How to Plan a Disney Trip

Planning a Disney trip is a pain in the butt. Sure it’s exciting to plan a vacation but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s a lot of work. Disney is harder than any other vacation. There are so many things that need to be considered.

Here is a handy check list to aide in the process:

1 – Pick your dates: Disney has peaks and valleys when it comes to crowds. Weather also changes greatly depending on the time of year. You need to decide what kind of weather you want to deal with and what kind of crowds you are willing to put up with. The weather is the easy part. You can use historical data to determine it. Weather.com and other weather sites offer that kind of info. The crowds are a little different. The only place I know that offers that kind of info is Touringplans.com. You can get a couple of months worth of the calendar for free. If you want more than that you need to buy a subscription which will cost you about nine bones.

2 – Plan your ADRs: This is number two because of Disney allowing people to book ADRs up to 120 days in advance. If you do not book ADRs you will be eating at quick service locations or the less popular table service dining locations. That’s just a fact regardless of what time of year you are going. To book your ADRs you need to know where to eat. If you’ve never been, how do you figure that out? Simple, you go to www.allears.net. They have almost every menu for every restaurant in Disney World. They break it down by location for you. You can also use the dining app for the iPhone. It’s a great app if you are on the go.

3 – Pick your hotel: You need to decide if you are staying on or off property. If you stay off, keep in mind you will not be able to use Disney transportation and you will have to pay for parking which is $14 a day (unless you are an annual pass holder). You also will not be able to do any Extra Magic Hours. On the flip side you will pay at least half price in most cases. If you are staying on property you need to decide between value, moderate, or deluxe. Once you pick one of those you need to decide what theme you want.

4 – Call the travel agent: There is no reason not to use a travel agent. There are many fee free travel agents out there. Make sure the agent you pick is “Ear Marked.” That means they are Disney certified. They can get away with not charging you because they get paid by Disney. They will make your life much easier.

5 – Airfare: If you are not driving you’ll need airfare. If you pick South West you will not pay for bags but you’ll have to suffer through the awful boarding they do. You can also fly Jet Blue. They do not charge for your first bag. Keep in mind, if you pick another airline make sure you check the fees. Your total fare could go up by up to 50% after the fees.

6 – Non-Airfare Travel: How will you get to the parks? You can get a rental. If you do make sure you check for online coupons or offers. You can go to www.mousesavers.com and look there for some codes. You can take a town car. If there are four people in your group this is a great option. You can do more than five but you’ll need a bigger car. The cost is normally about $115 round trip (it’s worth it. Check my posts on this subject). The final option is the Magical Express. This is the cheapest option. You get what you pay for. See “Magical Depress” for more details.

My Next Trip

I last went to Disney World in December 2008. I didn’t know if I was going to go back. I really couldn’t afford to duplicate that trip. I knew the only possible way I could return was if Disney ran the “buy four get three free” promo again.

I waited and waited. I monitored the Disney fan sites for months. I listened to seven different Disney podcasts (ok I do that anyways). I kept waiting to hear that the next big deal was coming. Free dining was released but I knew that was a crummy deal so I kept waiting. Then touringplans.com posted a rumor – buy four get three free might be coming back. Then they upgraded it and said it was coming back and in less than a week! I think I started to drool a little, kind of like a wolf looking at a lamb. The next Monday came and I checked the site. There was no new news. I Googled it. Still no news. A few hours later I checked touringplans.com again. BINGO! It was official.

First I called my wife. She doesn’t like Disney so I wanted to get that over with. Next I called MEI Mouse Fan Travel. I had to leave a message because no one was available. I sat in my seat and twitched for about an hour. I stared at my phone trying to will it to ring. Finally I got a call. Vicki D. called my back and she could book it. The dates were slowly starting to open up. I booked the Boardwalk Inn for seven nights.

So I had a room and tickets but that wasn’t enough. My wife and I hate the idea of waking up at 4am to catch a bus to catch a plane to rush to a hotel to try and check in and then try to salvage a day in the parks. You pay good money for that day so why not enjoy it? I booked our air for the day before we were to check in at Disney World. I also booked a late flight. Now we could sleep in, pack, and go against traffic down to the airport. We needed a hotel for a night so I splurged and picked the easiest place. Even though it is expensive, I booked the Hyatt MCO. It’s a very nice hotel right inside the airport.

Flying down the night before takes some of the stress out of the first day. It means we have to wake up and get from the airport to our resort. You can do this for no charge by using Disney’s (term used loosely – it’s not really Disney) Magical (magic can be used for very bad things) Express (“express” is just false advertising). Notice how I used the term “no charge” and not “free.” There is a very good reason for this. It’s not free. It will cost you hours. For more details check out my post “Magical Depress.”

Needless to say I did not book M.E. and tried not to laugh when Vicki asked if I wanted it. I booked a town car through Happy Limo. I cost a little over $100 for round trip. That might sound expensive but it’s worth every penny. Between the speed, service, having my luggage, and having a ton of stress removed from the day, it’s a great value. For more details about Happy Limo, check out my post “Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy” or go to their website at www.happylimo.com.

I have a room, tickets, transportation to the resort, so that leaves air and insurance. Air was easy. I booked JetBlue. It only cost me $89 a person to get down there and $114 to get back (getting back is always more expensive). I like JetBlue because they give you Direct TV and don’t charge you for your first bag.

That leaves insurance. I’m a big believer in travel insurance. One of the big reasons is the fact that I live in New England and it snows here. Losing a day or two is bad enough but having to eat the cost is worse. There are a number of travel insurance companies out there. Check with your travel agent for details.