DisneyMarg
Member
Here's my suggestion for how to plan a DisneyWorld trip.
1) Decide when to go, where to stay, what type of tickets, and how to travel.
You can use the crowd level info at Touringplans.com, and research accomodations and ticket options on this website and allearsnet.com and of course, Disney.com. Pam from KingdomKonsultants.com gets rave reviews as well and can help you if needed.
2) Make travel and accommodation reservations. Purchase tickets.
3) Decide where to eat when.
Again, use allearsnet.com to look at menus, and read reviews and info on this website. At this point you will also have to decide which park you'll visit on which days, so that you are eating where you want to be. If there is some doubt about whether or not you want to be in a park on a particular day, make your Priority Seatings (PS) at a resort restaurant outside the parks.
You can't get into the parks just to eat - you have to use a day of admission.
I like to leave one day open, out of the parks, if possible. Usually we hit a day when we need to do laundry or want to sleep late or go shopping. Or, if you plan to be at the parks every day, leave one day TBD to go back and catch up what you missed or want to repeat.
4) Request Priority Seatings (407-wdwdine). wdwinfo.com has a priority seating calculator to know how far in advance the PS you want can be reserved. Most are 90 days.
5) Prioritize the Attractions and Entertainment. Using the same websites, begin looking at the attractions in each park to decide what is a "Can't miss" for each person in your group and what is not an option (like if you are pregnant or too big to play in a playground). Factor in entertainment activities with these - Fantasmic, parades, Illuminations, etc. Steve Soares has a website that lists all entertainment. (Just Google Steve Soares WDW).
Even if you don't do any more detailed planning, just knowing what each person's "musts" are will help you on the trip. (Limit folks to 2 or 3 "musts" to be sure everyone gets theirs done. We even let our kids pick. For a long time they thought Disney sent the attraction lists out beforehand. They were surprised when they found out that those had come off our computer at home!)
The important thing is, at least take a look at the list. The sheer number of attractions and shows precludes doing it all unless you are going to be at WDW for an extended period of time, or you plan to go from early morning to midnight with no break.
You cannot go to any of the WDW parks, start at the first thing you see, work your way around the park, and exit at the end of the day having pretty much seen and done it all. So you need to at least know what is highest priority to each person in your group and be sure you get those done.
At this point you know how much planning you have left to do and whether or not you need a detailed itinerary.
If most of your "can't miss it" things are very popular attractions, you will need a more detailed plan for how you are going to get to those early before the crowd wakes up.
If you don't have many "can't miss" items or if they are not the more popular attractions, you can get by with less of a plan.
6) Detail your plan. If you have a lot of "can't miss" items that are going to be popular with everyone else, or if your time is limited, you need to make a more detailed plan. At least plan to get to the parks when they open and figure out what you will do for the first hour or so in the park. My experience has been that Fastpass is a big help but not a total solution. Sometimes FP's for the whole day are distributed early, so if you're late not only are the lines long but the FP's are gone. And if you are in line, you are not seeing something else on your list. You will get more done before 11 am than you will the rest of the day. Then, once you have the high priority items for the day accomplished, you can spend the rest of the day doing some of the other things of interest that were less critical or just browsing around, if that's more your style.
7) At this point you have travel, accommodation, and meal reservations; a plan for which day you'll be in which park; and a plan for what you will do when in each park. All that's left now is the packing and to Enjoy the magic!
PS - My favorite book is the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disneyworld and my favorite website is this one, of course :animwink:
1) Decide when to go, where to stay, what type of tickets, and how to travel.
You can use the crowd level info at Touringplans.com, and research accomodations and ticket options on this website and allearsnet.com and of course, Disney.com. Pam from KingdomKonsultants.com gets rave reviews as well and can help you if needed.
2) Make travel and accommodation reservations. Purchase tickets.
3) Decide where to eat when.
Again, use allearsnet.com to look at menus, and read reviews and info on this website. At this point you will also have to decide which park you'll visit on which days, so that you are eating where you want to be. If there is some doubt about whether or not you want to be in a park on a particular day, make your Priority Seatings (PS) at a resort restaurant outside the parks.
You can't get into the parks just to eat - you have to use a day of admission.
I like to leave one day open, out of the parks, if possible. Usually we hit a day when we need to do laundry or want to sleep late or go shopping. Or, if you plan to be at the parks every day, leave one day TBD to go back and catch up what you missed or want to repeat.
4) Request Priority Seatings (407-wdwdine). wdwinfo.com has a priority seating calculator to know how far in advance the PS you want can be reserved. Most are 90 days.
5) Prioritize the Attractions and Entertainment. Using the same websites, begin looking at the attractions in each park to decide what is a "Can't miss" for each person in your group and what is not an option (like if you are pregnant or too big to play in a playground). Factor in entertainment activities with these - Fantasmic, parades, Illuminations, etc. Steve Soares has a website that lists all entertainment. (Just Google Steve Soares WDW).
Even if you don't do any more detailed planning, just knowing what each person's "musts" are will help you on the trip. (Limit folks to 2 or 3 "musts" to be sure everyone gets theirs done. We even let our kids pick. For a long time they thought Disney sent the attraction lists out beforehand. They were surprised when they found out that those had come off our computer at home!)
The important thing is, at least take a look at the list. The sheer number of attractions and shows precludes doing it all unless you are going to be at WDW for an extended period of time, or you plan to go from early morning to midnight with no break.
You cannot go to any of the WDW parks, start at the first thing you see, work your way around the park, and exit at the end of the day having pretty much seen and done it all. So you need to at least know what is highest priority to each person in your group and be sure you get those done.
At this point you know how much planning you have left to do and whether or not you need a detailed itinerary.
If most of your "can't miss it" things are very popular attractions, you will need a more detailed plan for how you are going to get to those early before the crowd wakes up.
If you don't have many "can't miss" items or if they are not the more popular attractions, you can get by with less of a plan.
6) Detail your plan. If you have a lot of "can't miss" items that are going to be popular with everyone else, or if your time is limited, you need to make a more detailed plan. At least plan to get to the parks when they open and figure out what you will do for the first hour or so in the park. My experience has been that Fastpass is a big help but not a total solution. Sometimes FP's for the whole day are distributed early, so if you're late not only are the lines long but the FP's are gone. And if you are in line, you are not seeing something else on your list. You will get more done before 11 am than you will the rest of the day. Then, once you have the high priority items for the day accomplished, you can spend the rest of the day doing some of the other things of interest that were less critical or just browsing around, if that's more your style.
7) At this point you have travel, accommodation, and meal reservations; a plan for which day you'll be in which park; and a plan for what you will do when in each park. All that's left now is the packing and to Enjoy the magic!
PS - My favorite book is the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disneyworld and my favorite website is this one, of course :animwink:
