Basics to Planning a Disney Vacation

If you have never been to Disney or it’s been a long time, planning a Disney Vacation can be intimidating. Where do we stay? What do we do? How do we get there? These are all questions that are asked. No need to worry though, millions of people visit Disney Parks each year and we can learn from people’s mistakes. The key to a great Disney Vacation is to have a plan. Each family or group is unique with different sizes, ages, interests, and budgets. Keeping this in mind, an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner can help guide you through the planning process, generally at no additional cost.

It would be impossible to cover every aspect of planning in 1 blog posting so I will start with the basics here and expand in later postings.

Deciding on what time of year you would like to travel is going to be the first part of your plan. The time of year you travel will determine the crowd levels, availability, activities/special events and even the price of your vacation. The busiest times of the year are Christmas week, Spring Break, and Summer. Basically, when kids aren’t in school, Disney is busy.

After you decide when you are going, it’s time to choose a resort. Disney has 3 categories of resorts. These categories are Value, Moderate, and Deluxe resorts. As the names would suggest, the main difference between the categories are the price and amenities.

The next items to plan for your vacation are what will you do once you arrive. Disney World consists of 4 theme parks and 2 water parks. There are also tons of restaurants providing numerous dining options. The tickets you purchase and dining reservations you make will be determined by your group’s preferences. Theme park tickets are called Magic Your Way Tickets. These tickets allow you to visit 1 park for each day you purchase. The Park Hopper Option allows you to visit multiple parks each day. The Water Parks and More option allows you to a certain number of visits to the water parks, mini golf, and DisneyQuest.

When planning your trip, ask the members of your group what they would like to experience on their trip. For many people, they only get 1 trip to Disney World so you have to make it count.

If you have a question about planning your trip or if there is a topic you would like to read about, please email me at mickeybymatt@gmail.com.