First Time Visitors - A Planning Guide

Walt Disney World Resort

If you or your family are planning a trip to the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, you may have found it a little daunting.  There are literally hundreds and thousands of sites out there with gobs of information which can be a little overwhelming.  We at Palmetto Travel Agency have spent years planning, not only our personal Disney vacations, but vacations for others and have streamlined the process to make it easier for you; our client.

Here at Palmetto Travel Agency, we take all of the headache out of the planning and booking and do it at NO COST to you.  We meet up and have a casual conversation to find out your vacation dreams and we go away to create a magical vacation tailored to you.  All you have to do is enjoy your vacation.  However, while we encourage you to contact us directly when planning your Walt Disney World vacation, we also understand that some of you like to take control and plan everything yourself.  It is for this reason we have created this blog post to help guide you through the process.  Please also visit our Facebook Page for more information on the Walt Disney World Resort and current deals.

The Planning Phase

When to Go

The obvious first step when visiting the Walt Disney World Resort is to decide when you're going.  Over the years we have found that these four areas of consideration often pick the exact dates for you:

1. School Calendars - If you're traveling with kids, you often have to consider their school calendar.  Most families try and match up vacation days with school holidays or breaks.  Some parents are even willing to take their kids out of school a day or two before or return a day or two late.  Keep in mind that most school holidays and breaks coincide with not only other schools in your area, but also schools nationwide.  This means the potential for increased crowds is that much more likely.  But keep in mind that the opposite is also true.  During times in which school is in session, the resorts see a drop in attendance.  But there will still be crowds because school calendars tend to overlap and foreign travel tends to stay steady.  Which brings us to our next area...
2. Crowds - The second most asked question when planning a Walt Disney World vacation is, "When is the least crowded time to go?"  It is safe to say that all major holidays tend to increase crowd levels throughout the resort while days leading up to and day following those holidays crowds tend to die down.  So with the exceptions of the holidays which may fall in these months, the following months typically have the lowest crowds:  January, February, March, April, first part of May, September, first part of December.  The other thing to consider are special days that Disney comes out with like Halloween and Christmas parties, Star Wars weekends, Food & Wine Festival, etc...
3. Price - The question we get asked the most is, "When is the cheapest time to go?"  The answer to this question tends to coincide with crowds.  Typically when the resort is experiencing low attendance Disney will put out special deals to entice more visitors to come.  Plus Disney, while there is no written rule in place, typically puts out "standard" deals from year-to-year like free dining.  It goes without saying that a trip to the Walt Disney World Resort will generally be more expensive than a trip to the beach, but one must consider the value they are receiving for the increased price.  Also consider that if a deal comes out after you book your vacation, your travel agent can easily add this deal to your reservation and save you some money...assuming the deal includes your dates and resort hotel of choice.
4. Weather - This is the question we get asked the least, but is still important to a lot of people.  "When is the weather not going to be scorching hot?"  It goes without saying that summers in Florida can get pretty hot with the average temperature in July reaching 85 degrees with highs around 94 degrees.  Likewise the average temperature in January reaches about 60 degrees.  So leading up to and coming down from these average hot and cold periods are temperatures which most people tend to find most comfortable which also tends to coincide with the crowds and price points listed above.

Where to Stay

Once you have picked your dates, the next logical decision to make is where you want to stay.  Going back to the price consideration above, a lot of people consider staying at an offsite hotel.  While this may save a few dollars, we think everyone should consider staying at an on-site hotel at the Walt Disney World Resort.  The added benefit of staying at an on-site resort, we believe, offsets any price difference.  Benefits include, but are not limited to, extra magic hours, advance dining reservations, advance ride reservations, dining packages, and magic bands.  Disney has several tiers of resorts that fit everyone's budget:

• Value Resorts - Walt Disney World value resorts offer affordable comfort for families on the go.  
• Moderate Resorts - Walt Disney World moderate resorts offer a combination of lush themes and value.  
• Deluxe Resorts - Walt Disney World deluxe resorts offer highly themed rooms and along with great dining and amenities.  
• Deluxe Villas - Walt Disney World deluxe villas offer the convenience of home and rooms for larger families.  
• Campgrounds - Walt Disney World campgrounds offer the opportunity to sleep under the stars with the same great amenities as the other resort types.  

Within each of these tiers you will find unique themes that will fit every member of your family from Caribbean, to contemporary, to southern, and even feature animated films.  When considering which resort to choose, consider the amount of time you are planning to be in the rooms versus in the parks and also consider each resort's location.  Each resort belongs to a resort area which is determined by its proximity to a park.

Where to Play

Now that you have decided when to go and where to stay, next you should think about what you want to do when you get there.  The most obvious answer is visit the theme parks.  But when considering which parks to visit, make sure to consider your travel and down time.  If you're traveling from afar, you may not want to visit the parks as soon as you arrive.  Likewise, you may not want to visit the parks on your last day.  You may also want to build in a day or so in the middle of your vacation for a break.  Make sure to consider all of these things when deciding on how many days of park tickets to purchase.  It could save you a little money.  The Walt Disney World Resort has four theme parks:

• Magic Kingdom
• Epcot
• Hollywood Studios
• Animal Kingdom

And Disney offers different ticket combinations and ticket add-ons so you can customize your experience.  There is also a shopping district called Disney Springs  and two water parks which you can visit during your down time from the parks.  We discuss tickets in more detail in our Disney Tickets Blog Post.

What to Eat

If you're staying on-site at a Walt Disney World Resort, you have the option to choose a dining plan.  Disney dining plans can be a great value to you and your family depending on your dining needs.  Disney offers several plans ranging from:

• Quick Service
• "Regular" Dining
• Deluxe Dining

Each dining plan offers a range of food benefits to fit your needs.  I always encourage people and families to consider one of these dining plans because you're essentially prepaying for your meals which could save you money and definitely make your vacation that much more enjoyable.  We discuss dining plans in more detail in our Disney Dining Plans Blog Post.

The Booking Phase

Now that you have made all of the necessary decisions to book your Walt Disney World vacation, contact us and we'll book it for you.  We can look over your choices and answer any questions and you confidence and support that your plan will work.  Using us to book your vacation is ALWAYS FREE.  We will handle all of the interaction with Disney and come up with a payment plan that works with your budget.  We'll keep you on track with your payments and prepare a vacation booklet with all of your information to assist you with your vacation.

Dining Reservations

Now that your vacation is booked, the next thing for you to consider is dining reservations.  180 days from the start of your vacation, Disney opens up their reservation system to you to book your favorite restaurants.  We discuss this topic in more detail in our Walt Disney World Advance Dining Reservation (ADR) Blog Post.  But needless to say that there are some restaurants that are more popular than others and tend to get booked up quickly.  Make sure to pre-plan and be ready to book when the big day arrives.

FastPass+ Reservations

If you're new to Disney then you probably don't know what a Fast Pass+ is.  Fast Pass+ is a ride reservation system that lets guest choose up to 3 rides to reserve time slots for during their vacation.  Look at it the same way as you would a dining reservation.  If you're staying at a Walt Disney World Resort hotel you can start serving your favorite rides 60 days from the start of your vacation when the system opens up to you at 7am EST.  We go into more detail in our Fast Pass+ Blog Post.

Advance Check-In

If staying at a Walt Disney World Resort hotel, you can check-in 60 days from the start of your vacation which, in most cases, will allow you to bypass the check-in registration desk upon your arrival and go straight to your room.  During the process, you will link a credit card for any incidentals, select rooms preferences, etc...

Advance Meal Selections

If you have dining reservations at the Be Our Guest restaurant, located inside the Magic Kingdom, you'll have the opportunity to pre-order your meal 30 days from the start of your vacation.  This option is not offered at other restaurants at this time.

You're All Set!!

That's it!!  The only thing left is to pack your bags and wait patiently as the big day approaches.  A lot of planning, research, and work went into getting you to this point so you can actually enjoy yourself and not have to worry about anything while you're there.  Keep in mind that even though you planned out every detail for the perfect Walt Disney World vacation, you should leave some room for spontaneous activities.  It's in the spontaneous stuff where you might have the most fun.