The Ultimate Disney Checklist: Essentials from Wonderstruck Travel

We know that there is a full vault of magic just waiting to be unlocked with a Disney vacation - but much of the magic does come with a price tag. One of the best ways we have found to maximize savings is to invest extra time planning. Whether it feels like it at the moment, time spent truly does translate to money saved! 

Think about what it’s like going to the grocery store: if you go in with a prepared list of what you’re looking to leave with, the chances of deviating from that plan are less likely than if you showed up with zero plan. Building a Disney checklist can pay off in a similar way! Laying out a plan can ensure you finish the trip getting exactly what you hope to get out of it. 

Track your Day

One of our first trips to the park we did as a married couple, I decided to keep a journal of our day. While this is fairly unlike me since I’m not someone who keeps a journal, I am also someone who likes to see the outcome of hard and I wanted to see how much we were able to do. It was also a way for me to justify the amount of money I was spending because I’m also not a spender - which makes me a complicated Disney Go-er. 

I track every attraction, show parade, meal, EVERYTHING. By the end, I was shocked to see how much we had actually done and left the park feeling really good about how we’d spent our day. 

In November 2022, we did an adult-only trip with some friends of ours to Walt Disney World. I decided to track our days like before but had a bigger end goal in mind: I wanted to make a photo book to remember our trip.

We spent over three years planning this once-in-a-lifetime trip and felt like we needed something tangible to remember it with. We created a Google Photo Album where all four of us could upload our photos and I tracked each day in its own Note on my phone. Once we got home, I created a Google Photo Book to commemorate our trip with details of how each day played out. This is something I highly recommend. 

Set Daily Park Budgets

An easy way to do this is to have loaded Disney Gift Cards for each member of your party. This is money they can spend each day - outside of the meals you’ve already planned as part of your daily budget. 

This is a great option for kids. It helps your spending stay in control but also lets them experience freedom to make their own spending decisions. We recommend doing this for souvenirs and any extra snacks they may want to purchase. The best part is that you can get these in advance of your trip, so you don’t have to spend any extra time figuring out these budget decisions once you arrive!

Plan your shopping - know what you want

The sheer quantity of merchandise can be extremely overwhelming. Unplanned souvenir shopping can result in somewhat exhausting scenarios which usually translates to a couple unfavorable outcomes:

1. You can mentally shut down and end up leaving without purchasing anything.

2. You are unable to make a decision and end up leaving with much more than you had hoped to purchase.

Neither of these outcomes are ideal and can be pretty depleting and frustrating to experience. However, both can be avoided with a little bit of extra planning. Taking a little bit of time to figure out what you want in advance can really help avoid buying more than you planned or leaving empty handed. 

Time and money each carry their own currency into and throughout a Disney vacation. Lack of preparation can leave you feeling physically, mentally, emotionally, temporally, and/or financially drained. Taking time to establish a shopping plan can reduce the likelihood of walking around the park with bags all day long, and then spending EXTRA money on a locker to store all your loot until you leave the park OR finding yourself going back to your hotel, losing precious park time. 

Research. Make a plan. Think ahead.

• Some items require reservations in order to obtain (i.e., Lightsabers or Droids from Galaxy’s Edge)

• If your desired item is available in Downtown Disney or Disney Springs, you can access those stores on non-park days, and trips there won’t have to be scheduled into an already robust park schedule. Although there could be alternative selections inside the parks, this can be an especially helpful option for more generic souvenirs like a mug, shirt, or ornament.

• Some stores will send your merchandise straight to your hotel (usually only if you’re staying on Disney property) 

• Some stores offer shipping (for a price) and can ship your item from the store to your home 

From what you specifically want, to where you need to purchase it, to how you use your travel days and many decisions to be made along that spectrum, there are so many things you can do to ensure you are a master of your finances and a master of your schedule.

We know that there will always be some level of unpredictability when it comes to Disney merchandise thanks to the amount of options, but doing your research can significantly reduce the variables and fully equip you when you are faced with an unknown. Whether knowing you want Mickey ears from a certain land or a new commemorative ornament for your Christmas tree - if you plan ahead, you will save! 

Build a Dining Strategy

No Disney trip would be complete without Dole Whip, churros, corn dogs and Mickey shaped pretzels. While all those delicious treats are in fact, delicious, there is a lot to consider in the area of restaurants - both full service and quick service. 

We always book a nice sit down restaurant in advance. That meal, along with most other full service restaurants will greatly benefit from (or require) a reservation to secure as a part of your Disney vacation plan.

If you are staying on Disney property, you can make reservations 60 days prior to the first day of your reservation. While I tend to have a hard time knowing what I want for dinner tonight, you can see how much value there can be in knowing where you want to eat and when you want to eat there - even though you need to make the decision 2 months before you arrive.

We also plan on having one quick service meal each day and will keep our research handy in order to make informed decisions around where and when those take place.

Other Food Tips

Beyond deciding where to have your meals while you are in the park, there are certainly other sustenance decisions to consider. 

When it comes to breakfast, each trip for us has been different - the best experience being a hotel that offered complimentary breakfast each day. Often we will purchase breakfast somewhere (can’t pass up beignets in the cafe at Port Orleans), but we will often try to take advantage of a local grocery store toward the beginning of our trip to supply us with a few essentials for the remainder:

• We are from the Pacific Northwest. Call us “water snobs” if you want to, but we will always stock up on bottled water to have with us throughout each of the park days. Bottled water in the parks is VERY expensive. Even though it feels weird to purchase water, you’ll still save money by bringing in your own water rather than buying it there.

• High protein snacks are excellent to have with you to maintain energy level throughout each day

• If we are not happy with the breakfast options at our disposal, we will have some easy, grab-and-go type of breakfast options we can eat quickly to get us started or take into the park with us.

As with all aspects of Disney planning, we relieve so much of our schedule and our budget by thinking ahead and preparing for all dining decisions. 

Establish “non-negotiables”

We have every member of our party pick one thing, per day, per park that is their absolute #1 thing they want to make sure they do. It can be getting a food item, watching a show, catching a parade, or making sure they get to ride their favorite attraction. 

Obviously, you’re there to do as many things as possible but voicing and prioritizing one thing you want is just one more way to make sure your days are magical. This is especially helpful if you have kids who want to help plan your day. 

Clarify Expectations

One of the great things about Disney trips is they can be tailored to exactly what you want. Anything you want to achieve or experience while there is most likely a very reachable goal. Whether you want it packed with riding your favorite attractions over and over again, you want to see every show and parade you possibly can, or you want to experience the best restaurants, you just need to articulate what you want, acquire what you need, and execute.

Do you feel like you need some personalized insight toward planning a successful Disney vacation? Book an appointment with us today and unlock personally tailored Disney advising so you can experience maximum magic and let your time with Disney leave you Wonderstruck.