Hey there, Maranda!
If you're looking to plan a stay at The Most Magical Place on Earth, you've come to the right place! At planDisney, we always enjoy sharing tips and ideas from our own vacations to help you plan.
Let me offer some quick tips for what I consider the four big to-do items for planning your stay at Walt Disney World Resort. This is a simple high-level overview. At any point where you'd like assistance, you can call the Walt Disney World Resort at (407) 939-5277 to get help with your booking.
Checking theme park availability. For many of us, visiting Walt Disney World Resort means taking in all the magic of the four theme parks. Visiting a theme park for a day requires both valid theme park admission and a Disney Park Pass reservation. Before you book your Resort and purchase your theme park tickets, you'll want to check that the theme parks have reservations available for when you'd like to visit by taking a look at the
Theme Park Reservation Availability calendar.
Choosing where to stay. Start with a look at the
Disney Resorts Collection. You'll see a selection of Resorts offering hotel rooms, family suites, and themed rooms, as well as Deluxe Villas that feature fully equipped kitchens, separate bedrooms, and living room areas. You'll also see useful information to help you decide which place is pixie-dust perfect for your vacation stay.
Buying your theme park tickets. Next, take a look at the
Tickets & Visit Guide. This is a really useful overview for deciding which theme park tickets to buy. You'll want to think about how many days you want to visit the theme parks. You also want to think about whether you want to visit one park in a day, or park hop to multiple parks in the same day. (I always recommend the Park Hopper Option).
You can complete both steps above at the same time when you
book a vacation package that includes a Resort reservation and theme park tickets.
Making your theme park reservations. After you've booked your vacation package, you'll want to link your plans to your
My Disney Experience account. With your theme park tickets linked, you'll want to go to the
Disney Park Pass system to make your theme park reservations.
Now that you have your vacation package booked and your theme park reservations made, you can start to imagine all the magic that awaits you. One of the best ways to do that is to explore the theme parks through the online theme park guide maps such as the
Magic Kingdom Guide Map. Each of the theme parks has a guide map online.
Maranda, I hope this gives you a good starting point for planning your Walt Disney World Resort vacation. It's common for more questions to come up as you make your plans. If you're looking for recommendations to fill out your plans, ask us here at planDisney. We're here for you and happy to help.
Jerry