My husband and I are just starting to plan our first trip to WDW with our daughters who will be 6 & 9 when we leave. I am feeling so overwhelmed. We live in Nova Scotia, Canada and we do not travel at all. Where do I start? How do we choose when to go? What are some things we must see with girls the above ages?
I've been reading through lots of threads for the last few days but I still feel like I just need someone to take over and plan every day of the trip for us!
Hoping with a little advice I can get things rolling.
Thanks!
Again, a guide book is a great way to figure out all that you may want to do. After you have a list of rides in each park, you can also look them up on
YouTube and see video of most every ride. This was very helpful for me to show my children to see if they may want to or if it was too scary. Often times, just having them see it ahead of time and knowing what to expect is a huge help to make them feel more comfortable on rides.
Also, about general travel. As far as when to go, there are definitely pros and cons to various times of year. Keep in mind Florida in the summer is HOT and HUMID. I see you are in Canada, will this be something that will bother your family much? It can be quite miserable, even if you're used to some heat.
The week of the American Thanksgiving is busy, as well as between Christmas and New Years, but then you have all the holiday decorations. My favorite time of year tends to be Fall (October) with the Halloween decorations (I'm not a huge halloween fan in general, but love the fall feel of the parks during this time). I also loved Spring, not too hot, but you do have the spring break crowds, which I didn't think were any worse than summer crowds, but at least you don't have the heat. September seems to be a slow time as well as January/February. There are often free dining plans available at slower times of the year, which may be an incentive to you. -Just a bit of an overview to help get your mind thinking about time of year that may appeal to you
Our first big trip to Disney World we spent 7 days and glad we did, there's a lot to see and do. With kids that age, they will likely enjoy Magic Kingdom the most. We like to spend 3 days in MK, 1 in Animal Kingdom, 1 in Epcot, and 1 in Hollywood Studios, (Just what my family prefers). We have had an off day to spend at the resort and hit downtown disney. You could fit in a day at a water park. All things to think about when deciding how long you want to visit for. (I will say you don't NEED 3 days in MK, that is just to see and do everything with being able to do favorites multiple times for the kids and being able to slow down a bit).
We had started with the Unofficial Guide to Disney World, and it's a very inclusive book. I went through each park section and it gives great detail about each ride and what it's 'rated' at for various age groups. They have great info about the resorts as well as dining options.
Once we know when we want to travel, if we have a bit of flexibility we tend to book around the cheaper flights. Often times cheaper to fly on Tues/Weds, We tend to find flights first and then book hotel.
As far as Hotels go, there are numerous resorts on property, categorized at Value resorts, Moderate resorts, and Deluxe resorts. There's a 'resort' thread on the boards (a bit further down) if you haven't found that section, that will be very helpful if you are wanting info on various hotels.
Once you get your basic travel plans laid out (when do you want to go and for how long), you can get a lot of great info here on the boards to help come up with the best way to tour each park, to create an itinerary if that's something that appeals to you. I know it's overwhelming for the first time, so just break it down bit by bit and it will come together. You can come back to ask specific questions every step of the way if you want
People on the boards LOVE to plan!
