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We’ve been busy planning a Disney World vacation. I have been twice before. Once, for one day, when we were staying in a condo on the Gulf coast while I was in fifth grade. And, once for four days while Eric and I were in college 13 years ago. Needless to say, I suspect, this trip has involved a lot more planning than either of the other trips.
As a matter of fact, I remember that the planning of our college trip pretty much involved us trying to see if we could get into one of the cheaper onsite hotels, finding out that we couldn’t (because we didn’t call soon enough), and then booking a hotel in the Downtown Disney area. That was pretty much it. We bought park tickets at the Disney Store and just went. Disney planning has definitely changed (although some of the things on the list are true from way back)!
Here are ten things I’ve learned from our experience thus far (as always, however, your mileage may vary, this is just my experience):
1. Book your lodging as early as possible. The sooner you start planning, the more likely you are to actually be able to get into the resort of your choice. This is true of both onsite and offsite.
2. Don’t be afraid to change your plans, if needed. During the planning of this trip, we have gone from having a cabin booked onsite to staying offsite and then finally back to staying onsite. I don’t think this is ideal, but if you need to do it and you won’t lose a deposit, go for it.
3. Plan to spend time planning. I cannot even believe the hours that I have spent on planning this trip, particularly where restaurants are concerned. (More on that later.) There are so many aspects to a Disney trip, so just assume that you’ll be spending some time with planning.
4. If possible, try to take your trip during some kind of promotion or deal. We have managed to arrange to take our visit during a period of time when they are offering a free dining plan when you buy a package of a resort stay, tickets, and a dining plan. When looking at the prices at the restaurants, I have been astonished at just how much we’re going to save by having this free dining plan. I know that there are a variety of deals throughout the year, but this one is just amazing.
5. If you need to save money, try to eat meals outside of the parks. As I just mentioned, we’ve scored free dining, but even we are planning to bring food for breakfasts. Having your own food is a great way to supplement a dining plan or just to save money if you’re paying for your food. You can also try to eat at restaurants that are offsite, particularly if you are staying offsite.
6. Make dining reservations early! I have come to learn that with the proliferation of the Disney Dining Plan, it has become essential to make reservations for any restaurant in the park or the resorts that is considered to be “table service.” This includes a lot of different restaurants, and definitely every restaurant that features character meals. We waited too long to make reservations, and there wasn’t a single opening at two of the restaurants that we were originally considering for character meals during our entire stay. That was with us being open to breakfast, lunch, or dinner. We have, however, been able to score several character meals (as these are included in our dining plan as well), as well as a nice variety of meals.
7. There’s an app for that. I bought the Disney World Magic Guide app for my iPhone, and I am already loving it. I really feel that it is going to be an asset for us while we’re at the park, and was worth the $5 for the app.
8. Your husband, Mom, kids, or somebody else won’t want to hear about the planning. For me, it’s Eric. He has tried to be good natured about it, but he is clearly tired of hearing about it, even though he’s mostly just hearing it while I’m figuring out things with my Mom. I think that once he’s actually there with us though, he’ll appreciate the time we put into it. (I hope, anyway.)
9. Consider a credit card with a reward program. It just so happens that right as we were getting ready to book our trip, I got a Chase card application in the mail with a Disney theme. I normally don’t open them at all, but I thought I would open this one. The card offered a $200 Disney gift card after the first time you use the credit card. To date, I have officially used it just the once and then paid that right off. And, true to their word, a $200 Disney gift card showed up in my mailbox. (I was able to use it as our deposit on our trip!)
Our hair dresser uses her Disney credit card all year long (and pays it off) to get points that she tends to use to pay for all of her food during her trips. Since I figure this will be our last trip for quite some time, I just didn’t worry about trying to rack up points, and felt more comfortable using the card just the once.
10. Do your homework! We’ve been using the website AllEars.net quite a lot for learning more information. There are tons of other great Disney-themed sites to learn more from other Disney goers, and there are also lots of wonderful Disney planning guides available.
Since it’s been forever since our last Disney trip, please feel free to share some of your great tips with me about a trip to Disney World. We’d really appreciate it!
If you are planning a trip and using a dining plan, check out the site that my friend Nony put together about her family’s experience with the Quick Service Dining Plan at Disney World.
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I think you covered them all so well! I love your app suggestion (it seems there’s a new one everyday), and can’t wait to read about your research on ADRs. I’m sure you have already researched on-site shows (like Fantasmic), Water Parks/Resort pool facilities (if it’s warm :D), and some non-Park time (like Downtown Disney). I hope you continue to have a magical time planning, and then an even more magical trip!!
Thanks so much! I think we’re going to have a great time. (At least I hope so! LOL)
WDWinfo.com and mousesavers.com are also fabulous. 🙂
Thanks, Lorin! I’ve looked on mousesavers before, I think. But, I think I need to step up my game in planning.
Is it wrong that my single priority is to get a dessert in the France pavilion at Epcot? 😉
I hope not, because I’m constantly daydreaming about the sweet almond pretzel at Kringla Bakery, Norway. I might have it twice.
We found that the water in the restaurants was basically fine – just a little Florida taste. However, we didn’t love the fountain water. All of the kids carry fanny packs that have water bottle holders and everyone carries their own water each day. It’s worked pretty well for us 🙂
Mental note: Get a sweet almond pretzel. 😉 Even if it means doing it right after having something like chocolate mousse in “France.” I’ll be walking up a storm, right? I’m thinking that might be the only thing that saves me (hopefully) from gaining about a hundred pounds while I’m there.
I have thought about getting the kids all fanny packs. I wondered about carrying a backpack or my bag that I usually carry my iPad in (but it has room for other stuff, and I obviously wouldn’t take my iPad – LOL)
new follower! what a great posts! I’m planning a disney trip for next year!! it’s a lot of work!!
Thanks so much for following, Christi! I hope to share some more about it, especially after we have been (we’re going later this year).
Have you been before? This is my kids’ first trip, and they are SO excited!
Great job getting the credit card perk! I have often gotten that credit card offer in the mail, but because I’m not planning a Disney trip anytime soon, it wouldn’t be useful to me.
Ask someone who’s been to Disney World recently about the quality of the tap water. I was last there 7 years ago, so this may have changed, but at the time the water had a VERY strong sulfur smell that was noticeable in all beverages (sodas, coffee, etc.) made from tap water. If it’s still like that, you may want to bring some of those little tubes of flavor powder stuff to add to your water bottles!
I’ve received that credit card over and over as well (and always thrown it away). But, when it showed up (again!) a little while after we had decided to take a trip, it was meant to be.
Great list, Angie! The only thing I would add is if you want to save even more money you could consider traveling at the same time as a couple other families and turn your trip into a field trip to save more on your admission costs. Disney offers some amazing programs for groups: http://www.disneyyouth.com/youth-education-series/ As long as your group shows up for your program, you’re free to roam the grounds however you see fit so you aren’t “stuck” together. 🙂
If you got the meal package though you got a great deal.
We’ve been to Disney twice and the only thing I wish we would have known about actually visiting the parks before our first visit was the pin trading. My kids LOVED it and I wanted to join in on the fun. We stopped by the Disney outlet store in Florida (minutes from DW) and purchased lanyards and pins for a fraction of what it would have cost in the park. We also bought my daughters’ princess dress for her meal at the outlet store and saved a bundle.
Have a great time!
Thanks for sharing this list. Hopefully someday I’ll be able to use it when we get to go. I hope you have a great time!