This is going to be my first trip to WDW. My group is going to have about 9 people in it. 3 older, 2 middle aged, and 4 children ( 2 elementary school, 2 middle school ). I’ve been to DLR once. The older people have been to Disney parks when they were younger. I would like to hit all of the parks, spending one day in each. Also for time is April or May good times to go or is October better? Ways to save money or budget strategies?
I need some tips on how to have the group split in 2. One faster paced ( younger people ), one slower paced ( older people ). Dining recommendations? Attractions for people who get motion/visual 3D sickness easily? Best rides? WDW exclusive rides? Any other tips? Thank you for trying to answer all my questions and suggest any thing else you want!
I would have the older people take a mid day breaks. Gather in the parks in the morning, have a QS lunch then split up. Have the older group that needs the slower pace head back to the resort for some down time and then meet up in the later afternoon into the evening. Plan a nice sit down dinner.
By sick, do you mean motion sickness or visual 3D sickness or both? Different medications and tactics can help but some of the screen attractions should be avoided if motions sickness meds aren’t tolerated well.
The rest is very relative to the party. I would start taking polls. Think about how y’all will split the days up at the parks and say what your top dinging the the parks. ex. If there will be 2 dinners in Epcot, I’ll ask people to pick their top 4. Hopefully there will be some cross over and that’s the keepers. Only give options that you are comfortable with, lol.
Even the fast paced crowd could use a down time day. If your trip allows, I would have a day or afternoon evening where there is no park time and you just hang out at the resortsor Disney Springs. Hoopdee Doo Review is a fabulous time for groups of all ages.
Thank you this is all helpful info!
How long do you plan to stay?
April, May, and October are all lovely times to visit. April could have spring break crowds. I’ve been in early May multiple times. It can be hot, but so can October. Are you working around a school calendar? Are you thinking October 2025 or 2026?
Are you driving or flying?
Wow! How exciting for you! The biggest step is acknowledging that this is going to take some planning. Most people go to WDW without any real idea of how it operates or what they want to do.
I know it’s going to sound like a commercial, but you should consider buying a copy of the “Unofficial Guide to WDW”
I bought one of these for my first trip to Disneyland. It was so throughout! Even though I’d been to WDW a lot I had many questions for my first visit to the other coast!
You’ll get lots of help here, but start reading as many articles and watching as many YouTube videos as your can.
Here’s a brief, “How to prepare for your WDW trip article”
Favorite vloggers of mine -
Paging Mr. Marrow
Mammoth Club
All Ears
VincentVision
Aaah welcome!! I second getting an Unofficial Guide to WDW. It was a HUGE help in planning my first trip!! The biggest help. You can even check your library- they have them sometimes!
Probably one day in each park that is 4 days correct? Then two break days so most likely 6 days. This will be in 2026 if it happens. I am working around a school schedule, but I’m not too worried about having anybody miss school days. And we would be flying.
Yes! If I end up going which is very likely I will definitely use this guide. I used the unofficial DLR guide as well it was really helpful!
I can take your word for that. I found the DLR guide at my library maybe I should look for WDW guide.
[quote=“darkmite2, post:5, topic:104556”]
Unofficial Guide to WDW”
That book is the only thing that could help me wrap my head around the vastness that is WDW.
Excellent resource!
Doing one park each day is completely normal. That would be 4 days.
This is a good idea. Try not to book too much on arrival day or on departure day.
It can feel like “losing” out on experiences by not filling those days with activities. However, IME, with a “mixed” group everyone is going to need a day to settle in and “Start” having fun. Then there’s no need to add any stress to a departure day with cramming in activities
If you can time it after Easter and before schools get out for summer you’ll have lower crowds. I understand that may not be possible with so many school aged children.
October is another good time to visit for lower crowds, but you’ll be in the later part of hurricane season. It will rain most days in spurts. However, you get all the great MNSSHP activities and decor!
Don’t plan on more than one TS per day. Personally, I don’t even plan one every day. You’ll find how quickly you get stuffed at the parks. The portions at meals tend to be really big.
A lot of days I prefer to do QS for all my meals. I will look at a lot of QS menus before I go to know my options though! (Especially if there’s a food festival or event like MNSSHP!)
I know you are asking which to avoid, but it does sound like you WANT to go to the rides that make you sick!! 
Here’s a thread dedicated to this!
GotG - Cosmic Rewind. (TL;DR = It’s a VERY fast modern version of Space Mountain. It’s an best Disney coaster anywhere)
Honorable Mentions - 7 Dwarfs Mine Train / Tron / Tower of Terror
Thank you for the information 
It’s really helpful
Your first trip to WDW! How exciting! How overwhelming!
Our first trip was in 2012. It was overwhelming! Our second trip was in 2019, it was overwhelming again because so much changed since 2012! But folks here guided me through. Ask questions throughout your planning process!
Lots of good tips here already. Jeff does a great job summarizing LL here: The Lightning Lane Thread! All WDW Info Here.
This depends on your availability and preferences! I use Tom’s stuff to identify my weeks: Best & Worst Weeks to Visit Disney World in 2025 & 2026 - Disney Tourist Blog. There are other resources online.
If it were me, I would choose to go as early as I can in April but not the weeks before Easter or after Easter. Earlier in April hopefully means better weather like lower humidity and the sun not trying to kill you! Epcot’s Flower and Garden Festival that time of year is a feast for the eyes and the stomach! Around Easter just means heavier crowds.
October is hot and humid and the risk of hurricane is real! We were there for Hurricane Milton in October 2025, the very first hurricane we experienced! WDW was closed like by 1 PM the night before Milton made landfall. And it was closed the entire next day. The upside of the trip? Low crowds in the days before Milton. Our MNSSHP was not packed! Milton was unique because it made landfall on FL’s west coast, went over central FL, and exited out FL’s east coast. Why did we go then? We were on the plane when Milton became a hurricane! And we wanted to go to MNSSHP. Epcot will have the Food and Wine Festival going on then.
I highly recommend a lunch break in an air-conditioned restaurant everyday you are in the park! The heat and humidity are no joke. Hat, neck fan, cooling towels, and umbrellas all help. Staying out of the sun between noon and 4 pm is ideal. This can be resort rest time or indoor shows. All of the parks have air-conditioned indoor areas for shows.
Excellent planning!
Dining depends on your group’s palette! Look at the menus online for both QS and TS. If your group is interested in meeting characters, I highly recommend character dining. You get 4 characters and a meal in about 90 minutes. And depending on the restaurant, they may each come around 2-3 times! The meal is in an air-conditioned restaurant. Character meals are pricey!
This is a loaded question and looks different for everyone!
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You can look up food prices at restaurants on the websites to help with your budget.
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For such a large party, renting a house off site will give you good value and everyone can get their own bed. BUT as first time visitors, the onsite LL reservation perk is HUGE and as such, will take away some of the stress and anxiety of LL reservations and doing stuff in the parks. Check out the value resorts for the best resort prices. Early entry is also a huge perk, if you are early risers. WDW does have Good Neighbor hotels that offer the same perks. I know the Swan and Dolphins hotel do because I’ve stayed there. Maybe someone else can chime in on Good Neighbor hotels in case you have hotel points.
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Bring a reusable water bottle. Buying bottled water in the park is expensive! All parks have free iced water. If the QS doesn’t have a soda dispenser that has the water, ask. Sit down restaurants will bring a pitcher to refill your water bottle before you leave or give you a cup of iced water to go.
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Either get grocery delivery or stop by the grocery store, if you have a car. Buy easy breakfast items like cereal, granola… that your group enjoys. You can get milk at your resort store. Prices are comparable to the grocery store. Buy other things such as gallons of water to drink at the resort and to give every water bottle the first fill of the day, other drinks, fruit, and veggies. I also highly recommend some Vitamin Water or coconut water. They hydrate. You can bring drinks into the parks as long as they are not in glass bottles. DH hauls around liquid IV packages he adds to his water.
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Share entrees, order a combination of appetizers and entrees, or order off of the kids’ menu at QS. When my 2 young adult kids, DH, and I go to a sit-down restaurant, we tend to order 3 entrees and maybe an appetizer. At QS, it may just be 2 entrees. That leaves room for dessert and snacking! When its just DH and myself, we may order one appetizer, entrée, and dessert. When it’s just me, kids’ menu from QS works really well! When it’s hot, we don’t want to eat that much either.
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Throw some fruit that doesn’t need refrigeration into your bag each day. They make a quick, healthy, cheap, snacks.
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Pop some ziplock bags into your bag to store leftover bought snacks such as popcorn, cookies, muffins, pretzels…
Enjoy the planning! We are here to help.
Thank you incredible tips!
What grades? I find many first time guests greatly underestimate the benefit of having strollers for young kids. There is a lot of walking at WDW! And at times the adults want to move through the parks quickly which can be difficult for young kids. Even my very active and athletic 9 year old daughter used a stroller at WDW last fall. She hasn’t used a stroller locally (even for days at museums or zoos) since she was 4.
This varies so much based on preferences and budget. We have found big savings by having groceries delivered to our room. Just by bringing bottled water and snacks into the parks (instead of buying in the parks) we save money. Also, we save time and money by having breakfast bars on our way to the parks.
I’ve been going every other year since 2020 and I still feel this when I start planning a new trip 
it’s super annoying. There shouldn’t be that much change in just 2 years but there is!
People need a PhD in WDW to go! 
A Liner title works well, too!
At least once during trip planning, I question if I need to turn in my Liner card… and then I go on the trip and have a “ca-Ching! I still got it” moment.
Easter this year is the first weekend of April. I would think, crowd wise, anything before March 28th and after April 11th should be decent.
Popcorn. Refillable popcorn bucket is probably the best budget snack. refills are cheap and the whole crew can eat out of a bucket.
Yep. In any trip over a few days we order drinks and light snack to be delivered. And DH insists on stopping for beer on the way in. Even if we leave some behind, we still save loads of $$ in the evenings. Beer at the resorts isn’t cheaper than the parks, lol.
We also like to do “brunch” and early dinner with a mid day and evening snack. 3 meals a day is excessive for us.
Ive waited for the removal letter a few times