Introduction

I fell in love with Walt Disney World on our first family trip in 2008, when our children were tiny and their wonder felt larger than life.

Sometimes, as it turns out, the magic is real.

Many trips later, that love for the Mouse has blossomed into a full-time career as an author and Disney travel agent. And while our daughter and son are now teenagers, and more inclined to choose a ride on Space Mountain over Peter Pan’s Flight, their enthusiasm for our vacations has never wavered in the years since they first hummed along to “It’s a Small World.” Walt Disney World has become our family’s home away from home—familiar, yet still full of endless delights that surprise and astound us.

And like any home, our loyalty gets tested on occasion. For while I dearly love the drop on Splash Mountain, eating Dole Whips in Adventureland, meeting Goofy on Main Street U.S.A., and ending our night by watching fireworks explode over Cinderella Castle, I don’t love long lines, crowds, paying too much for meals and feeling overwhelmed by the need to micromanage what’s supposed to be a family vacation.

If you’re here because you’re stressed about any of those things: welcome. You’ve come to the right place. Planning a Walt Disney World vacation—particularly in the months following the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge—should be exciting, and not scary. The key is to take things step-by-step.

My aim for this planning guide is simple: by the end of your trip, I want you to love Walt Disney World as much as my family does, and the way to do that is to avoid the traps so many first-time and repeat visitors fall into—either by preparing too little, and getting blindsided upon your arrival in the parks, or by planning too much and forgetting to have fun in the process.

Over the years, I’ve researched and perfected proven methods for minimizing wait times while touring the four theme parks, discovered which resort accommodations offer the best perks and most desirable amenities, learned how to score the hardest-to-get Walt Disney World dining reservations, and arrived at some simple tricks for sticking to a budget when you’re in a place that seems designed, at every turn, to take your money. And much, much more.

And now I’d love to share what I’ve learned with you.