First timer so ALL tips welcome :)

[Rachel Grubbs]

Hi, i'm Rachel and new to this site. I am beginning to plan a trip for next November prob the week of Thanksgiving. Only have about 4-5 days and will be heading back home the day before Thanksgiving. This is what I have so far when it comes to what i THINK we are gonna plan lol. Drive from Texas to Florida, stay in a Little Mermaid room at Art of Animation, park hopper, memory maker, and a dining plan. Our daughter will be 6 when we go. This is the first time ever at WDW for all of us so I'm seeing what to expect here and there as posted by others and from fb pages, etc but I want to hear tips of all kinds. lol. Disney Jr characters and Princesses are a must. We want to dine at the round table as well. Everything else, i'm just unsure about. It takes so much planning for this I am finding out lol. I don't wanna mess up because this is a big thing for us as we don't really get to take vacations lol.

 

[littleroo]

Welcome!!! I would suggest reading these boards faithfully especially the trip report section. Construct an itinerary and you will get tons of feedback. Happy planning!!

 

[Weather_Lady]

Welcome, Rachel! For starters, I'd suggest buying a copy of the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World (the new, 2017 version -- things change so fast that parts of the 2016 book are already out of date) and perusing it. In fact, you don't even need to buy it -- my podunk local library system has several copies, so it's likely that yours does, too!

You've given yourself a nice amount of time to plan -- you won't be able to start making dining reservations for another 6 months or Fastpasses for 10 months -- so you can take your time. You've already chosen your dates (do be aware that they fall during a popular week, so you'll want to make the best possible use of Fastpasses, extra magic hours, early arrivals and smart touring plans to keep your attraction waits low), so the next step is to firm up plans for your hotel and transportation so you can book your vacation package. (Also, if you haven't already, set up a "My Disney Experience" account on the Disney World website, so you can link your reservation numbers once that booking is made.)

For the hotel, check out the descriptions and comparisons in the Unofficial Guide and look at some of the more detailed online room reviews. You might also want to crunch the numbers for the dining plan on distripplanner.com, to get an idea of whether the dining plan will be a good value for your family. (It's also possible that a free dining offer might come out during your travel dates -- one did for this year -- so by next summer, you'll want to start keeping an eye out in case Disney releases a room or dining offer that saves you money. Even though you'll already be booked, you can modify your reservation to add the special offer and have it applied retroactively, if you qualify (or you can modify the reservation to make yourself qualify, if necessary, as most offers only apply to particular resorts and room categories).

Since you've got some time, you also might consider getting a Disney VISA card and using it frequently (and paying it off in full every month, so you don't get charged interest) so you can begin accruing Disney rewards dollars. The rewards dollars can be loaded, for cash value, onto a Disney Rewards Redemption Card, which functions like a reloadable gift card which is accepted at all Disney venues -- you can use the balance on the Rewards Redemption Card for payment at all restaurants and retail locations in Disney World, on the Disney website, or for payments on your vacation itself to the Walt Disney Travel Company.

Also, come back to these forums and browse at least once a week - especially the "trip planning" and "trip report" forums. When I was planning our first Disney trip, just "listening in" on the conversations of users here was invaluable, and in most cases provided me with far more accurate and up-to-date advice than any of the "Disney Lifestyle Blogger" websites or even some of Disney's own resources (like the "Mom's Panel").

Finally, if all of this seems overwhelming, you can work with a certified Disney travel agent (it costs you nothing - they are paid by Disney) who will help guide you through the process and can manage your arrangements. I hear good things about Kingdom Konsultants on these forums (I believe some of their TAs are members here - perhaps they will chime in!), but there are many good Disney TAs out there.

 

[Scoppin]

Welcome Rachel!

I am a relatively new member to this forum as well. I only joined earlier this year, May I believe. As you, I didn't have a clue as to want went into planning a WDW trip. The last time I had gone was 40 years ago and you can image how much the place had changed; 3 new parks and electronic reservations. But unlike you I didn't have the same amount of time to plan my trip. I had no clue people were planning WDW trips a year or more in advance. I was planning my trip for September 2016, only 4/5 months to plan, and past the 6 month ADR window. But I wasn't discouraged. I used a lot of sites for information, with this one being one of the most used. You have a lot of knowledgeable people on this site willing to share. I should know, it helped me a lot.

The first thing you should probably do is find a good site which has crowd numbers, recommended parks to visit on certain days and proposed park guides. This would be the most advantage for you. Try to figure out when you would like to go and which parks to visit on which days. To be honest, I was first thinking of planning the trip for March 2017 until I went on one of these web sites and found out September had one of the lowest crowds. This worked out really well as I could also plan it around my son's birthday. Yes, he had his birthday at Disney. It was actually his and his sister's first visit to WDW.

Once you know exactly know when you are going to be at WDW, your next step should be to determine which parks you would like to visit. Then you should be to decide which parks to go on which days. The above mentioned websites will help determine this. Even though it may be a busy time of the year, there may be certain parks which are not busy on certain days. Another thing to consider is parks are open early or late on certain days for WDW Resort guests only. Meaning if you are staying at a WDW resort, you can go into a park an hour before it opens to the general public or stay an hour or two after the park closes. You should also read up on all the parks to see what they offer; rides, attractions, parades, fireworks, character M&Gs. For this you need to know you priorities. You have already mentioned a few above. Set you priorities to how you see fit and not by what others recommend to you. I speak from experience as the three of us are not big thrill riders so people recommending us to ride Tower of Terror was of no help to me planning my trip. I should also mention, a lot of acronyms are used here for the parks and attractions. Don't be afraid to ask what they stand for. Trust me I had to ask often in order to ensure I knew what they were referring to.

As mentioned it was our first trip as is the same for you. We were actually there for 7 days in the parks. We were able to almost do everything we wanted to do in those 7 days. You mention above you will only be there for 4/5 days. You will have to know the actual time you will have in the parks. If there are two things I can share with you that were the most useful for my trip are;

1. Research, research and more research. The best thing you can do for yourself and your family is to find out as much as you can about everything. And I do mean everything. From the resort you are staying at, restaurants, attractions, rides, etc. I can't tell you how much research I conducted for our trip. It came in very handy while we were there. We were maneuvering around Magic Kingdom (MK), without a park map, and my son (DS) asked how I knew where we were going. I replied research.

2. Plan. Planning is the best way to ensure you have a good time. The last thing you want to be wasting your time at WDW is looking at a park map trying to figure out what you want to do. I wanted to reduce the amount of wait time we had in order to enjoy more park time. Between 1 & 2 you should be able to enjoy more park time. Once I figured out which parks I was going to I used the crowd information park to help make agendas for each day. These sites also have information such as wait times for attractions, length of duration time for attractions, etc which came in very handy in determining an agenda. But I will add this. An agenda comes in really handy to help with your day and not waste time. Not to mention, nice reminders of things you would like to accomplish in order not to forget. I am sure I would have forgotten plenty of things we would have regretted to do if not for our agendas. But, don't have them so strict you are worried about maintaining your agenda. They should be an aid, not the law. I had to adjust our agendas several times. As someone here mentioned, go with the flow.

Another thing you need to know is if you are park hopping or staying in the same park for the whole day. My kids are a little older, 8 & 11, than your little one. We were able to keep going throughout the day. However, some with little ones recommend going back to the resort for a quick nap early in the afternoon in order to recharge for the second part of the day. Not to mention, prevent a melt down. This can also be an escape from the busiest park of the day (1-4/5 pm) and the warmest park of the day.

We had the dining plan. I loved it, especially since it was free. Well included in our package. It would be best to check to see if is available when you are going and any restrictions. There are restrictions as to where you can stay in order to be eligible for the free dining. I will admit it did save the kids lives. Okay at least gave us more park time. Sometimes my two take some time to eat or say they are full. and if I had to pay for some of those meals we may still be there making them finish their meals. Some meals are not cheap there, especially the character M&Gs. I would definitely check in to seeing if your resort is one of those included in the free dining option.

Memory Maker I would recommend. Being a single parent, I don't usually get into the pictures with my kids. This was a great opportunity to do so. there are photographers all over the place. From special icon locations to some character meals to most character M&Gs to ride photos. These are memories some of which you may not be able to take pictures of. I will admit, most were of better quality than I was able to take. I didn't think we stopped at many icon sites and I know we didn't have a great number of ride photos but when I came home I had to go through about 1100 pictures. I know, what an awful problem to have. I do know where most of those pictures came from, character M&Gs. We had many and I do mean many character M&Gs.

Fast Past +(FP+) can you be your friend. Learn all about it and figure out the best way of using it to your advantage. Some will say save them for the afternoon when the parks get busy. Others will say use them early and then try to pick up more during the day. Mind you the second option is new considering the new MDE app. Here is the basic run down on FP+s. Every visitor to WDW is entitled to 3 FP+s for each day they will be at the parks to start. And some of these will go fast, so research is important here. If you are staying on resort, then you can book your FP+s 60 days in advance of your trip for your whole trip up to 10 days. But you are only staying for 5 so you are okay. What this means is when your 60 day window opens you could book all of your FPs at once. One other thing to remember, you don't have to book your FPs in order of the days you are staying. For instance, if you are not planning on going to Epcot until your 3rd day and wanted to go on the Frozen Ever After ride i would recommend making this one of your first bookings. this one goes really fast and if you don't book it at your 60 day window you might not be able to get on it without a 2 hour wait. Yes, I stated 2 hours. this ride has one of the longest wait times in all of WDW. You would only be able to do this 30 days in advance if you were not staying on resort and could only reserve your FPs day by day. The first three FPs must be scheduled for the same park. And two parks, Epcot and Hollywood Studios, have special restrictions/levels on how to use the FPs.

As mentioned above I wanted to reduce my wait times as much as possible, even only by 10 minutes. So, for this reason I went with option number 2. I booked all of our FPs for as early in the day as possible and then as soon as I used my last FP I went on my MDE app and tried to book another FP. There were days I got an extra 3 to 5 FPs for the day. Just pre book the higher in demand attractions first and then it should be easier to get extra FPs for the 'lesser' demand attractions later.

WDW now uses something called Magic Bands now instead of cards for everything. these are basically bracelets you wear on your wrist. I will admit I really enjoy the convenience of the Magic Bands. You can use these for entering your room, entering parks, paying for dinner/merchandise and entering rides/attractions. I will expand on what I mentioned above about FPs. There are two lines, sometimes two, for most attractions. Most attractions/rides, not all, have a standard line and a fast past line. If you have a FP for an attraction you will need to bring your MB up to the symbol on the post and hold it there until it turn green. Then you are free to continue onto the ride bypassing the majority of the line. Now going back up to the above. Once you have checked into your 3rd FP attraction, you can go onto your MDE app and search for another FP to go on/enjoy. Your 4th and other FPs afterwards can be booked for other parks. For instance, if you were planning on going to another park after your 3rd FP you could book your 4th FP for that other park with your app. Otherwise you will need to wait to get to that park and use the kiosk at the park. I believe the FP kiosks are only good for the park they are in. I don't know for sure as I never used one while I was there. Didn't want to wait in line.

I am not sure if the above is too much info. But I would suggest reading a number of threads. there are a number of helpful threads within trip planning which will be a good start. I know I posted a number here trying to figure out what to do. Including inexpensive things to do and helpful hints. I do have a pre trip planning thread and currently working on a post trip report.

But you have time in order to do the research you need to do. take advantage of that time in order to make your trip the most magical trip for your daughter.

 

[JillC LI]

You've gotten great tips from others. I reiterate them, particularly the suggestion to pick up the Unofficial Guide to WDW.

 

[Owl X]

Holiday weeks (like Thanksgiving) tend to be very crowded at the parks.
Book 3 Fast Passes for each day of your trip 60 days prior to your arrival date.
You should try to get Fast Passes back to back in the morning starting about an hour after opening.

I recommend arriving at a park at rope drop to get in a couple rides before it is crowded.
Use the My Disney Experience App to determine wait times on rides.
Knock out your 3 Fast Passes with possibly a low demand ride between each one.
Then head back to your Hotel for an afternoon nap.
During your break, book an additional Fast pass for a night ride.
After a few hours, go to a park for few rides and the night show.

Example for Magic Kingdom with a 8 AM opening:
Arrive at 8 AM
Attempt to ride Adventures of Pooh and It's a Small World
Fast Pass #1 (9-10) : Peter Pans Flight
Attempt to get into Mickey's PhilharMagic
Fast Pass #2 (10-11) : Haunted Mansion
Attempt to get into either Enchanted Tiki Room or Country Bear Jamboree
Fast Pass #3 (11-12) : Pirates of the Carribean
Lunch
2-3 hour Hotel Break
Head back to park

Since you have a 6 year old, you probably want to spend 2 mornings in Magic Kingdom. You can prebook 3 Fast passes for each day (so you could have 6 in MK).

Recommendations for a 6 year old (with no height requirements):
Animal Kingdom: Festival of the Lion King, Finding Nemo the Musical, It's Tough to be a Bug, Kilimanjaro Safaris
Disney's Hollywood Studio: Toy Story Mania, Muppet Vision 3D, Great Movie Ride, For the First time in Forever, Voyage of the Little Mermaid
Epcot: Turtle Talk with Crush, Frozen Ever After, Spaceship Earth, The Seas with Nemo & Friends, Living with the Land, Disney & Pixar Short Film
Magic Kingdom: Peter Pan's Flight, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, It's a Small World, Mickey's PhilharMagic, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, Jungle Cruise, Journey of the Little Mermaid, Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Enchanted Tiki Room, TTA People Mover

 

[Vaughnhammer]

Following.... we are making our first visit to WDW in September of 2017.

 

[BigRedDad]

Budget is the first thing that is going to be a question. Driving form TX to FL is no small trip. AoA is the most expensive Value resort and you may be able to offset plane tickets by moving to Pop Century or an AS resort.

As for the trip, going the week of Thanksgiving, even before TDay, is going to be extremely crowded. If that is the only time you can go, then that is the time you can go. If it were me, I would look for another time and make it a long weekend. Find a weekend in October through middle of November. Fly out on Wednesday and back on a Monday.

As for parks, you will never be able to do it all, don't think you can or even try. Since it is your first trip, plan 2x at MK, 1 day at each of the others. Plan down time to relax. This does not necessarily mean going back to the resort for a nap. It may just be retreating to some place with air conditioning to sit for 30-60 minutes. The People Mover is a good option for this in the MK.

Look for DVC renters. They can rent a studio at a Deluxe resort for about the same price as Value resorts. You miss out on Mousekeeping but get better accommodations. AKL is one of the better and least expensive options. Plus, it is a blast for kids.

 

[TXDisney]

A fellow Texan goingbto wdw. Congrats. Sounds like you have the foundations set up. What's left is deciding what's important for your family to see and ride. I know it sounds far out but it helps if you get a tentative game plan that 6 months out window. For instance doing dining reservations at the park you'll be at the days you plan on being at certain parks. Since you're staying onsite which is great you can then do your fast passes 60 days out. Prioritize what's important to ride and see and wait times. It'll be extremely crowded when you're there so these FP are key. Good luck and have a great trip.

 

[Rachel Grubbs]

Wow! Thank y'all so much for all the info. It definitely seems overwhelming, but it is all things i want and NEED to know lol. We plan to drive because i just will not fly! lol. I have never flown and at 42, i'm too chicken to try now lol. It's around 12 hours to drive give or take. I do plan to do the meet & greets and once I locate who is where, I will try to plan that. I will look for the Unofficial Guide as that sounds extremely helpful. I thought about booking elsewhere but I want to be able to schedule the rides as far ahead as possible, plus have the dining plan. The extra hours are just a bonus I didn't realize hehe. A couple of questions I do have (and i apologize for not asking in individual replies) are 1) what exactly are the DVC renters and how do I locate them lol..2) Which resorts normally offer the free dining? I realize I won't know till wayyyyyyy closer to the trip IF one is even being offered, but if they are usually done for the same specific resorts, I would love to know which so I can maybe choose that one in hopes lol. 3) What are the best character meals other than the round table? I may want to do a couple if possible. and lastly..... is the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique worth the cost for the experience? I know I could dress and makeup my daughter and do her hair and such, but I'm wondering if the experience itself is worth paying that much lol.

Again, thank everyone sooooo much!!! I am gonna have to print all this out and get me a planning binder started SOON!!!

 

[Scoppin]

Wow! Thank y'all so much for all the info. It definitely seems overwhelming, but it is all things i want and NEED to know lol. We plan to drive because i just will not fly! lol. I have never flown and at 42, i'm too chicken to try now lol. It's around 12 hours to drive give or take. I do plan to do the meet & greets and once I locate who is where, I will try to plan that. I will look for the Unofficial Guide as that sounds extremely helpful. I thought about booking elsewhere but I want to be able to schedule the rides as far ahead as possible, plus have the dining plan. The extra hours are just a bonus I didn't realize hehe. A couple of questions I do have (and i apologize for not asking in individual replies) are 1) what exactly are the DVC renters and how do I locate them lol..2) Which resorts normally offer the free dining? I realize I won't know till wayyyyyyy closer to the trip IF one is even being offered, but if they are usually done for the same specific resorts, I would love to know which so I can maybe choose that one in hopes lol. 3) What are the best character meals other than the round table? I may want to do a couple if possible. and lastly..... is the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique worth the cost for the experience? I know I could dress and makeup my daughter and do her hair and such, but I'm wondering if the experience itself is worth paying that much lol.

Again, thank everyone sooooo much!!! I am gonna have to print all this out and get me a planning binder started SOON!!!

I won't worry about how you get there. You take the method best for you. I ended up driving from Canada and took the scenic route in order to keep it a surprise for my kids. The trip is usually around 20-24 hours, so 12 hours is nothing.

There are plenty of M&Gs to take advantage of. I think we hit just about every one of them. My son counted all of his autographs when we got home and he counted 66, and these didn't include a few that don't sign. Your daughter would have opportunities to M&G all 13 Princesses. Oh, I think there are 2 more if you include Sofia and new Princess Elena.

I can't help you with DVC renters as only been there once.

We stayed at All Star Sports. It is a value, but we weren't expecting on spending much time in our room. Different resorts give you different dining plans. I had to spend a little in order to upgrade our dining plan. You will be able to find out information regarding this falls free dining package and see what was offered. From what I understand it doesn't change much year to year. There may even be information out now regarding 2017 dining plans. One thing to make note of is, Cinderella's Round Table takes 2 credits. Most others only take one.

Akershus is another Princess character dining experience located in Epcot. This is a dinner difficult to reserve. Princess who we saw include; Belle, Aurora, Snow White and Cinderella. The only thing I would say is that the Princesses appeared to be a little rushed when they were going around. There are other Princess M&G opportunities in Epcot in the World Showcase area; Belle, Jasmine & Aladdin, Mulan (only place to meet her) and Snow White. They are locate within the different country pavilions and have specific M&G times. And of course there is M&G for Anna & Elsa. None of these M&Gs accept FPs. The Frozen Ever After ride is very popular and you can use a FP. I am not sure if you daughter likes Inside Out, but Joy & Sadness has a M&G at Epcot as well.

We also have a ADR for Garden Grill. No princesses but the kids loved meeting Chip, Dale, Pluto and Mickey. They all came to our table multiple times.

Not sure if you daughter likes animals or not, but if she does Animal Kingdom safari would be a very good option. Both of my kids loved the Lion King and Nemo shows. This is also the only place you will be able to M&G Pocahontas. There are other M&Gs, but that will depend upon your interests.

Some say Hollywood Studios is for boys, but there are plenty for girls as well. There is the Disney Junior breakfast at Hollywood & Vine. There is another area, near Star Wars Launch Bay to meet Disney Junior Characters. My kids also enjoyed dinner at Hollywood & Vine meeting Minnie, Mickey, Daisy, Donald and Goofy. They were very interactive. There are a few things for the Frozen fans; Frozen Sing Along Celebration was enjoyed by both, including my son. And very funny. There is also the opportunity to M&G Olaf. There is also Voyage of the Little Mermaid show and the Beauty and the Beast show. We unfortunately were not able to see both of these two shows. There are other M&Gs if interested.

Epcot and Hollywood Studios are fairly close to each other. You could actually spend half a day at one and then the other half at the other.

The biggest and busiest park is Magic Kingdom. There are plenty of dining options in and close to the park. You have mentioned round table. There is also Crystal Palace if you like Winnie the Pooh. My two like the interactions. Another option is Chef Mickey. There is another, 1900 something which I think includes Cinderella and a few other characters. I am not sure as we didn't do this one.

There are also tons of M&G opportunities here. Gaston, is a very entertaining M&G. Ariel's Grotto another option to meet Ariel and you can use a FP. Take part of a story telling with Belle again can use FP. Merida M&G and only place to do so. At royal hall there are two separate M&G to meet 2 princesses in each. It was Aurora and Underlain in one and Rapunzel and Tiana in another. You can use a FP, but you need one for each of them. One, of them have been replaced by Elena. There are many other non princess M&Gs as well. You will want to keep an eye on your MDE app to keep track of them. There are also 'surprise' M&Gs but you need to act fast on these ones as line build quickly and are limited. These included Cinderella's female mice, Fairy Godmother and evil stepsisters.

There is one other thing you need to take into consideration when you are planning your park days; special ticketed events. During the time you are there the Christmas event will be taking place. These will take place on certain days at MK and you will need to purchase a special ticket in order to participate. It can affect your park planning. I know it did mine, at least with the Halloween Party.

But the best thing you can do is research about everything. Then use that information to build your magical trip around the needs and likes of your family. You will not be able to see and do everything in the 4-5 days you will be there. We were there for 7 days and were not able to see/do everything even though we were close. You will need to pick and choose your priorities first and the rest is just a bonus.

Enjoy your trip planning.