Your expert guide to Disney Planning resources, with the best resources for helping to plan out your Disney World vacation.
Here’s a little secret Disney Dads (and Moms) keep close to their vests: planning a Disney vacation is fun! That’s one of the reasons we start planning “next time” on the ride back to the airport. But, like any other full-contact sport, Disney planning is more fun when we win!
That’s why we make the most of the resources available to help plan a Disney Parks trip, and so should you, whether you are planning your first Disney adventure or your twenty-first. It doesn’t matter if the trip you are planning is years away or if you are halfway up Main Street U.S.A. right now, you’ll be glad you added these to your planning toolbox!
Rope Drop Guide App
Maybe we’re a little biased, but we love the new Rope Drop Guide App, and know you will as well. It’s packed with features you need to plan the best Disney day ever, including crowd calendars built to provide accurate crowd levels by date, up to eight weeks in advance of your trip, allowing you to choose the best days to visit each park, see what the current wait times are in real time and get hourly breakdowns of crowd patterns to avoid peak times.
The Rope Drop Guide includes complete theme park hours and detailed schedules for parades and other live entertainment, complete access to all dining menus, plus an exclusive dining availability tracker that can help you score a last-minute table or a hard-to-get reservation at your favorite Disney restaurant.
What It Offers
Need your questions answered on the spot? Wish you had a genius-level Disney pal in your pocket? Well now you do with EP-B0T, Rope Drop Guide’s handy AI expert. Need a restaurant recommendation? How about a quick answer to the height requirements for your next ride? Whatever your question, EP-B0T is only a click away. Chat with EP-B0T for advice, planning tips, or even a joke while you navigate the parks.
What’s our favorite feature of the Rope Drop App? We are! Get the best Disney news and stories on your favorite device as you enjoy special access to all the news in a new and completely ad-free format. Plus, an integrated video player lets you explore the resort hotels and attractions before your next trip.
Rope Drop Guide is available in the Apple Store and on Google Play.
planDisney
If you’ve spent any time Googling the answers to questions you have when you start planning (and we all know you have), you have almost certainty availed yourself of the expertise of the planDisney panel.
The planDisney panel is an online resource created by Disney to connect guests (or soon-to-be-guests) who have questions with some people who have answers. These panelists are more Mouseketeer than Marketer. Not only are they not trying to sell you anything, they aren’t even Disney employees. They are “Guests who have mastered the art of planning Disney vacations” who earn a Disney vacation of their own by serving in this important role – helping others to have a magical Disney experience.
Photo by Cliff Wang
What it’s really like is having a relentlessly cheerful and smart best friend who is ready any time you are to drop everything and plan your adventure with you. Sound too good to be true? What if I told you that they can field questions about ALL the Disney Parks and more at an expert level?
And because your million questions are also mused upon by a million people, these question and answer sessions are held online, so the answers are abundantly searchable, which you’ve almost certainly done before and will do again!
An Expert Disney Travel Agent
It’s all very well and good to get helpful advice from an expert friend, but when it comes down to it you can’t beat having an expert Disney Travel Agent in your corner to help you navigate the complexities of booking a Disney holiday, ensure that you’re getting every savings opportunity that may come along and pulling the trigger on your behalf for those much-wanted reservations.
Here at Dad’s Guide to WDW, we are very fortunate to have a wonderful relationship with The Vacationeer, who are Diamond Level Earmarked Authorized Disney Vacation Planners and nearly as excited and passionate about your Disney trip as you are!
Having an expert Disney Travel Agent in your corner can make a big difference. I’m a do-everything-myself guy by nature, and it took me a while to fully understand the peace of mind you can enjoy by trusting a real trip-booking expert. Having direct contact makes a big difference. Someone who can watch for new savings and apply them to your vacation or can handle things for you if things go wrong. (Like a cancelled flight. How nice would it be to have someone else to fix that?)
I suppose at one point I assumed that we couldn’t afford a service like this. But, it costs you nothing! You don’t pay your Disney travel agent’s commission – Disney does. That kind of peace of mind and it costs you nothing? That’s the kind of trip-planning resource that you wish upon a star!
