1st time planer needs help

[StarletteDir]

Hey guys! My girlfriends and I just made the decision to go to WDW next year in celebration of epcots approaching 25th anniversary and the food & wine festival in october. We have all been to WDW before, but have never planned the trip ourselves, we were younger and with family or with my dance team on a trip through a travel agency.

We are some of the places to start on planning a trip for four girls ranging in ages 29-22? Please help me with setting up or finding somewhere that lays out points to consider and steps that need to be taken care of in the next 14 months!

Has anyone been to the food and wine festival sans kids, what should we not miss?! Any thoughts on whether we should go with value or moderate resort? Is it safe to assume $1000 EACH can get us there from Texas and allow us to enjoy ourselves for four days?

THANKS FOR ANY HELP!!

ps has anyone ever used expedia to book disney resorts?

 

[hammysammy59]

As a first-time planner myself, I found the trip turning out to be a lot cheaper than I expected. Check out www.disneyworld.com, they've got a really cool ticket/hotel expense calculator. For myself and two friends to have five days at the 'World (with parkhopper passes) and four nights in a value resort came out to less than $1200. Of course, that doesn't include airfare, food or fun money, but still, it turned out to be several thousand dollars cheaper than I expected, which was very encouraging.

 

[MouseearsDeb]

Hi, I would contact Kingdom Konsultants and tell them what your planning. Belle is helping us, even though we've been there many times, and she has been great with suggestions.

If it is just the 4 of you, more than likely you won't be spending a lot of time in your rooms. I would go with two joining rooms, each with two beds so that everyone has their own bed. That time of the year, room rates are really good. Also, check out the dining plan. This year, they offered it free from the middle of Aug. to end of Sept. But, even if it's not free, it can be a great way to try out some of the more high end restaurants without going broke.

The biggest question will be cost of air travel if you are flying. It will be really hard to say how much it will be that time next year.

Oh, make sure you do MNSSHP! It sounds like a blast.

Hope this helps.

 

[Aurora_25]

Are you driving or Flying?? We live in Texas and normally drive there because it is alot less than driving. From Houston it's about a 16 hour drive...
As to hotel and stuff, you can sometimes get a good deal- I would contact a travel agent because sometimes they get the information before others and it takes a little bit of stress out of it.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

I'm free next October - If you pay for my trip I think I can manage to plan a trip for four young ladies and The Captain :animwink:

 

[hokielutz]

Hello and thanks for asking about planning!

Similar to other responses, I'd say you should contact Kingdom Konsultants about your plans.

Just so you know... airfare is going to be one of your biggest expenses if you decide to fly. If you drive, there will be lots of money left over for other things, but you will have to build another day into your vacation plans. Flight prices and schedules may not be available yet if you are looking to go down in late 2007. So your big three planning items are:
Room(s)
Park Tickets
Transportation

After that is just a matter of where you will go, what you will do, what you should bring. Get a copy of the WDW Unofficial Guide and that will help you answer all the questions about the property and parks that you and your friends may have.

Happy Planning!

 

[hokielutz]

Also, one other thing. For do-it-yourself money saving on your trip, whether it is tickets, meals, lodging; you should check out
http://www.mousesavers.com

Its a great resource for getting the biggest bang for your buck in Disney World.

 

[WTBAD]

Check out this site. www.wdwig.com. Has a lot of info. Including pictures & rate for all of the resorts plus menus & prices for the restaurants. Also explains the differences in the types of tickets.

 

[New2WDW]

Here is another great site for info, menus, etc.
http://www.allearsnet.com/

As far as planning....that seems to be a lot of the fun for me! With our limited funds I always stay flexible with schedule and seek the discounts, whether it be room or Free Dining. (although with the increase in visitors the discounts are becoming less frequent) One of the easiest ways to get started is just to plan a vacation on paper and then go back, look it over and see if you can find any savings areas or discounts.

Have fun!

Sorry, just noticed the link in the previous post goes to ALL EARS! OOPs!

 

[StarletteDir]

Thanks for all the tips ya'll! I know driving would save tons of money but I just don't think I can get myself to sit in a car that long. =)

I'm sure I will have tons more questions. This will be my first trip without the parents or having 30 something HS dance team members(plus their parents)to chaperone. We plan on having some FUN!!!