The free Disney World trip planner the whole family builds together
Planning Walt Disney World shouldn't mean one exhausted parent and a spreadsheet. Firefly Planner lets the kids browse 280+ rides, shows and character meets in a picture-first view made for ages 4 to 9, pick their own must-dos, and see everyone's choices come together in one shared family plan. Completely free, straight from the browser.
How it works
- Set up your family at fireflyplanner.com: a profile for each person, with ages and heights so the app knows who can ride what.
- Hand the kids the iPad. They browse big, friendly picture cards of every ride, show, restaurant and character meet across Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom, and heart whatever looks brilliant.
- Everyone picks their must-dos. Each family member promotes their favourites into a shortlist of the things they truly can't miss, so every choice feels like it counts.
- Watch the plan appear. Everyone's must-dos merge into one shared view, with the picks you have in common highlighted in green and the practical details, like height requirements and sensory notes, right where parents need them.
The clever bit is what it changes at home. The planning itself becomes part of the holiday: kids lighting up at rides they've never heard of, siblings comparing lists, a countdown ticking away to the trip. And because the kids chose, you arrive at the parks with children who already know what they're excited about, and far fewer day-one negotiations.
Disney planning tools mostly cost money, and none ask the kids
Disney World planning has become its own little industry. There are crowd calendars behind subscriptions, optimisers that shave minutes off queues, and in-park passes that can run to hundreds of dollars a day per person. A LendingTree survey found 45% of parents have taken on debt for a Disney trip, and "Disney World planning spreadsheet" is a genuinely popular search. What none of these tools do is let the children help decide. Prices checked July 2026.
| Tool | Price | Built for | Can the kids plan too? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Firefly Planner | Free, all of it | The whole family, before the trip | Yes, that's the point |
| TouringPlans | $24.97 per trip year | One adult optimising queue time | No |
| My Disney Experience | Free app, paid extras from ~$16 to $449 a day | In-park logistics and Lightning Lane sales | No |
| Character Locator | Around $11 a year | Character meet schedules | No |
| Magic Guide | Free app, up to $29.99 in unlocks | Solo wait-time watching | No |
| Lightning Brain | $9 per park day | Real-time routing on the day | No |
A free TouringPlans alternative? Sort of.
TouringPlans is genuinely good at what it does: crowd calendars and queue-time optimisation for $24.97 a trip year. But it's a tool for one adult building "the optimal plan". If your actual problem is a family of five who can't agree on what matters, optimisation comes second. Firefly gets everyone agreeing first, for free. Plenty of families will happily use both.
The official app plans the parks. Firefly plans the family.
My Disney Experience is where Disney sells you Lightning Lane passes, from around $16 a day per person to a Premier Pass that hit $449 a day in 2026. It's essential in the parks, and famously overwhelming before them. Firefly is the calm bit that comes months earlier: what does this family actually want to do? Answer that together, free, and every paid decision afterwards gets easier.
The only planner where the kids pick the rides
We looked hard, and as far as we can find, no other Disney World planning tool gives children their own view, their own picks and a real say in the family plan. Every other tool assumes one adult planner and a family who'll go along with it. Firefly was built the other way up: the signature moment is a 6-year-old on the sofa proudly adding a ride to their own must-do list.
Made for the months before the magic
Firefly is built for families with children aged around 4 to 9, planning a Walt Disney World trip three to twelve months out. The kids' view is picture-first with simple language, so pre-readers can browse without help. The parents' layer adds what the brochures don't: height requirements checked against your actual children, sensory notes for kids who don't love loud and dark, age suitability, and honest advice on what's worth a queue. It works beautifully on the family iPad, needs nothing installed, and there's a trip countdown to keep the excitement simmering.
Why is a marketing agency behind a Disney planner?
Because we're parents too, and we kept watching Disney planning turn into a second job. MAM! Digital builds things we wish existed, it's the same instinct behind our free advertising tools and our free quiz game. Firefly Planner is our proof that planning software for families can be beautiful, kind and free. It's unofficial and independent, with no Disney affiliation, no ads and no data games. If you like how we think about products, that's exactly how we think about marketing, and we'd love a chat. Either way, have a magical trip. #FeelGoodMarketing
FAQ
Yes, completely. Setting up your family, browsing all 280+ experiences and building your shared plan costs nothing. There's no premium tier, no trial and no per-person pricing.
No. Firefly Planner is unofficial and independent, and isn't affiliated with or endorsed by The Walt Disney Company. It's a planning companion you use before your trip, alongside whatever official tools you use in the parks.
It's built around families with children aged roughly 4 to 9. The kids' view uses big pictures and simple language so pre-readers and early readers can browse on their own, while parents get a richer layer with height requirements, sensory notes and age suitability.
All four Walt Disney World theme parks: Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom, with over 280 rides, shows, dining spots and character meets across them.
No. One parent sets up the family, then everyone gets a profile on the same shared device. Kids just tap their avatar and start browsing; there are no per-child logins or emails.
My Disney Experience is Disney's in-park logistics app: tickets, queues and paid Lightning Lane passes. Firefly is for the months before, when the family is deciding what actually matters to them. Kids choose their must-dos, everyone's picks land in one shared view, and you walk into the parks already agreeing on the plan.
Free for the whole family, all four parks, ready in minutes. The spreadsheet can retire.