Good WDW trip planning website?

[2Rebecca]

We are going to WDW the first of October. There will be 8 of us including 3 young children (ages 4, 6 & 7). I'm trying to plan our trip. I've searched the web, but I am having information overload! I have our rooms booked (offsite timeshare) and will be buying Salute Tickets.

The information overload is coming when trying to plan things to do/see/ride at the parks. Can someone recommend a good website that streamlines the best things to do/see/ride for a family with young kids? It has been 20+ years since I've been and the first trip for everyone else. I've spent many hours over the past month trying to plan this and still haven't made much progress.

Also, we want to attend the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party, but haven't bought tickets yet. I read that you get wristbands with the ticket purchase. Is that the same as Magic Bands, or do we need to buy a Magic Band, too? Does anyone know whether the 2.0 or original fits better on small kids? (My 7 year old still wears 5T clothes.)

 

[Barbydoll8]

Honestly, this one is one of the best. Getting info from their main link and from others is the best but here are a few.
Allears.net
http://www.disneytouristblog.com/

And breath. Don't get too over whelmed. There is so much to do that it's impossible to do it all in a week. Remember to plan down time. It's very important especially with little ones.

You do not need to buy magic bands as they are still issuing cards/tickets to those not staying on property or non AP holders. MNSSHP has a separate paper type band you get when you check in at the party. There is a special place inside the park where they will check your reservation and then issue party bands.

 

[NH-to-FL]

to DisBoards!

Another good resource is the website: **************.net

Another possibility is the book "The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2018" This is a thick book but you can take your time and study it slowly. There is also a version called "The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World with Kids 2018". If you have a local bookstore it might have copies of these popular books you could look over before buying.

Barbydoll8 had a good suggestion... pause and take a deep breath.

I agree that there is so much to see and do that you can go crazy trying to squeeze it into one trip. Pick out a few "must do's" for each park and make plans around them.
Wishing you a visit!

 

[DeterminedOne]

I second the Unofficial Guide. They do a great job of compartmentalizing information in an easy to read, easy to understand way.It's the best resource, IMO. This board is second, but only after you have a basic overall understanding of WDW. This site can be overwhelming for newbies because there's so much information. The Unofficial Guide sums everything up.

 

[Hootch]

For our trip this summer, I purchased the Unofficial Guide and the Easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit. The latter book walks you through the steps in planning and scheduling your trip. Unofficial Guide has a tremendous amount of information that you need to seek out.

If you want to get a feel of the information for the Easy Guide you can look easywdw.com and your first visit.net.

 

[2Rebecca]

Thank you all for the info. I looked into the Unofficial Guide a few months ago, but the size scared me away. LOL! With so many positive recommendations, I guess I'll give it a try. If they compartmentalize, maybe it will be easy to jump around to only the portions I need.

Oh, and I'm not trying to squeeze everything into one trip. I know that is impossible for even the most organized traveler. I was just hoping there was a magical list somewhere that had the top 10 things to do for kids of different ages...maybe the Unofficial Guide with Kids will have something similar?? I'll research that book as well. Again, Thanks for the replies!

 

[DeterminedOne]

The Unofficial guide has an entire section dedicated to kids, down to what attractions might frighten the little ones. It also rates the rides by age groups. For example: Preschoolers rate Barnstormer 4.5, while teens, young adults, seniors and over 30 rate it a 3.
It really is a great resource, and yes, you can skip around to the sections you need.

 

[NH-to-FL]

Don't worry about the number of pages in the Unofficial Guide. It is very well organized and I feel it is easy to get to the information you are looking for. I have bought a number of years of the Unofficial Guide and have yet to read every page.

 

[Wild4Walt]

I always use Unofficial Guide and allears.net.

I also try to focus on 1 thing at a time because dining in with both feet can be overwhelming. I usually research restaurants first, then tours, rides, etc.

Happy Planning!

 

[Jana49]

Check out allearsnet.com. Lots of info there!