2021 Disney World Planning Guide

Our Walt Disney World vacation planning guide offers tips, tricks & info on how to save money & time, avoid crowds, where to eat, best rides, and itineraries for Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Animal Kingdom & Hollywood Studios. It’s a great resource whether you’re a first-timer or Annual Passholder, written by Florida locals who visit the parks weekly. (Updated May 2, 2021.)

As you’re likely aware, Walt Disney World’s theme parks are open again after being closed for a portion of last year. This is a phased reopening, meaning that it remains a work in progress with several hotels, restaurants, entertainment, FastPass+, the Disney Dining Plan, and more yet to return. Suffice to say, a lot is still different right now. So much, in fact, that much of this Walt Disney World planning guide is inaccurate right now. If you’re traveling now through Summer 2021, consult our “Temporary Abnormal” Guide to Walt Disney World.

With that said, Walt Disney World is in the process of returning to its previous policies and practices. That’s going to be a gradual process, with significant progress made between now and October 1, 2021. Park Hopping is back, as are some shows, more resorts reopen every month, and health safety protocol continues to be relaxed. We are visit regularly and monitor closely for changes–if you want notification as things continue to evolve and return to normal (or when discounts are released, breaking news happens, etc.), sign up to receive our FREE Walt Disney World Email Newsletter.

If you’re planning a trip to Walt Disney World between now and around late Summer 2021, this planning guide will contain a lot of near-term inaccuracies as Walt Disney World has suspended, cancelled, or temporarily changed a lot. However, if you’re visiting in Fall 2021, Halloween, Christmas, or 2022, the info and advice here should be pretty close to accurate.

Of course, no one knows what the future holds. There is so much uncertainty right now, to the point that it’s difficult to predict what next month will look like, let alone October 2021. Things could be mostly normal by the Fourth of July…or not be back to normal until early 2022. We think the former is more likely than the latter, but a lot still remains to be seen.

Right now, Walt Disney World is preparing for its 50th Anniversary, and recently shared the first sneak peak of “The World’s Most Magical Celebration!” This will include new projection mapping, character costumes, Cinderella Castle overlay, and much more. Our Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary Preview covers what’s been announced thus far, including dates, duration, and decorations.

Internally, that’s the target date for resuming as much normalcy as possible. That doesn’t mean it’s going to be like flipping a switch at the beginning of the celebration–we expect some things to gradually change over the summer and others to linger into the holiday season. Walt Disney World will aim to roll things back to normal as soon as possible, ideally before then. If you’re looking for everything exciting that’s on the horizon, consult our What’s New & Coming to Walt Disney World in 2021 & 2022.

With those caveats out of the way, let’s tell you about ourselves and why this guide is useful to your trip planning. We are obviously big Disney fans, but with this guide, we share our objective and unbiased tips. This covers the good and the bad, and the hard realities of planning Walt Disney World trip. We don’t sugarcoat everything or feel the need to put a positive spin on things. A lot about Disney is great, but that’s plenty that’s overpriced and not-so-great. If blunt, honest advice is not for you, there are many other sites that are all-positive.

With hundreds of trips dating back to the 1980s when we were kids, we’ve learned a lot about all things Disney. We’re now Florida residents who live close enough to hear the fireworks at night (well, before all of this), and we visit multiple times per week to see what has changed, taste-test new menu items, analyze crowds, offer recommendations for things you should do on vacation, share updates on construction, and much more.

This guide distills the key things we know about Walt Disney World into something easy to absorb and less overwhelming. Think of this planning guide as WDW101, with everything organized into the most important aspects of planning. The reality is that Walt Disney World is one of the most complicated vacation destinations on earth, and having a smooth and good trip requires doing your homework. With that said, we promise that taking the time to learn about Walt Disney World will be worth it, so let’s get started…

1. When to Visit

This is often the first question readers ask, and it’s not an easy one to answer. Right now in particular, many readers are asking whether to visit soon or wait. That’s something we thoroughly address in “Now v. Normal? Walt Disney World in 2021 v. 2022.” 

If you’re primarily concerned about wait times, we’d highly recommend consulting our 2021 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendars: When to Visit & Avoid. That takes into account Orlando area school schedules, conventions, youth sporting events, park hours, special events, and so much more to provide you with specific dates that are the least and most crowded.

While that’s all about crowds (and can be overwhelming), we also have something more holistic: our Best and Worst Months to Visit Walt Disney World. That ranks every month of the year, and recommends the 3 very best weeks of the year to visit.

Rather than our objective crowd calendars, those are our subjective picks for when to visit. In addition to wait times, those rankings take other things into account: seasonal offerings like Christmas & Halloween, weather, new attractions, and more. If you find the crowd calendars intimidating, go with the Best & Worst Months post instead.

If you’ve determined what year you want to head to Walt Disney World, the next, related question is what time of year. The first thing to consider is discounts. The most popular of these is the 2021 Free Disney Dining Plan at Walt Disney World promotion.

Unfortunately, that isn’t currently being offered due to the suspension of the Disney Dining Plan, which is the incredibly popular and money-saving meal plan. One of the most common questions among Walt Disney World vacation planners right now is When Will the Disney Dining Plan Return? That post covers our thoughts and predictions on when that’ll be back!

If you want to save even more money and do WDW as cheaply as possible, we have the 10 Best Tips to Save Money at Walt Disney World. Those tips cover a lot of excellent ideas, such as buying discount Disney gift cards or having Groceries Delivered to Your Walt Disney World Hotel Room.

Those are just a handful of ways to save a ton of money on a trip to WDW! It also covers several options for the biggest expense of your trip–lodging. Among other things, you can stay at Walt Disney World’s best resorts for a fraction of full price by renting DVC points or use ‘blind booking’ sites to score last minute deals.

If you’re thinking of a November or December vacation, start by reading our Ultimate Guide to Christmas at Walt Disney World. There’s soooo much happening during the holidays that it’s simply too much to list here. Every park, resort, and Disney Springs gets into the spirit of the season. Our favorite thing is the Magic Kingdom’s special event–read about it in our 2021 Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party Review & Tips.

From late August until the end of October, you have special events in Epcot and Magic Kingdom, plus Halloween decorations. Read our Guide to the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival to prepare for that park’s colossal celebration or our 2021 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party Review & Tips for thoughts on that. The downside to these months, particularly August and September, is weather. (The upside is low crowds!)

This just scratches the surface. You can see everything that happens throughout the year in our Calendar of Seasonal Events at Walt Disney World. Finally, before solidifying your travel dates, you’ll also want to check out our 2021 Walt Disney World Refurbishment Calendar to make sure any must-do attractions won’t be closed for renovations during your visit.

2. How Long to Visit

How long you should stay at Walt Disney World depends largely upon the type of trip it is. If you’re not much of a Disney fan but are taking your kids on a “once in a lifetime” rite of passage trip, we recommend a Walt Disney World vacation of at least 6 or 7 days. The exact length will still vary a bit depending upon how much vacation time you have and if you plan on visiting non-Disney theme parks or destinations.

In addition to visiting Disney’s theme parks, you’ll also probably want to build a day into your itinerary for relaxation, and this is good to plug into the middle of your trip so you don’t get worn out by the theme parks. The other consideration for planning trips to Walt Disney World might be how much time to spend doing other things.

You might want to do Orlando-area theme parks like Universal, SeaWorld, or Busch Gardens. Maybe you want to visit the beach, outlet malls, or other points of interest. If you’re looking for other things to do, check out our 50 Things to Do in Orlando, Florida (Outside Disney’s Parks).

We recommend at least a couple of days at Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure. Use our Universal Orlando Resort Trip Planning Guide for strategy. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (Diagon Alley area in Universal Studios Florida and Hogsmeade in Islands of Adventure) is absolutely mind-blowing, even if you’re not a Harry Potter fan. We also have a post titled Walt Disney World v. Universal Orlando that covers a lot of the pros and cons of visiting Universal.

3. Park Tickets

We recommend buying your tickets from an authorized third party ticket seller to save money. Read our Tips for Buying Discount Walt Disney World Tickets post for everything you need to know about choosing the right tickets and saving money on them. Normally, prices increase in February and/or October; that didn’t happen last month but likely will before the start of Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary. Buy now to lock-in current prices no matter when you’re visiting in 2021.

If all you want to know is where to safely buy the cheapest, legitimate Walt Disney World multi-day tickets from an authorized reseller click here to buy via Get Away Today, our recommended & Disney-authorized ticket seller. You can save an extra $5 per ticket with discount code DTB5 at check-out. In total, that’s up to $79 off multi-day tickets with their deals and that coupon.

Disney’s mantra is “the longer you play, the less you pay per day.” It’s corny but true. Single-day Walt Disney World tickets are expensive, but multi-day tickets are much cheaper per day. The cost of additional days on a ticket substantially decreases with each day you add after 3 days. In other words, longer trips are not proportionately more expensive than shorter ones.

This is just one of the many tips we cover in our post about saving money on Walt Disney World park tickets. Whatever you do, don’t wait to buy your tickets at the front gates of the parks or on eBay…they won’t work!

4. Where to Stay

One of the very best posts on this blog is our Walt Disney World Hotel Reviews page. We have stayed at every Disney hotel, plus many off-site ones. That page offers links to each of our hotel reviews, room photos, thoughts on the amenities, pros & cons, and more.

All of our hotel reviews are regularly updated, so what you see in those is how the rooms actually look now, not a decade ago. With that said, there’s some construction also happening at the hotels that isn’t covered in our reviews. Our list of Construction & Refurbishments at Walt Disney World Hotels covers where to avoid, and how these projects could impact your trip.

When pricing out Walt Disney World hotels, you’re bound to have some sticker shock. Prices have gone up considerably in the last few years, and discounts are not nearly as abundant as they once were. If your budget is tight but you still want on-site luxury, consider getting a quote from Disney Vacation Club point rental company (click here to book with the cheapest point DVC rental company).

For more info about renting points, you might want to read our Guide to Renting Disney Vacation Club Points article. This is a great way to save money on nicer accommodations than you otherwise might be able to afford.

Debating whether to stay off-site to save money or on-site at Walt Disney World for convenience and to be immersed in the magic? We have an Off-Site v. On-Site Walt Disney World Hotels article that goes into great depth about the pros and cons of both options.

One option if you want to save money by staying off-site but want larger accommodations than a standard hotel is Airbnb or a vacation home rental. We’ve used Airbnb a ton, and absolutely love it. If you’re unfamiliar or uncomfortable with the service, we have a post covering Tips for Using Airbnb at Disney to put you at ease!

If you’re going to stay on-site at Walt Disney World, the three main tiers are Value, Moderate, and Deluxe, which are exactly what their names sound like they are. There’s also a Deluxe Villa tier, which is basically Disney-speak for “timeshare room.” Looking for the best hotel in each tier? Check out the following posts ranking the various Disney hotels:

• • Value Resort Hotel Rankings
  • Moderate Resort Hotel Rankings
  • Deluxe Resort Hotel Rankings
  • Deluxe Villa (Disney Vacation Club) Resort Rankings

Beyond the location and transportation, the two main perks of staying on-site are the FastPass+ booking window and Extra Magic Hours…both of which are temporarily suspended, likely through Fall 2021. Read our Guide to FastPass+ at Walt Disney World to fully understand the system, and how to best take advantage of it.

Headliner attractions can have 2+ hour waits depending upon the time of year, so by being able to make these FastPass+ ride reservations can be the difference between waiting an extra 4-6 hours in line per day, or not. This is also why we highly recommend buying park tickets in advance of your visit. You can still make FastPass+ reservations on the day you arrive at Walt Disney World, but you’ll be picking from leftovers that no one else really wants, so to speak.

5. Booking Vacation Packages

The most popular direct-from Disney vacations booked via DisneyWorld.com cover some combination of hotel, park tickets, and dining. Sometimes these packages offer excellent savings off rack rates, sometimes they’re merely full price elements of the trip bundled together. If you’re looking further into the future, 2022 Walt Disney World Vacation Packages Are Now Available–with Big Exceptions!

The best way to find the right vacation package for you is by using a travel agent. If you go this route, look for one who primarily or exclusively does Disney-related bookings. As you can probably gather already, Walt Disney World is fairly complex, and if a travel agent doesn’t specialize in Disney, they probably won’t know the many nuances of Walt Disney World vacations (for this reason, we don’t recommend AAA or Costco, even though some of their agents have Disney knowledge).

Most travel agents specializing in Disney are “no fee” agencies, meaning that it costs you no more to book through them than it does to book through Disney (they get commission from Disney). If you are unsure of which package might be best for you–or need personalized help with any aspect of your trip–we recommend contacting a no fee “Authorized Disney Vacation Planner” (here’s why we recommend one) to get a quote and to help you plan. Request a quote from our recommended Authorized Disney Vacation Planner here.

6. What to Pack

It might sound hard to believe, but packing for Walt Disney World offers ways to save money and improve your experience. There are some wrinkles to Walt Disney World that make packing a bit different, and by bringing certain “clever” (we think) items in your luggage, you will improve your experience. We go over the best stuff in our Walt Disney World Unique Packing List.

Two of our favorite examples from that list are Frogg Toggs Chilly Pads and this Compact External Charger. Seriously, you’ll wonder how you ever travelled without these (and many other) items on our list! Additionally, if you’re going in the colder months, check out our Packing for Disney in Winter post. For summer months, read Tips for Beating the Summer Heat at Disney.

In addition to those things, you might also want to bring some pins for Disney Pin Trading. Read this article to find out how to buy Disney Pin Trading pins in advance for less than $1/pin (versus $10+/pin at Walt Disney World). If you’re a female looking for cute outfits to wear to Walt Disney World, my wife has a post covering What to Wear to Disney.

Since a Walt Disney World trip will be (for many of you) a memorable experience for your kids that you’ll want to cherish, getting good photos is also important. If you are contemplating letting Disney’s roaming photographers around the parks take photos for you, read our Memory Maker & PhotoPass Review.

7. Itineraries & Attraction Advice

Having an itinerary is a big deal, even for some frequent Walt Disney World guests. Some visitors create binders, spreadsheets, and schedule every step of their day. People get serious and obsessive about this. We are not those people. Planning is important, but going to those lengths is unnecessarily stressful and creates unrealistic and rigid plans. The best laid plans often go awry, and when that inevitably happens, it can be disappointing if you’ve over-planned.

With that said, we also recommend first-time visitors do not “wing it” for your daily itinerary. You don’t need to plan every movement so that there’s no spontaneity in your trip, just make sure you have at least a loose plan of what you’re going to do. As with most things in life, balance and moderation are key.

We have the following flexible step by step plans for each park that cover our perfect days:

• 1-Day Magic Kingdom Park Itinerary
• 2-Day Magic Kingdom Park Itinerary
• 1-Day Epcot Itinerary Park Itinerary
• 1-Day Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park Itinerary
• 1-Day Disney’s Hollywood Studios Park Itinerary
• 1-Day “No Parks” Itinerary

Additionally, we have itineraries for Universal Orlando offering the same type of step by step advice:

• 1-Day Universal Studios Florida Itinerary
• 1-Day Islands of Adventure Itinerary
• 1-Day Universal Park Hopping Itinerary (both Islands of Adventure & Universal Studios Florida)

We update these itineraries approximately every other month, with the latest updates for spring break and Summer 2021 updates coming very soon (dramatic changes are highly unlikely–spring and summer strategy are pretty similar). All have been essentially re-written since the theme parks reopened, as so much has changed during that time.

If you’d prefer to create your own itinerary, we recommend reading our Disney Parks Ride Guides and getting a rough idea of which attractions you want to do:

• Magic Kingdom Park & Attraction Guide
• Epcot Park & Attraction Guide
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios Park & Attraction Guide
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park & Attraction Guide

We also have guides for the Walt Disney World water parks and Disney Springs:

• Blizzard Beach Water Park Guide
• Typhoon Lagoon Water Park Guide
• Disney Springs Shopping & Entertainment District Guide

These are enough for a loose and helpful plan that will still allow for plenty of spontaneity. Aside from having a good itinerary, the most important things to know are: 1) which attractions have height restrictions (if you have children); 2) how to use FastPass+, which is a free ride-reservation system allowing you to “reserve” a slot in advance for three attractions per day to skip most of the line at select attractions; 3) arrive at the parks just before they open.

Forming your own strategy and using FastPass+ to its fullest is difficult and confusing. Since you can book your FastPass+ reservations 60 days before your trip (if you already have your tickets and are staying on-site), we highly recommend buying your tickets before you get to Walt Disney World. You don’t want to waste time at kiosks when you arrive, only to find out popular attractions like Slinky Dog Dash and Frozen Ever After are fully booked.

For other parks and itineraries, check out our Disney Parks Daily Itineraries page. You can use these to have what we would consider a perfect day in each of the Walt Disney World parks. We think these are good, flexible itineraries that offers attractions, dining, and other things to enjoy without going crazy with mapping out every bathroom stop of your day.

8. Where to Eat

A lot of the posts on this blog detail dining at Walt Disney World, which is a surprisingly complex (and fun!) topic. The most important thing for first-timers to know is that the tired stereotype that Disney dining is all burgers, hot dogs, and other fast food is not even remotely true. Disney has a lot of wonderful dining options that can be an experience in themselves.

To figure out where to eat, consult our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews page. That page has reviews of 75+ restaurants at Walt Disney World, plus other resources like our Magic Kingdom Counter Service Restaurant Rankings, and lots of other specific topics. Another great post with random quick-tips is our 101 Walt Disney World Dining Tips post.

Good dining experiences can make a trip, so if you only read more on one topic in this guide, make it dining. We know a number of people who have had their opinions of Walt Disney World changed for the better simply because they “discovered” the right places to eat.

Once you start salivating over all of the places to eat, you need to consider whether you should add-on the Disney Dining Plan. Whether to buy the Disney Dining Plan is one of the biggest questions most first-time guests face, so you really should read our Disney Dining Plan Pros & Cons post to determine if it’s right for you. It’s definitely not right for everyone, so don’t just assume it’s going to save you money–do the math.

If you’re starting the planning process far in advance, you might want to subscribe to our free newsletter for updates. We provide subscribers with news from the parks, and have given a heads up on Free Dining and ticket price increases before they have been officially announced. This makes the newsletter especially handy for scoring discounts and being in the know as to what’s going on before your trip.

It’s also worth noting that if you’re trying to do “Disney on a Dime,” one of the easiest ways to save money is to not eat at Walt Disney World restaurants. Dining at Disney is expensive, and unlike park tickets, it’s not mandatory. You can save a lot of money by eating off-site, or better yet, getting groceries and preparing your own meals. We have a comprehensive Tips for Buying Groceries at Walt Disney World post that covers grocery delivery, local stores, and much more.

Even if you don’t want to make your own meals, grocery delivery is great for getting fruit and other small grab and go snacks, both of which are really over-priced at Walt Disney World. It’s also excellent for beer–for less than the cost of a single beer in the parks, you can have a 6-pack delivered to your hotel room! We recommend Garden Grocer for delivery–they can deliver to every Walt Disney World resort hotel.

9. Transportation

Walt Disney World transportation can be hit or miss, and can take a lot of time. For the most efficient transit options, read our Time-Saving Walt Disney World Transportation Tips post. This covers shortcuts, when to use buses v. monorail v. boats v. your feet, and more!

One of the other big considerations is whether you want to stay at a Walt Disney World hotel that offers a unique form of transportation, such as the monorails to Magic Kingdom or Epcot, or the boats, walking paths, or Skyliner to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot. These can be a huge time-saver.

If you don’t stay at one of these resorts, you should consider renting a car. Check out our Tips for Renting a Car at Walt Disney World post for pros & cons, money-saving tips, and more. Walt Disney World provides complimentary transportation to the parks and even to and from the airport. We cover how to use this free service in our Disney’s Magical Express post–note that Disney’s Magical Express is ending in 2022.

An alternative to a rental car is Lyft (or the Minnie Van service powered by Lyft) or Uber. For the basics on using these ride-sharing services, read our Tips for Using Lyft or Uber at Walt Disney World post. This post also shares the easiest way to get to Universal Orlando Resort (in case you want to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, too)

10. What Else to Do

Your imagination is really the limit here. Most first-time visitors only know about the theme parks, Disney Springs, and the water parks. That’s just the surface of what Walt Disney World has to offer. There are tours, golf, fishing, nightlife, shopping, fireworks cruises, babysitting, spas, and much more. An exhaustive list would ultimately be longer than the rest of this already long blog post!

Most of our favorite things are couples or adult-oriented, which you can read about on our Walt Disney World for Adults page. Honeymooners (aka “Disneymooners”) should read our Walt Disney World Honeymoon Tips article. Here are some other posts that cover “other stuff” at Walt Disney World, and other ways to improve your vacation, that don’t really fit the categories above:

• Free Things to Do at Walt Disney World
• Tips for Celebrating at Walt Disney World
• First-Timer Tips for Walt Disney World
• Best ‘Happily Ever After’ (Magic Kingdom Fireworks) Viewing Spots

If all of this is really overwhelming, we recommend contacting an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner and letting them do the work for you. This is Disney’s term for their affiliated travel agents, and the huge upside to them is that they don’t charge for their services–Disney pays them directly at no cost to you! Click here to get a vacation quote from our recommended no fee Authorized Disney Vacation Planner.

Remember, what’s in this post is just a starting point. To recap, you’ll also want to read our When to Visit Walt Disney World post for the best time of year to plan your trip. If saving money is important, read Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post to buy the cheapest tickets from legitimate sources. To figure out where to stay, our Walt Disney World Hotel Reviews page is a great resource. Want to know where to eat or if the Disney Dining Plan is right for you? Our Walt Disney World Dining Resources will help!

These are just a few of many posts mentioned in this article that will provide the foundation for your planning…but these 4 other posts are probably the most important of the bunch! If you enjoyed this Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide, please help us out by sharing it with your friends via social media. We put a lot of ongoing work into this, and hope it’s as helpful as possible to as many trip planners as possible. Thank you so much for your support–we really appreciate it!

Your Thoughts

Are you visiting Walt Disney World in 2021? If you are a Walt Disney World veteran, what tips would you add to this? If you’re a first-timer, is there anything else you’d like to know? Are you excited to experience the parks upon reopening or will you wait for Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary in 2021 before visiting? We love hearing from readers, whether it be questions from newbies or tips from seasoned Disney pros with tips of their own to add!