6-12+ weeks prior to trip:
1. Go to http://buildyourdisneyside.com/ and build your stick figure family. Disney will send you a decal for free.
2. Go to http://customizedmaps.disney.go.com/ and build your customized maps for each park. Disney will send you the maps for free as well.
3. You can also get a DVD and other planning material sent to you for free by going to http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/vacation-planning-video/. I just requested an updated planning DVD and it looks like the videos are online as now as well. You can request DVD, online, or both.
4. Check out http://www.mousesavers.com/2014-disney-world-resort-room-rates-season-dates/ for a list of onsite resorts and seasonal prices. There are big price differences based on what month you go!
4. Check out http://www.mousesavers.com/2014-disney-world-resort-room-rates-season-dates/ for a list of onsite resorts and seasonal prices. There are big price differences based on what month you go!
5. Create a Disney account by going to https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/plan/my-disney-experience/. This way you'll be ready to link your hotel reservations, magic bands, etc. after you have them.
6. Two websites I found that have the best custom maps are http://kennythepirate.com/maps/ and http://www.easywdw.com/cheat-sheets/disney-world-cheat-sheets-maps-touring-plans-and-wait-times/. KennythePirate maps show character locations in addition to FastPass+ kiosks. EasyWDW has a map only or a cheat sheet which includes plans of how to schedule your attraction visits.
7. Schedule your FastPass+ experiences as soon as possible by going to https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/plan/my-disney-experience/. If you buy tickets ahead of time, you can schedule your experiences 30 days in advance. If you're staying at a Disney Resort hotel you can schedule experiences 60 days in advance. You can schedule up to 3 FastPass+ experiences per day. Once you've used all 3 you can go to a FastPass+ kiosk and select one additional experience, once you've used that you can go to a kiosk again and schedule another. This is called a 'rolling' experience. When trying to figure out what to use your three initial selections on, you might check out http://touringplans.com/magic-kingdom/fastpass - it has some data on busiest attractions, etc.
8. Get the My Disney Experience app for Android or iPhone at https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/plan/my-disney-experience/mobile-apps/. Probably the two best features are the wait times for attractions and the ability to create/modify FastPast+ selections. I created all of my selections on a PC, but one day on a bus ride back to the resort I modified the next days selections.
8. Get the My Disney Experience app for Android or iPhone at https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/plan/my-disney-experience/mobile-apps/. Probably the two best features are the wait times for attractions and the ability to create/modify FastPast+ selections. I created all of my selections on a PC, but one day on a bus ride back to the resort I modified the next days selections.
4 weeks prior:
9. If you plan on eating at Be Our Guest, go to https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/#/reservations-accepted and login with your Disney account (created in # 4). You will have the option to make a reservation 30 days prior to your visit, as well as pre-order your meal.
Onsite:
10. Configure wireless on your devices. Verizon signal was pretty good in some areas, but just to be sure you can communicate with your party you'll probably want to configure your devices to use free wifi. In the parks the SSID was 'Disney-Guest' and in the resorts 'In-room Guest WiFi (Disney)'.
11. Bus schedule for Disney resorts - the official word is buses run every 20 minutes starting one hour before park opening. What I found is that because of early scheduled events (i.e. breakfast reservations, etc) buses run starting at 7 AM. We hopped the 7 AM bus because we had an 8:15 AM breakfast one morning.
Onsite:
10. Configure wireless on your devices. Verizon signal was pretty good in some areas, but just to be sure you can communicate with your party you'll probably want to configure your devices to use free wifi. In the parks the SSID was 'Disney-Guest' and in the resorts 'In-room Guest WiFi (Disney)'.
11. Bus schedule for Disney resorts - the official word is buses run every 20 minutes starting one hour before park opening. What I found is that because of early scheduled events (i.e. breakfast reservations, etc) buses run starting at 7 AM. We hopped the 7 AM bus because we had an 8:15 AM breakfast one morning.
More to come soon as I gather more of my notes.
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