OK… I’ve held off on doing one of my geek-level planning posts long enough. Many of you who visit this little corner of the internets are not Type A planners, don’t want to get up early on your vacation, and would rather just wander around the Disney Parks at your leisure and stand in long lines. I get it! (I don’t get it actually, but I understand that you exist.) If that’s you, then by all means, just go to the menu at the top of the page and go click on the “WDW Architecture” dropdown, and go enjoy some nerdy architecture post by me. But, if you do some semblance of a plan for your trip to Disney World (which I recommend), then let me urge you to consider how long things realistically take.

Underestimating how long things take on a Disney World trip is one of the biggest missteps that people take. And often, it’s the difference between an enjoyable day at the Parks, and an I’m-never-going-back kind of day.

While the concept is the same for both, planning realistically like this falls into two large categories: Getting to the Park, and Whilst (for my British friends) at the Park. Let’s look at these a bit closer. Hopefully I can convince you that it helps to have a realistic plan relative to how long things take at Disney World.

Getting to the Park

If you’ve read this post, you know that the most important tip for your Disney World vacation is to get to the parks early. And if you haven’t read that post, then what in the world are you waiting for? Well, in order to get to the Parks early enough to make a measurable difference in your wait times, you need to truly understand how long certain things take in the morning. Specifically, we’ll look at: getting ready at your hotel / airbnb / timeshare, using transportation to get to your park of choice, and arriving at the park itself.

Maybe you think this isn’t a big deal. And if you are all about the leisurely vacation, then none of this matters, and you should just focus on my architecture posts. But, for those who intend to maximize their day at Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, or Animal Kingdom, I will tell you that underestimating the time it takes to wake up and get to the Parks is the biggest obstacle to overcome. Get this under control, and you are likely to enjoy your day 327%* more… guaranteed! (*results may vary)

Getting ready in the morning at Disney (Geek-level Plan)

Look – I have no idea what your family’s typical morning routine is like. And if I did, you’d be pretty creeped out. But, I’m pretty sure that you INTEND to be efficient with your morning in your hotel. At least on most mornings, you are trying to get to one of the four Disney Parks to enjoy rides, characters, and shows. And so, assuming you understand the value of arriving early, you are going to want to understand what your family is capable of.

“How long do we need to wake up and get out the door?” Answering that question depends on several factors:

• How are you planning on having breakfast? In the room? At your hotel’s restaurant or food court? At the park? The first option (room) can take little time, whereas others can take much longer.
• What’s the showering/bathing situation? Is everyone in your party showering in the morning? Or are some showering the night before? Or just skipping hygiene this particular day? This can be the difference between getting ready in 20 minutes or 90 minutes.
• Do you have little kids / babies in your party? It may not be obvious to some of you, but children can cause even the most punctual families to be 30 minutes late to school/church/work/weddings/funerals/anything.
• Is your family capable of hustling in the morning? Don’t take offense… I’m just sayin’… if you know, then you know.

For my family of 4, I typically assume we need a bare minimum of 45 minutes. And that’s if I’m the only one showering, and we’re eating a quick cereal-and-fruit breakfast in the room. It’s probably more like 60-75 minutes if another person or two is showering. And if we’re doing breakfast at the food court instead, I usually allocate another 30 minutes or so.

Transportation (walking from room / commuting / walking to the entrance) at Disney (Geek-level Plan)

Actually getting TO the Disney World Park of your choice might be the part of your trip where having a plan can make the biggest impact. Getting back to your hotel or home at the end of the day matters less because you aren’t trying to rope drop your bed. (I need a GIF for that I think.)

Now, there are so many variables, that there is no one-size-fits-all rule for how much time to allot. I have a separate “Deep-Dive” post on this because I think understanding all of the various options and ramifications is critical.

At this point, let’s just say that HOW you’re getting to the Park can make a HUGE difference in your morning timing. Did you rent a car? Are you using Uber or Lyft? Are you using Disney World transportation, like buses? How far is your mode of transportation from your room? You simply have to consider these things, and understand their impact on your morning.

Bag check / entry at Disney (Geek-level Plan)

There’s another thing to take into account: how long it takes to get through security and the tap-stiles. The truth is, if you’re there as early as I recommend, then this will only take a minute or two beyond the waiting for the Park to actually open. But, if you’re there right at opening time instead, then you might wait 10-15 minutes to get through the line to enter the Park. Just so you know.

whilst At the Park

Once at Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, or Animal Kingdom, it pays to be realistic about how long things take as well. If you are trying to plan your Disney trip ahead of time using www. touringplans.com, or some equivalent software, website, or book, that’s a good start. But, I’ve found that for touringplans.com, for instance, it can suggest that you can accomplish more in your day than is realistically possible. Meals can take longer than they say depending on how long you have to wait for your food. And while walking between attractions, touringplans.com can’t know whether you’ll need to stop for a bathroom break, to reapply sunscreen, or to stop and take a photo of Cinderella Castle.

Now, of course it’s impossible to pre-plan your entire day. This isn’t Minority Report. But, I’ve found that my actual day comes MUCH closer to my planned day when I think realistically about these things.

Meals at Disney (Geek-level Plan)

Let’s talk meal times at the Parks.

Table Service

If you have an Advanced Dining Reservation (ADR) for a Table Service restaurant, like Le Cellier at Epcot, or The Hollywood Brown Derby at the Studios, then you need to ask yourself how long your family / party takes to eat at a sit-down restaurant back at home.

At Disney World, the restaurants try to turn tables pretty quickly. So you are more likely to feel rushed, rather than feel like it’s taking too long. If you are eating at peak times, or at very popular restaurants, then you very well might wait 10 to 20 minutes (or more) to be seated, even with your ADR. But most of the time I’ve been seated relatively quickly. So, bank on a small wait, and then use your judgment as to how long you typically spend at a restaurant. I usually assume 60 to 75 minutes for my table service meals. Buffets or Character Meals may take a bit longer in my experience.

Quick Service

For Quick Service restaurants, like Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe at Magic Kingdom or Flame Tree Barbecue at Animal Kingdom, I think of 3 things when I’m planning out meal times: how long the wait is to get my food, how long it takes to eat my food, and whether I’m going to just simply need some downtime or rest.

I’ll also likely do a more detailed post on this at some point. Again, ask yourself how long it takes for your family to eat at McDonald’s or Chick-fil-a. 15 to 20 minutes? A half-hour? An hour? And if it’s 11:15 a.m. at Chick-fil-a, you probably can walk right in and get your food in less than 5 minutes. But, if it’s 12:30 p.m., you’re going to wait 15 to 20 minutes for your food.

Well, it’s the same at Disney World. If you eat at “off-hours” (before 11:30 a.m. / between 1:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. / after 7:30 p.m.) you will likely have a short wait. If you eat at peak meal hours however, you may wait a very long time in line. Even with the very convenient Mobile Ordering, there is usually a small wait if you eat off-hours, and potentially a longer wait if you eat at peak hours.

How long it takes to actually eat your food is something only you know. Just be realistic about it.

And, there may be times when because of how the rest of your day goes, you may just want to eat very leisurely in order to recharge. In that case, like if you’re going in July and you just KNOW that you’re going to be half-dead by dinner time, you may want to plan for that longer meal in the air conditioning.

I usually plan for 30 to 40 minutes for Quick Service meals when eating off-peak.

In Between Attractions at Disney (Geek-level Plan)

You can use a few tools to figure out how long it’s going to take to walk between attractions, shows, or restaurants. If you subscribe to touringplans, then their plans will tell you how long it takes. You can even choose your walking pace. Alternatively, you can use Google Maps for directions, and just use the “walking” setting. I’ve used Google Earth the same way, and used the distance measuring tool. Google Maps uses the default pace of 5 minutes per 1/4-mile walk. That’s a 20-minute per mile pace. Your mileage may vary.

But, regardless of the tool you use, you will UNDOUBTEDLY experience some longer times than what you’ve calculated. Why? You will have to use the bathroom at times, I assume. Or it may be that a child’s diaper needs to be changed. You may have to reapply sunscreen. You may just want to people watch or take in the theming. Or, maybe a parade interrupts your route… You get the point. You can’t perfectly plan. But you should not expect that you will dart unabatedly between rides, shows, and characters all day.

So, I plan some flex time into periods of the day to account for this. It’s never perfect. But, I try to think these things through when making a plan for my Disney trip.

Taking a Break at Disney (Geek-level Plan)

Lastly – and this too deserves a much longer post – taking a mid-day break is a great idea for at least a day or two of your vacation. But, please don’t underestimate how long that break might take. If you are in Fantasyland at Magic Kingdom and want to go back to your room at All-Star Movies, to nap or go for a swim, it could take a very long time to even get to your hotel room. If you drove, it could take 7 minutes to get the Park exit, 5 minutes to wait for a monorail, 10 minutes to get to Transportation and Ticket Center, 10 minutes to get to and wait for a parking tram, 10 minutes to get to your car, 13 minutes to drive to the resort, and 5 minutes to get to your room. That’s 60 minutes… sixty…

So, if you only planned a two-hour break, you might be turning around immediately to head back out. (You can at least look at the pool on your way back to your car). Taking the bus may cut that time in half at the Magic Kingdom; even more so if a bus was waiting for you when you got there.

But, taking the same break from Animal Kingdom, which is much closer to All-Star Movies, would take far less – car or bus. We’re talking maybe 25 minutes. The point is, understand how long it takes to do the various steps to get to and from your hotel. Then, you can know how long to plan a break for.

conclusion

OK that’s it. Let me know your thoughts in the comments. I’m sure there are some who stress out even thinking of these things and would rather just be more spontaneous. That is totally OK. Just admit that you aren’t as concerned about maximizing your day, and minimizing the lines, and enjoy yourself!

But, for the rest of you, I hope this helps a bit. For our trips, it has made a big difference in how our days play out. You can’t perfectly plan your day – it is simply not achievable. But, you can plan your Disney trip and still be flexible. That will optimize your day at the Park.

Happy Planning!