How to start planning? Just decided to go to DW in early Dec.

[elbert]

We just made the decision this morning to do our first family Disney World trip next month (early December...DD just turned 5)...I'm a planner, so I expected that we would decide a year in advance of a trip and I would use all of that time to plan it out. For a number of reasons, it looks like we have a window to go now, so I'm going to scramble and pull something together.

Where do I start? What are the best resources out there (books, websites, etc.) for semi-last-minute planning?

TIA!

[army_mom]

I am normally a super planner but when we did Disney we only planned the meals and the park, since it was our first trip and we were not sure how DD would react to Characters/rides. We used easywdw and touringplans.com. I also downloaded an app with wait times for rides.

If you are going to do character dining, I would start stalking the reservation site as they seemed all booked up a few weeks out from our trip (we tried to change but there just wasn't anything open).


I'm sure some of the people that have been to Disney many times will chime in and give better advice!


http://www.easywdw.com/
http://touringplans.com/ (app with this one)

You'll have a great time and, from what I hear, that is a beautiful time of year to go!

[Cam&Clay]

With only a month to go, you may have trouble getting dining reservations, especially if you want character meals. I already have mine planned for our May trip.

I use the disboards for most everything and I joined touringplans.com, too.

Good luck! You're going to love WDW at Christmastime!

[JElaineB]

The resources the PPs posted are good, I'll add a plug for Passporter. They have a pretty streamlined guide (can be downloaded) and good message boards - not as huge as Disboards but very knowledgeable people on there.

[kbud]

I don't know anything about planning a trip, since we live here but I wanted to say the first week of Dec. is the best time of year to go. We were passholders for 3 years and I can say the crowds were always the lightest the first 2 weeks of Dec. Weather is usually good too, although last year it was really cold. I doubt getting reservations will be too hard. We even got rooms for about $60 a night last Dec.

[egoldber]

FWIW, we went about 3 weeks ago (Columbus Day weekend)and I had no trouble getting dining reservations even a couple weeks ahead of time. Not at super popular places of course, but there is stuff usually available. Early December is a pretty slow time as well.

[elbert]

Thanks so much, everyone! You've gotten me excited to go at that time. I was able to get some character meals reserved (not the "ideal" ones, but I think we're covering all our bases with some princesses some "traditional" characters, and the Pooh gang).

I'm TOTALLY overwhelmed by the disboards...I think I need to start focusing my searches there and start keeping some organized notes.

We're going to stay down there from 12/1-12/10, so fortunately, we'll be able to keep a slow pace (?).

BTW, are we able to add days to a Park Hooper pass at the same cost as if we bought more days originally?

[designermv]

You will LOVE WDW in early December. We were there at that time two years ago. We're here now, and heading to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom tonight. All of the parks and resort hotels look absolutely amazing at this time of year.

[hillview]

OK here is what I do:
We stay on site and get up really early (we are early birds) so I look at what parks are having Extra Magic Hours (EMH) and plan to go to the early EMH at these parks.
I make an excel spread sheet with park plan (what park what days), opening time, meal reservations with confirmation numbers and times
Based on what parks we are going to I plan meals (we tend to eat at sit down places vs counter service places for lunch and dinner), in your situation I'd have a few back ups in case my first choice didn't work or you can ask the agent for suggestions
I call to make dining reservations
I used to make a list of rides I thought we should try to hit and some notes about what fills up fast/first

We do one park a day and we usually take a break in the afternoon to hang at the pool or veg out.
/hillary

[acmom]

We are going next week for the 2nd time with our kids. Allears.net is very helpful, especially for hotels and dining. They have lots of pictures, reviews, and full menus. Plus there is a ton of other info on planning and the parks, etc.