How to Create a Disney World Itinerary

You want to plan a Disney vacation for your family, but maybe you’ve never been before, and it’s all a bit overwhelming. Or maybe you haven’t been in several years, and everything seems different (because it is). Don’t worry! We’re here to help you make sense of Disney. We can help you plan your trip and create a Disney World Itinerary perfect for your family.

Our first tip is to use a Disney World travel agent. A travel agent that specializes in Disney World will help you plan a magical vacation. They can help you book hotel rooms, buy park tickets, arrange transportation to and from the airport, rent strollers or ECVs, make Advanced Dining Reservations, guide you through Genie+, and recommend what to do and where to eat. The best part is that using a travel agent is free!

Pro Planning Tip: We recommend using Jessica Lieb with ET Family Travel to book your Disney vacation!

Use an Itinerary Template

You can’t have to create a Disney Itinerary from scratch because we have created a spreadsheet you can download for free.

Download the Itinerary

How to Create A Disney World Itinerary

Book Your Trip

Before planning your itinerary, secure your plane tickets, hotel room, and park tickets. Using a Disney travel agent can simplify this process. Using a Disney travel agent is free, and they will help you book the best room, get the best deal, and navigate all of the details of your trip.

Add Your Travel Your Plans

The first thing to add to your spreadsheet is your travel plans, including flights, car rentals, hotel check-in, and park tickets/reservations. This is to avoid any activities that may interfere with travel plans or result in delays.

Update Park Hours

Check park hours on the Disney World website—early Entry or after-hours events that may impact regular park hours.

Make a note of Special Events and Shows

If you have tickets for a special after-hours event, add it to your schedule along with the evening shows. You may also want to add fireworks and other shows to my itinerary.

Add Your Dining

If you have already booked your Disney dining reservations, add the times you must be at each location. You woke up early to snag those reservations, so plan the rest of your day around dining. Even if you don’t have dining reservations, you have to eat. Have a plan or at least a few options for where to eat; it will save time and stress.

Add Other Reservations

Do you have a reservation for Savi’s Workshop or Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique? Add that reservation to your plan before you plan other activities.

Rank Rides and Shows

Seeing and doing everything on your Disney World vacation is impossible, so you must prioritize. I suggest ranking your Top 3 Must-Do’s in each park.

Your Top 3 Must-Do’s include

Any Ride or Attraction you will regret not doing
Any character meet-n-greets you must do
Activities that everyone in your group will enjoy

Prioritize the Must-Do list, then rank the rest of the attractions. The lower on the list, the lower the priority.

Color Code things

As you can see, my spreadsheet has a lot of different colors and detailed information about our trip. I like to use bold colors to see our plan’s specific details. For example, meals with reservations are in purple boxes, and quick-service meals are in green boxes. The purple boxes with light gray text are reservations for my parents, and the black text includes everyone. Red text means we have a reservation for an activity. It makes sense in my brain, but whatever helps you get your trip organized, this spreadsheet is just a template to help you get started.