Don't pay for water view!!!
At all 4 moderate resorts (Coronado Springs Resort, Caribbean Beach Resort, Port Orleans Riverside and Port Orleans French Quarter), your door and window open up to the exterior corridor. That is, your door and window are on the same wall.
As a result, I find spending an extra $15 or $20 per night to be a waste of my money. Remember, in between your window and the stuff you are viewing is the exterior corridor. So if you have your curtains wide open to enjoy the view, then everyone walking by has a great view of ... YOU!
Don't forget that as a Disney resort guest you are entitled to free bus transportation to and from the airport, as well as free automatic luggage delivery from the airport to the inside of your resort room. This service is called Disney's Magical Express. It's a shared ride with others on a plush motorcoach. The reported average time from landing to resort drop-off is 70 minutes, which is comparable to the amount of time it would take if you paid for a car service. To me, the best thing about DME is the luggage service. You put special tags on at home, and then you won't see your bags again until they're in your room a few hours after you land. You get to totally skip baggage claim at the airport! PLEASE ... Don't get confused when you start seeing the term "participating airline." This has to do ONLY with the way back to the airport, and then only has to do with luggage handling on the way back to the airport. Upon arrival in Orlando, EVERYONE is entitled to the ride AND the luggage delivery.
The dining plan ....
Do you plan to eat at least one meal per day at a table-service restaurant (either buffet or waitress service)? If you do, then the Disney Dining Plan will be a good deal for you. However, if you're like my family, if you just plan on getting counter-service meals most of the time, then the Dining Plan is a very bad deal, financially. We personally don't like table-service meals because they slow us down and our kids would probably just eat the same type of stuff we'd get at counter-service, anyway. We've become counter-service connoisseurs -- we know where to find good salads and yummy healthier fare beyond burgers and chicken fingers. Getting just one or two table-service meals in a week (character meals) wouldn't get us our money's worth on the Dining Plan, so it's much cheaper for us to pay out of pocket for everything.
You can really go nuts (in a good way!) looking over all of the restaurant menus at
www.allearsnet.com/menu/menus.htm
As others have suggested, go and do your homework! It made my first trip so great. I'm not a big planner (I don't plan every move of every day), but I'm big into gathering as much info as I can so I can be very well-informed.
ENJOY!