I love that video!
Deciding to take your family on a trip to Disney World is fun! But then come the questions:
- Where should we stay?
- How much is this going to cost?
- What's the Disney Dining Plan and is it worth it?
- Which attractions will freak out my preschooler?
- When do I need to make dining reservations?
- Should we fly or drive?
- Should we bring our own stroller?
- What attractions will my teenager enjoy?
- How can I save money?
... and the list goes on.
It's easy to get overwhelmed and for many people the idea of planning a trip to Disney World is not worth the effort.
Thankfully, there are TONS of Disney Geeks out there (like me!) who have done hours and hours of research and created countless websites and books to help you figure out the answers to your questions.
When a friend asks me for advice on how to plan their trip to Disney World, the first thing I tell them to do is to go out and purchase "The Disney World Bible"... er, I mean "The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World" by Bob Sehlinger and Len Testa.
This 848 page book is amazing. And surprisingly easy to navigate. What's even better is the book has a website, touringplans.com, that accompanies the book along with a smart phone app called "Lines". In order to access the webpage and app, you have to purchase a year subscription for $11.95. Having purchased this book and used the online resources for our last several trips to Disney World, I can assure you it is well worth the price. And if you purchase the book, you can get a discount off the web subscription by answering a few questions. Probably my favorite feature of the website is the Crowd Calendar. The research they have put into this feature is impressive. Basically, if you are trying to figure out what time of year is least crowded, or which park is the best to visit on any given day, the Crowd Calendar has you covered. SO awesome!
Allears.net is a great site to help you figure out which Disney Resort you'd like to stay at, read restaurant menus and read tips and suggestions from other guests. They also post about deals on their main page and send out a weekly email to subscribers.
I love using wdwinfo.com to see the park hours and parade/fireworks schedules. They lay it out for you on one page... so helpful!
Now, if you're a Disney Geek (LIKE ME!) and you love to keep up to date with what's happening at Disney World, wdwmagic.com is the site for you. They have the latest news and rumors for Walt Disney World and some of the most spectacular pictures on the web. When we were planning our last trip, we were on that site every single day looking for updates on the New Fantasyland.
For booking a Disney Vacation, I like using Walt Disney World's website. You can see if they have any current deals by hovering over "Packages" and clicking on "Special Offers".
That about wraps it up. I realize this is a ton of information and if you're planning a trip to Disney World, you may not feel like this has helped you much :). Trust me, these resources are the best out there and once you dive in, you'll soon have some answers to your questions.
*GEEK TIP: Plan your trip one step at a time. Start with when and where and then move on to dining, planning your days, etc. If you have specific questions, email me and I'll do my best to help!
And here's our youtube video explaining these resources in more detail:
And here's our youtube video explaining these resources in more detail:
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