Hello! Today I will be telling you all about what you need to know before you leave for Disney World. This will be a series of posts that will hopefully help you out when you are planning your Disney World vacation!
When Are You Going?
Let’s start from the beginning. When do you want to go on this vacation? There are many aspects that you might want to consider, like airline prices, when the weather will be right for you, when the Parks are crowded, and more. The airline price will be a larger costly factor of your vacation planning. Depending on your party size, and how far away Orlando is from you. You could try using websites like Expedia to find the best prices per airline. You may not want to worry about the luxury of the airplane that you're flying to be able to save money. Next, you will want to watch when Disney ticket prices increase. They increase around February, so you will want to purchase your tickets before they increase. Also, look at the crowd levels each month. January-February has smaller crowds, and they increase as there are more holiday weekends. Avoid weeks that have 3 day weekends, when schools are off, and avoid the summer. Fridays can get pretty crowded, and the middle of the week are normally the slowest. Make sure you put everything in account to make sure you will have a good trip.
Considering DVC
Disney Vacation Club is a timeshare service that allows you to be able to receive Vacation Points that could be used on Disney Resorts, to get access to villas and more. Here’s how it works, DVC is a timeshare company. You purchase an interest on a real estate and get Vacation Points that you will be able to use on your Resort bookings. Each villa at each Resort is a different amount of points, and the Resorts with villas include, but aren’t limited to Saratoga Springs, Old Key West, Polynesian Village, and Grand Floridian. This may be something that you would want to consider, if it’s right for you and your family.
Considering a Disney Vacation Planner
This would not be the worst idea if you don’t know much about Disney World and planning a trip around all of the needs and wants of your party. A travel agent will also be able to help introduce you to things that may help you out during the trip. They will be able to help you determine what Dining Plan that is best for your party, help with dining reservations, help with Fastpasses, and get things like Photopass and Memory Maker. They definitely will be able to help you with every aspect of your vacation, so you will be able to relax a little bit, and maybe even save some money!
Fastpasses
This is definitely one of the more important things you will need to do when planning your vacation. Disney World, if you didn’t know, has a system called Fastpass+ where you will be able to choose 3 initial rides per day. Once you have ridden all of your rides, you will be able to get another Fastpass, then ride that and you get another and so on. You will want to book your dining first, so you will be able to plan your Fastpasses based on when you are dining. You will definitely want to get the sought after Fastpasses first, like Slinky Dog Dash, Smugglers Run, Space Mountain, Test Track, and more. Each park also has tiers (except for MK), tier 1 will have the biggest, more exciting rides and tier 2 will have the other ones that aren’t as sought after but they still are fun. Make sure to do your research on which rides are in which tier, and how many of each tier you will be able ot get.
Disney Dining Plan, Dining Reservations, and Choosing Where to Eat
Disney is home to a lot of incredible foods, especially sweets and snacks that you’ll want to try. Maybe, if you’re staying at a Disney-owned resort, you will be able to choose to have the Disney Dining Plan, or DDP. There are a few different types of the dining plan, and you will be able to choose one based on your needs. Here is a little crash course on credits. There are a certain number or credits based on the plan you choose. The Quick Service dining plan has 2 Quick Service meal credits, which means you can dine at a quick service restaurant 2 for either free or will cost you very few. The plans also may include snack credits. Each dessert or snack you may get from a cart or walk up stand may be eligible to be purchased with snack credits. Each item will cost a different amount of credits, and if you don’t use all of your credits in one day, you will be able to bank them for another day. But, don’t let them add up so you won’t be able to use them before you leave, or you will have to pay a fee! Let's move onto dining reservations. You will be able to book dining reservations, right now at least, 60 days in advance. Before COVID-19 happened, you were able to book 180 days in advance, and let's hope that comes back again. You will want to be able to be on time for getting the reservations, because some restaurants are very sought after, like Be Our Guest in MK or Tusker House in AK. Make sure that you keep on top of the day that you can book these!
Photopass and Memory Maker
My mom would say that all of the pictures are the best part of vacations. Now that I’m a little older, I definitely would agree. I love looking at the photos from when I was younger, and just looking at the parks and how they have changed over the years. Photopass is a free service for everyone to use, where you will be able to allow guests to take unlimited photos with Photopass photographers that are located all over the park. But, if you want to download your photos, you will have to pay an extra fee. That is where Memory Maker comes in. Memory maker is an extra cost add-on that will allow you to download your photos for free. No matter how many photos you take, you will be able to download them all for the same price as everyone else. This a highly recommended add-on, because all of the photographers when you meet characters are all Photopass photographers. We loved it, and it is a very good add on for anyone who loves the pics you take on your vacation!
Choosing the Parks (And Should You Have a Day Off)
Choosing the parks is a very important part of your vacation- it’s the whole reason you’re going! There are many aspects to look at when you are planning which parks you want to visit, like which is more crowded, which has attractions that are the most fun for you, whether or not you want to see characters, etc. Plus, you may also want to see what transportation that you have at your Resort, and which type of transportation that is available for each park can determine which one you would want to visit more than once. If you want to see a good show at night, then Epcot or Magic Kingdom would be where you want to spend later nights. There are so many factors, so look at the wants of your party and decide from there.
The next episode will be all about which Resort is right for your family, so check it out! I hope that this will help you out when planning your vacation.