The Basics: A Timeline for Your Disney World Trip

This is a continuation of our Back to Basics Series. Scroll to the bottom to see our other Basics posts.

My previous article in the TouringPlans blog Back to Basics series focused on using the TouringPlans Crowd Calendar to decide when to go to Disney World. Once you’ve made that all-important decision, it’s time to start planning the details of your trip. Using a timeline is an excellent way to keep your trip planning on track. It’s also a fun way to ratchet up the excitement as you count down the days to your vacation.

This article starts with a chart showing essential milestones in a Disney World planning timeline, followed by an example of a timeline used by a family preparing for their trip. Plus, learn how TouringPlans.com subscribers can receive personalized alerts and use their own Dashboard on TouringPlans.com to ensure they don’t miss the crucial dates in their timeline.

A Disney World Trip Planning Timeline

Note that beyond these milestones, there are some other items that you may want to include in your timeline (e.g., researching the Disney Dining Plan). Or there may be other individual circumstances to consider (e.g., you’re traveling from outside the US). Our Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2016 provides a detailed timeline with additional items, an expanded explanation of all the timeline components, and recommendations for other resources to help in your planning.

A Sample Timeline: Thanksgiving 2016

Let’s say the Smiths, a family of four from Massachusetts, have decided to make their first visit to Disney World during the week of Thanksgiving 2016. There’s a break from school, the holiday decorations will be up, and it may still be warm enough during the day to swim in the resort pool. Arrival day is Wednesday, November 23, which I will call “Day 0.” Today is March 7, 2016, Day 261, and every day the Smiths count down to their arrival on Day 0. Let’s focus on the milestones associated with specific dates on their timeline.

March 7, 2016: Based on our timeline chart, the first steps for the Smith family are to create a MyDisneyExperience.com account and secure a hotel reservation. With about 9 months left to plan, the family agrees that they want to be immersed in the magic of a Disney resort, and they find plenty of availability.

May 27, 2016 (Day 180): It’s 180 days before check-in, and the Smiths have done their research on Disney restaurants and which parks they will likely visit each day. They are ready to make their dining reservations through their MyDisneyExperience.com account beginning at 6 AM Eastern time or by calling (407)-WDW-DINE starting at 7 AM. Because they are resort guests, they can make dining reservations for their entire trip on this date. Tip: The family wants to eat at Be Our Guest Restaurant and they make this hard-to-get reservation first even though they plan to eat there on the last day of their vacation.

September 24, 2016 (Day 60): At 60 days prior to arrival, with tickets linked to their MyDisneyExperience.com and a plan for must-do rides, Mom and Dad stay up late on September 23 because their FastPass+ window opens at midnight. Tip: For the days when you want to book harder to get FastPass reservations such as Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, book these days first; also, you may have more luck on a later day in your trip because fewer people have had the opportunity to book these days. And score: These strategies earn the Smiths FastPass+ reservations on Seven Dwarfs Mine Train on not just one but two days.

Also at 60 days, the family can check into their resort online, which will streamline their check-in process and may even allow them to bypass the check-in desk and go directly to their room. Unlike FastPass+, there is no rush on this task because it is available through the day of arrival, although it’s best not to wait until the last minute.

October 9, 2016 (Day 45): At 45 days, the family can go to MyDisneyExperience.com and customize the color of their Magic Bands. The bands must be customized at least 10 days prior to arrival for them to be mailed to the Smiths’ home. If the Smiths wait until between 9 and 6 days until arrival, their customized bands will be waiting for them at check-in. If their bands aren’t customized by 6 days prior to arrival, they will (sadly) receive non-customized (gray) bands at check in.

The Smiths also purchase Disney’s Memory Maker at this time even though it can be purchased up to 3 days in advance of their vacation and be ready for use upon arrival. Why wait and take the chance of forgetting this detail in the mad rush to finish packing?

November 18, 2016 (Day 5): With 5 days left until their vacation, the Smiths’ room request is faxed to their Disney resort by the TouringPlans room request fax service, one of the tools available to TouringPlans subscribers and covered below.

How TouringPlans.com and the Lines App Can Help: Dashboard, Alerts, and More

Even with a timeline, it can seem daunting to keep track of the various milestone dates for a Disney World trip as well as changes to park hours and crowd levels. TouringPlans is here to help. Subscribers can take advantage of several TouringPlans tools:

► Subscribers can keep track of all of their trip information in one place on their personal trip Dashboard. The Dashboard shows the number of days until your trip, park hours and crowd levels for the days of your trip (helpful for planning dining and FastPass+ reservations), links to the specific touring plans that you’ll use in the parks, and more. All of this personalized information from the Dashboard is also available when subscribers log onto the TouringPlans Lines app, which they will use to follow their touring plans in the parks.

► To help with those milestone dates, TouringPlans will display alerts on the website and Lines app or send e-mail reminders the day before it’s time to make dining and FastPass+ reservations. Bonus: Other alerts are sent when ticket prices may soon be increasing, new room discounts are available, and more.

► TouringPlans.com has a Hotel Room Views tool that shows the view from every room in the Disney World resorts. Based on this information, subscribers can use their Dashboard to create a room request fax that TouringPlans will fax to their resort before check-in. And they’ll receive an alert when the fax has been sent successfully.

► If you weren’t able to get a specific dining reservation (even at that 180-day mark), TouringPlans.com offers a Dining Reservation Finder that can be customized by restaurant, party size, date range, and time. When a time becomes available, you’ll receive an e-mail and/or text message alert.

Following a timeline and planning early gives you the best chance of  experiencing all your must-dos on your Disney World vacation. Even if you start planning after some of the milestone dates have passed, the timeline can be a great guide when you are flexible about times and aren’t set on experiencing the most popular restaurants or special events. In any case, using the timeline will ensure you don’t forget any important steps in your planning and are ready to have fun on your trip to Disney World. 

Additional Back to Basics Posts

• Walt Disney World First Timer’s Guide — The Minimum You Need to Know
• Using the Crowd Calendar to Decide When to Visit Disney World
• Using Touring Plans
• How to Use FastPass+
• FastPass+ Strategy
• Selecting the Right Disney World Hotel Category
• A Cost Analysis of the Disney Dining Plan
• Meeting Characters at Epcot
• Meeting Characters at Animal Kingdom