How to Plan a Day in the Parks

I’m not a big fan of prescribed touring plans.

There. I said it. While I think that a lot of fantastic information can be gleaned from them, touring plans are not a one size fits all kind of deal. Even targeted touring plans for young families, multi-generational groups or adults only, can’t really anticipate your group’s needs exactly. With so many variables like weather, ride shutdowns, and the current mood of your toddler, it is easy to have that plan derailed. Follow to the letter cookie cutter touring plans aren’t for me. However, I am constantly researching the advice given with different touring plans. They can be helpful as an outline, but I tend to forge my own path based on available data and advice. Yep, I’m a Disney Nerd.

I enjoy the process of planning trips to Disney World.

Planning has become little easier and more flexible with each trip that I plan. However, in no way do I throw caution to the wind. I make Advance Dining reservations and advance FastPass+ reservations the minute they are open. While I know that not everyone enjoys planning trips like this, blindly following a touring plan made by people who don’t know you or your group may not be the best approach for everyone either. Even if you choose to use a touring plan, there are two important things to keep in mind.

Know your travelling party and their limitations.

Not everyone one is an early bird or a night owl. Be realistic about what your group can get done in a morning, afternoon, evening or all day park hopping fandango. People will not change on vacation. Who they are is who they are. Forcing a march through Magic Kingdom on day 1 because you WILL FOLLOW THAT TOURING PLAN may ruin days 2 through 5 for everyone.

What are the most important attractions, meals, shows etc. to your group as a whole?

Take a look at what’s offered at each of the parks. Have everyone weigh in with their top 3 must dos, for example, and then work towards that.

Planning a trip for Disney World is equal parts planning AND strategy.  If you know what everyone wants to do and what they are capable of doing during your stay, the next step is figuring out how to make it all work. Below is a list of my best planning advice for folks staying on property but there are a lot of tidbits here for those staying off property as well.

How to Plan A Day in the Parks

1. Make your Advance Dining reservations 180 days out. I know it sounds crazy, but if there are specific places that you want to eat, just do it.
2. Make your advance FastPass+ reservations 60 days out. (or 90/30 days out depending on your window) Yes. It is totally worth it and if you have the ability to do it, you are crazy not to take advantage of it. Make them between late morning and early afternoon. If park opening is at 9, we tend to make them between 10/10:30-12:30/1.
3. Take advantage of morning Extra Magic Hours. If you can rally the troops at sunrise, this is a no brainer. Get to the park 1/2 hour to 45 minutes BEFORE the early opening time and ride the more popular attractions (or what you couldn’t get a FastPass+ for) first.
4. Take advantage of evening Extra Magic Hours. If your group can stay out late, do it. There will be less crowds and the parks at night are a completely different experience than in the day.
5. Take advantage of rope drop and park opening. Get to the park 1/2 hour to 45 minutes before official opening time to get through bag check and in line. I find several strategies work here: riding popular attractions that you couldn’t get a FastPass+ for (or did but want to ride more than once), hitting the less popular attractions that may get crowded later, or just strolling around the park and doing whatever strikes your fancy until your first FastPass+ kicks in.
6. Utilize your ability to make additional FastPasses after your advance reservations are used. After you tap in at the touch point for your last advance FastPass+ reservation, start making another FastPass. This could be booked for something soon, something after lunch or something in another park for after lunch or in the evening (if you have Park Hopper tickets)
7. Use lunch time to regroup. After you have run around the park and used your advance FastPass+ reservations, lunch is a great time to regroup. We tend to either rope drop or use the early Extra Magic Hour to ride what we don’t have FastPasses for, then start using our FastPasses around 10. Once those initial FastPasses are used, it is around lunch time. It’s a good time to figure out what everyone wants to do next. Sometimes we rest a bit OR head out to another park. If you don’t have a Park Hopper ticket, maybe go to a resort nearby and check it out, relax in the lobby AC and have lunch. We also sometimes go back to our resort to have lunch at the pool bar and swim. That works particularly well if we have plans for a late Extra Magic hour in the parks.
8. Make your dinner plans work for your park plans. If you want to see the evening show in a park, position yourself to have both a great meal AND a great view. This works nicely in Epcot’s World Showcase. Make a dinner reservation at one of the restaurants lining the Lagoon around 7:30. Show up around 20 minutes before your ADR arrival time. Let the Cast Member at check in know that you are willing to wait a little longer for a table with a good fireworks view. If you care to splurge, fireworks dessert parties are a great way to have some sweets AND a sweet view of the fireworks without the hassle of staking out your spot hours before. Similarly, booking an ADR with a show/dinner package can kill two birds with one stone: dinner and great seats. Another thing that we do is make a dinner reservation at one of the monorail resorts (Grand Floridian, Polynesian and Contemporary) and then head over to Magic Kingdom afterwards for the evening. This works great when Magic Kingdom has evening Extra Magic Hours. Same thing applies for any of the parks. Make a dinner reservation inside the park and stroll on out after dinner and enjoy the evening Extra Magic Hours.
9. Be Flexible. You can’t do everything. It’s not the end of the world if half of your plan for the day needs to be scrapped because your kid is too tired, a ride broke down, there was torrential rain or you had to wait too long in line to meet Elsa. It happens. It WILL happen on your trip. Leave a little wiggle room in your plans. When “catastrophe” strikes, find a place to sit down and re group.
10. Take care of yourself. Blisters, sunburn, exhaustion, motion sickness and even dropped Mickey bars can be vacation killers. Pace yourself and rest when it’s needed. Make sure to have sunscreen and blister bandages in your park bag. Stop when you need to hydrate or rest. Just sit down with that Mickey bar and take in the scenery. There is ALWAYS something to watch or listen to while riding that park bench. Trust me. The magic doesn’t stop because you had to head back to the resort either. Swim. Take a nap. Shop. Have a snack. Watch the outdoor evening movie at your resort. Visiting Disney World can be more rigorous than your average get away, but remember that you are ON VACATION.

Disney World is truly a magical place. You just need to help that magic out a little!