How does one even start planning a trip to Disney World? That is the first question you ask yourself when you realize you want to actually take your family to that world premiere destination. Planning a Disney World vacation is not for the faint of heart. I am embarrassed to to say this, but the fact that Disney4Shore goes every year amazes me. She really knows her DisneyWorld. Knows it in her head! (I said she is amazing). I, on the other hand, know nothing in my head, but do know exactly where to look for the right information. And this to me is the only way to plan a Disney World trip. With the one best, most valuable, and comprehensive resource for Disney World vacation planning.
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The last time I went to DisneyWorld was 10 years ago in 2009–no joke! My family has focused on other destinations and my husband is not a Disney fan. But this coming winter I have a conference coming up at Disney World with my awesome friend Kendra at When’s My Vacation. (Kendra is also a Disney World knowledgeable individual.) We have one day to spend at the parks outside of our conference and I need to figure out what we can do. So I turned to the only resource I truly trust for Disney World planning advice, The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World –2019 version (they update it every year so get the year you are going or closest to it).
I will tell you the number one reason I trust this book for planning and their website TouringPlans.com. And they say it right in the back of their book to a reader’s questions, “When you do your research, are you admitted to the park for free? Do the Disney people know you’re there?”
We pay regular admission; usually Disney doesn’t know we’re on-site. We pay for our own meals and lodging, both in and out of the World.
I feel this says they at least understand how expensive it is to go to Disney World and they will do their best to search it all out and assess it fairly. That’s important to me since I visit so rarely and it needs to based those kinds of assessment. Just reading a few excerpts of the book and I immediately started to feel like they really wanted to help me enjoy the Disney vacation. They weren’t afraid to say when something is more flash than value. It felt very practical. They are fans, NOT cult members.
I love hearing all that friends, bloggers and family say about loving the queue themes and enjoying the side things to play on and in. I enjoy others talk about how much they like the fun of walking and feeling the atmosphere there. And for those people it’s great and works for their vacation style. I like to ride rides, see everything possible and actually feel like I got my monies worth (actually I want to feel like I got a better deal than I paid for, but I realize that feeling threshold is pretty hard for me to achieve).
Ok now I will tell you the other reason I love The Unofficial Guide to Walk Disney World. My husband hates Disney World. I think deep down he just hates that it is telling him to be happy and there is a cult-like following to the place, but whatever the reason, I am taking an unwilling participant on a Disney vacation. An unwilling participant who gets cranky waiting in long lines. The touring plans in The Guide are genius!! They saved us sooooo much time in line.
3 caveats with the using the touring plans
- You must follow the plan!!
- You always have to arrive before rope drop for it to be effective
- You must prepare children for this not being a wander or randomly choose tour of the Magic Kingdom etc.
When used these touring plans kept my husband from being cranky. He even thanked me for planning so well. everyone enjoyed the trip. –In truth that family vacation actually set me up to be the family tour guide for all vacations. This is a good thing from my perspective.
Now, I need to dig into the guide and figure out how I am going to spend one day in the parks when I visit. How do I narrow down to one day! Obviously, 90% of the park won’t happen, but I hope by reading parts of this book I can catch up on changes and get an idea of what I must see and what I can skip. Of course all this research could lead to an actual family trip in the near future.
If you want to read about more of Diesny4Shores or FaveMom’s Disney experiences check out these posts:
