A Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando vacation planner

Your whole Disney trip, priced and planned before you book.

Free: a line-by-line trip total from seven questions, about two minutes. Subscription: the plan that total pays for, built from the same answers.

See my free trip total Read a finished sample trip

No account or card for the total. Your answers stay in this browser, and an email sign-in keeps them on any device. The plan is from $12.99 a month.

Sample family · Dec 6 to 12 · 2 adults, kids 5 and 8Finished plan

Trip total, every line labeled

$10,689

Resort, Polynesian Village, 6 nights

Estimate $5,953

Park tickets, 4-day

Estimate $2,818

Dining, 19 meals

Estimate $1,490

Lightning Lane, 2 park days

Estimate $307

Airport transfer

Published $122

Flights and extras

Yours $0

Tue, Dec 8 · Hollywood Studios, from the same answersPark day

8:30Rise of the Resistance at park openingPlanned
9:34Slinky Dog Dash, skipping the line on the day's Multi Pass ($31 a person for the day)In the total
11:52Sci-Fi Dine-In lunch, $98 for fourIn the total
1:07Back to the resort: pool or napRest

What the plan covers

Every decision on the trip, in the right order, with the price next to it.

Free: your total. Subscription: the plan that total pays for. The order matters: the hotel comes first, because Disney's dining and Lightning Lane booking windows count from your check-in date.

1Before booking
- Your trip totalFreeEvery line labeled Published, Estimate or Yours
- When to goFreeEvery month and your week rated on weather, crowds and ticket price
- HotelPlanDisney and Universal hotels priced for your nights, split stays too. You book; the planner never does.
- TicketsPlanDisney's dated prices, multi-day placed in the published range; Universal bundles
- DiningPlanEvery meal from the menu for your party, and the Disney Dining Plan priced against it
- Lightning Lane and ExpressPlanBuy or skip, per park day, with the minutes saved
- Special eventsPlanParties, After Hours and the Candlelight Processional dining packages in your dates
2Before you leave
- Booking windowsPlanDining at 60 days, Lightning Lane at 7, tickets linked the night before, each a calendar event
- Packing listPlanFrom the forecast for your dates and the ages in your party
- The trip guidePlanEvery day of the trip in one printable PDF that works with no signal
3In the parks
- Park days, hour by hourPlanAround your kids' heights, with rest breaks and walking times
- On the dayPlanLive waits, what is down and what to do instead, a rain plan, and the day rebuilt if you are running late

How it works

Three steps. One plan you can take into the parks.

01 · Free · about two minutes

Tell us your dates and your family

Dates or a month, who is coming, what is already booked, what you want to do. Then your free trip total with every line labeled, and every month rated on weather, crowds and price.

02 · Subscribers

Make it your plan, one decision at a time

Hotel first. Then park days with their dated ticket price, every meal priced from the menu, and whether Lightning Lane or Universal's Express Pass is worth buying each day. Reservations you already hold are typed in and marked as yours; the planner never books anything.

03 · Subscribers

Take one guide into the parks

Each park day hour by hour on your phone, booking windows on your calendar, a packing list from the weather, live waits on the day, and the whole thing as a PDF.

See it work

The free step, then the plan, recorded from the real planner.

Both clips are the planner as it runs today, unedited, with the same sample family.

Free, 36 seconds. The seven questions and the first total: $8,261, with a moderate resort assumed.

Subscriber, 33 seconds. The family's plan at the Polynesian ($10,689), the hotel switched to Pop Century, the total falling to $6,290, then a park day and the guide.

The planner on a phone: Monday at Magic Kingdom, rope-drop day 8:30 am to 10 pm, 12 rides, 1.9 miles walked, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at 8:30 then Peter Pan's Flight on Lightning Lane — In the park, on a phone: Monday at Magic Kingdom, hour by hour.

The trip guide: December 6 to 12, six nights, trip total $10,689 split into published and estimate, then the confirmations table — The trip guide: the total, where each dollar comes from, and the confirmations table you fill in. It prints as a PDF.

12parts of the trip in one plan, from the trip total to the last park day

3booking windows put on your calendar: dining, Lightning Lane, ticket linking

194Disney World menus from Disney's own pages, every meal period

2 yearsof daily Lightning Lane prices, matched to your dates

One change, everywhere

Set a target. Change the hotel. The whole plan moves with it.

The sample family set a $7,000 target and chose the Polynesian. Every line says where it came from: Published taken from a named source on a stated date, Estimate arithmetic on published figures with assumptions you can change, Yours a number you typed.

BeforePolynesian Village Resort

ResortStandard room from the published minimum $839, lifted 5% for December, 6 nights, 12.5% tax

Estimate $5,953

Trip totalTickets, dining, Lightning Lane and the transfer

$10,689

Against the $7,000 target

$3,689 over

AfterPop Century Resort

ResortStandard room from the published minimum $219, lifted 5% for December, 6 nights, 12.5% tax

Estimate $1,554

Trip totalSame tickets, meals, Lightning Lane and transfer

$6,290

Against the $7,000 target

$710 under

The park days keep their rides, the dining windows move with the new check-in, and the guide updates. Or ask the planner "How do we save $500 without changing hotels?" and it proposes the change with the budget before and after, which you apply or keep. What it cannot know, it says: it does not see availability or discounts, and a hotel with no published rate asks for your quote. See the methodology

Park days and in the park

A day-by-day plan, with a fallback for every ride that goes down.

Park hours, your must-do rides, kids' heights, dining reservations, crowd forecasts and walking times, built into a schedule you can follow on your phone. Statuses like "Reserved" are yours to mark: the planner tells you when each booking window opens and never books for you.

Disney's four parks, Universal's three, and the water parks
On the day: live waits, what is down and the nearest open alternative, indoor stops moved up when rain is forecast, the day rebuilt if you are running late
Edit anything: pace, order, skips, rest blocks for the under-sixes

Tue, Dec 8 · Hollywood Studios8:30 am to 9 pm

8:30Rise of the Resistance, right at park opening ("rope drop"), 36 min waitPlanned
9:34Slinky Dog Dash on the day's Multi PassLightning Lane
11:28Rock 'n' Roller Coaster with Rider Switch: one adult rides while the other waits with the 42-inch child, then they swapLightning Lane
11:52Sci-Fi Dine-In lunch, $98 for fourBook at 60 days
1:07Back to the resort: pool or nap, three hoursRest
8:13Fantasmic!Planned

The Multi Pass (about $31 a person that day) and the $98 lunch both sit in the $10,689 total. 70° / 50°, 30% chance of rain: the indoor stops are ready to move up.

Dining

Every meal, priced from Disney's menu before you sit down.

Name the restaurant and the meal. Each adult gets an appetizer, a main, dessert and drinks at that menu's averages, or just the mains; each child a kids' meal. Switch to the exact dishes if you already know what you will order. Tax and tip included, and what the places next door would cost the same party.

Menus for 194 Disney World restaurants from Disney's own pages, every meal period; Universal's from TouringPlans, labeled
Character meals at Disney's published adult and child prices
The Disney Dining Plan, 2026 and 2027 tiers, priced for your nights against the meals you picked
Candlelight Processional dining packages with every restaurant's price

Dining · Hollywood Studios · table serviceSci-Fi Dine-In Theater

Estimate, lunch, mains only, 2 adults and 2 kids

$97.93

About $24 a person, 6.5% tax and an 18% tip included

2 adult mains, average of 9 on Disney's menu ($21 to $33)

$53

2 kids' meals, average of 5 ($12 to $14)

$26

Tax and tip

$19

Add the rest of the menuAppetizers average $14.50, desserts $8.70, drinks $6.83, cocktails $24.35; tick what your table would order and the line updates

Lightning Lane and Express Pass

The part everyone dreads, decided for you.

Lightning Lane is Disney's paid way to skip the regular line. Multi Pass is the day's bundle of return times for most rides; a few headliners sell their own. The planner looks at each park day, the rides your kids are tall enough for and the expected waits, then says buy or skip, with the estimated minutes it saves. At Universal it does the same for Express Pass, and knows when your hotel includes it.

An estimate for your exact date: the comparable day in a prior year, plus the measured rise
Worth it or skip it, per park day, with the minutes saved (an estimate from expected waits)
Booking window on your calendar: 7 days out for resort guests, 3 days off-site

The verdict, per park dayMon, Dec 7 · Magic Kingdom

Buy Multi Pass

About $41 a person, $175 for four with tax. Saves an estimated 142 minutes in line for a party with a 42-inch rider. First three at 7 am: Tiana's Bayou Adventure, Haunted Mansion, Winnie the Pooh.

Same week, 2024$35Mon, Dec 9

Measured rise7.9%a year, this park

Mon, Dec 7, 2026$41our estimate, $34 to $41

Multi Pass, Magic Kingdom, per person, before tax. Daily posted prices July 2024 to today, matched by week and weekday with the holidays moved to their dates in each year (Thrill Data).

Universal Orlando, two park days in December, family of fourExpress Pass, decided

Express Unlimited, boughtUniversal Studios and Islands of Adventure, about $341 a person a day from observed 2026 quotes placed for December

Estimate $2,728

Included with Portofino BayPremier hotels (Portofino Bay, Hard Rock, Royal Pacific) include Unlimited Express for those two parks; rooms from $577 a night

Published $0

Cabana Bay, from $150 a nightNo Express included; the planner prices both whole stays side by side so you can see which is cheaper for your nights

Estimate Compared

Before you leave

Outputs you can act on, not tools to learn.

Answer the questions once. Everything below is produced for your trip, your party and your dates, and it lands in one guide you can print or keep open on your phone in the park.

The trip guide, day by day

Arrival to departurePDF

Every day of the trip: the hour-by-hour park days, rest days with their meals, a confirmations table you fill in, and a packing line. Download it as a PDF the night before you fly.

Booking windows, on your calendar

Dining: 60 days out, 6 am ETAdd to calendar

Lightning Lane opens 7 days before the first park day for resort guests; tickets get linked the night before. Each one is a calendar event with the Disney link inside. The first thing to decide is the hotel, because the windows run from check-in, and the planner says so.

A packing list from the weather

December, 7 days, one under six31 items

Highs near 73, lows near 54, a third of years wet: a light jacket for fireworks, two ponchos each, the stroller fan dropped, the water park section added because you said yes.

Hotels, compared on the whole stay

Pop Century, 6 nightsTax included

Disney and Universal hotels with their transport, pool, signature restaurants and who they suit, priced for your nights with the tax included. Split stays priced without double counting. No published rate? It asks for your quote.

Read the finished sample trip

Sources, limits and who keeps it current

Built by people who check numbers for a living.

The biggest Disney fans in venture capital, who spend their working lives checking figures before money moves. Menus come from Disney's own pages, ticket prices from Disney's dated calendar, Lightning Lane from two years of daily posted prices, hotel rates from published planning ranges, and every page says when its numbers were last checked. What the planner cannot know, it labels: it does not see availability or discounts, and a price in Disney's checkout always beats anything here.

Changed this week

Oct 13Disney's own menus recaptured for 194 Walt Disney World restaurants; add-ons under $2 left out of the averages.
Oct 13Candlelight Processional 2026 dining packages added, all 17 restaurants, ahead of the Oct 14 booking day.
Oct 132027 Disney Dining Plan tiers added, including the returning Deluxe plan; 2026 Kids Eat Free kept for 2026 trips.
Oct 12Disney's ticket calendar re-read through October 2027.

Every source, every date, every limitation

Against the alternatives

Other apps cover a piece of the trip. This one covers it from the booking dates to the last park day.

What you get	The Happiest Planner	Disney's own app	TouringPlans	Blogs and crowd calendars
The full trip total before you book	Yes, every line labeled Published, Estimate or Yours	Only what you have already bought	No; crowd and touring focus	Generic calculators, not your dates or party
Meal-by-meal prices for your party	Yes, from Disney's menus, with tax and tip	Menus, no totals	Menus and ratings, no party totals	Price ranges
Lightning Lane: worth it, per day	From the comparable day's price, with minutes saved	Sells it	Touring plans assume it	Opinion pieces
A park day built around your kids	Heights, breaks, walking times, what to do when a ride is down	No	Optimized touring plans, strong	Printable templates
Booking windows, packing, the guide	On your calendar, from the forecast, one PDF	Reminders for some windows	Touring plans only	Checklists
Live wait times	Yes, inside your day plan	Yes	Yes, in the Lines app	Some
Price	From $12.99 a month or $49 a year	Free	Annual subscription	Free

Already using Disney's app or a crowd calendar? Keep them. This planner adds the spending math and the coordination. TouringPlans is the established touring-plan subscription and the right pick if optimized ride order is what you want; it does not price the trip. The descriptions of other services are ours, as of October 2026.

Pricing

Free to pick your dates. A subscription to plan the trip.

Disney and Universal change menus, hotel rates, park hours and skip-the-line prices all year, and your trip changes too. The planner keeps up. Pick the destination, then plan by the month or take the year. Already subscribed? Sign in on any device with your receipt email.

Free trip total

Free

Your first-pass total and the month guide. No card, no account.

Your first-pass trip total for your dates and party, every line labeled
Every month rated on weather, crowds and price
Your dates or your month, with the cheaper nearby weeks
A complete sample trip to inspect

Start free

Monthly

$12.99a month

Plan for a few months, cancel from the planner in two clicks when you are home.

Every Disney hotel, priced for your nights
Dated tickets, every meal from the menu, Lightning Lane estimates and whether to buy
The budget to the dollar, labeled and printable
Park days hour by hour, live waits, Today at Disney
Reviews, packing list, booking windows on your calendar
Data that keeps updating

Subscribe monthly

Seven questions first, then your free total, then you pay.

A year for less than four months

Annual

$49a year

For two trips, or one you plan slowly, with the in-park pages all year.

Everything in Monthly
A year for less than four monthly payments ($49 against $51.96)
Live waits and the in-park pages for every visit this year
Renews yearly until you cancel; turn renewal off any time and keep the year you paid for

Subscribe yearly

Seven questions first, then your free total, then you pay.

One destination is $12.99 a month or $49 a year. Disney World and Universal Orlando together: $17.99 a month or $69 a year. Switch between them any time; the change is prorated.

Have a code?Then pick a plan; it is applied at checkout.

Secure checkout by Stripe. Renews until you cancel; no refunds for partial periods. Cancel from the Budget page and the planner stays open to the end of the paid period. Sign in with your receipt email on any device. Travel advisors: a professional plan is coming; join the waitlist at the end of the page.

Questions

Before you decide

Is my free total saved?

Yes, in the browser you used, with no account. To keep it on another device, sign in with your email and a six-digit code (free), or use "Send to my phone". Nothing is lost when you subscribe; the plan starts from the same answers.

What do rope drop, Lightning Lane, Multi Pass and Rider Switch mean?

Rope drop: being at the park when it opens, when waits are shortest. Lightning Lane: Disney's paid way to skip the regular line. Multi Pass: the day's Lightning Lane bundle for most rides, bought per person per day; a few headliners sell a Single Pass instead. Rider Switch: when a child is too short to ride, one adult rides while the other waits with the child, then they swap without queuing again. Express Pass: Universal's version of skipping the line, included at its Premier hotels.

Does this book anything?

No. You book hotels, tickets, dining and Lightning Lane in Disney's or Universal's own app or site. The planner tells you what to expect, when each booking window opens (on your calendar), and lets you mark what you have reserved.

Can I bring in reservations I already have, and edit the plan?

Yes, by typing them in: the intake asks what is booked (hotel, tickets, dining) and those become "Yours" lines and Reserved stops. Nothing is imported automatically from Disney or Universal, so a confirmation email is the thing to have open. Every page is editable afterward: swap the hotel, move or skip rides, change pace, add or remove meals, set rest blocks. Changes flow through the budget, the day plans and the guide at once.

What happens after I pay?

You answer the seven questions first and see your free total; paying opens everything with those answers already in it: hotels priced for your nights, tickets and park days, dining, Lightning Lane and Express Pass estimates, special events, transportation, the hour-by-hour park days, the budget, the packing list, live waits and the printable guide.

Does it work on my phone in the park?

Yes. Plan on a laptop, then sign in on your phone with your email and a six-digit code, or use "Send to my phone" for a link that opens the whole plan. The Today at Disney page shows live waits, what is down and what to do instead. The PDF guide works with no signal at all.

How fresh is the data?

Wait times are live, refreshed every five minutes. Park hours come from Disney's published calendar as it is released. Ticket prices are Disney's calendar for every date through October 2027. Lightning Lane estimates use daily posted prices from July 2024 to the latest Disney has posted. Menus are from Disney's own pages, October 2026. Every page says when its numbers were checked, and the methodology lists each source.

Which ticket types are supported?

One-day tickets are priced from Disney's calendar for your exact dates. Two or more park days are priced as Disney's multi-day ticket, positioned by your dates within Disney's published range, with a Park Hopper toggle. Universal days are priced as the bundle Universal sells for that many days. If you already have tickets, say so and they stay out of the budget.

Monthly or annual? Disney, Universal or both?

One destination is $12.99 a month or $49 a year; Disney World and Universal Orlando together are $17.99 a month or $69 a year. Most families plan for two to four months, so monthly usually comes to $26 to $52 for a trip, and you cancel when you are home. Annual is the better deal if you go more than once a year, plan far ahead, or want the in-park pages for every visit. Switch between Disney, Universal and Both, or between monthly and annual, any time from the billing page; Stripe prorates the difference.

Can I cancel? What happens to my plan afterward?

Cancel any time from the Budget page ("Manage or cancel" opens Stripe's billing page); the planner stays open until the end of the period you paid for, and the PDF guide you downloaded is yours to keep. Your answers and the free total stay in the free pages. There are no refunds for partial months or years. The free total, the recording and the sample trip are there so you can judge it before you pay. If a charge went through and the planner never unlocked, email hello@thehappiestplanner.com with your receipt.

Is this Disney?

No. The Happiest Planner is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by The Walt Disney Company or Universal. Nothing here is a Disney quote; you book everything in their own checkout, and the planner tells you what to expect before you get there.

Start with what you can spend. Plan what you will do.

Seven questions, then your free trip total and the month guide. Subscribe when you are ready to build the plan.

See my free trip total See the sample trip

No account, no card for the free total. Travel advisors and other destinations: join the waitlist below.