overwhelmed newbie

[TxAnn]

Does anyone else find all this information overwhelming? Wow! My head is spinning. I'm trying to figure out how in the world I'm going to pull this vacation off! Our vacation is in October, so I've got 6 months to pull it together.

I like to consider myself a fairly intelligent person but I don't seem to "get" alot of the info out there. How exactly does fastpass work? How about ADR's? Okay great Chef Mickey's is at the Contemporary . . . ummmm where's the Contemporary and how do you get there?

I have all these tips that I've bookmarked. There's no way I'll remember them all. What do people do, print them out and bring them along?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated!! I need a spinning head smilie.

 

[Bob P]

Hi,

Breathe in...breathe out...breathe in...breathe out...

Don't worry, DIS-speak is like learning a foreign language. Some of us are more fluent than others!

When you have been to WDW as many times as many of us on the boards have, it's really no different from going to your local supermarket and knowing where the eggs are and where the bread is.

We all have out own set ways of approaching a WDW trip...favorite attractions, favorite resorts, favorite restaurants. You'll see what I mean after you get back.

Meanwhile, don't stress! Enjoy your trip!

 

[talulabelle]

I felt the same way when I planned our first trip. I couldn't believe all the info, opinions, etc. It took me weeks to plan.

THis is what you need to do:

First - Look at a map of Disney, (on the Walt Disney World website) to familiarize yourself with where things are.

Second- Plan your budget, and where you are going to stay (onsite or offsite)
If onsite, decide if you are going to go to the waterparks or not, and if you want hte dining plan. If you are offsite and have a kitchen -- on site and no kitchen, look at the menus on the DIS home page and see if you think the cost of the plan is worth it for you. Plan the number of times you think you will eat out.



Third _ Transportation? If you are onsite, no need for a rental car - use the Magic express from the airport, and Disney transportation.

Forth. Decide what restaurants you will want to eat at and make ADR's 90 days before your trip. I usually decide by looking up the park hours and figuring what park is open later that night, plan what parks we will do on what days, and decide what restaurant is in that park or in a resort close to that park that we want to eat at. I plan the times we eat around the parades and shows we want to see. The schedules for these are listed on the DIS home page too. Read the restaurant board to get ideas on what you might like. ALso figure if you want to go to any character meals.

FIfth - Look forward to your trip, and don't stress. There is no way in the world that you can see it all and do it all in one trip. Go at your own pace and enjoy everything you do do and see.

 

[MouseketeerMom2009]

I'm new to the boards but I've been to Disney many many times. Don't get overwhelmed by everything you see on here. It is a great help but when you get there you will realize that eveything doesn't need to be scheduled minute by minute. Go with the flow and enjoy!

The fastpass is just a time-saving tool at many popular rides. You could go by different strategies you see on here but what we do is just go to a ride we are interested in early in the morning and if there is a long wait already, just grab a fast pass (put your park ticket into a machine and it gives you a time to come back). When you go back at the allotted time, you will go into a special fast pass lane and you bypass the wait at the time. Toy story mania at hollywood studios and Soarin at EPCOT seem to be the most popular and longest waits.

I've never made an ADR ever and we pretty much get to eat wherever we want (peak season and off season). We are mainly counter service people though

Where are you staying and for how long? I'll try to give you any tips I can think of but I hope this has helped so far.

 

[kidanigirl]

Don't worry...relax...after all, it is a vacation! Just keep in mind that you cannot do EVERYTHING in one visit. I honestly have lost track of how many times I have been to WDW. Yeah, we don't need park maps anymore, but we still manage to always find something new to do. That's why we keep going back. We know that we can't do everything in one visit, so we just prioritize by what we want to accomplish most out of the one trip. Figure out what is most important to you and go from there. There will be things you would like to do but just won't be able to work them. That lends itself to a return trip at a later date. Relax and have fun!

As for the actual trip planning, I first start by looking up park hours and extra magic hours. After I figure out what park I want to be at on what day, then I start planning which meals would be convenient for that day. Then I just build other activities around those times. That's how I get started. I'm sure there are 100's of other ways that people plan their trip. Of course you know, that you can always find advice here.

 

[Anything Disney!]

The advise received so far is dead on! Breathe, relax Besides this wonderful forum of advise, I found it helpful to buy a disneyworld travel book from my local barnes & noble, or you can browse through Amazon and pick a book based on your trip. My favorite book was the Unofficial Guide by Bob Sehlinger and Len Test. I also bought a Passporter by Jennifer Marx for keeping all my documents in. I had many hours of enjoyment reading through all the material. If you do as advised by planning your budget and time, then its easier to wade through the information. Don't read the stuff that is not relevant to your trip. Because I'm a total fanatic, I also ordered the disney travel planning dvd and made my family watch it!!

Remember that your support group is always here! Don't be afraid to ask

 

[Metro West]

 

[nurse.darcy]

Great advice you got so far. I will add a few things that I think are necessary.

1. If you are at all worried about getting lost you must stay onsite. That way you have disney transport to get you where you are going.

2. Bus transport is bus transport. Don't expect it to be super speedy and super fast. Sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't. I just try to enjoy the fact that I never have to get in my car when I am at Disneyworld.

3. Sometimes I have made dining ressies and other times not. Some of the more popular restaurants you might not get into as a walk up but most of the time you can get in. I usually just go to the restaurant I want to eat at, see if they have availability and then get in. Sometimes I have to wait an hour or get an adr for a later time, but I usually get in.

4. I don't plan which park on which day. Normally I wake up and decide what I feel like at that particular moment. I love going to rope drops but I am also an early riser.

5. Fastpass is a great way to NOT have to stand in line for hours. However, remember that if the posted ride wait is 25 minutes or less, you might as well go standby. You could spend hours walking around waiting for your fastpass window when it probably would have been better to just wait in line.

6. If you don't like HUGE crowds, avoid the parks with EMH. I have found that the parks that don't have EMH for that particular day are less crowded. For example - if Magic Kingdom has early EMH today then I would go to DHS, Epcot or AK.

7. I don't do dining plans cause I am not a big eater and I never eat dessert. But that is what works for me. If I was doing a regular dining plan I would make more ADRs so I would be certain to use up all my table service credits.

 

[MarkinNM]

to the boards!!!​

Lots of great info here....

 

[TxAnn]

Thanks to all for the great responses and advice! It certainly helps level my head to have some step by step advice to follow. Thanks again for the welcomes and taking the time to help out! Now off to more planning . . .

 

[RNtheRN]

I too came here as a fresh newbie and was as equally overwhelmed. The best advice I can give you is that if you have a question, post it. There are many, many wonderful people here that can answer anything. The next best thing to being at WDW, is being here.

 

[Disney_Dizzy]

Welcome! I am also new to this board and think it is the best out there...lots of helpful info! I have been to Disney countless times and have learned so much through this site.

I believe you mentioned that you are going in October so you have plenty of time to plan & are on the right track! One thing that may have not been mentioned is the "Mickey's Not so Spooky Halloween". We went in Oct 2006 and it was the BEST! Look into this evening event...we saw more that night then we did the entire day before at the MK.

Enjoy and good luck!

 

[DWFan4Life]

Welcome to DISboards. This is a great source of info and I'm sure you'll find answers to all of your questions, also be prepared to become addicted to DIS.

Have a nice and safe trip coming.