The Disney Series | 004 | Helpful Resources For Planning Your Walt Disney World Holiday

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One thing you have to know about me is that I am a planner girl, I love list making, organising and stationery. If there's something to be planned I'm up for the task. Our wedding day was planned down to the last detail and our honeymoon will be no exception! I've used quite a lot of planning tools for our trip so far and today I thought I would share these with you.

Firstly, I would definitely recommend ordering the Free Disney Planning Tools from the WDW website, they do take a few weeks to arrive so I would order these even before you're serious about booking your trip because by the time you've made that decision, they'll be on your doormat. I think we waited almost a month before ours arrived. We ordered the 2015 brochure, which contains information about tickets, hotels and resorts and information about Florida and the surrounding area. We also ordered The Little Book of Magic, which contains park maps and detailed descriptions about all six Disney parks.

Also, whilst we are on the subject of books, I would like to take the opportunity to recommend the 2015 Brit Guide to Orlando. Although a little pricey (imo) at £14.99 (it's cheaper on Amazon at £10.49 - at the time of writing this post), this guide has so far been invaluable, providing information on ESTA's (visa waiver) maps, the parks and information about what to do if you're planning on visiting areas outside of Orlando. One of my work colleagues gave me her 2008 guide and after flicking through I knew I was going to have to purchase the more updated version.

Website wise, you obviously can't go wrong with the official Walt Disney World website, it's a treasure trove of information on hotels, parks, characters, restaurants...I could go on. If you've already booked your holiday, make sure you sign up to My Disney Experience, where you can plan and organise your trip into each day, decide what park(s) you're going to visit, book restaurants, fastpasses and see which parades and events are on each day. I've had so much fun organising what we will be doing each day!

Most of the other websites I have found are mostly blogging based. If you watch YouTube, you have to take a look at See Ya Reel Soon. Vloggers Joe & Ashley visit they parks fairly regularly and vlog their whole trip, every Wednesday (about 2pm GMT) a new video goes live on their channel full of their adventures in the parks. Another favourite of mine is Ellie Steadman. Her channel is full of helpful hints and tips and she has also just returned from DLP and is putting up her videos every few days.

Another vlogger who I have found has really helped me with my trip is Charlotte from Lilmisschickas. We booked the Port Orleans Riverside Resort based on a YT video she posted and her Disney vlogs have kept us excited over the last six months since booking our trip. She also recommended taking a look at the unofficial Port Orleans website and this has been so helpful in finding out more about our hotel before we arrive.

I also have a few other bloggers which I must mention as I frequently check their blogs for Disney content. Ellis Tuesday currently has a Florida series which is really helpful especially for finding out about Florida in general and not just the parks. Danielle at Underland To Wonderland, loves Disney and has some beautiful posts on Disneyland Paris. I have also recently discovered Cocktails In Teacups and Journeys are my Diary who have both just returned from WDW. It's always helpful reading about other people's experiences and most people have lots of hints and tips which will be useful for our trip.

I hope you have found this post useful, Obviously when I return from my trip I will be able to give you a better idea of things I have encountered during my experience.

Have you been to WDW before? Do you have any helpful tips?

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