Disney World virgin

[Guest]

Hi everyone. I have just booked to stay in the Caribbean beach resort end of May 2019. I'm feeling slightly overwhelmed by all the planning involved, restaurants 180 days in advance, fast passes 60 days in advance. How do I know what I will be doing on which days and where all the rides are! I have started to read the forums and watch vids on YouTube but still finding it overwhelming. Looking for tips and advice. I have 14 day tickets for the Disney parks and free Disney dining, 2 snacks and 2 quick service meals per day. There are 2 adults and 3 children aged 10, 8 and 4 going.
Struggling a little with the abbreviations so please be patient.
Also I would really like to visit universal for one day, just to experience Hogwarts with the children and wondered if this was possible, how much it would cost and best way to get there.
Any advice and tips gratefully appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[GezzasGem]

Hi there and welcome! You will have a wonderful time, key thing is not to expect to cover everything on this trip and try not to panic! In terms of the restaurants, take a look at menus and theming to get an idea of what your family would like. Quick service and snack credits deal with day by day and plenty of options. The Dibb has a wealth of information so go through it step by step to become more familiar. CBR is a lovely resort - have been twice before and really enjoyed it. In terms of Universal, it will be quite an expensive trip for a family of 5 especially if just Harry Potter of interest and lots of rides unsuitable for the youngest in your party. I would suggest looking at their website to get a feel for what you would want to see and remember places like attraction tickets direct will try and price match or beat quotes you have for your park tickets. If you want to use Hogwarts Express be sure to have a 2 park ticket/park hopper option too 👍

[Poppy36]

I'd suggest that you use the DIBB and my Disney experience to get familiar with the parks and rides. Start by working out a basic plan for how many days you'd want to spend in each park, then work out which parks on which days. In that way when you get to 180 days you already know which park you'll be doing on that day and where you might want to eat so you can book any dining reservations. Then at your 60 days you can book your fast passes , based around any dining reservations, making sure you don't book the fast passes too soon after. The dining can take longer than you'd think. Don't worry, the planning is fun and you'll have a fantastic time. Just warning you once is never enough!

[candycat75]

Hi and welcome

[pad406]

Hi And Welcome

Your trip is nearly a year yet, so what seems so daunting now will hopefully no longer be as you get closer. The fact that you are here will only enhance the holiday and make it better There's lots of advice and opinions for varied people to help you out.

One good place to start are the trip reports, especially if you can find one from people with kids your age. That will give you an idea of what's around and their relative popularity for the different age groups.

The main advice I ever give a first timer is don't try and do it all, you won't and you likely won't enjoy it if you try. From what I remember it took us 3 trips and about 50n on site to finally complete all the rides, and this year there are some new ones for us

This is a link to a post I did a while back. Bit out of date with Avatarland, ToyStory etc but will get you started

The Guidebook also has some great information about things like ADRs (restaurant reservations), FP+. Also look at the reviews.

have a great trip and enjoy the planning, that in itself can be a lot of fun.

[Th1nkT1nk]

Hi and welcome
It is all quite overwhelming when you start but the planning is part of the fun. My advice would be to make notes! When I was planning, I read so many things from different places that I couldn’t ‘see the wood for the trees’ iyswim! I also found it useful to have each day detailed out, so I could plot out my ideal fast pass times / dining reservations etc and then it was easy to tweak and switch around once the relevant windows opened.
You will probably find that once you return, you will actually miss all of the planning... hence why everyone is always desperate to go back I think

[Th1nkT1nk]

Oh... and I think people generally suggest Uber for getting to universal, although I’ve not done it personally

[Gezzs]

Welcome! It can be daunting, but remember it is a holiday and should be fun. There's lots of helpful people on here and so much useful information. Regarding abbreviations, there's a list here https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/For...ns-p-1331.html.

Setup your countdown, enjoy the planning and know it'll likely be the first of multiple trips to the mouse Lots of us said "it'll be a once in a lifetime trip" only to go again (and again and again)

[Disney2010]

Welcome. By the time you go in 12 months time, you'll be an expert with the help of The Dibb

Don't worry about over-planning. You will find those that plan to the millisecond. And those who don't plan a thing. We tend to skate somewhere in the middle & have a loose plan for each day but we're always open to moving things around if the weather takes a turn for the worse or we're too tired for a long day.
Break your days up by visiting water parks - Whilst still fun packed, they're shorter days & a little easier on the aching feet. We sometimes do split days on those days... Maybe water park in the morning & then shopping in the afternoon

Think about what is important to your family for the fastpasses - i.e. rides or character interactions. That way you can decide what you want to cut the queue for.

Enjoy the planning - It's all part of the fun. And the Dibbers never get tired of talking about Florida

Zoe x

[a11mark]

Hi and welcome to the dibb, don't worry about being overwhelmed. its a big place and its impossible to do everything in one go. its designed for you to go back again and again