What Advice Would You Give?

[yensid67]

What advice would you give to someone who has NEVER planned a WDW trip? There are a lot of things you need to do and if its your first trip you WILL overlook something important. Try to keep the planning in an order the way you would plan so other might benefit! (Just thought this might be fun to see what answers we get and the order.) Who knows we all might learn something, even the seasoned planners!

READY?...SET?...GO!!!!

 

[Kingoglow]

My advice for first timers.

It is easy to get caught up in the mindset of doing it all at Walt Disney World. The truth is, it is a vacation so just plan ahead and not to stress the small stuff. My advice will be aimed to narrow down a lot of the decision making to a couple of choices.

Since you didn't mention party size, number of kids or budget I will assume a family of four with both kids above age ten. I will also assume that first timers will be price sensitive. Order a vacation planning cd.

My Disney Experience makes it real easy for a family to cover all the bases for a WDW vacation. Have them make an account for each adult. Children will be assigned as guests of the main planning account.

hotel - just ask yourself how much time the family will actually spend at the resort. If the family needs naps or pool time it will play into this decision. Have them shop the value resorts for a room with enough beds space for everyone. I always suggest Pop Century as a hotel to compare against. Pop has dedicated buses and nice pools. The hotel decision will play a large role in the final price of your package Pop is a low cost voice. If there are no kids I would suggest them family look at the two Port Orleans.

Tickets/hopper - if it is your first trip and you are visiting for anything less than 7 days, get. Park hooper pass. You will get conflicting advice on the hopper but in my opinion with less than 7days a hopper will open up a lot of freedom in what you do each day once you start to eerie ce the parks. If they are visiting for 7+ days you don't need a hooper. Get a ticket for each day they are there except for the final day if they have an early flight home.

Dinning plan - opinions here will differ a lot on the DDP and if it is worth the cost. My advice for first timers is this... Buy the regular Disney Dinning Plan. Just do it. Of all of the decisions that they will have to make, this one is where I advise first timers to spend the money. Meals will be paid for in advance and they will have a lot of options of where they can eat. They may waste a little money here but the piece of mind of not thinking about meal spending on their first Disney vacation is well worth the cost. Let them experience the plan on their trip and decide for themselves if it was worth it after the fact. But the plan.

Memory maker - not worth the price. Simply hand their phone to a cast member at character greets and get. Picture.

Travel - go direct to the airlines.

Planning - assuming a 7 day vacation. First timers should plan 2 days at MK, 2 days at EPCOT (maybe one if children are small) one at studios and one at AK. One day is a free day for more MK or go to downtown disney. Use the hooper to adjust as needed. Studios and AK can be combined to free up another day.

Meals - with kids plan in 2 character meals, I suggest chef mickey's and 1900 Park. If no kids, choose1900park just for fun. Everything else is up to them. Look at the menus at eteries at the parks and at monorail resorts


Book you meals 180 days out for table service. Yes it seems dumb but just do it.

Book fast passes at 60 days. They don't need them for parades or fireworks. Whatever is important to them is an individual decision.

Then... Stop thinking about it. No more stressing or worrying. Just go and enjoy.

 

[yensid67]

Great advice!

 

[Weather_Lady]

My advice -- start planning at least 8 months (preferably more like a year) before you plan to travel. Buy the Unofficial Guide and read it cover-to-cover. Then plan your trip -- decide on your budget and estimate the cost of your options, pick dates and decide trip length, then book accommodations and travel arrangements, then choose and buy tickets, then make a rough touring plan, then make ADRs, then hone the touring plan into specific daily steps, so you can proceed to plan and make your FP+, and finally, make and follow a packing list. Do all of this while keeping the rest of your life in order and checking the WDW website daily for special offers that might apply to your booking, and WDWMagic daily for park news and ride closure announcements.

 

[wannabeBelle]

Contact Kingdom Konsultant Travel. A good travel agent does this type of planning a lot more than any one individual person and has more experience going through all of the various options. It doesn't cost the client anything extra and could potentially save you money if a discount offer comes about that we are able to apply to your trip. Marie

 

[epcotisbest]

Unofficial Guide...buy it, read it. Read it again.

 

[Thumper14]

I feel sorry for the ones who have not been to WDW in a year or more.
They will feel like First Time Visitors.
Forget what you knew about the legacy paper FP system.
Look how much the MDE, Magic Bands and FP+ has changed things.
If you traveled to WDW regularly every 1 to 2 years like me, it was very surprising.
We have been going to Disney land the last few years, but decided to come to WDW in late April for our 33 anniversary. Our last visit to WDW had been 4 years prior.
The MDE and FP+ were still in the testing stages and it was very frustrating trying to figure everything out.
The CMs were still learning.
But we had a great time anyway. Back then you needed a PhD in MDE to plan anything.
Even today look how much has change since I book our next trip over 4 months ago.
Thank goodness there are blogs like this to guide us through. I am not sure the publications can keep pace.

My advise:
Now more than ever, realize you will not be able to do everything, relax and enjoy what you can see and do.


Here we come again for short but sweet 3 day weekend!   

 

[BrianV]

Don't even try to see it all in one trip. Once you realize you can't, you can do some and save the rest for a future trip.

Pay for convenience by picking a hotel based on location more than price. At disney time really is money. If you save $100 a day on your hotel, but spend additional time traveling to and from parks, weigh what it is worth to you.

Plan at least 180 days in advance so you can dine where you want. Make many many reservations at 180 days out. Once you know your fast pass times, and the park schedules, be sure to cancel the extras or you'll pay.

Avoid parks that have EMH unless you plan to maximally utilize the EMH. They are more crowded.

Price out your tickets carefully. For short trips an non expiring 10 day ticket might save money in the long run if you come back again. Longer trips, less so. If you buy a no expiring ticket, for sure add water parks and more as they will last forever too.

And once you get there, have fun. Pretend to the rest of the family that no planning at all was involved...

 

[Cendure]

Contact Kingdom Konsultant Travel. A good travel agent does this type of planning a lot more than any one individual person and has more experience going through all of the various options. It doesn't cost the client anything extra and could potentially save you money if a discount offer comes about that we are able to apply to your trip. Marie

This is exactly what I did when someone at the office asked me about how to plan their first Disney trip. If was a mom, dad, 5yr old and a 2 yr old. I warned them that it can be overwhelming, so I started by giving them some on-line forums (this being one of them), along with some other websites so they could do some research and the name of a great Disney travel agent. I also told them not to try to do everything in their first trip. I made a few suggestions along the way for fastpasses/character meals they might be interested in etc. Their Disney travel agent booked all their dining and fastpasses and applied a great discount for them when one became available. They had a great trip without becoming overwhelmed or frustrated.

 

[DVCPluto]

I've helped a few of my friends plan their first trips. I give them a couple templates I've made that contain this info:

1. When do you want to go? This seems simple, but (as we know on the forums) different times of year impacts WDW planning.

2. For how long? Look at hotel accommodations - what's the budget and what theming do you like?

3. What parks? (We discuss interests, etc.)

4. Look at a crowd calendar to get an idea of the best parks to go to on each day. Not the end all be all.

5. Decide dining choices since you'll know where you are and decide if a dining plan makes sense. Book 180 days out or if less time there are still many options.

6. Look at ride choices based on kids' ages/fears/likes, etc.

7. Book FP+ based on #6. Try for early times, unless you want to have a late night the day before. Use a park map while planning.

8. Any rides that are "must dos" but no FP+, do at rope drop or wait.

9. Enjoy the little things and family time, don't stress about getting everything done - won't happen, be flexible!