I’m a big fan of Kendra Adachi, better known as The Lazy Genius. In case you aren’t familiar with her, in her book The Lazy Genius Way (if you’re a reader, I recommend it!) she outlines Lazy Genius Principles that allow us all to “embrace what matters, ditch what doesn’t, and get stuff done.” And when starting to plan your Disney vacation, I think one of those principles is particularly useful: Go in the right order. And that right order is exactly what we’ll walk through here.
Because Disney vacations are my specialty, I’ll use that as our example, but really, these steps can be applied to any vacation. Would you rather visit Universal Orlando? Or maybe go on a cruise? Or even if you’re planning on exploring a major city like Boston or London. Follow these five steps to get started.
Step one feels like a no-brainer, but I think it might actually be the hardest of all. Decide you’re actually going to take the trip. We get these big dreams, right? Someday, I’ll go to Italy. Someday, I’ll take the kids on a Disney vacation. But someday never comes unless we decide it’s going to.
Step One: Decide You’re Going to Take Your Disney Trip
Before my family’s first Disney vacation, it was easy to say, we’ll go when we have more money; we’ll go after we have another kid; we’ll go when we can afford to do EVERYTHING we want to do, not just parts of it (In my mind, we could NOT go to Orlando and not do the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, but it was going to cost us a lot more to add on another theme park–more time in a hotel, more tickets, etc)…Luckily, I stopped myself. It was okay to take the trip that was feasible for us at that time. I never like to say any trip is one and done, because if it’s important to go back to a place, then we’ll figure out how to do that. So this Disney trip would be our first, but not our last. We didn’t have to make it perfect, we just had to make it there.
What’s stopping you from planning your vacation? You’ve got to be honest with yourself here. If you want to go, and you have the means to go, then you need to give yourself permission to go.
After you’ve decided you’re going on vacation, you’re ready for step two, define what is most important for YOUR family about this vacation.
Step Two: Define What is Important on your Disney Vacation
Each family is unique, which means each vacation should be unique too. Why are you wanting to go on this vacation? Are you wanting to re-experience a trip from your childhood? Are you wanting to have fun but still relax? If it’s a Disney vacation, are you more excited for rides or characters or shows? There are no right or wrong answers here, just what’s best for YOUR family.
Maybe you don’t even know exactly where you want to go at this point, that’s okay. Figuring out what is important could guide you there.
You’ll also want to consider what will be important to the other members of your family (but don’t forget about yourself!).
- If you’re going with a partner, is this a trip they’ll enjoy or will they just be going along to make the rest of the family happy?
- Is there anything you can add to the trip to bring your partner enjoyment too?
- For the kids, what will be exciting for them?
- Will they need naps?
- What are they old enough and tall enough to experience?
- How important is convenience?
- What are you wanting to get out of this trip?
If you like to think out loud (I know I do!), sometimes it can be helpful to talk this out with your partner or to write it all down. Create a physical reminder of what is important. That reminder will guide you as you’re making your decisions moving forward.
At this point, you’ve now decided you’re going to plan the vacation and you’ve named what is important for your family. Step three will take you out of the thinking phase and into the let’s make this a reality phase–the budget.
Step Three: Set a Budget for your Disney Vacation
When setting your budget, there are three key questions to ask yourself:
- What can you afford?
- What are you willing to spend?
- What budget is needed to incorporate the parts of the vacation that are important to you?
Using our Walt Disney World vacation example, there are over 25 resorts to choose from and they offer a wide range of pricing. Your budget will become a key component in deciding what is realistic for your family. In general for a Disney vacation, you’ll be paying in either time or money. Want to save time each morning getting to the park? The closer you stay to the parks, the quicker you can get there…but those are of course the more expensive resorts as well.
And notice the key difference between “What can you afford?” and “What are you willing to spend?” Be sure to ask yourself both. They aren’t always the same. Adding in the “What budget is needed…” question may make you rethink your willingness to spend as well. Is convenience more important than sticking to a specific budget? Maybe it means you’ll want to increase what you’re willing to spend to accommodate what is most important.
After setting your budget, let’s get even more real…what can you take this vacation?
Step Four: Choose the Dates for your Disney Vacation
And you’re back to deciding what is most important..AGAIN! Like with our Disney vacation example, there isn’t necessarily a universally perfect time to take a vacation. Disney is generally less crowded with lower prices during their “off-season,” but the off-season is also when kids are in school or when it’s pretty dang hot. If you’re wanting to plan around school vacations, then you’re likely going during a busier time of year.
Disney’s busiest times are generally:
- Week of Thanksgiving
- Week between Christmas and New Years
- March-April (spring break season)
Disney’s slowest times are generally:
- Mid-January to Mid-February
- May
- September
Summer has actually been surprisingly slow lately as well!
No matter when you decide to travel, there will be pros and cons. I’m always a fan of traveling when you can and finding the best–Disney is magical no matter when you go!
So now you’ve decided to take a vacation, you know what is important, you have a budget and some dates in mind…what’s the last step?
Step Five: Connect with a Professional Disney Planner
You’re busy! You don’t need to add even more to your plate just so you can finally enjoy time with your family!
This is where I can help. As a smart woman (or man), you know the value of having the right team in place. You’re aware that saving time and lowering your stress are both invaluable.
Even better, in most cases I’m able to help you plan for free because places like Disney, Universal, and more will actually pay for you to get vacation planning help!
Need some more info? Check it out here.
And if you’re ready to get started, I’d love to connect here.