It's been a while, and a lot has changed... how to start to plan/organize?

[shari2shop]

It has been years since our last WDW trip! A lot has changed! I always used TourguideMike and the dis boards to plan every detail. I kep reading all the disboards but wow! A lot of stuff to plan.

Now, with the fastpass+ (which I'm still reading about) and the desire to make dining reservations (1 a day). I'm a little overwhelmed as where to start with the planning.

We will be staying at a DVC resort (have OKW ressies now and plan to switch to AKL).
May 28, 2017 arrival date.
Will be there 9 days.
Will have park hopper tickets.
Will (probably) do the dining plan with one sit down and one quick service.


Now.... where to start? Do I pick parks first then dining ressies and then fastpasses?

How do I figure out times for dinning ressies (1 sit down a day) and for fast passes?

So excited but overwhelmed at the same time!!!

Thanks So much! Any advice is appreciated!!!

 

[hicksnichols]

It's really your preference how you plan your schedule. My family spends most time in the parks so we plan the park first (by crowd level) and then choose somewhere to eat in that park. We will, however, change park plans if we can only get a reservation on a specific day. We do shorter trips (4 or 5 days) so we do t have many days to play with. I think with 9 days you are better off when it comes to making reservations. In the last, we have made dinning reservations first and then chose which park to go to but it seems like the crowds are worse that way. Just my opinion....

 

[hicksnichols]

Sorry, forgot to answer your other questions... You will need to schedule dinning around 180 days before your stay and you can't schedule FP until 60 days before so you will want to focus on meals fist. Pick the park and schedule a meal in that park or schedule a meal and choose that park for that day (as I said above).

To schedule meals go to the Disney website and make a MyDisney Experience log in if you haven't already. Go to things to do/make ding reservations. You can put in your dates and the number in your travel party and it will search for available tables.

FP scheduling is another ballgame. You can read that under the Forum Theme Park Strategies and the thread Everything Fastpass.

Hope this hekps

 

[shari2shop]

Thank you so much!!!

So, I guess for now... until park hours come out... I should plan parks, figure out food for the day, and think about touring plans so I have an idea of fastpass times. Then when parks come out I can figure out where do to do which schedule.

Thanks again... I feel like I have some direction now! Not just doing all kinds or random research! I can get focused on one thing!

 

[cyneswith]

DVC Reservation 11 months out.

Work out which parks work for which day. You can use a park schedule with recommended days, which is probably a good idea in late May/early June. They incorporate special events, fireworks, and extra magic hours and prioritize low crowds. With a 3 year old, we had to do Mickey on day one (as meeting Mickey is the only highlight he's tracking, other than the splash pool at VGF.) Wednesday was a rest day, so I did our least convenient day (not on the monorail, 2 park day) on Tuesday. We also wanted to end with MK (it'll be the little kids' favorite park, and wanted to end on a high note). I also wanted the chance to do Wishes, Symphony in the Stars, and IllumiNations, if the kids were up for them, so I made sure we'd hit the right parks on days they were having them.

180 days before the first day of your trip, get ADRs, preferably as early as possible in the day. BOG was completely booked for lunch and dinner for my whole trip by 9 AM! None of the restaurants I wanted had open slots right when I wanted, so I readjusted my restaurant choices (except for BOG, where we're doing breakfast instead of dinner), since avoiding hangry kids trumps a memorable dining experience.

Plan your days around your dining plans. Stay flexible. Decide what you absolutely don't want to miss.

60 days before the first day of your trip, schedule fastpass+. Also do this early. (7DMT was not available our first morning, booking in the afternoon on the first possible day.)

 

[loves to dive]

Be aware when park hours come out, they can and do change. A lot of people plan around pre-park opening meals so they can be the first in line for a ride when the gates open then get disappointed when the park hours are adjusted to earlier. Be flexible is the most important thing to remember. There are loads of places to eat at WDW if you don't get that hard to get ADR, there is always somewhere you can get. You can't miss something you've never had and you might be surprised and end up somewhere you really enjoy. Don't stress over FPs and ADRs, they open on a hourly basis as people are cancelling them. If there is one you just think you have to have, keep trying every once in awhile.

 

[AshleeH]

I would buy the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World - it was invaluable to me when I was planning our first family trip. So much so that in subsequent years, when planning our first Disneyland and Disney Cruise vacations, I bought those versions as well.

 

[tami82]

It has been years since our last WDW trip! A lot has changed! I always used TourguideMike and the dis boards to plan every detail. I kep reading all the disboards but wow! A lot of stuff to plan.

Now, with the fastpass+ (which I'm still reading about) and the desire to make dining reservations (1 a day). I'm a little overwhelmed as where to start with the planning.

We will be staying at a DVC resort (have OKW ressies now and plan to switch to AKL).
May 28, 2017 arrival date.
Will be there 9 days.
Will have park hopper tickets.
Will (probably) do the dining plan with one sit down and one quick service.


Now.... where to start? Do I pick parks first then dining ressies and then fastpasses?

How do I figure out times for dinning ressies (1 sit down a day) and for fast passes?

So excited but overwhelmed at the same time!!!

Thanks So much! Any advice is appreciated!!!

I i

 

[tami82]

I pick the parks we will be in then dining reservations. If I can only get a dining reservation at a certain park for a certain day then I change the park schedule. Make you dining ressies right at 6:00 a.m. when your window opens. If for any reason it won't allow you to do it online be ready at 7:00 to call to make them. We don't do too many table service in the parks but will do counter. This time around though I'm only planning Biergarten so the rest of the time I can do whatever I want. The fast passes I did reserve but I'm not worrying too much about it if plans change, that was the hardest because I'm not sure this far ahead what we will be doing every single day. I did make sure I got Frozen though for when we go to Epcot. The best thing to do it visit the boards everyday and jjust read up on everything. Take your time and just soak in all of the information then it won't be too bad. Also planning is good but don't overplan every minute of the day or it can become too stressful

 

[Caseheidi]

With 9 days, be sure to plan a couple of days for rest. We call them "down days". We tend to tak them every third day, so two days in the park, and then one lower key day. Sometimes our down days we still go in the parks to catch a perade or fireworks show, but oftenvisit other resorts, swim, visit DS or play mini-golf. Without these days, we tend to be more cranky and our feet hurt worse.

You might also want to look at some of the dinner shows on property and schedule one of those. I am hoping to add the Hoop D Doo Review on our next trip. These are great to do an a down day.