First timer-overwhelmed!

[KimBean]

There are a lot of things, but here is the rough order I do things in. Take the days I've got booked and figure out how many park days I want and if more than one day per park how that is going to add up. Do you want to park hop? If so figure out how many days for each park or half day etc. Then look at easywdw.com calendar and figure out what days to go to each park. Then figure our your dining based on where you are going to be. Book dining. Do FP at 60 or 30 days depending on where you are staying. Base this on either what is most important to you or what goes fastest. Book FP for early afternoon. Get their early and do 3-4 hard to get things, have an early lunch then your FP's. It will be a very accomplished day before a snack. Get a dole whip at Magic Kingdom. Remember, you will not see it all, it will not be perfect, but it will be a great time!

Just seeing you are going for 10 days, maybe you will see it all. LOL! We did 10 days last time each day in a park (2 half days as arriving and departing.) We saw everything we cared to, some things twice, got to do some side things never done before and it was a very relaxing pace. I mean I had 12 FPs just for MK. LOL! It was great!!

 

[Dan Murphy]

A good site to review...

www.**************.com

 

[Canuck16]

If you are RD people then I would suggest scheduling your FP's for later in the day when the parks are busier.

We were there early May in 2014 and did this and it worked out great for us. We were able to take advantage of the low crowd levels at park opening until we left for our mid day break and then had our 3 FP selections ready to go when we got back for our evening park time.

Have a great trip!!

 

[TGM]

And once you've done all of that, start a countdown!

This is my countdown to our trip in May!



If you have a Mac, you can add widgets (made by Apple or 3rd party) to your dashboard, and then put it anywhere! If you have any questions about how to do this, just ask me!

 

[onenursebrandy]

We are staying at Orange Lake Resort, so off site in a time share. We are driving down, so will have our car if needed but I think they may shuttle to WDW. Will check on that. I'm reading all I can. Thanks so much. I will check the calendar but I think it will be crowded no matter what as it is Memorial Day weekend and the week after. :/

We stayed here in 2013 and my kids loved it!!! It was really nice, the pool was awesome. We were right on the golf course, and we had several wildlife visitors walk up to our deck. One was a "giant" crane, that stood taller than my then 7 year old! He loved it! Immediately named him Kevin and wanted to feed him chocolate!!!

Hope you have a great trip! We're going in May too, hoping for good weather, and low crowds!!!

 

[danceteachermom]

I always tell first timers that you can't really understand how much easier it is to get things done at rope drop until you do it. If you arrive at the park entrance 30-45 minutes before opening, you will have gotten up early on vacation but you will get to do so much the first two hours the park is open, it pays off. We then schedule our fast passes for between 11 and 2. Most days we are poolside and relaxing by mid afternoon. We do not sleep in but we do find a lot of time to relax. If you are going back to the parks at night you will be rested with a mid day break.

Also, while you do not want to overplan and take all spontaneity and flexibility out of your vacation, you must plan some or you will end up constantly frustrated. Fast passes and a few meals reservations are a must. Also having each family member make a list of what is most important to them, make sure to include each person's must-dos and be willing to let other things go.

Have a great trip!

 

[lustergirl]

OP: Good Luck. I know the first time can be overwhelming. I remember when we went for the first time and reality came crashing in. We went during the end of September and was not used to the heat. This was during the time of free dining and half of our ressies went out the window.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

I always tell first timers that you can't really understand how much easier it is to get things done at rope drop until you do it. If you arrive at the park entrance 30-45 minutes before opening, you will have gotten up early on vacation but you will get to do so much the first two hours the park is open, it pays off. We then schedule our fast passes for between 11 and 2. Most days we are poolside and relaxing by mid afternoon. We do not sleep in but we do find a lot of time to relax. If you are going back to the parks at night you will be rested with a mid day break.

Also, while you do not want to overplan and take all spontaneity and flexibility out of your vacation, you must plan some or you will end up constantly frustrated. Fast passes and a few meals reservations are a must. Also having each family member make a list of what is most important to them, make sure to include each person's must-dos and be willing to let other things go.

Have a great trip!

I can't emphasize enough how much I agree with getting to the parks early. If you are at the park gates (not the parking lot) about 30 minutes before the park opens you will be able to get a ton of stuff done in the first two hours before it starts to get crowded. You'll encounter minimal to no waits for most rides. If you arrive around 10 a.m. with the rest of the crowds then you'll be looking at long waits and crowded walkways. Arrive early, leave around midday for a break (it will be hot and people get grumpy if you try to spend 12 hours straight at a park) and head back in the evening after it has cooled down.

Having said that, since you are staying offsite you will not be able to take advantage of extra magic hours ("EMH"), which lets guests staying at Disney hotels get in before general public opening or stay after closing, so you should AVOID parks that have EMH in the mornings because guests staying onsite will have already been in the park for over an hour before you can get in.

 

[stinkpickle]

A good site to review...

www.**************.com

This. ^^^

 

[mickeyluv'r]

We are staying at Orange Lake Resort, so off site in a time share. We are driving down, so will have our car if needed but I think they may shuttle to WDW. Will check on that. I'm reading all I can. Thanks so much. I will check the calendar but I think it will be crowded no matter what as it is Memorial Day weekend and the week after. :/

Here's my thinking in a nutshell.
1. If you have never been to WDW, then you don't know. Don't beat yourself up over what you don't know. You don't know what attractions your family will love best, or which dining. MOST importantly, you don't know how long it takes to get from place to place!

Even though we have been to Disney a great many times, the last is almost always a fairly wide unknown (see below).

2. One BIG unknown is always the weather. Florida is essentially tropical, sudden downbursts are often short lived and (nearly) unpredictable, but common. Perfect weather = extras, bad weather can equal less. Then again, bad weather also= less crowds. May is close to ideal, except it might feel a bit hot. DO bring water tolerant footwear. I also strongly suggest buying cheap plastic ponchos, also rain jackets in case of longer rain.

The crowds will be worst very close to the holiday, and thin out further form that day/weekend.

3. I ONLY bring footwear that is good for walking. WDW is much walking. The day's fun often ends when your feet/legs hurt. I make sure everyone brings at least two pairs of quality footwear (alternate to avoid blisters!), where one is water tolerant! (Kali at AK, rainy days, to/from the pool) Walking shoes are worth every penny.

4. I go to Disney for the things that are unique to Disney. I can (fairly easily) visit thins like non-Disney water parks and mini-golf, and the Disney version usually costs extra.

5. Drink plenty of WATER!

6. With those basics, the rest is kind of icing. I wouldn't pick dining every day for many reasons. #1, it locks you down. I suggest keeping your first trip a flexible as possible, so you can accommodate the unexpected without any stress. Pick one or two options that sound very fun and are easy to locate.

7.You DO kind of need to pick your 3FP for each park day. No, we don't like this new system either. It helps to pick the # of park days you want, then which parks to visit. You'll probably want 2 days in MK, and one in each of the rest.

8. Simply put, any opportunity to zip when the masses zag, works in your favor. Avoid following the herd if you can do it happily. Pick the less crowded turnstile. Eat ice cream before lunch! You'll do very well if you simply choose to go on the older/less popular rides during the peak crowd hours (11am-4pm). The rides with FP, and the longest mid-day waits are the ones you want to ride outside peak hours or with a FP. Stretch as much as possible, but not to the point of misery.

9. Drink PLENTY of WATER! We carry bottled water. Disney's bottled water is $$. If you pick up one type of grocery item, buy water.

10. Did I mention LOTS of walking?!?!? Almost every WDW path is as long as possible! One of the best ways to prep for Disney is daily walks. Well, that and having a small emergency slush fund. We find most vacation problems can be solved with a little bit of $, and/or walking a little further.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

and half of our ressies went out the window.

THIS!!!! The less pre-paid, pre-planned the better! Disney now has unforgiving policies when it comes to dining and missing reservations. At least you can re-book (missed) Fastpasses for free.

Whenever we visit a new place, we try to keep in mind that we can always return.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I always tell first timers that you can't really understand how much easier it is to get things done at rope drop until you do it. If you arrive at the park entrance 30-45 minutes before opening, you will have gotten up early on vacation but you will get to do so much the first two hours the park is open, it pays off. We then schedule our fast passes for between 11 and 2. Most days we are poolside and relaxing by mid afternoon. We do not sleep in but we do find a lot of time to relax. If you are going back to the parks at night you will be rested with a mid day break.

Also, while you do not want to overplan and take all spontaneity and flexibility out of your vacation, you must plan some or you will end up constantly frustrated. Fast passes and a few meals reservations are a must. Also having each family member make a list of what is most important to them, make sure to include each person's must-dos and be willing to let other things go.

Have a great trip!

Most of this is good, except we think all waiting is waiting. Standing in front of a closed park gate is still waiting, in my opinion. However, as I said above- it might take longer to get around than you think - all day. So we do try to allow for that- both in the sense of allowing time to get around WDW, and also in the sense of forgiving ourselves if we need an extra break.

Crowds build as the day progresses, until they diminish in the evening. If you go to WDW on a day when MK is open 7am to 3am, well, chances are good you won't last all 21 hours! Many rope drop folks never see the late PM hours. In our family, we actually find the late hours more relaxing. At 9am, most waits are short, so what do you pick? by the time you get off, many waits will double. After9pm, the opposite happens. After almost every attraction, the wait for everything else will be shorter. To me, that is more relaxing.

that said, the 9am hour is a very useful hour if it doesn't make you miserable to arrive so early. WDW is fun for owls too!

It is true, some dining locations are unavailable if you don't make an ADR. On the other hand, ADR's are NOT a traditional reservation. On our last visit, we waited over an HOUR past our ADR time to be seated. ADR's just = you'll eventually get a table.

Our quick serve dinner the same day was a much happier meal. We just walked into the nearest place when we got hungry and saw a short line. It also cost a lot less. We've dined at almost ever WDW over the years. Some TS places are better than some QS, but not all. Pizza and burgers are about the same everywhere. Kid meals are similar property-wide. Choose TS for items like steak, or better atmosphere - like live characters.

 

[larryz]