CONGRATULATIONS! Well your post count looks really high, so I can assume you have been around for a while! Since the rates are out for 2009, you can book at anytime! Get yourself a good guidebook - I recommend the Unofficial Guide and keep hanging out around here on the DIS! Don't be afraid to ask any questions! You will find there is a wealth of knowledge here! Have fun planning your trip!
You've done the cruise but not the World?
Check out www.mousesavers for the best times to go.
Is there free dinning available for the time we want to go? would that be listed somewhere?
Where do I begin?
What should I know? I have so many questions!!! LOL
When should we book?
It will be me, DH, DS4 and DS7.
We want to go late August/early September. And stay at POP.
I think you can count on many special offers to be presented in the coming months to entice more visitors to come to Disney, so don't jump the gun to book anything yet. We booked through Mousesavers and they will apply any discounts that become available even after you have made your reservations.
Tradionally, Disney will release it's free dining offer in early April for vists in late August to October. We've done Disney with and without the free dining. Our kids were 11 and 12 at the time, so they qualified as adults on the dining plan - your kids will qualify as children as they are between the ages of 3-9 and be limited to ordering from the childrens menu only - keep that in mind.
The weather in late August will be HOT HOT HOT and HUMID. Be prepared if you want to go at that time. We went last August, but took advantage of the water parks to cool down.
We've stayed twice at POP and once at MUSIC. Enjoyed both equally, but found the wait for MUSIC buses a bit longer as it was shared between the other 2 all stars resorts (MOVIES and SPORTS). POP has it's own dedicated buses.
You're going to have so much fun! Our first trip was late Aug 2006 during free dining (kiddos were 4 and 7mo). We havent managed to get there at that time of year since but would love to. It was REALLY hot but we loved it. I think free dining came out in late March/early April. I'm pretty sure if you're ressies are made you can add free dining to it when the deal comes out though if you want to book earlier. We stayed in Movies for our first two trips and the kids loved it. I planned that trip and all others after using the Unofficial Guide and www.tourguidemike.com Even during our trips at March break and in July, the longest line we waited in was 10minutes. That site is wonderful! We're planning our fourth trip for Feb (our first winter trip) and I'm still using TGM. Not everyone loves the site but if you have a lot of time to plan and you really like planning, its great.
I don't really have a lot of advice, except to just enjoy the planning! I had so much fun planning our "first" WDW trip (well our first together). I always use the unofficial guide book when planning a vacation (yes I still get the book out of the library), and I used the info online too and it was a huge help with planning. Other than that, just the info that I gathered on here was the best help ever!!
My one tip... don't overplan on your first time there - there is so much to see and do at WDW that when you're planning make sure to not try to cram too much in. We had overplanned and ended up dropping a lot of stuff so we could actually enjoy it more
I don't really have a lot of advice, except to just enjoy the planning! I had so much fun planning our "first" WDW trip (well our first together). QUOTE]
Frankly, constantly thinking about the vacation, and whipping yourself into a frenzy, is an additional perk of the process (as these boards attest). But you can over-"FRET" planning, which leads me to my sincerest advice for a first time visiter: don't get too ambitious. The oft-repeated advice that first-timers tend to try to do too much is pure truth. In fact, well-visited travelers can fall into the same trap.
I don't really have a lot of advice, except to just enjoy the planning! I had so much fun planning our "first" WDW trip (well our first together). I always use the unofficial guide book when planning a vacation (yes I still get the book out of the library), and I used the info online too and it was a huge help with planning. Other than that, just the info that I gathered on here was the best help ever!!
My one tip... don't overplan on your first time there - there is so much to see and do at WDW that when you're planning make sure to not try to cram too much in. We had overplanned and ended up dropping a lot of stuff so we could actually enjoy it more