Planning and Saving Stage

[knr85]

My family is planning our very first trip to Disney World for hopefully End of January/Early Feb of 2019. We have two girls who will 4 and 8 and I am sure will be over the moon excited for the trip. We haven't told them we are going to go. It is going to part of their Christmas present.

My biggest question is when reading reviews it makes me really nervous because it seems like there are a lot of people that absolutely hate the experience. Is it just because they don't plan it out in advance. I have read tons of articles about fast passes and diner reservations.

Obviously we haven't picked out an exact time yet but I have an idea of what we would like to use fast passes on and where we would want to eat.

Any tips ?

 

[DarthVader]

I would recommend nailing down your resort reservation sooner then later. You'd be surprised at how quickly some resorts fill up, even now being 3xx days away. You can always make changes to your reservation, i.e., adding/removing days, changing resorts but if you know the week you want to stay and the resort then make it now.

My biggest question is when reading reviews it makes me really nervous because it seems like there are a lot of people that absolutely hate the experience

I can't answer why, but Disney has changed since my very first visit. Back in the day you could just walk up to a restruarant and get seated, or walk to a ride and not have a 90 minute wait. So to your postulation that poor planning may cause some negative experiences, that's possibly on target.

I recommend getting The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World book, either in book or eBook form. I think that will help you handle a lot of the future plans.

 

[Legendary]

Planning is the key to a successful trip. Book resort now. I recommend staying onsite to take advantage of extra magic hours and 60 day advance FP booking. Book any and all potential table dining, you can always cancel if you change your mind. The parks have been extremely busy recently even during non peak periods so planning ahead is very important. Do research your must do’s and make those a priority. Don’t be discouraged by the negative comments. Plan ahead and have a fantastic time.

 

[DryerLintFan]

Planning is key, but flexibility is CRITICAL. I love planning, so when we took our first ever Disney trip during the chaos of Christmas week (eesh!), I felt confident we would have an enjoyable time because I had everything planned out, and I did a lot of research on the parks and what was offered where. But..... we also brought an almost 3 year old, so we only made it to step two or three before we had to scrap most of them in favor of meeting princesses. I had to switch around fast passes in the park or at our hotel the night before the park day, and rethink our strategy on the fly.

The thing to remember here..... is that you will have a magical time if your kids are having a good time. Keep their normal sleep schedules as much as possible, load them with snacks, and cater half of your activities to things they would like (you'll want to pick a couple things for you guys too, because meeting princesses all day without doing a ride sucks, LOL)

Make a plan, familiarize yourself with what is available in each park, choose some must dos.... but then go and be flexible and have fun!

 

[WDWMPrincess]

I always see these people saying oh back in the day you could just walk up and wonder when that was. All I can think it must have been folks who could go during school or some such. First went as far back as 1974 and there were lines. But then again it was summer and all the kids were out of school. Our last visit was in June of 2002. Some rides had 90 minute waits, but it took us all of 15 minutes tops to wait for Peter Pan. Don't know what happened there. Peter Pan wasn't even available as a fast pass then I don't think. On the other had even with a fast pass we waited about 10 minutes to get on Space Mountain. Of course it was midday and its an air conditioned ride indoors.

 

[yensid67]

PLANNING IS ONE OF THE BEST PARTS OF A DISNEY VACATION! I would herald what other have said...reserve your hotel NOW! I would suggest Art of Animation or All Star Movies for your girls. Either way, the theming should be on point with them! Don't forget to treat your girls, including your wife to Bibbidi Boppidi Boo...they can become Princesses on their FIRST DAY!
How are you going to tell your girls!? There are a lot of ways to tell your kids they are going to Disney! I would search Youtube vids for some ideas and help you make telling your girls, your own! If you have any questions from travel suggestions to dining to what to do on free days, just ask your friends on here! You will get an array of information!

 

[Kingoglow]

Your kids will love it. Don't let all of us older people get your down.

As mentioned above, planning is the key to a successful trip. While you will read lots of tales of people planning every minute of their trip, I would suggest that you avoid doing that for your kids' first trip.

Pick a resort and roughly which park you want to visit each day (you want several days in Magic Kingdom). Get a meal reservation a day. Pick three attractions at your park as your Fastpass goals.

Everything else, just let the magic moments happen. Don't stress out or over plan trying to make everything perfect. The trip will be great.

 

[knr85]

Thank you everyone. I have it kind of figured out what we want to use our fast passes on. I also have ideas of where my kids would like to eat. I don't want it completely planned out but at least organized.

I have looked up on pinterest and have some ideas of how we are going to give them the present. We are leaning towards giving them clues leading up to we are heading to disney.

 

[randomsoulshine]

My family is planning our very first trip to Disney World for hopefully End of January/Early Feb of 2019. We have two girls who will 4 and 8 and I am sure will be over the moon excited for the trip. We haven't told them we are going to go. It is going to part of their Christmas present.

My biggest question is when reading reviews it makes me really nervous because it seems like there are a lot of people that absolutely hate the experience. Is it just because they don't plan it out in advance. I have read tons of articles about fast passes and diner reservations.

Obviously we haven't picked out an exact time yet but I have an idea of what we would like to use fast passes on and where we would want to eat.

Any tips ?

The people I know that hate Disney are the ones who go last minute, therefore pay more for a ticket, the dont schedule any fast passes, wander aimlessly, and can't eat where they want to...all because they didn't do any planning. Winging it is fine for people who go often and want to go with the flow but for such a special trip I believe planning will make it even better. If you have specific places to eat, especially Be Our Guest or SciFi etc booking dining 180 days ahead is super smart. Same goes for fast passes. We have taken kids all the way down to toddler age and now they are teens and we have loved every single trip. Disney is more complicated and expensive than 10 years ago but so are most things it seems. Be practical in some things such as, if it's summer it will be hot and rain some. Accepting things like this and planning for them in advance goes a long way to enjoying your time. I am a big believer in getting to parks well before they open, riding while lines are short, followed by fast passes and then a rest or inside dining location in heat of the day. Plan but be flexible and understanding of how your children are feeling, hungry or tired etc. if it were me I would still have a stroller for the 4 year old. There will be times little legs need a break. I've rambled on and obviously I love Disney but I believe that is because we have had such magical experiences and family moments we will never forget. I'd rather spend money on experiences instead of things so the cost at least for us is worth it and the time researching and planning the trip worth how smoothly it goes. Hope this has helped in some way.

 

[DarthVader]

Thank you everyone. I have it kind of figured out what we want to use our fast passes on. I also have ideas of where my kids would like to eat. I don't want it completely planned out but at least organized.

I think one aspect that helps with having a successful vacation, regardless of where you go, and that's flexibility. So its good that you have things organzied, but you never know, plans can change.

 

[MomofPrincessGrace]

Read the trip reports forum. Im sure you can find ones with kids similar in age to yours, and see what experiences stand out to you. Book your room as soon as the dates are released. I dont worry too much about fast passes until everything is booked. Start with deciding which days you are doing which park and go from there. Planning is very fun once you get an understanding of what you are doing.

 

[Raegansmommy]

Yes, planning is the key. The Unofficial Guide to WDW is a great read. I would also suggest talking to people you know who go or recently went to Disney. I'm talking about the planners! Our first trip to WDW was with my brother, SIL, and their children. She planned our entire trip because they had been there numerous times before and she knew what she was doing. Have a plan, but know that sometimes you need to change last minute.

 

[MomofPrincessGrace]

I would also recommend getting a subscription to Touring Plans. Its pretty inexpensive and they can pretty much help you create a step by step of your day (if that would help you). They also have a dining reservation finder that is extremely helpful if there is a restaurant that you are having a hard time getting a reservation for.

 

[dreamfinder]

Definitely suggest doing some reading first. While the Unofficial Guide is a great book with lots of info, it may seem a bit overwhelming. Starting with a copy of the Official guide can give you a good 10,000 ft view of what is there and help you figure out where you need more details.

 

[WDWMPrincess]

I think one aspect that helps with having a successful vacation, regardless of where you go, and that's flexibility. So its good that you have things organzied, but you never know, plans can change.

For me extensive fact finding and planning is the only way I can be flexible on the go. I always have a backup list of a few alternates tucked away in case. You just never know when some unavoidable something will take one of your planned activities off the possible list. Sometimes it rains on everyone's parade.

 

[eliza61nyc]

So lately on these boards there seem to be quite a few folks bemoaning the fact that wdw is not like it was in 1974. So if you are going and think it's going to be like it was 30 years ago let me say you are setting yourself up to be disappointed.

lol, in 1975 US population was 200 million, now were at 325 million. The country's more crowded. hey they gotta go some where on vacation.
Our last trip was in August and we had an awesome time. Yes the crowds are heavier. No you don't have to wait in a 90 minute line unless you chose to. We had no issues getting last minute ts dinners but it does take a little common sense. If you need to eat at 6 pm, which is prime feeding hours, it's best to make a reservation but look at it like this, if you go to a chain restaurant at 6 you'll be waiting, lol cheesecake factory always has a wait.

make use of fp, get a jump on the day and you'll have a ball. 3 days until my return!!

edited to add: end of January is a "slower" time, that being said it still requires planning

 

[WDWMPrincess]

Actually I'm the one who mentioned 1974 and I said it was crowded when we visited then. I didn't bemoan it being more crowded, either. What is, is. The question is how to make it work for you. fp all the way, baby!

 

[Tk0021]

I agree with comments about planning, but staying flexible. It will be a little difficult to plan fast passes and such with not telling your daughters about the trip, but even if you do it could all change when you get down there. My girls are 7 and 5 were 5 and 3 our first trip. We knew they liked rides because of going to other local amusement parks, but they said they wanted to meet princesses. Well, we have a ton of pictures of me and my wife holding crying kids with their heads berried in our shoulders standing next to princesses. On our second trip our then 4 year old loved the princesses more than the rides. Which made me change fast passes on the fly. You never know, both were fun trips.