Have you been thinking about taking a long-delayed vacation this summer? You aren’t alone. Demand for summer travel, specifically for Disney World, is on the rise as more people become fully vaccinated.

High demand will have an impact on both the cost of your trip and the experience you’ll have with crowds once you arrive at Disney World. Here’s how you can prepare for both of those scenarios!

Prepare for higher travel costs and book ASAP!

The price of airfare has steadily increased as more travelers feel comfortable getting on a plane, and that trend will likely continue into the summer. We’ve talked about the potential for airfare to increase in the coming months, so if you’re considering a summer trip to Disney World, book airfare NOW to lock in any rates that you find. Just made sure you read up on the airline’s cancelation policy!

If you typically rent a car on your Disney World vacation, you’ll also need to prepare to pay more this summer. Like airfare, lock in your rental car rate ASAP. With more people looking to travel, demand for rental cars is skyrocketing. The result? Less available inventory and higher prices.

See where else you can save on your vacation, too! The savings certainly do not stop once you find good airfare rates. Disney always has some sort of deal going on, plus you can also consider staying at a lower level resort, take a shorter trip, don’t add on Park Hopper, etc. There are plenty of places to pinch pennies where you need to in order to splurge elsewhere (even if the “splurge” is on travel necessities like airfare!).

Looking to travel to Disney World this summer? Click here to read about a new discount on your hotel reservation!

Prepare for summer crowds!

Once everything is booked and you’re ready to pack your bags, you’ll also need to prepare for all of the other guests traveling to Disney World this summer. We may already have a good idea of what to expect when you look back on Spring Break crowds. Keep in mind, that was before many guests had received a vaccine and possibly felt more comfortable to travel. That was also when capacity was capped at 35%. Since then, Disney has opened up capacity.

One of the most important things you can do to handle summer crowds is to book your Park Pass Reservations IMMEDIATELY. We’re talking the minute you book your vacation and you have your theme park tickets. You can always cancel or modify your reservations if your plans change, and they don’t cost a thing to book (aside from that initial massive cost of, y’know, buying the tickets!). However, they’re selling out quickly as summer approaches. We’re seeing guests wait a bit too long and end up with all 4 parks completely booked at times! Don’t get locked out of your favorite park, book NOW.

Keep in mind that some of the ways we would typically deal with crowds in the past are still unavailable, including FastPass+ and Extra Magic Hours. We’re anticipating the new hotel perk, Early Theme Park Entry, this summer but we’ve basically heard NOTHING about this perk since it was initially announced.

If you decide to purchase Park Hopper, be sure to use that to your advantage! Look at the Park Pass Reservation availability calendars on Disney World’s website (and check our weekly updates!) as an indication of how busy a particular park may be that day.

Also, don’t let the socially distanced queues scare you! They may look SUPER long, but lines are still moving at a decent pace. In general, the parks are still much less crowded than what we were used to seeing pre-closure; however, it can sometimes LOOK crowded so be mindful of your surroundings and practice safe social distancing.

We also recommend you allow for extra travel time if you plan on using Disney’s complimentary transportation. Because of social distancing, we’re still experiencing reduced capacity (and therefore longer wait times) for the buses, the Monorail, and the Disney Skyliner.

Click here for our tips on dealing with Disney World on busier days.

Traveling to Disney World this summer will look very different than last summer. Last summer, of course, was right after the parks reopened (who else remembers how eerily empty it felt with five-minute waits for Flight of Passage?). This summer, expect lots of travelers to look to return to their favorite destinations that perhaps they skipped out on last year, like Disney World. That could mean higher prices for travel and higher crowd levels in the parks. If you go into your trip prepared, you won’t be caught off guard and can go with the flow more easily!