I bought a lot of "cute" disney paper when I started out. What I've discovered is I don't use as much of the cute stuff as I had expected. I lay things out, move picture, change papers etc until I get something I like. Usually I use the disney paper more for accent, layering, photo boxes and use either a plain paper or something simple for the background. I rarely glue anything until I've let it sit for a while as I often move things around or change paper before I finally stick things down. The disney paper I use the most are the ones with small, repeating patterns, that work well for backgrounds and layering.
Of course, everyone has their own way that works best for them - just play around with pictures and paper and I'm sure you'll figure out what works best for your pictures/book.