Meghan Strickland

Planning a trip to Walt Disney World isn’t quite as carefree as it used to be.  Advances in technology have led to many new planning tools and resources, and even more tips and tricks for optimizing your time and money spent. (Worried about what to pack?  We've got you covered.)  You can usually roll up to the park gates and buy a ticket, but just like with any other travel destination, a little advance planning is recommended to get the most out of your vacation.

The good news is, they don’t call Disney World the most magical place on earth for nothing.  You’ll be grateful for the time you spent planning in advance once you’re in the parks, whipping through lines and eating Mickey premium ice cream bars in front of Cinderella's Castle.  We’ve developed a time-line to follow so you don’t miss the important details.

But first, here are some Disney World-specific terms you’ll want to know.

DISNEY WORLD VOCAB BANK

My Disney Experience (MDE): This is the portal you’ll use to book and manage your Disney World vacation. My Disney Experience lets you see all your plans at a glance, including hotel, dining, and FastPass+ reservations, as well as reminders for shows like the Happily Ever After fireworks.

MagicBand: A wristband that serves as your key to Disney World. Your MagicBand contains your park tickets, hotel room key, FastPass+ access, and even lets you buy food and merchandise with a linked credit card. These also available for purchase online and onsite from $14.99usd+, and can be used for subsequent trips -- although there are so many cool and limited edition options, you might want more than one!

FastPass+: A complimentary reservations system that allows you to book a time slot for rides and attractions across Disney World’s four theme parks, bypassing the standby queue. You may book three experiences per day in one park, adding more once those have been redeemed. Passes are not unlimited and popular attractions will book out, sometimes months in advance.

Extra Magic Hours: Bonus hours where Disney World’s four theme parks are open to guests at Disney-affiliated hotels before and after regular operating hours. At least one park per day will open an hour early or stay open an hour past closing for resort guests.

PhotoPass: A service that stations official Disney photographers in popular photo locations across Disney World’s theme parks. Disney’s PhotoPass photographers will happily take pictures using your personal camera, so you can get some great photos of the whole family. 

SIX MONTHS OUT

• Pick your travel dates. The parks tend to be most crowded during spring break, the Christmas holiday season and the summer months, with lulls in late January, February and in the early fall. Check Disney World’s calendar or one of the popular third-party crowd projectors like Touring Plans for events that may cause the parks to be more crowded on the weekends, like RunDisney races, which typically take place in November, January, February, and April, or seasonal events like the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival in the fall.

• Staying on-site can be expensive — you’re paying for proximity and easy theme park access — but, there’s almost always a deal to be found. Secure your hotel reservation. One of the biggest decisions you’ll have to make is between staying at a Disney resort hotel or off-site. Disney World has more than 25 on-site resort hotels like Disney's Art of Animation or Disney's Beach Club Resort. Guests there receive benefits like advance booking for FastPass+ and Extra Magic Hours, which are also available for guests at many Disney partner hotels, including the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort, Four Seasons Orlando at Walt Disney World Resort.

• Book your dining reservations. It may seem strange to think about where you’ll want to eat six months from now, but reservations open 180 days out and peak dining times at many of Disney’s most popular restaurants, like Be Our Guest, which takes you inside the castle from Beauty and the Beast, and Cinderella’s Royal Table, inside Magic Kingdom’s Cinderella Castle, fill up months in advance.

THREE TO FOUR MONTHS OUT

• Decide what kind of park ticket you want. Single-day tickets start at $109USD for adults (ages 10 and up) and $104USD for children ages 3-9. Children under age 3 do not require an admission ticket. Tickets are cheaper per day the longer you stay — a five-day park ticket is just $88USD per day. If you want to visit more than one park per day, the option to park hop adds $60 per day. Can’t decide? You can always upgrade at the park entrance or your hotel’s concierge desk — but not online.

Check your Park Reservation options and make sure that you have a park ticket AND a reservation for the same park on the same day to ensure successful entry. 

• Buy tickets for seasonal events like Mickey’s Not-So-Scary-Halloween Party and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. These events take place at the Magic Kingdom on select nights during the fall. (They don't directly correspond to the precise day of the holiday; the Halloween parties are held August through October, and the Christmas ones, November through December.) Even if you’re not planning to attend, take note — the park closes as early as 6 p.m. on these dates, meaning you can’t see the nightly fireworks show without an additional admission ticket. Epcot’s seasonal festivals, including Food & Wine or Flower & Garden, are included in park admission and don’t impact operating hours, but some parts of the event like cooking demonstrations or wine tasting may require an additional fee. 

• Check each park’s hours and develop a rough idea of which ones you want to visit and which attractions are on your must-do list so you’re prepared when your FastPass+ booking window opens.

60 DAYS OUT

• Book your FastPass+ reservations. This is the most important date to remember. Guests at Disney’s onsite and partner hotels may do so 60 days before their check-in date; the service is available at 30 days for all other park visitors. Quantities are limited and popular attractions often run out weeks in advance, so if you absolutely must experience Avatar Flight of Passage (and you should), Slinky Dog Dash in Toy Story Land, or Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, this is your chance to lock that in.

• Be sure everyone in your travel party has a profile on My Disney Experience and a park ticket assigned to their account, and that all of your accounts are linked together as “friends & family” before attempting to book your FastPass+ reservations. Otherwise you’ll be frustrated when you can’t book your whole group together to meet Mickey Mouse or ride Avatar: Flight of Passage.

ONE WEEK OUT

• Complete online check-in for your Disney resort hotel, which allows you to bypass the front desk upon arrival. This is where you can make special requests for a particular building or floor. Want to be closer to your resort's main building and dining facilities, or prefer to be in a quieter location with less foot traffic? Mark your preferences here. Link your credit card and set a PIN to activate the option to make purchases using your MagicBand. 

• Download Disney World’s suite of mobile apps, including My Disney Experience , Play Disney Parks , and Shop Disney Parks . Want to change your FastPass+ selections, check for last-minute dining reservations, or find the closest bathroom when you’re in the parks? The My Disney Experience app is the key to it all. Play Disney Parks unlocks interactive games while you’re waiting in line for select attractions across the resort. It will enhance your experience inside Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios by helping you translate languages and interact with Droids. Shop Disney Parks shows you merchandise available for sale and its location within Disney World — especially handy when you can’t remember where you saw the perfect pair of sequin Mickey ears.

• Consider purchasing Memory Maker, which includes all your PhotoPass photos, images, and videos from attractions (like the iconic pic from Splash Mountain), and photos from the accounts of your family and friends traveling with you. Memory Maker costs $169 when purchased at least three days before your vacation begins, but $199 to begin immediately.

• Cancel any dining reservations you’re not planning to use (or get hit with a no-show fee, usually $10 per person if you don’t cancel by midnight the day before the reservation) and check for any last-minute openings at restaurants you missed earlier.

•  If you completed online check-in for your Disney hotel, you’ll receive a text message or email when your room is ready, and your MagicBand, card or compatible smart phone will be your hotel room key.

** During COVID-19, you must have pre-booked reservations for park entry, park hopping is only after 2pm (capacity permitting), and there is currently no FastPass+ or dining plan offered. If you are eligible, the DAS option is still available.

**Disney’s Magical Express service will no longer be offered starting with arrivals January 1, 2022. The service will continue to operate for new and existing reservations made at Disney Resort hotels for arrivals throughout 2021.