My family and I headed down to Walt Disney World this November, and based on a recent Facebook conversation, I realized many of you are eager for Disney tips related to planning a vacation there. I’m excited to share with you what we are learning as we go through the fun (and also overwhelming) process of booking everything, packing our bags, getting ourselves down there (it’s an 8 1/2 car trip for us…too expensive to fly!), and then figuring out how to make the most of our time while we are there.
photo credit: Express Monorail via photopin cc
This Isn’t My First Rodeo…Sort Of
I grew up about 6 hours from Walt Disney World, so it was close enough that by the time I was in college I had been a total of 6 times. But I haven’t been back since 2000, and I’ve never been at all when I have had to be in charge of children. I always WAS the kid! So while I know exactly what to expect in some ways, a lot has also changed (Fast Pass+, the dining plans, and lots of new rides) and instead of doing back-to-back Space Mountain visits, I’ll be doing back-to-back Little Mermaid rides. And I’m SO excited about taking my girls, you guys. One of the best things about being a parent is getting to relieve childhood through play with your children. And there’s no place on earth more magical than Disney World…I’m about to get to be a kid again (at least for stretches of time) for a whole week!
Fair Warning: Disney is Expensive
photo credit: Tom Simpson via photopin cc
I’ve never had to pay for a Disney vacation, before (though I did pay for my own tickets the last time I went) so I get to experience that joy for the first time. ;-)I want to be clear with you guys about exactly what I’m paying for, and what I will be partnering with companies to review and/or promote (just like always!). My husband and I have been saving up for a Disney vacation since the month after our oldest was born, and she’ll be 5 in a few weeks. So we’ve been saving up for 5 years to do this. And it’s a good thing, because we’re footing the bill for our tickets, hotel, food and gas. If you haven’t been saving for half a decade, like me, don’t panic. Your trip doesn’t have to look like mine, and your budget may not be the same as mine, either!
In future posts I’ll be sharing a breakdown of our budget so you can see all the details. I’m not being sponsored to write about this process, so we’re talking about money that I’m choosing to spend. That’s an important distinction for many folks because you might be wondering if I would have booked this exact trip if it had been coming out of my own pocket. Wonder no more, because it is! 🙂
Tip #1: Where to Start When Planning Your Trip
When you are ready to start planning a trip to Disney (12 months out or less…but not less than 6 months, ideally) the first thing you need to do is get in touch with a Disney travel agent. Disney travel agents are paid for their time by Disney, and they are paid whether you book a ridiculously expensive and indulgent trip, a super budget-conscious trip, or no trip at all. There is truly NO PRESSURE from them to make a purchase, and that is awesome! I have been working with Leanne Phelps and I very highly recommend her. She has a lot of great ideas and she can get you a wide variety of price quotes based on your family’s needs. She has also vacationed at Walt Disney World (and been on a Disney cruise!) several times and has personally stayed at several properties, and this gives her some great insight into what to expect at various hotels, as well as how to maximize your time in the parks. If you are getting ready to plan a trip, reach out to her at leanne@mickeytravels.com and tell her Tiffany from Stuff Parents Need sent you. I only get good karma for the referral, but I’ll gladly take it!
You can actually plan out the exact same trip that a Disney travel agent will plan for you, and the price tag will be exactly the same (so again, there is NO upcharge for using an official Disney travel agent). Since it is a free service, I can’t say enough what a difference it makes to take advantage of it. I’ve got someone watching out for any Disney promotions that come up, searching for character dining for me, making the reservations we want in a flash, and on standby to help me navigate the world of Fastpass+. She’s there to help all along the way, not just with ordering tickets and making hotel reservations. What an awesome service!!!
What Do You Want to Know About Disney Vacations?
My next post is going to talk about the package we selected, and the cost breakdown for us. I’d love to hear what else you want to know about when it comes to planning a Disney vacation. Or perhaps you have been, yourself, and have some tips and tricks that you’d like to share. I’m all (mouse) ears!
Be sure to check out my other posts on our Walt Disney World vacation budget and our Disney World Fastpass strategy, as well as the report on what I would do differently now that we’re back!
Thanks for the info on Leanne – your Disney World Travel Agent. I emailed her after reading your post, and she has been very helpful, and detailed. We are still in the beginning fazes of booking, but she has already been so very helpful! Thank you!
Oh that’s wonderful! You are the second person to tell me how helpful Leanne has been in the last week! I would use her again in a heartbeat, absolutely! And I’m so happy to know that others who might not otherwise have found her are now connected! 🙂
Also, per scheduling, Frozen character meet and greets are only available by booking Fastpass+ as soon as your reservations window opens or standing in insanely long (3+ hr) lines. I believe the Frozen princesses are also in the Magic Kingdom parade, if just seeing them is satisfactory.
Remember to keep a child’s-eye view. Children need breaks and unstructured time. What interests us may not be what interests them. Standing in lines can be tantamount to torture for them when they don’t know what to expect.
We went with our six year old and ten year old in March. My six year old was just as excited by the hotel pool as she was by Disney World. The only thing she asked to do on our Magic Kingdom day was to find a playground (thank you, Dumbo’s Flying Circus!). We stayed at the Magic Kingdom all day long, and by the time the first fireworks went off, she was in a full-fledged meltdown. Learn from our mistakes. It was memorable and good, but we missed a lot of the magic by trying to see it all.
We took our children for their first trip to Disney World this past January. We didn’t start our planning until September, so we did miss out on some dining reservations we would have liked to get since, dining reservations open up at 6 months out. We decided to go in January to miss the major crowds, and heat; also we went during one of the cheapest times to go so we got a lot more bang for our buck. We drove down (18 hours!!!), and by carefully planning we spent less than $5,000 total (hotel, gas, food, souvenirs, everything) and that was staying in a Disney resort for a week, park hopper passes for 6 days, and dining plan.
I totally feel you on that one! We have missed out on character meals because they booked up really fast and we didn’t make our reservations until a few weeks ago (still 4 months out, but it was already too late for those!).
We are last minute Disney goers!!! We usually book a month out, but up until about 3 weeks from now i am technically a florida resident, so it’s been easy for us because you get really good last minute deals. however, the last time we went we booked a free dining package instead of the fl resident deal. we are hoping to go at xmas time for our kids birthdays, but it looks like it will be a post xmas trip. it’s a super busy time of year so i’m actually going to go ahead and do some planning. we will be driving home to PC for xmas and then going down to orlando and then driving all the way back home. because we are insane. we typically spend 2-2.5k on our non-transportation costs while we’re there. we’re also going to go around easter (cousin’s wedding in tampa). so right now, ours is based around the “we’re already in florida, let’s go to disney world” idea! in the past we have flown and stayed in the WDW resorts so we didn’t have to deal, but with three kids, it’s insane to spend all that money on plane tickets.
and no, its not insane to take an infant to wdw. E went when he was 6 weeks old! it was pretty easy even though he had reflux.