Walt Disney World Resort planning guide
What I handle, and what
you can do yourself.
Your hotel, tickets, and package are entirely handled by me, at no cost to you.
The reservations that open later, dining and Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and Lightning Lane, are a separate job. I can take those on for your whole group for a small planning fee, or you can do them yourself. This page explains both so you can choose knowing what is involved.
Last checked in . Disney changes these systems periodically, so confirm anything time sensitive before you rely on it.
What I handle as your advisor
Included in working with me, nothing extra to pay.
- Your resort, room type, and tickets, quoted live and held while you decide
- Ground transportation to and from Disney property, whether that is a shared shuttle from Orlando International, a private car, or a rental waiting at the airport
- Package structure, deposits, payment schedule, and cancellation windows tracked so no deadline is ever yours to remember
- Applying any discount Disney releases after you book, retroactively, without you asking
- Travel protection options
- Being the person you call when something goes wrong
The part that opens later
Three things go on sale long after you book.
Each has its own date, its own opening time, and its own way of selling out.
| What | When it opens | Time | Why it is harder than it sounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dining reservations | 60 days out | 6:00 am ET | The restaurants everyone wants are gone within minutes. You need your choices decided in advance, not browsed at 6am. |
| Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique | 60 days out | Midnight ET | Opens six hours before dining, so it is a separate alarm on the same night. Sells out fast. |
| Lightning Lane passes | 7 days out | 7:00 am ET | Three different pass types, tiered attraction groups, and choices that affect each other across your whole stay. |
How the windows actually work
One date runs all three, and each one opens your whole trip.
Every window counts back from the day you check in, not from the day you want. And when it opens, it opens your entire stay at once, not just the first day.
Say you check in November 8 and check out November 13.
- September 9, midnight ET
Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique
Sixty days before check in. You can book an appointment for any day of the trip, not just the 8th.
- September 9, 6:00 am ET
Dining
Same morning, six hours later. Every meal from the 8th through the 13th is bookable in one sitting.
- November 1, 7:00 am ET
Lightning Lane
Seven days before check in, covering the whole stay in one purchase, up to 14 days.
Do not put the boutique on day one.
On September 9 you can book Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique for November 12. The family checking in on November 12 cannot book that same day until September 13, because their window has not opened yet. You are four days ahead of them for an appointment they want just as badly.
So if the boutique matters, push it to the middle or the end of your trip rather than your arrival day. On day one you are competing with everyone whose window opened the same morning. On day four you are competing with almost nobody. The same logic works on the hardest dining reservations.
This is a calendar advantage, not a resort one. Dining opens 60 days out for everyone, wherever you are staying. The place your hotel does change things is Lightning Lane: 7 days out and your whole stay in one purchase, against 3 days for guests off property.
Letting me do it
I book all three for your whole group, for a flat planning fee.
What that actually means: you tell me which meals matter and which rides your kids care about, and then you stop thinking about it. I am awake at midnight for the boutique and again at 6am for dining. I know which restaurants to go after first and what to fall back on when the castle is not available. I build the Lightning Lane strategy around your park days, your naps, and your budget, and I handle the day-of scheduling too.
Most people who take this option say the same thing afterward: it was not the booking they were paying to avoid, it was the deciding.
What it costs
A flat start, then a bit per park day.
No tiers to argue about and no headcount to declare. Booking a table for ten is the same work as a table for six, so you are not charged for it. What actually costs me time is how many park days I am covering, and how many separate arrival dates there are.
$135
- To start
- $60
- 5 park days at $15
- $75
Bought as two separate jobs this trip would be $180, so taking all three together saves you $45.
The Lightning Lane passes themselves are yours to pay for. Expect roughly $15 to $35 per person per day depending on the park, the date, and how busy it is. You will need a card on file in My Disney Experience, and I buy against your card, never mine. Same for Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, which runs about $60 to $230 before tax depending on the package.
The fee above assumes I booked your room and tickets. If your trip is already booked elsewhere and you just want the windows handled, reach out anyway and we will price it out for your situation. It is not a no, it is a different conversation.
If you want Lightning Lane Premier Pass instead, there is no fee. It does not use reservations or booking windows, so there is no 7am alarm and no strategy to build, which means there is nothing for me to charge you for. I will tell you that rather than let you pay for work I am not doing.
Send me your dates and I will confirm the number in writing before you owe anything. Paid up front, because the work happens at 4am on a date months before you travel.
The one thing I tell everyone
Being at Disney does not mean you have to do everything.
Most people arrive thinking, I paid a lot for these tickets, so I need to ride every ride and see every show. That sets you up for failure inside the first two hours.
A family with two toddlers does not need to chase thrill rides. Their trip is characters, slow rides, and letting a three year old stare at a parade. The best days come from having the energy to enjoy your kid giggling while they meet Mickey, instead of running to It’s a Small World because the parade is starting and you only have two hours left.
Tell me what matters most to your family and I will build the days around it.
If you would rather do it yourself
Genuinely no hard feelings.
Plenty of families do this well. Here is everything you need.
Do this firstBefore any booking window opens
These three things are what separate a smooth 6am from a frustrating one.
- Link everyone. Every person travelling needs to be connected on your Family and Friends list in the My Disney Experience app, with their ticket linked. If someone is not connected, you cannot book for them, and you will discover this at 6:00am.
- Put a card on file in the app. Most table service reservations need one to hold the booking.
- Decide in advance. Write your list before the morning: first choice, second choice, and which meal you would drop if it came to it. Browsing at 6am is how people end up with nothing.
60 days out, 6:00 am ETDining reservations
The window opens exactly 60 days before your arrival date.
- Be logged in and waiting by 5:55am. For dining the app and the website both work, and the website is genuinely easier for some people. Log into both, then use whichever you are faster on. Lightning Lane is the one that is app only.
- Search by date and time, not by restaurant. Looking up one restaurant at a time burns the minutes that matter. Search the time slot and see what is there.
- Book the hardest thing first. Cinderella's Royal Table inside the castle is the toughest reservation on property. If you want it, go straight there and get the easier meals afterward.
- Good alternatives to have ready: Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary is chaotic and loud and a genuine classic, but do not expect a relaxing breakfast. Topolino's Terrace at the Riviera is, in my opinion, the best character breakfast at Walt Disney World Resort. Akershus at EPCOT is a strong princess option.
- If you miss something, keep checking. People cancel constantly. Reservations reappear, especially in the days right before.
60 days out, midnight ETBibbidi Bobbidi Boutique
Same 60 day mark as dining, but six hours earlier. It is a full princess makeover with hair, makeup, nails, and a costume.
- Minimum age is 3. Packages start around $60 for the Adventure package, roughly $120 for Fairy Tale, and about $230 for the Kingdom package with the full gown, all before tax.
- It sells out. If this matters to your child, this is the one to set an actual alarm for.
7 days out, 7:00 am ETLightning Lane
If you are staying at a Disney resort hotel, you buy 7 days before your check in date, and it covers your entire stay in one purchase, up to 14 days. Guests off property wait until 3 days out and do not get the whole stay at once. Unlike dining, this one is in the My Disney Experience app only. There is no website version.
- Standby lines still exist and are still free. Lightning Lane is optional, not required.
- Multi Pass lets you pick up to 3 experiences and arrival windows in advance. Once you have redeemed one, you can add another during the day. Three of the four parks tier their headliners, so one pick comes from a top group and the other two from a second group. Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park does not tier at all, so all three picks come from one list. Every list is in the next section.
- Single Pass covers the biggest rides that Multi Pass excludes, like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and TRON at Magic Kingdom Park. You can buy up to 2 per day.
- With Park Hopper, once you have redeemed your first Multi Pass selection you can pick your next one in a different park.
- Prices change by park, date, and demand, and are only visible in the app.
ReferenceThe tier lists, park by park
This is the part that catches people out at 7am. Single Pass rides cannot be picked with Multi Pass at all, and in three of the four parks only one of your three Multi Pass picks may come from the top group. Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park is the exception and does not tier.
Checked against the Walt Disney World Resort park pages in August 2026. This is the list that changes most often, so confirm in the app when you actually buy.
Magic Kingdom Park
- Single Pass, bought separately
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, TRON Lightcycle / Run
- Multi Pass, pick one of these
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Jungle Cruise, Peter Pan's Flight, Space Mountain, Tiana's Bayou Adventure
- Multi Pass, the other two come from here
- The Barnstormer, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Haunted Mansion, "it’s a small world", Mad Tea Party, The Magic Carpets of Aladdin, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Mickey's PhilharMagic, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, Pirates of the Caribbean, Tomorrowland Speedway, Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid
EPCOT
- Single Pass, bought separately
- Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
- Multi Pass, pick one of these
- Frozen Ever After, Remy's Ratatouille Adventure, Test Track
- Multi Pass, the other two come from here
- Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival, Journey Into Imagination With Figment, Living with the Land, Mission: SPACE, The Seas with Nemo & Friends, Soarin' Across America, Spaceship Earth, Turtle Talk With Crush
Disney's Hollywood Studios
- Single Pass, bought separately
- Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
- Multi Pass, pick one of these
- Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets, Slinky Dog Dash
- Multi Pass, the other two come from here
- Alien Swirling Saucers, Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage, Disney Jr. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live!, For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration, Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular!, The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure, Star Tours – The Adventures Continue, Toy Story Mania!, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park
- Single Pass, bought separately
- Avatar Flight of Passage
- Multi Pass, no tiers, pick any three
- Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain, Feathered Friends in Flight!, Festival of the Lion King, Finding Nemo: The Big Blue... and Beyond!, Kali River Rapids, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Na'vi River Journey, Zootopia: Better Zoogether!
Every morning, freeEarly Theme Park Entry
As a resort guest you get into a park 30 minutes before everyone else, every single day of your stay. It costs nothing extra and it is the most underrated perk Disney gives you.
- An hour of touring before the crowds build is worth more than most of what you can buy.
Getting around, honestly
Four ways to move, and what each one is really like.
The buses
Better than their reputation. On a normal day you get a seat and it works fine. The bad version is 10pm with destroyed feet and a crowd. Leave a little before or after everyone else and you will mostly miss it.
The Skyliner
A genuine highlight. If your resort is on the gondola line you will ride it for fun. Kids especially.
The monorail
Feels a little old, and that is the point. Quintessentially Disney.
The boats
The slow way, and usually the nicest. Ferries cross the lagoon to Magic Kingdom Park, and smaller boats link EPCOT and Disney's Hollywood Studios with the resorts in between. Not the one to pick when dinner is in 15 minutes.
Small things worth knowing
The four that come up most.
Pools are heated
Every resort pool, year round. Pool days are absolutely on the table in January.
Memory Maker
Covers every photo the Disney PhotoPass Service photographers take, including character meetings and ride shots. The add-on people most regret skipping, mostly because it is how parents end up in the pictures instead of behind the camera.
Water parks
Underrated. Most people skip them and should not. One usually closes for refurbishment in winter, so check which is open for your dates.
Allergies
Handled genuinely well. Flag them on every dining reservation, and a chef will come to your table at every table service restaurant.
Questions at any point, about anything.
There is no such thing as too many questions before a trip. Ask the small ones, and ask them early.
Start planning your tripLast updated . Disney changes these systems periodically, so check before relying on the timings. If something here no longer matches what you are seeing in the app, tell me and I will fix the page.