Booked a Vacation to Walt Disney World? What to do next and when
Congratulations, you have booked
your trip to Walt Disney World. But now what? A successful Walt Disney World
Holiday requires more planning then Disneyland as its so much larger. Walt
Disney World contains 4 large Disney Parks and two Water Parks. Also, a lot of
the Walt Disney World experience is automated (FastPasses, Magic Bands etc) and
actually favours people who plan holidays (who book FastPasses 60 days ahead). Follow
these tips below on what to do when and you will be well organised for your
upcoming Walt Disney World Vacation. These tips worked for us!
6 Months Before
Book
your accommodation. Whatever
price you wish to pay for a hotel in Orlando – there is a hotel in your price
range. We chose to stay at the Disney All Star Music Hotel on site. There are
so many advantages of staying on site. You can read about them here at https://themeparktravelguide.blogspot.com/2018/06/how-to-save-money-staying-at-walt.html
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| Disney All Star Resort - the pools were great |
Sign up to the My Disney Experience App (MDE).
It is a good
idea to have this organised before you book your FastPass tickets closer to
your vacation date. There is also a lot of information on the App regarding
menus, rides, show times, park opening hours and more.
Don’t forget to enter in your flight details into the My Disney
Experience app (Staying on site at Walt Disney World hotels only)
This is so that you can catch the free Airport
transport bus the ‘Magical Express’ bus. This saves you approximately $70 USD
each way in a taxi. You enter your Flight Number details on the MDE App. When
you arrive at Orlando airport – the Magical Express bus will be waiting for
you.
Start researching the rides you want to do.
The rides and shows are listed on
the official Disney website and App. But you can also view rides on YouTube
which give you a very good idea of what the ride is about and how scary it
might be for little kids (and Adults!). Tripadvisor.com
also has some good reviews of individual rides too (not just hotels and
entertainment).
It is really worth researching
rides as otherwise, when you get to the Disney parks you will be literally
overwhelmed by choice (I cannot emphasise this enough!). It is also a good idea
to check out the height requirements for kids too to avoid disappointment.
Dining reservations and Character Dining experiences can be made 180 days before your holiday starts.
You can call Disney directly or book online via the official Disney website. You can check out restaurant menus and cost via the MDE App.
Have
a general understanding of FastPasses and start gathering a list of FastPasses
you would like to do.
It’s a good idea to know the
rides in each FastPass ‘tier’ so you are prepared for what combination of rides
you can choose and develop a strategy on how you are going to get to your other
rides that you don’t have FastPasses for. My guide to FastPasses including
strategy is here: https://themeparktravelguide.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-complete-guide-to-fast-passes-at.html
Universal Studios
also has similar review of their rides too on their app, YouTube and
Tripadvisor.
3 Months Before
Start
planning how many days and what park.
You need to know which days you
are going to be at which park so you can book your FastPasses (the dates are
required).
If time allows, I do recommend
one day at each park at least. If more time allows - you can easily spend 2
days in Magic Kingdom and EPCOT. If you like to spend a lot of time in the
World Pavilions – you could easily spend three days at EPCOT (with 2 days in
the World Pavilions and 1 day at EPCOT rides).
Look at the opening hours of the
park including when parades and shows are on. Have a plan about how you foresee
each day to run e.g FastPasses after lunch, or after a parade. Note the park
hours before booking and any shows you want to see (show times/parades are all
listed on the app). Make sure FastPast times do not conflict with shows that
you want to see. Also, it’s a good idea to ‘group’ FastPasses around a few
close areas of the park.
Buy
Walt Disney World park tickets before the 60 day mark.
This is so when your FastPass
booking date comes, all you need to do is book FastPasses.
61 Days Before
If you are staying on site (at a
Walt Disney Hotel), you can now book your FastPasses tomorrow. Some people set their alarms for this! It’s a good idea to have a plan and a backup
plan in case you don’t get the FastPasses you want. My strategy was to
priorities the rides you want for each ride tier.
I would advise having all the
information required in the App (travelling party, Disney tickets bought and
even the colour of your Disney Magic bands etc) all set up well before the 60
day mark so all you need to do on Day 60 day is literally book your FastPasses.
The Magic
bands have multiple uses like opening your hotel room door, buying food and
souvenirs with. The Magic bands are also connected to PhotoPass and
automatically take video of you on rides in the parks and photos from cast
members. They are also engraved on the back with your name which is a really
nice touch.
60 Days Before
Book
FastPasses if staying at a Walt Disney World Hotel
The MDE App has a countdown for
your trip so you don’t have to actually work this out yourself. If you are
staying on site (at a Walt Disney World Hotel) – you can finally book in your FastPasses.
We managed to get all our FastPasses that we wanted at the 60 day mark. If for
some reason you don’t get the FastPasses you want or the times– be persistant
checking as people tinker with their Fast Pass bookings.
Why book FastPasses early if at
all? Because all the popular rides will be taken up with FastPasses and the
Standby lines for some rides (such as Flight of Passage, Animal Kingdom) can be
180 minutes long. I should say though that a lot of the rides with long lines
do have pre-ride entertainment and things to look at to keep you entertained –
and this includes Flight of Passage.
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| What the FastPass booking page looks like. |
30 Days Before
Book
FastPasses if not staying at a Walt Disney World Hotel
If you are not staying on site
(not at a Walt Disney World Hotel) you can finally book your FastPasses on this
date. Similarly to what I’ve said above, if you don’t get the FastPasses that
you want – you can also keep checking as the date approaches, as people do
shuffle rides and times around. On the day of your actual park visit, Disney
also release new FastPasses too! (I have heard about 10:30 am, but that is just
what someone has told us and is not official).
14 Days Before
Dining
Plan?
There is also a Dining plan you
can do. The Disney Dining Plan (DDP) is available for Walt Disney World guests
who purchase a package through a Disney Travel company or through the official
Disney Website. The DPP works by pre-purchasing a set number of meals before
your holiday. There are restrictions on where you can eat and you need to eat quite a lot –to get your
money’s worth (we didn’t think it was worthwhile). For just two quick service
meals a day – and snacks it is over $50 USD per day, per person (over age 10 years old) and so for
three of us that’s $150 per day (and not deluxe dining). Our family of three
actually dined for roughly $100 per day ourselves without a DPP at Counter
Service restaurants. We saved $50 USD per day by not having the Dining plan.
You can now do a budget
You can now do a budget with the days you have - you can also look at the menu options at the park and also the merchandise that is listed on the official Disney Website. You already know your accommodation and plane flight costs- the daily spending money can be tallied now according to how you have also booked your FastPasses.
Book
optional extras like Kennedy Space Centre, Miami and Universal Studios Tickets.
10-3 Days Before
You
can sign up for the Memory Maker PhotoPass.
This is $169 if you’ve paid 3
days before your trip. The PhotoPass goes up to $199 if you decide when you are
at the parks to get it whilst you are there. PhotoPass lets you take unlimited
Photos at all of the parks with a Cast Member. You basically go up to any
photographer in the park and ask them to take your photo. The photos are
scanned to your Magic Band or ticket. The PhotoPass also takes automatic photos
and video on some rides.
What you might not know though
that there is also a cheaper ‘1 day 1 park option’ (which we did), that you can
take up after you have been to the parks. This option is only available on your
mobile app and costs $69 USD. Choose your best day in the parks and download
those pictures only.
Also, it is important to note that
whilst you can pay for PhotoPasses, Cast members are more than happy to take
your photos with your own cameras too. Often they are exactly the same poses
you are paying for with PhotoPass. You will not get ride pictures or ride
videos however.
The Night Before
Maps
and Plan of attack
Every night before a Disney park
visit, I study maps that are available for free at the Disney Resort hotels. It
was handy that these maps were also completely up to date and a good indicator
of what is actually there at the park. By looking at the maps the night before,
I kind of knew where the rides were in the park and had a bit of a ‘game plan’
on how we were going to tackle the day ahead with food options (for a fussy
food eater), timings of FastPasses, shows etc.
The Weather
The Weather
It’s a good idea to check the
weather the night before. Often, for Florida, it might say ‘rain’. This won’t
mean it will rain all day – only that a portion of the day it might rain. Have
a plan on where you will seek shelter during a thunderstorm. I have written a post about wet weather days
at Walt Disney World here.
What you really wish to avoid is
getting to the park and not knowing where to begin due to the overwhelming choice
in rides and attractions.
Hoping you have found this list
useful with your planning. Some might say a little over planning might take the
spontaneity away from the holiday. I am here to report however that a little
planning maximises your time and money visiting Walt Disney World – and helps
it to run like clockwork. We managed to do all the rides and attractions we
wanted at Walt Disney World and had a stress free holiday. Have fun holiday
planning! Would love to hear from you in comments below.
I hope you can follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/themeparktravelguide
You can also subscribe directly to this blog. I publish weekly, on a Wednesday
You can also subscribe directly to this blog. I publish weekly, on a Wednesday
Until next week,
KJ  |
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You can read about other Disney Parks below:
Blogs:
20 Need to know tips for Magic Kingdom (this is really part 1 of this post!!)
How to save money staying at Walt Disney WorldBlogs:
20 Need to know tips for Magic Kingdom (this is really part 1 of this post!!)
Disney's Hollywood Studios - what to see and do before Star Wars Land opens
Why Halloween is the best time of year to visit a Disney Park
My top 6 theme park rides in Orlando and why
The rides and attractions at EPCOT
EPCOT World Pavilions Part 1
World of Pandora at Disney's Animal Kingdom
Tips and Advice from WDW Castmember Part 1
What’s inside the Disneyland Castles Part 2
How to plan a Disney Wedding
Planning Tips for Someone without a Car
Interview with an Annual Passholder -WDW
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