I Just Booked a Trip to Disney World. Now What?

You just booked a trip to Disney World. Congratulations! Wondering what to do next? As you probably know, there is a ton of information available online to guide you through every last detail. If you’re anything like me though, the sheer volume of it can get overwhelming. I’m here to help. This post shares six steps to finish your Disney World planning.

First, please know that you can’t get it “wrong.” You’ll have a great trip. I’ve assembled a few steps to guide you on your way. It’s meant to be a basic overview, not an exhaustive list. How far you need to go on the list, and when, will depend on how much time you have between today and your trip to the magic! So, grab your mouse ears. Here we go:

(1) Celebrate!

You’ve picked an awesome vacation destination. You’re going to have an incredible trip. Take time to celebrate and get yourself into the fun mindset! Remember those “I’m going to Disney World!” commercials? Go ahead and pretend like you’re in one. I’ll wait.

(2) Pick three or four absolutely-must-do-activities for each day of your trip.

Have you dreamed of meeting Mickey Mouse on Main Street? Dining in Cinderella’s Castle? Seeing what’s inside that silver “ball” at EPCOT? Whatever you’re looking forward to the most, write it down and make it a priority. If you’re not planning to visit all four parks during your visit, making this short list will help you determine which parks to skip. You will obviously get to do tons more than just these few things, but I’ve learned that focusing your efforts will ensure you get what you really want out of the trip. Disney World is full of fun distractions, and you won’t have time to cover them all. (Nobody does! I promise!) Keep it simple so you can get what you want. Everything else is icing on the (fabulous) cake.

(3) Don’t know what activities you want? No problem! Visit Disneyworld.com and set up a My Disney Experience account.

You may have already made an account when you booked your vacation. If not, I strongly recommend you do so now. The website or the free app both include great information on all of the attractions, restaurants and magical “extras” available for your trip. You can also search by numerous filters such as height (is my child tall enough to ride that?) or location (I’m only going to Magic Kingdom don’t tease me with stuff at EPCOT!). I prefer to start with Disney’s site over others, because it’s frequently updated and it provides all of your options without attached opinions. You know what you and your travel party are into more than anyone else. You can always look for reviews on specific things later if you want.

(4) Make dinner reservations.

If one of your must-do items is a sit-down meal or you happen to be on a table service meal plan, book your restaurants now or as soon as the dining reservation window opens (180 days from the first day of your trip). You can make reservations through your My Disney Experience account or by calling Disney directly. Reservations fill up quickly and you can cancel them up until the day before the meal without penalty. Restaurant locations, menus and reviews (courtesy of TripAdvisor) are available on Disney’s site.

Yes, it’s ridiculous to make dining reservations so far in advance. I remember thinking “How do I know what I’m going to want to eat six months from now?” Then once I realized some of the restaurants I wanted weren’t available I thought “How do all these OTHER people know where they want to eat six months from now?” Just embrace the crazy and dive in. You’ll be glad you did.

(5) Start mapping out which parks you’ll visit each day.

Ugh. I know. I’m starting to lose you, but I promise this will make the next steps easier. (Note: I used to map out my days before making my meal reservations, but the availability of the restaurants usually forced me to switch them anyway so I left them as you see here. Typically, steps 4 and 5 go together.)

Start with your dining reservations if you have them. For example, if you booked Be Our Guest for Tuesday, then you know you’re going to spend that day in the Magic Kingdom because that is where the restaurant is located. If you booked a meal at a resort, try to pick the park closest to that location if you’re visiting a park on the same day.

If you don’t have dining reservations, or you have a park hopper ticket that lets you visit multiple parks per day, then you’ll need to map out a plan on your own. Other things to keep in mind while planning your park days are: the availability of extra magic hours (additional theme park time for guests staying in Disney resorts), regular park hours (varies by season), special events (parks close early for special ticketed events) and show schedules (parades and evening entertainment vary by day).

All of this information is available on Disney World’s main site. There are also websites that can help you pick which park to visit on which day, but they can be wildly different. Review them if you want, but try not to stress. You’ll have fun. If you’ve got your heart set on seeing the castle at Magic Kingdom on your first day, then go for it!

(6) Book your FastPass+ experiences.

Whew. How do I keep this one simple? FastPass+ is Disney World’s method for enabling you to wait in shorter lines for select experiences within the parks. I say “experiences” because it can include rides as well as preferred seating for shows, parades, fireworks, etc. Everyone that buys a ticket to Disney World is granted three FastPass+ selections per day (kind of like three wishes!) with the potential for adding more (if there are any left after you’ve used your three).

Guests of Disney resorts can start booking their FastPass+ experiences 60 days before the first day of their trip. Visitors from off-site locations with tickets linked to their My Disney Experience account, can start booking experiences 30 days before the trip. If you don’t book any experiences in advance, you will still have the opportunity to do so through kiosks on-site within the parks on the day you visit. Please note that popular attractions fill up quickly though, so availability on the day of your visit will be more limited.

Back to our earlier example, if you’re planning to dine at Be Our Guest in the Magic Kingdom on Tuesday, then you’ll want to book your FastPass+ attractions for the Magic Kingdom on that day. Magic Kingdom has more options for Fast Pass than any of the other three parks.   Look at your “must do” list and cross reference them with the Fast Pass+ experiences to make your smartest picks.  EPCOT, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom have significantly fewer FastPass+ experiences from which to choose because they have fewer rides in general.

How do you actually make the FastPass+ selections? Whew. The short answer is to log on to your My Disney Experience account and follow the prompts. The longer answer could really be a whole separate post (find the longer version here!).  At the risk of overwhelming you, I’m sticking with the short answer today.  The website and app do a pretty good job of walking you through the process. If you get frustrated, take heart. Picking your FastPass+ experiences in advance can save you time in line during your vacation and help ensure you cover the “must-do” activities you selected, but it won’t make or break your trip. You can always stand in the regular line, which sometimes offers more entertaining surroundings than the Fast Pass+ one anyway, so don’t worry!

Once you’ve made you’re FastPass+ selections, you’re pretty much done with the bulk of the Disney planning.

Hooray! Of course, you can always revisit and tweak your plans, but it’s not necessary.  You could also go out and buy matching t-shirts for your travel party, which is super fun, but again, not necessary. Take some time to relax and enjoy the fruit of your efforts. You’re going to have a great trip!

Add a little stress-free magic to your world!