Planning a vacation (especially a magical Disney one) can be overwhelming and stressful! You might not even know where to begin! Here are my top tips for planning a magical vacation with minimal to no stress.
Plan in Advance
Things at Walt Disney World book up fast! Everything from hotel rooms to dining reservations to FastPass reservations. Ideally, you’ll want to start planning your trip 7 months in advance. Dining reservations can be made 180 days in advance and the popular restaurants fill up fast! A trip to Disneyland, however, doesn’t require as much advance planning. Give yourself at least 3 months to start planning your SoCal Disney vacation. Dining reservations can be made 60 days in advance for Disneyland Resort.
Choose Your Dates
A big part of planning in advance is choosing when you want to travel. To pick the best dates for your trip, you’ll need to decide what’s most important to you. Do you want to travel when it’s warmer? Lower crowds? Can you take your kids out of school or do you need to wait until spring or summer break? Once you figure that out, you can choose which dates work best for you. Choosing dates also involves deciding how many days you want for a vacation. I recommend a week for Walt Disney World and 5 days for Disneyland.
Download the App
Disneyland and Walt Disney World each have their own apps that help with planning and booking all of your vacation reservations. For Walt Disney World you’ll want the My Disney Experience app and for Disneyland, the Disneyland app. You can book resort and restaurant reservations and buy park tickets and photography packages. You can access park hours and special event information.
Choose a Place to Stay
Both the Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort have on-property hotels and off-property hotels. Price, proximity to the parks, hotel amenities, and resort transportation are all things to consider when deciding where you’d like to stay. Disneyland is not as spread out as Walt Disney World and offers hotels within easy walking distance to the parks. Walt Disney World offers complimentary transportation from on-property hotels to the theme parks.
Prioritize
It is nearly impossible to do and see everything on a Disney vacation which is why it is important to prioritize your must-do rides, shows, and dining options. For Disney World, you can schedule dining and FastPasses in advance for some of your must-dos. At Disneyland, you can schedule dining and make a plan for what rides you want to get FastPasses for once you are inside the parks.
If you’re still overwhelmed, I strongly recommend using a travel agent! My name is Sara Solberg and I’m a travel agent with Amazing Magical Adventures, a Disney earmarked agency. I can help you plan a magical Disney vacation and my services are FREE. Contact me for a vacation quote today!
Let our friends at Destinations to Travel help you book your next Disney Vacation. They are the preferred Travel Agency of Chip and Company and Disney Addicts, and who we use ourselves.
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