CONFUSED About Planning Your 2025 Disney World Trip? Start Here!

Alright, so you want to go to Disney World in 2025? Great! Now what? Where do you start? Well, if you’re ready to start planning a trip to Disney World, you’ve come to the right place. We’re Disney experts, and we know all the steps to have a successful trip.

If you want to have a seamless vacation, it’s going to take a little preparation. In fact, there’s a lot that goes into planning a Disney World vacation. You’ve got to do your research when buying park tickets, booking your hotel, making advance dining reservations, and more. Hey, we get it — it can be overwhelming! That’s why we’re here to help; we’re going to simplify the whole process. Here’s where to start.

We’re going to take this step by step. Here’s what you should do FIRST when planning a Disney World vacation.

Create a budget

The first thing you need to do is figure out how much money you are willing to spend on your Disney World trip. Is this vacation your big splurge? Is it a quick trip? This is something you need to know before you do any planning; otherwise, you’ll be amazed at how quickly things add up.

This is important to keep in mind, too: Disney World ticket and hotel prices fluctuate throughout the year, depending on demand. Even the price of Disney’s add-on skip-the-line service, Lightning Lane Multi Pass, changes based on the season. If you’re trying to work within a smaller budget, don’t go to Disney World during a major holiday like Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Year’s Eve.

This Is the WORST Time to Go to Disney World in 2025

Figure out your vacation dates

Step two: pick your dates!  Your trip may need to coincide with school breaks, or you might want to consider visiting Disney World when it is not considered a peak season (when the parks are busier).

Are you interested in visiting during the holidays? Do you want to plan your trip for the spring? Do you want to attend any particular EPCOT festival? Holiday party? You’ll need to pin those dates down before doing anything else. Oh, and you might also want to consider the weather — it can get REALLY hot in Florida in the summer, and Hurricane Season generally runs from about June 1st to November 30th.

The HARDEST Dates to Get Disney World Reservations in 2025

Where should you stay?

Once you have your dates sorted out, it’s time to tackle one of the most important parts of the planning process: the hotel. This is a decision that will depend on your budget. If you’re on a tight budget, Value Resorts, like Disney’s All-Star Resorts, might be best.

If you want access to unique Disney World transportation, you might want to consider a Skyliner or Monorail resort.

Examine your budget and priorities, and then start researching hotels.

Hotels & Resorts at Walt Disney World

Select the park tickets that work best for you

Disney offers a variety of ticket options that cover a number of days. You can also buy the Park Hopper ticket option, which lets you visit more than one theme park per day. Note that Park Hopping is allowed at ANY time in Disney World — there are no restrictions!

Disney World’s ticket pricing is set up so that you’ll get a better deal the more days you add to your ticket. If you’re having a hard time deciding if you should stay for eight days or nine days, for example, that extra park ticket might not cost as much as you expect. Of course, your budget plays a big part in this decision, too.

Walt Disney World Ticket FAQ

Plan your transportation

Okay, so you’ve figured all that out, but do you know how you’re going to get to Disney World? Some people could choose to drive. Many people also fly into Orlando International Airport and then use a transportation service like Uber, Lyft, or Mears Connect to get to Disney World.

From the airport, you can rent a car, use a rideshare service, or book the Mears Connect Driven by Sunshine shuttle. Once you arrive at your Disney World hotel, you can then use Disney World’s free transportation service to get around the resort.

Travel Options Between Disney World and Orlando International Airport

Where do you want to eat?

Disney World has a variety of dining options at the parks, hotels, and even Disney Springs. Some of these restaurants are pretty popular, though, so if you want to eat at any of Disney World’s table service restaurants, be ready to book your dining reservations 60 days in advance of the first day of your trip.

You’ll also need to decide if the Disney Dining Plan is right for you and your group. Would you like to pre-pay for all your dining and not have to worry about it? This option certainly helps you figure out how to budget for dining, but on the other hand, you may end up spending more on the dining plan than you would without it, depending on where and what you eat.

Walt Disney World Dining Overview

Take another look at your budget

By this time, you probably have a rough estimate of how much your trip will cost, so you can adjust your budget accordingly. You may have to rework some priorities or change some of your plans if you can’t exceed your budget. Or, you can add in a few extras.

Figure out the extras

If you have a little wiggle room in your budget or if your budget isn’t a concern, you might want to add on some extras. You could consider doing a dining package to get great seats for the Fantasmic! show in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. You may want to go to an After Hours event or one of Disney’s holiday parties. Maybe you want to do one of Disney World’s many tours. Do you want to skip the lines with a Lightning Lane Multi Pass?

Perhaps you want to see a show, like Cirque du Soleil in Disney Springs or the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort. There are a LOT of little extras you can add on to your trip! Take a look on the My Disney Experience website for the full list of things available during your trip.

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Let an expert do it for you!

If you still feel overwhelmed, turn your planning over to a Disney travel agent. Not only will they help you plan your trip FOR FREE, but they can help you find any discounts that might be available, as well as help you figure out pretty much ALL of the above.

If you’re looking for a travel agent to help with your vacation, we recommend our friends at Mouse Fan Travel. They’re experts in the field with over 20 years of vacation planning experience, and they can help take a bunch of the stress out of the entire booking process for you!

As you can see, a LOT goes into planning a Disney World vacation, but we’ve got plenty of resources right here at AllEars to help you with everything. In other words, you’ve got this!

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Are you planning a Disney World trip in 2025? Let us know in the comments!

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