Totally Overwhelmed!

[ABMickey]

Sounds like you have an edge on me though with your previous trips! I'm getting my head around it all slowly but surely.

 

[King Dominic]

As an AP holder at Disneyland I thought I'd be sailing with planning our first ever trip to WDW - boy was I wrong! The Fastpass system, ADRs, where to stay and transportation between parks has me flooded with confusion.

We finally decided on a hotel (Port Orleans Riverside) and have decided to rent a car as the bus transportation system around WDW gets lots of complaints about wait time for buses. The hardest thing so far is figuring out dining. We're staying Oct 28-Nov 3 and have purchased Halloween party tickets for the 31st. We booked the stay on April 17 and was told at that time our dining window would open May 1st - I didn't realize the importance of this date. Only when I started researching the dizzying choices of table service restaurants and looking at availability (none) did I realize I should have hit that reservation line first thing May 1st. It seems now that BOG dinner or CRT Breakfast/lunch/dinner is out of the question unless a time opens up during our Halloween party. I'm reading the wealth of information on the boards here which I truly appreciate. You almost need a "Disney degree" to make sense of it all DL is very different probably due to the size - reservations are a breeze even 60 days out It'x exciting though to be planning this trip - I just want to make sure I can give my 3 boys some magical dining experiences in the short time we'll be there.

AbMickey

I wouldn't rent a car. The buses aren't that bad and even if it looks like it'll be a long wait, use Lyft or Uber. The few times(most likely)that you'll use it will be WAY cheaper than renting a car. We stayed at an All Star last year and the most expensive Lyft ride we took was like $7.

As far as the ADR's go, set up a free account on Touringplans.com to receive notifications of openings. I was able to change our BOG ressie to a better time like 3 days before. That is also a bit blown out of proportion. If you're looking for PPO ADR's, it might be a little tougher but it can still be done. People book like 5 ADR's a day and then as they finalize their plans, they start dropping them. Also, go to the Dining Reservation thread on here and look for the month you're going, there's an ongoing thread with people willing to coordinate transferring them to you.

I booked ADR's on our 180 day day and out of those 10, I probably only kept 2 or 3. I ended up getting a PPO at Akershus & Bon Voyage Breakfast, got a better time for dinner at CRT, got a better time for Minnie's Holiday Dine at H&V....so it can be done.

Same thing with FP's. People will change their minds and stuff will open up after the initial onslaught right at 60 days out.

You do have to keep up on it but, it's not as bad as some on here make it seem. ESPECIALLY THE BUSES!!!! USE LYFT!!!!(Not the Minnie Vans powered by Lyft, just Lyft)

Enjoy your trip!!!!!!!

 

[wisteria1019]

Relax. Enjoy. Don't overthink. Reading the boards contributes to a sense of urgency. You have your flights, resort, some ADRS. All is well. As you mentioned the number of dining possibilities are daunting, so if first choice isn't available, there will still be great options - check daily once you are there for openings. Have a great time.

 

[luvmy2boyzz]

Another one who's happy with Disney transportation. We've never had a horribly long wait time and it is refreshing to sit in an air conditioned bus and let someone else drive! We also love the boat option for Disney Springs from POR, we usually end up there most evenings for pin trading. I also travel with boys and some of their favorite restaurants are Sci-Fi, Whispering Canyon and TREX. We can always get a dinner ressie for Whispering Canyon, have had luck with lunch ressies for Sci-Fi, but have never been able to get a reservation for TREX! However, we always eat there, just put our name in and usually get a table within a half hour or so. Good luck! You will have tons of fun!!

 

[ABMickey]

Going to give Disney Transportation a go! Can't be that bad. I've made a cheat sheet of park to park/hotel to park options for transportation based on amount of time each one (usually) takes. Direct bus seems the quickest but other options such as ferry may give us a different experience. Have ADR for Sci-Fi but trying to move it to earlier in the day. I have read good things about Trex so I'm hoping to try that also. It's part of the Landry's group so I may be able to get reservations a bit easier. Can wait! Just trying to absorb as much as I can!

Thanks for all the help everybody - very much appreciated!

 

[King Dominic]

Going to give Disney Transportation a go! Can't be that bad. I've made a cheat sheet of park to park/hotel to park options for transportation based on amount of time each one (usually) takes. Direct bus seems the quickest but other options such as ferry may give us a different experience. Have ADR for Sci-Fi but trying to move it to earlier in the day. I have read good things about Trex so I'm hoping to try that also. It's part of the Landry's group so I may be able to get reservations a bit easier. Can wait! Just trying to absorb as much as I can!

Thanks for all the help everybody - very much appreciated!

You'll be fine! I would familiarize myself with the Lyft app if I were you though. One of our Epcot days last year we had a PPO at Akershus so we took a Lyft to the Boardwalk and then walked into Epcot through the International Gateway instead of walking all the way back from the front gate. Another time Lyft was especially handy was when we had a Bon Voyage breakfast at the Boardwalk. Lyft takes you right to the hotel. Just in situations like that is when it comes in really handy. Have a great trip!!!!

 

[ABMickey]

Sorry to revive an old thread but I’m getting close to my 60 day fastpass window and I’m concerned the system is not recognizing my on site reservations despite them being listed under MDE. My fastpass window opens August 29th I think at 4am pacific. However, looking today at how far ahead it lets me look I can only go to Sept 22nd. I figured 60 days out it should let me look up to about October 22nd (from today). Am I wrong?

Thx!

 

[dbavis]

yes. you can only book 30 days in advance until you get within 60 days of your reservation.

 

[DisArmyWife215]

Sorry to revive an old thread but I’m getting close to my 60 day fastpass window and I’m concerned the system is not recognizing my on site reservations despite them being listed under MDE. My fastpass window opens August 29th I think at 4am pacific. However, looking today at how far ahead it lets me look I can only go to Sept 22nd. I figured 60 days out it should let me look up to about October 22nd (from today). Am I wrong?

Thx!

I thought the same thing, that it would have a rolling date system but it doesn’t. If you’re worried you can always call in and verify with Disney when you can book fastpasses.