Hi Hallie! That is exciting that you are thinking about planning a special mother daughter vacation at Walt Disney World. I can't imagine a better place to do this.
You should go ahead and book now for your resort. The
Art of Animation Resort is a fun and great place to stay. This resort offers regular type rooms with two queen beds and then family suites. I would recommend that you just consider doing a regular room for this trip since there are only the two of you. You can easily compare the pricing for this with other resorts on the
Website. You might find that your budget might even allow you to move up to a moderate resort and if so I recommend Port Orleans Riverside or French Quarter as a choice.
Once you make your resort reservation you will want to know your 180 day window for making your dining for the trip. It would be sometimes in March and on that day you will want to make these reservations so you won't be disappointed as many of them book up quickly on the first possible day.
Free Dining special offers are generally announced in the spring around April although that is never a given. Disney does things when they feel it is best and thus just keep watching as the year begins. Also be sure and understand about Free Dining. Many times the resort room will be not discounted but the dining is. You can often do just as well without the Free Dining but a great discounted resort rate.
If this seems confusing and frustrating you can always use a Disney travel agent. They will not charge for their services as long as you book your tickets and room through them so it is a great advantage if you don't have time to watch for special offers and get dining reservations. There are many out there such as MEI Travel or Small World so you might google and see what you think.