HELP! New here

[mom2AandL]

HI everyone!! I am new to the boards, well not really, I was a lurker before. Anyway I have to get all the lingo down but I needed somewhere to start. My family will be traveling to WDW in October 2010 and needed some help. Right now my parents booked us in WorldMark Orlando but we are on the waitlist for one of the places inside the park. I think they are Boardwalk Villas, Animal Kingdom Villas and a few others. We are keeping our fingers crossed for those.

How soon do I start planning? Am I nuts to do it now? I have to buy tickets to the park and airfare. I have 2 boys who will be 4 (almost 5) and 3 when we are going. We are booked right now for 10/30/10 - 11/6/10. All the help you can give me will be wonderful!! Where should we concentrate on going the most?

 

[SKWDW]

Welcome mom2AandL!

It's great that you changed from lurker to poster. IMHO it's never too early to start planning. Start looking at PTRs and TRs (Pre Trip Reports and Trip Reports) to learn about what works and what doesn't. Think about the rides you'll go on and your dining reservations. It's so much fun!

 

[Metro West]

 

[magicaldisney]

 

[ILuvMulan]

It is NEVER too early!! If it is your first trip you are in for a wonderful time. This board is a great place to start, but you also might want to check out the travel section of your local library or book store for recent books on WDW they have great info and often "insider tips". It also helps to see things such as height requirements for the rides, etc. because that will help you to know what the kids can and can not do. If the big kids (aka parents) want to ride the bigger rides there is a child swap option which is great. The books will also give you info on the resturants, etc. If you have a "plan" you tend to get to see and do more. I think the best advice I received was to look through the books and decided what were the most important things for our family to see and do. There are five of us and we each picked 2 "must-dos" at each park and made sure we did those first, then everything else we did was a bonus!! We kept track of those and then the next year hit many of the things we missed the first time. We still have a few on our list for next year. Just know that there is no way you will ever get it all done in the first trip. HAPPY PLANNING!!!!

 

[Disney Crazy Debbie]

It helps to soothe the excitment because you will feel just like a child. Since you have a few months , look at the allears.net web site to look at menus, etc. They have change some but not too much. Make a list of the ones you think your family would like, maybe make an itinerary, which you will change many times . Then this winter talk to your family, especially the boys and have their in put as to what they would like, you know, character meals, rides, special events, fireworks. Don't forget that you can make ressies 180 prior to your scheduled arrival date.

I have reservations for WLR beginning 7/31/20 through 7/7/10 and I have already made an itinerary, including meals. I spent about 3 hours working on it this week-end. There is a itinerary page you can go to on waltdisneyresorts.com. You click on the luggage, my vacation, and there is an itinerary page. It's a great worksheet.

Since your boys are so young don't forget that they might like some of the things at Ft. Wilderness like the petting zoo, pony rides, campfires w/movies (Chip 'n Dale are present) and hayrides. Just suggestions because they are often overlooked.