Just started planning and OVERWHELMED!!!!

[dreaminofdisneyx7]

We JUST started looking into the REMOTE possibility of taking our five babes to Disney NEXT December (2009!!!) upon DH's graduation and I am overwhlemed by_________________. YOu can fill in that blank with:

-the prices I got for a package "deal"
-the amount of information out there to "help" me plan a trip
-the amount of "come here and we will show you how to plan effectively" links there are
-etc.

SO, I found this forum. I am praying that I can get some honest feedback as to where to start, what to avoid in the beginning planning steps, and even if it is possible to take a family my size for under 8 grand.

OH! Nice to *meet* you and thanks in advance!
~Angela

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

If you are already starting to plan...you'll have plenty of time to read through all the suggestions by the self-proclaimed Disney experts on here. Personally, I would chose one topic at a time and focus on that. First you have to pick a time of year to visit..Christmas time is the most expensive. I would suggest looking at the beginning of December if your heart is set on December. The decorations are up and the crowd levels are lower.

If you are careful with your dates and stay in the cheaper hotel (look into the AllStar Suites if you want to stay onsite), you'll definately be able to do it for under $8000.

 

[Perditamarie]

Welcome to the DIS!!! You will get lots of great info here!!

Your assignment begins w/getting a great guide book. I like the unofficial guide as it reviews resorts and restaurants, gives info on water parks, DTD, rides, touring plans for parks, transportation options/times, etc. It's a great summer read. Also, order the planning DVD from the WDW website.

Then consider the following:

* Transportation: how you are getting to WDW...drive or fly? If you drive, you have your own wheels. If you fly and stay at a Disney Resort, you can use free Disney transport, including from the airport to your resort. If you fly and stay off-site, will you rent a car, use taxis or shuttles?

* Resort: will you stay in a Disney resort on-site or rent a house off-site, or a hotel room off-site? To stay on-site, your least expensive option is renting 2 rooms from a Disney value resort. This will get you all the on-site resort guest perks like EMH, dining plan (if you want), package delivery, transportation, free parking.

* Food: If you have your own vehicle, you can eat in/out of the world. If you have a vacation home, you can plan on making meals there to save $$. If you stay at a Disney resort you have the option to purchase the dining plan ($38 adults, $11 children under 10) which may or may not work for your crew, and includes 1 restaurant meal (TS for table service), one fast food meal (CS for counter service) and 1 snack per day.

* Tickets How many days do you plan on spending in the parks? Tickets end up cheaper by the day the more days you purchase. You can add features like no expiration and park hopping. Children under the age of 3 do not need to purchase a ticket. Check out Mousesavers.com as a great resource for all WDW info and links to legitimate discount ticket sellers.

Early December is a great time to visit w/awesome Christmas decorations and entertainmenet...and the beginning of Dec. may still be in value season...need to double check that.
What are the ages of your children?

 

[dreaminofdisneyx7]

I will go and get a guidebook this weekend! DUH!

We are still so new to this that I don't have any idea WHAT we want, except that it needs to be as inexpenive as possible. DH is graduating from a Bible college and we are going into ministry upon graduation. There will (most likely) not be a high-paying corporate job waiting in the wings :

My children will be (in Dec of 09) 8,7,6,5 and 2 1/2).

Thanks again and I look forward to more great tips!!!!

 

[mommy-on-the-move]

First off congrats to your husband on his impending graduation! and great to meet another larger family mama on the boards

We're a family of 8 (4 adults, 3 kids- but one of them is adult pricing which is age 10 upwards at disney, and one infant- so he goes free) and I know for us the largest part of our budget has been the flights ($6000ish and we got a good deal there) - but they're transatlantic flights- we're in England, if you're flying the earlier you book the cheaper the flights tend to be, of course i'd be cautious at the moment as they think alot of airlines may go bust between now and next year) Park tickets were another big expense for us ($2100ish for 14 days park hopper & water parks and more- we bought them whilst they were on 14 days for the price of 7 through disney) hotel rooms we've gone with 2 rooms at all star movies (I think they were around $90 a night each?) and coming from England i actually couldn't get over how cheap those rooms are- we couldn't even stay in a travel lodge or motel for those prices here! If you stay onsite you don't have to worry about airport transport as you can catch the magic express and use on site transport- buses, monorail, boats to get around.

Next we started looking at food- this site has a wonderful dining section where you can actually search the menus of places, we spent a few hours doing this and we managed to realise we're actually going to be best suited for counter service & snack foods- we scheduled a few table service meals for special things (castle for the girls, chef mickeys for my husbands 30th) For us it helped us work out a realistic food budget and rule out alot of places that sounded cool but we now know wouldn't suit any of us food-wise.

We looked at other parks we might like to visit as we're on a 14 day stay- we've decided on seaworld but not aquatica (because we've got waterparks on our disney tickets) we decided not to do busch gardens as we'll be doing animal kingdom, but we did decide to do universal studios too- we've decided to leave kennedy space centre until the 3 youngest are older too. This helped us know what other tickets we needed to search for at good prices.

I'd say it's very possible to do with a family of that size for under $8k, I don't think our expenses (aside from the flights) come to that much and that's for 14 days with park hoppers and tickets to other places.

 

[Mommymcgee]

My advice:

#1 go to the library for your guidebook. There are so many different ones on the market and they are updated every year, you can check out several and learn so much about WDW for free! Then if you find one you really like you can buy it next year when the 2009 edition comes out.

#2 consider staying in the Fort Wilderness Cabins. I think they sleep 6, but I think you can also have a little one in a pack and play. They have a bedroom with twin bunk beds and a full bed, and a full murphy bed in the living room. They have a full kitchen and private outoor deck, picnic table and grill. You could save soooo much money preparing your own meals with a family your size. The cabins are really nice and the campground has many free activities right there like a sing along with characters, playground, beach etc. You could plan a day or two with just campground activities and not even need tickets for those days. Also there is a boat that takes you right to the Magic Kingdom. We stayed at one of the cabins our last trip and loved it. It is great because there is more privacy and the kids can be loud and play and not bother anyone. Plus the grounds of the campground are beautiful, it is like a whole extra vacation on top of the parks.

#3 don't bother with the package deals for now. Start pricing every piece by itself. You can often save money by booking room only, then buying your tickets through undercover tourist (sign up for the mousesavers newsletter for a discount link there) or ticketmania or something like that. If you have it all figured out what it costs piece by piece then you can really judge if a package is a "deal" or not.

 

[momoffive]

Mommymcgee My advice:

#2 consider staying in the Fort Wilderness Cabins. I think they sleep 6, but I think you can also have a little one in a pack and play. They have a bedroom with twin bunk beds and a full bed, and a full murphy bed in the living room. They have a full kitchen and private outdoor deck, picnic table and grill. You could save SO much money preparing your own meals with a family your size. The cabins are really nice and the campground has many free activities right there like a sing along with characters, playground, beach etc. You could plan a day or two with just campground activities and not even need tickets for those days. Also there is a boat that takes you right to the Magic Kingdom. We stayed at one of the cabins our last trip and loved it. It is great because there is more privacy and the kids can be loud and play and not bother anyone. Plus the grounds of the campground are beautiful, it is like a whole extra vacation on top of the parks.

This is what I was going to suggest, however your party size, like mine, is too large. With your 2 1/2 y/o, they may allow it. at the cabins. I have 5 children and our choices are all so expensive. We were just at WDW in December and I think our total was around $2600. We stayed in the campground and LOVED it!! We like to camp so this was not a sacrifice for us. You can rent campers too. We drove down from NC and stayed the first night in a OS hotel and checked into Fort Wilderness first thing in the morning, set up and left for the parks. Our package was a base ticket for 7 days, and the meal plan. We're in the process of planning our next trip for this October.

Good luck and have fun.
Momoffive

 

[Belle5]

Welcome to the boards! You're kids are about the same ages our first four were when we first took our first family vacation to WDW! Congratulations to you and your DH on his coming graduation from Bible college!

We have now had many, many family vacations to WDW so I will give you my opinion. I think you should stay in connecting value resort rooms (unless $$ is not an issue for you) and without a doubt I think you should include the dining plan in your package. Your children's ages literally make the dining plan a "steal". Once your oldest turns 10, it may not be as good a deal for you, but right now--you just have to do it! The baby will be free. All the other kids will be around $13 per day to feed. You will have great dining experiences with one snack, one counter service meal and one table service meal each day of your stay. You and your DH will only be charged around $39 per day for the meal plan.

I so clearly remember our first vacation and I recall how our youngest nearly ruined a few experiences for us because of melt-downs from being overly tired. By evening--he was a wreck. So, my other big piece of advice to you would be to stay long enough that you can make it a restful vacation. Build naps and relaxing activities into your day. You'll be glad you did!

 

[Elmo888]

First, go and get the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World, and read it from page 1. I would buy the book - as something I read pointed out, if you are already spending thousands on a vacation, investing $10, $20 or even $50 on guidebooks is nothing and can help you with planning significantly. It is more of an investment in your vacation to help you get bang for your buck (whether your budget is $10k or $1k, you still want bang for your buck!).

Go to mousesavers.com for lots of info on planning and ways to save.

Check out allears.net for pics of resorts, restaurant menus (with prices), etc. This web site might be more helpful when you are a tad further in your planning process (for example, the resort pics may help you choose which resort after you narrow down your choices by price).

If you decide to stay on site, we loved the All Star Music Family Suites. It sleeps 6 plus one child under 3 in a crib (pack n play), has two bathrooms (!), and a "kitchenette". The "kitchenette" isn't exactly a kitchen, but it does have a small fridge, coffee maker, and microwave. And it doesn't cost much more than 2 rooms at the value resorts (which they don't guarantee to be connecting).

Have a great trip!

 

[AMaloy314]

Welcome, Angela!!

I completely know where you are coming from when you say you are overwhelmed. There is a ton of information out there. And the more you know, the better your trip will be. Luckily, you have come to the right place. People here are very friendly and helpful. Trust me when I say that as hard as it is to believe, since you have a year to plan there will probably be a point in time where you have planned everything you can and will be just waiting for a time when you can plan some more or just wait for time to head to WDW. That time is awful, even worse than the overwhelmed feeling that you have now.

You've already had some great suggestions. Get yourself a few planning guides from the library. Birnbaums has great photos for the kids to enjoy. Unofficial Guide is packed with great info. PassPorter is a wonderful organization book as well as a guide book (My personal favorite, too.). There are really all kinds of books out there on WDW, but if you check out the ones at the library you will know that you are getting the one that you prefer.

Another great suggestion for planning is to break it down into small chunks. You've already made one of the toughest decisions which is WHEN to go. I've never been in December, personally (we are more value season type people), but I've heard that the parks are gorgeous then. The topics that I generally break our trips down into are:

When to go?--You already have this one down. Things that can play into this is work and school schedules, crowd levels, weather, cost, occasionally other things going on in the parks, ie. Festivals, holidays, special events, etc.

How to get there?--Transportation might help you finalize what your travel dates are exactly. With so many family members, you will have to decide if you are driving, flying, traveling by train, etc. If you decide to fly, sometimes you can get discounts by flying on off days. Once you know exactly when you are going to arrive, you can set up hotel reservations. Another thing you might need to consider is whether or not you are going to rent a car. Mousesavers.com has some great info about renting a car that includes discount codes for almost all car rental companies. Incidentally, this is a great all around site for saving money!

Where to stay?--- On site or off site? This is the part of planning that I like the best, and I confess that I change my mind many times before finally settling on a place. We, too, have 5 kids although ours are older than yours. We have stayed both on site and off, and for us off site works best. I know that it isn't for everyone, but we enjoy the extra space and can even save money by renting a 4 bedroom vacation room with private pool, renting a car, and paying parking vs renting 2 rooms at a value resort. As I said, it isn't for everyone and many claim that they would miss out on the 'magic' leaving Disney properties. Staying on property also gives the benefits of using WDW transportation including Magical Express, so you theoretically never have to drive yourself anywhere. Another perk only available to Disney World Resort Guests is the Disney Dining Plan....but that moves you to the another planning section---Food.

Where/what to eat?----For me, this is the toughest planning section of all. Lots of decisions are going to be needed here. Do you want character meals? (I recommend at least one seeing the ages of your kids!) How many sit down meals do you want to do each day? What types of foods do you like? Either guide book, Unofficial Guide or PassPorter, will help a lot with a general overview of each restaurant. Allearsnet.com has a great section with menus from each of the restaurants to help you fine tune your decisions as well. Once you have an idea of where you want to eat, you can make a more educated decision if the Disney Dining Plan is right for your family. (It probably will not be worth it if your family prefers to eat mostly counter service meals, for instance.) I'll talk about ADR's in a minute.

Which day, which parks?--- This can be a pretty important part of planning, as well. You want to try to avoid crowds, if possible. They can really put a crimp in your enjoyment. There are two web sites that run services that you can pay for which will tell you when to go to what park. They are TourGuideMike.com and TouringPlans.com. Both of them are reportedly very accurate. I'm also told that you can figure this out on your own just from reading these boards. You have plenty of time to do the reading, but if you feel that they would be advantageous to you, by all means check them out. Once you have your plans set and you are within 180 days of your trip, it is time to make your ADRs.

ADRs----(You've got LOTS of time to work this out.) You need to call in Advance Dining Reservations (ADRs) for the table service restaurants as soon as you can. It is becoming more and more important as the table service restaurants are booking up more and more quickly. This works out to be 180 days before you will be at the restaurant...unless you are staying on site. This is a little confusing, but stick with me. If you are staying at a WDW resort, you can make the ADRs for your restaurants for 180 days from your check in PLUS an additional 10 days early, which basically means that for most people you can make all your ADRs with one call instead of calling back each day to get the 180 day time.

I know that this is probably a lot to throw at you, but once you start your planning you may find that you really enjoy it.

Feel free to ask lots of questions. You'll have a bunch as you go along. People here will be very glad to help you!

 

[dreaminofdisneyx7]

YEAH!! This is SOOOO exactly what I wanted! Just hearing the different BTDT suggestions is comforting to me. Even as different as some of them are, it feels better coming from people who have been where I am and sorted through the chaos! Thank you! I am actually much more excited about this whole planning journey than I was this morning. This morning, I felt A LOT like I did when I first looked into HOMESCHOOLING. YIKES! Information Overload.

I have already started reconsidering our travel dates as the value time would work for us as well, so why not save as much as we can?!?!?!?! We'll see!

So, the first things I am doing THIS weekend are:

a)going to the Library to look at differnt user guides

and

b)going to buy a three ring binder to store and organize any uself information I want to print and hang on to until I get into the nitty-gritty of planning.

THANK YOU!!

 

[inzfam4]

Words of advice. Research, organize, and plan. But don't let it overwhelm you. Part of the fun is not only the time in the park, but in the planning process as well. It helps build the aniticpation not only for the parents, but the kids. Read the boards as much as possible, as they are an invaluable source of information. And have a great time! Your kids will remember this forever!!.