We've planned these trips too
We built DisDave because we kept doing this the hard way. Dozens of tabs, conflicting advice, and still not sure if we were making the right call. There had to be a simpler way.
The problem we kept running into
Every time we planned a Disney trip, we ended up with dozens of tabs, conflicting advice, and no clear answer. Most resources were either overwhelming or just someone's opinion.
What we do differently
- Start with constraints: budget, trip length, non-negotiables.
- Rank options across three dimensions: cost, crowds, and experience.
- Explain the recommendation so you can make the final call with confidence.
Transparency
DisDave may use affiliate links in some places. If we do, it will be clearly disclosed. Recommendations are generated from your inputs and the scoring model, not from payouts.
What we review & analyze
- Crowd calendars from multiple prediction sources, tracking daily crowd scores for each park (Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom), along with confidence scores on those predictions.
- Resort pricing directly from Disney, capturing nightly rack rates for every resort and room type combination, categorized by season (value, regular, peak, holiday). We also maintain historical price snapshots to detect price trends and volatility over 30-day windows.
- Ticket pricing including base tickets, Park Hopper, and Park Hopper Plus options, tracking Disney's tiered pricing system and multi-day discounts.
- Calendar factors including 11 major US school break windows (winter break, spring break, summer, etc.), 13 major holidays, and special Disney events like marathons, festivals, and holiday parties.
- Weather data based on historical Orlando weather patterns—monthly comfort scores, rain probability, and temperature ranges by season.
- Deals and promotions across deal types (tickets, hotel, dining, packages) and eligibility categories (Florida resident, military, Disney Visa, annual passholder, DVC, etc.).
What you tell us
- Your travel dates: Either a specific target date with flexibility (±1-14 days), or a broader window like "next 3 months" or "6+ months out."
- Your trip length: How many nights you want to stay, or a range if you're flexible.
- Your party: Number of adults and children, with optional ages for kids (helps us match resort amenities and transportation needs).
- Your budget approach: Maximum budget cap, preferred resort tier (value, moderate, deluxe), or whether you're open to anything.
- Your trip style: Relaxed (rest days, pool time), balanced (mix of parks and downtime), or maximize parks (go hard every day).
- Your tolerances: How much you care about avoiding crowds, how you handle Florida heat, and whether you can pull kids out of school or need to stick to breaks.
- Your logistics: Flying vs driving, staying on Disney property vs offsite, and ticket type preferences.
- Your priority: Save money, best possible experience, or balance both.
How we score options
We compute 23 different signals across price, crowds, experience, and calendar factors—then weight them based on your priority. A "save money" profile weights price heavily; a "best experience" profile prioritizes low crowds and great resort amenities. We apply hard constraints (e.g., exclude the most expensive 25% for budget travelers) and soft penalties (e.g., ding options with extreme crowds), then surface the top 3 candidates with explanations of why each scored well, what tradeoffs you'd accept, and any warnings to consider.
Try it with your trip details
Give your constraints and priorities. DisDave returns a ranked short list and explains why.