You Need a Plan to Tackle the Parks
Walt Disney World is a tremendous vacation destination with four theme parks, two water parks, and a major shopping and dining destination. So, how do you tackle making decisions about where you’ll go and what you’ll do?
The answer: You need a plan.
We’ve already discussed the importance of budgeting, choosing a resort that’s right for you, and dining. Now it’s time to get into the details of how you’ll spend your time in the parks.
Here is a list of the major destinations at Walt Disney World:
Theme Parks
- Magic Kingdom
- Epcot
- Hollywood Studios
- Animal Kingdom
Water Parks
- Typhoon Lagoon
- Blizzard Beach
Shopping, Dining Entertainment Venue
- Disney Springs
Where to Start
We recommend choosing which parks you’ll visit for each day of your vacation. Here are some things to consider:
- If you’re visiting between August and Christmas, Magic Kingdom closes early several nights a week for seasonal extra-ticketed parties. We think that both seasonal parties are excellent options. But we don’t recommend you do anything but rest on the day of the party if you have plans to attend. You’ll also want to plan your regular park days at Magic Kingdom around these parties. The park will close early on these evenings. If you have a park hopper ticket, you might spend the day of a party at Magic Kingdom and hop elsewhere later. Party days tend to be less crowded during this season.
- Are you eligible for extended evening hours for deluxe and deluxe villa resort guests? If so, you will probably want to take advantage of these extra hours in the park after it closes. They are held twice weekly, mainly at Epcot and Magic Kingdom. If you don’t purchase the park hopper upgrade, you will need to plan to spend the day at the park where the perk is offered. This is one of those times where we might spend a day at the pool and then go to Epcot at 5:00 p.m. and stay through extended hours if we were eligible.
Read this guide to check your eligibility status or learn more: Extended Evening Hours at Disney with Attractions List
- You might also need to consider if you’ll be touring over any holidays. Magic Kingdom is often the busiest park on a holiday, which can be fun if they have unique offerings or festivities. But managing the crowds can also be a logistic nightmare. For instance, we love to see the fireworks at Magic Kingdom on the 3rd of July because they offer them two nights in a row. However, we typically avoid the crowds on the 4th of July and go to parks like Epcot or Animal Kingdom. (Note that Epcot will be incredibly busy on the evening of Independence Day. They have a special, one-night-only fireworks tag.)
Rides
As far as rides and attractions go, you’ll want to research which ones are most important based on your travel party’s preferences. The Resorts Gal Guide to the Disney World Parks provides an overview of each park.
If you’re traveling with little ones, you’ll likely want to familiarize yourself with height requirements and learn about Disney’s Rider Switch program. Read the following guides if either apply to you:
Disney World Rides with Height Requirements
How to Use Rider Switch at Disney World
Lastly, you’ll want to learn about Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Single Pass, Disney’s paid skip-the-line offering. We recommend reading over our one-stop Lightning Lane Guide to get a complete overview of how the system works.