Before You Book Your Trip to Disney World

Whether you use a certified Disney travel agent (Which we highly recommend, it’s free for you! Get your free, no obligation quote HERE.) or book the vacation yourself, here are 10 useful questions that you can answer first that are essential for planning your trip.

What is your party’s size?
What are the ages of the people who will be traveling with you?
Budget
Travel dates
Are these dates flexible?
How will you be traveling?
Do you want to do things outside of Disney?
What parks do you want to visit?
How many days do you want to spend at the parks?
Do you want to prepay for your meals?

For a printable version of this questionnaire, click here.

Now let’s take a closer look at each of these and examine why they are so essential and how they will help you (or your agent) book your trip.

10 questions to answer when preparing for your Disney trip

Question 1

The first question asks your party’s size. This is important because it will determine what rooms you can and cannot stay in at Disney. Many resort rooms only sleep 4, or 4 and an infant. So the larger your party, means either some rooms won’t work for you, or you’ll have to book more than one.

Question 2

The second question ties in with the first and also has other reasons why it’s important to your planning. Infants, for instance, don’t need a ticket to get into the parks. And kids under 18 have lower priced tickets than adults. Whether you book the vacation yourself, or you use a certified Disney travel agent, you will need to give the names and ages of everyone in your party. So have this information ready when you go to book your stay. To get more help with booking your room, you can email us at dolewhipandcastle@gmail.com.

Question 3

The third question, of our 10 questions to answer, will also determine where you can stay. For purposes of this article, we will assume you want to stay OP (On Property). If you’re not sure whether or not to stay OP, click HERE to see the pros and cons of staying at a Disney Resort as opposed to off property. Disney categorizes their resorts into three categories:

So knowing that you’re on a tight budget will guide your agent (or you) to search through the value resorts. The same for having a middle of the road budget, or a luxury budget. Just to give you an idea, the lowest price you’ll pay to stay OP would be for a campsite at Disney’s Fort Wilderness. Even that will cost you around $60 a night. At the other end of that spectrum, you can expect to shell out over four grand (per night) to stay somewhere like the Grand Floridian or the Polynesian Resort. Now these prices may go up or down depending on when you go, which brings us to our next two questions, that asks about the flexibility of your dates.

Questions 4 & 5

There are certain times of year that Disney sees larger crowds. And larger crowds means you’ll be spending more for your stay. So if your dates are flexible, let your agent know (or plan on searching different dates when you go to book) that way, they can get you the best deal. If you’d like help with knowing what dates are best, please email us at dolewhipandcastle@gmail.com.

Question 6

This one is pretty straight forward. If you are traveling by car, you’ll just need to get directions to your resort. And you’ll need to budget for gas and food along the way, and parking once you get there (this can add up, so be careful). If you are flying in, your agent (or you) will need to know your flight info when you book so you can schedule to be picked up and dropped off by the Magical Express. For more info on that, click HERE. Disney has excellent transportation options and it’s not necessary to rent a car at all if you plan to just do Disney things. But that brings us to our next question.

Question 7

Do you want to do things outside of Disney? If so, you may want to rent a car. That’s what makes this question important to answer right away. A little time spent figuring this out now, will save you a lot of hassle and stress while you’re on vacation. So decide if there are other things you want to do, and if it would be more cost efficient to rent a car or hire taxis or take a ride share program like Uber. Again, if you would like more help, connect with a Certified Disney Travel Planner and get your no obligation vacation quote.

Question 8 & 9

Which parks do you want to visit and how many days do you want to spend in each park? This question is essential because it determines the price of your park tickets. The goal is to get your best price, so check the packages Disney has available (or better yet, let your agent do it for you!) and be careful if you buy your tickets elsewhere. There aren’t a whole lot of reputable companies out there, so do your research first, or better yet, just stick with purchasing them through Disney. Another good question to answer is if you want to do just one park a day or would you like to hop between parks on the same day. Some tips to keep in mind, the more days you purchase, the lower the cost per day it will be. And if you want to add the “park hopper” option, it will cost you a substantial bit extra. And believe us when we say, there is plenty to do in each park that would fill up at least a whole day.

Question 10

Our final question, of our 10 questions to answer, asks, “Do you want to prepay for your meals?” This question is significant because when you or your agent books your vacation, you will be given the opportunity to add the Disney Dining Plan to your vacation package. The Dining Plan will make sense for some people, but not everyone. And there are different levels of the plans. So make sure you know the ins and outs each before committing to one. You can read more about that HERE. Or you can ask your agent if it would be a good fit for you and your traveling party. This brings us to the end of our list! Feel free to email us with questions. And if you’d like to read more about preparing for your Disney Trip, try visiting our Tips and Tricks page, or our Travel Blog.

10 Questions to Answer