Hi Monique,
You have come to the right place and I'm glad you stopped by the Disney Parks Moms Panel to begin planning your magical trip with family and friends. It is never too early to begin this process, in my opinion. In fact, in some areas of the planning, you will want to be on top of things. For example, advanced dining reservations open up at 180 days out.
The package prices for each new year tend to be announced in the late summer/early fall. So, this could be the perfect time to get started. Some of the first things you will want to do is decide on a specific date and budget. From there, you can determine what level of resort you would like to stay at if you are staying on Walt Disney World property. There is value, moderate, and deluxe resorts. Each of these categories has several resorts to choose from. I would recommend purchasing a travel guide or two at your local bookstore, such as Birnbaum Guides: Walt Disney World or the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World. Using these as well as the
Walt Disney World Resort website, you can browse through these resort options to determine which one might be the best for your family and traveling party based on your budget and interests. The next step would be to determine whether you will want to purchase a package that includes one of the Disney Dining Plans. This can be a hassle-free and cost effective way to purchase your meals throughout your trip, although it is not required and you can purchase a vacation package that just includes room and theme park tickets.
As I said earlier, you will also want to consider choosing several must-do meals for your traveling party such as character meals, restaurants or dinner shows. Many of these are extremely popular and will book up quickly. So, you don't want to miss that 180 day window.
Feel free to stop back by here with more questions as you planning continues.
~Allison L