Help!! Need Advice. 5 years since last trip!

[kjl070602]

New to this forum and need advice. Our last family trip to WDW was in 2011 & my kids were 9 & 6. I am now planning another trip starting on the Thursday before Thanksgiving for 6 nights in 2017. My kids will be 15 & 13. As of now the plan is to stay at a value resort & pray for free dining and not so horrible crowds. Any advice on crowds, dining, fast passes & magic bands (they did not have them on our last trip) would be appreciated. I'm also wondering if we plan a trip now and the free dining falls on some of our trip days but not all will we get those days that are free for free? Hopefully that make sense!

Thanks to any and all that reply!

 

[dragonfly57005]

My family's last trip was 6 years ago!
I've spent my time reading the board sticky posts about the magic bands which are completely new to me as well. They have great explanations.
No advice on free dining. Had that 6 years ago and hated it. Was not a good fit for our family.

 

[ChasingLeslie]

If you are planning to buy the DDP regardless of dates, then yes FD is usually the best savings offer. As long as your FIRST day falls within an offer period, you can get the offer for the length of your stay.

Magic Bands are great! They are your keys to the world: your hotel, your park tickets, your ADRs, and FPs. You can also link a CC and charge to your room.

Start by looking over menus (available on Disney's website or AllEars) and deciding which restaurants and/or character meals you are interested in. You can start booking dining at 180 days.

Look at park maps (I prefer Kenny the Pirate's maps) to decide which attractions and characters are important to you. This will help you plan your FPs and minimize crisscrossing all over the park. To get the "most" out of the FPs, I like booking all three early in the day and utilizing the MDE app to make more. As soon as you tap in to your third FP attraction, get on your phone and look for your next one. This is especially helpful during higher crowd times, but it always helps to minimize wait times!

 

[yaya74]

New to this forum and need advice. Our last family trip to WDW was in 2011 & my kids were 9 & 6. I am now planning another trip starting on the Thursday before Thanksgiving for 6 nights in 2017. My kids will be 15 & 13. As of now the plan is to stay at a value resort & pray for free dining and not so horrible crowds. Any advice on crowds, dining, fast passes & magic bands (they did not have them on our last trip) would be appreciated. I'm also wondering if we plan a trip now and the free dining falls on some of our trip days but not all will we get those days that are free for free? Hopefully that make sense!

Thanks to any and all that reply!

Welcome to Disboards! This is a great forum and will have everything that you need to know.
We were at WDW last month. The trip before that was 14 years ago!!!!! It was our first experience on FP+ and MB. Honestly, the new program is not as intimidating as it seems to be. the FP+ is really easy to use especially now you can modify it on the mobile app. As for MB, using it is no brainer. Just wear it and tap.
I have never been to WDW during holiday seasons. But I am pretty sure that there are posts about crowd level during thanksgivings. Just do a quick search on the theme park strategies board.
Free dining is a promotion and no one can predict when. HOWEVER, you can study the historical free dining offers and make your own prediction: http://www.mousesavers.com/historical-information-on-walt-disney-world-resort-discounts/#2016.

Happy planning!!