Right now it is 7 months out from our family trip to Disney World. This will be our first trip with both girls and Lilly’s first trip to see The Mouse. To some, it seems incredibly early to start planning a trip. But when you do Disney, the earlier, the better. I’m going to narrow down the bare minimum of what you need to plan before going to Disney World.
Growing up, we had a Disney Binder which held maps and schedules and all kinds of information for our week-long trip to Disney World. Now, everything can be done online. There have been two times in my life that I have gone to Disney without a plan. Once, when my husband surprised me with a trip. And when I went on my solo trip in October.
I’m not saying you can’t have a magical time at Disney World without having a plan but there are some things that will improve the magic if you take care of them before your visit.
Here are the 9 Essential Steps before going on your next WDW trip (in the order I recommend).
Book Your Resort
Booking your resort should be the first thing you do when planning your vacation. Even if the hotel is not a priority on your list. The resorts fill up fast. Go into your booking with a couple in mind within your budget.
For example, you might be able to find a room with no special view at a DVC rental at Boardwalk that is the same price as a standard room at Art of Animation. With the DVC rental, you could have the bonus of a kitchenette and nicer furnishings. With DVC rentals you can book 11 months out for the ‘home resort’ and 7 months out for all others. Ali has a great post on the basics of renting a DVC room.
Pick out magic bands (if staying on-site)
When booking a resort stay on Disney property you’re automatically gifted a free Magic Band which acts as your room key and holds all the information for your trip. Previously, you were given a choice of colors but now they’ve offered the option of upgrading to a specialty Magic Band. These specialty bands are only $10 as opposed to the (up to) $30 price tag in the parks.
When I went on my solo trip I did not stay on property and forgot to bring my Magic Band from a previous trip. I was given an admission card but was annoyed with getting it out for each FP+ ride. I bought an adorable It’s a Small World Magic Band that was $25 in the Animal Kingdom.
It is now $7.50 on ShopDisney.
Buy Park Tickets
Disney often has ticket discounts when you buy them in a package. Right now they’re running a promotion for a 4-Day ticket at $89/day (a huge savings from the normal base ticket). Other options for buying your park tickets: Costco or Undercover Tourist. Undercover Tourist is Disney affiliated. Disney knows that they’re selling their tickets at a discounted price so you don’t need to worry something shady might happen.
Create an account and link everything on MDE
MDE stands for My Disney Experience and is an app in your app store. In MDE you can do all of your planning from dining reservations to FP+ and lots more. Once you’ve created an account, it’ll be your account for every future trip. You link your confirmation numbers for everything within the app and it keeps track of everything.
Study the Once Upon a Planner Insiders Guide
Aside from going to the parks daily while I worked there for a semester, I have been to WDW 11 times. I’m knowledgable on the parks, the food, the transportation etc. but am always searching for a way to save time and money. The Insiders Guide on Once Upon a Planner has been the most bang for my buck 10 times over. The hacks guide tells you how to get lost of FP+ after your initial 3 that you book before your trip. There is so much info on the site from Planning Guides to cost analysis posts and tips on saving money.
When I went on my solo trip, I scored 18 FP+ in one day. I’m not guaranteeing you can get that many but a lot of people have gotten way more than that! I HIGHLY recommend taking a look at their site if you want to maximize your ride time at the parks. You can use my affiliate code if you’d like to help support our next trip to Disney.
schedule Magical Express
Once you book your flight you can schedule a Magical Express reservation. Link your flight in the My Disney Experience portal and make sure to click how many bags you’ll be checking. The Magical Express takes you on a bus from the airport to your resort and they also take care of your luggage. It will magically be sitting in your room when your room is available!
Plan Your Dining EXperiences
180 days out from your trip you’re allowed to start booking for sit down restaurants. They call these reservations ADRs or advanced dining reservations. If you have no clue where to start, you could ask a Travel Agent to help make a good decision on where/when to eat for your family. Otherwise, I suggest looking into Disney Food Blog Guide or WDW Radio to hear about all the wonderful options at the Walt Disney World Resort (includes the parks, Disney Springs and the resorts).
30 or 60 day FP+ booking
When you book a stay at a Disney resort you are allowed to book FP+ passes 60 days prior to your vacation. When staying off-site you’re allowed 30 days prior. If you have a strong opinion on rides, I definitely recommend waking up and ready to book these as soon as the window opens (7am).
TIP: Start with your final park day of your trip. You’ll be more likely to score the ones you want because other people start with the beginning of their trip.
Book any extras: dessert party, tours, after hours, bippity boppity Boutique
Your final step, after planning for all the others is to book your extras. In my case, I knew I wanted to go to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party while we’re there in October. The ticket prices are lower right now since the dates were just released so I bought those ASAP. I have yet to buy my park tickets or flight because I’m waiting to see if there’s a better deal. In some cases, you can book your extras as soon as you have your dates set (I usually base this on when my room reservations are set).
You can check this post from Disney Tourist Blog to see some of the different options Disney offers for extra magical experiences. These are just opinions. You can go to Disney’s site to get the full details.
I hope I didn’t overwhelm you with everything there is to do before your next trip to Walt Disney World. In reality, you only need to book a flight or set aside time from work to take your vacation. You could have a lovely trip without any planning. You WILL wait in lots of lines and be frustrated that you can’t eat at certain places. If you want to save some time and money, use these steps as the bare minimum of what you need to plan before going to Disney World.
Let me know in the comments when your next trip is! What do you get most stressed about when planning for your trip?
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