Planning a vacation to Walt Disney World can be overwhelming - whether it’s your first time or if you haven’t visited in a few years. Just thinking about the dozens of components unique to a Disney vacation that are not applicable to other locales can be intimidating. When is the right time to visit? Base or Park Hopper Tickets? Should I add a dining plan? Not to mention that Walt Disney World Resort is constantly evolving - there are new attractions, new special events and new resorts debuting every year.
Today on the blog, we’re helping break down the various steps to planning a Walt Disney World trip.
Being Budget Conscience
A trip to Walt Disney World Resort is not an inexpensive endeavor; however, it doesn’t need to bust your retirement plans. You can have a memorable vacation at every budget level. But first, you need to determine your budget. How much are you comfortable spending on a Walt Disney World Resort trip? After you decide on a budget range, it will help you select an on-property resort to keep you within your comfort zone.
With more than 25 on-property resorts, there is a hotel to accommodate a variety of price points. The Value hotels, like the All Stars and Pop Century, allow guests to remain immersed in the magic of Disney after they’ve left the parks at a budget-friendly rate. The Moderate hotels are a step above the Values - offering on-site table-service restaurants, more entertainment options and other amenities not found at the Values. The Deluxe hotels are for guests with larger budgets; these resorts offer interior room entry, rather than outside entry like the Values and Moderates, fine dining and character meal experiences, and special transportation options like the Monorail.
Your budget will have also an impact of the length of your stay. Of course, the longer your visit, the more you can experience all that Walt Disney World Resort has to offer.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, a Deluxe resort, offers breathtaking views of the savanna from select rooms; during our stay, there were African drumming lessons in the lobby and nighttime safari viewing
Timing is Everything
Now that you’ve determined how much you can spend and narrowed down the resort, you want to think about the season of your visit. If you are a parent not comfortable taking your children out of school for vacation (or maybe you are a teacher of said children - thank you!), you are limited to traditionally busy times - summer, school breaks and holidays. Don’t worry - you can still have an unforgettable trip with the right planning, especially with a Beyond Imagination Vacations agent on your side!
If you are not limited to the timing of your vacation, you have flexibility in choosing a season that suits your interests. A foodie should sync their visit with Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival in the fall. Those with a green thumb definitely want to consider a trip in the spring for Epcot’s Flower & Garden Festival. If you’ve always dreamed of trick or treating along Main Street, U.S.A., you’ll need to be in Magic Kingdom during Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party.
Life-sized, gorgeous topiaries can be found throughout Epcot during Flower & Garden Festival
There are other events that can affect your decision-making as well. Is there a youth sports competition or a Disney race occurring during your visit? Will a holiday weekend impact the crowd levels during your trip? Your Beyond Imagination Vacations agent can answer these questions and help identify the right time for you to visit!
Talking Tickets
Alright! You’re making progress - you know how much you want to spend, where you want to stay and when you want to visit. Next decision is the type and length of ticket to add to your resort package - because you can’t get into the parks without park tickets!
There are three types of tickets - base, Park Hopper and Park Hopper Plus Option. The base ticket allows entry into one park per day. You can use one ticket for a different park each day or for the same park each day. For instance, with a three-day base ticket, you could visit Magic Kingdom on day one, Epcot on day two and Animal Kingdom on day three. Or you could visit Magic Kingdom on all three days of your tickets.
The Park Hopper ticket entitles guests to visit more than one of the four parks on the same day. With a one-day Park Hopper ticket, you can start your day on safari at Animal Kingdom, and then end your night with a Fantasmic! showing at Hollywood Studios. Or you can visit Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Epcot and Magic Kingdom in one day - GOALS!
If your family wants to spend time outside of the parks, you might consider the Park Hopper Plus Option which adds admission into Disney’s two water parks as well as its golf and mini-golf courses. With the Park Hopper Plus, you receive the same number of visits as the same number of days of your park tickets. For instance, if you bought a four-day Park Hopper Plus Option ticket, you receive four admissions into Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon and/or the golf courses.
Regarding the number of days of tickets, we already mentioned that your budget will have an impact; however, the more days of tickets you purchase, the less expensive the ticket costs per day. Currently, a one-day base ticket starts at $109 before tax, while the lead-in price for a 10-day base ticket is $44 pre-tax. If you can only visit for two days but want to visit all four parks, a two-day Park Hopper ticket is the way to go.
Enhancing Your Experience
After you’ve made decisions on the issues discussed above, you’re pretty much set with your vacation. But there are some special touches that can be added for convenience and ease.
You’ve got to eat while on vacation, and lucky for you, Disney features some seriously good eats to be had at the parks and the resorts. Disney offers three dining plans allowing guests to pre-pay for meals, snacks and beverages.
If your family is on a culinary tour of the parks and resorts, you might consider the Deluxe Dining Plan which provides three meals per night per guest - including appetizers and desserts at lunch and dinner, and two snacks.
The Quick-Service Dining Plan may suit guests who have a small appetite or prefer to spend time enjoying attractions rather than sit-down meals; this plan features two snacks and two quick-service meals per night per guest.
The Disney Dining Plan offers the best of the two other plans; you get two snacks, one quick-service meal and one table-service meal per night per guest. On every plan, guests over the age of three receive a refillable mug to use at the resorts, while guests 21 years and older can enjoy one alcoholic beverage with their meal.
We are overcome with joy - you can redeem a snack credit on a Disney dining plan for a Dole Whip Float!
No need to pack your professional camera or even your point and shoot in your luggage. For $169, you can add on Memory Maker to your package which gives you access to unlimited downloads of photos taken by Disney photographers, on select attractions and during select character meals. We love Memory Maker because every member of the family gets in the picture!
Breaking It Down
To wrap-up, budget, resort selection, time and length of visit, type of park ticket and the addition of enhancements are the essential decisions to be made in planning a custom Walt Disney World vacation. After these choices are made, you can continue working with your Beyond Imagination Vacations agent to create the perfect experience. After all, there are still FastPass+ selections and Advance Dining Reservations to be made!
We love every step of the planning process. What’s your favorite part of planning a Walt Disney World Resort vacation?