Category — y. Navigating This Site

A CHEAT SHEET FOR 2012 AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

James McC. emailed last month to thank me for this site, and among other things said “It really helped, it was kind of like a cheat sheet.”

A “Cheat Sheet” is a “concise set of notes used for quick reference” and is a great description of what the site is trying to do.

Moreover, noodling around, it struck me that the charts that people
pin on Pinterest create another kind of “cheat sheet,” as a crowd-sourced indicator of what people find worth bookmarking and sharing.

So based on these thoughts and what people have put on Pinterest, I’ve put together a four-page powerpoint Walt Disney World 2012 Cheat Sheet. Click the link to open up the (2.5 mb) powerpoint file. (The image at the top of this page is an example page from it.)

This page is part of a series on navigating this site.

On this page you’ll find help with finding stuff on this site.

WALT DISNEY WORLD RESOURCES FOR FIRST TIME VISITORS

This site was designed so that first time visitors to Walt Disney World could build a great trip from looking at and following the instructions on just one page–the home page.

The home page also has links for building a trip if any of the instructions can’t be followed, and the promise of the site is to rank order your next best choices, to make planning easy, fast, and sound.

First time visitors may also benefit from looking at How to Use this Site.

DISNEY WORLD RESOURCES BY TOPIC

Another way to get into broad topics such as Where to Stay or When to Go is to use the links on the left side.

The left side links in red contain the core advice for the topic.

The links under the red links–especially the ones titled (More)–present all the key pages on the site on that topic.

GETTING INFO ON SPECIFIC DISNEY WORLD ISSUES AND QUESTIONS

If you want to learn more about specific items like the Dining Plan, FASTPASSSES, current discounts, the Wilderness Lodge, etc, the fastest way to get to them is to use the search box in the top right.

Just type in what you want to learn about and hit search.

Some other resources for specifics include the FAQ page and the Site Map.

BROWSING AROUND AND SEEING WHAT’S AVAILABLE ON THE SITE

The best way to get a full sense of the scope of the site is to look at the Site Map.

I build most of the Site Map by hand (the category section at the end is automatic) and do not include all of the more than 900 pages of material on this site–but it’s still the most comprehensive guide to the specifics of the site.

The (More) pages in the left side links are also a good way to see what’s available by topic.

SOME OTHER DISNEY WORLD TOPICS

Some material doesn’t fit well into the basic architecture from its cross-cutting or family specific nature. Clicking these links will get you to special sections:

• Military Families
• Large Families
• Families on a Tight Budget
• Families Looking for the Most Comfortable Trip

WHAT’S NEXT FOR WAYFINDING ON THE SITE

Frequent visitors to the site will note that over the last 6 months I’ve simplified the site navigation.

The site used to have three lines of links at the very top, twice as many links on the left side, twice as many links at the bottom, and a whole blog-style navigation (with a different architecture!) on the right side.

This was in addition to the top and bottom navigation that each core page typically has!

I put all these links in because I didn’t want visitors to miss what I saw as key information, and because I can’t predict in advance what leads people to come to the site. (Visitors have come using more than 140,000 different searches topic!)

However, I got strong advice from people I trust to cut and simplify the navigation.

It was potentially overwhelming to first time visitors–defeating the purpose of the site of making first trips to Disney World as simple to plan as they can be–and repeat visitors would possibly lose the forest for the trees.

The fix for first-time visitors was to ruthlessly cut navigation. I may have not cut enough…the list of Top Ten pages on the left side may be unnecessary…

Key to the fix for returning visitors was developing the (More) links on the left side. These pages are currently ugly, but pretty comprehensive.

My next step is to hire a WordPress developer* to create context sensitive sidebars.

When this is done, when you are on a page related to “When to Go,” then the navigation will show many of the links currently in the More on When to Go page. This will allow me to cut a lot of the navigation that’s at the bottom of pages.

There’s some plug-ins that try to do this, but all the ones I’ve tried have led to inconsistent results…so I’ll have to hire somebody…

I’d love to hear your navigation suggestions–use the comment form below!

*The site is built on a WordPress platform, which allows a technical idiot like me to keep it going…

MORE ON WHEN TO GO TO DISNEY WORLD

This page brings together to one place key links to help decide when you should go to Disney World.

It’s part of a series on navigating this site.

LINKS FOR WHEN TO GO TO WALT DISNEY WORLD

For when to go to Walt Disney World, see this

For the next best dates, see this

For the best and worst times to visit, see this

• For 2013 weeks to visit, ranked in order, see this
• For the 2013 Week Picker, click here
• For 2014 weeks to visit, ranked in order, see this

For the 2013 Crowd Calendar, click here

For the 2014 Crowd Calendar, click here

For seasonal pricing at Walt Disney World, see this

• For 2013 price seasons, click here
• For projected 2014 price seasons, see this

For weather at Walt Disney World, see this

• High Temperatures Year Round
• Average Rainfall by Arrival Date
• Hurricanes
• Tornadoes
• Chance of Winter High Temperature Over 75
• Pool Days November through February
• Winter Ride Closures

The Tightwad’s Guide to When to Go

The Most Comfortable Time to Go

Frequently Asked Questions

Upcoming Months

• August
• September
• October
• November
• December
• January
• February

Seasons of the Year

• Winter
• Spring Break
• Easter
• Summer
• Autumn
• Halloween
• Thanksgiving
• The Christmas Season
• New Year’s Eve

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook!

MORE ON HOW LONG TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

This page brings together to one place key links to help decide how long your family should stay at Disney World trip on this site.

It’s part of a series on navigating this site.

MORE ON HOW LONG TO STAY AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

For advice on how long to stay, see this

For other trip lengths, see this

For the Comfortable Guide to how long to stay, see this

For itinerary design goals and the basic December Itinerary, see this

For itineraries covering all the other parts of the year, see this

For shorter and longer itineraries targeted at the same December week, see this

To design your own itinerary, see this

For rides that might be skipped, see this

For a comprehensive guide to rides and attractions, see this

MORE ON HOW OLD AND TALL YOUR KIDS SHOULD BE FOR THEIR FIRST VISIT TO AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

This page brings together to one place key links to help decide whether your kids are old and tall enough for Disney World on this site.

Kids of any age can have fun at Walt Disney World; age and height are important if this trip is not only your first one, but also potentially your only one.

It’s part of a series on navigating this site.

LINKS FOR HOW OLD AND TALL YOUR KIDS SHOULD BE FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD

How Old/Tall Your Children Should Be

What if They’re Too Short/Young?

Taking Your Too Short/Young Kids Anyway,&*#$@!!

The Comprehensive Guide to Rides

Ride Height Requirements

Rides That Might be Skipped

MORE ON WHERE TO STAY AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

This page brings together to one place key links to help decide what resort hotel to stay at on your Disney World trip on this site.

It includes links to material for typical families, but also for large families, military families, families on tight budgets, and families looking for a particularly comfortable trip.

It’s part of a series on navigating this site.

LINKS FOR WHERE TO STAY AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

• For where to stay, see this
  • For your next best choices, in order, see this
  • For picking your resort based on appeal to kids, see this
  • For picking your resort based on convenience, see this
  • For where not to stay, see this

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• For what you get in each resort price category, see this
  • For Walt Disney World resort price seasons, see this
  • For resort reviews, see this
  • For the value resorts, see this
    1. Art of Animation
    2. Pop Century
    3. All-Star Movies
    4. All-Star Sports
    5. All-Star Music
  • For the moderate resorts, see this
    1. Caribbean Beach
    2. Coronado Springs
    3. Port Orleans Riverside
    4. Port Orleans French Quarter
    5. The Cabins at Fort Wilderness Resort.
  • For the deluxe resorts, see this
    1. Polynesian
    2. Wilderness Lodge
    3. Animal Kingdom Lodge
    4. Contemporary Resort
    5. Grand Floridian
    6. Beach Club
    7. Yacht Club
    8. BoardWalk Inn
  • For suites at the deluxe resorts, see this
  • For the Disney Vacation Club (“DVC”) Resorts, see this
    1. The Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
    2. Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas–Jambo House
    3. Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas–Kidani Village
    4. Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
    5. Disney’s Beach Club Villas
    6. Disney’s Boardwalk Villas
    7. Disney’s Old Key West Resort
    8. Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa, main resort
    9. Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort, Treehouse Villas area
  • The Campsites at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort

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• For a (geeky) overview of comparative room size, see this

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• Large families should look at this, and also at
  • Large Families Looking for Value Pricing at Walt Disney World
  • Large Families Looking for Deluxe Accommodations at Disney World
  • Beds and Sleeping Spaces at the Walt Disney World Resorts
  • Renting Disney Vacation Club Points
  • Suites at Walt Disney World

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• Military/DOD families should look at this

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• Tightwads should look at this

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• Families seeking the most comfortable place to stay should see this