DisneyFanatic.com The Latest News, Advice, and Perspective from Disney Fans for Disney Fans!

9. Cost How much will a Disney vacation cost?  To answer that question, you will need to make a few decisions.  How long will you stay?  5-7 nights are best, in my opinion.  Disney World has a lot to do.  Will you stay onsite at a Disney resort or offsite?  What will your budget allow?  If Disney World is new ...

8. Book early Consider booking your trip early, up to a year in advance.  This gives you several advantages.  It helps build excitement and allows you to make payments/save up money before your trip.  If you decided to stay onsite, you might want to consider a package, with hotel and tickets.  You can also add dining, airline tickets, waterparks, golf ...

7. Make ADRs at 180 days If you plan to dine at any of Disney’s table-service restaurants (and you should), make Advanced Dining Reservations at the 180 day mark, precisely at 7:00 am eastern time.  The most popular restaurants and character meals book up quickly!

6. Buy tickets If you haven’t already, purchase you park tickets somewhere around 75 days out from your trip.  Consider how many park days you will need.  Be aware, the more days you purchase, the less you’ll pay per day.  A one-day ticket is over $100!  A 10-day ticket is about $45/day.  You can also add park-hopping to your tickets, ...

5. Reserve Fastpass+ at 60 (or 30 days) At some point prior to 60 days out, go to mydisneyexperience.com (or get the app for your device) and put in your reservation and ticket numbers.  All your plans should pop up, including any dining reservations you have.  At 60 days out (if you’re staying onsite) or 30 days otherwise, make your ...

4. Book Magical Express Have you considered how you will get from the airport to your hotel?  If you’re staying with Disney, the cheapest option is Magical Express bus service.  It’s free-can’t beat that!  Like any other airport, you can also rent a car, hire a taxi, Uber, etc.  The Orlando airport is about 30 miles from Disney. 

3. Photopass or Memory Maker It’s important to document any vacation with lots of pictures.  Unfortunately, someone has to actually take the pictures, usually mom or dad.  Disney offers their Photopass service, where they’ll take your pictures for you, including several onboard ride photos!  You have two options.  One, let Disney’s Photopass photographers take your photos, then you can look ...

2. Plan your park days (and some rest) Whether you are an uber planner or not, you should have at least a rough idea of your park days.  Obviously, this should coincide with your ADRs you planned earlier.  Check park hours/refurbishments/parades and fireworks times/special events.  Don’t be caught unaware!  *Bonus tip: Plan some rest time.  Believe it or not, you ...

1. Packing After you decide what to pack in your luggage, put half of it back.  Don’t over pack!  You’ll need room for all those souvenirs you’re going to buy!  *Bonus tip: Relax and have fun on your magical Disney vacation!  

Disney Vacation Club (DVC) is a timeshare program operated by Disney. The program currently operates thirteen resorts: nine DVC resorts at Walt Disney World and one DVC resort at Disneyland in California, as well as one resort each in Oahu, Hawaii, Vero Beach, Florida and Hilton Head, South Carolina. Members buy into DVC by purchasing a set amount of “points”, ...