Instructions for Your First Visit to Walt Disney World

By Dave Shute

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INSTRUCTIONS FOR YOUR FIRST DISNEY WORLD VISIT

Follow the instructions that follow for your first family visit to Walt Disney World to save thousands of dollars, and avoid dozens of hours waiting in line, while seeing all the best of Walt Disney World!

1. When to Go to Walt Disney World:

Most years, I suggest that if you can, you should arrive at Walt Disney World one of the first two, sometimes three, Saturdays after Thanksgiving. In 2026, I recommend the first three weeks after Thanksgiving. More… Next best dates to go…

2. How Long to Stay:

You can have a wonderful trip spending as few as 5 days. However, if you can, be in Orlando for 9 days–a Saturday through a Sunday. More… Going for a shorter trip…

3. How Old/Tall Your Children Should be:

Kids of any age can have a wonderful time at Disney World. However, if this may be your kids’ only childhood visit, consider going when your youngest child is at least 8 or 9, and your shortest child at least 48 inches tall. More… Planning for going with younger/shorter kids…

4. Where to Stay at Walt Disney World:

Stay at Disney’s Polynesian Resort if you can afford it, or at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort if you can’t. More… Next best resort options…

5. How Much to Budget:

You can have a wonderful first visit for $3,000 or less. However, to see all the best of Walt Disney World at the best time of the year to visit, budget if you can $14,000 if you are staying at the Polynesian, or $9,500 if at Art of Animation. More… Developing a much lower or a different budget…

6. When Your Plans Need to be Firm:

Your plans should be firm at least 181 days before your arrival date. More… Planning if it’s already later than that…

7. How to Eat at Walt Disney World:

8. Where to Eat:

The Basic Itinerary tells you exactly where to eat (as do the Other Itineraries). More… Next best dining choices…

9. How to Spend Your Time at Walt Disney World:

The Basic Itinerary tells you exactly how to spend your time in Orlando (as do the Other Itineraries). More… Other Itineraries…

10. What to do When:

See the To-Do List for an exact list of what to do when to prepare for your trip. More… To-Do Lists for Other Itineraries…

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1,261 comments

1 Larry { 01.03.16 at 9:45 pm }: Dave, On our visit, it will be me(40), my wife(41), son1(9), son2(4) and mother-in-law(72).
2 Dave { 01.05.16 at 8:05 am }: Larry it is challenging to design a trip for kids of such different ages. Chapter 2 of our book presents some approaches. You want to target to MK days, and a day each at the other three parks. Because of FastPass+ you can be very successful on arrival and departure days too.
2/5 avoid MK and HS
2/6 avoid MK and AK
2/7 avoid HS
2/8 avoid AK and MK
2/9 avoid Epcot
2/10 avoid MK
You’ll note only two good MK days here–the 7th and 9th–so pick those for that park and fill in around them
3 Marianne { 01.13.16 at 9:32 pm }: Planning to visit with my 4 yr old twins and 5 adults early March 2017. Will need 2 hopefully adjoining rooms in a moderate priced resort. Any suggestions on which one is most convenient as far as frequency of transportation to the parks? Hoping to travel 2/26/17-3/5/17 but dates are flexible around the weekend of 3/4 and 3/5. Travel could being on either end. Any suggestions?
4 Dave { 01.14.16 at 7:28 am }: Marianne, there’s no real difference in transportation frequency among the moderates. For Magic-Kingdom focused trips–which with little kids is typical–Port Orleans French Quarter has the fewest internal bus stops, making it the most productive among the moderates.
See this for my current forecasts for early March 2017.
5 Dennis { 01.16.16 at 4:42 am }: Dave, its me again. I have a question about transportation. We will be staying at All Star Movies Resort. I read that the bus rides between the resorts and parks are not that long, but it sometimes can take up to 20 min to wait for it at the resort. Why do you have people being at their bus stop like over 60 min prior to rope drop though? How long approximately does it take to get from All Star Movies to each theme park?
I also looked at google maps and it seems we will be quite close to Animal Kingdom. Is it even possible to walk to the Animal Kingdom from All Star Movies? It looks to me it will take a good 30-40 min depending on how fast we walk, but I was thinking by any chance could it be quicker than the bus when you add in all that waiting time, etc?
6 Dave { 01.16.16 at 10:33 am }: The goal is to get to the parks well before opening, Dennis–my itineraries suggest 45 minutes before. I doubt anyone has walked from the All-Stars to AK–there’s no sidewalks or crosswalks nor a pedestrian path from the main road into the park.
7 douglas { 01.17.16 at 1:00 pm }: trying to plan a trip with 2 teenagers and our 4 year old. This will be more geared to the 4 year old as the older two really want to take him. Looking at Disneyland and Disney world. We need to go when the older kids don’t have school. Looking at Spring break week beginning march 11th -19th for 3-4 days or May 30th week when they get out of school as some kids will still be in school. Your thoughts?
8 Dack { 01.24.16 at 5:22 pm }: Hi Dave,
My family and I are thinking of doing a surf and turf (cruise/WDW) Disney trip this year. Wanted to get your opinion on when would be the best time to go. We love going to WDW in early December for numerous reasons (mostly the decorations), but we are considering mid January due to the extremely low crowds. Last year we were at WDW Dec 5-12 and by the 12th the crowds were really starting to grow. Any advice or direction you can provide would be great.
9 Dave { 01.25.16 at 9:11 am }: Dack I don’t really have an opinion on the best time for a cruise.
10 Dack { 01.25.16 at 6:36 am }: Hi Dave,
I should have been more clear in my previous question. Do you have any experience in the Disney Cruise Line, and if so, do you have any suggestions on a early December cruise vs a mid January? This may help us decide when we want to go as a family. Thanks!
11 Hazel Wilson { 01.28.16 at 4:07 am }: Love this site btw!
My husband and I are finally having our belated honeymoon to WDW in April (79 days :D). We are staying in the Disney Caribbean Beach Resort. There are days of our visit where we plan to do to Seaworld and Universal, how can we do this from Disney using public transport?
Also, it will be my birthday whilst we are there and my husband wants me to experience some special kind of treatment.. How do Disney do birthdays?
Thanks x
12 Dave { 01.29.16 at 8:52 am }: Hazel, there’s no real public transport. Cabs, Uber, a rental car, or Mears Transportation are your options.
On birthdays, see this.
13 Gary { 02.02.16 at 3:23 am }: Hi Dave,
Great site, really useful. We’re thinking of visiting in August 2017, and are weighing up the advantages of staying in a Disney hotel (Most likely one of the All Stars). I’m sure I remember seeing somewhere that Disney guests get free parking at the theme parks, but I can’t see that anywhere now. Is that still the case, or has it been stopped?
Thanks,
Gary.
14 Dave { 02.02.16 at 7:59 am }: Gary, it’s still the case. For other benefits to staying at a WDW resort–some, in my view, even more important–see this.
15 Matt Zoost { 02.14.16 at 2:10 pm }: Dave,
Great site. My wife and I will be staying at Fort Wilderness this April and would like to be able to use our pet cam to keep an eye on our two little dogs and monitor the temps in the RV while we are gone, do you know if the WI-FI is good enough to do this?
16 Dave { 02.15.16 at 9:29 am }: Matt, I don’t know and can”t find any reports…sorry.
17 Sarah { 02.24.16 at 9:44 am }: Hello Dave,
Im seeking a little of your expert knowledge.
We are traveling from the UK with 2 kids (ages 10 and 8). we are thinking for booking from 31st March to 14th April. Possibly staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Any advice spring to mind at all?
PS if a previous message pops up from me … sorry
18 Dave { 02.25.16 at 8:28 am }: Sarah see the response here: https://yourfirstvisit.net/2013/06/17/review-disneys-polynesian-resort-2/#comment-505854
19 Holly { 02.26.16 at 3:44 pm }: just planning a last minute trip…..arriving 3/31/16 and departing 4/6/16. We know it will be very crowded the end of Easter week and would love your recommendations for which park to hit each day while we are there. We will have some park time on 3/31 and our last park day is 4/5. Kids ages 8 and 10, but they both love Epcot! Thanks for you advice!
20 Dave { 02.27.16 at 12:46 pm }: Holly, see this from my co-author Josh. You’ll be fine after 4/2.
21 Laura { 03.02.16 at 5:45 pm }: Hey Dave!
2 questions, We are on a super tight budget. We are only going to buy tickets for MK for 2 or 3 days in Oct.2017. And have a day in between to stay at the hotel. My kids will be 8 and 5.
1) would it benefit us at all to stay in a Disney Resort? (value resort)
Lastly, I have SUPER picky eaters. Chicken fingers, hamburgers, pizza, grilled cheese (that’s it).. goes for Hubby too. 2)Would the Disney Dinning plan be worth it to us at all?
Thanks!
22 Dave { 03.03.16 at 8:26 am }: Laura, see this for the pluses to staying at a Disney resort. And no, I would skip the dining plan.
23 Ken { 03.04.16 at 4:40 pm }: Dave, can you tell me if something is going on Nov 12-19, 2016? Rooms look like they’re booked up all of a sudden (except high-end club-type rooms). I have people telling me about some kind of “Soap Opera Week”, but I can’t find anything online about it. Normally this should be a great crowd week.
Thanks,
Ken
24 Dave { 03.05.16 at 4:58 pm }: Ken nothing is going on different than any other year. The end dates for Food and Wine were recently announced and the 14th is the last day. With Jersey week the prior week, I’d expect to see little availability until the evening of the 14th. I just checked the 14th-19th and found tons of availability. Try splitting your reservation into two and you may have more luck…
Note also that with average occupancy of 90% +, the hotels are not crowd calendars! They are routinely full during low-crowd periods, especially in the party/food and wine season.
25 Julia { 03.16.16 at 12:36 am }: Hi Dave, When do you think you’ll have itineraries for October posted? Would they include both the Halloween Party and the Food and Wine Festival? Thanks – I appreciate all the advice on here 🙂
26 Dave { 03.16.16 at 7:48 am }: Julia, the October calendar should be out soon, and I’ll have recommended itineraries out shortly after that.
My itins typically don’t include either the Halloween Party or Food and Wine for reasons explained at the links, but they are easily adaptable to incorporate them!
27 Julia { 03.16.16 at 12:42 am }: We are going Oct 1-8, so we’ll be able to get Fast Passes the first week of April. I was also wondering what the outlook is for going to a water park that time of year… Thanks again! 🙂
28 Dave { 03.16.16 at 7:51 am }: Julia, you can do dining then, but not FastPass+ until 60 or 30 days before. See this.
Other than some threat of hurricanes, early October can be plenty nice enough for waterparks. See this.
29 Shawn { 03.30.16 at 12:38 pm }: Hi Dave!
We’re arriving in Disney on Sat. 11/26 and do not plan to visit the parks that day. Here’s what I have planned for our itinerary, do these days (at the Disney Parks) look good?
Sat 11/26 – Arrival day (hang out at the Polynesian)
Sun 11/27 – EPCOT during the day, then MK in the evening for MVMCP
Mon 11/28 – HS
Tues 11/29 – MK
Wed 11/30 – Universal Studios / IoA
Thurs 12/1 – Universal Studios / IoA
Fri 12/2 – Departure day
Thanks for all your help! Love your site.
30 Dave { 03.30.16 at 3:47 pm }: Shawn, I can’t comment until Disney releases its schedule for then, which it will do in a couple of weeks for November, and a month after that for December.
31 Erika { 04.06.16 at 11:59 am }: In your professional opinion, should I book flights for Sept 17-24 now or wait until fall discounts are announced in late April/early May? Have you noticed that flight prices increase after say “Free Dining” is announced? Or, just the opposite, do they decrease as time approaches? I know I should purchase at least 50 days out and Tuesday afternoons are best time to catch a deal, but… what do you think?
32 Dave { 04.07.16 at 11:30 am }: Erika, free dining has no impact on flight prices, as it changes demand patterns for what from the point of view of the airlines is a trivial number of people.
On booking it depends a bit on what your airport situation is. If there are lots of flights form lots of airlines–or you are doing connecting flight-s-then your approach is just fine. If your airport has just a few flights I’d consoder booking earlier to make sure you aren’t shut out. See this for more: http://www.farecompare.com/travel-advice/tips-from-air-travel-insiders/#/
33 Jeff { 04.06.16 at 7:50 pm }: Dave – is it me or does this week look to be way off in regard to crowd projections…in that wait times appear to be at peak level
34 Dave { 04.07.16 at 11:32 am }: Jeff–late morning and afternoon standby waits in non-recommended parks have been really rough this week. Not “10”–that means at rick of closing–but rough. The issue is not unexpectedly high crowds, it’s unexpectedly low capacity. Disney has oddly cut back substantially on staffing and capacity, so people without great plans are seeing long standby waits.
35 April { 04.11.16 at 11:26 pm }: Hi Dave,
We are taking our first trip ever to Disney with our two girls (ages 8 and 5). We are trying to decide between November 11-20, 2016 or May 5-13, 2017. We would like good weather (warm enough for shorts/capris during the day) and low crowds. Which week would you recommend for a first visit? I have checked out crowd calendars, but everyone seems to have different opinion!
36 Dave { 04.12.16 at 9:39 am }: April, weather in November can be all over the place–quite warm or quite cool. Since crowds both times will be similar, I’d pick May.

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