Trip planning for first timers

I know this is going to be different for everyone, especially people who have been a lot and like to be pretty hands-on with their planing, but I'm planning my first trip (I've been before with my family, but that was as a kid/early college student so I never actually planned the trip myself) and I've found it incredibly helpful to use a travel agent. I'm using Off to Neverland Travel (an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner) and my agent has been fantastic so far. Now, this means the reservation is out of your hands until you get there and everything goes through your agent--but for me, and possibly for your friend too, this has been a total relief!! It has meant they reserved my hotel room, cruise, ground transfers, and got my tickets, made all my ADRs, helped me decide what hotel to stay at, helped me book components separately rather than in a package to save more money, and automatically watch for discounts to save me more--when the most recent hotel discounts came out, my travel agent IMMEDIATELY applied them, saving me $300! Again, it's not for everyone, but for me, as a first-timer, it's been a TOTAL Godsend.

We went for our honeymoon a couple years ago, and actually just went through the Disney website. It is very simple to do it, and pretty much walks you through what's in your price range, meal options, ticket options, etc. My advice is to get the free planning dvd, get on disney's email list, and wait until they have their special discounts...we got a 40% off coupon last year (though we weren't able to use it.)

waltdisneyworld.com for all of it. I actively advise against trying to get a "deal" on tickets from a third party seller. There has been so much counterfeiting lately the couple of dollars saved is just not worth the risk.

However if they don't want to put in the research time, or don't have much spare time, a Travel Agent is probably best. Since I don't have one that I use frequently I'll refrain from endorsing one.

I agree with Kristen on this Jess, unfortunately right now, the site is having some issues with the new site rolling out. Hopefully that will all be cleared up soon.

For figuring out where they might want to make dining reservations, you can't beat AllEars for menus and pricing info. It's nice to be able to look over what's offered, and decide whether you would want to eat it, or if you can afford it. For making resort reservations, it's about budget. First they have to figure out what they want to spend, and then find a resort that fits that amount. Hopefully the Disney site will be operating properly for them to price out vacations, and see what the total comes to. You just keep plugging in dates and resorts, play with the ticket options, and see what comes up. With discounts, etc., sometimes you can upgrade without breaking the bank.

If they are worried about doing it themselves, if they are AAA members, they should check if there are any special offers by booking through them. This month our CAA is offering a Disney gift card for travel this month, and last year I got a great Lion King filmcell for booking through them. No extra cost - exactly what Disney would have charged.

During my first few trips to Disney, I found the book "The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World" indispensable. For anyone who hasn't browsed a copy, try it! I guarantee there would be something in there that you didn't know before. It can be rather structured, and some folks may not like to plan every last detail of their trips as the guide may suggest, but at least you're then in the position of knowing what you chose and why as opposed to finding yourself the victim of crazy lines that could have been avoided.
They have ride reviews, discussions of what the resorts are like, pros/cons, and they give fairly good reviews of what you might enjoy depending on whether you are traveling with kids, just adults, or family members of varied ages...
It's a fabulous resource.

I'm going to give a plug here for a friend of mine. Here name is Darlene Kane and she is a Travel Agent for a company called Cruises, Inc. Do not let the name fool you! She is an absolute Disney expert. She did the honeymoon planning for Donna and I...and we could not have had a more wonderful time. In fact, when I met Dar, I was working on a one-man trip to WDW...then I met Donna. The change did not affect her and she did a magnificent job of reworking all my reservations. I very highly recommend her.

Unfortunately, she does not have a toll free number...but it's 772-828-9790. If your friends call, tell Dar that Mike sent ya!

I agree! We used that book for our honeymoon! It was full of great tips!

i can't just reccomend a hotel without knowing other things, like do thye have kids, if so how old, how much roughly are they looking to spend

with young kids, values are great due to the themeing, however they can be very overwelming with the amount of people there, the noise level, and the chaos (like trying to find a table for dinner if you check in on a friday or saturday), and bussing can be a nightmare, if you at the last of the 3 all stars (music?), it can be tough to find a seat on the way back from the park

moderates are quiter, more toned down with themeing (pirate and princess rooms not withstanding)
the food is a bit better, the crowds are slightly less although still busy, and the pools are better

deluxe is what it is, pricey for a first trip, much quiter, generally closer to stuff

i would never by 3rd party tix, simply put not worth the risk.
for planning there are tonnes of sites, the dis-boards likely being the biggest, the wdw site it's self doesn't have tonnes of info, which isn't always a bad thing it's real easy to over plan, mousesavers as well

whenever i get asked about a first trip
i ask who is going, roughly what the want to pay, and what do the want to do

i normally tell them to take their expectations and cut them in half for what the want to ride, look we all would love to walk into mk , and ride buzz, the carosell, goofy's barnstormer, small world, haunted mansion, splash, space and btmr, and pirates before lunch, it's not going to happen, don't stress over it, relax and enjoy the small magic around you, eat pop-corn for breakfast, what ever

we are waiting for our sixth trip in just over 4.5 years, and never booked outside of the walt disney travel company ourselves, if there is a new discount after out trip is booked, we simply call them and they give us it

http://touringplans.com

http://www.wdwforgrownups.com/

http://www.worldofwalt.com/

http://wdwmagic.com/

http://wdwinfo.com

http://allears.net

Listening to the podcasts are great too. Beourguest and wdw today are great. I also use trip advisor to get a true idea of where to stay and what to do

Here's the gist of the email I sent to the parent of one of my students. She made the mistake of telling me she was in the process of starting to plan a WDW trip and wasn't sure where to start. (She has 4 kids and is wheelchair bound; that colored some of my advice.)

Let me begin by warning you: this is one of my favorite hobbies. I could spend all day planning trips to Disney World. So I'm about to bombard you with a LOT of information.

Let's start with resorts. Disney offers 3 levels of accomodations: Deluxe, Moderate, and Value. All offer access to Disney's transportation system, Disney's Magical Express ( a free ride to and from the airport) and access to Disney's Extra Magic Hours-- hours before or after normal opening when the park is only open to people staying in one of the Disney resorts. The differences in the accomodations are pretty much what you would expect: different ameneties, location, larger rooms for the more expensive resorts. You can take a look at the fact sheets and slide shows at www.allears.net to see the options.

A standard room in most resorts will sleep 4. There are a few exceptions:

- The Family Suites in both All Star Music and the new Art of Animation resorts sleep 6.

- Most of the Deluxe resorts sleep 5. (The 5th person is in a daybed. My son, who is 4 inches taller than I am, is comfortable in them.) The exceptions, which only sleep 4, are the Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom Lodge.

- There are cabins at Fort Wilderness that sleep 6. But to be honest, I would hesitate to recomend Fort Wilderness. The little I've seen of it is pretty rustic; it seems like it would make travel unnecessarily difficult for you.

You can request CONNECTING (NOT just "adjoining") rooms at any resort, and they'll try to accomodate you. I'm not sure how many of the handicapped accessible rooms are connecting; that's something you'll want to ask about.

If money were no object, I would heartily recommend the Beach Club. (It's where we stayed in August.) For starters, it's literally 2 minutes from Epcot, with all its restaurants and attractions. In addition, you can take the boat to Hollywood Studios. (So incredibly easy access to 2 of Disney's 4 parks.) Also, the pool is absolutely amazing!!!!. It's a 3 acre area called Stormalong Bay, and your kids will fall in love.And it would be easy for you to enjoy the evenings at Epcot and get back to your room easily; it's something like 600 feet from International Gateway at Epcot to the Beach Club entrance. (Plus, the resort is all one contained building.)


Another Deluxe option to consider is the Polynesian. Yes, it's even more expensive than the Beach Club.. hard to believe. But it has a zero entry pool that's also simply gorgeous. And the Polynesian just exudes rest and relaxation. (CHeck, though, to see if the construction is still going on there.) It's on the monorail loop, offering easy access to both the Magic Kingdom and Epcot via monorail.

That said, we saved for a year and a half for that trip (and are currently saving for a return in August 2014.) As a family of 5, the options are a bit limited. So we just save for a few years then go Deluxe.

Another option, the one I mentioned last night, is a Deluxe Alcove room at the Dolphin. If, by any chance, someone in your party is a teacher, nurse, or government employee, you can get incredible rates there. http://www.swandolphin.com/offers/index.html If any of those discounts apply, call and ask about the Deluxe Alcove; it sleeps 6. It's very near the Beach Club, so it too offers the easy access to the same 2 parks. The only downsdie to the Dolphin is that it's not a Disney resort. As a result, you don't get DME or access to the meal plan if you're interested in it. But you could possibly save enough money to make it worth it.

If you're experiencing sticker shock, I don't blame you. But there's a huge discount on right about now:

http://bookwdw.reservations.disney.go.com/ibcwdw/en_US/specialOfferDetails?name=Promo&promotionCode=fy13q2q3room&market=fy13q2q3room

If you could manage, a trip duing that time span you could save some serious money. If not, then try looking for "Value 2" Season at the resort you choose. It starts in mid summer, and you can save some real money by simply going then. http://www.mousesavers.com/2013-walt-disney-world-resort-room-rates-season-dates/

And to be honest, I'll tell you I've never paid rack rate at a Disney resort. There's always a deal out there. Last year we used a Disney Certified Travel agent-- **** at Dreams Unlimited-- to book our trip. http://www.dreamsunlimitedtravel.com/ She was great about keeping an eye out for discounts.

OK, next, on to food. We always get the meal plan. I'm not sure it saves us any money; it costs a small (??) fortune. But we didn't get it last year and really missed it. Food at WDW is EXPENSIVE! After a few days I found myself looking at the prices instead of the menu. So from now on, if we're not at the Dolphin, we'll be on the meal plan. We save for too long to not enjoy the meals at Disney World. I love that the meal plan is pre-paid.

Either way, something we always do is order a grocery delivery from www.gardengrocer.com. We order bottled water, breakfast stuff, and park snacks. They deliver right to the resorts, and Bell Services will hold your order, and refrigerate it if necessary.

OK, next: park tickets. If you're thinking of getting the meal plan, it's only possible as part of a package that includes park tickets. We always get park tickets for our arrival and departure dates, and get an early flight down and a late return flight.

Last year, we tried something different. We enrolled the kids in a YES (Youth Education Series) class. If either one of your 2 school age kids takes a single class, your ENTIRE immediate family gets discounted park tickets.

http://www.disneyyouth.com/our-programs/education/sp/individual-enrollment/#categories-individual-enrollment,locations-WDW,ages-high-school,ages-elementary My older 2 kids and I took the Making Waves with Marine Careers class at Epcot-- it was incredibly interesting.. My husband took the Synergy in Science class with my youngest, and said it was OK. But if they offer something that looks interesting for the dates you're considering, it may be a way to save money. The downside is that, because it includes tickets, you can't get the meal plan package.

I just sent you the mousesavers newsletter that has information on ticket discounts.

OK, I'm pretty sure your eyes are glazing over. Please feel free to email me any questions. As I said, I love this stuff!!!

I used www.BetweentheEarsTravel.com when I planned my honeymoon. Free service, and they know what they're talking about!