Booking Disney World Holidays From The UK
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Booking a Disney World holiday from the UK means choosing one of three options, booking a package, separately, or a hybrid booking where you book some bits in a package and other parts separately. There’s not a right way to book, and the best option isn’t a one-size fits all, it can even change from holiday to holiday.
This page offers an overview of the entire booking process to clear up what is essential and what’s optional with a handy checklist. It does not deep dive into how to book each part, but rather gives you the complete booking journey for UK holidays to Disney World.
What do you book for a Disney World Holiday from the UK?
Booking a Disney World holiday from the UK involves booking the essentials, and then deciding whether you want to book any of the optional extras. This is my Disney World booking checklist:
Booking | Essential | Depends on |
|---|---|---|
Passport | Yes | Essential, check the expiry date before booking |
ESTA | Yes | Eligibility can vary, but this is usually the Visa requirement for most UK visitors entering the US. Always check first |
Flights | Yes | Decide between direct or indirect, bundling as part of a package holiday |
Accommodation | Yes | Booking separately for multi-resort stays, on-site vs off-site, booking a package |
Disney Tickets | Yes | Buy separately or as part of a package |
Airport transfers in the UK | Yes | How you get to the airport |
Airport Transfers in Orlando | Yes | Hotel location / amount of baggage / how you plan to get around while on holiday |
Car hire | No | where you’re staying / what level of flexibility you want to explore |
Disney Dining Plan | No | If it’s booked / only if staying on-site |
Other theme park tickets or special event tickets | No | Visiting any other attractions or doing seasonal parties |
Advanced Dining Reservations | No | Important for dining plan and if you want specific Disney Dining experiences |
Lightning Lanes | No | Park touring plans / number of days |
Disney special experiences | No | Holiday plans |
Travel Insurance | Strongly recommended |
The first step I advise to make sure you have a valid passport for your holiday dates then to secure an ESTA, and then you can get on with booking your holiday, by deciding how you’ll book.
Decide how you want to book your Disney World holiday
The first step when booking a Disney World holiday is to decide how you want to book the essential parts of your holiday: your flights and your accommodation. For some Disney World booking options this includes booking Disney World park tickets for daily entry and dining plans too, especially if you’re taking advantage of an early booking offer or looking to minimise booking reference numbers.
How you book | What you book | Booking benefit with this option |
|---|---|---|
Package holiday | Flights, hotel, & tickets in one booking, with possible extras like car hire | One reference, simple |
Hybrid DIY: Book some parts in a package and some separate | Hotel and tickets package in one booking Flights in a separate booking | Good for offers, flight flexibility |
All DIY: hotel, tickets and flights all in separate bookings | Everything booked separate | Lots of confirmation emails to keep track of, but possible savings |
Deciding whether to book everything separately or book a package is the first big decision to make, and sometimes a hybrid option of packaging some parts as a package and booking others separately is the best route. From personal experience, how you book Disney World changes every holiday, varying based on what you are looking to experience as part of your holiday. To weigh up your choices read our guide about choosing to book Disney World as a package or all separately.
What’s the best way to book Disney World?
The best way to book Disney World depends on how you want to structure your holiday, how many days you plan to spend in Disney World, and whether you want help from a travel agent to book and bring it all together in as few bookings as possible. There are many travel agents and vendors, but who you choose is tied to the decision you make about booking a package or separately. You can book flights with or without accommodation:
- by the person booking the holiday: they pick and put everything together to create their own holiday
- by a travel agent who acts as a middle man between the companies and the person booking, but brings everything together in one package you buy. This includes big travel agents like Virgin Atlantic Holidays and Independent travel agents who offer a more personalised service
- by the Walt Disney World Travel Company who act are Disney World’s direct booking team in the UK, and the service is similar to that of a travel agent.
I prefer booking with Disney Direct when the plan is to stay on-site and spend the majority of the holiday at Disney World and will often book a package. If you want a split stay and to bring together a package holiday an independent travel agent can help with multi-resort stays which is helpful when you have only been once or twice. Booking everything separately gives more flexibility, especially if you’re moving resorts from Disney to Universal or an off-site property.
Booking protections
When you book a package holiday in the UK there are additional holiday protections, and the type of holiday you book depends on what extra protection you get. In the UK ABTA and ATOL protections are common, and you can read about the differences between the two for Orlando holidays at ABTA vs ATOL: What Protection Does It Offer On Orlando Holidays?
When’s The Best Time To Book Disney World Holidays From The UK?
Anytime! But 12-18 months before your Disney World holiday is often the best time to book because this is when booking options first start opening up. Booking parts of your holiday as they become available gives the best date choices, best availability, and sometimes price. If you’re looking to get the best offers, pay in instalments, you need to holiday during specific dates, (like fixed school holiday dates), and you like having the holiday to look forward to, it’s the booking sweet spot.
Booking a package holiday
There are different types of package holiday you can book to Disney World from the UK and each has specific benefits and downfalls depending on what you’re looking for. Who you book with, either a travel agent or direct can impact cost, and the level of customer service and support you get as well as other extras. To get the best offers, especially when booking in advance a package booking is often needed. For example, the UK 2027 free dining and drinks offer requires a ticket and hotel package booking of at least 5 days. To find out more, head to our guide about what UK package holidays to Disney World include and how to book them.
Booking Flights For Disney World
Orlando flights can be booked as part of a package or separately when booking a Disney World holiday from the UK, When looking for direct flights into the closest airport to Disney World, Orlando International (MCO), you’ll fly into Terminal C no matter how you booked your direct flight from the UK. Flights booked as part of a package can offer better protections and kept under one simple booking reference. Booking flights separately, however, involves booking to a different schedule and considering that where you fly from and into affects:
- transfer options in the UK and Orlando
- transfer times
- whether you take direct or indirect flights
- who you can fly with, and what that means for luggage allowances
- whether you need airport hotels
- how seat selection works with your chosen airline and the cost for advanced seat selection so everyone can sit together
To find out more read our guide about how to book flights to Orlando and Florida.
Booking Accommodation Separately For Disney World
When booking accommodation for a Disney holiday it’s important to consider the location and your transport options to get around, as well as what’s included. The main accommodation options when booking Disney World holidays are:
- A Disney Resort hotel
- An off-site hotel
- A villa
If you choose to stay in a Disney resort you’ll need to consider whether you want to book a dining plan on when your booking your stay.
Where you stay does have an impact on your holiday a more detailed look head to where to stay for a Disney World holiday from the UK.
Booking Tickets For Disney World
Walt Disney World tickets are an important part of your holiday to book. They can be booked as part of a package or separately, and in the UK there’s the option of booking the exclusive 7 or 14-day Magic Ticket. This is the most popular type of ticket to buy for general daily Disney World theme park admission, and it includes entry to Disney Water parks too.
Before booking check exactly what your ticket includes, how many days of park entry you get and that your ticket dates cover the days you plan to visit Walt Disney World. For full details on the ticket options UK visitors have, including additional special and seasonal event tickets, read our UK Disney World ticket guide.
Booking Transfers
When it comes to booking transfers for a Disney World holiday sort transfers for both Orlando and the UK legs of your holiday. We have guides that will help you to:
When booking transfers for a Disney World holiday, remember to think about both the UK and Orlando parts of your journey. Getting from home to your UK departure airport is just as much a part of travel day plans as getting from Orlando airport to your accommodation for your Disney World holiday.
For the UK side of your journey, you may need to arrange airport parking, a taxi or possibly an airport hotel if you’re travelling a long distance to one of the three airports in the UK with regular direct flights into MCO.
Transfers to your Disney Word accommodations will vary depending on the Orlando airport you fly into and where you choose to stay. Transfer options vary, but include pre-booking an airport transfer, hiring a car, or using taxis or ride share services. For a more detailed look head to the getting to Disney World guide.
What Else Do You Need To Book?
Once you have the essential parts of the holiday booked to get you to Disney World from the UK booking travel insurance is the immediate next step. Then, the next things to consider are the extras that shape your Disney days and how you get around during your holiday including:
- Booking Orlando Car Hire if you want convenience, stay off-site, or will regularly travel beyond Disney World
- Booking Dining Reservations if you have bought a dining plan or you want to eat at some of Disney’s table-service, including characters and signature, dining experiences
- Booking tickets for Disney’s special seasonal events that are not included in general admission including Halloween and Christmas parties, or After Hours.
- Booking Disney World experiences in the parks including packages at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique opens in a new tab, Caring for Giants Elephant Tour opens in a new tab or building your own droid at Droid Depot opens in a new tab.
- Tickets for other Orlando attractions such as Universal Orlando Resort or Discovery Cove
- Booking Lightning Lanes in the UK if you want to pay for lower wait times at Disney World.
You may not need any of the items on the list, as these are the optional extras. But you may also find that some extras are worthwhile as part of putting together a Disney World holiday from the UK. I always hire a car for instance.
Tips for booking from the UK
No matter how you choose to book your Disney World holiday there are a few tips that I always share with my friends when booking:
- always get quotes, check to make sure they are like-for-like, and compare them as this can save you quite a bit of money
- compare Disney room options between tiers, especially if booking to get an offer, price differences can be small and upgrading worthwhile
- look for discount codes
- check the dates on confirmations and paperwork
- put all booking confirmation paperwork in a digital file you can easily access and have a printed copy to take too
- book travel insurance as soon as you have a booking for fights or accommodation
- check payment terms if you’re planning to pay in instalments as they vary depending on who you book with.
What Order Do You Book A Disney World Holiday In?
Feeling a little bit overwhelmed with the booking process isn’t unusual, especially if it’s your first-time heading to Disney World. The order I approach booking, very time, is to:
- Confirm your dates
- Decide package, hybrid or DIY
- Check flights and accommodation availability
- Compare like-for-like quotes
- Check tickets and package inclusions. Check payment and cancellation terms
- Verify financial protection
- Check passports, sort ESTAs
- Pay your deposit / make the booking
- Check the confirmation immediately
- Book your travel insurance
When Do We Book?
It’s never too late or too early to start planning and budgeting for your first or next Disney World trip from the UK. I often find myself checking Disney World prices and planning trips, even when I’m not meant to be going. This timeline is designed to help you hit those non-negotiable Disney planning milestones, and offer some insight into when you can actually book different parts of your trip.
We have travelled very last minute and well in advance, and both have their benefits, but the timeline of what you need to do to prepare doesn’t change, just the time you have to get it all done.
Booking a Disney World holiday from the UK is a series of steps to follow, and whether you choose to do those in a week or over a year is up to you. Our planning timeline is a great place to visit next if you want a timeline.
Next steps
Where to go next
The next steps from here
Questions about booking Disney World holidays from the UK
What do I need to book for a Disney World holiday from the UK?
At a minimum, you will usually need to arrange your travel to Orlando, accommodation and Walt Disney World park tickets. Whether these are three separate bookings or part of one package depends on how you choose to book your holiday. You’ll also need an ESTA and travel insurance, as well as arranging airport transfers in the UK and Orland for both departing and returning travel days. Other extras, like car hire and special event bookings also need to be considered as well as Disney dining reservations and Lightning Lanes.
Do I need travel insurance before booking Disney World?
You don’t need travel insurance to book a Disney World holiday, but it is a good idea to buy travel insurance as soon as you book your holiday. Buying insurance early means you may have cancellation cover in place for eligible circumstances that can go wrong before your holiday begins, rather than only being insured while you are on holiday.
Do I need an ESTA before I book Disney World?
You don’t need an ESTA to book a Disney World holiday, but you do need one to enter the US. If book and for any reason your ESTA is declined you need a VISA and this can be a lengthy process that can impact your booked holiday dates with changes being made to existing bookings.
What's the best way to book Disney World from the UK?
There is no single best way to book Walt Disney World for every UK visitor. The best option depends on how much flexibility you want, whether you prefer everything in one booking, and how comfortable you are arranging the different parts of your holiday yourself.
The main options are to:
book a package holiday, combining some or all of your flights, accommodation and Disney tickets
book a hybrid combination with some parts in a package and others booked separately
book everything independently, including flights, accommodation and park tickets
