What I will do is give you my way of seeing the parks, and then a brief overview of the attractions and the reasons why. In the following articles, we'll review the attractions and apply the tips and tricks. First on the agenda is the most obvious. PLAN, PLAN, AND PLAN again. Now I know this seems basic, but you will be surprised how many do not, at least not thoroughly. I have found there are two basic types that visit. The ones that have to see and do everything, and the ones that are just glad to be here and are satisfied with seeing what they can. Depending on your type, use this guide accordingly. Keep this in mind, it's great to attack the parks and see all you can, but don't make it where the fun and magic get lost in the fray!

One of the most important things to do, especially if you have never visited before is to obtain the maps of the parks. Just put a search on the internet and you can download and print the same maps the parks give out. Now a family meeting is in order to find out what and where all want to go. Even the smallest member of the family should get involved. With the maps in your hand you will have a good idea where everything is and when you arrive, you won't be in the dark. There are many factors involved when you plan your trip here. Common sense will tell you that a trip on any holiday, especially Christmas, Thanksgiving and even Halloween will be extremely busy and no amount of planning will guarantee seeing all you hoped for, especially if you are here only for a few days. Summertime is also very busy, as of course weekends. We have found the best times to visit WDW is right after New Years up to end of May. Also, the kids go back to school early here in Florida, beginning in August. So from the Middle of August to November (Before Thanksgiving) are the best times to plan for.

Another thing that is a big factor in the crowds at the parks is the weather. Starting in the beginning of May to the end of August, we get a lot of thunderstorms here. You can almost set you clock by them. From 2:00pm to early evening, they pop up all over, and are gone as quick. If you are hardy and don't mind getting wet, you can still see many indoor attractions as many guests will leave or will wait for the rain to go. So let's get started.

The key to seeing your favorite attractions is Disney's fastpass system. First offered in Animal Kingdom in 1999, it is the best "Magic" timesaver ever. After I explain the fastpass, we will go over what my wife and I call the "Inbetweens", those shows and attractions that do not offer fastpass or the wait time is not really that long. So while you are waiting for your "E" ticket ride time to come up, you will be seeing the other "Magical" Disney offerings. Fastpass in a nutshell is this: Go to your favorite attraction put your park ticket into the fastpass kiosk and you will receive your fastpass. Say its 10:00am and you want to ride Space Mountain. Your fastpass ticket might say "Return between 12:15pm and 1:15pm". Now you are assured of riding Space Mountain without waiting almost an hour. (The average wait at Space Mountain is about an hour!). This is very important. Disney's FastPasse's are not unlimited.

Everything is done by computer and after so many passes are distributed for an attraction, that's it. You will see a sign that says "All FastPasse's are distributed". So remember, even with fastpass, don't wait too long. An example, my wife and I love "Soarin" at Epcot. As soon as we arrive, we get our FastPasse's. We have seen them gone sometimes by noontime! Many times a popular attraction, like Soarin, you get your passes at say noontime and your time to get on is at 6:00pm! Another thing, once you get a fastpass, you will not be able to receive another one for at least and hour to an hour and a half later, again all determined by the computer and amount of people using the system.

So now that you have a basic idea how the fastpass system works, here is the simple formula: Between waiting for your fastpass time to come up, you will now visit the "Inbetweens" I mentioned earlier. So instead of standing in lines for up to an hour, you will be seeing many attractions people not in the know will miss! What Walt Disney wanted in his parks was for a person to lose himself in his magical world and forget the real one for a while. And you can get lost, WDW is huge and offers so much for the money, even going to the parks for several weeks, you will not really know the in's and out's. That's the reason for downloading the maps and studying them so you will be armed and ready to go! The next several articles to follow I will guide you through the attractions and their locations so you will have all the information you need to plan your trip and see all there is to see! Later this week, we'll start with the "Magic Kingdom" Stay tuned!