from Disney World’s new Annual Pass program
• These are the pros and cons of Disney World’s new Annual Pass system
• Your guide to using and understanding Disney World’s new Annual Passholder calendar
• Want to add PhotoPass to your Disney World Annual Pass? Click here to see what you need to know

Click here to learn more about the Annual Passholder program!

4. bookings.

Okay, so you’ve picked your hotel and you know what type of tickets you want to buy — so what do you do in terms of booking? Well, you can book the tickets on their own and your hotel room separately. Or, you can book a package that includes both.

Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway in Hollywood Studios

You can also book a package that includes hotel, tickets, and the Disney Dining Plan (once it becomes available again) . The Dining Plan allows you to pre-pay for your food. You’re then given a certain number of “credits” that you can use throughout your trip. Right now the Dining Plan is not available, but it is set to return in the future. When the Dining Plan returns, it’s something you might want to consider if you like to feel like your trip expenses are mostly all covered before you even arrive.

Ready to Eat?!

What combination of bookings is best for you? You’ll have to price out the discounts on hotels, tickets, and combined packages to find out. Often many discounts will require you to book a specific package, so check the fine print of any deals you’re eyeing.

Truly, we’ve only just started this guide and maybe you’re already coming to the realization that planning a Disney World vacation can be A LOT.  Our recommendation? You might want to think about reaching out to a travel agent. We specifically recommend the awesome folks over at Small World Vacations!

Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort

The people over at Small World Vacations know about ALL of the discounts, and they stay up to date on new discounts that could be applied to your vacation to help you save some serious cash. They can give you personalized advice and really help make your vacation planning stress-free. Oh, and did we mention that their services are TOTALLY FREE?! That’s right. You won’t pay a dime extra than what you normally would pay to book your vacation on your own. In fact, you could SAVE money working with a travel agent. Their job is to look out for you. We’ve scored some great deals this way.

Disney’s Contemporary Resort

We’ve got all the contact information for Small World Vacations at the bottom of this post and you can fill out their form to get started right here!

Should you use a travel agent for your Disney World trip? Click here to see more of our thoughts!

5. disney dining plan (currently unavailable).

We touched on it briefly above, but the Disney Dining Plan is a way to pay for your Disney World meals in advance.  Plans are typically pre-purchased and added onto a Disney Vacation Package (i.e. you must be staying through a Vacation Package at a Disney-owned-and-operated hotel, and have purchased at least one ticket per person). With the Dining Plan, all you have to do when you get to Disney World is head to a restaurant on the list, eat, and scan your MagicBand to “pay.”

Doesn’t This Look Yummy??

The credits for the meal for each person will be deducted from your total allotment. Easy peasy. Note that while you don’t pay while you’re at the restaurant (unless you order extras not covered like additional drinks or appetizers), gratuity is not included on table-service meals . There are a variety of different plans that are typically available that give you more or less food. The plans even include alcohol, if you’re able to partake. You’ll likely find a plan that would fit your family’s dining preferences.

Right now, the Dining Plan is not available though and it has not yet become available for future bookings , but it is set to return in the future , so just keep that in mind for the time being.

Click here to see everything you need to know about the Disney Dining Plan!

6. park hours.

One big thing you need to know about before your first Disney World trip is the park hours . Disney World theme parks do not open and close at the same time as one another, and the hours for each theme park can vary by day.  It’s important that you know those hours when you plan your trip so you can try to get the most out of every single day you have there.

Toy Story Land in Hollywood Studios

Park hours can also change ahead of your trip or even DURING your trip !  You’ll want to keep an eye on those park hours, ESPECIALLY once you’re there, and watch for updates from us here at DFB.

Also, keep in mind that some guests get to spend a little extra time in the parks, extending those park hours just a bit more with Early Theme Park Entry and Extended Evening Hours .

Let’s start with Early Theme Park Entry. All guests staying at Disney-owned resorts and select other resorts are allowed 30-minute early entry into any theme park every single day .  Select attractions are open during this early entry time.

Pop Century

Extended Evening Hours is a separate perk only for those staying at Disney Deluxe Resorts or Deluxe Villas . With this perk, those staying at eligible resorts are able to spend more time in select parks on select nights. Again, select attractions are open during this time.

If you’ll be staying at a resort with one or both of these perks, you’ll be able to factor in that extra time in the parks as part of your plans.

Click here to see our page with LOTS of park hours updates.

7. park pass.

When the Disney World theme parks reopened after the pandemic closures, they introduced the Park Pass system. The way that things work now is like this: let’s say you want to go to Magic Kingdom on Friday. First, you need a valid ticket to visit Magic Kingdom on that Friday. But, in addition to that, you also need a Park Pass theme park reservation for Friday for Magic Kingdom. Every person in your party will also need a ticket and Park Pass as well.

Disney Park Pass Screenshot

But, Park Passes can fill up, especially at busier times . You’ll be able to take a look at the Disney World Park Pass calendar to see what days are green (meaning there is full availability at all 4 parks), yellow (meaning 1 or more parks are already full), or gray (meaning there are no Park Passes available at any of the parks). Note that the Park Pass availability calendar looks different for Annual Passholders.

Park Pass availability can vary depending on whether you are an Annual Passholder, Disney World hotel guest, or just a guest with theme park tickets. You can only make 1 Park Pass reservation per day. That is the only park you will be allowed to visit for that day, unless you have added Park Hopper on your tickets  (which, again, you’ll have to wait until after 2PM to do each day!).

Park Pass Reservation availability for guests with Theme Park Tickets for September 12th as of September 8th © Disney

Again, availability for Park Passes can change a LOT. Sometimes days fill up , and then later more passes become available . Our advice? Get your Park Pass reservations EARLY. If you can’t get a reservation for a specific park that you want, book another one for the time being so at least you have something. You can always check later to see if more availability opens up. And if passes for the park you originally wanted become available, then you can cancel your existing Park Pass and make a new one.

Click here to see more about Park Pass.

And click here to see our page with all kinds of park pass availability updates, 8. transportation.

If you’re staying at a Disney World-owned/operated hotel, one of the best perks is FREE transportation from the hotels to the parks and back. Depending on the hotel you’re staying at, different transportation options will be available. Some hotels have buses to the parks…

Disney World Bus

…while others have boats …

Friendship Boats

…or access to the Disney Skyliner …

…or monorails , or a combination.

Some hotels even give you the chance to WALK to the parks.

Grand Floridian Walkway

For example, you can walk from Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa , Disney’s Contemporary Resort, and (if you’re willing to trek a little bit) Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort to Magic Kingdom.

Click here to see how you can WALK to the parks from some Disney World hotels!

You can also drive to and from the parks. If you’re staying at a Disney Hotel, you get free parking at the parks. Otherwise, just keep in mind that there is a cost per day to park at Disney World’s theme parks. If you hop to the other parks, you won’t need to pay again on the same day though — just keep that receipt! Also, parking is free at Disney Springs!

9. MagicBands and MagicMobile

If you walk around Disney World you’re sure to see people with colorful bands on their wrists that look like this.

OoOoOo MagicBands!

These are called MagicBands !   MagicBands can do a whole bunch of stuff!  If you set it up online, you can link your park tickets to your MagicBand. Then, all you’ll need to do is scan your band (rather than take your ticket out of your wallet or pocket) to get into the parks.

They can also be used to open your Disney World hotel room door, charge purchases to your Disney World hotel room, link PhotoPass photos, and more! It’s a mega-powerful tool right on your wrist.

Zootopia MagicBand

There’s also a new version called the MagicBand+ that gives you the chance to interact with the parks like never before!

MagicBand+ can interact with the Golden 50th Anniversary Statues in the parks

MagicBands are no longer free for Disney World hotel guests or Annual Passholders , but you can still buy them and use them in the parks. Disney World hotel guests and Annual Passholders can also pre-order some MagicBands at a discount ahead of their trip, but you’re gonna have to pay a bit.  If you don’t like the discounted options available, you can also just buy a MagicBand in the parks or online . MagicBands can be extremely convenient. But, they are not required if you choose not to use them.

Click here to see our ULTIMATE GUIDE to MagicBands in Disney World!

Don’t want to use a MagicBand? No worries, you don’t have to! If you still want some of the benefits of a MagicBand without having to use one, you can utilize the MagicMobile service.

MagicMobile essentially transforms your phone into a MagicBand! With MagicMobile, you can link your tickets, create a virtual pass, and scan your ticket at the parks straight from your phone (no MagicBand needed).

Learn to use My Disney Experience to optimize your Disney World vacation ©Disney

You can also now use your phone to automatically link select PhotoPass photos to your My Disney Experience account.

MagicMobile Instructions

MagicMobile is available now for Apple and Android devices and could be a good way for you to get some of the ease of a MagicBand without having to use one.

Click here for your step-by-step guide to setting up your MagicMobile pass.

10. tech stuff.

You may want to spend part of your vacation away from the computer or technology, but in Disney World, there are actually a LOT of apps and tech things you’ll want to know about and use. Here’s a quick breakdown of what you’ll need to download and know.

First, we highly recommend that you download the My Disney Experience app. You’ll be able to use this app to check park times, make Disney Genie+ ride selections (more on that in a second), make dining reservations, check the wait times for the rides, look at park maps, and SO MUCH MORE.

Keep your eye on the app! See the Hidden Mickey in Hollywood Studios from Above?! ©Disney

You’ll also be able to create accounts for your family members on there, link your tickets, and link MagicBands too.

Click here to see the steps you should take on My Disney Experience NOW before your upcoming Disney World trip.

Another thing you’ll be able to do on the My Disney Experience app is place a Mobile Order for your food for many Disney World quick-service spots.

Mobile Order Signs

With Mobile Order, you’ll preorder and pay for your food on your phone at many locations. Familiarizing yourself with the app to begin with can save headaches once in the parks and you just want some food!

Click here to learn more about mobile order.

You’ll also be able to use the app to do Mobile Dine Check-in for Disney World restaurants.

Mobile Dine Check In

Essentially, for table service restaurants in Disney World, you’ll generally be able to skip the check-in desk and check-in for your reservation right from your phone! You’ll receive a text when your table is ready.

See more about mobile check-in here!

The My Disney Experience app also now lets you join Virtual Waitlists for many Disney World restaurants . So, let’s say you couldn’t score a reservation at the one spot where you really wanted to eat. Or, maybe you didn’t think you’d have time for a table service meal, but now you do. You could always check to see if there are any regular Advanced Dining Reservations available. But, you also might be able to join a Virtual Waitlist for the restaurant and potentially get a walk-up spot with this feature.

Mobile Dine Walk-up Waitlist screenshot

The app will show you if the walk-up waitlist is at capacity for that restaurant already, or what the estimated walk-up wait would be.

Click here to see more about the walk-up waitlist feature!

If you want to try some of the food from a table service restaurant but don’t have the time for a full sit-down meal or perhaps don’t feel comfortable eating at a location that doesn’t have outdoor seating, consider using the Table Service To-Go feature (also on the My Disney Experience app — see why we say it’s important to have?!).

Bread Service To-Go!

With this feature, you can order from some of your favorite table service spots and take your items to go , to be enjoyed back in your room or elsewhere! This is only available for select restaurants, so just keep that in mind.

Click here to learn more about table service to-go!

A free feature is incorporated into the My Disney Experience app called Disney Genie. Disney Genie is a service that is essentially meant to help you plan your perfect Disney day. You’re able to tell the Disney Genie what types of attractions or things you’re interested in, and Genie will create a customized itinerary for you that is aimed at maximizing your time in the parks.

You’re able to see forecasted wait times for your favorite rides, see personalized recommendations, and more.

Some folks find this feature very useful!

Click here to see the 5 most mind-blowing Disney Genie features!

If you’re looking for a way to keep the little ones entertained as you wait in line or even give the older kids (*raises hand*) something to play, the Play Disney Parks App is something you might want to download (it’s FREE!). The app is full of games and more to keep everyone busy. And it’s got special features you’ll want to use in Star Wars : Galaxy’s Edge in Disney’s Hollywood Studios .

Play Disney Parks App | ©Disney

One ride that will make heavy use of the My Disney Experience app is Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at EPCOT. To even get a chance to board this SUPER popular ride, you need to download the My Disney Experience app to sign up for a Boarding Group for the ride .

Cosmic Rewind

Boarding Groups are distributed at 2 times during the day (currently 7AM and 1PM ) and they can be difficult to get. One big thing to keep in mind is that if you want to ride Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind , EPCOT generally has to be the first park you visit that day . You won’t be able to visit, say, Magic Kingdom first, and then hop to EPCOT s to ride Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind because boarding group distributions happen BEFORE Park Hopping hours begin.

We recommend REALLY brushing up on our how-to tips before attempting this one. You’ve typically got a small window to score these boarding group spots and you don’t want to do it wrong! This attraction will also offer pay-per-ride access via Lightning Lane through Individual Attraction Selection (which we’re about to discuss).

Click Here To See How Boarding Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind Will Work!

11. disney genie+ and individual attraction selection.

You may have heard of the term “ FastPass+, ” so you might be wondering what is that and is it available? FastPass was a free system available to all Disney World guests that allowed guests to skip the standard queue lines and hop in a separate (typically much shorter) line to get onto their favorite rides quicker.

The FastPass+ system was suspended when Disney World reopened last year . Instead of returning, FastPass+ was replaced by 2 PAID FastPass-like systems called Disney Genie+ and Individual Attraction Selection.

We worked on an article explaining Genie (the free planning service we discussed in a section above), Genie+, and a little bit about Individual Attraction Selection in less than 500 words . Below is a portion of that article to help you understand the basics of these new systems.

Disney Genie  is a FREE planning service  built into the  My Disney Experience  App and  Disneyland App . You will tell Disney Genie what you want to ride, what types of things you like, etc. and  Disney Genie will create a personalized, flexible itinerary for you . With Genie, you’ll be able to see  forecasted wait times, mobile order your food, chat with a virtual assistant, see walk-up waitlist availability, make restaurant reservations, adjust your plans, and more . Plans will continuously update to help you get the most out of your day. Essentially, Genie is designed to help you plan your day and optimize your plans.

Disney Genie+ is a PAID FastPass-like service .  It costs  $15 per day per ticket at Disney World, and $20 per day per ticket at Disneyland . If you pay for this service,  you’ll be able to see when the next available time is to use various rides’ Lightning Lanes (i.e. FastPass+ lanes).  You will  select the next available time to use the Lightning Lane for whatever ride you want, and when your time arrives, you can visit the ride and use the Lightning Lane (skipping the standby line) .

Once you’re done with that ride, you can make another Genie+ Lightning Lane selection —  1 ride at a time, throughout the day. Over 40 attractions are available through Genie+ at Disney World, over 15 attractions are available through Genie+ at Disneyland. NOT all attractions will be available through Genie+.

While most guests can purchase Genie+ in advance ( though the situation seems different for Annual Passholders ),  you cannot make a Genie+ Lightning Lane selection until the DAY OF your trip . At Disney World, guests can make their first Lightning Lane attraction at 7AM on the day of their visit. At Disneyland, the first Genie+ Lightning Lane selection can be made once you’re in the park.

Select, highly popular attractions (like  Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at Magic Kingdom, Radiator Springs Racers in Disney California Adventure Park,  WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure  at Disney California Adventure Park,  Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance , and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at EPCOT ) will NOT be listed on Genie+ .

That means that even if you pay for Genie+ you will NOT be able to select a time for/use the Lightning Lane at those attractions. Instead, if you want to use the Lightning Lane for those attractions,  you’ll have to pay for the attractions INDIVIDUALLY .

Guests will only be able to get a maximum of 2 Individual Attraction Selections per day.

Two Options ©Disney

That’s our very, very, VERY basic and succinct breakdown of Genie vs. Genie+ (with a tiny bit of info thrown in about Individual Attraction Selection). Essentially, you’re able to pay $15 per day in Disney World to get access to the Lightning Lanes for over 40 attractions (you’ll be able to make 1 Lightning Lane selection at a time) through Genie+. If you want to skip the standby lines at select super popular attractions though, you’ll have to pay to access their Lightning Lanes individually (maximum of 2 selections per day) through Individual Attraction Selection.

Want to know more about Disney Genie+ and Individual Attraction Selection? Check out some of our other posts, linked below:

• Click here to  learn about Genie+ and Individual Attraction Selection, including what attractions have been listed for each and more details
• Click here to see  what Annual Passholders need to know about Disney Genie
• Click here to see how and  why you’ll pay for individual rides in Disney Genie+ with Individual Attraction Selection
• Click here to see  how Disney Genie+ is different from MaxPass
• Click here to see  how being a hotel guest will benefit you with the Individual Attraction Selection service

Click here to learn more about FastPass+.

There are a LOT of dining options all around Disney World. There are counter service spots — meaning places where you simply order your food, pick it up, and take it to your table (AKA, fast food like chicken nuggets or burgers). There are also table service restaurants — where you will be seated, a Cast Member will take your order, and your food will be brought to you at the table.

Sit down, eat, and watch TV? Don’t mind if we do.

Reservations are NOT required (nor can they be made) for counter service spots. But, reservations can (and should) be made for table service spots. At many popular spots, reservations essentially become required if you want to dine there. You won’t find these spots on the walk-up waitlist!

Right now, you can make dining reservations 60 days ahead of your Disney trip .  Reservations can book up pretty quickly for some spots — particularly those popular locations. When we say “fast” we mean “gone 60 days out” type deal for big spots. So, if you’re looking to eat at Be Our Guest Restaurant , a character meal, or other popular places, you’ll want to book those as quickly as you can!

Beast in Be Our Guest

You can change or cancel your reservations later if you change your mind. But, note that some Disney reservations will charge you a cancellation fee (usually $10 per person) if you don’t cancel within a certain time period — generally 24 hours.

Also, if you’re on a serious budget or you’ve got picky eaters in the group, you can bring food, snacks, water bottles, sodas, and more into Disney World . If you’ve got special dietary concerns or allergies , there are also several things you can do to notify Disney and help them best accommodate you.  Cast Members will be happy to help in any way they can.

Click here to see more about dining with a special diet in Disney World!

Wondering what the TOP Disney snacks are that you should get? Or the best restaurants you should eat at? If you’ve NEVER been, you likely won’t know what or where to find all the best food! We got you.

A Mickey Pretzel with (What We Call) Plastic Cheese!

Be sure to check out our picks for the BEST snacks in Disney World right now in our video below! 

13. Rides, Fireworks, Parades, and a Bit More

There are a lot of rides in Disney World, and it’s important to know what rides are in what park so you can best plan your days. You can find Disney World maps online or in the My Disney Experience app. We think it’s a good idea for you and your family to look at these maps ahead of time and make a note of what rides are must-dos, which ones you’d like to try, and which ones you’d rather skip.

Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster in Hollywood Studios Goes Upside Down!

Not sure what a specific ride is even like? Is it too scary for your little one or too scary for you?? Watch videos of the rides online! There are tons of videos on YouTube that will give you a much better idea of what the ride is like. You can watch them with your family to get excited for your trip and help you narrow down your must-do list.

Flight of Passage in Animal Kingdom

Some Disney World rides do have height requirements , so keep that in mind for little ones and be sure to look in advance so they aren’t disappointed when they get there. We recommend measuring your kiddo with their shoes on so you know before you go what they can and can’t do. If someone is too short, parents can take advantage of Disney World’s Rider Switch program . This allows you to split your party so those tall enough can ride while someone stays with the person too small to ride. Then, they switch and the person who waited can ride without waiting in the full line.

Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance

Aside from actual moving or simulation rides, there is some wonderful entertainment all around Disney World.

Also, we wanted to briefly mention how to handle if someone in your party required a bit of extra assistance to ride rides on your trip. Disney does have certain services available for those with disabilities . For example, Assistive technology devices for guests with hearing disabilities are available at Guest Relations.

Guest Relations

Those with disabilities can also get a  Disability Access Service pass that allows them to generally stop by an attraction and receive a return time at which point they’ll be able to come back and be directed to an alternate entrance to get on the ride. Click here to read more about how Disability Access Service works now.

New virtual features have been added to Disney’s Disability Access Service Program — click here to learn more.

Also, we couldn’t get through this post without mentioning two of the things that Disney is so famous for (even though they aren’t rides)  — parades and fireworks!  Considering that this is your first trip to Disney World, these are the quintessential Disney things you’ll likely want to reserve some time to experience.

What a Sight!

The Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade is currently running in Magic Kingdom!

Festival of Fantasy

Check out the return of this parade!

Fireworks have resumed at Disney World in full force! Fireworks are now back at Magic Kingdom , Hollywood Studios , and EPCOT , and new fireworks shows are on the way for Magic Kingdom and EPCOT.

Happily Ever After Fireworks

Most entertainment offerings have returned to Disney World, but be sure to still check the Disney World website to see what’s being offered during your trip!

Click here to check out KiteTails in Animal Kingdom!

14. photopass.

During your trip, you’ll likely see Disney photographers taking other families’ photos. This is called PhotoPass. The photographers are scattered throughout the parks and will take your photos for FREE! So, don’t be afraid to say cheese and take those pictures! You can then link the photos to your account with your MagicBand or admission card (or sometimes your phone ) so you can see them online later. Some photographers can even add in fun magical stuff to your photos, so be sure to ask!

If you want to download those photos you’ll either need an Annual Pass that includes free photo downloads, you’ll need to buy the Memory Maker service, or you can pay for each photo individually. Memory Maker is a service that you pay for that allows you to download all your PhotoPass photos for trips in a certain period of time.

15. Packing List

Maybe you’ve got everything booked and ready…but what do you pack?! Don’t worry — we’ve got you covered there too! Check out our DFB video below with the ULTIMATE Disney World packing list. It’s a few years old, but should still be SUPER helpful.

We’ve also got a list of 12 essentials you NEED in your Disney World bag , and a video of the things even the pros forget to bring to Disney World.  Check out these videos so you know what to pack!

16. Cast Members & ALL the Tips

One thing we really wanted to mention is that if during your Disney World trip you have a question or need assistance, don’t hesitate to ask a Cast Member for help . Cast Members are INCREDIBLE and do a fantastic job helping guests with their needs.

Cast Members at the Boardwalk Bakery

Need more tips and tricks to help plan your first trip? We’ve got ’em right here! In fact, if you’re still on the fence if this is the year or if you should wait, click here to see whether you should go to Disney World for the first time this year .

Roy and Minnie Statue

Click here to see 6 things most first time visitors get WRONG at Disney World , so you can prevent yourself from getting these things wrong during your first trip.

Want a month-by-month planning guide to your Disney World vacation ? We’ve got that here too!

DinoLand USA

Want to make sure you walk away from your first trip with as few regrets as possible? Click here to see some of our readers’ 10 BIGGEST regrets in Disney World so you don’t experience the same things.

18. The DFB Guide

Want a BIG guide to all things Disney food related? Well lucky you — we got you covered there too! (What can we say. We like you and want you to have the BEST time ever!) You might want to check out our DFB Guide to Walt Disney World dining!

The DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining 2023

The DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining  is FULL of details, tools, and features to help your trip go smoothly, including:

• A 5-Step Strategy for Disney Dining Planning , covering everything you need to know from budgeting and booking to kids’ meals, dining discounts, and fireworks.
• An updated look at the COVID-19 changes happening at Disney World.
• A comprehensive and in-depth look at EVERY Disney World restaurant, kiosk, bar, and lounge , including our personal tips to ensure a positive and stress-free dining experience.
• Four free, downloadable worksheets for planning your trip. These worksheets are designed to help you execute all the steps of planning the perfect Disney dining experience. And they’re reusable for all of your future trips!
• Seven sample one-day dining itineraries for a head-start on planning.
• A comprehensive index of bars and lounges WITH reviews. An often under-appreciated option for both dining and entertainment, the e-Book devotes a whole index to the topic.

The book is a digital book, so you can easily look at it on your phone or computer before and during your trip.

Click here to see more about the DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining!

19. don’t forget our dfb videos.

And finally, if you’re a videos type of person, then you’ll want to check out our DFB YouTube channel.  Truly, this is not just a shameless plug. The DFB videos on YouTube are totally FREE to watch and there are LOADS on there with tons of valuable information that could help you plan your trip.

We’ve got an entire playlist dedicated to Disney World tips and guides with videos showing you what things are banned in Disney World, things we wish we’d known before we went to Disney World, the worst Walt Disney World resorts, and more! We’ve even got a video dedicated to the 50 MOST important things to know before you go to Disney World . If you’re planning a trip to Disney World for the first time, some of these videos can really help you get prepared!

Click here to check out our video of the 50 things to know before you go to Disney World!

And that’s our essential guide to planning your very first trip to Disney World! There is SO much more we could say, but then this guide would go on for AGES. We’ll leave it at this — planning a trip to Disney World can be a lot. But, try not to let yourself get overwhelmed. Remember that at the end of the day, it won’t matter if you hit every single ride or eat every snack you have on your list. What will matter is whether you got to spend quality time with your family, soak in the magic, and create memories that will last a lifetime. We hope your first trip to Disney World is absolutely fantastic!

Click here to see 10 ways Disney World tricks you into spending more money!

Are you planning your first trip to Disney World soon? Let us know in the comments!

DON'T DO IT ALONE!

Our favorite people over at Small World Vacations are ready to help you save time, headaches, and best of all, money, when you book your Disney trip or cruise.

So book that trip now, then sit back and enjoy planning your Disney World Trip with a DFB-approved expert! Click here for a no obligation price quote today, and let them know DFB sent you 🙂

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Wandering In Disney

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Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide

Planning a trip to Disney World can feel like a monumental task. The vacation kingdom has four theme parks, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and countless other activities. To help you plan, we’ve created an all-encompassing guide to Disney World. Our planning guide will include our favorite times to go to Disney World, places to stay, park tickets, FastPass and attraction guides, itineraries, dining and more. Most sections will include links to read further on a given topic. The goal of the post is to give you a quick summary of each subject and ways to learn more about it. We also have a Disneyland travel guide and Tokyo Disney Resort travel guide if you are interested in visiting those resorts.

Near the end of the post I will discuss whether the rest of 2024 is a good year to visit Walt Disney World. I realize that people vacation when they can and sometimes that portion of trip planning isn’t all that flexible. If you can’t be flexible on what year you go, don’t fret. Disney World is fun anytime, regardless of the year. Sure, some are better than others, as we will discuss below, but if you are already planning then this guide will try to help you have an even better time.

As always, if there is something we didn’t cover and you have a question about then please leave a comment. I guess the place to get started, before we get to the categories, is a rough timeline of the steps it takes to plan a Disney World vacation. Here is our post on that subject . On to the categories!

When to visit Disney World?

When you choose to visit Disney World will likely depend on what your priorities and schedule are. We do have an in-depth post ranking the months to go but here’s a brief synopsis.

Let’s start with the summer months as that is generally the time of year that is easiest for people to visit and has seen a drop in crowds in the last few years. July is the busiest of those months, especially around the 4th of July. If you must go in the summer I would recommend early June or later in August. Neither are ideal times but both have their advantages. June is slightly less busy than July and a little cooler typically. August is very hot and humid but as people start to go back to school the parks get less and less crowded. Schools on the east coast seem to go back to school early so the parks start to empty out in mid-August. Melissa and I have gone around Labor Day before and that actually proves to be a good time as many people don’t want to go on a trip right after school starts. Having said all of this, the crowd calendar has ebbed and flowed over the last few years with summers being a better time to go. It’s a trend to keep an eye on but we still don’t recommend it, especially considering the heat. If you can go at another time then that’s probably for the best.

If you can avoid the summer months then there are plenty of other great options. Disney World is generally the slowest in late January or early February. That’s also a good time to get a break from the weather. You can also enjoy Epcot’s Festival of Arts at that time which is our favorite of the Epcot festivals.

Late February through early April enters into fairly high crowd season because of school breaks. While the weather is nice, this isn’t much better than the summer months as far as crowds go. Later in the spring is much nicer with fewer crowds and a chance to see the flowers bloom.

September is one of the lowest crowd seasons and the weather starts to cool down. Epcot begins Food & Wine Festival and Halloween Parties start at Magic Kingdom. All things considered, September is one of our favorite times to go although the weather can still be very hot. Early October fits that bill too, before the crowds start to descend on to the parks later that month.

The holiday season is a great time to visit, especially if you enjoy Christmas . If you can fit in a trip that doesn’t revolve around one of the holiday weeks then the crowds won’t be so high. Going at this time is a bit of trade-off as you get the beautiful holiday decorations but likely won’t fit in as many attractions with higher crowds.

For an in-depth look at the pros and cons of visiting Disney World each month, check out this post . If it turns out that you do need to visit Disney World on a holiday, here are my pros and cons that go along with each one .

Airfare & Transportation

We have a few thoughts on airfare in our post about what a Disney World vacation costs . Disney World is just outside of Orlando, making Orlando International (MCO) the most convenient airport to fly into. There are other options, namely Kissimmee, Orlando Melbourne International, Tampa and Daytona Beach, within a short drive of Disney World. While we don’t like Orlando International, this is the most direct way to Disney World and may help you avoid renting a car. We have flown into Tampa several times and made the drive from there. It’s not a tough drive unless you hit it at rush hour.

When looking for a flight, we generally use Matrix ITA Software to find the best fare. That site includes all major airlines outside of Southwest and doesn’t involve additional windows or pop-up ads. While you can’t book directly on that site, it will show the cheapest option.

Once at the airport, there are a few options in getting to Disney World. Orlando will have a few shuttle options from the airport directly to your Disney World hotel. Unfortunately, Magical Express is gone but there are other options to utilize. We prefer Uber or Lyft to those though.

If you are doing something outside of Disney World (like Universal Orlando) then renting a car for the first new days of your trip and then returning it once you get to Disney World is a good option, as there are Alamo and National rental car locations on property.

Ultimately, we recommend sticking with Uber or Lyft if you’re sticking around the Orlando and Disney World areas. If you’re going to the coast for a few days then renting a car makes far more sense.

How Many Days?

Walt Disney World has 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, an outdoor shopping and dining area, and many other recreational areas. Guests could stay here for a month and still not experience everything the resort has to offer. Obviously, staying for a month probably isn’t a reality for many travelers and we wouldn’t really recommend this anyway. Typically, we try to do a week at Disney World, give or take a day. A week gives enough time to experience all the parks, go back and do a few favorites, while leaving time for some special dining or shopping. For first timers, we’d say at least 5 days at Disney World but preferably a week.

Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom are especially strong parks at the moment and ones that we recommend spending multiple days in. Epcot and Hollywood Studios are undergoing some large projects currently but are still worth visiting. Epcot, specifically, is a wonderful idea for a theme park and World Showcase is one of the more appealing parts of Disney World. Here is our guide to how many days we recommend at each Disney Park .

With Disney World being in Orlando, you may have other places on your itinerary. Universal Orlando is home to the incredible Wizarding World of Harry Potter and worth a visit if you are a Harry Potter fan or love theme parks. There are many beach towns within a couple of hours drive as well as cruises that you could tack on to a trip to Florida. These interests will differ for each family but there is certainly no shortage of things to do outside of Disney World. With that said, we have not experienced anything in that state that we enjoy more than the actual resort.

Where to Stay?

There are a number of places to stay at Disney World but we’ll start with the on-site, official Disney hotels. There are currently 25 different Disney resorts to stay at, all with varied themes and at different prices. The resorts are broken into categories – value, moderate, and deluxe. Each category has several resorts included in them all with varied themes. Staying on-site does come with perks as all transportation to and from the parks and Disney Springs (the outdoor shopping and dining center) is complimentary. There are also extra hours in a theme park offered to on-site guests called Extra Magic Hours.

When booking official Disney World hotels, be on the lookout for special offers. These are almost always offered regardless of the time of year and at least give a percentage off of hotel rooms. There’s also other offers generally, including the very popular Free Dining offer in the fall which includes the dining plan along with the room rate. Another option includes sites that let you rent points from Disney Vacation Club owners to stay at nicer hotels at a cheaper rate. We have used this site several times with relative ease. We have reviewed many of the resorts on-site, here is our ranking of the ones we’ve stayed at . There is also this post that gives a brief overview of the theme of each resort and here’s one that ranks all of the Disney World Resort pools. If you can’t decide on just one resort then a split-stay may be right for you . You can also try out a vacation package from certified travel agents to simplify things!

We prefer these resorts as the transportation is superior to staying off-site and that offsets any cost difference. There are some good options near Disney Springs that are cheaper. The last option is to stay off-site in a hotel or vacation rental. If you have a bigger group then a vacation rental may be a good option but we definitely prefer staying on-site.

Park Tickets

Disney World tickets will be one of the most expensive aspects of your trip. As mentioned above, we recommend at least 5 days in the park. 5 days or more is when guests ultimately see the most value, as the cost per day of the tickets go down. We also recommend the park hopper option if you are there for more than 4 days because it adds some flexibility to your vacation. If you are penny-pinching at this point then dropping the park hopper is an option but we prefer cutting costs elsewhere as the park hopper makes the trip more enjoyable.

While you can buy tickets once at Disney World, I definitely recommend buying them online ahead of time. This can be done while booking your hotel, as a package booking.

Buying from the official Disney World site is the easiest route but it isn’t the cheapest. We prefer Undercover Tourist as they do offer the cheapest tickets and the website is easy to navigate.

Getting discounted tickets is an easy way to save money on your trip, even if the savings are somewhat minimal. Many people think that there will be big savings on some secret site. While that isn’t true, saving around $50 a ticket is well worth it.

Over the last few years, Disney has annually increased the price of tickets. With that in mind, if you have the means then I’d encourage you to get Disney World tickets sooner rather than later. Of course, there may be some packages where you need to purchase tickets from Disney. Still, if you aren’t trying for Free Dining (which might not exist anymore) then get your tickets as soon as possible.

What to Pack? 

We cover this topic in-depth in a singular post , with a list of necessities to take to the park each time we go. Okay, maybe not all of them are necessities but we like having them around! On top of that, we do advise everyone to bring a great pair of shoes and start with light layers that you can add to.

Packing some breakfast snacks and stuff for sandwiches to bring into the park is an easy way to save money, as well. Taking food into the parks is not a problem at all as long as it’s not stored in glass containers. We enjoy protein bars and trail mix as a quick snack while standing in line. There’s always candy too. It’s never a bad time for candy.

Attractions, Entertainment and Itineraries Guides

With Walt Disney World doing away with FastPasses in favor of Genie+ (which debuts in September 2021), there is slightly less strategy involved pre-planning involved. Just prioritize attractions that you’re sure you want to go on. We have ranked all of the attractions at each park, which you can find here:

• Magic Kingdom Attraction Rankings
• Epcot Attraction Rankings
• Hollywood Studios Attraction Rankings
• Animal Kingdom Attraction Rankings

Doing every attraction in all four parks is nearly impossible and probably wouldn’t be all that enjoyable, honestly. Still attractions are an integral parts of theme parks and these rankings should help prioritize which attractions to do.

Along with attractions, both parks have quality entertainment that is worth seeing. Here are the ratings for each park:

• Magic Kingdom Entertainment Ratings
• Epcot Entertainment Ratings
• Hollywood Studios Entertainment Ratings
• Animal Kingdom Entertainment Ratings
• Best Street entertainment in Disney World

For a more ideal day in the theme parks we’ve made 1-day itineraries for each of the four Disney World parks. If your trip is longer than 4 days in the park (we hope it is) obviously this can be spread out as each of these itineraries are packed to the brim.

• Magic Kingdom 1-Day Itinerary
• Epcot 1-Day Itinerary
• Hollywood Studios 1-Day Itinerary
• Animal Kingdom 1-Day Itinerary

While we tried to incorporate this into our itineraries, make sure to give yourself time to relax and wander the park. Part of the charm of these parks is some of the beautiful lands inside of them. Make sure to spend ample time in Galaxy’s Edge and Echo Lake in Hollywood Studios, anywhere outside of DinoLand in Animal Kingdom, World Showcase in Epcot, and Frontierland and Liberty Square in Magic Kingdom.

Disney World has an overwhelming dining scene with restaurants and atmospheres for every guest. The parks all have interesting restaurants, as do the hotels and Disney Springs. There’s both counter-service and table-service restaurants, depending on what style of dining you want. Here are a few posts to help on the subject:

• Ranking the Disney World Table-Service Restaurants We’ve Eaten At
• Ranking the Disney World Counter-Service Restaurants We’ve Eaten At

We have plenty of reviews linked inside of the above posts if you are looking for specific advice on each restaurant. Disney World also offers a dining plan that is fairly divisive among fans. While it adds convenience to a vacation, the dining plan may not actually save money . There are cheaper options for food outside of the Disney World property but we recommend staying on-site for food as traveling outside of the park takes too much time and ends up costing you valuable park time. There is plenty of good food to be had for around $10/meal, although bringing some snacks or doing an online grocery order is a smart option for breakfasts.

Outside of the Parks

As we’ve already mentioned, there is plenty to do outside of the parks. A few years ago, we wouldn’t have recommended much time in Disney Springs but now the area has become worthy of an afternoon or evening with interesting shopping and some great dining options. There’s also bowling, a movie theater and a few other entertainment options. If you enjoy late nights, Disney Springs is typically open after the parks close.

Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach, Disney World’s water parks, are really well themed and are fun to spend a day in if you want a break from the theme parks. We prefer Typhoon Lagoon between the two of them as it has an incredible wave pool and the theme is top-notch. Some resorts have outstanding pools and if you are staying at a deluxe then a water park might not be worth your time, but it is a fun additional option for your Disney World vacation.

The resorts, specifically the Deluxe resorts, are all fun to walk around and have great pools if you are staying there. Most resorts have some quality dining options, as well. Animal Kingdom Lodge, the Boardwalk, and Wilderness Lodge are my favorite resorts to walk around.

Along with all of these options, Disney World also offers golf, miniature golf, outdoor activities, sporting events, spas, afternoon teas, and basically any other recreation you can think of.

Stretching our reach even further, Orlando is home to a number of theme parks and entertainment options. The biggest of these Universal Orlando which has two theme parks and a water park. Over the last decade, Universal has made gains on Disney thanks to Harry Potter and a number of other additions. While we still prefer Walt Disney World, Universal is well worth checking out! If you need tickets or vacation packages then follow the corresponding link.

Should you visit Walt Disney World in 2024?

2024 has been fairly quiet at WDW for the first 5 months! The previous year brought a few additions in Tron Lightcycle / Run finally opening as well as Moana Journey of Water at Epcot. The big addition this year is Tiana’s Bayou Adventure in the summer months but otherwise I expect 2024 to be a fairly quiet year in terms of new attractions and shows. Of course, that could change but the lull of new projects and construction that took place during the pandemic is set to take effect in a lack of openings. I’m interested in seeing what is done to remedy this.

Overall, I think 2024 is a good time to visit Disney World. The Tron addition is exciting and adds a really fun ride to a park full of them. Aside from that, I’m not sure that this year is any better or worse than the years to come. The travel bubble has died down and there will be some slow pockets throughout the year. That said, there isn’t really a quiet season at WDW anymore and no year is likely to hold a large advantage over the other in terms of crowds.

Disney World is fun no matter what year and what season you ultimately decide to go. The resort continues to grow and there is plenty of interesting projects being added to the already exciting vacation kingdom.

We hope this guide has been helpful! If you have any thoughts or questions, please leave a comment down below. If you enjoy what you are reading here on Wandering in Disney please share this post with your friends, as well as like our social media pages. You can also subscribe to the blog via WordPress or email. All of those links are on the right side of this page. Thank you for reading, we really appreciate it!

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The Toughest Decisions You'll Need to Make in Disney World

When it comes to your vacation, there are quite a few tough Disney World decisions you’ll need to make. We’re sharing a few of the hardest ones, and how you can make them simpler for your trip.

Where do I stay? How many days should I plan for? Do I need to buy extras such as Disney Genie+? These are just a handful of the decisions you’ll be faced with when planning your trip to Walt Disney World. Sure, it’s the Most Magical Place on Earth, but it’s also a pricey one. With that in mind, you want to plan wisely to make the most of your time and budget while you’re visiting the theme parks.

Hard Decisions in Disney World

While there are plenty of difficult decisions to make, we’ve narrowed down a few of the hardest choices most visitors will be faced with when planning their Walt Disney World vacation, as well as our thoughts on how to make it a bit easier.

The Length of Your Vacation

Disney World is home to four theme parks, two water parks, a shopping and dining complex, a sports complex, and tons of hotels. Long story short, there is a  lot  to do. With that in mind, when it comes to planning out your Disney World trip length, you’re going to want to tailor it to exactly what you and your group want to get done.

First and foremost, the length of your vacation could depend on your budget. If you have a set budget that will only allow you to stay for a short trip, there are absolutely ways to get the most out of your time there. For example, for a shorter trip, you may want to consider purchasing Disney Genie+, or investing in a Park Hopper ticket to get the most from a smaller length of time.

If you are more flexible with timing, you will likely want to spend at  least  one day at each of the parks to get as much done as you can. For EPCOT and Magic Kingdom, especially, you may even want to opt for two days each as there is so much to do.

Whether to Get the Disney Dining Plan

One of our most frequently asked questions is whether the Disney Dining Plan is worth the cost . The Disney Dining Plan basically acts as a prepaid meal program, allowing you to pre-purchase a set number of table service and/or quick-service meals and snacks that can be used throughout your trip. While it can be particularly useful if you are working at staying in a certain budget, it’s also an expensive addition that really needs to be used in full to be worth the cost.

There are a few big factors to consider when choosing the Dining Plan or not. One is how much you actually plan on sitting down and eating while you’re in Disney. There are two potential plans: the Quick-Service Plan and the regular Disney Dining Plan. Only the latter includes table service meals, with one table service credit applied per night of your stay. If you don’t  plan on eating at least one table service meal a day, the price you’re paying for the plan will likely not work out to be worth it.

Before choosing whether or not you want to add the Disney Dining Plan to your vacation, look at what restaurants you want to dine at, along with pricing. Many of the prix-fixe and buffet options have set pricing that will allow you to calculate exactly how much it will cost per person. From there, you can have a better idea on whether you would break even on the cost of buying the plan, or if it would be better to just pay out of pocket in person.

What Advance Dining Reservations to Make

Speaking of dining in Disney World , choosing which restaurants you want to make an Advance Dining Reservation at can be one of the hardest decisions you have to make while planning your trip. Between its parks, hotels, and Disney Springs, you’ll find  countless dining options at the Most Magical Place on Earth. And for table service restaurants, you have the ability to make an Advance Dining Reservation 60 days in advance of your visit (and can book for the length of your stay, when staying on property).

Some of the most popular restaurants in Disney World go pretty fast, so it can be a good idea to try and get those reservations they day they become available so they don’t book up for the time and date that you want. For example, restaurants like ‘Ohana at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, Be Our Guest in Magic Kingdom, or Space 220 in EPCOT can be hard to.get reservations for if you wait too long. While last minute availability can open up, we recommend making a list of your top choices and dates for where to eat and having those ready for when reservations open up 60 days out (typically at 6 AM).

Disney Genie+: To Buy or Not to Buy

Disney Genie+ and Individual Attraction Selections are Disney World’s two ways to skip the line through Lightning Lanes. The Disney Genie+ service is a paid one that eplaced the free FastPass+, allowing you to pay to skip the standby line for select attractions throughout the day. Individual Attraction Selections are a select group of rides that you can also pay to skip the line for outside of Disney Genie+. However, you are paying for  just  the one ride, typically at a price that’s 50% or more of what you’re paying for Disney Genie+.

Both of these services can only be purchased day of, with pricing depending on the date and park you’re visiting (though you do have the option to purchase a multi-park pass). If you’re visiting on a busier time of year, Disney Genie+ is likely something you’ll want to budget for. While expensive, the service can help you from spending your entire day in the parks stuck in a line. However, during a slower season, you may find that lines are short enough that it’s not worth paying the extra money just to save 10 to 15 minutes in line.

You can check out our Disney Genie+ price calculator for a better estimate of how much the service may be throughout the year.

What Hotel to Choose

As Disney World is located in the theme park capital of the world, you have a  lot  of hotels to choose from. On Disney World property alone, you can choose from Value Resorts , Moderate Resorts , Deluxe Resorts , and Deluxe Villas Resorts (a.k.a. Disney Vacation Club properties). You also have off-site hotels you can stay at, often for a better price than you’ll find anywhere on Disney World property. And on top of that, there are Airbnb and vacation rentals – the possibilities are truly endless!

With all of these options, it can seem like an impossible decision to choose where you will actually be staying. First, you’ll want to decide if you’re staying on or off the property. There are some advantages to each – staying on Disney World property allows you to be in the Disney bubble, with access to Disney World transportation , Early Theme Park Entry and Extended Evening Hours . Plus, staying on the property comes with the ability to make your first Lightning Lane selection at 7 AM!

But, for a smaller price, you can get many of the same great amenities just a short distance away at an off-site property. The Bonnet Creek Area and Disney Springs Area hotels, for example, are actually located  on  Disney property, meaning you are just a small drive from each of the parks. Many of these hotels offer shuttles to and from the parks, and even come with on-property perks such as Early Theme Park Entry (you’ll want to check with your specific hotel to see, though).

The choice will come down to your budget, transportation options,and the amenities you’re looking for. For example, if you want accommodations for a lot of people, staying in a vacation rental or Airbnb may make more sense.

Start Your Summer at Right: Plan For These Disney World Closures

in Disney Parks , Featured , Walt Disney World

Here are all the closures at Walt Disney World in the summer month of June 2024 to plan for with your Disney vacation.

Enjoying a summer vacation at Disney World is a dream come true for fans from all over the world. From the incredible rides and attractions on offer (think like Haunted Mansion at Magic Kingdom Park or Kali River Rapids at Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park ) at the Central Florida Disney Resort, it’s no surprise that guests from all over the world jump at the chance to enjoy a week or two at the “Most Magical Place on Earth.”

But in order to keep the magic alive, there’s one aspect of the Disney experience that many fans have to make their peace with: closures .

Closures are part and parcel of operating a Disney Park safely. While it’s inconvenient for guests and often frustrating, Disney needs to shut attractions temporarily every so often to conduct necessary refurbishment and maintenance.

Considering the incredibly high footfall at Disney Parks—in 2022, the Magic Kingdom had 17 million visitors—it’s important to ensure all the rides are working in prime condition to ensure a safe and magical experience for all guests.

To that end, here’s a list of some notable closures to keep track of when you’re planning your Disney vacation for the month of June.

Test Track –  Closing June 17, 2024

Test Track is a beloved attraction where guests can enjoy creating their own virtual concept car at the Chevrolet Design Center. After that, they can hop in a six-person “SIM car” and take a spin around the track.

Along the circuit, guests are challenged by rough terrain and obstacles and reach speeds of up to 65 mph.

This attraction will be closing temporarily on June 17, 2024,  and at present, no reopening information has been provided.

Blizzard Beach Water Park – Closed for the Season

In March, Disney’s Blizzard Beach water park closed for the season when Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon water park opened to guests once again. As fans know, Disney World has been only keeping one water park open at a time, which means that for the immediate future, guests will not be able to enjoy Blizzard Beach rides until further notice.

Country Bear Jamboree – Opening Summer 2024

Another classic attraction —and one of the oldest at the parks—has shut shop temporarily for refurbishment. The country and western musical performance by 18 Audio-Animatronics hillbilly bears that play and sing for audiences has been cherished by audiences for decades.

It closed in January earlier this year and is set to open this summer. At the moment, Disney has provided no further information on when it’ll be open for guests to stomp their feet to and sing along with.

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure – Opening Summer 2024

How can we talk closures without referencing Splash Mountain (RIP) and Tiana’s Bayou Adventure?

Splash Mountain is one of the most controversial closures to date, and some devoted fans are still up in arms at its untimely end at the Disney Parks.

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, the highly anticipated replacement, is set to open at Disney World this summer, and fans could not be more excited about the new ride. (Though, there are those who are still fixated on their disappointment when it comes to Splash Mountain’s end.)

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is set to open this summer, though Disney has not provided further information as of the publication of this article. For those who were looking to ride the newly rethemed log flumes, June may not be the month you get to do that!

Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster – Opening Summer 2024

Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith has been closed for a while now, but it is still worth mentioning in case there were fans who were hoping that they’d be able to race along the darkened streets of Los Angeles once again come June.

While Disney has said that the ride is currently set to reopen sometime during Summer 2024, as of the publishing of this article, they have provided no further indication, nor any signs that June is the month in question.

For now, fans can rest assured that even if not in June, the attraction will be back and in full force in a few short months.

Stay tuned to Inside the Magic for the latest updates on all things Disney! 

7 Disney stroller essentials you need to pack before your next family vacation

• Updated: May. 10, 2024, 9:31 a.m. |
• Published: May. 09, 2024, 6:05 p.m.

Whether it serves as a nap mobile or as a front-row seat for parades and firework displays, a stroller will be the M.V.P of your family's Disney vacation. Shop these popular travel strollers and extras. Amazon/Canva

• Danielle Halibey | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

A trip to Disney without a stroller is the dream, but if you’ll be vacationing with little ones in tow, it’s a pretty non-negotiable line item.

Despite their endless energy, even the most spirited kiddos need breaks on a regular day, but this is Disney . The amount of walking is a lot. The glaring sun is a lot. The constant excitement and stimulation is a lot.

Your tiny Mouseketeers are bound to want to “tap out” and take a breather at some point, and having a stroller ready and waiting for them, preferably one with sundry reclining positions, a coverall sun canopy and ample storage spots and pockets for all your things, is the perfect solution.

Related: The 9 best shoes for Disney are magical in their own righ t

Pros of Stroller Rentals at Disney World

Disneyland , Walt Disney World and Disney Springs do offer daily, multi-day and length-of-stay stroller rentals that you can pre-purchase or buy in the parks and resorts themselves, but it can get pricey, even with single strollers starting at $15 daily.

Another option, if you plan to do a lot of sightseeing, shopping and touring on your trip, is to rent through ScooterBug , Disney’s exclusive provider of mobility (stroller, scooter and wheelchair) services. The company will drop your stroller off directly at your hotel or resort, and you’ll have it upon arrival to use at your leisure.

Pros of Bringing Your Own Stroller to Disney World

As a mom of three, including a first grader, preschooler and toddler, I’ll always opt for a great travel stroller purchase. A reliable, lightweight, sun-shading and easy-to-push/carry carriage will help you survive Disney and become your go-to for every amusement park, parade, aquarium, zoo, museum, trunk-or-treat or holiday light show from here on out.

I got the Silver Cross Jet 4 Super Compact Stroller a few years ago, before my youngest was born, and we’ve used it on three vacations already. It’s a splurge, for sure, but it’s one of the lightest strollers I’ve ever pushed, folds into the most convenient luggage, spinner-like configuration to zip through the airport, easily stows in the overhead cabin and sports the biggest UPF50+ sunshade. You can also hold a lot of things in the under-seat basket and behind your kiddos’ seat.

These are the 6 best travel strollers I’d recommend for your next Disney World trip, and then 7 accessories you need to buy and pack in your stroller.

Travel Strollers

• Silver Cross Jet 4 Super Compact Stroller for $470
• Jeep Destination Ultralight Side x Side Double Stroller for $250, instead of $300
• Zoe The Traveler for $249
• Munchkin Sparrow Ultra Compact Stroller for $220
• Baby Trend Sit N’ Stand Double Stroller for $180, instead of $200
• Summer Infant 3D Mini Convenience Stroller With Compact Fold for $58

Stroller Accessories

• Clear Stroller Rain Cover for $10
• Baby Uma Baby Stroller Hooks for Bags - 2-Pack for $13, instead of $15
• zak! Disney Princess Stainless Steel Vacuum Insulated Water Bottle for $21
• Momcozy Portable Stroller Fan for $25, instead of $30 (clippable 10% off coupon at checkout on Amazon)
• Itzy Ritzy Adjustable Stroller Caddy / Organizer for $25, instead of $30
• Disney Baby by J.L. Childress Portable Diaper Changing Station for $30
• Apple AirTag 4-Pack for $79, instead of $99

Tips for planning the best Disney World Vacation

• The 9 best shoes for Disney are magical in their own right
• 14 things you need to pack for your Disney trip

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