Planning a First Time Trip

[Preacher Gravy]

Greetings! I am new to the site and had a few questions about planning a first time trip for me and my wife. . .
- Where is the best place to stay (moderately priced)
- What is the best time of year to go? (we cannot travel at Christmas, Summers, Spring Break, Thanksgiving)
- How many days should we plan on staying?
- Is the dining plan worth it?
- How far out can I reserve a room/meal/tour/etc.
- What can I do that would be different (my wife and I are both 26 and have no kids, so the sky is the limit!)

By looking around it seems as though this is the place for answers, any help is appreciated. . . .:lol:

 

[celticdog]

For example: If we had waited and gotten to Soaring in the late afternoon, Fast Passes would have been gone and we would have had to wait an hour and half to ride. But, getting there earlier in the day allowed us to get get our Fast Pass, go play for few hours elsewhere, and come back to wait in line for only 10 minutes to ride.

That's the drawback with going during peak season or the busier times of the year. Last month Soarin' was a 15 minute wait without FastPass. In fact many of the FastPass machine were shut down throughout WDW.

For the Preacher Gravy: The best thing to do is one park per day. Don't worry about tip boards, park hopping, fast pass, or EMH. You won't need any of them in early October. FastPass leads to way too much walking and backtracking. EMH creates larger crowds at that park, plus who wants to get up early on vacation. Park hopping wastes time travelling between parks. The tip boards are only as good as the next update. We never get to a park before 11:00 except Animal Kingdom which we may make by 10:00 am. We have nice relaxed schedule and we use dinner to sit, relax and recharge for the evening. You picked a good time to go, October is perfect for a first time.

 

[accord99cutie]

So what can you tell me about Coronado Springs? It looks like it is only accesible by bus. . . .Is this right? Any advice would be great!

I love love love Coronado... I was in the Ranchos which are the farthest from el centro (the food/restaurant and check in area) but we were right by a bus stop and the pool was a short walk. The walk to el centro for breakfast in the AM was so beautiful it didnt matter that we were walking for 10 minutes to get there! The pool is fun and I loved the pool bar, my fiance and I went in August and will be going again in December for our honey moon, any specific questions let me know! I think i have read every review, every info page and seen all of it in person that i am a guide book myself on that resort!

check out this site for a ton of reviews... http://allearsnet.com/reviewpost/showproduct.php?product=14&cat=3

it also has good info pages on the resort.