First and foremost you are at six months out right now and need to make TS restaurant reservations ASAP. They have a lot of really cool themed restaurants that you won't want to miss out on. I am also a DL veteran and have been to WDW 2 times with my second time being this past May. So I would research restaurants to see where you want to go and eat. Restaurants like BOG sell out ASAP so if your interested in this one I would book it as soon as possible (for breakfast this is a QS restaurant but still requires an ADR). Also make sure you book your fast passes in advance as well. I believe its 60 days in advance for on site guests and 30 days for others not staying onsite. WDW requires more planning than DL after you plan your ADR's and you FP's everything else will flow but these are must do's. Tips: the 7 dwarfs mine train and Frozen attractions will sell out of FP's before your day at the parks so, if your interested in these make sure to book them at the 60 day mark. Let me know if you need any more advice. You can always PM me I am happy to help.
The standard ADR advice for 6 months is correct but from a pragmatic point of view not essential in my experience. First, you are traveling solo. So that will give you some flexibility as you are not a big group.
I rarely start looking at ADRs until 2-3 months in advance and always have been able to get them. BOG is the hard one now but I got a dinner ADR there over Memorial Day weekend within 2 months.
OP, my first WDW visit was also at a conference at Coronado Springs in 2006. I think your experience at WDW will depend on when in April you are going. Like at DLR, early April will have spring break crowds, and late April will be lower crowds.
I also did a conference this March in Orlando off-site of WDW and I like how the plan worked out. I had four park days before the conference and two after. That gave three days of rest for me and especially my DW.
Be careful about consecutive park days at WDW. It will wear you out. At DLR we can power out for 3-4 days, but trying that for 4-7 days at WDW can be exhausting. I always plan in full or half days of rest. The conference in March was a great way to have some rest and recharge. So consider doing park days before the conference and after.
A solid WDW trip would need 6 days. 2 days each at Magic Kingdom and Epcot and 1 each at Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. If you want to do that, then go for it. I am guessing you are thinking smaller. So maybe four total days - one day at each park? If so consider doing two days before the conference and two after.
If you just can't do four days then the parks to skip are Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom, which happen to be my two favorite parks there. But HS is under heavy construction right now (two major land expansions at the same time in Toy Story Land and Star Wars Land). Plus HS has a similar feel to DCA. Magic Kingdom is similar to DL. So AK and Epcot are the two most different and maybe the two to visit when short on time.
As
@GenGen22 said, do pay attention to the FP reservations. If you stay at Coronado Springs you will be at the 60 day mark for FP. Yes, I know it is crazy from a DLR POV to book FPs 2 months in advance. But I have found it not as bad as I expected and pleasantly helpful in some cases.
Finally, I think it will be worth your time to bite the bullet and spend some time on the WDW forum here. Just lurk and you will learn a lot. Come back here with questions if you want.
