I had NO IDEA.....

[tonya george]

Hi, I'm brand new here, and ashamed to say I had no idea to plan this much in such advance I almost find it comical now, as I realize I seriously am WAY behind! haha, so I have a dear friend who goes to Disney each year if not twice who directed me to this board and I look forward to learning thing real soon! We are traveling Feb 2015, I didn't know about the 180 day rule, so I am very pleased that I got in at Chef Mickey's and at Akershus. I am obviously not a "need to see and do everything" one on this first trip, but any advice or MUST dos would be appreciated. We are staying off property. Thanks in advance and I'll be the one watching the cancellation board

 

[sunshinemelody]

Welcome to the Dis!

 

[magicaldisney]

Welcome! I'm assuming you mean you will be traveling in 2016. Staying off site means you will not be able to make your fastpasses at 60 days out so if you see talk of that you can ignore it. You can however start to make them at 30 days out and you might want to research the best strategies for that. You don't mention the size of your party and ages, but some fastpasses might be harder to get.

 

[peanut3697]

MY experience is if at first you can't get what you want, just keep trying and you'll be surprised at what fast passes happen to show up 2 or 3 at a time that were previously unavailable. I've found that late at night is a good time often enough to get what you are looking for as people are rearranging their plans before their morning trips.

 

[Aruiz7]

Tonya you are not alone and I am going in December lol :O

 

[ToniClifford]

Hello! I'm new on here too. I used to visit Disney as a child every Christmas, and after around 15 years I returned to Disney in May 2015. I couldn't believe all of the forward planning involved - however I kind of love it as I am an Event Manager and have a spread sheet/itinerary for everything! I'm visiting again in May this year and i've learnt some tricks already and this time I am staying onsite (Beach Club) so cannot wait!
Loving this website - so helpful and everyone seems so kind offering their knowledge.

 

[Jennifer Sherer]

I'm a newbie to the boards, but we've been to WDW twice in 2 years, our next WDW trip is planned for June, DCL in November, and another family trip to WDW for January 2017. The first time we went, we knew next to nothing about the planning and ADR's. Since then, my husband has the events planned down to the minute, and out last trip everything went so smoothly! It is totally worth the time to plan out your meals along with your Magic Hours at the parks.

 

[Chrisem]

Hi, I'm brand new here, and ashamed to say I had no idea to plan this much in such advance I almost find it comical now, as I realize I seriously am WAY behind! haha, so I have a dear friend who goes to Disney each year if not twice who directed me to this board and I look forward to learning thing real soon! We are traveling Feb 2015, I didn't know about the 180 day rule, so I am very pleased that I got in at Chef Mickey's and at Akershus. I am obviously not a "need to see and do everything" one on this first trip, but any advice or MUST dos would be appreciated. We are staying off property. Thanks in advance and I'll be the one watching the cancellation board

Make sure our way at the Sci Fi Dine In Theatre at Hollywood Studios. My hubby and I (and even our kids) LOVE it. We look forward to it every visit. Check it out on YouTube. Lots of fun. Have a great time!!

 

[JessNewt]

Haha I am with you tonya! The amount of things to plan is super overwhelming! I've got family coming with me on my trip who make fun of me every day for my binders, books, color coding, etc. However, they also give me their lists of "must dos" and tell me to "make it happen" :/

 

[mydadlife]

Hi fellow newbie here. It does take a lot of planning, but to me, there is quite a bit of fun to be had in the planning phase too. I definitely spend more time than I should on the MDE site and app...