I need to know. Is thinking about a Disney World trip right now a total nightmare for you too?
As someone who eats, sleeps, and breathes Disney, I LOVE planning trips to the parks. If the computer is open during my free time, I’m probably pricing out different Disney trip scenarios just for fun. But recently, I’ve been having a dilemma deciding when to visit the parks again. Hear me out — I need to know if it’s just me or if anyone else can relate!
To preface this, I live in Illinois, in between the two U.S. Disney resorts. Talk about convenience! I visit the parks as much as possible, but I live vicariously through my fabulous coworkers on the daily. I’m trying to book my next trip because it’s been too long, but…
Everything Is Changing
When it comes to things at theme parks like Disney World and Universal, I get serious FOMO. With so many things changing, I’m afraid of missing out!
I know if I book a trip for later this year, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will be up and running. Yay! Splash Mountain used to be one of my favorite rides (mostly because of that famous drop) and I adore The Princess and the Frog, so I would be stoked to ride this new attraction.
However, Test Track, another one of my favorites, closes on June 17th for its refurbishment and makeover. I keep asking if it’s worth paying for a trip now or waiting until Test Track reopens!
There’s currently no reopening date or timeline in sight for the Test Track changes, and since it seems like a pretty big project, it may be a while.
On top of that, DinoLand USA is going to be rethemed and right now, Disney has not announced any sort of timeline. It could be sooner, it could be later — who knows?! Disney has filed a permit for the area that will eventually become a Tropical Americas-themed land.
Although I agree that it’s time for something to replace DinoLand, I feel in my gut that I MUST ride Dinosaur and shop in Chester and Hester’s one more time before it’s gone. To be honest, I’m still mourning the loss of Primeval Whirl since I never got to say goodbye 😢.
You’re probably thinking, “You could just take two trips — one now and one later” and you’d be right. However, I’m overly ambitious and want everything to line up in one trip. Is that really too much to ask? (At my core, I know the answer is yes).
The moral of this story is that because Disney World is constantly changing, the parks will probably never be 100% open. Does that mean I will stop wishing for the perfect time to book a trip? Absolutely not. I am who I am, after all! However, that’s not the only factor…
Flights Are Pricey
I’m not 100% sure if I’m still used to pandemic flight prices or not, but flight prices seem expensive right now! When I’m planning out dates for a potential trip, I’ll go check airfare around those dates and most of the time…it’s not pretty.
One of my downfalls is that I’m pretty picky when it comes to airlines — I usually only fly Southwest Airlines and sometimes American Airlines — so that shortens my list of options. I’ve heard too many horror stories from Spirit Airlines and I had one bad experience on Frontier that deterred me from booking them again (yes, I know every airline has its horror stories). But if you are braver than me and fly with them I admire your courage!
Luckily Southwest Airlines is constantly running different deals and sales, so keep checking back. It still hurts to add up once you factor in the price of tickets, hotel, and food, but hey, I know what I signed up for when becoming a Disney adult.
What do you think? Have you ever had this struggle deciding when to visit the Most Magical Place on Earth? Are you going through it right now with me? Let me know in the comments so we can talk about it together.
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In the meantime, I’ll keep pricing out random trips until I find ✨ the one ✨. You know where to find me!
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I’ve given up on planning trips to WDW on their website. I only call and talk to a human now. Even then, once they resort reservations and park tickets are all confirmed and good to go, you then have to go into their app and “link” everything together somehow. I worked in IT for 40 years and helped develop much of the technology used in Disney’s app, but it is among the LEAST intuitive computer experiences I’ve ever endured. I’ve never been able to unlock a resort room with my phone, for example. They’ll promise me “it’ll work this time,” I’ll walk to Tyler room, try, fail, then have to walk all the way to the check-in desk and do it all the old fashioned way. Getting into the parks results in the same ordeal. It’s this their way of trying to force me to buy a Magic Band? I miss the olden days when you’d reserve a room, check-in, then go to the park on each day and buy a ticket. All the fancy online stuff is just WAY too buggy still.
The other thing that makes planning difficult is trying to choose a less crowded time to visit. There used to be noticeable fluctuations within a calendar year, but not so much anymore. At best, you may find a relatively uncrowded week here or there, but that’s about it.