Hi there, Wendy!
Wow. Planning two vacations for so many people is a huge undertaking. Luckily, you have come to the right place for help! Planning holiday vacations at Walt Disney World Resort is what I live for, so I am thrilled to be able to give you some tips to help you and your party have a holly jolly good time.
Wendy, the first thing that you will want to do is to get your resort booked. Personally, I love to stay on-site at a
Walt Disney World Resort hotel because of the convenient transportation options and the immersive theme of each resort. If your party decides to stay on-site you can either book two regular hotel rooms in any category of resort, or book a multi-room suite at a Deluxe Villa hotel.
While you are able to purchase your hotel room and tickets together in a vacation package, I would actually recommend that you purchase your
tickets separately. This is because as a
Florida resident you are entitled to some great discounts on theme park tickets, however as you must be a Florida resident to use these tickets, only some members of your party will be able to take advantage of the discount.
Wendy, the next thing that you need to do is to make a theme park reservation on the
Disney Park Pass system. A reservation is required for each day that you plan to visit a theme park. Since historically both the week of Thanksgiving and the week of Christmas have been busier than normal, I would recommend that you purchase your tickets, link them to your
My Disney Experience account, and make your Disney Park Pass system reservations as soon as possible.
Reservations are recommended for any sit-down restaurant and can be made 60 days out. Once you have figured out which theme park you wish to visit on which day, you can go ahead and make any dining reservations that you would like within that time frame.
Wendy, one thing that I love to do is to have my family members go through the
attractions list on the Walt Disney World Resort website and pick out one or two must-dos for each day of our trip. This helps me prioritize attractions once we get into the park, and gets everyone excited about the trip as well!
Since you are visiting during the holidays, be sure to check out all of the
festive happenings at Walt Disney World Resort. And Wendy, come back here to planDisney if we can help you figure out where to stay, eat, or play during your festive vacation!
If you can dream it, you can do it.
Sarah B.