Don't know where to start planning

[PaulDavid's mom]

Okay, I have been reading these boards for quite some time now and have gotten many helpful ideas. (Thank you by the way).
My problem is this...My boyfriend's mother and father will be taking us to WDW sometime in March 2006 along with our Son (will be 4) and possibly boyfriend's aunt and uncle. Now that the holidays are done with, boyfriend's mom and I are very excited to start our planning. She is a AAA member but we really don't know where to begin. I would like for the trip to have a mixture of planning and spontaneity. I don't think the men would enjoy themselves if everything was planned out. Which is fine by me cause I like a few surprises. Should we start off by talking to a AAA rep? or start by looking on the WDW website? The website is fun for me to look at but when I try to actually start looking at it seriously for planning purposes my head starts to spin from all the info and it starts to look like a foreign language to me! I thought that since there would be so many of us (6 adults and 1 child) (3 rooms)I thought that a value resort would be great. Boyfriend's mom said we may be able to pull of a moderate if AAA has any good deals. Is that even possible now that WDW has the new system? I just need an idea on where to start before I absolutely go insane. Plus I want to prove to my Boyfriend that spending all this time on the DIS board will benefit everyone!
Please help!!!!
BTW, Boyfriends mom is pretty easy going about ideas and plans...usually she'll ask me what I think, and go with that answer. And rest of family will probably be no help in planning...such as what they want to see or where they want to stay or eat.

 

[KIRSTIN'S MOMMY]

Welcome to the DIS! We are also AAA members and have done trips both ways, meaning with the help of a AAA travel agent and on our own. I find it much easier to do it on my own for one very important reason: if you use AAA, you have no access to your own reservation! So if you book a value with them and then decide to change to a moderate, your agent must do it for you. You can't call Disney yourself. It makes it difficult, especially if you have a busy agent. Your boyfriend's mom can still use her AAA discount, all you have to do is call and ask for the AAA rate when you book. Also, keep an eye on mousesavers.com for discount rates that anyone can use, sometimes they're better than the AAA rates. Also, you may want to check out www.allearsnet.com for dining menus, pictures of the resorts etc. Hope that helps and have a great time planning!

 

[jjsmom]

Welcome to our little "world" here on the net! Planning is my favorite part!!You've already taken the 1st step by logging on to this board for info. In my opinion, there is no better source for WDW. I've been to Disney about 20 times and I still get new info and tips from this board. That said, AAA is a good place to get a "baseline" price for rooms, tickets, etc. They certainly are reliable and my experience with their customer service is great. However, if you're willing to do a little homework and watch for room discounts you may be able to get a better deal. Along with AllEArs, there is Mousesavers.com which is also a great source of discounts. The travel section of the Sunday newspaper sometimes has deals aimed at residents of certain regions of the country.

Here are some suggestions:
1. After getting a general idea on room prices from AAA, get with the family and decide on a budget.
2. Discuss whether to fly or drive
3. Dining is a HUGE expense. Decide if you want to purchase a meal plan in advance or set money aside for food. Maybe you'll want to eat off property or go to the local grocery stores to save money. AllEars is a great reference for WDW restaurant menus and prices.
4. Will you need to rent a car or van if you fly? Yes, if you want to visit area attractions, eat off property, or go to the market or Walmart. No, if you are planning to stay and eat on site the entire trip. Keep in mind that you will have to arrange transportation to/from airport either with a bus or town car service if you don't rent the car.
5. Guide books are a great source of info. My personal favorite is the Passporter. The unofficial guide is good, too.

Some thoughts on value vs. moderate resorts:
Value resorts are just fine. Nice pools, great food court, cute, clean rooms. My only complaint is that groups of kids (cheerleaders, bands, teams, etc.) often book these hotels and it can get very noisy if you're in the wrong room at the wrong time. I am definately willing to stay at a value if it means I can have more money to spend in nicer restaurants. I have a friend who can well afford to stay in a Deluxe, but actually prefers the value resorts because she doesnt spend that much time in the room anyway.
Moderate resorts have a little more atmosphere and a few more "bells and whistles". Typically, the rooms are a little bigger and the pools may have a slide or something like it. Mods have a sit down restaurant in addition to a food court. My complaint with the moderates is that they are very spread out. You may have to walk a country mile to get your mug refilled.

Sorry if I've rambled on a bit. I hope I've helped in some small way. Have a great time planning and have a great family trip!

 

[PaulDavid's mom]

Thank you so much for some ideas. I appreciate them and am open to any and all suggestions. We already decided that we do want to fly...so I guess the planning has begun!

 

[the kabuki]

Funny you mention about the guys not wanting to have anything planned out. We've gone six times in the last 10 years, and my family still haven't figured out that I've planned out everything. Like it's just a coincedence that we go at the slowest time of the year, that restaurants we go to just happen to have a table available, that we sleep in some days cause the parks are open late that night, that we were able to just walk right up to the ride when in fact I've looked at the guide books and this site for all the tips I can on what times/days to do what parks/rides. I think my oldest daughter is catching on though, smart girl, but hubby still hasn't a clue!

MY SUGGESTION: Have a general idea what parks on what days you're visiting, what the hours and crowds are like for parks on which days, what's open late/early for EMH days. YOU CAN FIND ALL THE INFO YOU NEED ON THIS SITE. It's even better than having the guidebooks. Oh, and get a map to all the parks so you'll know generally where things are.

 

[Micca]

I'd get the room reservations locked in first. You can take your time with everything else, but sometimes those rooms just evaporate before you get your first choice. You can keep an eye on special rates after you book your room, but at least you'll have your original ressie to fall back on.

BTW, has anyone mentioned spring break? That will make an impact on park attendance(and the availability of everything else). Have a fun trip, and whatever you do, don't try to keep your entire party together for the entire trip. It makes everybody crazy.

 

[MAGGIED]

Yeah - planning a trip is so much fun... For us getting a flight was the tough part - I started planning our trip 10 months in advance and had trouble with airlines. Even at 10 months out many seats were booked - it will be spring vacation for the kids here - so that's where I would start.. once you have flights you can book the hotel around that!! Good Luck - have fun planning!

 

[golfgal]

I found that the travel agents that specialize in Disney travel, like DIS-sponsor of the board-got as good if not better deals then AAA and they make all your PS's, apply discount codes if they come available and are generally most helpful with suggestions for what to see, do, eat, etc. I would get into contact with DIS or another Disney Specialist. The discount code I just got will save us about $1000 more then the discounted AAA price, which will pretty much pay for our food and then some while we are there.

With AAA you have to pay a deposit and pay for your entire trip 45 days before you go. We did a room only ressie, paid one night deposit to hold and won't have to pay the balance until we get there. We also have more flexibility to change our reservations if needed. We can change upto 5 days before we go without penality. We can purchace tickets in advance and get a discount from Disney, we can add the dining plan when we get there if we want so we don't really need to do a "package".

 

[jennymouse]

Since you've decided on when you're going and that you're flying you're off to a good start. You'll also want to decide on how long you wish to stay. I second golfgal in that if you want to use a travel agent, chose one that specializes on Disney like Dreams Unlimited. Most of us like to do it on our own, but not everyone has the time or patience.

If you decide to do it on your own, the next step is deciding what your budget will be. Come up with a maximum total that you can live with then go from there.

We usually follow a general food guideline of $50 per person per day for food for each adult and $30 for kids, so deduct that amount from your total budget.

I also deduct the cost of air travel at $250 per person from my total budget. This is what it usually runs from my area, it may be different for you. Sometimes I can get a better airfare but you never know. If flying you'll have to get from the airport to the resort so figure your ground transportation. Deduct the cost of renting a car ($?) or using a towncar ($100 including tip) from the total budget.

The number of days you'll be there, and what you want to do will decide which admission media you need. Determine which admission media fit your needs and deduct this from your total.

How much shopping do you think you'll do? $50 per person? Deduct this from your total.

Once you've deducted food, admission, shopping and transportation, the balance will be for your accomodations. Divide your balance by the number of nights you're staying. This is the budget per night for your resort.

The resorts come in four catagories, value, moderate, deluxe, home away from home. Of course your budget determines where you stay. Since you're already a AAA member you can choose your resort and go ahead and book it with a AAA rate. When it gets closer to your time to go, start looking for code rates to come out. You'll find those on the Resorts Board here on the DIS and mousesavers.com. If a good code rate comes out, you can either rebook the same resort with the new code rate and save some money or chose to upgrade your resort with the saving. Go from moderate to deluxe for example.

Disney has some new packages with food plan addons that I'm not too familiar with. Usually it's better to book & buy things seperately so you won't end up paying for things you don't need, so be sure to do your math first before you purchase a package.

This is how I plan my trips. I hope it helps!