Contact

32 comments

1 Kevin R. { 05.06.08 at 8:33 am }

Dave,

What a wonderful and useful site!

Kevin R.

2 larry garland { 05.17.10 at 2:34 pm }

have spent time looking thru the info. cant find pricing..what is cost for one day june 9. 2 kids 5 nd 7 years old. ,2 aarp seniors, and 3 adults. what time does park open.

3 Dave { 05.17.10 at 3:12 pm }

Hi Larry!

• For Disney World ticket prices, see this.
• For links to Disney World hours of operation, see this.

Hope this helps and have a great trip!

Dave

4 Brandon { 12.29.10 at 1:32 pm }

Just wanted to tell you that I really appreciate your website and how invaluable the information was to me on my recent (Dec ’10) trip to WDW. I have been to Disney every year for almost 20 years and have always done it a certain way. Your suggestions on how to plan a Christmas time experience were eye-opening. After a flawless vacation with 2 under the age of 3, I will be “doing it your way” from now on in December. Many thanks!

5 Dave { 12.29.10 at 2:18 pm }

Brandon—thanks so much for your comment!

Anything about your trip that suggests any advice I should change?

6 Scott { 01.29.11 at 8:17 pm }

We just got back from a trip to Disney 1/23/11- 1/27/11. It was crowded. We had 60-70 minute waits for most rides. The fast passes were all given out on some rides by 11:00am. This was very disappointing because in years past January was considered a low crowd month, especially towards the end of January. Just thought I would let you know how crowded it was recently.

7 Dave { 01.30.11 at 4:46 pm }

Scott–I was at WDW from 1-21 through 1-26 and found the crowds as I would expect them–that is, quite low compared to other times of the year. If the wait times and FASTPASS outages were re Toy Story Mania, that’s typical on any day, which is why getting to it when the park opens is featured on all my itineraries.

8 Greg { 02.09.11 at 6:15 pm }

Dave, how or who do I contact to find out if the Quickie dining plan is available during my stay? Is it available when staying at the value resorts?

9 Dave { 02.09.11 at 6:42 pm }

Hi Greg!

The Disney Dining Plan is always available.

It’s not always available for free, if that’s what you meant. Right now there are no promotions being offered for free dining. This may change!! In most recent years, Disney has mades it available for stays from mid-August through the end of September, and announced this in late spring…

Keep your eye on this page for discount updates: http://yourfirstvisit.net/2010/03/29/walt-disney-worlds-latest-spring-and-summer-deal/

10 jamie { 05.07.11 at 4:38 pm }

What a great site! Wish I saw it sooner! We’re booked to go for our first trip from 11/8 through 11/13. I knew it was NJ week (my sister lives there and we were planning on meeting them here and there throughout the trip) but didn’t know it was Epcot Food and Wine Festival. I am officially worried. My kids will be 7, 4 and 2. They are currently not into roller coasters at all, which I believe makes it at least a little easier. Did I pick the worst time imaginable? I just don’t want it to be so crowded that we can’t enjoy ourselves. I can tweak the dates a little, if it would even matter. What do you think?

Jamie

11 Dave { 05.07.11 at 4:53 pm }

Jamie, you’ll be fine.

There’s plenty of better weeks, but this is not a bad week–just not one of the better weeks. Food and Wine has little impact, and Jersey week only a moderate impact!

If you want to tweak, either way–arriving earlier or staying later–will help with Jersey Week.

12 Gail { 05.24.11 at 4:46 pm }

We have a Disney vacation scheduled for Nov. Two years ago we got free dining. Is this available through AARP? We couldn’t get free dining this year but was told that we could get it though AARP. Also, my son and his family are going. I wondered
if it was available to me would they be eligible to get the free dining also ?

13 Dave { 05.24.11 at 6:45 pm }

Hi Gail! I’m sorry but the only discounts I track are those offered directly by Disney, so I don’t know.

14 Tom { 05.25.11 at 10:17 am }

Dave, I have looked at your site and used it considerably the past 3 years we have gone. Am planning for this year and had a question re: dining. Do you feel there is any relationship between availability of ADR’s and crowd level? Last year, we went Nov.12-19 and it was more crowded than expected. Particularly, one family in the park who have always gone that week (due to a convenient, non-conventional school schedule) commented that they had NEVER seen it that crowded that week and were shocked. During our planning, I noted that there were ample ADR’s available, which led me to believe that we would have low crowds (along with your site of course) but that was not the case. Just wondering what your thoughts were on that. And a second question – do you know where I can find a historical calendar of crowd levels?? Thanks so much for your work on this site. It is really beneficial!!! Tom

15 Tom { 05.25.11 at 10:19 am }

oh and I also meant to add that we are looking at Sept. 2011 right now, and my above question is relevant because I see FEWER ADR’s available the last week of Sept. and MORE ADR’s available the second week of Sept. (starting that Friday after labor day).

16 Dave { 05.25.11 at 10:43 am }

Hey Tom!

First on historical crowds–see TouringPlans.com. You have to pay (around $10) but well worth it. They also have a crowd forecast for your possible dates as well!

On the relationship of ADRs to crowds–nice observation!! I’d view it as an interesting data point, but one that can be misleading because of the ebb and flow of free dining offers and the Epcot food and wine festival…free dining periods will look worse than they really are in terms of crowds…the period right after labor day is one of the lowest crowd periods of the year…

17 Tom { 05.25.11 at 1:24 pm }

Thank you Dave!

18 Dave { 05.25.11 at 2:07 pm }

You bet!

19 Roni { 05.28.11 at 4:56 am }

Hello we are going in march 2012 for cheer comp and half vaction staying for on week. Its are first time so want to make it great.So what should I bee doing . First thing is the meal paln worth the money??? Second park hopper tickets for the whole week or for part??I don’t really know what iam doing just need a little help to get started.We have a group that goes together so if you book more people is that better or not??

20 Dave { 05.28.11 at 9:15 am }

Roni–start with the home page, it has all the basics. Then take a look at one of the To-Do Lists for some more details. You’ll have to modify the to-do lists for your specifics.

The home page is here: http://yourfirstvisit.net/ and here’s an example To-Do list: http://yourfirstvisit.net/planning-your-first-family-trip/to-do-list/to-do-lists-for-alternative-itineraries/to-do-list-v2-of-2009-autumn-winter-spring-itinerary/

21 Gordan { 07.12.11 at 10:34 pm }

Dave,

My family and I are planning a Nov 25-Dec 3 2011 trip. Since we are arriving on Friday and departing on the following Saturday (9 days), should I change the itinerary around? I wasn’t sure if your itinerary takes into account of early and late openings at certain parks on certain days. We will be staying at the Poly. By the way what a great site you have put together here. Thanks for all the info.

22 Dave { 07.13.11 at 6:05 am }

Hi Gordan and thanks!

Important parts of my itineraries tie to the specific days–Friday is Friday–and not to ‘”day 1, day 2″ etc.

However, you can easily adapt it for your dates by doing the Second Saturday evening stuff your Friday arrival night, and the Second Saturday morning stuff the next morning. Then pick up the First Saturday evening stuff for the rest of the 26th and go from there as written.

In case you didn’t note this, for those dates you should be using the Basic Itinerary–here: http://yourfirstvisit.net/planning-your-first-family-trip/basic-itinerary/

Hope this helps and have a great trip!! Dave

23 Brittany { 08.03.11 at 3:15 pm }

Hi Dave,
Just stumbled upon this awesome site! We are trying to plan our first family WDW visit, and only have 2 options of times to go (with work/ school schedules). I am mainly interested in the crowds. Which would be a better time to visit:
November 19-22 (Sat- Tues) just before Thanksgiving, or
December 17-20 (Sat- Tues) a little over a week before Christmas.

Really appreciate your help,
Brittany

24 Dave { 08.03.11 at 3:21 pm }

Hi Brittany!–I think the December days will be less busy.

25 Jennifer { 09.27.11 at 8:42 am }

Dave,
Thank you for your website! I love, love it! My husband, 2 year old and niece are going to be staying in CBR for one week beginning on 10/29. What village would you recommend to keep us closest to the “best” bus stop (if there is such a thing at CBR)? Any other strategies you can recommend for getting to the parks quickly? Being close to pools & dining are not that important to us.
Thank you for your help!

26 Dave { 09.27.11 at 8:58 am }

Hi Jennifer and thanks for the love! There really isn’t a “best” bus stop. Buses enter and go around from two different points, so what’s good for one bus is bad for another…

27 Jennifer { 09.28.11 at 9:24 am }

Thanks for the quick response Dave! I made another call to WDW and the agent tried to convince me that Port Orleans would be the way to go for quicker bus rides to park since there are less stops. Can you please comment on this?
Thank you again for your website!

28 Dave { 09.28.11 at 9:42 am }

Hi again Jennifer! There’s two Port Orleans resorts. Port Orleans French Quarter is the more convenient of the two (the other is Port Orleans Riverside and both are more convenient than CB.

I prefer CB because it has more kid appeal…

For more on convenience, see http://yourfirstvisit.net/planning-your-first-family-trip/where-to-stay/next-best-resort-choices/picking-your-resort-based-on-convenience/resort-convenience-grouped-by-price-category/ and for links to reviews of all of these “moderate” resorts, see
http://yourfirstvisit.net/2009/10/28/the-moderate-resorts-at-walt-disney-world/

29 Mireille { 10.09.11 at 7:42 pm }

I saw a chart indicating height requirement for rides along with a description of how they are scary for a 3 years old but can’t find it anymore. It will help us decide what to see or not to see

30 Dave { 10.10.11 at 7:45 am }

Hi Mireille–I focus on older kids so don’t quite have exaclty what you are looking for. The closest I have is this http://yourfirstvisit.net/2011/03/09/the-comprehensive-guide-to-walt-disney-world-rides-and-attractions/ and this http://yourfirstvisit.net/2010/04/21/ride-height-requirements-at-walt-disney-world/

Almost any guidebook has a section on rdies that might scare little ones…

31 Dina { 11.03.11 at 1:46 am }

Awesome site! Quick question.. I notice you didn’t mention TRex at Downtown Disney in your top restaurants picks. Any reason why? Do you think it’s a good dining experience (especially with young kids)?? Thanks!

32 Dave { 11.03.11 at 7:53 am }

Hi Dina! In general this site does not cover Downtown Disney… and specifically I don’t have an opinion on TRex… sorry to not be able to help!

Leave a Comment | Ask a Question | Note a Problem