WHAT IF THIS WAS YOUR FIRST TRIP?

[bmcd1998]

So I had clients in my office the other day who were planning to visit the World for the very first time. They had already booked two weeks at Caribbean Beach Resort. I asked about their plans and they said they were going to "wing it".

When I told them that some research would save them a lot of waiting/hassle/disappointment, they asked an interesting question: If I was only going to spend 5-10 hours preparing, what should I read/do/study?

I know I have lost all perspective on what it's like to not have been there many many times. I found myself grilling them on what kind of vacationers they are and what kind of budget they were allowing for. I finally just sent them a link for this site along with a few others...but I thought maybe some of you had been asked this question before and might have a more well thought out response.

So, fellow DisJunkies, how would you answer the question "I'm going to Disney for two weeks, never been there before and only have 5-10 hours to prepare. What should I do?"

 

[kj2mom]

I would look into restaurants/meals and make ADR's. During our trip I heard many frustrated people who thought that they would be able to go to the hostess, tell them how many in their party, sit down and eat. They got something much different. Hunger can often = grumpiness so I would make that my highest priority.

 

[cincystamper]

Actually, I just had a friend ask me something along this line just last night. She's going in May with her kids and is freaking out because of all the info her TA is bombarding her with. She just didn't know where to start or what to think.

The first thing I suggested to her was to make a list of characters her kids were set on meeting. Defining that one objective will help her define which parks to spend the most time in, which FP+ would be most beneficial for what they want to accomplish, and which dining options they might want to consider.

Giving her ONE thing to consider instead of a zillion calmed her down quite a bit. ONE thing is easy to focus on...and now that we have THAT answer, we can iron out the rest of the details with a purpose in mind.

In your case, I probably would have asked what their priority was - meeting characters, riding rides, seeing shows, or just experiencing the 'ambiance' that is Disney? Setting ONE priority will often help with all other decisions. Even if that one priority is to "slow down" or "buy the coolest tshirt" or whatever.

 

[tobikaye]

I would probably tell them a bit about FP+, ADRs, and transportation. I would suggest that they get a book, such as Birnbaum's to look through. I use Birnbaum's as the suggested book for non-planners as it touches on the high points of a trip without seeming too complicated. If I were to send them links, it would be to wdwinfo, allears, and easywdw with a little information on what they should focus on along with suggesting they check out the WDW website directly. I would also suggest that if they have any questions once they are on-site that the go to a guest services desk and just ask them.

I think sending them to forum based sites just makes things very confusing and difficult as they are not going to know what is a normal expectation or a magical exception. I would have been overwhelmed by the disboards for a first trip visit. As it is, I had a drought of 5+ years when I found the disboards and started planning a new trip and it was a bit overwhelming then.

 

[Alesia]

I would buy a copy of The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit 2015 and I would read it.

And I would stay as far away from the disboards as humanly possible.

 

[MrsDuck]

FP+, transportation, and meals. Those are my top 3.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Totally depends on WHEN they are going. Two weeks in September is plenty of time to see/do everything with no plan at all. Two weeks during more crowded times could just be a nightmare with that little understanding of what they are jumping into.

Agree with MrsDuck on the priorities.

 

[MomForFrozenAddicts]

ADR & tickets/FP+

Otherwise, they have enough time to wing it for 2 weeks.

 

[Felipe4]

Re-above - I'd ask them for any highlights they want to see/ride/eat at. Give them specific info on those highlights (requiring reservations/fastpasses/emh/early entrance for breakfasts/where favorite characters are stationed).

 

[jtowntoflorida]

I would buy a copy of The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit 2015 and I would read it.

And I would stay as far away from the disboards as humanly possible.

ITA. This site is overload, TMI for a casual vacationer who doesn't want to plan much. If you listened to everything that is listed as an OMG YOU MUST TO THIS TO HAVE A GOOD TIME AT DISNEY you'd lose your mind. The Easy Guide is designed for a first timer, it's an easy (ha ha) read, and it doesn't overwhelm with information.

 

[grossmansr]

Wow, this is a tough one. But by no means should a first timer ever just "wing it". ADRs are critical. Try to encourage them to book one ADR for each day. At least then they won't starve. Lol.

 

[nat8199]

I would pay for a touring plans subscription, research some restaurants to see what I might like, set up ADRs according to the TP crowd calendar, and set up FP+ according to the same calendar. 5-10 hours on the Touring Plans site would definitely get the basics in place.

 

[Alesia]

Wow, this is a tough one. But by no means should a first timer ever just "wing it". ADRs are critical. Try to encourage them to book one ADR for each day. At least then they won't starve. Lol.

I completely disagree with this. We prefer 1 TS meal every 3 or 4 days and we haven't starved yet. Every family is different. Encouraging people to vacation the way you think they should is never a good idea.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

That person needs to use a travel agent. They aren't interested in planning, so they should let someone else do that for them.

I love the planning part, but I recognize that it isn't for everyone. A friend was asking for feedback on Facebook earlier. I bit my tongue when she asked about using a premier planner who charged a fee. That isn't something I would do, but if that makes it less stressful for her, that's OK with me.

If I had to recommend one thing, I would tell them to book with Disney then REALLY READ everything they send you and not to blow off recommended reservations. I got an email when it was time to make my FP+ reservations (about 15 hours after the window opened and my reservations were made), so if I had not know I needed to make them, Disney did tell me. If you just go into DME and play around, you'll find out about the restaurant options.

 

[CQuinn]

I was just thinking about this! I was thinking how I could probably not plan a whole lot, aside from ADRs and FP+, but most of it comes from knowing what I absolutely must do and how busy things tend to be. I feel like they should order the planning dvds to get an idea of what they might like to do, research how busy those attractions, and plan ADRs. If they don't want to do sit down meals this isn't something that will matter. I don't ever remember doing table service meals when I was a kid. Now they are one of the biggest parts of my trip. I'm sure it depends on the ages of guests. I think **************.net is a good site that takes some of the work out of it.

I know people love crowd calendars but I've really never used one. I just try to avoid MK on the weekend and just plan in a way that makes sense for us during the trip. I agree that two weeks is plenty of time and they should be fine without a ton of planning.

A couple of friends of mine went spur of the moment, no research or planning. They were shocked at how much they spent on bottled water, snacks, and car seats for their rental car. They didn't know about DME and that they could just use disney busses. They had no other complaints though!

So jealous of a two week trip

 

[mom2rtk]

Have them read the first post on Mesaboy's thread.

 

[bmcd1998]

Wow, great feedback! Thanks everyone.

 

[Jennasis]

They have to decide what's most important to them. Rides? Characters? Shows? Pool time? Dining? Then they can focus on that. For us, our trips tend to revolve around dining as the driving force so ADRs are important to us.

 

[cjparker0110]

I don't understand how anyone who can afford two weeks at WDW could ever think about just winging it. I don't care where I travel, I am not going to just wing it. Even when my wife and I took our honeymoon, we decided we would do a road trip of sorts. While we didn't have an exact itinerary, we did have a general guide of where to go. We picked out what places we would like to see and mapped it all out. We just knew that we might stay an extra night somewhere if we really liked it (we did in Colorado Springs) or we may skip something if the weather was not right. We were also willing to stop at someplace that interested us along the way.

The only "winging it" we really did was in picking a place to stay based on where we were that night. We only regretted that one time: we had one time that a horrendous storm hit 2 hours before we arrived where we were planning to stop (only because we stopped somewhere that came "highly suggested by friends and family...that we did not plan to stop at). Anyway, we had to pull off the highway in a small town to wait it out (we could not see 5 feet in front of us on the interstate). The hotels there were booked. We started calling hotels where we were going and they would not save us a room because every traveler on the hwy had stopped! We slept in our car in the parking lot of a hotel!!!

 

[kaetra]

Disney does a pretty good job of letting people know about FP+ via Mickey Mail. There's really only 2 things they need to do in advance - FP+ and ADR. They only need ADR if they don't want to eat counter service the whole time and won't have a car.

If I liked them a lot, I would also recommend a crowd calendar site for them to use.