Help me, where do I start???

[britfish]

We just booked our trip for Sept., this will be our first trip and we are soooo excited!! I've got the airlines and disney package so now I need to tackle the dining reservations. Where do I start?? Do we need to figure out what day we will be in which park so we know where to eat (we didn't get park hopper passes). How do we know which park will be open later/earlier for the people staying on site because we might plan around that. This is very overwhelming (but exciting), I just don't know how to start...
Help, suggestions, tips, please.....

 

[Aimeedyan]

I look at the park hours (found on Disney's site- I'll try and find it for you)

Mark which day I'm going to attend which park (so I don't miss any parades or fireworks, and if I want to attend EMH) EMH are listed on the Disney calendars

Then I pick a restaurant for whatever park we're going to be at.

 

[Aimeedyan]

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wd...darHome?id=MKCalendarParkHoursMonthlyViewPage

 

[the workman family]

there is also a list of park hours and parade and fireworks schedule right here on wdwinfo under theme parks and menus under the dining.

 

[britfish]

thank you, thank you, thank you, that was just what I was looking for. I don't know why I am finding it so difficult to navigate through this on my own. Thank you so much for helping me!

 

[britfish]

me again, where do I find the scheudle for fireworks and parades?

 

[TBDave]

I'd suggest signing-up for TourGuideMike. It's around $20, but well worth the investment. There were some coupon codes for $3-$4 off (try "HE7KD-8GA"). If you do a search of the DISboards, you'll find it's pretty highly recommended. The information and planning tips you'll learn there can turn a good trip into a great trip, especially for a first timer.

Not only will they give you schedules for EMH, Parades, Fireworks, etc. But they also have a crowd calendar, which tells you which parks will be least crowded on each day of your trip (and which parks to avoid those days). With that information, we're able to make a schedule of where we'll be each day. Then we pick restaurants at those parks or nearby hotels.

 

[abc999]

also, look at the menus in the dining section of this site and see which ones interest you.

 

[sherreis]

I second the Tour Guide Mike site as well - that's what we used when we went in November 2006. It worked great and we ended up being very happy that we didn't buy parkhoppers. I quickly planned which were the best days for which park and called and scheduled ADRs.

 

[Aimeedyan]

me again, where do I find the scheudle for fireworks and parades?

Disney doesn't make it easy =)

On the same calendar link that I posted, click on the individual date on the calendar - it'll open a new page with all parades and fireworks times and titles. (just click the number itself)

 

[Mr. Pig]

There are also a lot of restaurants in WDW that are not in the parks like at the resorts. If you choose one of these you won't necessarily have to be at a certain park on that day.

 

[britfish]

Thanks to everyones help we have picked which park we will be in for which day. Now, on to the dining reservations. I hope when I finally call, they aren't all booked!
I was wondering, if you book a meal at another resort, how do you get there? We are staying at CBR.

 

[srdipert]

Thanks to everyones help we have picked which park we will be in for which day. Now, on to the dining reservations. I hope when I finally call, they aren't all booked!
I was wondering, if you book a meal at another resort, how do you get there? We are staying at CBR.

You will have to take a bus to the park and than get on another bus, the monorail, or ferry to the resort that you want to go to or you can get a cab unless you have a car than you can drive and park at the resort you are eating at.

I would try to get on a bus that is close to that resort for example if you are going to Chef Mickeys than take the MK bus and ride the monorail. The boma take the AK bus and go from there.

 

[mouselovr]

GO for TGM!!!
THis was the best $$ I spent on our trip last Sept.- 0 waits the whole time and lots of info with great people!
As for ADRS my fam really enjoyed -
Ohana @ Poly #1 chioce
Crystal Palace @ MK had great character interaction
We did not care for Coral Reef at Epcot (DS was 7 and DD 1)
Make your ressies quick and always always ask the CMs for thier favs and input, we would have never eaten at Ohana if I had not asked my CM. Watch the boards for cancelations on ADRs as your time frame is going to be well booked already and people here and TGM are great help when changing them.
Have fun! and take breaks for resting!!

 

[tlriv5]

We went on our first trip two years ago and are now waiting for Oct. for our next trip. Our dd's aren't young and they don't mind eating late, so we planned some ts meals at the resorts we wanted to try for late adrs. For instance, we are eating at 1900 Park Fare, Ohana and Whispering Canyon all after 7:30-8:00 meals. One night is emh at MK, so after the meal we can back over to MK. We can watch Wishes from the beach of the Poly one night. We did do park hoppers, but our last trip we didn't have to have them. We are using them this year, because we've planned some days in two parks. I have not used TGM, but I enjoy reading the dis, allears.net and then looking at the park calendars to get an idea of what we want to do. Good luck and have fun!!

 

[RllngRckBrw]

We look at park hours and what parks we plan to be at on what days then make our ADRs around that. This year we did have to switch our plans a bit to get two different resturants but it was ok for us.