Where to start planning/tips

[Pamela M]

Hello,
My friends ( 4 adults including me) go to Disneyland every year for Halloween time. This year we decided we want to go to DisneyWorld for Christimas time.

I'm in the information gather stage and don't even know where to start. I'm trying to put together pricing so we can decide if it's something we can all afford.

Looking for advice on Hotels (onsite vs offsite)
Information on how Fastpass works
What are the dining plans like ( worth it?)
Any other tips we might need.
Would doing a package through Disney be worth it?
Is there a place to get discounted tickets?
Anything else I've forgotten.


Thanks

 

[MousetersInc]

Since you're familiar with Disneyland there's a lot that won't be brand new to you. For me, two months ago I couldn't name the parks at Disneyworld!

I'd say start with this overview: https://www.disneytouristblog.com/disney-world-trip-planning-guide/ It at least mentions all the topics, so if you discover there's something you don't know about you can dig further. I like his blog in general, too; while you might disagree with his review of a resort or restaurant or ride, at least they're clear (and present).
I'll go ahead and give my advice on your questions with the disclaimers that it's just my opinion and I haven't even gone to WDW yet, just gone obsessive planning for it.

1. Onsite/offsite: you'll hear lots of strong opinions. For this trip we went with entirely on once we decided to fly, but for quite a while were planning on a split stay, partially in Wilderness Lodge for the beauty, magic, and location, and partly in Doubletree Suites for the bigger space for less $$. If the point is pricing, definitely look at offsite. You should know that there are a number of nearby hotels that Disney has extended some of the same "perks" as onsite to: they get to book FP 60 days in advance instead of 30 and can do Extra Magic Hours. Most of these are still very close in Ubering/driving times, and are technically on Disney property. Personally, that 60-day window is worth it to me when comparing these to other offsite hotels.
2. For Fastpass, there's a great forum thread here with more here.
3. Figuring out the dining plan is tricky. For my family, we're planning a lot of table service, and it looks like the mid-tier plan might actually save money. You can get some pretty good estimation with https://www.distripplanner.com/ If budget is the priority, though, the dining plans are almost never the cheapest way to eat. If you're planning to have Clif bars for breakfast, split entrees between 2 people (quite possible), or ever pack your own meal, then it's probably not worth it.
4. A "package" (room + tickets) usually saves over buying those things separately through Disney. You might save overall by buying tickets or even rooms through third parties. I've heard Undercover Tourist and ParkSavers spoken of highly, and there are others. In my case, I found that it only saved $100 or so and so went through Disney. Of course it goes without saying make sure any third party is a reputable, "official" reseller.
5. You didn't ask about parkhopping, but I'll give my opinion: For us, this is our first trip and there's so much to do at each park that we're not messing with parkhopping. If we'd seen it all before and were looking to cram-a-lam as many rides as possible in, then it can definitely help, but for this trip even a full day at each park is hardly enough.
6. Just in case you're not already familiar with it from Disneyland, Touringplans is awesome!

 

[Pamela M]

Since you're familiar with Disneyland there's a lot that won't be brand new to you. For me, two months ago I couldn't name the parks at Disneyworld!

I'd say start with this overview: https://www.disneytouristblog.com/disney-world-trip-planning-guide/ It at least mentions all the topics, so if you discover there's something you don't know about you can dig further. I like his blog in general, too; while you might disagree with his review of a resort or restaurant or ride, at least they're clear (and present).
I'll go ahead and give my advice on your questions with the disclaimers that it's just my opinion and I haven't even gone to WDW yet, just gone obsessive planning for it.

1. Onsite/offsite: you'll hear lots of strong opinions. For this trip we went with entirely on once we decided to fly, but for quite a while were planning on a split stay, partially in Wilderness Lodge for the beauty, magic, and location, and partly in Doubletree Suites for the bigger space for less $$. If the point is pricing, definitely look at offsite. You should know that there are a number of nearby hotels that Disney has extended some of the same "perks" as onsite to: they get to book FP 60 days in advance instead of 30 and can do Extra Magic Hours. Most of these are still very close in Ubering/driving times, and are technically on Disney property. Personally, that 60-day window is worth it to me when comparing these to other offsite hotels.
2. For Fastpass, there's a great forum thread here with more here.
3. Figuring out the dining plan is tricky. For my family, we're planning a lot of table service, and it looks like the mid-tier plan might actually save money. You can get some pretty good estimation with https://www.distripplanner.com/ If budget is the priority, though, the dining plans are almost never the cheapest way to eat. If you're planning to have Clif bars for breakfast, split entrees between 2 people (quite possible), or ever pack your own meal, then it's probably not worth it.
4. A "package" (room + tickets) usually saves over buying those things separately through Disney. You might save overall by buying tickets or even rooms through third parties. I've heard Undercover Tourist and ParkSavers spoken of highly, and there are others. In my case, I found that it only saved $100 or so and so went through Disney. Of course it goes without saying make sure any third party is a reputable, "official" reseller.
5. You didn't ask about parkhopping, but I'll give my opinion: For us, this is our first trip and there's so much to do at each park that we're not messing with parkhopping. If we'd seen it all before and were looking to cram-a-lam as many rides as possible in, then it can definitely help, but for this trip even a full day at each park is hardly enough.
6. Just in case you're not already familiar with it from Disneyland, Touringplans is awesome!

Thank you for all the great info. I was considering off-site (I could get us a really cheap 3 bedroom condo/timeshare close by) but I think the benefits of staying on-site are worth it (early entry, 60 day fast pass, not having to rent a car) Plus the bonus that none of my friends have ever stayed at a Disney property before and this will be their 1st and probably their last visit to the World. When we go to Disneyland I (as the planner for the group) can never justify paying 3 -4 times the price per night for onsite vs an off site walk-able hotel.

I am looking at packages online and even through Disney it looks like we might be able to afford a moderate hotel. For us (we get to split the bill 4 ways) so can splurge on the upgraded motel. I've heard really good things about the Costco packages ( they aren't out yet for December) so I'll be looking at those too.

Dinning plan - I"ll need to do some additional research- I do like the idea of my trip being mostly paid for before we leave. My friends and I NEVER miss a meal so I'm thinking the dining package is going to be a plus for us. Just need to work figure out if us doing 1 or 2 sit down meals will work with the counter service plan.

Park hopping - I've been to WDW about 15 years ago and I remember it taking at least 1/2 hour to get from one park to the other so I'm thinking it won't be worth the price for the park hopper. As DL regulars we are spoiled with park hopping taking about 5-10 minutes. The only reason I might consider getting it is on our 5 day in the park we might want to visit 2 parks in 1 day.

 

[skippytx]

Howdy,

We visit both parks fairly regularly, so hope this helps.

1) Onsite is worth it. Being onsite gets you into the WDW "bubble", it's a different experience than DLR. You get off the plane, go to the Magical Express area, and the rest of the time you're in the WDW bubble. It's really neat. I think onsite is worth it, if onsite doesn't work, go with a Disney Springs area hotel, you can get many of the benefits of staying onsite, but without the cost. There's no advantage in staying onsite at DLR like there is at WDW. (We always stay at the Tropicana)

2) Fastpass is explained in detail better than I can do it elsewhere. (see comments below about planning though)

3) I'm not a dining plan fan, but that's just the way we like to tour WDW. I don't like set schedules, and committing to eating all the time. We did it once and it felt like our vacation revolved around dining reservations and not what we wanted to do. It's also a ton of food. It can end up slightly less expensive in certain scenarios, but generally I'm not a fan. Tons of discussion about it in the Disney Dining section of the board. If you you like the paid in advance aspect of it, just buy Disney giftcards before your trip and put all your meals on them. I would wager that if you put the amount the dining plan costs on a gift card, you'll have a balance left at the end of the trip.

4) A package can be worth it. You might even want to engage an experienced WDW travel agency/planner who can really help with a lot of this stuff. No extra cost as Disney pays their commission on the back end. We're at the point we plan our own trips now, but they can be really helpful for first timers. They helped plan our days, set our dining reservations and all that on our first WDW trip.


The biggest difference between a WDW trip and DLR trip for us is planning. We start planning 12 to 15 months out for a WDW trip. We just show up for a DLR trip. Rooms booked 11 months in advance (we're DVC members) Dining reservations need to be made 180 days out. Fast passes 60 days out. We look at the schedule 6 months out and plan out what parks we'll be at which days around dining plans, extra magic hours, etc. You want to schedule your dining and fast passes and park visits all coherently so you're not wasting a third of your day on transportation all over the world. I think small wars have been fought with less planning than we put into a WDW trip.

Park hoppers are worth it, especially during the holidays as Magic Kingdom will close early 4 out of 7 nights a week for the Mickey Christmas party. The flexibility to go to MK during the day, then go do Pandora at night is worth the extra cost. We generally visit 2 different parks multiple days on the trip, so we always get them. We do take a midday break though, so we split our days up into 2 parts.


It can be intimidating, but you'll have a great time. Think about reaching out to a Disney travel agent that can help walk you through everything.

 

[ElizabethG]

I don't do the dining plan. It will only save you money if you plan to eat your meals the way the dining plan is set up. So, if you plan to eat your table service meals at lunch or dinner; and you want to order an expensive entree, a specialty beverage, and a dessert at every meal. Usually breakfast is not as expensive out-of-pocket. Also, appetizers are not included. So, if you would rather split and app and entree with someone, drink water, and skip dessert (for example); it doesn't make sense.

We load up gift cards and use them for our meals. Sometimes you can get deals on Disney gift cards too.

Our family rarely park hops (and we have an AP, so we could). You should make sure you pay attention to the park hours calendar. I don't know how long your trip is, but I don't mind leaving the park early. On days when MK closes early we do something like go to Disney Springs, or Hoop-Dee-Doo Review. Although, the Christmas party is fun too!

The only other tip I have is to book your fastpasses as early as possible! Some rides go quickly.

 

[Pamela M]

Whats this about a Mickey's Christmas party? I could see us doing that.

 

[ElizabethG]

Whats this about a Mickey's Christmas party? I could see us doing that.

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party is a separate ticketed event that takes place on multiple nights from Nov-Christmas. The party starts at 7:00, when the park closes to regular guests. You don't need a regular park ticket for the event. You can enter MK at 4:00 with just the event ticket.
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/magic-kingdom/mickeys-very-merry-christmas-party/#

 

[KellyHonos]

you and your party need to be open and honest about everyones wants and needs before you start booking anything. Dining plans are great if you're a foodie, but sit down restaurants can be time consuming and of course dining plans add an extra cost to your bottom line. If you guys are foodies and don't mind taking things slow, do that. If you'd rather get some food shipped to your room and only purchase one meal out, that could save you money and time. If staying in the disney bubble is important to you, look for on-site bookings. If staying in the disney bubble and finding means of transporation isn't an issue, look off-site. You guys need to find common grounds on these things before booking so you can assure that everyone is happy with their decision and there won't be any tension down the line when someones unhappy with the cost of parking everyday or can't afford the dining plan. Communication is key.

 

[Pamela M]

you and your party need to be open and honest about everyones wants and needs before you start booking anything. Dining plans are great if you're a foodie, but sit down restaurants can be time consuming and of course dining plans add an extra cost to your bottom line. If you guys are foodies and don't mind taking things slow, do that. If you'd rather get some food shipped to your room and only purchase one meal out, that could save you money and time. If staying in the disney bubble is important to you, look for on-site bookings. If staying in the disney bubble and finding means of transporation isn't an issue, look off-site. You guys need to find common grounds on these things before booking so you can assure that everyone is happy with their decision and there won't be any tension down the line when someones unhappy with the cost of parking everyday or can't afford the dining plan. Communication is key.

Thanks - this is so true.
I've done 3 trips with these friends to Disneyland. We travel great with each other cause we can be honest. I'm usually the planner because I like to plan and they don't. I do ask them what their MUST do's are so I can makes sure I incorporate them in the planning. For 1 friend at DL it's always Blue Bayou, my other friend she doesn't like rollercoasters and the other friend it turn so I try and find some fund things for her to do. Last year I found out that if you just ASK to sit in the noise of the monorail that you can sit in there with the Conductor. All 3 of my friends are STILL are talking about that free VIP moment.

I do think the dining plan is going to work for our touring style. While we are ride focus we also will make time to eat if we have a dining plan or not. I'm just trying to figure out will work best for us ( counter service plan or 1 counter service and 1 table service). I'm leaning towards the table service as we seem be what we do when we go to Disneyland. I like to do Table service for lunch and then quick service for Dinner. I just need to do my research and find out the best places to eat.

Does anyone know if you can use the dinning plans towards a dinner package like Illuminations or a firework show? Non of my friends have seen World of Color in DCA (similar to Illuminations) so I'm thinking this is something they would enjoy. We'll probably skip Fantasmic as we can see that in DL.

 

[chippydale33]

My suggestions are below!

Looking for advice on Hotels (onsite vs offsite) - Because this is your first trip to the World, I cannot recommend enough staying on property! It adds an entire new level of convenience, magic, and fun. You are truly in the "Disney bubble", which everyone should experience at least once.

Information on how Fastpass works - skipping, as this is more factual than opinion. I'm better at opinion

What are the dining plans like ( worth it?) - I debate every trip to WDW whether to do the dining plan or not. My favorite strategy, and the one that seems to work out best, is planning out my park days first. When your park days are planned, where would you and your party *LIKE* to eat? Will you want to eat quick service for breakfast, is there a special restaurant you'd all like to visit for lunch or dinner? Get a list of everywhere and anywhere you and your party would seriously consider eating. Then, take inventory of how many Quick Service versus Table Service that you all would like to do, and compare it to a dining plan. You might find the Regular Dining Plan (1 Quick Service, 1 Table Service, 2 Snacks per day) to be the most beneficial dining plan if you want to sit down to eat at all. Anytime we've done the deluxe dining plan, I found myself nauseous from all the food with not enough time for the parks! And all the money spent on gratuities are an add-on and not included.

Any other tips we might need. - Buy water from Garden Grocery and have it delivered to your room(s) the first day of your trip. WELL worth the delivery fee, as it ends up saving you at least a few dollars per bottle (in comparison to buying all water in the parks). Or, buy a filtered water bottle to bring with you in the park where you can fill up with water fountains, etc.
- Bring ponchos! I *believe* ponchos are in the $10 range at WDW. Ponchos from the dollar store do the trick most of the time

Would doing a package through Disney be worth it? - I would say so! I can't think of an idea why it wouldn't. Plus, if anything were to go wrong that wasn't your fault, Disney is pretty great at fixing mistakes/errors and compensating.

Is there a place to get discounted tickets? - Not sure on this. I believe there are discounted tickets for Military, situations of that nature.

Anything else I've forgotten. - IMO, Hollywood Studios doesn't have a ton to offer that would warrant scheduling more than 1 park day for it. But! I suppose it depends on what you and your party's passions and goals are at WDW

 

[Pamela M]

My suggestions are below!

Looking for advice on Hotels (onsite vs offsite) - Because this is your first trip to the World, I cannot recommend enough staying on property! It adds an entire new level of convenience, magic, and fun. You are truly in the "Disney bubble", which everyone should experience at least once.

Information on how Fastpass works - skipping, as this is more factual than opinion. I'm better at opinion

What are the dining plans like ( worth it?) - I debate every trip to WDW whether to do the dining plan or not. My favorite strategy, and the one that seems to work out best, is planning out my park days first. When your park days are planned, where would you and your party *LIKE* to eat? Will you want to eat quick service for breakfast, is there a special restaurant you'd all like to visit for lunch or dinner? Get a list of everywhere and anywhere you and your party would seriously consider eating. Then, take inventory of how many Quick Service versus Table Service that you all would like to do, and compare it to a dining plan. You might find the Regular Dining Plan (1 Quick Service, 1 Table Service, 2 Snacks per day) to be the most beneficial dining plan if you want to sit down to eat at all. Anytime we've done the deluxe dining plan, I found myself nauseous from all the food with not enough time for the parks! And all the money spent on gratuities are an add-on and not included.

Any other tips we might need. - Buy water from Garden Grocery and have it delivered to your room(s) the first day of your trip. WELL worth the delivery fee, as it ends up saving you at least a few dollars per bottle (in comparison to buying all water in the parks). Or, buy a filtered water bottle to bring with you in the park where you can fill up with water fountains, etc.
- Bring ponchos! I *believe* ponchos are in the $10 range at WDW. Ponchos from the dollar store do the trick most of the time

Would doing a package through Disney be worth it? - I would say so! I can't think of an idea why it wouldn't. Plus, if anything were to go wrong that wasn't your fault, Disney is pretty great at fixing mistakes/errors and compensating.

Is there a place to get discounted tickets? - Not sure on this. I believe there are discounted tickets for Military, situations of that nature.

Anything else I've forgotten. - IMO, Hollywood Studios doesn't have a ton to offer that would warrant scheduling more than 1 park day for it. But! I suppose it depends on what you and your party's passions and goals are at WDW

Thank you

Off- site is now off the table for us. Now the trick will be to see if we can get a good deal on a moderate hotel if not we'll be staying at a value hotel on-site. We'd be happy with either but I think they'd be impressed with a Moderate hotel. I remember staying at Port Orleans 15 years ago and being so impressed with the themeing. Costco has some great packages so I'm hoping we can get one through there but they haven't posted their December deals yet. Trying to stay to a $2000 per person budget that's with 2 rooms for the 4 of us but I've told everyone to budget for $3000 per person to give us some wiggle room to do some fun stuff like Illuminations desert party and maybe the Mickey's Christmas party special ticket event.

That is GREAT advice on planning the park days then deciding on dining! I definitely feel the 2 table service plan is too much as well. So I just need to decide which plan (all counter or mix service plan) will work for us.

Thanks for the water reminder. I live in Northern California and the tap water is yummy water so I always forget that the water when I travel can be gross. One friend and I will drink TONS of water.
Has anyone tried using Amazon for delivering water?

I'll add poncho's to our list of travel items - I usually bring them to Disneyland as well in case we want to go on a water ride.

 

[SaraJR]

The Christmas party is great, I would not do the park that day until it opens for party guests at 4 pm.
IMO dinning isnt worth it unless its on promo, extra not worth it if anyone is vegetarian as those meals are cheaper generally.
On-site is worth it, you get picked up from MCO-hotel, free busing all over the property, extra magic hours, on check out day if you have a later flight they will hold your bags for you.
I 100% recommend memory maker.

 

[KristenCarll]

You will be so happy with your choice to stay onsite. Port Orleans Riverside is my favorite moderate. Love the theming and the grounds here.

We used Amazon pantry and it worked great for us. I believe there might have been a $5 fee for the resort to receive the package, but so incredibly worth it. We also order things like granola bars to eat on the bus ride to the parks before getting breakfast, and other little snacks for munching on. The plus side to garden grocer is if you want to order fresh produce, and booze. The beer is ridiculously expensive in the store at the hotel, so next time we will order that through garden grocer if we choose to do so.

I wouldn't find park hoppers necessary, and sometimes it seems people find it cheaper to just add on an extra day for tickets vs. park hoppers. I would say if you are doing the Christmas Party, consider spending your morning at Disney Springs, and then go to the park.

We definitely seem to utilize the packages for our family of 5.

Have a magical trip!

 

[DisneyDillyDally]

I'm in the information gather stage and don't even know where to start. I'm trying to put together pricing so we can decide if it's something we can all afford.

I visited WDW twice before I bought a WDW travel guide. If I had my time back I would have bought the travel guide before the first trip! Your library may have one, if you don’t want to buy.

 

[Pamela M]

Just and update on our plans.

As much as we wanted to stay at a moderate resort it would cost and extra $800 per room so $1600 total. We decided we’d rather spend that on other things- fancy dinner, dining package etc...

So we are going to stay at All Star Music. Once I found out that there was really no additional cost to us I booked us through a travel agent. It will be nice to be able to have someone with experience help us with planning.


I did buy a guide book and I’m slowly making my way through it. I’ve also
Started looking at Blogs to figure out where we want to eat and do.

I did sign up for the Disney dining plan - mainly as all of us would prefer to have the trip mostly paid off before we go.


Thank you for everyon for the great advice!!