The essential 2021 Disney World planning guide

Do you have a trip booked to go to Disney World in 2021? Or maybe you’re thinking about trying to plan something for the summer or the fall (for the 50th anniversary)? If so, it’s more important now than ever to do a little research and be prepared. Things have changed since Disney World reopened in July 2020, and while they are slowing adding back some of what you might be used to there is still plenty that is different.

I have a lot of great resources that I’m excited to share with you about planning your Disney World trip, but before I get into that I want to give you a big piece of advice: if you are thinking about going in the second half of 2021 and haven’t booked anything yet, do it as soon as possible. “Revenge travel” is a real thing, and it’s the idea that people who have been unable or unwilling to traveling for the past 12+ months will all be traveling as soon as they can once things reopen a bit more and people have been vaccinated. That means prices will go up and availability will go down. With Disney’s generous refund/cancellation policy there’s no reason not to book now.

In this post I’m going to highlight a few different tools that will help you plan the best Disney World 2021 trip you can!

Best resources for planning a 2021 Disney World trip:

Printables and Worksheets
A Travel Agent
Disney World’s website
Free 10 page vacation planning guide
Blog posts on a variety of Disney topics

Printables

If you’re someone who likes to stay organized, printables are a great way to do that. I’ve created a series of 25+ printables specifically designed for Walt Disney World planning during 2021 and COVID-19. It includes planning worksheets, itineraries, lists of open restaurants and attractions in each park, and more. I’ve only recently started selling on Etsy and making printables, so if you have any suggestions or any other printables you’d like to see please let me know!

A Travel Agent

I’ve written several blog posts about using a travel agent, but I’ll sum up some of the key points here. A travel agent will be able to help you out with finding the best vacation options for you, applying discounts if/when they become available, helping you out if you need to cancel or change anything, and providing knowledge and recommendations about Disney. A travel agent is also FREE to use but you do have to do your booking through them – otherwise the time they spend working with you will be totally unpaid. I highly recommend a travel agent who specializes in Disney, particularly right now with things changing almost every day – I’m happy to help anyone who might be looking to plan, just send me an email at [email protected] and we can get started.

Disney World’s website

The official Disney World website is a great place to learn more about things in general, such as the attractions, dining options, and resort info. For foodies, I love the ability to browse all of the restaurant menus! This is a great place to get all of the basic information, but for tips and recommendations I’d use other resources.

Free 10 page vacation planning guide

For those looking for a quick, free resource, I’ve created a free 10 page vacation planning guide that will cover the basics of trip planning. There is information and advice on things like the best time of year to go, which resort type to choose, which tickets you need, and more. But it’s not just about advice – the Disney World travel planning guide is meant to be a printable, so you can print your own copy and use it like a workbook. There are sections to fill in all of the information you need to keep track of.

Please note that I created this resource prior to 2021 and while I have thought about updating it, so many things are changing and my hope is that many of the temporary changes will be returning – so this will reference things like fastpasses which are not relevant at the current moment. For something constantly updated and specific to 2021 check out the trip planning printables mentioned above on my Etsy shop.

Blog posts

I’ve written a lot of blog posts through the years, and I’ve been doing my best to keep them as updated and relevant as possible. Here I’m linking to a number of posts that I think will be helpful in planning your trip this year. They are broken down into categories: general, visiting during COVID-19, budget, transportation, parks/attractions, dining, packing and prep. I’ve got a handy infographic here to give you a general planning timeline, and then you’ll find all the links below for more in-depth planning.

Thinking about your own trip to Disney World? Check out my Ultimate List of Disney World planning resources to get you started. If you’d like the assistance of a travel agent at no extra cost to you, email me at [email protected] and we can start planning and booking your trip!

Are you doing any 2021 Disney World planning? When will you be visiting?

Comments

The Animation Commendation says

January 7, 2021 at 5:25 pm

“Revenge travel” sounds so aggressive, lol!

I bought the 4-day $50/day park deal for Florida residents, so I’ll be seeing all 4 parks this year, God-willing 😀 !

Sarah Forest at Ponder Trail says

January 8, 2021 at 9:55 pm

I love how detailed and thorough this is, Becky! It outlines so many ways to get all of the information you need to plan the perfect trip! I love the Mandalorian photo of you, too–so fun!

Kait | Slumber & Scones says

January 9, 2021 at 12:32 am

You have so many great resources for anyone who is planning a Disney trip this year! I don’t have any plans to go anywhere in 2021 (I guess I’m not much of a revenge traveler), but I know some of my family members are looking at booking their fall and holiday Disney trips around this time.

Best resources for planning a 2021 Disney World trip:

Printables

A Travel Agent

Disney World’s website

Free 10 page vacation planning guide

Blog posts

General

Visiting during COVID-19

Budget

Transportation

Parks/Attractions

Dining

Packing and Prep

Comments

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