First-timers!

[Octoberbabiesrus]

We'll be going in Oct for Ds's 6th bday and ds 1st birthday. What is the best advice about where to stay and whatever? I've been looking through the board and am impressed and will be taking notes. Thanks! Cant wait to become a integral part of this board!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

tell us more about you...do you have a budget? Are you flying/driving? Do you plan to stay onsite? I would suggest calling and booking soon. If you plan to eat at any sit down restaurants, they are starting to take reservations (ADRs) this month. If you are going for birthdays, make sure to mention that when you make your reservations.

 

[stopher1]

Oh that's wonderful! I always agree to "take them while the magic's still real" - cause then you get 'em hooked like so many of us here on the DIS!!

Where you stay really depends on a variety of factors, including your budget. Disney has a lot of really wonderful resorts on property, and there are numerous nice hotels off-property. Disney has 4 categories of hotel - Value, Moderate, Deluxe and the DVC properties, which I think they call Home Away From Home or some such term.

Staying on property you get the added benefits of Disney transportation (busses, boats and monorails), Extra Magic Hours (EMH), the Disney Dining Plan (DDP) - if you want to utilize that it's only available when you get a package with hotel & tickets - and of course, simply staying within the "magic" of the entire resort.

Scan through the Resorts section of the DIS to learn more about individual resorts - but of course another good thing is to just spend some time navigating the WDW site itself.

October is a nice time of year to go both weather-wise and generally crowd-wise, but Epcot can be very busy with the Food & Wine festival.

Good luck in your planning. I know that many others will offer some great advice.

 

[JillHM7]

No advice here, we are going on our first trip next month! I just love your user name, I have three October kids and had to reply! Good luck planning your trip...

 

[Aliceacc]

Hi and welcome!!

Here's a thread I started for other newbies; it may help you get your thoughts together: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1715551

 

[Rylee]

We'll be going in Oct for Ds's 6th bday and ds 1st birthday. What is the best advice about where to stay and whatever? I've been looking through the board and am impressed and will be taking notes. Thanks! Cant wait to become a integral part of this board!

Since you know when you want to go, next...

• Decide how much money you want to spend and how long you'll stay.
  
• Choose your resort (I always recommend staying at a Disney Resort... very convenient, lots of perks and surrounded in magic.)
  
• What type of tickets will you need? (Do you want to visit more than one park per day? Do you plan to visit the water parks?)
  
• Consider the Dining Plan... includes 1 Table Service meal (TS), 1 Counter Service meal (CS), and 1 snack, per person, times (X) the number of nights you are staying. Adults = 37.99, children (ages 3-9) = 9.99. (Worth it for some families, not for others.) Read menus and prices at the allears site.
  
• Schedule some dining reservations. Dining Plan, or not, if you want to dine and experience some of the TS restaurants, you'll need to make Advance Dining Reservations. (ADR's) Personally, I always schedule one TS meal a day... I would be miserable eating counter service all week, and it is a nice break from the parks. Also, consider a character meal.

Have fun planning.