Walt Disney World Plans

Disney Plans – What’s Next For Us!

I thought I would write a chatty little post discussing what our Disney plans are going to look like for the next year. We get a lot of questions asking, in light of the current awful global circumstances, if and when we will still be going. A lot of you reading this might have had their holidays cancelled. You may be in a similar position and will also be deciding what to do next! I would love to hear your plans in the comments. Will you be waiting until 2022 instead?

Walt Disney World

We were due to stay in Animal Kingdom Lodge this summer. A Free Disney Dining plan was booked and we were really excited at the prospect at staying in our first luxury accommodation. We had booked all our meals. And were really excited to be trying out some new sit down experiences including Story Book Dining. Of course due to what’s happened our holiday was cancelled. And in the scheme of what’s going on in the world a lost holiday is fairly minimal.

However we do love Disney so were looking forward to visiting again. TUI allowed us to change our holiday to 2021. Which was great. The new cost for a luxury accommodation was just out of our budget so we decided to pay a similar price for a value resort including Disney dining. Since then Disney has made a set of announcements which you can read here. That may impact our holiday. No park hopping, no fast passes, character meet and greets, masks for children over two and so on. And most importantly at the moment. No Disney dining.

What We Plan To Do

We have decided that we are just going to wait and see what happens. The full cost of our holiday does not have to be paid until the end of the year. By then all manner of things may have changed. So I am going to sit tight and wait to see how it pans out. I spent A LONG time yesterday booking what days we are going to be in the parks. For those visiting within the next year you now need to book a space in a park each day on your My Disney Experience app. I find for the best and most up to date information The Disney Food Blog has got everything covered. So I will be watching what transpires with interest. Also of course Tim Tracker will do some great videos I’m sure!

I am really hopeful that the Disney Dining package will come back in some capacity. For a family of four it really is the most cost effective way for us to eat. If we had a self catering apartment it may be slightly different. I will be keeping my fingers crossed! Like I’m sure a lot of you will do.

Disneyland Paris plans

Disneyland Paris

When we had a feeling that Walt Disney World would be cancelled we decided to put a deposit down on a holiday to Disneyland Paris in October. We decided not to fly, and will be driving instead. We are staying onsite (all the hotels are wonderful, let me know if you would like me to do reviews!) and there was a free Disney Dining plan on offer. I was really pleased yesterday to read their opening plans. It seems much more organised than Florida. If you are staying on site you get promised entry. Dining it still on and children under 11 don’t have to wear masks. Without parades, fireworks and character meet and greets will it still be magical? Only time will tell.

For those who still want the magic but are concerned about the cost of a Walt Disney World holiday, Disneyland Paris is lovely. I have been several times with and without children and had a great experience each time. Again I will be interested in how the parks will look with social distancing in place. And of course when we go I will give you a full run down of how we found it. I would really love to hear if you are planning on going “home” anytime soon. Also let me know if you like these chatty posts! They can become more of a regular thing. Have a magical day!

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33 thoughts on “Disney Plans – What’s Next For Us!”

  1. Found this post really interesting to read as I think it’s a complicated one for people to decide what to do. I think taking the dining plan away so far in advance is a big blow to anyone from the UK. It’s the only thing that makes WDW doable from our family of 4 perspective. I think DLP seem to be doing a much better job I think. So I’d be tempted to go there next year I think. Least it’s less cost for the less magic you’ll get. Any magic is needed for people at the moment though I think!

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    • I NEED ME SOME MAGIC! The lack of Disney dining and nowhere to cook or really store food in a Disney hotel is really making Stephen and I think about going elsewhere. Even LA – if we are going to pay for food we may as well pay for food somewhere new! x

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      • LA is AMAZING!! If you have never been? Then you should definitely go It is by far my most loved Disney parks we are lucky enough to have family who live 10 mins drive from the parks so we can go out to LA often but I would say go to LA and experience it (obv when the world becomes a lot safer to travel), it has the 2 parks like Paris and just so wonderful my Disney heart will always be in Anaheim. X

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      • Hi Emma

        I thoroughly recommend LA! We stayed at Knotts Berry Farm – Snoopy visits each morning at breakfast. There are free transfers – took about 20 mins. The California parks are my daughter’s favourites. They’re smaller but California Adventure has the Cars ride! We also took an Uber to Universal Studios and went as VIP’s – outstanding!
        We drove to San Diego for the 2nd part of our stay – favourite holiday ever! X

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  2. Loved reading this. We’ve just had our third baby so Disney was not on the cards for us this year but it makes me so sad that so much has to change and I just hope it returns to some sort of normal before our new little girl gets to go! We’ve been to Florida for the past two years with our 8 and 5 year olds and it was magical. We’ve always stayed outside in a villa and eaten out in restaurants and have found this a much cheaper way to do it! Don’t be scared of not staying on site and going to non Disney places to eat 😊. I’m trying to convince the hubby to go to DLP next but he says it’s not worth it and would rather go to Florida! We’ve decided not to go back to WDW next year (which was the plan) as I’m not sure it will be back to normal by then so bring on 2022 🥳

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    • We would defo do offsite. It would just mean we would lose our depost. CURSES! So we have to weigh up what would be more money. Congrats on the baby! How lovely!!! x

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  3. Great vlog. Which is your fave DLP hotel? We’ve stayed offsite mostly but looking for a cheeky replacement to our WDW hol and considering DLP instead. X

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    • We have stayed in most of them and they are all great. As a family we really like Newport but if you do have a little bit extra the Disneyland Hotel is magical! x

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      • Ooh the Disneyland hotel is the dream! Im honestly considering spending 1/2 nights there and then a couple of the nights off site to balance the cost. I had sequoia lodge on my list so I’ll have a look at Newport too! Xx

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  4. I feel really confused and a bit stressed to be honest! We’ve just booked for April 2021 and now I’m worried that we need to be in the system booking our parks already? I have seen posts online that state that you can’t make park reservations until you have paid the full amount for your holiday – we have only paid the deposit. Looking at Disney’s info online hasn’t made it any clearer to me either. 🙁

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    • We made reservations and have only paid the deposit! So go and try and link up your holiday to My Disney Experience and give it a try! x

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  5. Loved this! Thank you Emma. We were due to go to Paris in May but obviously we couldn’t, so we moved it to next May. I’m hoping by then things might look a little different. Loved your chatty style blogpost 😀

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  6. We should have been in WDW with free dining this August but we’ve had to push back to 2021 without dining and pay £300 more for the resort. Gutted as we’ve never had the DDP before and were excited to try all the snacks but at least were still going. Im hoping the park reservation system is gone by then and we can park hop again too.
    As for DLP we go every December but I really dont know what to do for the best this year, if we want to go, we need to book before the end of July to get the free food deal otherwise its really not affordable (this works out the cheapest option for us based on where we like to eat and stay) but my mum is really unsure about whether its a good idea. I just wish I had longer to decide.

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    • We paid a deposit? So maybe it is worth doing that – but you do run the risk of losing the money if you don’t want to go! x

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  7. Thanks for the chatty post, loved it. We were due to take our two girls for the first time in May. Devastated it didn’t happen but like you said, it’s nothing in the grand scheme of things. Staying off site we decided to cancel our holiday altogether but like you have looked at DLP for later this year. Would love reviews on the hotels from yourself.

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    • OK! I think in the next few weeks I will do a round up post of the hotels we have stayed in – they have all been great though! x

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  8. We’re planning our first Disney trip for next October with our six year old! He’s so excited already. We’re going to Paris so good to know if we stay on site, which is our plan, we don’t need to book days in the park as we are guaranteed entry. Disney dining sounds like a money saving plan though! Any other tips for a first timer with the family (been on my own with friends a couple times!) X

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    • There is a little post if you take a look at the Disneyland Paris posts. Obviously it will be a bit different now! So I will try and do a post with all the new changes on it! x

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      • Thank you Emma. I really wanted to go at Christmas but my husband is making us wait in the hope things may be a bit more normal by October . Xx

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  9. When you go to DLP do you upgrade your dining? Weighing up costs many times, i always found wdw although more expensive, better value for money for a 2 week holiday rather than a long weekend in DLP and have opted for WDW twice for our family of 5. Missing out on the magic is killing me tho so i am tempted to try DLP 3nights 4 days in DLP is creeping up to 2k upgraded dining and travel….but is it worth it for the magic fix that i need??

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    • I don’t think we have this time but I have in the past. The character meals are LOVELY but I’m not even sure they are doing them now. Maybe drive to take down the cost? I think overall WDW with free dining is better value! x

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  10. I love hearing other people’s disney plans! I have a WDW trip booked for April/May next year and it’s our honeymoon so keeping everything crossed that things are vaguely back to normal by then. Also hoping for a DLP hen do!!

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  11. I was supposed to do two trips this year including one to celebrate the big 3-0. I thought about rescheduling for the 50th next year but given that they aren’t even letting you book those dates I’ve decided to hold off until 2022. My logic is that I’ll have longer to save so I am going to go on a big blow out trip and stay in Animal Kingdom Lodge again.

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  12. Great post! I feel Super confused about Disney Dining. Our plan wasn’t free, we paid for it. However, I assumed it would be cancelled after the announcement. A few weeks after Disney’s announcement I finally got my invoice through (it took 8 weeks!) and the Dining Plan is still there. Plus I’ve not had a refund through. So who knows what’s happening!

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  13. We’ve been to Disneyland Paris twice in the last year with our two year old. Both times in Newport Bay. We were so lucky as the last time was in February so we just missed everything shutting down.
    We’ve booked Disneyland hotel for next February with full board. This is a dream of ours (mine) 😂. I was so looking forward to having the premium dining/ character dining and taking full advantage of it. I hope by then it’s will be somewhat more normal. My daughter sees Disneyland as a place she meets lots of different characters. She’ll be 3 the month after we’ve been so it’s not like I’ll be able to explain to her why they might not be there 🙁

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  14. Great blog post, we are looking at going to DLP in November this year to catch the start of the Xmas decorations going up, I notice on the DLP website you can now change or cancel your holiday up to 7 days before your stay without charges which is great, I agree DLP seem far more organised and customer focused

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  15. Its so difficult isn’t it. We wanted to do WDW 2021 but we decided not too. I know my kids wouldn’t cope with masks in that heat so as long as that’s a factor we wont go.
    Were hoping to do DLP in November this year but getting year annual pass and going as much as we can. Then do LA disneyland 2022 (I want to do all parks eventually so it would be one off the list) who knows what will happen.

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  16. Hi Emma,
    Rather than lose your deposit you should look at asking if they can book you a DVC studio or one bedroom villa. They have a sink, microwave, full fridge and toaster. This saves loads on breakfast and light lunches/dinners. It may be restricted because of COVID but you never know, there might be something in your time frame.

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  17. Hi Emma, I’ve just been looking at your blog & it’s so so nice to get some magical holiday vibes during these times! Unfortunately due to where we live & travel restrictions there will be no holidays again for us this year. We are usually an ‘off the beaten track’ kind of holiday type but I would love to take our two kids to DLP & Reading your blog has made me even more excited to try & get something booked. Thank you for a lovely uplifting read with my Sunday morning cuppa! X

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