Feeling completely overwhelemed

[fla4fun]

Where to begin?!?
Family of 5 (10,11,12yo) heading down for their first time. We want to do +/-7days at WDW and +/-2 at Universal. We want to stay onsite to take advantage of the extra hours - but where onsite? The number of variables is staggering. So much so, I don't know where to start. Do I get one non-residential annual pass (heard you got free parking and discounts on food and lodging)?

Meal Plans?! Do I go with the meal plan instead? If so which? Having not had one before, I don't know how much we would need as there may be a chance we skip a meal do to the excitement of the day and opportunity to ride more rides.. (who knows?!?) Do I bundle everything? air/lodging/food/both park tickets?

Fast Passes?! which when and where? No clue which ride they will really want and which we 'must' get fast passes for if we ever want a chance to ride that ride?

Being a newbie, I am sure there are things I am overlooking.. but what?

Breathe!

First, set your budget.

Then think about what amenities you need at your hotel to enjoy a vacation anywhere. Maybe jot down a short list. Between your budget and amenities list, you should be able to narrow down your resort choice.

For the meal plan, think about how you dine on other vacations. Do you like having regular meals, or do you prefer to just grab a quick bite on the go? The meal plan works for some families and not for others. It really depends on your dining style.

Tickets? That will depend on your dining plan decision to some degree. Packages with the dining plan often have a minimum ticket requirement. For a first time visitor, I usually recommend starting with base tickets (one park per day) because you will need to spend a lot of time in each park discovering your favorite rides. If you decide you want to park hop ( two or more parks per day) you can add that during your trip. It’s better to add it if you are really going to use it than buy it and then find it’s unnecessary.

FP is a convenience but not a necessity. There are ways to work around long lines, such as early or late hours, so you can ride most things even if you don’t get a FP. Think about your children’s interests in general and select FP accordingly. At least with three kids and three FP, you can keep it fair

There is no shortcut when it comes to doing the math to see whether a package is a better deal for you than buying components separately. Once you decide on a resort, start crunching the numbers.

Only you know what your family needs to have a great vacation. Keep in mind that you will NOT be able to do it all. I have been visiting multiple times per year, every year,since WDW opened and there are still things I have not done. And that’s OK.

 

[fairygagamother]

As a starting point, be sure you look for "special offers" on the Disney website. Sometimes the specials aren't so evident. Also check other online agencies because they often have extra percentages off & their prices are sometimes better.

 

[billyjobobb]

If you step back and realize you can't do it all, you often have a better time.

I see so many people missing so much because they're only concerned with making it across the park to make their next fastpass.

 

[a1tinkfans]

My two cents. Budget first. That will guide you to resort level ( value, mos, deluxe etc)
I only suggest values to those that have stayed onsite before. Imho, they are hectic, tend to have many more large families and groups and did I say hectic, lol.
The amenities are very limited ( and that’s great for some.. like those that will be in a park all day, not be in the resort for any time for down days and want to be onsite for the least expensive option)
I suggest a moderate resort ( POR preferred or POFQ for ur kids ages.. ). They will have
Pools with slides/a boat to disney springs, a restaurant and food court available and Xtras as well..
Meal plans... I’d say not for a first timer that is already feeling overwhelmed. It’s enough knowing tentatively what park to do on what day ( CK Park times) then to add in Exactly what time you ll want to eat.
ADR’s ( booked reservation) for dining is good.. check for something ur entire family will want to eat. Character meal? Or if possible , consider Hoop DeeDoo .. great food, awesome show.. take the boat fromMK, and you be added in even more family fun.
Tix... figure how many days... I wouldn’t hop... it’s just more to figure out and time to/fro. Look at the days ( so u know park hours) then give itself a resort dat to enjoy the pool/arcade/disney springs ( another advantage to por or POFQ with boat, right there) POR food court excellent, POFQ good.
FP... when u know ur park days, have ur tix
( undercover tourist, AAA)
CK out the park rides/attractions .. find one fav for each kiddo and shoot for those 3.. then after those three, you ll just keep adding one while in the park ( on the MDE app or kiosks.. prefer app)

With some planning you ll have a wonderful vacation ... but be prepared, ur kids will hound u to return.
Can’t help with Universal... I know some split vacations.. but if u want s truly immersive Mickey one,,, I’d plan that for another trip ( unless u have at least 5 full days at MK)
Happy planning!!

 

[rinnythepooh]

To help simplify, this is how we plan a package:
1. First Pick your dates
2. Second Pick your resort.
3. Third Pick what park for each day
4. Fourth Pick your table service meals (if any)
5. Fifth Pick your fast passes
6. Sixth can add dining plan later if you are undecided.

If flying and Split stay with UR
1. Do UR first. Disney Resort 2nd
2. Use Resort Airline checkin at Disney Resort and go straight to TSA
3. Recommed UR Royal Pacific because Front Of the Line pass is included free.

 

[magyargirl]

We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside last year as our first visit to DW. We had a party of five with two reservations one for my parents and one for our family. Our family got the deluxe Dining Plan and we split the credits with my parents and it was still way too much food. We spent a lot of time running back and forth to and from dining reservations each day.

Knowing now what I didn't know then I would not get the deluxe Dining Plan or even the mid Dining Plan. I agree that having a Dining Plan is convenient because you just have them scan your magic band and you're done but it's just as easy to get some Disney gift cards to budget your meals with and go whenever and wherever you want to go without having to worry about reservations with quick-service dining or even dining off site.

With the ages of your kids if they are huge fans of rides and the parks I honestly wouldn't do a lot of reservations for dining because it cuts into a lot of time in the Parks especially if you have reservations for dinner outside of the park you're at. It can take anywhere from 2 to 3 hours out of your day just for one dining reservation.

We wanted to go all out and that's why we did what we did last year but I wouldn't do that again this year because we are huge Park fans and we'd rather spend their time in the Parks enjoying everything there than running to and sitting down at a table for two three hours a day.

A couple of things I would recommend for checking out resorts is costco.com if you have a Costco membership they offer bundles that may include car rental and tickets that are discounted over what the price of those bundles would be through Disney World. If you are thinking of staying off site and renting a car I found the best website that gives the best deals is undercovertourist.com as I've compared their site to many others and they are cheaper than even Priceline or Expedia for off-site hotels.

If you are flying to Walt Disney World from the states I would recommend Southwest Airlines because they have the best prices and offer many direct flights and they include 2 bags for free per passenger. We are going this year using Southwest and I booked two separate tickets for each of us one way because I earn more rapid rewards points that way through their point system.

We are still contemplating doing a split stay with off-site and on-site this year so I have reservations for both and our off-site location is at the Blue Tree Resort on Cypress Road I believe. They have four pools mini golf and they do offer shuttles to the parks but restricted schedules so we are renting a car.

Costco.com also offers car rentals and so far they are the cheapest that I found and they go through Alamo which I love because we used Alamo last year and they were superb with their service and spotless with their vehicles.

One thing I didn't know last year that I found out this year is that since I work for a big telecommunications company and my husband also works for a large International Company there is a website for corporate discounts called ticketsatwork.com and they offer pretty good deals on tickets. If you don't have that option I would go to touringplans.com and look up their ticket finder and through that service which is free they will tell you which authorized online retailers have the best prices of Disney World tickets.

last year we went through a travel agent who booked everything for us directly through Disney World so we paid rack rates for everything. It was difficult for me because I like being in control of our plans and having to always go through her to change something was a little exhausting so this year I'm doing all the planning myself and I'm so grateful for this website and for mousesavers.com for touringplans.com for undercover tourist.com for disneyfoodblog.com and the list goes on because they have been truly God sent to me.

It does take some work but you will learn tons of information before your trip and if budget is not an issue but convenience is then by all means just do a magic your way package with Disney World. But if budget is a concern then I would definitely do your research.

And depending on when you want to go will depend on what kind of deals will be available to you through Disney. If your dates are flexible then that will be to your benefit because it will allow you to take advantage of those offers that happen throughout the year especially in the fall.

Best of luck and keep us posted!

 

[billyjobobb]

Many fast passes aren't much of a big deal. There are a couple you'll really want, and a bunch that are basically just fluff.