Please Help! Planning trip for June and don't know where to start!

[Just Kate]

My mom, 7 year old dd, and I have just decided to take a trip to WDW this June. My dh is taking our son on a father-son trip, so I thought a girls' trip would be fun. Imagine my surprise when my mom offered to pay airfare to Orlando!

So, I know we need to act fairly quickly. I have only been to WDW once, and that was back when I was a kid. For all intents and purposes here, I am completely new to this.

I started looking at pricing online, but everything was overwhelming. I know I want a value resort (All-Star Music?) and the Dining Plan. We will probably be there from Saturday to Saturday, so I'm not sure how many days we will want to visit the parks (6?). I don't plan to do Park Hopper or Water Parks. So far, that is all that I know.

My questions to you...should I hire a travel agent to help me plan? If so, how do I find one?

What do I need to do first? I know we need to make restaurant reservations, but honestly, I have no idea where to even start (after booking our vacation of course).

I know that 60 days prior to the trip we can choose our Fast Pass + things. How to know what to choose? Everything looks like so much fund and I don't know what is best for our little group!

I'm really quite overwhelmed and would love to hear how to get started with this.

Thanks so much!!!

 

[mm1971]

My mom, 7 year old dd, and I have just decided to take a trip to WDW this June. My dh is taking our son on a father-son trip, so I thought a girls' trip would be fun. Imagine my surprise when my mom offered to pay airfare to Orlando!

So, I know we need to act fairly quickly. I have only been to WDW once, and that was back when I was a kid. For all intents and purposes here, I am completely new to this.

I started looking at pricing online, but everything was overwhelming. I know I want a value resort (All-Star Music?) and the Dining Plan. We will probably be there from Saturday to Saturday, so I'm not sure how many days we will want to visit the parks (6?). I don't plan to do Park Hopper or Water Parks. So far, that is all that I know.

My questions to you...should I hire a travel agent to help me plan? If so, how do I find one?

What do I need to do first? I know we need to make restaurant reservations, but honestly, I have no idea where to even start (after booking our vacation of course).

I know that 60 days prior to the trip we can choose our Fast Pass + things. How to know what to choose? Everything looks like so much fund and I don't know what is best for our little group!

I'm really quite overwhelmed and would love to hear how to get started with this.

Thanks so much!!!

Go online and request the vacation planning CD from Disney. YouTube has ride throughs and videos so you can decide what you want to do. It's really just researching what you would like to do and how much time and $$ you would like to spend. If you do not have the time or desire to do the research then I would go with a travel agent. We are not allowed to mention the company names on this site, so just look up "Disney Travel Agents" and compare.

At 7 years old, my kids liked the pool just as much as the parks. You may want to plan 5 park days and then some resort time, DTD time and maybe some other activities like mini-golf, Bippety Boppity Boutique, Character meals (Cinderalla's Royal Table and Be Our Guest were always on our list) and just relaxing to keep from getting exhausted. Good luck!

 

[Heidi K]

We had never used a travel agent, so I can't comment on that, however my suggestion is after you decide on your resort and your trip dates, you can start looking for airfare and also decide which days you plan to spend in which parks. You probably want to use a crowd calendar to help you decide. I like the one at easy WDW website. After you decide which parks you are going to each day, then you can start thinking about dining reservations. Will you have the quick service plan or the regular one?

I would start with 5 day tickets with no add-one; you can always add more days or features later.

When deciding on fastpasses, there's a really useful thread on here by Mesaboy that I recommend reading.

It sounds like a great trip! We enjoyed our recent stay at All star music.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

First you need to pick the resort. Art of animation is also a very cool resort and 1 of the new value resorts. I would do 5 days of tickets that leaves 1 day to either hang at the resort or explore dtd or maybe some Fantasia mini golf. I know my 8yr old loves mini golf!

If you are doing the dining plan you need to decide which dining plan to use. Either quick service, regular, or deluxe. Once you decide the dining plan, the tickets, and the resort then you should look at crowd calendars. Crowd calendars are a good prediction of what you can expect of crowds for each park on the days you will be there.

Once you pick which days you want to go to what park then you can decide on which restaurant you want an adr for. Once you make your adrs there is pretty much nothing more to do til you hit you 60 day mark for your fast passes.

If you are going for 5 days I would do 2 days at MK and 1 day at the other 3 parks or you could add the 6th day and do MK for 2 days, Epcot for 2 days (I recommend doing at least 2 days at Epcot to be able to see everything) and then 1 day at HS and AK.

 

[Pesky]

I'd start with this recent thread:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3366207

It has some good advice and other sites to visit as well. Good luck and have fun!

 

[Disneyaddict1973]

First you need to pick the resort. Art of animation is also a very cool resort and 1 of the new value resorts. I would do 5 days of tickets that leaves 1 day to either hang at the resort or explore dtd or maybe some Fantasia mini golf. I know my 8yr old loves mini golf!

If you are doing the dining plan you need to decide which dining plan to use. Either quick service, regular, or deluxe. Once you decide the dining plan, the tickets, and the resort then you should look at crowd calendars. Crowd calendars are a good prediction of what you can expect of crowds for each park on the days you will be there.

Once you pick which days you want to go to what park then you can decide on which restaurant you want an adr for. Once you make your adrs there is pretty much nothing more to do til you hit you 60 day mark for your fast passes.

If you are going for 5 days I would do 2 days at MK and 1 day at the other 3 parks or you could add the 6th day and do MK for 2 days, Epcot for 2 days (I recommend doing at least 2 days at Epcot to be able to see everything) and then 1 day at HS and AK.

^^^^My thoughts exactly! Research over a day or so and if you truly feel overwhelmed, call a travel agent that specializes in Disney. Just be very clear on your budget. Enjoy, you will have a blast!

 

[Just Kate]

Thanks so much everyone! I just can't tell you how excited I am for this trip. Dh an I have been saying for years that we would go to WDW, but I wondered if it would happen. And now I'm going in less than 5 months! Wow! I still haven't told dd, but she will just be thrilled.

I went ahead and contacted a travel agent (and I learned that you guys aren't allowed to discuss specific agencies here...sorry!) and my mom and I are going to get everything booked, including flights, today.

I've been reading a bit about restaurants, but I'd love to know if there are some that you would recommend for a 7 year old girly-girl?

One last thing, since we will be flying, I've read a little about having snacks and water delivered to your room. Can someone tell me more about this?

I am just sooooo excited (have I mentioned this???)!!!! I've been going around for the
last two days with a giant smile plastered onto my face. I just can't believe we are going!!!

 

[AlexisMaxMommy]

I've been reading a bit about restaurants, but I'd love to know if there are some that you would recommend for a 7 year old girly-girl?

One last thing, since we will be flying, I've read a little about having snacks and water delivered to your room. Can someone tell me more about this?

There are a TON of restaurant choices. If she's into the princess thing, check out Cinderella's Royal Table, The Storybook Princess meal at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall, and Cinderella’s Happily Ever After Dinner at 1900 Park Fare. Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique is worth doing at least once in my opinion. We took my daughter, and she LOVED it. She wore her own dress there, and it cost me around $65-70 total for hair, make-up, and nails.

You can purchase water and snacks and have them delivered, but you'll be paying a premium price. If you are getting the dining plan, I wouldn't worry about getting too many snacks because you get a lot of food with the dining plan. I always spread some bottles of water among the suitcases to distribute the weight, and I pack snacks as well. You can also get glasses of water for free at the parks. Just walk up to any quick service window and ask for a cup of water, and you will get a nice size cup of ice cold water.

 

[Disneyaddict1973]

I am so excited for you! Usually after your first trip, you learn the ropes and are ready to plan yourself for the next. The post above is right on! Bippety boppity boutique would be fantastic! 1900 Park Fare is a great for girls. There is also a princess tea that you could go to. It's a more unique experience for sure. Just know whatever you decide, she will love it! There's no wrong way to go at WDW. It's pure magic for kids and us adults too Of course, if you have any other questions, post away! Have a wonderful time!