We are planning a trip to Disney World in 2020. I have not been in likely 30 years. I have no idea where to start. Even the planning sites are overwhelming.
We went to Disneyland three years ago, and it was great. Minimal planning needed. The level of planning needed for Disney world is a whole other ballgame.
My son is 7, loves rides, Star Wars. I think I want to stay at a hotel on the Monorail. It is my most vivid memory of my trips to Disney as a child. Suggestions? Or if there are better hotels, I would take those recommendations, as well.
We are trying to decide timing. i looked at some of the crowd calendars. We could do February, but might not be able to swim. May is an option, but may be really hot and crowded. My son's spring break is in March, so that is of course an option, but the crowds would definitely be a factor.
Sorry this is so rambling. I need to have my vacation picks in by Friday, so it is crunch time for picking dates.
Do you have a travel agent? They are free and can do as much or as little as you’d like. TamiTaylor is a Disney travel agent and she has been around here for years giving great advice.
When I started planning, I got a Disney travel book. I recommend Birnbaum’s. It has good pictures and basic descriptions of everything. I’ll link below. Then I checked out crowd calendars to choose when to go. Google them and print off a bunch of different ones to compare. Next I would check out hotels. There are great advantages to staying on site. On site hotels come in three different categories based on budget.
We've gone a few times at the end of Feb and it is great. The pools onsite are heated if that helps your decision....
My steps: -pick a time -pick a place to stay (onsite or offsite) -get it booked. I like to use a TA and not do it myself even though I know everything I want. It helps me to be more relaxed when I know I have someone besides myself to have my back -next, I use the crowd calendars to plan what days I want to go to which parks. I usually go with avoiding Extra Magic Hours and has the least crowds -get dining plans made if you are making any table service meals (they can/should be made 180 days in advance) -figure out what I want to fast pass (these are 60 days if you are staying onsite and 30 days if you are off; some hotels are also considered onsite)
Really, figuring out a time and budget is your first big step!
Oh, I also like to use touringplans.com - once you have your trip set up in there, it gives you a checklist of what needs to be done and when. Very useful! It's like $10 or something for a year membership
Post by covergirl82 on Oct 1, 2019 13:55:21 GMT -5
I agree with revolution on steps. And TAs are great if you're not sure where to start, or if you'd like expert advice and assistance. TAs also know all the deals, so they can help you adjust your trip/get the deal applied to save you some money.
We've gone in late March, late July (I would avoid - SO HOT and busy!!), late October, and early December, and I thought late October and early December (of the times we've gone) were good in terms of crowd level. December was a little cooler for swimming, but my kids didn't care. My favorite time to go is when the Food & Wine Festival is going on because I love to try so many different foods.
Since you mentioned monorail hotels, we loved our stay at the Polynesian in December 2018. It's not huge, so you can get to the main pool in a minute or two. It's also a quick walk to the Ticket & Travel Center to go to Epcot, and the busses to AK and HS were never super crowded.
Post by curbsideprophet on Oct 1, 2019 17:12:28 GMT -5
I would start with figuring out when you want to go. The dining window has already opened for February and probably most of March. Not a huge deal if you don’t have any must do restaurants, just something to be aware of.
We are planning a trip to Disney World in 2020. I have not been in likely 30 years. I have no idea where to start. Even the planning sites are overwhelming.
We went to Disneyland three years ago, and it was great. Minimal planning needed. The level of planning needed for Disney world is a whole other ballgame.
My son is 7, loves rides, Star Wars. I think I want to stay at a hotel on the Monorail. It is my most vivid memory of my trips to Disney as a child. Suggestions? Or if there are better hotels, I would take those recommendations, as well.
We are trying to decide timing. i looked at some of the crowd calendars. We could do February, but might not be able to swim. May is an option, but may be really hot and crowded. My son's spring break is in March, so that is of course an option, but the crowds would definitely be a factor.
Sorry this is so rambling. I need to have my vacation picks in by Friday, so it is crunch time for picking dates.
Thank you for any help in advance!
We have gone at various times throughout the years. We have done spring break and Christmas. We are actually doing Christmas week again this year. It can be very manageable at busy times if you plan right and prepare yourself. Feel free to PM if you would like any help
Our favorite trips have been in February, but swimming has been hit-and-miss. If it's a really important part of vacation for your family I'd go no earlier than your spring break.
Regarding planning, I've had great experiences planning with and without travel agents. It really depends on how much time you're willing to burn doing planning yourself. I was seriously underemployed in the months leading up to our first big trip, and had nothing but time to spend reading all of the blogs and figuring out the ins and outs of WDW. Since then I've become much busier and have used travel agents to help me arrange plans.
I've never stayed at a monorail resort, but I'll throw in a recommendation for the Crescent Lake area (Board Walk, Beach Club, Yacht Club, Swan, and Dolphin) because you can walk to both Epcot and Hollywood Studios, which is where the Star Wars land and rides are. It's so much less stressful early in the morning and late at night (or when your kid is just done with Disney for the day) to walk back to your hotel at your own speed rather than waiting for Disney transportation.
I've never stayed at a monorail resort, but I'll throw in a recommendation for the Crescent Lake area (Board Walk, Beach Club, Yacht Club, Swan, and Dolphin) because you can walk to both Epcot and Hollywood Studios, which is where the Star Wars land and rides are. It's so much less stressful early in the morning and late at night (or when your kid is just done with Disney for the day) to walk back to your hotel at your own speed rather than waiting for Disney transportation.
We are renting DVC at Boardwalk for our upcoming trip for the walkability to Epcot and HS.
Post by mccallister84 on Oct 2, 2019 7:33:52 GMT -5
If your okay doing the planning yourself and are committed to your dates a year out I really think renting DVC is the way to go. I was a little skeptical that it would all work out but the money we have saved has been well worth the time I have had to spend doing the planning.
My favorite time to go is when the Food & Wine Festival is going on because I love to try so many different foods.
With The Festival of the Arts and Flower and Garden Festival having food booths too, and the Holiday food booths, summer is pretty much the only time without a lot of different foods to try.
Food and Wine has more booths than usual this year, and we have been enjoying them, but I really think that Flower and Garden had some of the best food this year. There were a lot of really outstanding offerings, and there was a lot of variety.
My favorite time to go is when the Food & Wine Festival is going on because I love to try so many different foods.
With The Festival of the Arts and Flower and Garden Festival having food booths too, and the Holiday food booths, summer is pretty much the only time without a lot of different foods to try.
Food and Wine has more booths than usual this year, and we have been enjoying them, but I really think that Flower and Garden had some of the best food this year. There were a lot of really outstanding offerings, and there was a lot of variety.
Good to know! We're going during Flower and Garden in 2020 and plan to spend a lot of time at Epcot (because of staying at Boardwalk), so that is good to know there are quite a few food booths for that festival too!
We decided to go at a time when the kids were not on break to get a good combination of crowds and weather. We ended up with the middle of December and left as the Christmas crowds were starting to ramp up. The kids swam but none of the adults in our group did. The crowds weren't bad but we ended up not seeing Magic Kingdom fireworks because of the Christmas party that requires a separate ticket. We knew this going in and planned for what was most important to our family, but the party is something that can impact your park schedule throughout November and December.