Hiya pals!
So you’ve thought about taking that magical Disney World vacation, but now what? We’re here to help you navigate your way through planning and executing your ideal trip. Here you’ll find your important milestones leading up to your trip, and how to personalize them to your vacationing style.
Pick your dates
The first thing I do when planning is to decide the time of the year I want to visit the magical mouse. For the next year or so Disney is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Magic Kingdom! There’s a lot of new and exclusive things happening throughout the parks. The time of year you might choose will depend on several personal factors.
Winter months in the Midwest can be cold and dreary. Making it the perfect time to head to Florida and see the sun and the castle! We love going during the Christmas season, taking in all the beautiful holiday decor and enjoying yummy treats.
Spring is a great time to visit, at EPCOT you can enjoy the Flower and Garden Festival. Summer brings a lot of heat and in general bigger crowds.
Fall offers fun Halloween decorations, Food and Wine festival and warm temps. As you’ll find out there’s no ‘bad time’ to go. Once you pick your dates it’s time to start booking!
Book your trip
Your next step is booking your trip. We always use a travel agent and highly recommend this for you as well. We use Erica Kocher at Travel Design Loft. When you choose to book with an agent, their services are free to you! Read that again….FREE to you!!
Erica can put together a quote and help you with all of your vacation planning. Reach out to her and let her know Midwest Disney Life sent you! Erica can help you find the right resort for your needs and budget! We’ll have a post on picking your resort in the future!
How to get to Walt Disney World
Now you’ve picked your dates, and booked your trip, so it’s time to figure out how to arrive! There are many flights to Orlando (MCO) to choose from. Our agent, Erica can help you book the one that’s right for you. One thing to keep in mind when flying is finding transportation to your hotel.
You can get a ride share like Uber or Lyft. Also, there’s a company called Sunshine Flyer which offers transportation to your hotel from MCO. Another option is to drive. We usually choose to drive, it’s often more cost effective for our family. Things to keep in mind if driving are gas expenses, hotel stays if you can’t make it in one day (this is our case-it’s about a 16-hour drive for us) and parking fees at the hotel. Once you decide, you’re one step closer to that fun-filled vacation! Find out more about our trip using Mears Connect here.
Download the Disney World app
If you haven’t already, you’ll want to download the My Disney Experience app (MDE). This app will help you throughout your trip. It helps if you’re at least slightly knowledgeable on how to use it. After you download please make sure to take your time and explore the app.
You’ll find a lot of information here like wait times for rides and attractions, making quick service mobile orders, maps and directions, even unlocking your room door. If you need more help with the MDE app you can learn more in our blog post all about MDE here.
Making park reservations
Since the reopening of the parks, after the onset of the pandemic, park reservations are now required. So, what exactly is a park reservation and why is it so important?
Starting in July of 2020 Disney has made park reservations mandatory for each park entry. Just because you have paid for a ticket does NOT mean you have access to the parks!
If you’re staying on property, 60 days before the first day of your trip, you’ll want to log into MDE and pick your parks. Once you’ve selected your party, you can select your date, and which park you’d like to visit.
When the confirmation page pops up, you’ll be prompted to make park reservations for another day. You’ll want to make sure you do this to secure entry to the park of your choosing. Which parks should you choose on which day? It really is up to you!
When to make dining reservations
If you’re staying on Disney property you can book dining reservations 60 days before the first day of your trip. This is something our travel agent Erica can help you with free of charge! She can snag you reservations for hard-to-get restaurants and character dining experiences.
There are several places that book up right away at the 60-day mark. If there’s a place you really want it’s best to ask your agent for help. How do you decide where you want to eat? We can help you narrow down your restaurant selections a little later. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter to make sure you don’t miss an important post!
Matching shirts
Time to start thinking about your Disney wardrobe! Maybe you already have an abundance of Disney apparel?
Perhaps you want to have matching shirts for a day or for the whole trip or not at all. You can save some money by ordering shirts now and skip paying the big bucks in park for t-shirts.
You can find Disney shirts all over! Our top picks are Target, Kohls and of course Dolce Bleu Bowtique on Facebook. How many matching days are up to you, but it’s good to start thinking about what you’ll pack when the time comes!
We also love The Parks Shoppe boutique for Disney clothing. She can even do custom orders for you! Check out her page and see what you might need.
Packing your bags
Your trip is quickly approaching now, and it’s time to start packing your bags. If you’re like me, packing is half the fun! The laundry at the end of the trip-not so much! I suggest starting to pack a week before your trip to make sure you remember everything. If you’re flying, be sure to check your luggage requirements before packing!
You can use a weather app to keep an eye on the weather before you start packing! Random cool days will appear if your trip is during the winter months. And be sure to pack extra clothes if your forecast is rainy!
Extreme heat in the summer can sometimes require a change of clothes if you don’t like to be sweaty. Thunderstorms are likely to pop up here and there throughout the year! I often search weather for Lake Buena Vista, it’s more accurate than Orlando.
You can find our complete packing list here.
Time for fun!
Now it’s time to relax, make some memories to last a lifetime, and hopefully inspire a little Disney magic for you and your family!
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