Disneyland pro overwhelmed by WDW...

[aliceindisneyland]

Disneyland is just so easy! We moved from CA to Phoenix and are now planning a WDW trip for summer 2015. DIS has 1 thread for DL - and evidently several dozen I never noticed for WDW - is it really that important to plan? If it is, I'm certainly up for it, but I don't want to put months of energy into planning if it's not necessary - at DL we rarely made a hotel reservation over 3 weeks out, never once made a dining reservation, etc. and of course we just drove in - now we'll need to fly in to WDW.

I feel like a "buyer is a liar" house hunter, but at this early stage we're wanting:

10-14 day trip including all Parks [probably 2x each at least at Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios], Universal, and maybe a 3-5 night Disney cruise.

On property resort with a fantastic pool area - waterslide pretty much mandatory as DKs adore DLH slides.

Kids will be 11 and 8.5 - we will want to do a few character meals, a lot of special restaurants [not fine dining, just fun and unique to WDW]; we're pretty flexible with food - I'd rather eat more cheaply and stay at a nicer hotel than vice versa. I'd say we'd like to take an hour or longer to eat only 1 out of every 5 meals.

My first and most important question: If I want it to definitely be hot enough to swim every day (mid 70s at the minimum) but can go at any time of year as DKs are homeschooled, when is the best time to go with few refurbishments and perhaps slightly smaller crowds than "school's out" time?

 

[GrumpyDad1974]

Best time to go if your kids are homeschooled and you want to swim... October. You have lower crowds, food and wine festival at Epcot, Mickey's Halloween Party and the weather is great. It used to be our best time of year to go when our daughter was in year round school. As far as the planning, you will need to get on it. ADR's at the 180+10 day mark, 60+10 days on FP+. If you dont have a smartphone with MDE app you will need one. Set up your account and start to play with it. We are WDW vetrans and this Spring Break is our first time using FP+, I was a little overwhelmed at first but hopefully it will be a good thing... good luck and have fun.

 

[Hootch]

trip to DL a couple of years ago and it is much simpler planning. You will need ADRs in advance for many of the restaurants. It depends which ones you choose. Character meals like Chef Mickeys, Ohana breakfast and Cinderella's Royal Table are some of the hardest ones to get.

Character meals: If you need a princess meal, CRT was our favorite. We would combine with a BBB makeover. Your princess could ride the carousel and have pictures taken all dressed up before the meal. Askerhus in Epcot has a similar set up with a princess greeting and usually four moving around the dining area. Both are expensive with CRT over $50 for an adult at breakfast and Askerhus around $40. There is a Cinderella themed dinner at Grand Floridian that is also about $40. Lady Tremaine and her daughters are quite entertaining.

Lesser expensive but good meals,
Cape May breakfast with Minnie, Goofy and Donald
Tusker House breakfast and lunch with Mickey, Donald Goofy and Minnie
1900 Park Fare breakfast with Mary Poppins, Alice and the Mad Hatter
Crystal Palace with Pooh characters - the pre opening slots are in high demand

Intersting restaurants

Be Our Guest - try the lunch. It is less expensive and in my opinion better (or more reasonable)
Biergarten in Epcot - there is an oompah band that plays short stints during the day. They add a few items for dinner but the better deal is lunch.
50s Prime Time Cafe - dining in your 50s kitchen with your aunt, cousing, etc serving you. be sure to finish your veggies and keep your elbows off the table.
Sci-Fi Dine in Theater - dine in a drive in while old movie clips and commercials play in front of you. Keep it simple with the food. Lunch is better than dinner.
Raglan Road in Downtown Disney - Irish dancers most nights

The best pools -
Deluxe
Beach/Yacht Club - it is practically a water park
Polynesian
Wilderness Lodge

Moderate - Caribbean Beach Resort
Port Orleans Riverside - We usually stay at Port Orleans French Quarter which is much smaller but has access to the POR pools.

I agree with the PP that October is a great month to go with F&W and warm but moderate temps. May would be my second choice. Temps are warm but manageable and it is between Jersey week and the start of summer.

Here is an average temb by month for WDW.

http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/USFL0615

 

[QueenBeeMB]

Aliceindisneyland I can completely share in your concern.

I have been to DLR more times than I can count, as a CM and as a long time AP holder who lives nearby and still works in Anaheim.

The daunting task of planning a trip to WDW was very alarming to me, and we are just 2 adults !

I have read, asked, watched, and lurked everything I can get my hands on for about 6 months solid now to prep for our trip in the fall.

From what I gather, plan everything. And far in advance. Use all of the tools on WDW website and MDE to better organize yourself. Oh and of course ask the DIS !

 

[Itinkso]

We are DL vets and were annual Passholders when the kids were still at home. Planning in advance so that you are ready to book your dining is a must. October is a great month to go as there is MNSSHP. We were there this past December specifically for MVMCP and it was still swimming weather...we didn't even need sweatshirts in the evening.

**************.net has a lot of good info and also lists the best weeks to go.

 

[ZoZo]

I'd recommend buying a really good guidebook (I love the Unofficial Guide to WDW). It will give you all of the basic info that you need for your trip. Luckily, you already know some of the basics (like how FP works) but as you've found out, there's lots of info specific to WDW that would be helpful to know.

My other advice is to make dining reservations as soon as your 180+10 window opens up. If you want any of the most popular restaurants, like Be Our Guest or CRT, you need to book those waaaay in advance.

 

[Kpskyman]

Stay away from the summer months... Way too busy and humid. Go in late September to mid October if you still want upper 80 degree weather. You can also do the Halloween extras. Personally I would go in early December. I can pretty much guarantee for a stay as long as yours, a day or 2 of swimming weather, most of the rest in the 70's, and everyone should get the chance to see WDW decked out for Christmas. Park is still considered off season so fewer guests and cheaper rates, usually free DD. there are so many extras to see during this time of year you won't be able to see it all and that includes all the holiday extras at UN and IOA. It would be a vacation your kids will never forgetnn

 

[aliceindisneyland]

Thanks for all the great tips! This definitely gives me a starting point.

 

[Silvana]

Felt the same way when I was booking our first trip. DH and I both grew up in So Cal and have been to DL more times than anyone but a big Disney fan would understand. Had no idea that I could book the dining so far in advance or that I would need to. D23 is closest to how the wait is for some places. Ended up booking in March for a trip in May. Got lucky and got all but one of the places I wanted, however I got very few of the times that were my first or even second choice.

If you plan any Character dining do yourself the favor and book early. In fact my advice would be book everything as far ahead as you can. Less to do later

 

[pineapple04]

I can definitely relate to your situation! As a first-time adult traveler to WDW a few years ago and DL veteran, I was most overwhelmed by transportation at WDW. Yes, the free buses/boats/monorail got us from Point A to Point B, but I had no concept of exactly how spread out all of the parks and resorts were and how long we'd have to wait in line just to get a ride. This time around, we rented a car and loved the freedom spending a few extra $$ gave us. Given that your family may be there for up to 2 weeks, this might not be as big of an issue, as you'll be able to take your time a bit more, but it is something of which to be aware. Happy planning!

 

[Tasmen]

Frequent DL goer here as well that planned my first WDW trip 7 years ago. As others have recommended, definitely do make your dining plans 180 days out if you have specific meals you want. Also, unlike DL (and I know some will disagree), I find the dining plans at WDW a good deal.

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

I'd recommend buying a really good guidebook (I love the Unofficial Guide to WDW). It will give you all of the basic info that you need for your trip. Luckily, you already know some of the basics (like how FP works) but as you've found out, there's lots of info specific to WDW that would be helpful to know.

My other advice is to make dining reservations as soon as your 180+10 window opens up. If you want any of the most popular restaurants, like Be Our Guest or CRT, you need to book those waaaay in advance.

Planning our first WDW trip for August of 2015, Unofficial Guide to WDW the better of the two I have bought by far, well worth the cost.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

You DONT need a smartphone to set up your MDE. I use my laptop to create the acct and to make dinning and FP+ reservations. The smartphone app comes in handy when you are in the park and need to refer to your itinerary, make any changes or want to know what the current wait times are for the rides and shows.

 

[PinkBudgie]

The title of this thread describes me! We let our DLR APs expire and are heading to the World for the first time ever in just 3 months! To make it less overwhelming we planned in stages:

1st- we picked a time of year. We are both teachers so we picked June, two days after DH finishes the school year. Even though it will be crowded and humid, we picked June so that we could have two weeks instead of one week.

2nd- we picked a resort. We picked POFQ based on it's small size, pretty area, and proximity to DTD (and the fact that the Poly was over $500 a night!).

As soon as the 2014 prices were released we booked.

3rd- we picked restaurants and I spent months figuring out where we wanted to eat. We booked them online at 180 days. This was the hardest part because if you book a restaurant, you also have to know which park you will be in 6 months later! Crazy! At DLR, even if you do make a reservation, that doesn't limit whatever else you do that day. Still, we knew we didn't want to get there and be shut out of all TS places.

We are not on the dining plan- we do not eat that much food and rarely do we get dessert with a meal. And sometimes at DLR we have a cone and call it lunch. So, I didn't make ADRs for everyday. I wanted to leave some days open and also try some CS meals. Also, I never booked more than one ADR in a day. We have parkhoppers so we have some flexibility to hop to another park after an afternoon rest break at the resort.

4th- making FP+ choices. Still not time to do this yet. If I thought planning our food was hard, this sounds really nuts! Somehow I have to know what we will want to ride without ever having been to WDW. Again, we'll take a stab at it figuring something is better than nothing.

We have the UOG to WDW on the Kindle so it can easily come with us on the trip and in the parks. Anyway, that's been our process. I tried to plan some so we wouldn't be disappointed without way over planning. We'll see how well it works when we go.

 

[MichaelH]

The absolute best time to go in my opinion is the week after Labor Day. We went a couple of times before the kids started school and we had the run of the parks. Most everyone is back at school at that time and it is great.

You should not have much trouble eating anywhere you want. You definately need to plan. I would just got to the Disney page and read about the places to eat. I believe they have menus posted and note the ones you would like to eat at. They also have how expensive each one is.

 

[Kristina4109]

I live in L.A. so I TOTALLY understand. DL is a breeze to plan compared to WDW. But don't let that scare you or keep you away - you just need to take a deep breath and know the key differences between DL and WDW, as well as what is the same.

The big "the same" is when to go. When kids are in school. Keep in mind that FL is WAY more humid than CA. Again, just like at DL, you can get a lot of good touring in if you are at the parks before posted opening time.

Some major differences: park hopping. Even with WDW's extensive transportation system, park hopping is much more time consuming than it is at DL. When you "hop" in WDW you need to go through security before you go into the next park.

Downtown Disney is a bus ride from any theme park at WDW. Not like at DL when you just exit the parks and stroll on up.

Yes, popular dining spots fill up FAST at WDW. And there are many more table service eateries to choose from.

When at DL, I don't have a problem staying off site if we can't afford one of the DL Hotels. When at WDW, I AWAYS stay on site. This is due to the size of the place. There is no such thing as walking across the street from your off-property hotel into a park down at WDW.

In fact, there are only a few on-site hotels where you can walk to a park. And close proximity to one park means you're further away from the others.

You will be amazed by Walt Disney World. You can see how Walt looked around at Disneyland, figured out what he didn't like about it, and set to do things differently. It is (for the most part) a marvel of modern urban engineering. It's stunning. It's huge. It's grand. Your eyes will mist up when you first stand in front of Cinderella Castle, Spaceship Earth, the Tree of Life. (Though if you're familiar with L.A. the reproduction of the Chinese Theater might not thrill you in the same way.) So please don't let the complexity of planning a trip turn you off.

 

[AshleeH]

I disagree with the people who recommend October. That's when we go and even though it's not packed, it is crowded with schools out for fall breaks. I would recommend early November or February for lower crowds.