About
Made by someone who kept rebuilding the spreadsheet.
The Happiest Planner is written and run by Katherine Tarbox, a journalist with bylines at The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal who also spent twelve years in financial services, and who has planned more Walt Disney World trips than she will admit to.
The idea is simple. Disney publishes almost every price, but in forty places, in different units, on different dates. Families end up with a spreadsheet, a dozen tabs and a number they do not quite trust. This planner collects those published figures, does the arithmetic in the open, and labels every result so you know what is a fact, what is an estimate and what you typed yourself. The methodology page shows the work.
It is independent. No affiliation with Disney, no sponsorships from resorts or restaurants, and nobody pays to be recommended. The business makes money two ways: the $49 Ultimate unlock, and a commission if you buy packing gear through our Amazon links. That is the whole model, and it is why the estimates can stay honest.
The planner's companion is Mouse Money, Katherine's newsletter on the business of Disney, where the research behind these numbers gets written up.
Contact
Email: hello@thehappiestplanner.com. Corrections to data, purchase problems and press. We answer within two business days.
Purchase problems: include your Stripe receipt. All sales are final, but a purchase that did not unlock gets restored, no questions.
Travel advisors and agencies: a professional plan with client profiles and shareable proposals is coming. Email with "professional" in the subject line to be first.