Let’s face it: Even for the seasoned pros of two-week family vacations, cross-country road trips, and crack-of-dawn Main Street candy cane runs, planning a trip to the Disney Parks is always a little more stressful than we’d like it to be. Aside from the usual rigmarole of finding cheap airplane fares and affordable rental cars (not to mention the bane of every traveler’s existence—packing), there are Flight of Passage FASTPASS bookings to make, Be Our Guest reservations to score, hotel discounts to finesse, and park-hopping schedules to puzzle out.
It’s enough to make anyone’s head swim. Thankfully, you don’t always have to fall back on a travel agency to make sure that everything goes smoothly. Whether you’re tackling vacation planning for the first time or the hundredth, there are a plethora of apps and websites designed to help you not only reduce your pre-vacation stress, but make the whole thing enjoyable, too. Here are just a few to get you started…
1. Countdown+ Calendar (Lite)
Image: Ashley Varela
Price: Free
It can be a sweet kind of torture to watch the days tick down to your next vacation, but countdown apps actually have additional functions that can help you plan a more seamless Disney trip. While many free apps force users to upgrade to paid versions before they can create unlimited events or set specific reminders, Countdown+ Calendar (Lite) proves a rare exception in both categories.
Within the free version of this app, you can create dozens of events without hitting the $1.99 upgrade wall, giving you plenty of room to arrange those hotel, dining, and FASTPASS reservation slots. You can also set up reminders to ping your phone in advance, whether you need your memory jogged the week before, the day before, or half an hour before another crucial window opens.
As an added bonus, Countdown+ Calendar (Lite) gives users the option of opening a free account. This isn’t mandatory—you can still use all the functions of the app without signing up—but can be helpful if you’re coordinating plans with friends or family members, as it allows you to back up your events to the cloud and generate links to share your plans with those who need to be in-the-know.
2. Google Trips
Image: Ashley Varela
Price: Free
Google Trips is an indispensable tool when it comes to planning hybrid vacations—that is, trips that don’t necessarily begin and end with a Disney resort. Using the info from your linked email account, the Google Trips app will consolidate flight information and hotel reservations and give you a sample of all the local tourist spots, restaurants, and discounts in your area. Not only is this great for those who prefer not to over-plan, but it can also give you some interesting activities and eateries to check out that you may otherwise have missed. Even better, it’ll give you immediate access to Google Maps so that you can give directions to your Lyft driver or figure out the best walking path.
The one area in which Google Trips falls short is helping you construct a straightforward itinerary for all of your dining, transportation, and entertainment plans. The “Day plans” section of the app lets you add certain map markers to your day (and provides suggestions in lieu of actual plans, should you leave it blank), but you’ll have a difficult time trying to add each individual Disney Parks attraction and restaurant as not all of them are immediately recognized by Google Maps.
3. Trello
Image: Ashley Varela
Price: Free
My personal favorite, Trello is a versatile organization tool that works with Google to assist you with everything from packing to color-coding daily itineraries. Within Trello’s desktop client, you can create unlimited “boards” that enable you to compartmentalize your trip in a way that works best for you. For example, one board can help you make separate lists for packing your carry-on luggage, suitcases, and day bags, while another can allow you to structure each day’s dining, flight, and hotel reservations, FASTPASS bookings, entertainment options, and list of must-see attractions.
With Trello’s drag-and-drop feature, you don’t have to worry about setting your itinerary in stone with every click. Should plans need to be modified or scrapped, it takes minimal effort to shuffle things around—and you can always invite other friends and family to join your Trello “team” in order to keep track of things with you or offer their own input.
Like Countdown+ Calendar (Lite), Trello gives you the option of setting due dates in advance and syncing up your web calendar with iCal so you won’t forget to book a ride on Space Mountain or miss out on your next meal at the Blue Bayou. If, like me, you always get the nagging feeling that you’re forgetting something, you can also use the checklist feature to keep track of every minute detail.
Once you’re ready to hit the road, don’t forget to download the Trello app and take your carefully-constructed itinerary on the go!
4. Mouse Memo Trip Organizer
Image: Ashley Varela
Price: $1.99
Looking for a no-frills, no-fuss planning tool for your next jaunt to the Magic Kingdom? Look no further. The main shortcoming of Mouse Memo Trip Organizer is that it’s only designed to work for Walt Disney World vacationers, but its simple design and functionality are still well worth the $1.99 price tag if you have a long Orlando vacation in your future.
Mouse Memo tries to do much of the legwork for you, which is perhaps most convenient when planning your next meal at the resort. You can access a full list of restaurants at each of Disney’s four theme parks, as well as their 20+ hotels and Disney Springs shopping district. If you choose not to add your reservation confirmation number to the app, it’ll remind you to make a reservation later—a useful feature when you’re sketching out your first tentative itinerary. Just looking for general information? You can scroll through their “Restaurant Info” section to see the various price points, Disney Dining Plan credit options, and menus (via AllEars.net) available.
Using the same basic system, it’s equally easy to keep track of your entertainment options, at least when it comes to tours, cruises, theater shows, kids’ activities, and spa appointments.
Unfortunately, the app still has areas that could use some fleshing out, which makes it significantly less useful when it comes to planning a day at the parks. There’s no way to add attractions to your itinerary, for instance, and it’s more of a pain than a convenience to add multiple FASTPASS reservations to the app without the help of a drop-down menu. Even with these flaws, however, Mouse Memo is heads and tails better than most Disney-focused planning apps out there, and one of the easiest (and cheapest!) to set up prior to the start of your trip.
5. My Disney Experience and Disneyland
Image: Ashley Varela
Price: Free
No matter how brief or long your stay at a Disney park, the official Disney Parks apps—My Disney Experience for Walt Disney World and Disneyland for, well, Disneyland—are some of the most accessible and convenient out there. Not only do they give you a portable times guide and filtered map of the park, but they allow you to place mobile dining orders, make or modify sit-down reservations, organize and store PhotoPass snapshots, and keep track of your current and future FASTPASS bookings.
So why are these last on our list? Not because we don’t recommend using them, but because they reach peak usefulness once you’ve already embarked on your trip. Until then, you can pre-load your travel reservations by signing into the app via your Walt Disney World or Disneyland account. If you happen to be the sole person in charge of FASTPASS and dining bookings, make sure you add your ticket number and/or annual pass number to the app, as well as the ticket numbers for everyone in your party. If, on the other hand, you’re traveling with friends who prefer to manage their own plans separately, make sure that any group activities—a FASTPASS for Frozen Ever After, say, or a group dinner at Lamplight Lounge—are consolidated and taken care of before you step foot in the parks.
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What travel apps do you find indispensable for your Disney trips?
