How to Create the Best Disney World Touring Plans for Grandparents

As you research the best way to take in the sites at Disney World with your grandkids, you’ll find plenty of cookie-cutter touring plans available to you. It’s true that a good touring plan will guide you in making sure you hit the attractions you want to hit, and help you skip the longest lines, but many of these cookie cutter plans simply won’t work for what your grandkids want. These tips will help you create your perfect touring plan quickly and easily.

1. Decide which park to visit on which day

With the Disney reservation system this is actually easier than it used to be as you have to make a reservation for the parks that you want to visit first. If you choose Park Hopper tickets you only have to make reservations at the theme park you visit in the morning and after 2pm you can hop to any of the other three parks you wish to visit, but if you choose base tickets you’ll be limited to one park per day.



Generally speaking, you want to skip the parks that have Extra Magic Hours. These hours are available only to those staying at Disney resorts, and though they seem like an advantage at first glance, they actually translate to larger crowds all day. You can find a number of crowd calendars that predict how busy each park will be on which day. Use these to decide which parks will work best for you on each day.

2. Write down your list of 3 must-dos in each park

Next you’ll take a look at all the rides and attractions in each park. Do your research to make sure that your grandkid are tall enough for each ride, and make sure they’re otherwise age appropriate. Then make a list with the top 3 must-dos for each park. Create another list of rides you’d like to see if you have time and put them in order from most interested in to least interested in. In 2022, Disney did away with the Fast Pass and they implemented a new reservation systems for rides called Genie Plus. When you are in the Disney App linking your tickets to your account, go ahead and make a reservation at your three can't miss attractions.

3. Hit the most popular rides right when the park opens

Disney pros call park opening “rope drop”. This doesn’t refer to the posted opening times in all cases. Often the parks will open up to 15 minutes before the official opening time. Your best bet is to get to the parks 30 minutes before the official opening and line up at the tapstiles. Then immediately head to the busiest attractions. This will be the best time to avoid lines – even on the super-popular rides like the 7 Dwarves Mine Train.

4. Stick to the least popular in the middle of the day

The busiest times in the parks will be from around 11 am – dinner time. Some parks will be busy on some days through to whenever the fireworks are – sometimes 8 and sometimes 9. Hit the least popular rides during these busy times. The best times for the smallest crowd sizes is between 4:30pm and 7pm.