With the increasing crowds at Disney World, it’s becoming hard to find a time to go that’s really a “down time” in the parks. This can then make planning a last minute trip a little difficult, but it can be done.
Last minute planning for Disney World usually means planning a few months or less in advance of your arrival date. Depending on when you are going, the biggest problem may not be finding dining and FastPass reservations, but finding a room that’s available. This was an issue for my friend and I last November. Rooms were very limited and it took checking the website often to find something. We were finally able to find something at the Caribbean Beach Resort and quickly grabbed it. If another reservation opens up at a hotel you want you can always switch hotels.
When planning last minute you are going to have to be flexible on both your hotel and room choice. There’s a good chance you won’t get your preferred hotel, but you can probably find something in the same category as the hotel you wanted. There are a lot of room refurbishments going on right now, which limits the number of rooms available.
Even if you can’t find a reservation at a Disney resort, you can look at the Disney Springs Resorts. Not long ago, Disney extended the perks of Extra Magic Hours and booking FastPasses 60 days out to some of those hotels. It’s worth checking out if you can’t find anything at one of Disney’s Resort hotels.
The next step are the dining and FastPass reservations. If you are booking last minute then you are definitely past the 180 day mark where you can make dining reservations, so flexibility is important here too. You may not get all the dining reservations you want right away, but that doesn’t mean you should stop trying. Dining reservations tend to open up in the weeks leading up to your arrival date. This is due to people scaling back their dining or finding other reservations that they want. So it’s always worth it to keep checking.
After making your dining reservations it’s time to look at what’s available for FastPasses. As long as you are more than 30 days out you should be able to find some good ones. We booked a trip less than 60 days out and were still able to get Frozen Ever After FastPasses. Definitely check before you are 30 days out, because that is when everyone else can start making their FastPass selections. After the 30 day mark there won’t be much left.
If you are unable to get the FastPasses you want then I would look at which parks have the morning Extra Magic Hours (EMH). The morning EMH tend to be less crowed than the night EMH. Plus, the parks don’t normally start getting busy until later in the morning. So, you have a few hours to get in some rides with much shorter lines. The last time we took advantage of the morning EMH we were able to see all the princesses at Princess Fairytale Hall in less than an hour. It was fantastic!
FastPasses are also available throughout the day while you are in the park. You can book those through the app or one of the kiosks in the park. If you see a FastPass you want, but don’t like the time, I would book it and then try modifying it. You might be able to get a better time by modifying the FastPass. It can’t hurt to try.
Most people will plan their Disney trips far in advance, usually at least 180 days out because of dining reservations. However, if you want to plan a last minute trip it can be done. Just keep in mind that you will have to be flexible with plans and may have to keep checking for available rooms.
Have you planned a last minute trip to Disney World?
Thanks for reading!
*Liz*
Join the fun in our Facebook group, follow us on Instagram, and subscribe to our YouTube channel!
Contact Dream Makers Travel Agency today to book your trip and get FREE concierge level planning included with every booking.
Liz
I love all things Disney, but my main love is for Disney World and I'm always planning for the next trip. Before becoming a Disney blogger, I was a radio DJ, so I guess I'm just continuing in the communication industry, just in a different form. I love talking Disney and I could talk about Disney all day. That's why I started blogging and created the Facebook group. The Disney community is full of friendly, helpful, and happy people...and I love being a part of it! If there is any Disney subject you would like to see covered just let me know! Need help planning your Disney vacation. Feel free to contact myself or Melissa at Never Stop Dreaming Travel Co. We love helping people plan their trips! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy! Don't forget to check out our Countdown to Disney app! Feel free to email me with suggestions of things you would like to see in the app :-)