WDW newbie... where do I start?

[hkkatie]

Hi all,

My husband and I were talking last night and we both want to take a big, fun family vacation next summer, 2013. The top of my list is WDW. Neither of us have been there, or to FL at all, and so we don't know quite where to start looking. I've been reading over this forum for the last couple of days and looking at various websites, but there is just SO MUCH info, that I'm a little overwhelmed.

We would most likely be going in August, (heat, humidity = ick, but it's like that where we live, too, so we can deal). We have 2 kids, next Summer they will be 10 and 6.

How far in advance can we, or do people usually make reservations at the hotels? How many days, honestly, should we plan to be at the parks? Last summer, we did a day at CA Disneyland and a day at California Adventure, and our feet just about fell off by the end of the 2nd day. I'm worried about us running out of steam if we try to do too much. On the other hand, we can't go all the way to FL and not try to do and see as much as we can!

I'm thinking that all together we'll probably be there for about 8-9 days, and we'd like to include a trip to the beach, (how far is it to drive there from Orlando?), and possibly a trip to Universal Studios or wherever Harry Potter world is. (Yes, I realize I need to do a lot of research!)

So anyway, If you had a week or so to spend in FL, how would you spend it?

I'm sure I'll have a lot more questions as we do more research and start to come up with a plan, but I really appreciate any input or advice you can give me to start!

Thanks!

 

[AshleeH]

Plan, plan, plan .

Don't get me wrong, planning for Disney is fun - but I also think it's necessary to have a good trip!

Research all of the hotels to find the best fit for you. We knew the first year we were there that we wanted it to be focused on the kids, so we booked Animal Kingdom (after a ton of research). We loved it, but we realized the next year that our kids loved the Magic Kingdom so much that the Contemporary was the best fit for the walkway access (you have to depend on Disney transportation - monorails and ferries - to get you out of MK). We drive to WDW and hate depending on Disney transportation, so that walkway is worth it's weight in gold!

If you're wanting to avoid crowds and you're going in August, you might want to try for the last week - a lot of schools are already back in session so the very beginning of the summer (late May to early June) and the end of summer (late August) are often mentioned as the best summer visits. It will still be crowded, but hopefully not packed.

We like to make reservations as early as possible. I'm assuming you'll be staying on property. We usually make ours in January for our October trip. We didn't do that last year (had a spur of the minute trip with 30 days to get it together) and we had to do a split-stay because our choice hotel wasn't available for the second half of the week. I'm not sure of the exact number of days people can make hotel reservations in advance - it might be a year, but I know the later dates in 2013 are definitely still blocked out (and when I say later, I mean November and December).

Have you ever been to WDW? If not, just be aware that it is a very different experience from Disneyland. Disneyland park hopping is a matter of walking over to the other park - at WDW, it's a matter of making transportation plans (monorail, bus, car). If you're going to be driving, that's not such a big deal, but if you're depending on Disney transportation, it could be an hour or two to get to the next park (that's determined by the number of people waiting in front of you). Park hoppers are necessary for some, but others think that you can be in one park all day and have a great time. If you take a break midday, park hoppers might be a good idea because you can choose to go to another park in the evening.

As far as the parks - it's usually suggested to plan for 2 days at Magic Kingdom, 2 days at Epcot, 1 day for Hollywood Studios, 1 day for Animal Kingdom, and going back to your favorite park on the last day. Personally, I suggest going to all four parks first (Epcot on the first day, because it can be boring for kids after the magic of MK and the fast pace of HS) and then choose which parks you want to revisit after experiencing them all, to get the most out of your vacation. This plan doesn't fit well if you have table reservations - unless you have park hoppers - but it guarantees that you don't feel like you wasted a second day in a park you might not like very much. We usually do several days at MK, two days at HS, a half day (arrival or departure day) at AK, and a day and a half at Epcot. AK isn't a favorite of ours, but some people love it. But that's perfect for our family - everyone has different preferences.

If you're worried about running out of steam, I suggest getting to each park at rope-drop everyday (it's cooler and the crowds are much lighter), go for as long as you want to - whether that's late morning, lunch, or early afternoon - and then go back to the hotel for a break and return to the parks after you've rested. The parks are the most crowded mid-afternoon, so you really get the benefit if you wake up early.

I'm not sure about how far the beach is - we always want to do the Orlando attractions when we're there, so we've never been to a beach on the same vacation.

If you're wanting to include Universal Studios, you'll want tickets to the Islands of Adventure side (it's the one that has Wizarding World of Harry Potter). We were able to do that entire park before 3:00 p.m. - getting there at open - and spend the evening at Epcot. There is the regular Universal Studios theme park (the right side, if you're looking at a map) and it's fun too, but it's another ticket price to enter. US is definitely worth a day (or two, if you're going to be there for 8 or 9 days).

I would also suggest getting the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World - it has a section on Universal and it's very informative about everything you need to know before arriving.

Also, if you're wanting to eat at any table service restaurants, make your reservations at the 180 day mark from your trip - restaurants can fill up quickly and you're guaranteed a table if you have a reservation. If you don't do this, there are numerous quick service restaurants all over every park (walk up to the counter and order) but that might get a little monotonous after 8 or 9 days. If you do plan on having TS meals, make sure you know their locations - if you make a reservation for Le Cellier, for example, and you don't have park hoppers, you'll need to plan on being in Epcot on that day. If you do have park hoppers, it's not an issue, but you can't enter a park just to go to a restaurant - you have to use your ticket to get in.

Have fun! It really is a lot of fun planning and learning about WDW. You'll get a ton of great information on these boards!

 

[Blackbeltdisneygirl]

Welcome to the Dis!

First off, I think 8-9 days is a good length. We usually do 10-12 because we get some time to rest in there. Our first trip we did 7 I think, and I felt like I had to go, go, go to try and fit in as much as possible. Now we do longer trips and take naps and such as needed to make it through our time there. I decided on 12 days this time b/c I still did a bit too much with 11 days last year and ended up getting sick. My body reacts that way though. If I do too much, I get sick. So, this year I am going armed with an antibiotic I filled for a kid that didn't end up needing it. Z-pack baby!!!

Yes, Harry Potter is at Universal. I have never been b/c I am Pooh sized and don't want to go until I can fit on the rides. My parents will occassionally take off from Disney and go to Universal and the beach and the Kennedy Space Center. I have not personally done that so I cannot be a help there. I dedicate every day I have to Disney. That's just me though. My family loves Disney.

What I would do first since you have decided your time frame, is to start checking out where you want to stay. I am going to assume you will stay on property for your first trip b/c it is very magical staying on property in my opinion. Of course, you have the option to stay off property. I choose not to, but again, that is a preference of mine. We love staying immersed in Disney. It is really easy to go on the Walt Disney World website and start looking at resorts. You have to decide what level you want to stay at: Value, Moderate, or Deluxe. We have only stayed at Moderate: Port Orleans Riverside and Coronado Springs Resort. This year we are staying at Caribbean Beach Resort and trying one night at the New Art of Animation Resort. It will be our first time at a value.

The next question for you will be: Dining plan or no dining plan? Dining plan is available to onsite guests, and if you say yes to the dining plan, which one would you choose? We like the regular dining plan. We always go during free dining so we never have to pay anything other than tips or if we eat anything off plan. The regular dining plan gives each member of your family one quick service meal per day, one table service meal per day, and one snack per day. Quick service is similar to fast food, but the options are broader. You can get ribs and such at some restaurants. You can use your dining entitlements as you wish once you get there. You can do all QS/Counter Service in one day, and do two table service meals if you wish. It is up to you. We like to share our CS meals with each other so we can spread them further. For instance: We like to eat at Pecos Bill's in Magic Kingdom. They have a chicken wrap that my hubby and I will split in half. Then they have a toppings bar that we can use to add to our wrap. We add on as much as we want, and for two people, we only use one entitlement. That gives us an extra to use on a breakfast. We manage to eat breakfast every day by doing this. Table service entitlements/credits cannot be shared. You can use 2 TS credits to eat at some places like Cinderella's Royal Table in the castle and such though, so as I said, u can use them as you wish! Dining reservations can be made 180 days out for resort guests, and on day 180 you can make +10 days worth of reservations, meaning that you can make up to ten days of reservations from day 180.

What I do from a year out is I subscribe to TouringPlans.com. It is $10 for one year, and they predict what crowd levels will be for one year. So they predict up to today's date in 2013. There are some sites that are free, but I like this one. I track my dates and they send me emails when something changes with my crowd levels. They adjust based on events, specials, etc... I use the crowd levels to plan my park days. We don't use hoppers, so we dedicate the whole day to one park. A lot of people swear by hoppers, so you may wish to use them. I just like to dedicate my time to one park and not waste valuable park time moving to other parks. Again, just our preference. Based on the park levels, I choose what park to go to, then I decide what restaurants we want to visit while there. We like eating table service. We think of it as a part of the experience. I don't know if I will ever go without the dining plan. Based on where we are going what days, we choose our restaurants and cross our fingers in hopes of getting what restaurants we want when our ADR (advance dining reservation) day finally comes! We got everything we wanted without issue for this trip. Again, the WDW website is a great way to check out restaurants. I also use Allears.net to look at menus and such.

Here is the link to WDW for resorts:

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/resorts/

Here is the link for restaurants:

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/reservations/dining/

And here is the link for Allears:

http://www.allears.net/index.html

I know this is still a lot of info, but let me do this: I will show you my itinerary so you can get an idea of what some people do when they are there. Again, mine is all Disney, all of the time, so you will be on your own there!

Day 1: (3) (parentheses tells what the overall crowd level is for all of the parks that day)
Flight with arrival around 11
Arrive at CBR around 12:30
Lunch: CS (probably at CBR food court)
EPCOT: (1.5+) 9 AM-9PM (The parentheses have the crowd level out of ten for that park. The plus means it is a best park day as chosen by Touringplans.com. I always list the hours of the park we are going to even though we may not stay that long or be there that early.)
Dinner: CS at EPCOT
9 PM: Illuminations

Day 2: (4)
Open AM schedule
DTD (Downtown disney)
Lunch: T-REX 1:00 PM
Magic Kingdom: MNSSHP (Mickey's not so scary Halloween Party hard ticketed event.) (1.1+) 4 PM-12 AM
Dinner: Counter Service
8:15 PM, 10:30 PM: Mickey's Boo to you Parade
9:30 PM: Happy Hallowishes

Day 3: (8)
Animal Kingdom 8 AM-6 PM EMH (4.6+) (EMH is extra magic hours where resort guests can get into the park early or stay later than other guests)
Lunch: CS
3:45 PM: Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade
Dinner: O'Hana at the Polynesian Resort 7:05 PM

Day 4: (2)
Hollywood Studios: 9 AM-11 PM EMH (6.3-) (the minus means it is a worst park day as chosen by TP. We made a conscious decision to hit a worst park day b/c it fits with our schedule)
Lunch: Fantasmic Dinner Pkg. at Mama Melrose (This is the way to go if you want to see fantasmic. Priority seating tickets are part of the package, and you only use one dining credit if you go to Mama Melrose or Hollywood and Vine) 1:45 PM
3 PM: Pixar Pals countdown to fun (super fun parade)
Dinner: CS
8 PM: Priority seating for Fantasmic (no waiting in line for 2 hours!!!)

Day #5: (6)
MK: 9 AM-12 AM EMH (7.6-)
Be there for rope drop
Appointments at 9:20, and 9:30 AM at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and Pirate's League
Lunch: CRT (castle) 12:05 PM
3 PM: Celebrate a dream come true parade
-Midday break-
Dinner: Counter service
Late night EMH (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE MK at night! It is magical.)
8 PM: Main street electrical parade
9 PM: Wishes


Ok, so I won't give you the whole thing, but I wanted to show you how we plan our days out. Not everything I list we will attend, such as parades, but we know the times just in case. I hope that helps, and please ask us anything!

 

[Blackbeltdisneygirl]

AshleeH, I figured someone was typing at the same time as me!! I feel like our post complimented each other, so that is good! No confusion then. I find it funny that people only give one day to HS. I love it there! We usually dedicate at least 3 to MK, 3 to EPCOT, 3 to HS, and 1 to AK.

We booked at about 200 days before our trip this fall. If you are looking for any types of specials, you can always book and then add them as they come up, BTW. I book directly through Disney as I like to control my own reservation.

We don't mind using the bus system at Disney, but some people hate it! To each their own, I guess!

 

[ZoZo]

For folks who have never been to WDW before, I always recommend starting with a good guide book. To me, that's the easiest way to get a good 'lay of the land' of the different parks, hotels/resorts, restaurants, etc. (The DIS is great, too, but I find it's most useful if you use a chat board to ask specific questions, like "What's your favorite CS restaurant in MK?" rather than trying to get all of your info on a chat board). My favorite guide book is the Unofficial Guide to WDW.

Sounds like you've been to Disneyland/California Adventure before, so I assume you know some of the "basics" of a Disney vacation, like how to use Fast Pass. That will help!

And I'd definitely recommend staying on-property, if you can, while at WDW. I really like Port Orleans Riverside, a moderate resort. There are so many advantages to staying on-site.

 

[hkkatie]

thank you thank you! These are all great tips. Thank you for all the information!

 

[OhanaWA]

Staying on property is nice for the EMH or free dining plan offers, but there are a lot of other options off prop besides hotels, like condos/homes (we found a great deal on VRBO.com if you're interested) Since we are NOT on prop this time I found ways to get early entrance (8am) @ Cinderella's Table, Crystal Palace, Bibbiddi Bobbidi Boutique, (<-- with those we get empty Main Street Photo Op!) and Tusker House..

To help decide which WDW resort, I'd be interested in the freebies. Like Hula lessons @ Polynesian, Chip'N Dale Sing A Long @ Fort Wilderness... (both of which you can still attend... just saying) Oh, and if you like Dole Whips, Captain Cooks @ Poly has them self-serve 24/7 (I so want to stay at Poly! lol)

I'd check out the character meals too (since you're worried about your feet!). And note how the food is served, at the table/buffet, prix fix menu.

Don't get over whelmed, just take notes of all the great tips you like!! Have fun

 

[dontthrowsand]

The best hint I have is relax, take it easy, and do not rush.

 

[ty93850]

we all could type for days on what to do and not to do. But truth is go buy the book The unofficial guide to WDW they put a different one out every year. This book will help a lot with giving you facts about on property off property parks food, ect..........................

 

[hcoker1]

One thing I would suggest is to price out your vacation at different resorts, with or without parkhoppers, with or without dining options on the WDW website. If you choose this August you will get a rough idea of how much it will cost to stay onsite at a value, moderate or deluxe resort. There is a significant price difference between the three. I've also found the Cast Members (CMs) on the phone to be helpful for pricing.

Have fun planning!

 

[Maleficent53]

Everyone is giving great info about WDW.....

A few years ago our kids wanted a day at the beach so we took off in our rental car and just headed toward the Atlantic coast. Look at any map...I forget the road number but it's a straight shot from Orlando east. Once we got there we just drove thru town and, lo and behold!, there was a public beach with public parking!!! We pulled in, spent a great afternoon playing in the surf, then took an alternate route home so we could do a little sightseeing on the way. If you want to plan a little more in advance, I am sure the internet would have a website for any town along the coast and map out where the beaches are. It only took about an hour to drive there (if I remember correctly).

Check out www.cityofcocoabeach.com - this is where we went......

 

[Eliza32]

I think the gulf beaches are nicer - we usually go to St Petes, takes about 2 hours. We always go to the same public beach, get a Chick-Fil-A for lunch, then have an afternoon in the sea/sun then do Bahama Breeze or Golden Corral on the way home. Makes a nice day out, a break from Disney and time to chill a bit. There's also a great Dollar Tree opposite the beach which I have to visit each time (We don't have them in the UK!!!) have found some great craft stuff in there!!!! (And some dark choc/raspberry M&Ms)

 

[plutolovr]

I'm a Walt Disney travel planner and the biggest advice I give to newbies is to do some reading on the parks, pick 3 must-do attractions/rides in each park. If you get them done everything else you do is extra. It will give you a sense of accomplishment and a great way to prioritize your day.

 

[MHSweb79]

My three top resources, after this site:

Unofficial Guide
Easywdw.com
allears.net


I really like the Rate & Review section at Allears.

 

[lmillercrew]

When I first stated researching Disney World, allearsnet.com was the website that I went to religously. It has all of the Disney resorts and restaurant prices listed. There are also resort and restaurant reviews. (I didn't know about the DIS yet) Allears is great for pricing. I make my ressies a good year in advance. I would also start buying your park tickets now, since the prices will most likely go up. The tickets don't expire and you have 14 days to use them, once you start. (did that make sense?)That way I get this years pricing and I have a year to pay off the resort. Since budgets vary from family to family, the resort you choose will be up to you. I have stayed on and off site and I prefer to stay on property. Once you are on Disney property, you truly forget anything else that's going on in life. Transportation is free from the airport to Disney hotels, but if you want to leave property then you would have to rent a car. (unless you drive) I haven't been on the meal plan simply because we never would eat that much nor do I want to spend the time it takes to eat at all of the table service restaurants.
We ordered food from Gardengrocer.com this trip and will have food delivered to our room. Since all of the Disney resorts now have mini refrigerators in their rooms, this will make it easier to keep water and milk cold. We will eat sandwiches in our room for lunch and eat dinner in the park. I also recommend 2 days at MK and getting to the parks EARLY! You can get a lot accomplished in the mornings, take a break and come back and enjoy late hours.
You will find a lot of helpful and differing opinions here. You will have lots of time to plan.

 

[RadioMom]

Everyone's advice has been spot on! My advice to you is to give yourself downtime. It is SO important! A trip to Disney is not a relaxing laze about the resort trip. Especially if you've never been there before.
Plan a day of rest between park days. Go to the pool, explore your resort or other resorts at your leisure, go to Downtown Disney if you like. But rest rest rest between park days. It is a tremendous amount of walking, stimulation overload and in August it's very hot, which takes a lot out of you.
Our first trip was 10 days and it was go go go and we were exhausted when we came home.
Resign yourself to the fact that you'll never ever see everything there is. Make a plan to see five things at each park that are must-do's and the rest is gravy!
Have a wonderful time!

 

[rachelmarisa]

As others have said, get the book by Kim Wright Wiley. Your trip will be so much easier. Also, forgive me if you've mentioned already, but are you driving or flying? When we drive from Indiana, we stop through St. Augustine and do our beach days first. If you're from the same general direction, you'll love the beach there! Or you could go at the end of the trip. HTH