Whether you’ve been to Walt Disney World a hundred times or you’re planning your first visit, you know this much is true: planning a vacation to the Most Magical Place on Earth is complex and getting more complicated over time.

So we’re here with suggestions on how to keep your Walt Disney World trip as stress-free — and as uncomplicated — as possible. We’re not saying you can do Disney without planning, but there are some areas in which you can streamline and simplify your planning experience, reducing your stress (and the need for spreadsheets).

Choose your Disney Resort.

To simplify your Walt Disney World vacation, stay on-site. This will allow you to simply take Disney’s Magical Express from Orlando International Airport (no planning an extra ride or paying an extra fee) directly to your Resort. They’ll even handle your bags (holla for not having to stop at baggage claim!).

Once you’re at your Resort, you can jump in line to check in — but to keep this vacation really simple, you could check in online before you even leave home. If you have any special requests, you can make them during online check-in. But to keep things super simple, just take whatever room you get rather than making those special requests. Opt into Disney’s text alert system so you’re notified automatically when your room is ready, and you won’t even need to talk to a human.

As for which Resort to choose: we all know this can be a tedious and torturous part of the planning. To simplify things, decide how much you want to pay, and then just look at the options in that price range. Or simply pick the cheapest Resort available during the time of your visit in the Value, Moderate, or Deluxe categories, depending on how much you want to allot for accommodations.

Dine on the fly.

Did you know you can (and in some cases should) make Advance Dining Reservations 180 days ahead of the start of your trip? Yeah, we’re not doing that on this simple vacay. Instead, dine on the fly — no planning involved.

This will likely mean you won’t have any Table Service meals, since most/all of those require ADRs or long walk-in waits. So simply find a spot nearby when you’re hungry, and let serendipity determine your dining! And if you want to save time on your Quick Service dining, remember to Mobile Order so you can skip the line!

Keep transportation simple.

You’ve made your vacation life easier by staying onsite, so now make it simple to get around! Most Disney Resorts offer Disney bus transportation that gets you from point A to point B. No need to plan on riding Skyliner or Monorail (unless your Resort happens to be on one of those lines). No need to research Minnie Vans or how to use a rideshare to get around.

Sure you might spend a little more time waiting in line for your motorcoach to your Resort or a Park, but who cares? You’re living that simple life.

Don’t Park hop.

Extra Magic Hours here. FastPasses there. Rope drop. The Kiss Goodnight. Crowd levels. You could seriously go mad trying to manage all of the variables that you can take into consideration when planning your Park days. But to make your vacation life simpler, just stick to one Park per day — don’t opt to spend more money on the Park Hopper or Park Hopper Plus add-ons.

Sure you won’t be able to maximize the Extra Magic Hours by rope-dropping for a couple hours at Hollywood Studios before beelining it for another Park in the afternoon — but you don’t need to Park Hop to have a great time. You might choose your Park days simply based on published operating times, and focusing on one Park per day frees you up to really immerse yourself in the magic of each one.

BUT: Do make FastPass+ reservations.

Okay, the one thing we’re going to tell you to plan for is FastPasses. We know: this is not a simple task; some Parks have FastPass+ tiers, then there’s the mad (virtual) rush to get Flight of Passage or Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. None of this is simple or particularly fun.

But we think FastPass+ will help you simplify the rest of your day. You won’t have to plan your day around a frantic rush to the most popular attractions, and instead you can take it easy, arriving at the Park when it’s convenient for you and charting a course around the Park that includes your one known variable: those FastPass times.

Of course, you could throw caution to the wind and not plan FastPasses, thus making you the czar of simple Disney World vacation planning. And we actually think this is a fun idea for those who value spontaneity on their vacations. If you don’t mind missing a ride with a two-hour wait or you’re open to staying late to squeeze into the line at the last minute, you can even skip the FastPass planning. And we love that for you.

What’s your go-to way to keep your Walt Disney World vacation planning as simple as possible? Share with us in the comments! 

 

 

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