WDW trip possibly planned for July 2014

Welcome! You have come to the right place. I just joined the forum myself and love all the info and advice. You are going to have a blast at Disney. How many days were you going to stay? Are you planning on staying on the grounds? What kind of food are you into? Please keep us updated on all your planning.

Welcome, Leslie! We all love to talk plans and offer suggestions here. The WDW website can be rather...vague in its descriptions, so if you see something that looks interesting, just ask. Someone here has probably tried it for real!

Hello and Welcome! You are on the right track to start planning your trip now!
If you are going to be on the go....and want to save money....you may want to consider
staying in a value or moderate resort.....so ask away...lots of friendly folks
On this sight will be happy to share their experiences!

I totally agree with Magic Mirror that if you don't spend a lot of time in your room go for Moderate or Value. For Moderate my favorite is Port Orleans French Quarter and for value it's Pop century. If you want to hit a lot of rides in the park go for quick service meals for lunch or snacks and have a relaxing sit down dinner at night. You are going to have so much fun! Can't wait to hear how your plans shape up.

Welcome!! We love to help people plan their trips!! I second the recommendation for Port Orleans, both French Quarter and Riverside (sometimes one is a little cheaper). They are nice and relaxing, and even though you will be in the parks, sometimes it's still nice to go back to the resort and relax by the pool. Both of these resorts have really nice amenities at a decent price!

Welcome Leslie, If your not spending much time in the room I could recomend Pop Century for your stay as it's the one we stay at when we go. If you use magical express it's the second stop. Once checked into your room and your ready to explore the kingdom the buses normally head directly to your destinations making getting to and from the parks a little quicker. If you've not booked your trip yet you might consider using a travel agent to help make sure you get the best deal. We use our AAA and saved a few dollars more than an offer Disney sent us. Many people recommend ordering the planning DVD to help you see a little more of your options and also get in the Disney mail system. You never know when a deal might pop up. Reading some of the trip reports might give you some ideas of the amazing things Disney has to offer. If you find something you'd like to know more about just ask away. This is an amazing group of Disney fans.

We pretty much are just in our room to sleep so we stay at Value resorts. A lot of teams and tour groups stay there but we've never had a problem with noise or anything. We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside for our honeymoon in 2012 and it was really nice.
As for the dining plan it all depends on your eating style. For us it's not worth it but we don't do many sit down meals. Also, you get an entree and dessert so like others on this forum if you prefer an app over dessert, it might not be worth it.

My first suggestion is to go to some very good sites such as this one but All Ears, Disney Passporter and such will also help. If possible I would get the Disney Passporter as that has so much information and daily sheets with pockets to keep track of what you have done on a particular day. And i also love the Port Orleans resort (I have stayed a both several times). Riverside is a big resort with a sit down restuarant and French Quarters is a much smaller resort with no sitdown restuarant but it is very lovely (staying there in May again). And both have a wonderful boat ride to Downtown Disney.

Hello Leslie and to WDWFG.

Hi and ! Your first Disney trip, how exciting! My biggest advice is just to research a bit first (this site is GREAT for that, I have learned so much since I started coming on here) to kind of get an idea of what you'd like to do (more rides or more sit down meals, any special excursions, etc) and when any questions come up just ask away. WDW is HUGE so you're obviously not going to be able to see and do it all on your first trip, but planning ahead so you have an idea of what you'd most like to include is your best bet to get the most out of your vacation! Plus they're all sorts of things to learn about including the new magic band system, dining plan options, etc etc etc.