Park tickets- sign up at Mousesavers.com and you'll be able to get tickets from
Undercover Tourist for a slightly better discount than the slight one they already offer the public (or ask here and maybe someone can send you the link, so you can get them sooner than waiting for the April Mousesavers newsletter, which won't be published until 4/15).
UT is a highly reputable, authorized Disney ticket seller. Many on these boards have used UT multiple times and speak highly of them. We almost always get our tickets from UT for the savings, unless we are booking a package that forces us to buy the tickets directly from Disney. Disney admission media is no longer "good forever;" once you use a park pass, it expires in 14 days after that first admission. Also, due to the limitations of FP+, some people feel that park hopping is no longer worth paying for.
Dining Plan- It's not a good deal, financially, for us. Depending on the plan, you get either 2 quick service meals (aka fast food locations) and 1 snack credit per day, or you get 1 quick service, 1 table service (regular sit-down restaurant), and 1 snack per day. "Meals" consist of entree, dessert, non-alcoholic beverage. Plans also cover tax (I think) and include a refillable mug for each person. Regardless of the plan, it's still only two meals a day, so you will have to either share meals to stretch your credits, or pay out of pocket for one meal (or snacks) each day. We don't necessarily eat in the "meal plan mode" and have found it saves us about $100
per person to purchase meals OOP as compared to purchasing the plan. Some people like it for the convenience of having food pre=paid, but I'd rather have the money in my pocket!
Value resort- We have stayed at POP and ASMusic, and we think it's a toss-up. Rooms are basically identical; 2 double beds (getting a king is a rare, and not guaranteed, occurrence), small bathroom, refrigerator (so you can keep breakfast food and cold drinks on hand). Size and comfort-wise, think EconoLodge. These are perfectly adequate rooms and are usually our choice, as we are there to go to the parks, not vacation at the resort hotel. We think the food court is better at POP, but like the smallness of ASMu. Pools are of minimal value to us.
Table service meals- You can make your reservations (known in Disney-speak as ADRs, Advanced Dining Reservations) NOW for the restaurants you want. You don't have to have tickets to the parks or reservations at Disney hotels to make dining ADRs. I would sketch out a basic park-day plan (which park will you be in on what day?) and then make my ADRs ASAP… possibly before actually making any other plans. You are probably already too late to find availability at several of the popular restaurants. When you make your reservations, they will take your credit card number. If you aren't going to actually GO to your ADR, you have to cancel it the day before or you will be subject to a $10 per person no-show fee. This fee makes having ADRs a little scary- what if you don't go to Disney? What if you change your minds about where to eat?- but as long as you keep track of your ADRs and remember to cancel if you aren't going to use them, you're fine.
Fast Passes- Yes, you can now pre-reserve your fast pass time. This is Disney's new FastPassPlus program (FP+), and all the old paper fastpasses no longer exist. You can reserve riding time on most attractions 60 days in advance if you are staying at a Disney hotel, 30 days in advance if you are offsite. The process can be confusing, but there are threads here to help you. BASICALLY… Disney now lives-and-breathes through the My Disney Experience program. Basically this is an online account where your hotel reservation, ADRs, and park tickets (among bother things, like the MemoryMaker photo package) are all registered. Once your tickets are registered in your
MDE account, you can book your fastpass times, so you know in advance that on Day X, at time Y, you will be riding attraction Z. You are limited to THREE fast passes a day, but once you use these (on your park day), you can go to special kiosks in the park, see what rides still have FPs available at what times, and book ONE additional FP. Once you use this one, you can book ONE more. Lather, rinse, repeat. You can only make FP+ reservations in ONE park per day (which brings the "value" of park hopping into debate). The only other "rule" is that at DHS and Epcot, the attractions are TIERED, and you are limited to ONE tier one experience in your original 3-FP+ reservations. This can get icky, because it guarantees having to wait in at least one LONG line if you want to experience both headliners. There are lots of FP+ threads on the Disboards to help you figure out how to make your FP+ reservations, strategies for maximizing FP+ use, etc. (MesaBoy has a great thread going, very helpful if you can wade through it). Of course there are many opinions on this new system- about as many opinions as there are Disney fans!
Magic Bands- Disney no longer uses traditional park tickets. NOW, you get a magic band. This is basically a rubber bracelet with an RFID chip embedded within it that you wear 24/7 while at WDW. This chip carries all your park FP+ info, ticket info, resort info, ADRs, and any other "reservable" plans you have. It also acts as your room key, and if you decide to link it to your credit card you can also use it for charging. Basically it's "one stop shopping" and in theory, you should never need to carry anything in your pockets when you go to Disney- just strap on your Magic Band and you are "good to go." In reality, it doesn't work this smoothly, and many folks still carry a credit card, some cash, and a hard-copy of their ADRs, FP+ reservations, etc., as back-up. You should also know that Disney has the ability to track your every move and location while you are at WDW if you are wearing or carrying your magic band; this concerns some people, others don't care at all.
Remember back in the day, when it was "easy" to go to Disney??
, I would try to stay at a moderate resort. For a few reason, May is graduation time, and schools just starting to get out and its beginning of the summer crowds. I would go for Caribbean Beach as I find I have gotten better deals on these rooms lately. If this is not going to work out with the budget, I would go for AoA or Pop.
