First-timer needing help

Welcome to WDWFG! Last minute Disney trips are a blast! You guys are going to have a great time.

I'm going to do my best to answer your questions in the order you asked 'em!

-allocating our time

Decide if you're willing to split up your days to hit every single park. When I was (around) your age, my roommate and I did all 4 parks in 2 days and had a great time. If that's what you're up for, it's possible, but you've got to plan well!

This means making use of Extra Magic Hours every day and using Fastpass whenever you can.

-doing the "must-do's" and knowing what to skip over

The best things to do in the next week or so is 1. Buy an "Unofficial
Guide to Walt Disney World 2010 by Bob Sehlinger and Len Testa", and 2.
Take a look at the Disney World maps to familiarize yourself with where things are in the park (The maps at DisneyWorld.com are interactive, and you can filter them by ride, dining, etc.)

Skim through the attractions, dining, and nightlife sections of the
Unofficial Guide book. Circle your top 5-10 attractions in each park and 6 places you think would be fun to eat (based on budget). (This blog post has a great list of what some of the most popular attractions are in each park, and also has a step by step guide to creating a "touring plan" for the parks.)

Once you've determined what YOUR must-do attractions are in each park, figure out based on Extra Magic Hours (EMH) when is the best time to go to each park. Extra Magic Hours means that only people staying at Disney resorts are allowed into the parks. This is a great time to ride all of the most popular attractions with low waiting times. I'll talk more about EMH down in the itinerary section.

-fun nightlife things we can do as we've both recently turned 21

Pleasure Island is defunct now, so the best existing nightlife on property in my opinion is Jellyrolls dueling piano bar on Disney's Boardwalk. I could easily spend two nights there and have a great time. It gets crowded, so go early (8:30 or 9pm) if you can.

-maybe a loose itinerary?

Extra Magic Hours for your dates are:

2/15: Animal Kingdom EMH 8-9AM

Disney's Hollywood Studios EMH 9PM-12AM

2/16: Epcot EMH 8-9AM

2/17: Animal Kingdom EMH 8-11PM

I'm guessing you'll arrive mid-day on the 15th and leave in the
afternoon on the 17th. Also assuming you'll get a park hopper ticket. Based on that info and the EMH schedule, I'd:
--Go to Hollywood Studios the day you arrive. Hit as many rides as you can and have dinner in the park somewhere. I'm not sure I'd make Fantasmic a priority if you're only there for 2-3 days, and there's no Fantasmic in the park on this night.
--Go to Epcot Extra Magic Hours the morning of the 16th. Get a fastpass for Soarin' first, then ride Test Track and Mission:Space. Then go back and use your fastpass for Soarin. Ride anything else that's interesting. When World Showcase opens at 11, take a spin around the countries and grab an interesting lunch from the pavilions as you walk along.
--Go to Animal Kingdom in the afternoon. Get a fastpass for Expedition Everest as soon as you get there, then hit the other attractions you want to ride.
--Either have dinner in the park, or schedule a fancy dinner for tonight. When the park closes, either go to dinner or to Jellyrolls for the evening.
--Go to Magic Kingdom 30 minutes before they open on the 17th. As soon as you get in, go get a fastpass for the most important attraction that you want to ride, then ride your other top-rated attractions.

Note: This doesn't fit in any parades or fireworks. If you want to see Illuminations, leave Disney's Hollywood Studios on your first night at 7:30pm and take the boat over to Epcot for the 9:00 Illuminations Show. You can take the boat back to DHS after that for the Extra Magic Hours. If you want to see Wishes, leave Animal Kingdom on your second night at 7:00 and take the bus to the Contemporary Resort. Walk over to Magic Kingdom for Wishes at 9:00pm.

If you hit all the parks, you're going to have a tough time getting to Downtown Disney, but you might consider stopping there on your way out of town just to see it.

REMEMBER: You CAN still use your fastpass AFTER the allotted hour listed is up. So, if you have a fastpass that says you should come back between 3-4pm and you don't happen to make it back to the ride before 4pm, you can still use the fastpass until the park closes to regular guests that evening. (It won't, however, be good during extra magic hours.)

-what is a good idea to spend money on and what I should skip

This is largely up to you. We like to splurge on hotel and dining and skip souvenirs and snacks in the park. If you can't live without a bunch of new Mickey clothes, stay in a value resort and buy a new wardrobe at Downtown Disney.

-places to dine on a budget and maybe one restaurant where we should splurge on dinner

Our favorite counter-service (i.e. cheap) places to eat in the parks are:
Magic Kingdom: Cosmic Ray's and Casey's Hot Dogs
AK: Yak and Yeti counter service and Flame Tree Barbecue
Epcot: Sunshine Seasons and snacking around the World Showcase
Hollywood Studios: Starring Rolls Cafe has decent sandwiches, but your best bet is the "food court" area over by Tower of Terror and Rock n Roller Coaster (Sunset Ranch?) or the ABC Commissary. Backlot Express is closed right now.

Our favorite "splurge" dinners -- these will cost over $100 -- are Yachtsman Steakhouse at the Yacht Club and California Grill in the Contemporary. Other semi-splurge meals that will cost under $100 are Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, 'Ohana at the Polynesian, and Cinderella's Royal Table in the Castle at Magic Kingdom (that might be fun for you guys, since you're new to WDW!). If you want more dining ideas or opinions, just let me know.

A fun site to visit is http://www.disneyfoodblog.com

-is staying at the Port Orleans-Riverside worth the extra money
over an all-star value resort for two girls who probably won't be
spending tons of time in the room?

Again, this is totally your call. It's probably NOT worth it in your case, but I would try to get Pop Century over the All-Star resorts if you can.

Also, we're both doing Habitat for Humanity next week to take
advantage of the "give a day, get a day" deal that Disney is offering.
If we get the tickets for free, can we still add on additional extras
like the park-hopper? Also, is the Fantasmic! Dinner Package worth it?

Rock on! I'm pretty sure you can add on extras once you get to the park. Just bring your ticket voucher to guest services outside your first park (if it's Hollywood Studios as I mentioned in the itinerary, guest services will be to the LEFT of the park entrance BEFORE you even go into the park). Ask them to upgrade your tickets to three-day park-hoppers. They should just charge you the extra and issue the new ticket. You might even be able to do this at your hotel, but I'm not certain.

I think the Fantasmic dinner package is going to take up too much of your precious park time. If you're dead set on seeing Fantasmic, though, the dinner package is a good deal.

Hopefully this was helpful! I know it's a LOT to process, but we're all here and ready to help!

Welcome to the board JillyMouse.

Nice response Space Ace.

Just to weigh in on the "what to spend money on" question. It hinges a lot on how much time you think you will be spending in your room. Do you like to relax during the day or are you hoping to see as much as possible?

Hey Jillymouse! Welcome to WDWFG! I agree that you guys are probably OK in a value resort this time around. If you're going to be hitting the parks en force, there's no reason to stay at POR.

I think the fireworks and parades question is a good one -- will you guys be planning on seeing all of the shows and parades? That takes up considerable time, but it's do-able.

Hi there, and welcome to the boards.

That's some great information from SpaceAce.

I would add just a few things. For me the single biggest factor in time-management at the parks is crowd level. That should be factored in to all your planning and decisions. After all, that could be the difference between being able to enjoy three attractions in an afternoon at park A versus six similar attractions the same afternoon at park B. You have to remember that the park( with EMH hours that day are going to be the busiest park( the rest of the day. There are lots of similar resources out there, but here's a handy guide. Looks like crowd levels will be pretty high regardless, but I suspect it will still make a noticeable difference. So, your plan to visit multiple parks per day works great with the aforementioned in mind. For morning EMH, enjoy that park until late morning/early afternoon when it starts getting really crowded; then head to the park of your choosing that does have EMH that night. If there is a park with EMH's that night you'd like to visit, getting there late in the evening should still give you plenty of time to enjoy your favorite attractions. This way you could do three parks (or two and part of a third) in one day. Only doing two parks this way should be pretty easy to do everything you want. For me the impetus is most fun in the time allotted, so stiflingly huge crowds are a bit of an impedance.

As has been mentioned must-do's are subjective, but we can give you some insight. When I was younger I wanted to squeeze in as much as possible in a relatively short period of time. I was able to accomplish this time and time again at various theme parks and destinations around the country by planning ahead (or sometimes planning on the fly after I got there - not the best method, but I got it done). If you stick with the major (E-ticket) attractions, you should have plenty of time to do everything you want and maybe a few shows. Off the top of my head, I would recommend you not miss Finding Nemo. It is one of the best theater productions (musical or otherwise) I have ever seen, including shows on Broadway. Most who've seen it will agree when I say it is not to be missed.

What to spend money on is another one of those matters of preference, but I think you're on the right track. I would encourage you to follow through with your idea to splurge on at least one nice dinner while you're there. WDW has become quite the dining destination in recent years. Your choices of restaurant reservations will be limited at this point, but I would highly recommend you make reservations as soon as possible if you haven't yet. Many of the restaurants are fully booked six months in advance. As for other expenditures, I would recommend you do bring home a little something. May not seem like it now, but this may be your last trip (for a long time, or ever) with your old college roommate. If this is something you want to remember years down the road, be sure to bring home some memories.

Hope this helps

I agree with both LifL and SpaceAce. Getting to the parks early is a must. You can often get as much done in the first hour or so as in the rest of the day.

Hey Jillymouse! Glad to hear you had a great time! Sounds like you took advantage of single rider lines and the baby swap, which is awesome. Single Rider lines really can cut a huge wait time, and you were there during president's Day weekend, which can get really busy!

I agree with you 100% on riding Soarin' in the front row. I hate seeing everyone's feet hanging in front of me!

Splash Mtn is undergoing refurbishment until Feb 28th, so that's why it was closed. I think Disney schedules to fix Splash during the winter, because they don't get nearly as many people wanting to ride when it's cold, like you said. Too bad you missed it, though. It's a great ride.

Thanks for the review of LBV hotel. I've never stayed there. I can see why the shuttle would get annoying and why you'd wan to stay in a monorail resort next time. It really does make a big difference!

Did you get to eat an any of the other restaurants besides the pricey counter service?