booked our trip...now what do i do?

[rsjj]

i'm not sure if this is the place...but here it is! i've finally booked our trip to wdw, our very first one! there's 4 of us DH, myself, DSs 7 & 9. even booking which resort was a big "research". anyways...now that the resort is booked, what do i do? i'm so overwhelmed by so many aspects. so i'm here to seek any advice/suggestions you may have. i'm thinking i should decide which park to go each day, and then plan our meals/dinner according to that, right? then, there's the time difference (we'll be flying from the west coast), then there's the early admission for morning, getting to stay late after regular park times are closed, then there's the shows/entertainment times, then there's the bus/transportation stuff, so much to consider!! should i just forget everything and just go & see what happens? somehow i can't seem to do that!! i think i should at least reserve my meals. the more i read & get info, the more i feel like this trip is going to be this huge huge thing that i can't seem to control. help please!!

 

[Alesia]

I think your first step should be to decide whether the DDP is a good deal for your family.

Do you want to do a table service meal each day? Or would you rather eat mostly counter service?

Are you big eaters? Or can you get by with sharing meals (the portions at Disney are big)?

 

[rsjj]

i think we are leaning towards the meal plan. we are really not big eaters. although my DS9 is. we are, however, adventurous when it comes to food. we'd try anything, and our DSs would eat anything at least once. originally i thought maybe we'd do the counter service one, but i think having the option to sit down & enjoy our meals would be a nice thing to do on a vacation...

so now, i'm looking at which restaurant to go to for our table service dinners...

 

[Alesia]

what days will you be there?

 

[rsjj]

saturday to saturday. do the days make a difference? maybe i'm not seeing what you're seeing....please enlighten me!

 

[SGMCO]

If you will be eating at TS restaurants it good to start booking
ADRs. You can either plan on eating at the park you will be at
for the day or a near by resort. If you have hoppers added to
your tickets you can go to a different park and eat.
IF you don't have hoppers you will have to consider if you
want to go to EMH parks (they can get crowded) so
if you don't want to be where the crowd is either avoid
EMH or get hoppers (when crowd get to big, just change parks).

 

[Alesia]

saturday to saturday. do the days make a difference? maybe i'm not seeing what you're seeing....please enlighten me!

I ment what dates, sorry about that.

I can tell by you ticker that it will be close to Easter week. It will be pretty busy, so you will want to choose carefully what parks you do on what days.

Do you have park hoppers? Are you early risers? Night owls? Neither? That will help determine whether taking advantage of EMH will be benificial.

You also need to decide how many days to spend in each park.

One you decide where you plan to be on which days, you can plan your ADRs. I would work on that very soon, because I think you are already in your 90 window.

 

[DARuss]

Make sure you have a list of the parade/fireworks times in front of you too. You can plan your meals around that. An easy way to print those out is at wdwinfo.com.

Don't get too stressed about it. The ADRs are only "prefered" seating times. You still can wait in line. ADRs only shorten that time for you. Don't know how much research you have done but you can check out the menus at allerars.net too.

What ever you do, just remember, YOU ARE AT DISNEY. It's gonna be fun.

 

[mommytothreeboys]

should i just forget everything and just go & see what happens?

LOL!

You've come to the right place! It is a lot to think about, but keep it simple. Plan your park days, meals, and which attractions are must-sees and go from there. Do A LOT of reading on these boards...you will find TONS of helpful information!

Where will you be staying? Just curious!

 

[rsjj]

I ment what dates, sorry about that.

I can tell by you ticker that it will be close to Easter week. It will be pretty busy, so you will want to choose carefully what parks you do on what days.

Do you have park hoppers? Are you early risers? Night owls? Neither? That will help determine whether taking advantage of EMH will be benificial.

You also need to decide how many days to spend in each park.

One you decide where you plan to be on which days, you can plan your ADRs. I would work on that very soon, because I think you are already in your 90 window.

ok, had me worried...thought i picked the wrong days!!

anyways...no park hoppers, emh...is that the early admission thing for resort guests? we are early risers, but w/the time difference, i'm not sure.

ok, i did pick the days we are at which park, and picked some of the restaurants there. i think i'm going to look it over one last time, and i'm going to call dining for my adr tomorrow. so wish me luck...

 

[rsjj]

Make sure you have a list of the parade/fireworks times in front of you too. You can plan your meals around that. An easy way to print those out is at wdwinfo.com.

Don't get too stressed about it. The ADRs are only "prefered" seating times. You still can wait in line. ADRs only shorten that time for you. Don't know how much research you have done but you can check out the menus at allerars.net too.

What ever you do, just remember, YOU ARE AT DISNEY. It's gonna be fun.

i have that! i was trying to schedule some dinners around the fireworks, so i can view it from dinner. thought that might be good.

i know, i'm trying not to be too stressed out. it is afterall, a vacation, right? and yes, i'll be at wdw, so how can you not have fun!! thank you for reminding me about that!! sometimes, i can get all wrapped up in this "planning"...

 

[rsjj]

LOL!

You've come to the right place! It is a lot to think about, but keep it simple. Plan your park days, meals, and which attractions are must-sees and go from there. Do A LOT of reading on these boards...you will find TONS of helpful information!

Where will you be staying? Just curious!

yes, this is the place for all sorts of answers for all my crazy questions!! i love it!! we're staying at csr.

 

[littleboss]

Hello I'm also kinda a newbie too. I was mostly a lurker to the disboards and I've learned sooooo much I feel like I've been there a million times. I also have heard for so many that most vacations you don't need much planning but for disney you must plan!! A freind of mine said she went to disney just a couple of days and didn't see much at all because of crowds and lack of knowledge so just get as much info as possible.

 

[rsjj]

ok...i scheduled our dinner reservations!! adr's they're called, right?!? i got all the ones i wanted...some of the times were a bit off, but that's ok.

 

[hfdoyle]

ok...i scheduled our dinner reservations!! adr's they're called, right?!? i got all the ones i wanted...some of the times were a bit off, but that's ok.

Do tell what you booked?? Inquiring minds want to know

 

[Disneyfan71]

I'm on board...Looks like we're going about the same time..April 3rd-12th. And congratulations on this being your VERY first trip to WDW.

We're on the deluxe dining plan mainly because of all the credits. Basically it's three meals a day whether you eat counter or table service. With the dining plus you get one table, counter and one snack per day. But if you want to eat at say Cinderella's Royal Table that takes two table credits. So having the deluxe dining plan would be beneficial.

As far as the EMH (Extra Magic Hours) each park (in some cases two) either open an hour early or stay open two hours later. You can find this on the disney website. They have EMH's posted for the time we're going to be there. And only certain rides are open during the EMH's, so you have to check which ones they are.

You should make your ADR's (Advance dinner reservations) We got lucky, especially at Le Cellier (it's for lunch) but hey, it works for me.!!!

As far as us going the week before Easter, I don't mind the crowds so much..and with the EMH's it makes it much better.

Looking forward to reading more

 

[rsjj]

hello, everyone! sorry haven't been on for a while!! but i wanted to let you all know what i ended up w/. as for adr's...we got boma, le cellier, le chef, narcoosee's, and sci-fi. my DB & family will be there, and they offered to take our DSs when we go to le chef!! so that's our "romantic" dinner for two!! le cellier is for DH who loves red meat! and boma, we're having it all together w/my DB & family. the boys will be so excited to eat w/their cousin, and to try all those "exotic" food. (i love buffet!!) still debating on a character meal...maybe not, since we've done many here at california. i can't wait!! now, i have to plan out our day! that's another task & a half!! will keep you all posted. because i know i'll need all of your expertise!! thank you for listening/reading! more to come...

 

[Disneyfan71]

hello, everyone! sorry haven't been on for a while!! but i wanted to let you all know what i ended up w/. as for adr's...we got boma, le cellier, le chef, narcoosee's, and sci-fi. my DB & family will be there, and they offered to take our DSs when we go to le chef!! so that's our "romantic" dinner for two!! le cellier is for DH who loves red meat! and boma, we're having it all together w/my DB & family. the boys will be so excited to eat w/their cousin, and to try all those "exotic" food. (i love buffet!!) still debating on a character meal...maybe not, since we've done many here at california. i can't wait!! now, i have to plan out our day! that's another task & a half!! will keep you all posted. because i know i'll need all of your expertise!! thank you for listening/reading! more to come...

I finalized my ADR's this afternoon...We have 1900 Park Fare (character breakfast) at the Grand Floridian, Le Cellier for lunch one day, Sci-Fi for lunch, Teppen Edo for dinner, Crystal Palace for character breakfast..Can't remember the rest!!

When are you going again and where are you staying?

 

[rsjj]

I finalized my ADR's this afternoon...We have 1900 Park Fare (character breakfast) at the Grand Floridian, Le Cellier for lunch one day, Sci-Fi for lunch, Teppen Edo for dinner, Crystal Palace for character breakfast..Can't remember the rest!!

When are you going again and where are you staying?

we are going 4/4 till the 10th. i think i read that you & your family are going a day later than us...? we're staying at csr. how about your guys? if i may ask...who are in your party? any kids? we have sci-fi for lunch too! can't remember when that's booked. i have everything written down. now i have to figure out the rides/entertainment we want to check out.

 

[Disneyfan71]

we are going 4/4 till the 10th. i think i read that you & your family are going a day later than us...? we're staying at csr. how about your guys? if i may ask...who are in your party? any kids? we have sci-fi for lunch too! can't remember when that's booked. i have everything written down. now i have to figure out the rides/entertainment we want to check out.

We're staying at Pop Century...Just my wife and I, no kids. We're going to be adopting soon...so we'll have to go back in 2011 for my 40th birthday.

Sci-Fi is April 4th at 12:30 And we'll be back at DHS on the 8th for the Extra Magic Hours, will be at Brown Derby that night at 7:30pm.