In case you couldn’t tell, we LOVE planning Disney vacations! So we thought we’d give a quick overview of how to plan a Disney vacation. **A quick note ~ This page may contain affiliate links, meaning we earn a commission if you use some of the outside links but they are at no extra cost to you. Please read our Disclaimer for more details.**
Pick Your Dates
First, we determine when we’re going to go. We try to figure this out as far in advance as possible, at least 180 days or more out if possible. For more info on why we plan so far in advance, check out our article on When to Start Planning Your Disney Vacation. It will give you a lot of great information on why you need to start planning asap!
Pick Your Destination
Once we have our dates picked out, we decide where we want to go. Disneyland, Disney Cruise, Disney World, Adventures by Disney, Disneyland Paris, the list goes on and on! There are a lot of great Disney destinations to choose from, so dream big and decide where you’d like to visit next!
If we’re visiting the parks, next we decide which parks we want to visit and how many days we want to go for. We never purchase park tickets for every day of our trip. We always plan for some down days. Going to the parks takes a lot out of you (especially with kids) so we plan for a few days poolside or resort hopping or casual strolls at Disney Springs. So plan for down days now, you’ll thank me later.
Check the Crowd Calendars
Once we know which parks we want to go to, we check the crowd calendars to see which days are best. For those of you who don’t know what a crowd calendar is, there are places that scientifically track crowds at Disney and then with crazy smart algorithms determine which park will have the highest attendance on which days. We choose the least crowded days possible for the days we plan to visit.
It seems like extra work, but it really does cut down on wait times once you’re in the parks. That makes it worth it for us! Undercover Tourist has a great crowd calendar. You can check their Orlando one out HERE. They have one for Disneyland as well that you can navigate to from that page. *Please note, we are not affiliated with Undercover Tourist, but we do use their calendars to plan our visits.
Pick Your ADRs
Once we know which parks we’ll be at when. Then we decide if there are any restaurants that we want to eat at while we’re there. We make sure to make our ADRs (Advance Dining Reservations) as soon as we can because a lot of the more popular restaurants fill up fast!
Pick Your Fastpasses
And last but not least, we determine what rides we absolutely have to ride! We do this so we can make our Fastpass Reservations as soon as possible. Even with the crowd calendar planning, lines can still get pretty long for the popular rides. Fastpasses become your best friend! So do yourself a favor and take a little time now. It will save yourself a LOT of time later.
Other Details
There are other smaller details to decide, like if we want to do the Dining Plan, if we want the Memory Maker (Photo Pass), if we need to book the Magical Express, what Magic Bands we want, what we want to put on our room request, and so much more.
There really is a lot of work that goes into planning a magical Disney vacation. To help us do all this, we like to fill out this quick, free questionnaire. It really helps stay organized, whether we are making all the reservations and what-not ourselves, or if we use a certified Disney Planner, which we highly recommend!
If you’re feeling super overwhelmed by all this, definitely consider using a Disney Planner. They are free to you, to use and they know all the ins and outs and will make your planning as stress free as possible. You can even get a free quote from the planner we use to book our trips by clicking HERE.
If you enjoyed this article about how to plan a Disney vacation, be sure to also check out our other great Disney content. We’ve got lots of videos up on our YouTube channel Dole Whip and Castle. We also have lots of great info on our other pages here on our website. We’ve got Tips and Tricks for visiting the parks. Treats and Eats for all things tasty at Disney, and Magical Homents where we show you how to bring the Disney magic home!