Planning for Disney World is an experience in itself.
I'm going with some friends in October, and it can be overwhelming. When you say you're going to Disney, people are all too happy to dish out advice and tips and point you towards websites and podcasts that will help. It's actually really cool: even if they're not going, people tend to be excited that you're going. The fun thing is that of my friend group here, all five of my besties and I are going within a year. My roommate just came back, another friend is going in April, I'm going with another in October, and the last is going over Thanksgiving. This means we can give each other tips and share what we find out between ourselves. I'm not what you'd call a Disney person. I have movies I like, and I've been to Disneyland a bunch of times, but I haven't been to Disney World since I was seven and I wasn't really in a rush to do so. And then everyone else started going, and they had so much fun talking about it that I started wanting to have fun too.
And so I'm going to pass on some of what I've learned so far to you.
Resources:
MouseSavers is a great site that gives tips on how to save money at the park, and before you get to the park. It's updated super frequently, so you get good current information.
WDW Info is good for more general info, or if you're looking to try the cruise or Disneyland.
Mad Chatters is a podcast that's basically a couple guys who talk about Disney all the time. I haven't listened to a ton of it yet, but the ones I have listened to are actually really helpful.
WDW Radio is a more of a deep dive podcast, with reviews of places and background info.
And one thing I'm doing to save money is something people keep telling me is a great idea and I feel like someone would have said by now if it was stupid: There are Disney gift cards. Not the Disney Store, but Disney gift cards, which can be used at the parks and hotels. I've had this issue with having emergencies spring up and sucking away money I'd been saving, so to bypass that, once a month I'm getting a gift card. Even if it's only a denomination of $25, that's still $250 by October that will be used specifically for Disney. You can consolidate them online, so that by the end you're only using one instead of juggling a bunch of cards. You can even get discounts at places like Sam's Club and Costco, supposedly. I've read about Costco, but there aren't any at mine. They are at Sam's Club, but by me it's only three-packs. Be aware.
We're waiting on someone to confirm dates and other stuff, but we've narrowed it down to three hotels (Port Orleans, Caribbean Beach Resort, and Art of Animation if we need to go cheaper) and know our dates, and there are a couple of us who absolutely know the sorts of things we want to do AND OUR THIRD NEEDS TO GET BACK TO US ALREADY. We're having debates about whether Memory Maker is worth it and if we really want to do the dining plans, and I'm sending at least a couple emails per week to my own personal Disney Goddess who seems to know everything. It's really easy to get sucked into all of it.
Literally as I type this, my roommate just told me she taped a few shows off the Travel Channel about Disney for me. See what I mean?
If you have tips and tricks of your own, or references you'd like to share, go ahead and drop them in the comments! Every little bit helps, right?
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