Last Minute Disney World Trip Planning
When heading to Walt Disney World, many of us start planning trips months in advance. In fact, the average Walt Disney World vacationers spend 16 to 19 weeks planning their trips, usually no less than 5 months in advance. We’d hazard a guess that most serious Disney fans plan much further in advance than that.
However, sometimes there are last minute trip opportunities, which require a different type of planning. Namely, less planning. If taking a last minute trip, you can’t fixate on the optimal time to take your trip, don’t have six months to make ADRs, you don’t have weeks to iterate on your daily schedule and touring plans, and you don’t have the time to deliberate on pricing and to wait for a deal to emerge.
This might be especially true in 2019 with the first phase of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opening in August, followed by Rise of the Resistance at a later date. You might not want to start planning a trip until the second ride is open, or until you have an idea of what crowds will be like. In which case, you could potentially be planning a November trip in early September…
When it comes to last-minute Walt Disney World planning, you just have to pounce on what you can like a Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat, and trust your instincts to make snap decisions when planning. Of course, there’s another resource you can use beyond your instincts: this blog post. Here, we’ll cover how you can take advantage of little to no planning to have a great trip. As you might find, sometimes less planning can be a bit liberating…
Let’s cover what you’ll have to get in order, what you can expect, and how you can make the most of a last minute trip.
Accommodations
This is where all of our last minute trip planning starts. Usually, it starts here because we found a great deal on accommodations (or airfare) for a certain date range and decide to book a last minute trip.
Other times, we start by looking at accommodations simply to see whether a potential trip will even be possible. Since all of our last minute trips are occasioned by desire rather than business, airfare and hotel prices are threshold inquiries for us. If we don’t like the airfare and hotel prices, we simply don’t take the trip.
Business travelers and others don’t have that luxury. Fortunately, Disney has a huge inventory of hotel rooms, many of which are often unfilled, so chances are there will at least be something available. That’s the good news. The other good news is that there are usually hotel discounts available for Disney-owned hotels.
The bad news is that every single hotel discount is for a range of dates and has a “book by” date attached to those dates. For example, if you were to plan a last minute trip on September 13 for a trip spanning September 28-30, there’s a good chance that the ‘book by’ date on your travel dates for a discount would’ve already passed.
Unfortunately, Expedia and Priceline usually can’t help you out. As we discuss in our Tips to Use Priceline Express Deals for Walt Disney World Hotels, this is an incredible way to score last-minute blind deals. If there’s no availability there for official or Disney Springs area resorts, you can always try the “normal” sides of Priceline and Expedia, too.
We prefer staying on property, so whenever we’ve been planning a last minute trip when no discounts were available, we simply stopped planning the trip. Of course, this won’t be an option for many of you. As much as we like staying on property, we have yet to find a single hotel that is “worth” Disney rack rate.
We have yet to find a single one that is worth 10% off rack rate. Determination of value here will vary from person to person, but if you are traveling at a time when no discounts are offered on Disney hotels, we strongly suggest that you look beyond Disney hotels.
By way of another example, if I search today for a hotel stay this weekend, not only would I be paying rack rate for whichever hotel I were to book, but no value resorts are even showing as available.
Even assuming I could book a value resort, I’d be looking at paying over $150 per night! This is during the cheapest season of the year. Can you imagine paying over $200 for a room in a value resort during the Christmas season?!
Airfare
Airfare fluctuates based upon market conditions. Since a seat on a flight is a perishable commodity, sometimes last minute airfare will be cheaper than airfare booked months in advance. However, this is not normally the case. Airlines are pretty good at anticipating demand, and price fares and schedule routes accordingly.
To avoid getting scorched on last minute airfare price, we recommend checking out ITA Software, which searches every airline (except Southwest) based on parameters you input. If the prices you get at first aren’t appealing, consider expanding your search to include Sanford Airport (instead of just MCO) or other airports near you besides your “home” airport. If ITA has too many options or is confusing, use Expedia’s airfare search engine for a more user-friendly search of the airlines.
If prices are still too insane, consider driving if that’s feasible.
Ground Transportation
If you’re going to be renting a car, the same services that work for booking a hotel at the last minute work for rental cars. There are also corporate codes for booking rental cars and discounts through Costco available. We don’t rent a car at Disney and most other places we go have good public transportation, so it’s rare for us to rent a car.
Our anecdotal experience has found the best last minute prices via Hotwire.com (look at their special value rates, listed first) and Costco, but your mileage may vary. If rental car prices are too expensive, just rely on Disney transportation. It can be a bit inefficient, but there are plenty of ways to get the most out of Disney transportation.
If you aren’t renting a car and are instead hoping to use Disney’s Magical Express for an on-site stay, don’t fret about those luggage tags. Call Disney’s Magical Express directly at 866-599-0951 and ask for them to be sent to you once you book your hotel. If you give Disney’s Magical Express about a week’s notice, chances are you can get your luggage tags.
We’ve had them send the tags to us via Express Mail (at no charge) in only a couple days. I wouldn’t recommend trusting them to find your bags without tags, but that’s an option, too, if you give them your baggage claim tickets. If you don’t have checked bags, there’s even less cause for concern.
You can simply walk up to the counter, have them look up your reservation, and have them print off Disney’s Magical Express passes for you. We’ve done this on numerous occasions for last minute trips, and it has never been an issue. Actually, it has proven faster than calling!
Dining
Dining is where Disney planners typically lose their cool when it comes to planning last minute trips. Many of you are probably used to making Advance Dining Reservations (ADRs) months in advance, and you’ve come to expect there to be no ADR availability a week before your trip.
Luckily, the days when many restaurants filled up months in advance is over. Options like Be Our Guest Restaurant still fill up far in advance, but even if you plan your ADRs a week in advance, most of the time you will have plenty of options. The notable exception to this is during the fall “Free Dining” promo period. Before impulsively booking a last minute “Free Dining” promotion, you definitely should check ADR availability.
As we discuss in our “Case for Sleeping on Advance Dining Reservations at Walt Disney World” post, last minute ADRs are usually no problem. In fact, when attempting to make ADRs for dinner tomorrow, I have over 60 options, which is pretty normal.
This includes some of our favorite restaurants inside and outside the parks: Tiffins, Skipper Canteen, Yachtsman Steakhouse, Jiko, and Hollywood Brown Derby all have availability! Only 12 restaurants don’t have availability, and while there are some good options on there (like California Grill and ‘Ohana) there’s nothing that doesn’t have a suitable “next best” alternative.
That is, unless you have kids who absolutely “must” eat in Cinderella Castle or with a favorite character. If that’s a deal-breaker, I can safely say you won’t be able to travel to Walt Disney World at the last minute as long as your kids are young. Everyone else should just be able to go with the flow, and pick another similar restaurant if their favorite is booked.
If ADRs are difficult to come by during your travel window, there are a few other options. You call the restaurant the day of or walk-up to the podium. This strategy is really underrated, we think. We have had a lot of success with this strategy even when there isn’t any availability online.
We’re a party of 2, so we’re more likely to have success with this than a party of 12, but it’s worth a shot for anyone to try if in a pinch. Last year, we even scored a same-day ADR for Be Our Guest Restaurant thanks to a cancellation, so it’s always worth checking. The worst they can say is “no.”
You can also eat at restaurants that don’t accept reservations: counter service restaurants! Counter service dining at Walt Disney World isn’t all burgers and hot dogs, and if you choose some of the more interesting restaurants and dishes, counter service dining can be a really fun experience, and significantly cheaper than table service dining. There’s also one table service restaurant, Beaches & Cream, that doesn’t accept ADRs.
A final option is to eat at restaurants in the out-of-the-way Disney hotels (like Old Key West, Saratoga Springs, or Animal Kingdom Lodge), Swan & Dolphin, Disney Springs, or even off-property. There are plenty of table service restaurants in the Orlando area and I highly doubt there’s any night of the year when all of them are completely booked.
Basically, doing a last minute trip from the perspective of dining just requires altering your expectations. There’s a good chance you won’t get into all of your favorite options, but there likely will be great alternatives. Give those a try instead!
Tickets
Walt Disney World has a ton of ticket options, and there are a variety of ways to save money on last minute tickets. What’s the right course of action for you really depends upon how long you’re visiting, whether you want to park hop, etc.
Simply knowing about the different options so you don’t purchase unnecessary add-ons and buying from the discount sellers with the best price on particular tickets can save you a lot of money, and significantly cut down on the cost of your park tickets. It’s pretty easy to do, especially since many guests (especially those families with small children) don’t truly need Park Hopper or other add-ons.
In our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post, we discuss which add-ons you should and should not get, how many days you might want tickets, and also compare prices (nothing beats that 7-day ticket, though).
Daily Itinerary
Some people chart out their entire Walt Disney World trips, spending months preparing the perfect spreadsheet to maximize their fun. Some people enjoy that, and there’s nothing wrong with having fun planning.
However, most last minute trips don’t allow this level of granular spread-sheet work. You can still have a strong 1-day itinerary for whichever park you’re visiting and do some advance planning, it’s just difficult to do high amounts of advance planning. Serious last minute advance planning will likely lead to stress.
I know it’s easier said than done, but our recommendation for daily itineraries for last minute trips is to simply “wing it.” Check out a crowd calendar if you want and make your ADRs based upon that, but otherwise, just go with the flow. Obviously, this isn’t for everyone, and some people hate the inefficiency it entails.
If you’re one of those people, you might want to give serious thought to whether a last minute trip is even “worth it” for you. If trying to get things squared away at the last minute and going to Walt Disney World without much of a plan is going to cause you anxiety, why even bother? Last minute traveling isn’t for everyone, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
We have found that this type of traveling is for us, and the level of planning we now do before trips (even those we do schedule a reasonable amount of time in advance) is next to none. We usually figure out where we’ll end our day based upon park closing time, as we always end our day at the park open latest.
Then, we book an ADR for a restaurant in that park or in a hotel near that park. Everything else is done on a whim. We aren’t overly concerned with the number of attractions we do in a given day, so we generally don’t worry about crowd levels in the parks.
We arrive early and use FastPass+ to avoid crowds, and those two things are usually sufficient for us to accomplish what we want. If there’s something that has a long line and no FastPass+ are available for it, we just skip it. Obviously, this strategy is not for everyone. We would have thought it unfathomable only a few years ago, but as we now visit Walt Disney World more often, the desire to “see it all” in a single trip has dissipated.
Beyond that, there’s not really much you need to know when planning a last minute trip. Last minute trips can be a lot of fun, and even if you typically start planning trips 18 months in advance, you can have a great time on a trip planned 18 days in advance (or less)! It’s all about your expectations and your willingness to go with the flow. Disney trips don’t require months of advance planning, and most last minute planning is actually pretty similar to early planning!
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
Do you agree or disagree with our advice for planning a last minute trip to Walt Disney World? Any hacks you use to save money on trips with little planning or advance notice? Any other recommendations? Any questions? Hearing your feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts or questions below in the comments!
These are great tips! I hate being sick but if I have to be ill it’s fun to do it on holiday in some ways, so long as you’re not so sick you can’t go do things.Tenerife In September
In a couple of weeks’ time I’m going to Crete, and after that probably back to California. Next year Malta, Cyprus, and Turkey are on my list. Who knows after that? But a Caribbean Cruise is looking attractive.
“Disney World” – my ever lovely place. Great to read. This post made my day happy! Thanks.
I just booked a last minute. I never mind winging it. And, thanks as always for being so responsive to all of us.
I missed the early deadline to make ADRs because we aren’t staying on property this next trip. It wasn’t even close to early and I still got to choose from Beast Castle lunch or Cinderella’s Castle for lunch with multiple times avail. I chose Beast’s Castle because though I had been there before, I knew my companions would not want to pay CInderella castle prices and the BOG kids menus are great for adults. The last time I ate at Be Our Guest, I got the reservation three weeks before we left for a last minute trip. Frozen was the only fast pass not available three weeks prior to the trip, as well. It can be done!
I agree with you about Cinderella’s castle. I would only want to do that experience for dinner due to price. That being said, we did love the dinner we had there. Food was amazing and my daughter loved meeting all the princesses. I loved that they had interactions based on their stories with her. Made it more exciting.
The Suite in Best Western The Stuart Hotel offers a mix of meeting rooms and event room with its own separate entrance, bar and dedicated facilities that are perfect for small or large business or social gatherings, weddings and functions.
If I were able to schedule a last minute trip to WDW, the first place I would look to save is by renting DVC points through a third party. For our trip this past May, I started planning in April. Many of the DVC resale websites had discounted points, down to $10 a point. You might be limited to Saratoga Springs, but at $130 / $170 (week night / weekend), price beats everything! Had any suites been available, I would have jumped at this offer, but not a single suite on Disney property was available! This left me with $230 a night at Port Orleans French Quarter. It didn’t disappoint, but if given the option, I would take cheaper SSR over more expensive POFQ every time.
I booked a trip Tuesday, and drove down the next morning. 9 hour drive.
Got there at 530 pm, had two day hoppers, used Disney transportation even though I had a car there.
Had a great time. Stopped at a grocery store, snacks, breakfast items, only ate one meal at ABC commissary. Spent less than 60 bucks on (Disney) food for the entire trip. About 80 on gas.
Talk about last minute. Booked at 1230 pm Tuesday arrived 29 hours later. WE HAD A BLAST, stayed at AoA
Hey Tom – Headed to Disney for trip # two as a family (5 of of us in total) and my mom “surprised” us by booking a flight in when she heard the cabin sleeps 6! oh yay . . .
Wanting to take advantage of my mom being there to stay with the kids . . . I am thinking about going all Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat and trying to book my husband and I one night at the Grand Floridian – my dream hotel we can never, ever afford – while we are there. We are booked for the cabin for ten days.
I’m not sure if I fully comprehend what your advice is on these last minute hotel rooms – but here I go in trying to summarize . . . ii is hopeless to get a last minute room on property because Disney simply doesn’t bother to offer discounts in the interest of filling rooms – right? Should I even try calling the hotel the day before? Is there any hope?
BTW – I do hope you have not copy written the term “Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat”, because I have now taken to describing each my three kids in this way at some point every day and plan to continue to use it with complete abandon. 🙂
Long time reader, but not generally a commenter…however since no one else has I must give you a hi-five for the Calvin & Hobbes reference. ✋ And since I’m commenting, I’ll add that I love your blog. You guys “get it”…that thing that only Disnerds get. That it’s about the magic of the details and the atmosphere, rather than how many rides you can cram in one day. Anyway, much love and appreciation to you guys.
My boyfriend and I seem to love going on spontaneous trips that’s only planned 2 to 3 months prior. We did that with our Vegas, San Francisco, Yellowstone, and Hawaii trip. And we love it!
We just decided in mid January to look into going to WDW as it has always been my dream to visit WDW. We are very much like how you plan your trip, we don’t like to strapped down by reservations and limitations. You blog really helped us to relax more now that we know we can make last minute reservations at disney restaurants. I was stressing about having to make dinner reservations earlier but not anymore!! Thanks for your awesome information!