I'm so overwhelmed

[Sunny dreams]

We are going to Disney the last week of August. It will be my first trip in twenty years and my husband and kids, dd4 and ds6, first trip ever. We will also be going with my parents who have not been in 20 years either. We have booked a townhouse at windsor hills and have booked our flight. Other than that we havent done much. I know thst we need to start thinking about alot of stuff but I just don't know where to begin. Does anyone have suggestions for me? I know I will be the main planner but FP+ and dining reservations and park opening times are making me crazy.

 

[Lynzer4]

I'm sure there will be a lot of people that have advice on here but for me these are my steps:

1. Determine which parks on what days. (I used easywdw crowd calendar to help based on best park for that day)
2. From there you can see what ADRs you can get based on where you will be (ie if at MK you can also hit any of the Resorts in the area for dinner)
3. As for a FP+ I would figure out what your family would like to ride. Easywdw also has some great touring plans and FP suggests bases on what you want to do (be there for rope drop or afternoon planned)

And remember it will be hot so breaks are nice...being offsite makes it a little harder but breaks can also be lunch or just going to one of the resorts to look around.

Remeber you can't do everything so make sure you decided what is important to YOUR family. When I went with my nephew at that age characters were BIG.


And most important make sure you just HAVE FUN!

 

[cbellasmomma]

You are much like me except I'm not taking my parents and it's just me and dd (her first time, my first in 20 years). Once I picked the dates we were going I found out when the evening magic hours were for each park and picked that park for the NEXT day. I heard those parks are less crowded the next day - makes sense! Then I decided I was not going to be a prisoner of ADR's and only booked them for one day. Pre-park ADR at CTR, lunch at BOG and a fireworks cruise on one day. I also booked a departure morning character breakfast that we will schedule around. I made other ADR's but we can lose them if needed. I also decided the next morning after this all day ADR fiesta would be a relaxing morning.

My time for FP are coming up. For me it's easy because DD is not into thrill rides so I am focused on MK and getting FP for princess meet and greets.

From there there weren't many other things that didn't just fall into place.

Good luck I know we will all have a great time!!!

 

[Superchikk]

I'm sure there will be a lot of people that have advice on here but for me these are my steps:

1. Determine which parks on what days. (I used easywdw crowd calendar to help based on best park for that day)
2. From there you can see what ADRs you can get based on where you will be (ie if at MK you can also hit any of the Resorts in the area for dinner)
3. As for a FP+ I would figure out what your family would like to ride. Easywdw also has some great touring plans and FP suggestd bases on what you want to do (be there for rope drop or afternoon planned)

And remember it will be hot so break are nice...being offsite makes it a little easier but breaks can also be lunch or just going to one of the resorts to look around.

Remeber you can't do everything so make sure you decided what is important to your family.


And most important make sure you just HAVE FUN!

I completely agree with all of this!

I would say that when we took our 2 1/2 and 6 year-old, breaks were a MUST. I thought they would take precious time away from park touring, but we enjoyed the evenings so much more after everyone had rested. We typically hit Rope Drop, toured until lunch time, then either ate lunch in the parks and headed back to the resort for rest time or ate a later lunch back at the resort. We all freshened up (it will be hot in August!) and laid down to rest - no TV, dim lights, etc. Every single day, almost all of us slept. Then we could get up and enjoy a quick snack before heading out again and doing dinner at the park or we could eat dinner at the resort and go to the parks until late without so much worry of the kiddo meltdown. Or the Mommy meltdown.

For the rides, go to YouTube and search for videos of the rides - there are lots to choose from. I showed them to my son before our trip and we were able to determine if we thought it would be something he would enjoy. I'm going to do the same for my daughter for our upcoming trip, as she'll be tall enough to ride many rides she couldn't last time. We started with mild rides in Tomorrowland and then let him ride Barnstormer. He LOVED it, so we knew he'd be good for Splash and Big Thunder. He even worked his way up to EE and Space. I think him knowing what to expect was huge, as well as starting with smaller rides and letting him build confidence.

Know you can't do everything on this trip - make a plan and just work thru it - and enjoy yourselves!

 

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

When all else fails there are a ton of great Travel Agents who can help. Heck, I am an über planner and had to use one myself this time to get a room discount.

Also we'll be there the same week, so if you have any specific questions about that week, feel free to DM me, this is our 2nd time doing last week of August.

Good luck!

 

[Mikie]

I (of course) love these boards at the DIS, but find that they're quite full of minutia and very specific details. I agree with the previous posters and suggest checking out EasyWDW and/or **************.net as an overview. With the ages of your kids, you should look at height requirements of the rides as you think about what you'll want to do - they may be too short for a few rides. Do you already have tickets and know whether you are interested in all 4 parks or any water parks? requesting the Disney planning DVD is a good idea as well.

Come back here with any specific questions that arise as you go about your planning. For instance, you'll get a good overview of the parks, Attractions and dining from those sites. If you settle on a park and want advice on which restaurant to eat at; or decide you want a meal with characters, or wonder if your kids will like XYZ ride - come look here for opinions.

I hope you enjoy the planning, and most importantly, your trip!!

 

[Mainemama]

Advice not yet covered... I find lunch ADRs to be best when travelling with kids your ages. You don't have to rush them in the morning, everybody is ready to eat after walking in morning, restaurants are generally less busy, and it frees up your evenings to be more spontaneous. And by spontaneous, I mean perhaps deciding that a swim and an early night is okay when needed! I think you will want a stroller. I had my first trip with a 4 and 6 year old, never thought we would use one, and we really did. I have never stayed offsite, so don't have advice for that, but do try to get in the mindset of how enormous WDW is. Look at maps ahead of time, so you have some sense of where things are! Another restaurant tip, I find CS in the parks kind of crazy to do with kids. We always have long lines and a hard time finding seating. I prefer to leave and do a QS out of the park. (Epcot excepted... Lots of options, though I can't handle Sunshine Seasons for the same reason.)

 

[Rosebud123]

• I'd suggest renting a car. Pay close attention to the August rental car code watch in the transportation forum to get the best deal.
• Check out Easywdw and plan your park days.
• I'd keep in simple. Don't overbook stuff. Make a few ADRs for places you really want to try, and then do a little research on some less expensive restaurants outside the park. For your park days, I'd do a few RD - break - evening activities days, and a few RD - 3 days (AK for example). If you're going for 7 nights, I'd take one day off in the middle and either go to a WP, or spend the day at the pool and then go to DTD for dinner and shopping.

 

[mshanson3121]

We are going to Disney the last week of August. It will be my first trip in twenty years and my husband and kids, dd4 and ds6, first trip ever. We will also be going with my parents who have not been in 20 years either. We have booked a townhouse at windsor hills and have booked our flight. Other than that we havent done much. I know thst we need to start thinking about alot of stuff but I just don't know where to begin. Does anyone have suggestions for me? I know I will be the main planner but FP+ and dining reservations and park opening times are making me crazy.

1. Look at the crowd calendars and determine which park on which days. What I did was write it out in front of me as a chart. I wrote down which parks easywdw.com recommended which day (ex. so maybe Monday they recommend MK and EP, on Tuesday HS AK etc...). Then I went to touringplans.com crowd calendar and looked at their numbers (they give crowd level predictions for each park, for each day), and we selected the park that had the lowest crowd forcast. How long are you staying? Don't forget to plan down time/down days, and decide if you're going to do a water park.

2. Once you know what park you'll be in on which day, make your ADRs. Unfortunately, you're going to be pretty limited now (assuming you're going THIS August), so... you're not going to have great selection (reservations open up 180 days in advance). So, if there's any you REALLY want, try and book them now, knowing you're likely going to take less than ideal hours, but just go with what works for you. Don't overlook dinner theatre - the one at he Polynesian and Hoop Dee Doo Revue. You'll have no problem getting into those this late in the game, and from what I'm told, HDDR should not be missed, it's a riot, even for young kids. We are taking our kids (DD, just turned 5, DS almost 8) when we go in 3 weeks.

3. Join www.touringplans.com and buy their subscription. Start looking through the parks to see what rides and entertainment your family is going to want to do, which ones will be ones you want to skip etc... From there, on Touring Plans, start making your touring plans for each park. Add the rides and shows you want to see, any ADRs you may get, and go from there. Things you can't miss: Wishes, Main Street Electrical Parade, Festival of Fantasy parade, Fantasmic, Anna & Elsa meet and greet, For the First Time in Forever (a comedy/sing a long show at Hollywood Studios).

4. At 30 days out from each day, make your FP+ selections (by this point, you have deicded what your top 3 must-dos are, and you pick those, typically the bigger ticket rides like 7D, BTMR, A&E etc...now, at 30 days out, these will be quite limited as well, but not impossible). Now that you know your FP+ times, tweak your touring plans to reflect those.

Those are the big three - pick the park, pick the meals, pick the rides. It will take some tweaking, for sure. Since this close you'll be more limited in FP+ and ADR selections, it will be a little more work to get everything exactly as you want, but not impossible, and at the end of the day, they'll have fun no matter what.

From there:

1. Decide if you want to purchase Memory Maker (their photography package, $169 for the entire group and well worth it from what I'm told, split the cost with your parents)
2. Order your tickets and Magic Bands (have to have at least one member in your party with a Magic Band to use Memory Maker)
3. Since you have your parents going along - PLAN A DATE NIGHT!!! Find something for you guys to go off and do some night.
4. Start a packing list and start buying things you'll need. For August - Frogg Togg towels will be a must, as well as personal fans, very comfortable sandals (I love my Clarks and Nike thongs), I recommend Keens for the kids, ponchos (you'll have rain every day), Body Glide anti-chaffe stick. These are all things I have been told to get.

 

[Kathryn777]

We stay offsite and don't do table service dining. Everyone on here is always discussing it, but I find it pricey. So the way we plan from the point you're at.
- decide what our top priorities are to see/ride
- figure out how many days we want at each place
- decide what my fast passes will be
- book my fp when the 30 day window opens
- rearrange my schedule based on the fp we get
- start my countdown

 

[mckennarose]

We are going to Disney the last week of August. It will be my first trip in twenty years and my husband and kids, dd4 and ds6, first trip ever. We will also be going with my parents who have not been in 20 years either. We have booked a townhouse at windsor hills and have booked our flight. Other than that we havent done much. I know thst we need to start thinking about alot of stuff but I just don't know where to begin. Does anyone have suggestions for me? I know I will be the main planner but FP+ and dining reservations and park opening times are making me crazy.

This was me one year ago; planning a trip when I hadn't been there in 20 years! Everything seemed so different.
I agree with the suggestions previously posted and HIGHLY recommend easywdw. I printed Josh's maps and took them with me to the parks because they were much easier to find things than the Disney maps. Has anyone noticed that the HS and EPCOT maps are upside down?! With the entrances at the top of the page, rather than the bottom where you could follow better.

Anyway... keep in mind that you won't see and/or do everything. Pick what interests you and focus on those events. Start to familiarize yourself with the layout of the parks, where attractions are. A crowd calendar is helpful to pick which park on which days. (again; easywdw.com) I don't think you have to plan every second, but it's important to have a general idea on things: the popular rides/attractions, best times of the day to visit certain attractions, what attractions to pick FP+ for, what restaurants are close to where you are, etc.

I've talked to several people who visited without any preparation, and none of them have intentions on returning because they hated it. Disney is not like your average amusement park where you can just show up and wander around and expect to do everything on your list without preparation, IMHO. You have to have some idea what you're getting into. Coming on these boards and beginning to research is a great start! You have some time to plan and you'll have a great time! We enjoyed our trip last year so much we went back 3 weeks ago! And I still haven't seen or done everything. We're looking ahead to a trip next year!

 

[eyehartdisney]

2. Once you know what park you'll be in on which day, make your ADRs. Unfortunately, you're going to be pretty limited now (assuming you're going THIS August), so... you're not going to have great selection (reservations open up 180 days in advance). So, if there's any you REALLY want, try and book them now, knowing you're likely going to take less than ideal hours, but just go with what works for you.

Actually, your time frame looks pretty good for reservations!

 

[123SA]

Before you start planning break times -- yes they are wonderful, if your kids will actually take a break. Mine would not. It was a waste of time. As much as I love the nighttime activities, it was better for us to just stay in the park until 6 and call it a day. If we tried to break, they fought us, didn't sleep, and then were completely miserable when we tried to get through a nighttime event.

 

[kwdw]

If you haven't been there in 20 years - it's also worth visiting your local bookstore and browsing the travel books for Disney - and then maybe buying one. Websites are great as they are free - but those books sell because they tend to present information in an organized manner.

 

[tsme]

Everyone has given you great advice. Don't feel bad about being over-whelmed. We go every year but at times when I think about all the planning, I feel exhausted and over-whelmed too.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

I agree that you should hit the adr's asap. At least the ones you can't live without.

 

[ammag]

Taking a mid afternoon break didn't work for us either, we tend to go rope drop to 5/6. This year will be our first doing lots of TS meals because we got free dining but most do them are for dinner time, after which most nights we will go to the resort so the kids sleep around their usual 8pm time. Keeping their sleep on schedule for the most part and using a double stroller has been KEY for us, both avoiding meltdowns and generally enjoying everything the best we can.

I also recommend each family member make a lots of their three (more or less) MUST DO attractions in each park, then see if you can work everything in with the various websites and toold people have mentioned. Antoher one I don't think has been mentioned is WDW Prep school. Shannon Albert gives concise tips and has a great podcast weekly. I love the dis podcast but for a shorter less overwhelming/first trip experience I think WDW prep is the one to start with. Of course she has a good webiste and Facebook page too.

Since our first family trio in 2012 I've become a huge fan of the parks and consider it a full on hobby..,learning, listening om talking about all things related. But now planning our third trip I get overwhelmed too, I have a feeling that even the most seasoned travellers have moments of feeling overwhelmed. It's a serious thing, the level of planning people have to do IF they want certain experiences. Of course none of us would do the work if it wasn't a seriously amazing trip!!!!

 

[lynch34]

By doing anything - you are already way ahead of the game. Most people sleep late, show up at 10 or 11 and then just wander around the park with no idea or plan.

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

We are going to Disney the last week of August. It will be my first trip in twenty years and my husband and kids, dd4 and ds6, first trip ever. We will also be going with my parents who have not been in 20 years either. We have booked a townhouse at windsor hills and have booked our flight. Other than that we havent done much. I know thst we need to start thinking about alot of stuff but I just don't know where to begin. Does anyone have suggestions for me? I know I will be the main planner but FP+ and dining reservations and park opening times are making me crazy.

Enjoy it. Don't lot this feeling of being overwhelmed rob you of the enjoyment of the anticipation of the trip. Don't aim for the perfect trip where you will do everything you wanted. Just enjoy it. If you want to make sure you get on certain rides, then when your first day of being able to comes, reserve FP+ for the days you know you are going to a specific park and maybe reserve a place to have lunch or dinner depending on when you go. Unless you do a character breakfast, I often grab something fast offsite which saves a bit on money. From the age of your children I am guessing you might want to do a character breakfast. Just enjoy the trip AND the anticipation of it. I am going July 11-19 myself. Just booked the flight last night.

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

Another thing, not sure how much of an early bird you are or if the children can be motivated early but if you can get there for rope drop (park opening) you will have a good 2 hours of a lightly crowded park and you should be able to get a lot in.