So You Want To Go To Walt Disney World

What you REALLY need to know if you wish you could be part of that World.

For many families, a Walt Disney World vacation is a rite of passage, a ✨magical✨ dream come true. But if you’ve never been, it can seem overwhelming.

Planning a vacation shouldn’t require an advanced degree in logistics and economics, nor a level of detail last seen when the plans for D-Day were created and carried out, but search “How to Plan a Disney Vacation,” and that’s the impression that you’re given. Where’s the magic in that-is it in the room with us? Dear reader, that’s where I come in.

I have 20 years in corporate retail, with a career spanning roles that managed inventory and purchasing, operations, technology and reporting, budgets and complex projects. Believe me, corporate retail has the power to suck the magic out of everything-I’ve lost the ability to enter any type of establishment (digital or “real life”) that takes money in exchange for goods, services or experiences without my ADHD brain going into “analyze” mode. I’m going to use my experience to tell you what you REALLY need to know without the marketing fluff.

Think of me as your cynical fairy godmother. Let’s get into it.

What is Walt Disney World?

Walt Disney World® Resort (the official name of the central Florida behemoth) is a collection of theme parks, hotels, golf courses and retail/entertainment/dining areas that are themed after various Disney movies. Guests have the opportunity to meet characters in the parks or during meals, watch shows and parades, and experience rides and attractions (and of course, shop).

The complexity of planning a vacation here is due to the sheer size of the place-in all, it covers about 47 square miles, or over 30,000 acres. If you need a comparison for scale-think San Francisco, California. The four theme parks themselves cover 1,000 acres:

• Magic Kingdom (where that famous castle is)-107 acres.
• EPCOT (the shiny golf ball)-305 acres.
• Hollywood Studios (scary elevator)-135 acres.
• Animal Kingdom (big tree)-580 acres.

Add on the two water parks, five golf courses (81 holes in total, if you’re counting), two full service spas, 24 owned hotels, ESPN’s Wide World of Sports complex, and the Disney Springs entertainment/dining/shopping district…it’s a lot.

Tip #1-If you have never been to Disney World, or are a casual, infrequent visitor (like myself), treat this like you would any other trip to a new city. Because that’s what Disney World is-a city created and managed by a corporation (with its own fire department!).

Where is Walt Disney World?

Central Florida is where you’ll find “the most magical place on Earth” (were you looking for “the happiest place on Earth?” That’s Disneyland in California, and I’m afraid I can’t help you with that one as I’ve never been there). In general, most people say it’s in Orlando, Florida…which is incorrect. It’s actually located 20 miles southwest of Orlando, and spans portions of two cities: Lake Buena Vista and Bay Lake, and is closer to Kissimmee than Orlando.

If you’ve never been to the US’s Southernmost State, it’s important to understand the climate you’ll be visiting. The scientific description is a “humid subtropical climate”. Let me describe it in a way you can relate to-imagine that you cover yourself in a sopping wet towel, then you hop in the dryer and turn it on. The air feels…heavy, like it’s a tangible thing that you could cut with a knife. The Orlando area is 1,900 miles from the equator, so it’s also HOT. There’s science why it’s called “The Sunshine State.”

While the Orlando area is not a coastal city, it does experience weather impacts of hurricanes and tropical storms from the Gulf of Mexico to the west and the Atlantic ocean to the east. As you’re planning when you’ll pay Mickey and Minnie a visit, I suggest checking the average temperature and rainfall so you know what to expect (and pack accordingly):

	Average Low	Average Expected	Average High	Average Rainfall
May	69 degrees F	77 degrees F	87 degrees F	3.3 inches
June	74 degrees F	80 degrees F	89 degrees F	8.7 inches
July	75 degrees F	82 degrees F	90 degrees F	7.1 inches
August	76 degrees F	81 degrees F	90 degrees F	7.8 inches
September	74 degrees F	80 degrees F	88 degrees F	6.0 inches
October	68 degrees F	75 degrees F	83 degrees F	3.3 inches
November	61 degrees F	68 degrees F	77 degrees F	2.4 inches
December	55 degrees F	63 degrees F	73 degrees F	2.6 inches
January	52 degrees F	60 degrees F	71 degrees F	2.7 inches
March	59 degrees F	67 degrees F	77 degrees F	3.8 inches
April	63 degrees F	72 degrees F	82 degrees F	2.5 inches

Here are a few important weather seasons to note:

• Hurricane season generally spans June-November, with August-October being the most active. This is why there’s more rainfall during this season. You can expect daily showers and thunderstorms, but generally, they’re in the afternoon and last 15-30 minutes (unless there’s weather bands of hurricane or tropical storms working their way inland). This is the time of year you’ll notice that hot, heavy, humid air.
• Along with hurricane season, the hot season is May-September. All hurricane season points above apply, along with very intense UV rays. It isn’t uncommon during late June-August to have “feels like” temperatures in the high 90s/100s. Sunburn and dehydration are very real, very dangerous conditions that you must prepare for and have a plan to avoid.
• The cool season is considered December-February. The humidity isn’t oppressive, there’s less rain, and the temperatures fall into a manageable, some consider pleasant, range.

Tip #2-Plan, prepare and pack for the climate and weather during your visit. You do not want to spend your vacation in your hotel room recovering from a sunburn or as a patient at AdventHealth Hospital receiving treatment for heat stroke or severe dehydration.

Who Can Go to Walt Disney World?

Anyone, of any age, and all abilities can go to Disney World. I feel compelled, however, to add a sprinkle of salt to that statement (I promised no marketing fluff). Your experience in a city is impacted by many variables, including your preferences, ability to navigate and participate in your surroundings, and comfort level trying new things.

As a neurodivergent parent of a neurodivergent child in a neurodivergent family, my opinion is that Walt Disney World can be an enjoyable experience for everyone. I’ll go into more detail about accessibility in another post, but in general-if your family is able to walk long distances in a day, stand for long periods of time, tolerate heat, tolerate large crowds of (sweaty) people (sometimes in close proximity for long periods of time) and enjoys theme park rides, you will have a good time. If you or a family member don’t tick all these boxes, I wouldn’t say don’t go. I would recommend more in depth research (I’ll help you) and setting your expectations appropriately.

Tip #3-Everyone can go to Disney World, with realistic expectations of what the experience will be like.

How Long Should I Visit Walt Disney World?

I can’t answer this-it’s a highly individualized question with too many variables, including (but not limited to):

• School calendars
• Available vacation time
• Budget
• Itinerary and “must-dos”
• Frequency of visitation

I’m writing for the reader who has never been to WDW or who doesn’t visit frequently (and by frequently I mean years pass in between visits). This is the reader who can either go way too far into the details planning and ends up exhausted and nothing feels relaxing or magical, or on the flip side, doesn’t do enough planning and ends up overwhelmed in the park and spends more time walking around and waiting in lines than experiencing anything. This does not have to be complicated, but it does require some degree of planning and preparation.

My super-duper-very-general starting point would be five days minimum (one for each park with a rest day in the middle) for the first-time or infrequent visitor. Start here then modify the plans to fit your circumstances (oh you want to visit another one of Orlando’s many theme parks, too? Add days, dear reader).

Tip #4-Start planning with five days and increase or decrease to fit your family’s needs.

How Much Does a Vacation to Walt Disney World Cost?

The three variables that need to be met to make anything happen are time, people and money. We’ve got people covered (you want to go on vacation), and we’ve just talked about time….now let’s talk money.

There are many schools of thought about Walt Disney World vacation cost, and many of them are wildly different. Again, this comes back to individual circumstances and priorities during your trip. One person’s “budget” vacation may be fine for some, a stretch for others, and not ideal for many more.

Prices fluctuate based on time of year-the more crowded, popular times (school vacations and holidays) are more expensive while a random week in February has a lower cost. If your schedule is flexible, I recommend considering some of the slower, cooler seasons (but keep in mind this is when rides often close for maintenance or refurbishment, so check the schedule before you lock yourself in). You can control the costs associated with transportation, lodging and food to a degree as well.

Using our five-day starting point and assuming a family of four, you could use $6,000 as a starting point. Yes, you read that correctly and yes, I choked a little typing that. Conventional wisdom out in the interwebs seems to be around $10,000 for seven days without any type of budgeting, with the $6,000-$8,000 range using a mix of prioritization and budgeting tactics.

I’m going to put my cynical fairy godmother hat on for a moment-Walt Disney World is not magic, as much as they would have you believe it is. This is a city run by a corporation, with thousands of people working around the clock (yes, around the clock) to ensure that this seems like the most magical place on Earth. Guests aren’t meant to see behind the scenes where the maintenance, logistics and operations happen, but they do, and they cost money. A lot of money. Which leads me to my next tip…

Tip #5-A trip to Walt Disney World is a luxury, so plan for the expenses to align with the experience.

Do I Have to Visit Walt Disney World?

Perhaps you’re having second thoughts after reading about the size of Disney World, the Orlando climate, the length of time or potential cost. Maybe you’re concerned that the investment isn’t justified for your family. Or maybe this is a dream vacation and you’re feeling discouraged or overwhelmed. Don’t despair.

I didn’t go to Disney World until I was in high school, and it was on a school trip. I had the pleasure of wearing my 100% WOOL marching band uniform with full dress (including gloves, hat and plume) and marching a parade route from Adventureland to Main Street USA and back in June. I was sweating so much that I couldn’t play much of anything due to my mouthpiece sliding around my face. I don’t remember much from that trip (I blame dehydration), and I didn’t go back again until my own son was five years old. As a child I never had a desire to go to Disney World, I would rather go to the beach.

I have a friend who has three boys, and when they were younger she shared that she had never told them Disney World existed. She said she would change the channel or skip commercials when it was mentioned, and if they did catch it she told them that it wasn’t real (!!!). They have never been to Disney World, and I can attest that they are polite, kind, talented kids who have not been affected by the lack of a childhood Disney World trip.

My sibling lives in Florida (hence why I, a Midwesterner, know so much about Florida), and goes to the parks multiple times a year. Short trips, long trips, you name it, they’ve done it. Her daughter is in early years of elementary school and can’t recall not going to Disney World. She’s so excited to play tour guide when we go as a family this summer, and can tell me all about her favorite rides, food and playgrounds.

So, do you have to go to Disney World? Absolutely not. Should you go to Disney World? Should implies duty, correctness, or obligation-again, no. My thoughts are if you and your family enjoy Disney movies, and you want to be immersed in these fictional worlds, and you appreciate exceptional attention to detail as well as operations on a large scale, and you have the flexibility to budget for a Disney vacation (without opening credit cards or taking out second mortgages)…consider it. This isn’t a decision to be made on a whim, leading me to my final tip-

Tip #6-Start researching Walt Disney World one and a half years (yes, you read that right, I’ll tell you why in another post) before you want to go. If it doesn’t appeal to you or doesn’t fit your circumstances, there’s nothing wrong with that. If you want to do it, cool-you’ve got plenty of time to plan.

Are You Ready To Start Planning?

Fabulous! Stick around, because I am going to tell you everything you need to know to have an enjoyable, relaxing vacation to the House of Mouse without breaking the budget, planning every minute of every day, and stressing yourself out. Your family and friends will think it’s magic, but you’ll know it’s just good planning.