Hi John,
Welcome to planDisney! I am so excited to see that you are planning a trip for the whole family. How wonderful of you and your wife!
First things first, you and your wife will need to settle on a budget. Take a look at the
Disney Resorts Collection hotels. My family prefers deluxe and deluxe villa resorts but have also stayed at moderate and value resort hotels. Our favorite resort hotels are those with access to Walt Disney World® Monorail Transportation - Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Disney's Contemporary Resort, and Disney's Polynesian Village Resort are a few of our favorites. Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa and Disney's Contemporary Resort also have walking paths to Magic Kingdom! If you need a resort hotel that is a bit more budget friendly, try Disney's Art of Animation Resort or Disney's Pop Century Resort. Both have access to the
Disney Skyliner which would give you another transportation option.
Once you have a few resort hotel options, check vacation package pricing. Click on the
vacation package link and then click on Book your Walt Disney World Vacation today. From there you should be able to see availability and prices. I suggest that you price the room with just the two of you first and then price the other packages with four each. Keep in mind that you will need to enter the ages of the children to price those additional vacation packages. Know that there are
Special Offers that are released throughout the year so be sure to keep an eye on those, but given the size of your party, I do suggest that you secure your reservations at least six months to a year in advance. If a new Special Offer is released after you book, you can try to modify those vacation packages online through
My Disney Experience or by
contacting a Cast Member by phone.
Once you get your vacation packages booked, be sure to decide who will have My Disney Experience accounts. I suggest that one lead person in each room have an account. Then,
link your vacation packages in My Disney Experience. All of you can then connect through the
My Family & Friends List in My Disney Experience so that you can see and share all plans.
After you set up your My Disney Experience accounts and link your vacation packages, you will need to make
Disney Park Pass system reservations for everyone in your party. So, decide on which days you will visit which parks and make those park pass reservations. If you change your minds later, be sure to check the
theme park availability calendar to make sure there is still park pass availability before canceling park pass reservations to make new ones.
John, we do not yet have a return date for Disney Dining Plans, so keep your eye out for that info in the Disney Parks Blog. I am sending you a little extra pixie dust as you start planning the magic!
Magic and memories,
Donyell