Kailey,
We at planDisney are always glad to help. It sounds like you might be new to Walt Disney World, and due to arrive in a few months, am I correct?
First of all, it is important to have your basic first planning steps figured out. I just helped someone with a similar first name (Kaleigh), who also was looking for some initial planning guidance, and here are the first steps I told her to figure out.
When are you going? Disney is great all year long, but the
"School Rule" will tell you that if school is in session, the parks tend to be lighter. If school is out, the crowds get larger. Summer months, as well as the Thanksgiving and the Christmas-to-New Year holiday seasons range from busy to extremely busy. Get a solid idea of what dates you plan to visit. If you can visit at a lighter time of year, that would be great.
Who is going? Have the ages of who will be traveling ready and at hand. This will help you gauge costs for tickets and meals, as pricing does change from adults (ages 10 and older) to children (ages 3 to 9), to toddlers (under 3).
Where will you stay? I always recommend that you price out your vacation with stays at one option each for the Value, Moderate, and Deluxe resort categories. This way you find the resort that best matches your budget. I stay at resorts in each category regularly, dependent upon what kind of trip I am on, and what I hope to see and do.
How Long will you visit? I think that the ideal duration is 6 days, spending 2 days at the
Magic Kingdom Park, 1 day each at the other three parks (
EPCOT,
Disney's Hollywood Studios, and
Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park), and 1 day at the resort pool. But you can make fewer days work just fine, so know what time you have available before you book.
What tickets should you buy? Obviously you buy
park tickets for the amount of days that you want to visit parks, but also consider if the Park Hopper option is a good idea or not. On a shorter stay it lets you visit more than one park in a day, which can help you see more of all that Walt Disney World has to offer.
How should you book this? You can book directly at the Walt Disney World website, but if you go to a no-fee Disney Authorized Vacation Planner you will pay the same amount and get some great personal expertise to help with your planning.
So why don't you write us back after you consider these first questions, and let us know what remaining questions you might have? We can help with suggesting which resort in each category might best match your group needs if you tell us just a bit more about your party and what you are looking for in the vacation. We can help with dining suggestions, from best counter service snacks to what table service meals are worth the reservation. We can even suggest what parks to go to in what order, and what digital tools, like the
My Disney Experience App, can help ease your planning, organization, and time in the parks!
Have a Magical Vacation!Doug