First trip....overwhelmed with it all!

[jettablonde72]

We are currently saving up to take our first trip to WDW in April 2016. None of us have ever been there, it will be DH, DD 9 1/2, DS 7 and myself. We know that we will be flying but have no clue on anything else. From what little I have read, now is the time to start planning. I would appreciate any tips regarding where to stay and what to do. We are planning for a week, want to stay somewhere that doesn't require us to rent a car and are not concerned with a lavish hotel as we don't expect to spend much time there other than sleeping. Thank you in advance.

 

[Polishnavy]

Reading here on the Dis helped a LOT! Your family is the typical size so you have options at lots of resorts.
I found playing around on the Disney website to be helpful as far as what my money could get me. I basically built a variety of vacations. Also, looking at crowd calendars to pick a week if you have options. No stress, you've started early and found a bunch of Disney maniacs to help you!

 

[whitney250]

Ask as many questions and read up as much as you can here! Our first trip was in October, last year, and I have to say these boards helped with my trip a ton! Pinterest also has some great pins from different Disney blogs that can be helpful as well! Good luck with your planning and relax, it's half the fun!

 

[bbak3030]

Any place on property won't require you to rent a car and you will have access to Disney Transportation to and from the parks. You can also use the Magical Express to and from the airport.

I'm a fan of moderate resorts, but many people like values too. I suggest researching the resorts and picking a theme you like. You will find a lot of different opinions on every one. They all have pros and cons.

Then you can start working on dining reservations. I like to use www.allears.net to see the menus and then you can go from there. Don't forget to pay attention to park hours as well as Extra Magic Hours when making plans.

Have fun and happy planning!!!

 

[worm761]

My best advice would be: Don't over plan. Yes, some people go in with a schedule of what to do when. Others just wing it. And guess what? They BOTH have a good time.

1.Plan your hotel (I suggest onsite but that really is personal preference.)
2.Look at menus and decide if you want to do some TS or just CS. I prefer the menus at The Mouse For Less.
3. Make a budget for your trip.
4. Read up on FP+.
5. Know which parks on which days.
6. Plan how many days and look at your ticket options.
7. Make a packing list.
8. Will you be carrying a bag in the parks? If so, figure out what you will carry then pack the bag and see how heavy it will be. Then imagine it after 8 hours of walking around and riding rides. Take unnecessary stuff out of bag. I know some people carry a first aid kit. Disney has first aid offices in each park so I don't bother. One less thing to haul around.

 

[MandiC]

I loved WDWPrepschool . com for planning. You have a long time to plan, which is good! Don't let it overwhelm you

 

[jettablonde72]

Wow, thank you for the responses! I feel better already! I know where I will be spending the next several months.

 

[PrincessDaisy96]

I am going on a trip for the first time this fall. I used a Authorized Disney Travel agent who was FREE as they are paid by disney. And she has been super helpful with planning and suggestions and resources
PM me if you want more info on who i booked with

 

[msmama]

I'd suggest going to the library and getting a disney planning book. They have maps and stuff and I think you can really get a feel for what you're getting into. Obviously this site is awesome, too but I think the books are good for beginners!

Check out the disney website as well and take a look at the different lodging options to see if any of them appeal to you. I'm fairly certain you can also still order a planning dvd from disney if you haven't already done so.

 

[cyneswith]

1. Figure out where you are staying. A value resort will probably give you the best value with no additional transportation needs if you're an any-clean-hotel-will-do sort. (I normally am, but I want to be able to take my mom out without the kids for an evening, and I'm increasingly tempted by monorail access with two under 4.)

2. Figure out which parks appeal most and how many days you'd want to be in each. Will your kids want a down day to relax? (I'm going with MUCH younger kids this time, so it's a huge factor for me.)

3. If your kids REALLY want to meet Anna and Elsa, get your FastPass reservations 2 months in advance. Also, if you want to eat at Be Our Guest, get reservations soon.

I've been three times, once at age 12 or so, and twice as an adult. I never planned meals or pre-planned rides (what if the one I most wanted to go on was shut down for repairs?) We're just not that set on any particular attraction/restaurant. I will say, though, that Fast Pass will be greatly beneficial with a 7 year old.

 

[Dawnlight]

Welcome! I found this board and other websites so valuable in planning our recent trip.

We stayed on property at All-Stars Movies (3 rooms for our party of 9). It was the most reasonably priced for an otherwise very unreasonably priced vacation. It was great having transportation to the parks and to and from the airport.

I'd just read and read as much as you can. Take notes! I had a designated Disney notebook to help keep track of things. Ask lots of questions and have fun!

 

[lizard1]

For hotels, staying onsite would not require additional transportation. You have a few things you might want to think about before you start your search for accommodations. First, what will your sleeping arrangements look like....will 2 beds be enough, or will you want/need a third? Also, values do not have queen size beds, so if you need the room of a queen size bed, pay attention to which resorts offer them. Another thing you might want to consider is the pool...if you intend to spend a lot of time around the resort and in the pool, some pools offer slides and 0 entries, while others are just the standard pools.

I would start looking at the rides and shows offered at each park and figure out what you and your kids may want to do the most, and determine approximately how many park days you want in total and at each of the parks.

 

[Raenstoirm]

For me, budget is your first step. Decide what you WANT to spend and then what you CAN spend. These are very different budgets. Since you don't know what anything costs at this point having that flexibility with funds will make this so much easier. Maybe you want to spend $1000 (nearly impossible), but you can spend up to $4000 without sacrificing the kids' college funds. Then consider length of stay. You need at least 4 full non-travel days to get a taste of everything. We visit at least once a year and we have found that 6 days tends to be our sweet spot, but that always seems to short when planning so we book at least 8 days. Since you are new, I would opt for a full week if possible. So subtract that cost of basic tickets from your budget (hoppers and water parks can be added later) and move to the next thing. If you are foodies, restaurant budget might be your next thing since they can get pricey. If not, look at the hotels next.

 

[leholcomb]

Welcome to the family!

I can help you plan your trip! I love to help others plan to help with my withdrawals. lol. There are a lot of things to look at and it can be overwhelming for sure. I will send you my email address in a message so that you can ask for my help if you want.

And no, I do not get paid in any way. I just do it for fun.

 

[jll2800]

I think disney planning is a little overwhelming too! But then again, I'm pretty Type A and like to know as much as I can about anywhere I'm traveling. I don't like to plan every moment, but I do like to have full info so that I can make good decisions. We just came back from disney yesterday, and I started planning our trip in August. So if I can do it in only 4 months, you have plenty of time!

As others have said, start by thinking about how much you want to spend, and start exploring your options. Mouse Savers is great for info about what, if any, discounts you're likely to see when you're thinking of going, which might help you narrow things down. Look at the crowd calendars (Easy WDW has a nice free one, or the Touring Plans one is excellent if you want to subscribe, which I found very worthwhile but YMMV). Consider how busy the time is when you're making plans. For us, I learned from all the crowd calendars that the first week of Jan was only moderately busy, so I took the risk and didn't book a hotel until discounts came out (Oct) and I could make a final decision. We decided to stay on site for a variety of reasons, though I did explore some off site options too and they looked great.

One thing I DID do as soon as we had decided on dates, though, was book restaurant reservations. Unfortunately 4 months out I was already too late for some restaurants, namely dinner at Be Our Guest and Cinderella's Royal Table. Otherwise, I was able to get times at all the other restaurants we wanted. If you want one of the most popular restaurants or you're going during a really busy time, I'd suggest locking in your ADRs at 180 days. You can make changes later, but don't necessarily worry about planning all your hotel details before thinking about restaurants. I guess basically if you have any of the very popular stuff on your must-do list, be sure to book those things as soon as you're able, whether that is an ADR, FP+, etc. The lower priority stuff can wait a bit.

As someone else suggested, books are a great way to learn the basics. My personal fav is the Unofficial Guide because it appeals to my data-loving nature, but there are lots of other good choices out there. See what your library has (but I'd suggest looking only at the 2014 or newer titles because so much has changed), or buy some ones that look good to you. Once you have the basics, do more exploring on sites like Mouse Savers, Easy WDW, etc. And finally, these forums are great once you want to investigate specific topics or learn more about what people are saying.

Have fun!

 

[buzznina]

Make lists, lists lists.
My recommendation for 1st timers is to use a Disney TA to book the trip this way if a special comes out they will know right away and notify you and also help guide you and answer a lot of questions. A lot of folks mention magical something as a good one. This would be one less thing you have to keep checking for. Also; a lot of times they have their own specials. I break the resorts basically into 4 groups Value($$), Mods($$$), Deluxe1(AKL & WL)($$$$) and Deluxe2($$$$$). Since you mentioned spending most of your time at the parks, I would recommend value or Mod. Look at photos and information of the resorts and what they offer, i.e. full beds vs queens etc. and start narrowing them down and make a list of the ones you like. Food; decide if you may like to do a character meal, or do you want to do table service restaurants or quick service restaurants, look at menus and prices and make a list of those, break it down by parks. Do lists for rides, must do's etc.

 

[nighttowll]

If you don't mind putting some time and effort in than I think the best place to start is with a good guide book. I'm partial to the Unofficial Guide, but everybody has their own favorite. A guide book gives you a good idea of what you are getting into and where to start. Then websites like All Ears, Touring Plans, Easywdw, and Mouseavors are great for getting a little more in depth and for pictures and discounts. They tend to help more with the actual day to day planning and little details. Which days are best to go? Which rides are the most crowded when, what does this specific resort pool look like? etc. Once you have a general idea, it is much easier to get on a forum like this one to look for answers to specific questions and to learn all the little tips and tricks. Sometimes the DIS can be a bit overwhelming for someone just starting out because there is so much out there and a lot of it pertains to the picky little details or detailed strategies super planners like to debate. If you don’t have a general grasp of Disney it can be hard to follow along or to know where to begin or what to ask.

Once you have a general idea, the next thing to do is to decide when and where you want to stay. More specifically, you will want to decide if you want to stay on Disney property or not. Note, some room types book up a year in advance, so booking your room is the biggest priority right now. You can’t do much else until closer to the actual trip. (6 months for dinner reservations, 60 days for ride reservations)

Guests staying on property get a variety of extra perks including extended hours certain days, advance FP+ reservations (60 days), hotel package delivery, and free transportation. There are 3 levels of hotels available, value, moderate, and deluxe. Each category has a variety of different types and levels of rooms available. There is also a camp ground and a few condos and villas, but you can almost always rent an entire house off property for the same price as one of these non-discounted multi-rooms on property.

Which brings us to the biggest difference between staying onsite verses off site, guests staying off property get to go home without having to file bankruptcy. Just kidding, mostly. There are deals to be had if you know how to work the system. For instance, buying DVC points is one popular way. In general though, off property hotels are much less expensive and usually offer very competitive pricing to try to lure guests away from official theme park hotels. Because of this, you can usually find some very good deals at very nice resorts for about half what you would pay to stay on property at Disney. Some of these hotels also offer their own version of perks including free dinners or mini-waterparks or even their own theme park transportation.

The catch is no one ever claimed the transportation was frequent or timely. Most hotels offering this service have one or two shuttles that run once or twice going and then once or twice coming back from the parks, some even stop at multiple destinations along the way. For guests, who value going early, staying late, or returning to their hotels for breaks, this doesn’t usually work out very well. In contrast, Disney transportation runs continuously all day from before parks open until after closing. Disney also provides free transportation and luggage delivery from the airport. So, if you decide to stay off property and not rent a car, make sure you check the actual shuttle schedule; don’t just assume park transportation equals good transportation.

Also, be careful because many hotels claim they are Disney hotels or on Disney property, but they are not. And while they may be close by, you will not get any Disney benefits staying at these. The only exception is the Swan & Dolphin. This is the only none Disney hotel on Disney property. It falls in a kind of grey area. Resort guests use the same Disney transportation and get most of the benefits of staying on property, but not all. The trade-off is you can sometimes score really great deals, especially if you qualify for a teacher or military discount, that get you Deluxe accommodations at the price of a moderate or value.

My suggestion is to come up with a list of the hotels you like the best. Choose a few on property and a few off property to start out. Then go back and make a pros and cons list. Next start looking for discounts for your top choices. Don’t automatically rule something out just because the sticker price initially seems high. If you decide you really like a Deluxe level hotel, then start checking into discounts or renting points. Come back here with your specifics in mind and ask if it is possible to stay at hotel Y for X amount of money, and if so, how? Once you start researching, it will be much easier to come back here and find out how to go about doing something.

After you get your hotel booked, I suggest you start looking into the restaurants as that will be the next thing to book at 180 days. Then you can look at the attractions, and if you are staying on property, you can book 3 of those per day at 60 days out.

If you have any questions, we are all here happy to help.

And welcome!

 

[jettablonde72]

Wow, thanks for all the info...I have lots of notes just from these posts. I did realize that the ages of my kids was wrong for that time frame...DD will be almost 10 1/2 and DS will be just over 8....I have had them surfing Youtube and looking at a 2010 WDW book (I have ordered the 2015) to make lists of some rides they would really like to go on. We did pick our dates, now I need to look at resorts. This is most likely a once in a lifetime (with kids) deal, so trying to decide if we go a little more spendy for the experience. Have been told you can stay at different resorts during the time there so I am throwing that around too.

 

[ajwolfe]

Wow, thanks for all the info...I have lots of notes just from these posts. I did realize that the ages of my kids was wrong for that time frame...DD will be almost 10 1/2 and DS will be just over 8....I have had them surfing Youtube and looking at a 2010 WDW book (I have ordered the 2015) to make lists of some rides they would really like to go on. We did pick our dates, now I need to look at resorts. This is most likely a once in a lifetime (with kids) deal, so trying to decide if we go a little more spendy for the experience. Have been told you can stay at different resorts during the time there so I am throwing that around too.

The guidebook is a great place for them to look and get an idea what all they want to do and where they would like to eat.

Really just wanted to add that as a first timer, I personally wouldn't try to do a split stay in different resorts. Might add a little extra stress to the situation, unless you are planning to stay for an extended period of time.

 

[Pesky]

My best advice would be: Don't over plan. Yes, some people go in with a schedule of what to do when. Others just wing it. And guess what? They BOTH have a good time.

1.Plan your hotel (I suggest onsite but that really is personal preference.)
2.Look at menus and decide if you want to do some TS or just CS. I prefer the menus at The Mouse For Less.
3. Make a budget for your trip.
4. Read up on FP+.
5. Know which parks on which days.
6. Plan how many days and look at your ticket options.
7. Make a packing list.
8. Will you be carrying a bag in the parks? If so, figure out what you will carry then pack the bag and see how heavy it will be. Then imagine it after 8 hours of walking around and riding rides. Take unnecessary stuff out of bag. I know some people carry a first aid kit. Disney has first aid offices in each park so I don't bother. One less thing to haul around.

Could not agree more with this. Take your planning increment by increment. The rest will follow. Figure out your dates and go from there. Also, figure out how much you want your kids involved in the planning. Might as well put them to work early!

In addition to what is above, I'd also say
1.a. In doing your research on Disney properties, realize that proximity to parks also factors in. Deluxe resorts are usually the closest, moderate next, and value the farthest. So you might want to check on time to get to the room and back if that is going to be any kind of issue for you.
3. I would actually move this to #1. I think your hotel will come from that figure, whether it is non-Disney, value, moderate, etc..
4.a. This is where you would also want to figure out if you want a park hopper option or not. I understand a lot of people don't do so as most of the parks aren't exactly next door to each other (DHS and Epcot an exception). You would also want to know if you want to throw in access to water parks at all and just figure out what kind of tickets are most beneficial for your family.

I would also add that once you have your dates, have your hotel booked, be sure to mark your 6 mo mark for any desired and highly coveted ADRs (advanced dining reservations). The highly desired ones can go very quickly, even at 6 am, so be ready. Also, be ready at your FP+ mark (3 months? no sure but you'll know soon enough with your research), so you can get those sorted as well for those e-ticket rides. Whatever plans you make, be ready to just go with the flow and alter them. You'll never be able to see it all but that's what makes going back fun.