Nervous..Planning First Trip April 2009

[mommy24]

Hi My Husband and I have been trying to plan a WDW trip for the last few years, we have 4 children. Knowing it was going to take serious saving we are ready to go. We actually just had a family friend offer us their timeshare for the week we are going. We are driving from RI......

I feel lost because I don't know where to start..my husband and I have been when we were young, but so much has changed since then. The kids have no idea and we are planning to tell them at christmas..

My questions are:

I am nervous about staying offsite...25 minutes to Disney...but it saved us almost 2k.

Where do I even begin with tickets & such....weather their in april?

Sorry so many questions...

Signed,
Overwhelmed!
Melissa

 

[Ellester]

First of all, DON'T PANIC! You will be fine. You still have plenty of time. Many on here swear by the Unofficial Guide to WDW that you can pick up on Amazon or pretty much any bookstore. That could be a good place to start. I really like TourGuideMike.com. You can get a few $ off by using the banner link at the top of the "Themepark Strategies" board. It costs under $20 and will give you more Disney info than you ever thought possible. Head to mousesavers.com and sign up for the monthly e-mail newsletter. There are usually links in the newsletter for further discounts on tickets and such. We bought our tickets last time from Undercovertourist.com and were very happy with the service.

You will be fine staying offsite. A little more planning is all it takes. You will have a wonderful time! Our last trip, we announced to the kids at Christmas. If you click the link in my siggie to my trip report, you'll see how we did it.

Of course, if you have any specific questions, just post them. Someone is sure to answer!

Have fun planning!

 

[hardingk]

Although you would save a lot of money, you will also spend a lot of time driving to and from the parks. 25 mins is a little lengthy. You will also miss some of the benefits of staying on-site. Have you looked into the value resorts? POP is very nice. As for tickets, it depends on what you want to do and how long you are going for.

We have been to WDW in April twice, in 2007 and 2008, the same weeks. In 2007 it was freezing. We had to go out and buy sweatshirts. This year it was in the 90's. So it all depends.

I am very happy to help, send me a PM if you want.

 

[buckeyebill1995]

www.allears.net is also a great source for information.

Beware -- planning Disney trips can be addicting! Have a magical time!

 

[MoeFam]

Staying off site is fine- you just have to plan your days really well, as you may not want to take the hour or so to go back to the resort and rest. We go every other year and always stay at our timeshare off site. The perk of having a kitchen, washer and dryer and multiple bedrooms far outweighs the idea of a value resort for our family ( 2, but soon to be 3 children).

We use the un-official guide book, and Disboards of course for our planning.

As far as tickets- are you going just one time? Or would a ticket with days for the future be an option? In the past we have used Undercover Tourist for our tickets.

We choose one character meal each year, and one TS meal in a nice rest. Other than that we eat at the time share or the ocassional CS. I like to plan the menu out before we leave and make a nice grocery list for when we arrive. We hit Super WalMart for groceries, shampoo/soap, diapers and take and toss sippy cups/silverware for kids etc.

We went two Aprils ago- so 2007, and we had amazing beautiful weather. Cool in the am and lower to mid 80's- but it can be hotter or colder. So pack a sweatshirt and shorts!

 

[NaplesRI]

Hi mommy24- welcome to these boards. As I am fairly new myself, I will tell you that this place is a fountain of information and highly addictive! You can ask anything and there are so many people that offer opinions and answers.
Someone already pointed you to Mousesavers, which is great. I just bought our tickets for next March. We are having a family vacation which will be our daughter in laws and grandson's first trip to Disney. We havent been in many years ourselves, so I am spending lots of time planning.
I think planning is half the fun!
So, relax and enjoy- you will have a wonderful time!
Oh, we stay off premises also- staying in a 3 bed/3 bath this trip as we are 5 adults, and since WE are paying for the entire vacation we wanted to save where we could.
So, ask away- you have many new friends here!

 

[princess&her4princes]

Welcome! Don't get overwelmed , although I know that is easier said than done..it's really a science these days getting your trip all mapped out. There is SO much info on this site, you can really get lots (sometimes too much!) fantastic insight on things and can pretty much find anything you're wondering about. I also recommend a Passporters book...it's a fantastic resource and a great place to store tickets,memories, write down your adr numbers and travel with..it has SO many tips, resteraunt reviews, suggestions on how to travel and planning tours with kids/without kids, it's really a great resource. I bought it last year for our first family trip and just bought it again for my second family trip. Happy Planning!!!! I hope your trip is magical!!

 

[stefplus3]

Welcome! You'll find everything you need (and pleanty of stuff you didn't even know you needed to know) here. We took our first trip ever last June and we drove (with 3 kids) from Massachusetts. If you have AAA they can do the route for you. If you want specifics about where we stayed along the way or anything just pm me

 

[MJAJmom]

How many days are you going? How old are your kids?

I would suggest breaking down your planning into basic steps. You've already picked your dates and place to stay, so that's huge!
- plan which park to visit each day
- plan out your dining places, make ADR as far out as possible to lock in good times
- decide what types of tickets you need and where/when to purchase
- sketch out a basic plan of what rides/shows to do each day

The Unofficial Guide, Disboards, AllEars, TouringPlans and MouseSavers are the only sources I use - they are full of good info.

 

[AUDramaQueen]

Like others have said, Don't Panic!

You already have your dates and a place to stay so that's a big chunk of planning done.

Decide about meals. I would eat a quick breakfast at your condo. Then decide if you want to do a table service (sit down) restaurant. You might want to schedule a sit down meal to break up the day a bit since I would assume you will not be going back to your condo. Check out the menus at allearsnet.com and here to see if it's something you like. And don't forget to check the menus at the resorts too. Make reservations (ADR's) for those as soon as you can.

Parks. When the April hours come out (about 6 months before) find out fireworks/parade/nighttime show times. Find out what park has the Extra Magic Hours (EMH). You will want to avoid those parks with EMH because you are not staying onsite and they will be more crowded.

Have fun planning and the DIS is always here to help!

 

[3princesses+aprince]

Oh wow, we are going in April too, also have 4 children and are making the same drive you are. Mapquest says about 21 hours!!!!! I can't wait. when are you going, we will be there April 10 - 17!!!
I am going to order a Trip Tik from AAA, this will be my first time ordering one, but i've heard they map out your route wonderfully.
We are staying onsite at All star movies, we wanted to stay offsite too to save a little money, but we also really want to use dining plan to be able to do alot of character meals, and it's a busy time to go ,so we wanted to be onsite to also be able to use the extra magic hours for the parks. We're booking the package in a few weeks, we are so excited, because we too, have been trying to go for a few years now!!! Your situation is too funny, it's just like mine!! And also if you are going to plan on doing any character meals , make sure you call 180 days out to get your reservation, i'll be doing that in october too. I absolutely cannot wait. It's finally getting closer, the time will go quick.
Oh, how old are your kids, mine are 12, 9, 7, and will be 5 in March.

 

[perkinsrose]

www.allears.net is also a great source for information.

Beware -- planning Disney trips can be addicting! Have a magical time!

Yes!

Also may want to check out
(I think its the best books)
Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2009 edition (just released-mine shipped today) You can also find older versions at libraries -some information is always outdated; even 2009 version will have wrong prices for some things but a great book anyway

http://www.amazon.com/Unofficial-Gu...d_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219086841&sr=8-2

This site (by authors of UGuide) has some information only for subscribing customers (less than $10) while lots is on free pages too.

http://www.touringplans.com/tp2/UG2_index.php?PageID=0