Hi Kimberly! Great question! When I'm planning my own Disney World trips, I start by consulting the park calendars for the dates of my trip. The calendars tell you the operating hours of each park and whether the park is hosting Extra Magic Hours. You can also see a pop-up schedule of special events in the park by clicking the dates of your trip on the calendars. To see the calendars, go to
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/parks/, then click on the name of each park and then click "Calendar."
The information from the calendars helps you to plan which park you wish to visit for each day of your vacation. If you want to take advantage of the Extra Magic Hours, plan to visit the park that has special access for Disney resort guests each day. If your family doesn't like the idea or getting up early or staying up late to take advantage of the Extra Magic Hours, then plan to visit a park each day that's not hosting them so you won't have to deal with the additional guests they can bring to a park. If you want to see Fantasmic, plan to visit Hollywood Studios on a day when the popular show is scheduled, since it's performed only a few times a week. If you want to see a certain parade or fireworks show, plan your park schedule around those performances.
Once you've made a schedule of the parks you plan to visit each day, then you can make your dining reservations at restaurants in or near those parks. Knowing the park hours and performance times enables you to book a character breakfast before a park opens or make sure you'll be finished with dinner in time to watch an evening parade.
Hope you have a magical vacation! Come visit me again at the Moms Panel if you need more help!