Ok booked our trip, now for planning

[mask_w03]

Ok just booked our first family trip to Dis and this will be our first family trip anywhere actually. I know I want to character meals for DD (she'll be 20 months while there). What things do I need to plan now and what can wait? We might use Fairy Godmothers one evening so DH and I can go have a decent meal together and some rides just us (we went there for our honeymoon so this is a special place for us). I dont' want comments on our choice with this either please. We are trying to get my dad and step-mom to come with so they can help out during rides or if they want to spend a night with her instead of us using FG.

But what do i need to figure out to work on planning now? We are going 11/28-12/7 (9nights at SSR).

Thanks,
Margaux

 

[staci]

Right now I would think your main concern should be researching the parks, the restuarants, the rides, and getting a good idea of what you want to accomplish when you are there.

As far as your dd, I would start to slowly introduce her to some disney characters if you have not. DS really enjoyed the characters that he knew, but really couldnt have cared less about the rides that were about things he didnt know.

 

[budbeerlady]

Disney movies all the time all different ones. That way she will know what the characters are. Maybe work on a little bit of darkness to get used to the shows. Little mermaid was great but even DD (5) said it was a bit scary. Look at your menu, deciede where you might like to eat. If you want to book some other things like HDDR or such look at dates you can book those. Maybe Tourguide Mike, I used them and the dis boards and we had a great trip. Deciede what is most important to you for your trip as far as ride, shows, foods.

Good for you to have a night out, deciede where you are going yet? We loved our night out with DD at the neverland club!

You will love it that time of year, we are going back Dec 10-15 this year. See the decorations everywhere, take dd to the osborne lights at mgm. They were fantastic!

Plan but enjoy your trip!

 

[Em&Bec'sMom]

Definitely check out these boards. I'll admit that prior to our trip, I was a lurker. I didn't have anything to post, but got all my questions answered by just reading everyone else's questions! Now that we've done our trip, I'm trying to give back a little. We also had a Birnbaum's guide that was pretty comprehensive and gave us a good "feel" for WDW and helped us plan what days we would spend where.
Booking restaurants - I just read that you can book most 180 days in advance, and for the character meals, you'll want to be on the phone at 7am on day pre-180. They book up quickly.