Planning advice for first visit to Disney

[chicagogrl]

My son and daughter in law are going o Disneyworld. It is overwhelming and just want to give them helpful tips!

 

[wisblue]

They might want to consider this website and the book described on it. One of the authors is Josh from easywdw:

http://**************.net/

 

[PSUGuy]

Early in my WDW 'career' I found the 'Unofficial Guide to WDW' to be an essential tool. This site is very valuable but newbies might not know what to ask at first.

Bill From PA

 

[Hootch]

can be overwhelming and it's gotten a little bit more complex with FP+. Fortunately, in this age of the internet, there are many helpful resources available with many for free.

There is actually a site titled, www.yourfirstvisitsite.net that is designed to help people. David Shute teamed up with Josh Humphrey of www.easywdw.com to write a boo; The Easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit. Even though I had been to WDW multiple times, I bought the 2014 edition. It has now been updated for 2015. You can go to their respective sites for free. The book is available on Amazon. The book is designed to walk you through the sequential steps of planning a trip.

I was not familiar with Dave's site since we had been planning trips well before I found it. I do follow Josh' site regularly.

There are topics that your so and daughter in law will want to look into before going.

FP+ - allows you to make Fast Pass reservations before you arrive, This helps reduce wait times. This link http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3326057 is a helpful primer from a poster. Easy WDW has touring plans that help you plan your days based on wait times.

If they have small kids, learn about child swap.

Look at the Dining Plan. Some people like it, but we have never felt like we would save money

Crowds are lowest at rope drop. You can get in more attractions then.

There are all kind of onsite resorts that provide benefits at different price points. Onsite vs offsite stay is a personal choice. Our personal one is onsite.

WDW is huge. Understand the time it takes to get from parks to park or park to resort.

Plan some relaxing time. It's a vacation.

www.mousesavers.com is a good source for savings ideas if that is needed.

There are authorized resellers of tickets that will save some money. We saved about 6% at UT for our upcoming trip. Make sure shipping and taxes are included when comparing prices.

There will be many more questions. This site has multiple forums for them to get help. Many of their questions will have been asked. There is a search function towards the top of the forum. If they don't see the answer to their question, post and someone will help.

Wish them good luck.

 

[IBLarsen]

Early in my WDW 'career' I found the 'Unofficial Guide to WDW' to be an essential tool. This site is very valuable but newbies might not know what to ask at first.

Bill From PA

I agree with this. I LOVE guide books anyways, but found I always go back to the Unofficial Guide. I too remember being so overwhelmed planning our first visit and this helped.

 

[tawasdave]

I have written plans for all the parks myself...simple...to the point with links to important pages to look at...if you want me to send them to you just pm me your email addy..glad to help

 

[chicagogrl]

Thank you! I will get those books for them!

 

[ellie05]

The best advice is to buy them a guide book. Add another vote for the unofficial guide. The dis can be super overwhelming for first timers. In the book everything is lay down in an order that makes sense.

 

[Tomh]

Plan ahead, first major tip right there! The Unofficial guide to Walt Disney World is a GREAT read for first time visitors. Ridemax (a website / software for making touring plans) can be extremely helpful. This past year (2014) was the first time we didn't use a touring plan. With FP+ and all of our experience in the parks, we didn't feel it was necessary. In the past, we have had great luck with RideMax though.

Hydration in the parks is very important. Stop and get a drink often. Counter service give out free ice water if you ask. If you start to feel tired, stop, have a drink, and people watch for a while. Do long rides, and shows in the afternoon when it is really hot, and there are long lines at the headliners.

Most importantly, don't forget, you are there to have FUN . .. so take your time, and enjoy the experience!

 

[chicagogrl]

Thanks for the info! I will check out he books and websites.
I think I will be helping!
I have been to disney but just didn't know where to start since my daughter in law has never been.
So just will start with some notes.

 

[lroger01]

I suggest whether you use websites or books to plan is to find out what attractions are at which parks first. A lot of the books start with when to go and hotels and tickets and all that first. The truth is you won't really know where you want to stay, eat or how many ticket days until you have a basic understanding of each park and what they have to offer. It will also help to avoid disappointment when 3 months into planning you find out that Harry Potter World is not at The Disney Studios like the second cousin of your best friend at work said it was!

 

[chicagogrl]

Yes good information. They will probably just be going to magic kingdom
I just want to point out the most important issues. Like making some restaurant ressies ahead of time. They are not big planners but with Disney you do have to plan ...at least somewhat. They won't be there long so want my daughter in law to be able to take it in and not be racing around.
But it is just good to know some things ahead of time.

I will also be going there sometime soon so need to update since there are a lot of changes!

They plan on going to Universal but I don't know anything about Universal.