The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World

Back in January Carmella woke up one day and said, "Mickey Mouse wants me to come visit him."  I have no idea where that came from.  She has never taken any interest in Mickey Mouse.  She has never seen a Mickey movie nor as best as I can remember has she ever even read a book which features Mickey Mouse.  But she was determined.  Addison was at a very low point and it didn't look as if he would be up to even traveling to the mountains two hours away for my birthday celebration in February never mind being able to withstand the stress of a trip to some place as big and loud and hot as Disney World.  At that time he weighed in at fourteen pounds and his weight loss was a great concern for our family.  Allen told Carmella we couldn't take Addison to Disney World right now but when he reached 18 pounds we would take her.  True to his word, and because I think he was looking for an excuse to go to Disney World, Allen decided we would head to Florida this fall.

circa 2012

Now the time is here when everyone is looking forward to vacation.  Our typical beach planning is usually limited to emailing our land lady to notify her of our arrival date, calling on our pet sitters and putting a bathing suit and stack of books into a suitcase.  However, a trip to Disney World requires a lot more planning and strategy.  It really is a lot of work to get ready for such a trip however I truly believe when you are talking so many options and so many people the advanced planning makes for the best possible outcome.

I often get emails asking how to make a Disney World vacation work for a family of our size.  This seems as good a time as any to share some of what has been successful for us.  I have grand ideas about a nice series here.  However, let's be realistic.  Not many of my plans work out these days.  That is doubly true when it comes to this little neglected blog.  However, I will do what I can and we will all see how it comes out.  Leave your specific questions in the comment section and I will try, try, try to get them.

The very first thing I ever do when going to Walt Disney World is pick up the newest edition of the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World.  This book covers everything you ever need to know to make a successful Disney trip.  848 pages covering lodging, restaurants and attractions as well as all the ins and outs of guests, cast members, cell phone charging stations, rest rooms, and a bunch of other stuff I can't think of right now.  If you need to know anything about Walt Disney World this is the place to look.  And, yes, I always buy the newest edition because 1- I always end up passing our marked up, wet from the pool, dog eared copy on to someone else and 2- the newest edition will have the latest attractions, like all new stuff happening in the new Fantasy Land as well as new protocol like Fast Pass +.  Yes, this is all available on line at various places but I like the simplicity of having it all in one place and these guys seriously have made a job out of finding ways around crowds and systems.  These fellows are also super friendly and helpful.  I have emailed them with specific questions about planning and timing over the years and they always get back to me with in the same day.  Along with the book we update our subscription to Touring Plans.com which gives access to crowd calendars and a phone app which all truly make it possible for you to minimize your stress and maximize your family fun.  These days you can find lots of good stuff on their blog and on their Google+ page as well.  On our last trip in 2013 we decided to surprise the kids with a last minute trip during one of the busiest times at Disney and even with little planning we had a great time by utilizing these tools.