If you’re new to planning a Disney World trip, you might think you can treat it like any other trip.

The thing is, you’d be wrong. A Disney World trip requires some advance planning, especially for things that you wouldn’t even think of when visiting other places in the world. Now, we do our best to make sure you have all the latest tips, tricks, and resources to plan the BEST Disney World trip you can, but if you don’t do the planning ahead of time, you’re going to miss out.

You’ll pay too much

Disney World is not an inexpensive vacation, but you can make your money go further with a little advance planning. You’ll want to start looking for discounts and deals WAY ahead of when you plan on visiting the parks so you can get the best price available. Otherwise, you might end up paying more for your trip than you need to.

We keep a running list of every Disney World deal and discount RIGHT HERE so you don’t miss out on anything. However, if you’re feeling like you need help with doing Disney World on your budget, you might want to use a travel agent like our friends over at Small World Vacations — they know all the best deals and can help you get the best one. Plus, it’s FREE.

You’ll end up at the wrong hotel

Okay, so there really isn’t a WRONG hotel in Disney World, but if you don’t research hotels in advance, you could end up staying somewhere that isn’t ideal for you and your group. For example, if you’re not driving, you’ll be relying on Disney World’s transportation system, which can be confusing if you’re not familiar with it.

Likewise, if you plan on spending a lot of time in Magic Kingdom, you probably don’t want to be staying all the way out at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge (because it’s one of the furthest hotels from Magic Kingdom). You’ll also want to make sure you get a hotel that has everything you require: For example, many value hotels don’t have hot tubs. If you need larger rooms or rooms for larger groups, you’ll want to research those, too.

You’ll be overwhelmed

There is a lot to see and do in Disney World. Trust us — we visit the parks every day and come across something new almost every day. It’s impossible to see and do it all, and if you don’t prioritize what you want to see and do, you’re going to get to Disney World and immediately feel overwhelmed. It is A LOT.

You’ll want to read up on everything you’ll find in Disney World and then make a list ahead of time so you don’t miss out on those things that are most important to you. Otherwise, you’ll be flying blind and stumbling over your own feet in the parks and still feel like you’re not doing ANYTHING at all. Be sure to search our site for tips and tricks on how to maximize your days in the park and subscribe to our YouTube channel for even MORE resources to help you plan out your days.

You won’t get to ride the rides you want to

Likewise, if you don’t plan out what rides are your priorities in advance, you’re going to end up not getting to ride them. You’ll want to make sure you’re up to date on general wait times for rides (you can get a look at those on the My Disney Experience app). You’ll also want to think about buying Lightning Lane Multi Pass and/or Lightning Lane Single Pass ahead of your trip so you can pre-book Lightning Lanes for your priority rides.

Otherwise, you’re going to end up finding yourself standing in long lines for rides, meaning you’ll be wasting a lot of time when you could be riding other rides. Planning is KEY in getting to those rides that you want to experience.

You’ll miss out on entertainment

If you want to enjoy some shows, parades, or nighttime entertainment in Disney World, you need to figure out when that entertainment is happening. You’ll want to check the calendar AHEAD of your trip because for a lot of entertainment, you’ll want to be grabbing a spot to view a parade or nighttime fireworks before that entertainment begins. 

You’ll also need to plan your day around those showtimes, so you’ll need to know those in advance well before you arrive in the park so you don’t end up missing out.

You won’t be able to get into table service restaurants

It happens every day. We’ll be checking into a restaurant that we’ve made a reservation for and we’ll see a visitor complaining that they can’t just walk into that restaurant and grab a table. Nope…Disney World table service restaurants are VERY popular and you generally need to make advance dining reservations WAY in advance (60 days before the first day of your trip).

Now, you MAY be able to get into a restaurant with the Mobile Dine Walk-Up Waitlist feature on the My Disney Experience app, but there’s no guarantee tables will be available through that or that those extra tables won’t go fast. Make those reservations EARLY — here’s how.

You’ll miss out on characters

Not every character meets in every park. You’ll need to research ahead of time which characters meet where, especially if there are some you absolutely have to meet. You’ll also need to check those hours for the character meet and greets because many end earlier in the day than you might expect.

If you have some characters you absolutely CANNOT miss out on, you might want to consider booking a character dining experience, but as we mentioned above, you’ll want to book that well in advance.

You’ll spend a lot of time trying to figure out the tech

We hope you know your mobile phone really well because you’re going to spend a lot of time on it during your time in Disney World. Most specifically, you’ll be using the My Disney Experience app for a LOT of things, including scanning into the park, unlocking your hotel room door, checking into your hotel, using Mobile Check-out for food, checking into dining reservations, and more. If you haven’t looked at the app before your trip, you are going to be LOST.

Before you ever set foot in Disney World, download the app from either the Google Play Store or Apple’s App Store and start playing with it now. Learn the ins and outs of it and learn what all it can do and what you’ll be using it for. Learn how it works with MagicBands, too, if you plan on using those in the park. You need to study that app likes it homework for a hard test you need to pass.

Like we said, there’s a lot that you need to do before you ever step foot in Disney World if you’re going on a vacation there. Trust us…the planning is ESSENTIAL…and hey, it can also be a lot of fun. If you’re looking for more details on how to plan your Disney World trip, here’s our ULTIMATE guide on Disney World trip planning.

Stay tuned to DFB for more.

Are you planning a Disney World trip? What have you found the most complicated or confusing so far? Let us know in the comments!