Is 3 months enough time to plan?

[itzmehkristine]

My family and I are planning to go to Disney World This Summer, in August. We aren't set and stone about the dates, but we were thinking about going within the 3rd and 4th week of August, and we are planning to stay there for 6nights/7days. Also, we plan to stay at the AllStar Music Suite, because there is going to be 6 of us.
During our stay there, we are also gonna try and take some time to visit Universal Sutios, and the Harry Potter World, if it's open.
It all seems so overwhelming, do you think 3 months is enough time to plan? And also, do you have any tips?

 

[sdmom]

3 months - shoot, that's plenty!
I could be ready for a trip tomorrow if I could pull it off.
Just check out the websites for WDW and US and have fun!
It's a vacation - don't stress

 

[LoriABil]

We planned our first trip to Disney World(DS was 5) in 5 weeks! We got a super great deal online and decided to go for it. That said, we only did Disney, not Universal or SeaWorld, and we only stayed 5 days (4 park days).

We used Tour Guide Mike and it really helped in getting the most out of our time there. Also, the DIS boards have great tips! I'm sure there are tips on the other Orland parks as well on the boards. But the best advice I can give i to have a strategy. Not necessarily an hour by hour (or minute by minute) itinerary, but a general strategy as to the whens and wheres and hows. And be at the parks early - rest in the afternoons. You'll beat the crowds and have a more relaxing time on vacation.

I can definitely vouch for the importance of this, because I am Miss Anti-Organization, but it really made the trip so much better. Meanwhile, a friend went with an 8 month advanced notice, organized nothing, and most of their time was spent looking for restaurants, waiting in lines and trying to calm cranky kids. They hated Disney and vowed to never go back. How sad is that??? So plan, but mainly...relax and have fun!

 

[disaddictedmum]

3 months is great but you should book your dining if you want some character meals or even good table service places.

 

[TheDisneyingNewfie]

Did you say if this is your first time to Disney? But I'd say 3 months would be fine as well.

If you go at the end of August, maybe we'll bump into each other.

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

heck yeah!! You have plenty of time!!! I always suggest hooking up on these boards, and Tour Guide Mike, or getting a guide book...just make sure you get on it pretty quick...so you can have a good idea of what park you will be in each day and go ahead and get meal reservations! It's awful walking around with hungry kids and everything being too full.But it's definitely doable!
Have fun!!

 

[MissAndrea]

I was going to say what everyone else said...yes it's enough time...just figure out dining now, then figure out the rest over the next few months. Our first trip was an impromtu day at MK when we were in Orlando in 2008. We literally decided the night before that since we had a free day, lets spend it at a Disney park. It was the HIGHLIGHT of our trip, and caused us to plan a trip back for a week in 2009. What caused me to start researching the '09 trip was when we were there in '08 (over spring break!! ) I remember seeing characters with people eating dinner in Crystal Palace and I thought- how in the heck did they get to do that?? That's what brought me here and I've been a Disney nut ever since.

Seriously, if you can find out park schedules now, try to get a rough dining plan together for sit down meals. We do NOT do the dining plan but many others swear by it! If you don't want to do any table service meals, even easier. But you need to do those first because reservations start 180 days out. If you don't get a time and day you want, don't freak out...just call back another day. People are constantly cancelling and making changes so things open up. You'll be fine. Have fun!!

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

Yes! More than that would just mean more time for obsessing! First get your dates firmed up. Sounds like you know where you want to stay. Make than reservation. Then decide if you are going to do one park a day or want a park hopper ticket that would allow you to go to different parks. Then decide which park you'll be at at meal times and ?do you want table service meals. If you want TS then decide if you want character meals or regular restaurants, and browse the site to decide which one(s). Call disney reservations to make and Advanced Dining Reservations (ADRs). Then take a deep breath! The rest is easy breezy! Have FUNNNNNN!

 

[itzmehkristine]

thank you everyone for your replies. I see that dining reservations sounds super important because you all mentioned it. The thing i forgot to mention is that we are sort of on a budget for food, and we were going to save money by making food at the hotel room. And we were planning to eat at maybe one ts at each park. We are not getting the park hopper

 

[TheDisneyingNewfie]

Dinner reservations for table-service restaurants are important if you're going to do any. Counter service doesn't need them.

There's lots and lots of cost saving suggestions in the budget section of this board.

But back to the table service reservations, if you're not park hopping, planning can be a little easier because there's less options - which is not necessarily a bad thing . Start by figuring out which park you want to be at each day and then which restaurant in that park. However, if you don't see a restaurant in the park that you want to try, depending on the park, there's other options - resort restaurants (Ohana's, Boma, etc) or Downtown Disney.

Allearsnet.com is a great place to get restaurant ratings and see the menus.

 

[marmalade]

thank you everyone for your replies. I see that dining reservations sounds super important because you all mentioned it. The thing i forgot to mention is that we are sort of on a budget for food, and we were going to save money by making food at the hotel room. And we were planning to eat at maybe one ts at each park. We are not getting the park hopper

Hopefully they offer the free dining so that will help your food budget . But I see you said you were staying at the suites at ASMU? We looked into that and found it was actually cheaper to get 2 rooms. That savings can go towards your food budget.

 

[tink1969]

Heck! I'm leaving in 9 days and I only booked 1 1/2 weeks ago!
I even managed to make all my ADR's!

 

[perfectparanoia]

Give me one day's notice (to do laundry) and I would be ready.

I would be a little disappointed in the TS restaurants I wanted being unavailable but I would get to try new things so

 

[WizardLarz]

Can you plan it? Yes! But you need to BooK it ASAP. Also get your ADRs done ASAP too!

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

Hopefully they offer the free dining so that will help your food budget . But I see you said you were staying at the suites at ASMU? We looked into that and found it was actually cheaper to get 2 rooms. That savings can go towards your food budget.

Two rooms is a bit cheaper, but having the kitchen of the suite will be very important if you plan on eating in most days. The price difference is small. We found that two rooms + fridge rental was the same as one family suite.

I will pray to the God of Free Dining - you really deserve it!!

 

[imthatgirl]

Of course it's plenty of time...it's more then enough time.
We booked this trip on April 19th and leave on May 16th. that gave us a little less then 4 weeks.
I know people will try to convince you you need many months to plan...it's not necessary.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Most likely, you will be in WDW during the traditional fall free dining dates. That plays a huge factor in planning, especially ADRs. People are already posting on the Dining Board that they are having trouble getting reservations at some of the character meals. You can certainly plan a Disney vacation in 3 months, but you need to get on it now.

 

[MSMomTJ]

We started planning our March '10 trip two months before, so it can definitely be done. As soon as we decided we were definitely going (and before we even actually booked our trip), I made ADRs. I was able to get everything I wanted, but I was pretty flexible about the actual times and days.

 

[gjack]

We booked our first disney trip spur of the moment 3 days before we left and was able to book a character meal at the crystal palace!!! Early booking is better though for meal reservations with Chef Mickey or the like - HAVE FUN and we will see you there - we will be at CR Aug 7 and I am very excited!!!!