Disney World - where do I start?

[Giraffe]

I'm overwhelmed. I tried to navigate disboards.com and my head exploded.

 

We are planning an August trip. Yes, I know, hot as hades. We are from Texas and Turkey so I'm not too worried about that. We want to stay on site. I'm pretty sure we want Disney dining. Fairies and princesses are very popular and character dining with these folks or classic characters (Mickey, Pluto) would be ideal.

 

Obviously, we want to maximize fun and minimize costs, but this is probably our one shot at Disney. I'll have DD (6) and her "cousin" A (9)., DH, and for a part of the trip, grandma.

 

I'm overseas so I can't get the free DVD and planning guide.

 

What is Magic Your Way? What is Park Hopper?

 

Where do I start?! Aaaaiiiigggghhhh!!!!!

 

ETA: The last time I was at Disney World was 1977. Epcot wasn't built yet. I'm horribly out of date.

[Lily_Grace]

www.yourfirstvisit.net

 

You CAN get the free dvd - email them and ask. We did and got ours about 2 years ago. A Park Hopper ticket lets you go to more than one park in a day. I wouldn't recommend it for a first visit. You won't use it often (or at all) as you try to soak in the different parks. Sign up for the Mousesavers newsletter to see what promotions and discounts available.

 

Start with a budget. How much do you want to spend? Take out ticket costs work backward. If you are military I highly suggest calling when you make your reservations. Between the military discount and the promotion they were running during our first visit, we saved quite a bit. Even not, I suggest calling. The reps have a way of guiding you through and helping you find the magic. When I took dh to Disney for the first time the rep found me a theme room at the DLResort - and surprised us with a suite for the same cost per night.

[delaney]

Get Chef Mickeys(Contemporary) and Akurshus(Epcot) for meals if you want princesses and the normal crew. The castle is fun but a total rip-off. Do early mornings and avoid the middle of the day. Close the parks when you can and download their app so that you can see ride times and current Fast pass machine times. Many will be gone by mid-day so you can get them early before you leave for lunch.

[OrganicAnn]

We found that the book "the Unofficial Guide to DisneyWorld" was the best and most complete information. We then supplemented it with other books/websites.

[AnIslandGirl]

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[rjand6more]

Don't panic. :) You do need to make these decisions very soon though because if you want the Dining Plan, you will want to make those reservations very soon. First, how much do you want to spend?(Depends on the level of resort you stay at.)We have stayed at moderate and value resorts. I just can't justify the deluxe resorts as we spend all day everyday at the parks and we use the dining plan so we get to "experience"the deluxe resorts. The Art of Animation is a value resort, but is newer(cost is between value and moderate) and has Little Mermaid themed rooms. Thought that may appeal to your 6 year old dd. I do not feel slighted a bit by value resorts. They are all great! We have stayed at Pop Century twice and a family suite at All Star Music. All Star Music was the best stay. The kids love the values because they feel more "Disney" to them.

 

Then start compiling a list of the restaurants that look good to you. And narrow them down. You will find that for every bad review a restaurant has, there is someone who just loves it! We have done nearly all the character dining at Disney. We do love the Castle, but it is 2 dining credits. You get photos though. Nothing like the atmosphere! Akersus in Norway(EPCOT) has princesses and is 1 dining credit. You may want to buy your dd a princess dress(one of the characters) before you go. Many, many girls come to the princess dinners in costume and they are crazy expensive there!

 

You can meet the princesses and Mickey at MK now with a fastpass. Of course don't bother if you are doing character dining. Chef Mickey's is pretty good, but we were very rushed!!We love to spend time with characters and get autographs. You will need to get an autograph book. I suggest either buying one as soon as you get there or making one or buying something and bringing it from home. Characters are scattered around the parks so you need to be ready!!

 

We have found touringplans.com to be very helpful in planning and The Unofficial Guide to Disney book. There is info on the website to help design a plan based on historic attendance. Seems for us the best thing to remember is that the parks that have extra magic hours is usually the busiest for that day. We do get park hoppers, but that is our thing and part of the fun for us. Park hoppers give you the option to "hop" around from park to park during the day. A reg Magic your Way tickets admits you to only one park per day.

 

hth! I love planning trips! I get especially excited for first time families!!(Ask at your resort for pins that say this is your first trip.)

[zoobie]

If you're coming from the UK, there are special tickets available.

 

I like the Passporter guide for first time visitors. It's spiral bound, very detailed, and has pockets for stashing souvenirs and receipts.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1587711109/

http://www.passporter.com/home-of-disney-world-cruise-travel-tips-planning-articles-photos.html

 

Disboards is good to research specifics, like room location requests or finding pictures of the silverware at each restaurant. ;) Very overwhelming to start though!

 

A travel agent may be helpful. There are several agencies that specialize in Disney. They are paid on commission from Disney, and you don't pay more for using them. A friend from another board is one if you'd like a contact. She got my BIL a good package deal that he didn't find dealing directly with WDW reservations.

 

Have fun planning! :)

 

Edited: The suggestion to buy princess dress ahead of time is a good one. My older DD hated the Disney Store itchy dresses but loved Little Adventures dresses. They're soft and machine washable. I could keep one in our backpack in a big ziploc and she could take it on and off for meals or meet and greets. We had tie dye shirts with Mickey heads on our last trip, and they were so much fun. I ordered from here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Pixiecrafts (no affiliation with her. Just a happy customer. I ordered late and she shipped directly to the resort, which would save overseas shipping for you.)

[Giraffe]

Thank you everyone! I've been buried in the Unofficial Guide. I see Bibbiti Bobbiti Boo in our future, pins, autographs, Lord knows what else!

[DianeW88]

Frist, you need to decide on your budget. Do you want to stay in a deluxe resort? Moderate? Value? We've stayed in every category, and we've loved them all. It looks like you'll have five in your party, so that does limit your choices a little bit. Any deluxe room will work. In the moderate category, the cabins at Ft. Wilderness are really your only choice. For value, the suites at Art of Animation would be perfect.

 

Then you need to decide on your dining. Do you want the dining plan? You might even have free dining then. If they offer it...take it. If not, we still do the regular dining plan for convenience sake (and because we LOVE their restaurants), but you'll hear pros and cons for that. Tell me about the eaters in your family? Picky? Adventurous? Do you enjoy taking time from your day to eat at a sit-down restaurant?

 

Park tickets. How many days are you going to be there? Do you want the freedom to hop from one park to the other during a day (we do)? Do you want to go to any of the water parks?

 

And lastly, how long will you be staying?

 

Give us the information, and the Disney vacation planners here will plan you the trip of a lifetime! :D

[saraha]

posting so I can find later

[Giraffe]

Frist, you need to decide on your budget. Do you want to stay in a deluxe resort? Moderate? Value? We've stayed in every category, and we've loved them all. It looks like you'll have five in your party, so that does limit your choices a little bit. Any deluxe room will work. In the moderate category, the cabins at Ft. Wilderness are really your only choice. For value, the suites at Art of Animation would be perfect. Budget is fluid and courtesy DD's grandpa who is wanting to give his girls a "proper" Disney vacation. I want to do it right but not go overboard. We're looking at a moderate or deluxe resort - definitely on site. Grandma will have her own room so we don't have the limitations we would if she was staying with us. DD LOVES giraffes so I was thinking Animal Kingdom Lodge, but I also want to give the girls a "classic" Disney experience so perhaps something in the Magic Kingdom would be better?

 

Then you need to decide on your dining. Do you want the dining plan? You might even have free dining then. If they offer it...take it. If not, we still do the regular dining plan for convenience sake (and because we LOVE their restaurants), but you'll hear pros and cons for that. Tell me about the eaters in your family? Picky? Adventurous? Do you enjoy taking time from your day to eat at a sit-down restaurant? I want to do the dining plan for convenience sake. Very picky eaters in the family, though, and the kids are accustomed to Turkish food, not American (though they both love the ubiquitous McDonalds). We love taking time to sit down and have a proper meal. It's almost required in Turkish society. And we want to do character dining at least once, if we can still get reservations.

 

Park tickets. How many days are you going to be there? Do you want the freedom to hop from one park to the other during a day (we do)? Do you want to go to any of the water parks? The general plan is for 5 days there, with two partial/travel days. If there's a pool at the hotel I don't think a water park will be necessary - but who knows? I don't think we'll do multiple parks in one day - I was thinking 2 days at Magic Kingdom, one at Animal Kingdom, 2 doing.... what? You have to remember, my last visit was in 1977, involved "E" tickets, and predated Epcot!

 

And lastly, how long will you be staying? - 5 whole days, 2 travel days - at least, that's the plan.

 

Give us the information, and the Disney vacation planners here will plan you the trip of a lifetime! :D

 

Thank you thank you thank you!!! I've registered with touringplans.com and making mental lists. Both girls are "girly girls" if that helps.

[zoobie]

There's very little price difference between 5 and 7 day tickets... Just sayin'... ;)

 

AKL is a lovely hotel, but it is farthest from the rest of the parks. Will you have a car? We are DVC members and alternate between the resort attached to the Contemporary and AKL. For a once in a lifetime trip, I'd stay at one of the monorail resorts I think.

 

Don't skip Epcot! I like DHS as well. Toy Story Mania is our family's favorite ride. It has two good thrill rides too.

 

Put Akershus (princess character meal in Norway in Epcot) and 1900 Park Faire (dinner, at the Grand Floridian resort) on your restaurant list for girly girls. 1900 PF has Cindy and Prince Charming, but best of all, the stepmother and step sisters. They are hilarious!

[DianeW88]

Ok...here goes. LOL

 

Animal Kingdom Lodge is a GREAT resort. So much fun and a fabulous pool. Plus...the animals. However, as far as "Disney" theming...it's minimal.

 

Contemporary Resort is also beautiful, now that it's been refurbished, and the Disney theming is very prominent. Not to mention, the monorail runs right through the lobby. It's a short walk to Magic Kingdom, and it's right in the center of everything.

 

Yacht Club/Beach Club is an Epcot resort (easy walk to that park) with a BEAUTIFUL pool, and very lovely rooms. No prominent Disney theming, but really, a gorgeous resort.

 

So...if I were you, I probably go with the Contemporary for this trip. The monorail in the building is a huge "wow" factor for kids, and if you want to splurge, you can get a room with a Magic Kingdom view.

 

Grand Floridian and Polynesian are also on the monorail, but the Polynesian rooms are a little tired looking (they're working on that), and the Grand Floridian is better appreciated by adults.

 

The regular dining plan is probably perfect for you. You get 1 table service, 1 quick service, and 1 snack for each person, each day. Actually, how it works is they load your card with all the meals you'll have available, and you can divvy them up any way you choose. If you want to eat 3 table service meals in one day...have at it. Just keep a running total of what you've already used, so you don't get caught short somewhere.

 

The water parks are a blast, but if you're staying for less than a week, I wouldn't bother. We stay for two weeks at a time, and so water parks are a must for us. LOL

 

As far as restaurants go: My favorite MK table service (and first day tradition) for us is lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern (have the ooey gooey toffee cake for dessert). Just do lunch, because dinner is a buffet.

 

Crystal Palace character breakfast is also a must-do for us (It's Winnie the Pooh and friends). The food is awesome and the setting is beautiful.

 

The Plaza is another great sit down restaurant for lunch. Fabulous ice cream sundaes.

 

Cinderella's Royal Table is overrated and 2 dining credits. You'd do better trying for a reservation for Be Our Guest for dinner. It's only 1 credit. Almost impossible to get however, so if you can't swing it, go to Akershus in Epcot for your princess breakfast.

 

Another favorite character meal for us is breakfast at Tusker House in Animal Kingdom. Same characters as Chef Mickey's, and better food.

 

1900 Park Fare in the Grand Floridian is a fun dinner buffet with Cinderella, the Prince, the step sisters and Lady Tremaine. Don't do lunch, that's different characters and not as fun.

 

Other favorite table service restaurants for us are: Garden Grill (Epcot), Tutto Italia (Epcot) Rose & Crown pub (Epcot...we eat there and then watch Illuminations from their patio), Les Chefs de France (Remy appears here during lunch service and he is SO cute...he's on a cheese platter that they bring to each of the tables), 50's Prime Time Cafe (Hollywood Studios...yummy food and the servers are a riot), Sci-Fi Drive In (you eat in a car while watching bad 50s sci-fi movie clips, what could be more fun?), Brown Derby (more adult oriented and 2 TS credits, but yummy!), Yak & Yeti (Animal Kingdom..the sit down one, not the CS), Whispering Canyon Cafe (Wilderness Lodge...don't ask for ketchup), Artist's Point (Wilderness Lodge 2 TS, but SO yummy), Beaches & Cream (Beach Club...great diner atmosphere, yummy ice cream), 'Ohana (Polynesian...do NOT miss this restaurant), Kona (Polynesian...my favorite breakfast place in all of WDW).

 

I'll come back later with quick service and snack suggestions. And whatever sit downs I've forgotten. LOL

 

Get the WDW dining app and you can have a list of all the restaurants, plus menus, plus a place to store your reservations. It's one of my favorite apps.

[Mrs Mungo]

Start with a budget. How much do you want to spend? Take out ticket costs work backward. If you are military I highly suggest calling when you make your reservations. Between the military discount and the promotion they were running during our first visit, we saved quite a bit.

 

One note, last time we went (two years ago) we were not allowed to use any other discount (to include Disney Dining) with our military discount. We wound up staying off property at a place with 3 bedrooms (two of my sisters and my niece were with us), a kitchen, etc and saved money that way.