Obviously I am a lover of all things Disney. I think some of my recent blog posts have shown that. One topic I had some people tell me I should write about is planning tips for Disney with a family. Now I’m not a Disney travel agent. And while planning for a trip to Disney takes a lot and is different for everyone, I wanted to give some tips on what has worked for us in the past. Now there are plenty of great other sites, and lists, and tips out there I’m sure, but I figured one more blog post could certainly help because things are ever changing with how things can come together.
I think when you first start planning your trip, the first big decision is when you are going to go. Depending on your family this may be easy or hard. You’ll have to take into account school breaks and holidays, vacation time at work, family obligations, and time of year. Then you will want to take into account how crowded the parks will be and how you feel about that and if you could handle crowds. I personally love visiting during the holidays because of all the decorations but I understand it will be a bit busier than other times of the year. Granted it’s Disney and there seems to be more busy times than not busy times now with all the new lands and attractions and festivals and special events that happen all around the parks and throughout the year. Early in the year in January and February are good times to go, and late September and early October are also some good times as well.
Once you decide when you’re going to go, it’s then time to decide how long you want to go for. Is it a long weekend, a week, two weeks? Is this a big once in a lifetime holiday, or is this just another trip that you and your family do all the time. For us we tend to take long weekends because we are able to go to Disney quite often.
Next up will be the hotel and ticket options. Of course you’ll want to decide if you want to stay on or off property and weigh the pros and cons of both. You’ll also want to figure out what hotel will be best for you and your family. Do you want one with a great pool? One with lots of activities? One a little more quiet and made for adults? Do you want to splurge on the hotel or have something more value?
There are also plenty of options when it comes to buying tickets. Do you want a single day ticket or a multi day. Do you want single park each day or upgrade to a park hopper so you can go more than one park a day. Or would it make more sense to buy an annual pass. If you’re a Florida resident you can get deals on tickets as well. Then you have to think about extra events, party tickets if you’re wanting to do other things while you’re on vacation.
Once you decide when you want to go, for how long, where you’ll stay and what sort of tickets you’ll buy, you’ll also want to decide how to get to the parks and around the parks. Do you live close enough to Orlando to drive? Is it easier to fly and rent a car? Or fly and utilize the free Disney transportation if you’re staying on property?
Then once all the big planning is out of the way, you have the miscellaneous things to think about. I’ve written a whole post on what to pack. You’ll also want to think about any dining reservations you may want to book, and fast passes you want to book as well.
There is so much to think about and goes into planning a trip. It’s not like just jumping in the car and going for a quick trip. But I think having some sort of plans does make the trip better. Do you have any specific tips on best ways to plan?
