Beginning The Disney Vacation Planning Process

One of the unique [and arguably irritating] things about Walt Disney World is the amount of planning the needs to take place in order to have the best time possible and get the most bang for your buck. I know that there are people out there who disagree or think that it has something to do with the challenges in the past few years. It’s not. Visiting Walt Disney World has always been a challenge. Whether it’s trying to navigate the 40+ square miles that make our the resort, scheduling dining reservations or getting the most out of your Genie+ purchase, there’s quite a bit to do and learn. . . . which can absolutely be overwhelming.

Even for someone like myself, who enjoys planning vacations and traveling, the process of planning a Walt Disney World vacation can feel a bit more complicated than it needs to be. Sure! There’s the long list of attractions and experience that the Walt Disney World Resort has to offer, but there are also the changes and new products being offered that can be challenging to navigate.

As you might imagine, most of the major changes to Walt Disney World were implemented after the parks reopened in July of 2020. Some of those changes, such as health and safety measures, have been rolled back. There are, however, other changes that continue to stick around:

Park Pass Reservation System

Put in place following the parks reopening in 2020, the Park Pass Reservation System is Walt Disney World’s way of managing crowd attendance at the theme parks. This system requires guests to make a reservation for the parks they’d like to attend on the day that they’d like to attend in order to visit one of the 4 Walt Disney World theme parks. In other words, a Walt Disney World theme park ticket is no longer all you need in order to visit The Walt Disney World theme parks; you need a reservation also.

In theory, this system is simple [albeit annoying]. However, in actuality it’s a bit clunky and can cause problems for guests. Guests wanting to visit The Walt Disney World Theme Parks can use the MyDisneyExperience App to access the webpage where they can make or modify their Park Pass Reservations. So you will have to leave the MyDisneyExperience app to make or modify any reservations you would like to make or already have. Aside from the minor inconvenience of having to redirect out of the MyDisneyExperience app in order to access this Park Pass Reservation System, there are also glitches that seem to happen from time to time where guests lose their reservations without warning. Which this has never happened to us, this seems to be a problem for guests from time to time.

Learn more about the Park Pass Reservation System HERE.

Park Hopping Restrictions

Visiting multiple theme parks on the same day, or Park Hopping, is a great way to enjoy more of The Walt Disney World Resort in a shorter amount of time. However, there have been some major changes to Park Hopping in recent years. Unlike in the past, where a Park Hopper Ticket would allow you to hope from one park to the other whenever you’d like [within the ticketed day], guests are now no longer allowed to Park Hop at will. Instead, they are required to wait until after 2PM to hop over to the next park they’d like to visit. This change is very important to know for those who are planning on purchasing a Park Hopper Ticket as it might require you to rethink how you’ll end up going about your day.

Mobile Ordering Expanded

Walt Disney World had introduced the concept of Mobile Ordering prior to 2020, so you may be familiar with how it works. However, after the parks reopened, it became much more commonplace throughout The Walt Disney World Resort. Now, a great deal of quick service and table service restaurants offer Mobile Order; some even exclusively offering the service. While this can be a great addition, there are a lot of challenges that come with eliminating the need for guests to wait in line to order and pick up their food.

Genie+ Replaces FastPass+

Another major change that came to Walt Disney World in recent years has been Genie+. This service is essentially FastPass+ with a price tag. Unlike the service it replaced, Genie+ offers guests the opportunity to experience shorter wait times for a relatively small fee per person, per day. [Around $20 to 30.] Being the Genie+ replaced what was once a free service available to guests, it came under quite a bit of scrutiny when it launched at Walt Disney World. Guests did not like the idea of paying for what they once got for free. The price isn’t the only challenge associated with Genie+ though!

Despite the grumblings from some guests, the relatively low price point makes Genie+ accessible enough to so many families that it doesn’t always deliver. In fact, there have been multiple times that guests purchasing Disney Genie+ are unable to get on more than 2 attractions utilizing the service. . . a stark contrast to what guests could accomplish using FastPass+. It’s also not uncommon to see Lightning Lanes, surpassing the regular line. This makes Genie+ not only a challenge, in terms of learning how to use it, but also disappointing to many guests who have paid for the service.

Now, it might seem odd to start a vacation planning process with discussion about the things that have changed at The Walt Disney World Resort, but it’s important to know. So much of what has changed at Walt Disney World can impact the planning process and so I wanted to make sure we got those out there before we went any further. That said, let’s get a little bit further into this topic.

For me, the vacation planning process always starts with choosing dates and deciding what type of trip I’m aiming for. Choosing a date that works is pretty straightforward, so we’ll skip over that for now, but deciding on the type of trip you want is a big one! Why? Well. . . . knowing what you want to accomplish is a good way to help you decided on where you want to stay and that is an important part of vacation planning. At least in my opinion.

Look, I know that there are people out there who will disagree with me on this one, but I think that where you stay during your Walt Disney World vacation plays a huge role in the experience that you’re likely to have. This is especially the case if you’re aiming to enjoy one of the EPCOT Festivals, for example. The same could be said if you’re traveling with little ones and are hoping to spend most of your time at Magic Kingdom. With so many resort hotels to choose from, it makes sense to try and be in a place that makes what you want to accomplish more accessible to you.

Learn more about choosing the right Walt Disney World Resort Hotel for your trip HERE.

All of The Walt Disney World Resort Hotels are great options; especially considering the parks that they offer to guests. With the Early Theme Park Entry [allowing guests staying at those resorts access into the parks 30 minutes before day guests] and Disney Transportation, there are a lot of opportunities to experience more and even pay less.

Of course, not everyone prefers staying at a Walt Disney World Resort Hotel during their Disney vacation. Fortunately, there are plenty of resorts and hotels in the nearby area for guests looking for an off-property alternative. While this can be a great option for many, it’s also a way to spend more money than you might intend to. So make sure that you take the time to crunch the numbers before assuming that you’ll enjoy sayings staying somewhere nearby.

With that I think we’ve just about scratched the surface of beginning the planning process, but we’re far from finished. There are a lot of topics that we have or will discuss in the future, so be sure to stay tuned and check out our Walt Disney World Vacation Planning page for more information that you and and need.