Just back - Tips from a first-timer, for all first-timers!!

[mom2faith]

I have added links to my tips posts at the botton of Message #1 as I keep thinking of more to add. I will continue to do this as I think if them (I guess I am doing a TR after all - LOL!

WOW!! I cannot believe that after six months of meticulous planning that our trip is over :sad: But we had so much fun!!!

I had to write out all of my tips, for all first timers!! I have already passed them on to my sister who isplanning her first trip too. Keep in mind, we have a 3 1/2 year old, so some of these are geared for families. Here you go!!


Go in value season!! We went Sept 1 to 12 and for the most part there were no crowds at all!! But when you see things like no TSMM fast passes as of 1pm, you think "and this is value season". I am so glad we went during the low crowds.
Stay onsite. Orlando and Kissimee are not that easy to manover through - we got lost twice - LOL!!! We are so happy we stayed on site!! We only left to go to Universal, Sea World and the Outlets, other than that, everything we needed was right there.
We loved our Value Resort - All Star Movies. It was clean, and we had a great room in the Dalmation section. The room was perfect size for 3 of us. I probably would get a fridge next time as we were trying to keep things cold in a cooler with ice. But the room was perfect. The pools were great, and I thought the cafeteria style food court was also good. We ate there at least once a day and the food was fine.
Get a refillable mug each!! We must've had this paid off within the first 24 hours!!
Rent a Car. From what we could see the buses were full and busy (but we do not know this first hand). We found the road signs easy to follow and we liked being able to leave when we wanted to etc. We really preferred having our own wheels!!
Go on the dining plan! The food is so expensive!! We originally paid $945 for the dining plan for the 3 of us, but were lucky enough to get this creditted with Free Dining. But, even if we had paid the $945 - it would have been worth it!! CRT, Akershus and 1900 Fare alone were almost $300!! And there was so much food!! We often shared quick serve meals as the portions were tremendous!! We would do dining plan again wether is was free or not (and save your money, you do not need the deluxe - the portions make it more than enough!! We actually left with 6 QS credits unused. We could not eat anymore!! We loved using our snack credits for ice cream in the afternoons!! Oh and funnel cakes during the parades!! MMMM!!! I want to go back for the food alone!!
Stay as long as you can your first trip!! We sayed for 11 nights and we are really glad we did. We got to take our time and really enjoy the parks. Next time, we will go for a week or so, and not the 11 days, but we are glad we did this for our first time.
Plan to take your first full day very slow!! Our plan was to be at DHS for rope drop and stay until the parade (DD naps in her stroller so this was not a concern). After the parade, we were going to go to the hotel, and head to MK for Spectromagic after supper. Well, DD was not the problem - it was us!! The heat was so hard to get used to!! By noon we were on our way back to the hotel to swim. We still went to Specto, but we revised later plans to return to DHS when we had not originally planned to.
Be flexible!! Plan to change plans!! Our plans were kept to ADRs only, after that we could do whatever, and I am glad we did that. We ended up going to MK almost everyday (which was not in the plans).
The only time we saw lines for rides was evening EMH and the weekend. We left MK during evening EMH as we could not walk on the rides (which we were used to doing). And the weekend was crazy!! So that was when we went to the outlets and left the parks. Next time we will plan for this, and maybe even travel on the weekend :)
Take advantage of the Character meals. It was a great way to meet the characters. The only other time that we saw lines was for the characters. The line for Ariel at Ariels Grotto was over an hour. Well, we saw Ariel 2 times at character meals.
Skip Universal with young kids - it really is for teens. Although they have 2 kid areas, it is not worth the money. I would have rather spent that in the parks.
Skip Seaworld in the off season - most of the park was closed and there were limited shows. Glad we went, but we would not go back.


A few of our favorites:


Favorite Character Meal - 1900 Fare for Dinner - Anastasia and Drizella are worth it. They were the most entertaining of all the characters. They really got into their roles and had the room laughing!!

Favorite Breakfast - we loved the food at Cinderella's Royal Table, mmmmm those french toast were amazing!!

Favorite Dinner - O'hanas. DH LOVED this one. I found it a bit spicey, but still enjoyed it.

Favorite Park - MK all the way. We were there almost everyday.

Favorite Ride - Me - POTC (I love Captain Jack) we walked on everytime and rode it about 8 times, DH - ToT walked on 3 times, RnRC walked on once, he also loved Kraken at Seaworld; DD (3 1/2) surprised me with a rollarcoaster love!! She loved Goofy's Barnstormer and BTMR :scared1: I was shocked!! She also loved Peter Pan's Flight

Favorite Quick Serve - Cosmic Rays!! OMG they had so much food!!


A few of our dislikes:


Akershus was great for the characters, but the food was only OK. I am Norwegian and was looking forward to the traditional food and was a bit disappointed. The dessert was AMAZING!! But the rest of the meal was only OK.

Epcot in general. We just found it not what we expected. We have something here called Folkfest where we go to Pavillions of various countries and cultures. I thought it would be like this. I found that the CMs were not that into their countries and that the fanfare was just not there. It was just Big and Hot!! We left early and did not return for a second day as planned. We did however LOVE Soarin'!! WOW!!!


A few surprises (good and bad):


We got dreamed in Epcot (funny the one park we did not like), we got the Lanyards/Pins.

The prices of food - CRT for 2 adults and one child $117!!!, Children's Ravioli at Akershus $18.99!!, WOW!!! Like I said the Dining Plan is worth every penny!!

The trek to Magic Kingdom. We had no idea it was such work to go to Magic Kingdom but you park your car, take a tram to the monorail and then take a monorail to the park. You are tired before you get there - LOL!!

There is nothing that can prepare you for the humidity!! Was it HOT!!!

We loved all of the 3D and 4D movies. Muppets 4D and Philharmagic were our favorties.


Well, if I think of anything else I will add it later.

Already planning a return for 2009!!

Amy

MORE TIPS

The Good and Bad of Epcot (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27611722&postcount=18)
Faith's Favorites, Not So Favorites and some Mommy Opinions (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27663230&postcount=24)
A VERY improtant thing to remember (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27739295&postcount=30)
Seaworld in September (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27598637&postcount=11)

[zoie101]

Sounds like you had a magical trip!
thanks :surfweb:

[absmom2]

Thank you for posting. We go for the first time in over 10 years and the first time with kids (ages 4, 4, 6, 7) next week. I always appreciate any insight anyone can give us. I'm hoping the parks are not too crazy next weekend. We will be going to MK for our first park on Sunday. I did not originally plan to hit a park on the weekend but due to scheduling changes we have to and the kids want to start out at MK. Glad to hear you had a great trip! Thanks again for the information!:flower3:

[loriandmatt]

thanks for the tips....i am not a first timer, but i always check these threads to see if i can learn something new.

i can't agree more about the horrible wait time for ariel in the grotto at MK. i waited for 2 hours in the blazing sun with my then 2 year old to meet her.

please do tell where you were able to meet her otherwise. you mentioned that you saw her 2 times at character meals. i would LOVE to have that info. (see, even and old DISer can learn new tricks.)

[mom2faith]

please do tell where you were able to meet her otherwise. you mentioned that you saw her 2 times at character meals. i would LOVE to have that info. (see, even and old DISer can learn new tricks.)

We met her at Akershus and CRT Breakfast. She was in her "human" outfit - and I have hear that she is a Mermaid at the Grotto. Like I said, Akershus was awesome for the Characters - but beware of the food - LOL!!

[tam626]

Thanks for all the great tips.:thumbsup2

[ByRoy]

Wow! loads of great tips.

I am glad you had a great time on your first trip. We have stayed at the All Stars twice before and found it to be really good. Didn't have the same problems that you had with buses though, I guess yu just have to travel at the right time.

:banana:

[ntsammy5]

Good tips. I'd like to see your likes/dislikes after your 30th trip. I bet they change! :lmao:

[Moms3sons]

Skip Seaworld in the off season - most of the park was closed and there were limited shows. Glad we went, but we would not go back.
[/LIST]




I have a question regarding the above tip on SeaWorld... which parts of the park were closed (or open if that list is shorter) and which shows were not available? We are not first timers to Disney, but we are planning a visit to SeaWorld for the first time (in 2 weeks). Our oldest loves whales, dolphins and sharks - so we thought we would really enjoy this, but not if the park isn't fully operational. Anyone else out there know of where I can find what is open and when the shows are scheduled for Sept. 28th?

Thanks!

[wilder2244]

Great information! We are going in October and while it will not be our first time, it will our first trip with our 2-year-old daughter. Thanks for sharing your experience with a little one!

[mom2faith]

I have a question regarding the above tip on SeaWorld... which parts of the park were closed (or open if that list is shorter) and which shows were not available? We are not first timers to Disney, but we are planning a visit to SeaWorld for the first time (in 2 weeks). Our oldest loves whales, dolphins and sharks - so we thought we would really enjoy this, but not if the park isn't fully operational. Anyone else out there know of where I can find what is open and when the shows are scheduled for Sept. 28th?

Thanks!

I am racking my brain here...I was a little upset so I did not really "note" anything from this park.

The only shows were Clyde and Seamore, Shamu, Pets Ahoy and the Dolphin, Bird one (I cannot remember the name). The way they shows were timed, you could NOT have seen them all. There were only 2 Shamu show 1:30 and 5:30. It was set up really poorly.

As for the park - in Shamu's Kiddie Area about 1/2 the rides were open, the rest were closed.

A lot of the vendors were closed for drinks, etc.

The behind the scenes Dolphin tour was not available.

We just noticed that areas seemed empty, unmanned, etc. It is difficult to say what it was supposed to be like, but I know this was not it. It just looked closed (hard to describe, but you had that sense that you were there after the party was over).

Anyway, for the three of us it was almost $200 that I would have happily spent with Mickey. I think this park and Universal just try to hard and there is something missing. I hate to say it, but there is no magic :wizard:

Hope that helps.

Amy

PS Remember, this is only my opinion. I hope if you do decide to go to Seaworld that you enjoy every minute of it!!

[Erin13178]

So we just got back from our first BIG Dis trip. I'd been a lot when I was younger, and my dd and I went last year, but we'd never been and stayed on site. I agree with you, I like staying on site, and when we took the buses they weren't too badly crowded. We too walked onto almost every ride. If I could, I would go and do more character dinners, they were awesome.

It's funny cause my dd (who just turned 4), her favorite ride was Peter Pan, lol.

We too stayed at ASMo and loved it. We stayed in the Mighty Ducks wing, and it was actually closer to ride the buses from ASM.

I agree, the dining plan is worth it, it was awesome. We left with a bunch of snacks left.

What we found that worked for us was to go to the "less popular" parks on the weekends, and then hit MK through the week.

BTW we had a blast and I can't wait to go back! Glad you had fun too.

[suzimar57]

great advice from a first-time visitor!

i agree with number 8 - take it slow the first day!

this december we plan to do nothing more than check in (at Pop) and then relax around the resort all afternoon (even if our room is ready early) - no visiting parks or DTD - last year DH had a migraine "meltdown" at capn jacks that first day - never again.....

[Anonomom]

If I could add one more tip (we were also basically first-timers for this trip), it would be to go to each park every day with at least a rough list of what you want to see. The only park we didn't do this for was Epcot, and that was (not surprisingly) the park where we saw the least and that we enjoyed the least. We wasted a ton of time figuring out what we wanted to do and where we wanted to go that we ended missing a good half of our priorities. By contrast, we got to see all but one thing we wanted to at DHS and everything at MK.

[freedogshampoo]

I looove the long trip to the Magic Kingdom! It's an attraction all in itself!

[Christmas-in-Disney]

Thnx for the great tips! :thumbsup2

[Disney Crazy Debbie]

Thank you for your first time impressions, especially with a tot. I am taking my grandniece and grandnephew with their mom, of course, next August and can't wait to see their wonder. My DS's first WDW trip was when he was 10. He loved it and we have gone a couple times since. I am planning on the dining plan because my grandnephew will only be 16 months old and we are doing the deluxe so we can have sit down meals - time to rest. So we will be doing lots of character meals.

Epcot is not a "ride" park, though they have some rides. The CM are from the countries represented their as good ambassadors and are very personable if it is not busy and they will engage in conversation. The kidspot along the world showcase give the kids creativity to make masks, etc. but it does take time.

[mom2faith]

Epcot is not a "ride" park, though they have some rides. The CM are from the countries represented their as good ambassadors and are very personable if it is not busy and they will engage in conversation. The kidspot along the world showcase give the kids creativity to make masks, etc. but it does take time.

I just wanted to say, we knew Epcot was more educational, so we were prepared for that, I just thought there would be more fanfare at each Pavillion. Our experience was a bit sour, and it could have been just the CMs on an off day, but to give you some examples:

In Mexico the CM we asked could not direct us to the Kidcot station - which we found to be right by the exit.

In France there was a sign saying Characters from Beauty and the Beast were available at 1:30, since it was 1:25 we decided to find them. We asked and the CM said she had no idea where they would be. We followed her to the perfume store where 2 other CMs shrugged their shoulders. They siggested we hang out in front until we see someone ?!?! Huh?!?!

Anyway, these were not our only concerns, and we did have a OK time, I just expected the CMs at each pavilion to be more "into it". Like I said, because of the FolkFest we have here, I expected it to be like that, and it was not.

Good things about Epcot:

We loved the Norwegian Pavilion (mmmm Lefse)

We met Mary Poppins.

We were Dreamed :woohoo: (lanyards - our one and only dream)

We liked the Frozen Coke.

We LOVED Soarin!!

We ate a Coral Reef which we good, and we got a Diver Sign :)

So, like I said, it just was not what we expected that is all.

[Mermaid_Ariel]

Epcot in general. We just found it not what we expected. We have something here called Folkfest where we go to Pavillions of various countries and cultures. I thought it would be like this. I found that the CMs were not that into their countries and that the fanfare was just not there. It was just Big and Hot!! We left early and did not return for a second day as planned. We did however LOVE Soarin'!! WOW!!!

This was a very informative post, thank you!! :worship:

I have to agree with you about Epcot - we just weren't impressed last December as first-timers.

[vcgirl925]

Glad you had a great trip! And great tips!

[AKGAL]

In France there was a sign saying Characters from Beauty and the Beast were available at 1:30, since it was 1:25 we decided to find them. We asked and the CM said she had no idea where they would be. We followed her to the perfume store where 2 other CMs shrugged their shoulders. They siggested we hang out in front until we see someone ?!?! Huh?!?!



Actually that is the experience I have had in France!!!! I guess they were really in character.:sad2:

[overlyspoiled4sure]

Mom2Faith--here's an idea that might save you lots of walking time when you want to get to MK. Say you've planned dinner at the Polynesian. The monorail stops there. Drive there & leave your car; take the monorail to MK. Less walking! You'd just need to be sure to allow enough time to return to the Poly for your character meal! If you valet park your rental, they'll get it for you after your meal is done & you're ready to leave.

Or just take the bus from your resort to MK. We stayed at ASMo too & liked it very much. The food court was just the thing for our varied likes/dislikes when it comes to eating!

We had a rental car our first time to WDW because we didn't use ME but ONLY because they didn't go to Sanford airport. You can be sure the next time we didn't choose Sanford! We decided for the next trip we really didn't need the rental car. For us using Disney transportation worked better. We also used taxis.

[Harters2WDW]

My DD will be 3 1/2 when we go! Any recs on rides? Shows? Meals? I appreciate any tips you have! We are doing CRT and Chef Mickey's for sure, but can't do any other ADRs yet. She absolutely LOVES the princesses! Anything that was completely a waste of your time?

TIA!!!

[mom2faith]

My DD will be 3 1/2 when we go! Any recs on rides? Shows? Meals? I appreciate any tips you have! We are doing CRT and Chef Mickey's for sure, but can't do any other ADRs yet. She absolutely LOVES the princesses! Anything that was completely a waste of your time?

TIA!!!


Hi there!!

Well, first of all, check your DD's height. Faith was 39 1/2 with no shoes and therefore just made the cut off with her shoes. However, before we left, she was already prepared for no big rides. We explained to her that she may not be big enough for some rides, etc. It was a nice surprise for all of us when she was tall enough for all of the 40" rides. But she was turned down at both Universal and Sea World for a 42" ride. She was OK with this, like I said, we had prepared her.

Faith's Top 10

1. Swimming everyday - even if just for a few minutes, she was thrilled to go everyday

2. Rollarcoasters - from BTMR to Barnstormer, she loved them.

3. Characters - she was only afraid for the first 2 days, after that she did not want us to walk with her to the characters, she wanted to do it alone like a big girl. Beware, those lines can be long, so like I said earlier, plan those character meals. We told Faith that we would see Mickey for breakfast and that is was some other kids turn to see him now, someone who could not have breakfast with him. This seemed to work for everyone but Pooh, who we had to stand in line for and then see at breakfast the very next day. :confused3

4. The dance parties, or other kid activities - We stumbled across a dance party at DTD one night and she could have "danced all night". We also hit Woody's Cowboy Round Up at the right time and she got to ride a horse. She loved to join other kids whenever she had a chance. I would check with CMs for the Cowboy Round Up, High School Musical, the Pirate lessons (we just missed that one 2 times) and the other kids related activities. Faith loved these!! We also had to go to the arcade in the hotel one night, she asked us everyday, so we finally did. Boring for us, but she liked it.

5. We gave her her own money - well not really, but we had $50 set aside for her to spend on whatever she wanted. We could not say no. We still bought her other things, but this was for those things that parents always say no to. Anyway, she would ask for something and we would say "You can use your money for that, but if you do you won't have enough for...." And then she would decide. Lots of times when we put it like that, she said she could wait. It saved us from buying a lot of junk or having to say no all the time. This $50 was partly saved by her too from doing small things around the house and selling some books and toys she no longer played with. I think she had a little bit of money understanding (as much as a 3 year old can have).

6. She loved Dumbo, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Snow White - you know all the rides that have lines. The rest of the park is empty and you can walk on, but we were waiting in a 40 minute line for Dumbo in the heat - lol!! Oh well, it was her vacation too. She also loved Speedway, but we found that the wait was never as long as posted (if it said 20 min, it was only 10, etc). This one was worth it as she got to "drive".

7. We explained a ride to her first, and gave her the option. We also had a small flashlight, which we used the first day (funny story, on the last day we got stuck in POTC and could've used it, but did not have it, so we had to look at pictures on mommy's camera to pass the time and get some light - moral, always bring the flashlight). Anyway, we showed her the drop on Splash and she still wanted to do it. We went through the TOT line once where she chickened out, but the second time she wanted to do it. We really did let her lead us on what she could handle. She surprised us several times (TOT and BTMR for example).

8. 1900 Park Fare - All 3 of us agree this was the best charater dinner we went to. Anastasia and Drizella were awesome, they played up their roles and did an amazing job!! We were actually entertained, instead of just photo ops and food. It was great.

9. Before we left I ordered a bunch of items from disney.com and had them delivered to the hotel. (We are in Canada, so this saved me a ton on shipping). Anyway, I wrote a letter from Aurora (Faith's favorite) saying here were some things for the trip, oh and a few things for her cousins (yeah, I bought some souveniers too). Well, Faith just cannot believe Aurora did this and tells everyone "Aurora bought me this shirt" "Aurora bought my this dress". Her cousins ate it up too, and are thrilled to have gifts from Aurora!

10. (Actually #1, I just saved the best for last) Faith's favorite was BBB and it was well worth every penny!! My advice is to buy on of the outfits from EBay if you can as there is a seller who sells them for less. I did not do this so after the $65 for the dress, $17 for crown and $55 for hair and nails, the grand total with tax was $145!!! WORTH IT!! Her face was priceless!! She loved it!! She dressed up again later in the trip and it was just as special for her. She loved being a princess!!

Faith wishes we would've skipped

1. Haunted Mansion - once you are on, you are on and it is kind of creepy even for an adult. I just talked her through it as much as possible, trying to pass the time as quickly as possible. She was OK with it and did not cry or freak out, but even she says she did not like it.

2. She liked the 3D movies, but did not like the 4D effects (I hope that makes sense). I do not want to give spoilers, so I will be vague, but she did not like "feeling" anything in the movies. I had read on these boards to avoid Its a Bugs Life and Honey I Shrunk so we skipped those, but even the others, she was only OK with. (FYI - we were at the exit of Its A Bugs Life taking pictures of the tree and I am serious when I say at least 7 kids came out of there screaming - 2 were uncontrollable, I am glad we skipped it).

3. Epcot World Showcase does not have alot for kids other than the kidcot station. Faith thought this was cool for the first 2, after that she kind of looked at me like "I already did this remember". She was very bored there.

4. Fireworks - yup my kid hated them!! Should've known, she hates them here too. Why would it be any different in Florida - LOL!! Anyway, they are loud and they are bright. I regret not preparing her more for these as she bawled through Hallowishes. I would not suggest to skip this, I just wish I had prepared her more.

5. She did not like Monsters Inc Laugh Floor. She thought the monsters were scary. Go figure, TOT does not scare her, but Mike Wazowski does:confused3

6. Dinosaur - just because she was tall enough, did not mean she should go on it. She hated it, and not because it was scary, but because the ride was so rough. I think she felt a little like it was out of control. She asked to not go on it again.

7. Waiting for ADRs - she would have preferred to eat in the room rather than was for 1 hour for O'Hanas. Again, it was just mom being unprepared. Most of the time I had snacks or acitivities in the stroller, and could keep her entertained and we never waited more than 20 min. Then O'hanas happened. Stroller is in the car because we drove there. She was good up until the 40 minute mark. At 50 minutes, she was melting down. At one hour, I went to ask how long and just as I was about to say forget it, they called us. She had 6 of the pork dumplings!! Moral - always be prepared for a wait!! (1900 Fare was a wait as well, but it was a bigger hotel, so we walked the lobby and the stores).



Other Mom Tips

1. Kids do not eat at Character meals. You are not paying for the food - lol!! Faith (and others) never ate. She just watched the characters make their rounds.

2. Kids do not nap at DisneyWorld. Faith ALWAYS naps in her stroller when we are out. And she easily goes down for naps if she needs them. This is not the case in Disneyworld. Therefore, she is up early for those ADRs and Rope Drops and not napping and staying up for Fireworks and she is over-excited and over-stimulated throughout. Hmm...not a good mix!! We planned a lot of down time and I am glad we did. She did nap in the car, so we drove around sometimes just to get her to sleep (or so that mom could go to Target, another thing we do not have here).

3. Chef Mickey's is loud. I am sorry, you may not have heard me, I said CHEF MICKEY'S IS LOUD. Did you hear me now? I am not joking. I am glad we went, but boy oh boy, it was loud!!!

4. We loved CRT!! You will be happy you did that.

5. The Princesses also are at the back of County Bounty, the store beside Minnie's House in ToonTown. The line moves pretty quick, so it was worth the wait.


I know I missed things. If there is any ride, meal, attraction specifically you want to know about, please ask.

Thank you for letting me share!!

Amy

[Harters2WDW]

Faith's Top 10

1. Swimming everyday - even if just for a few minutes, she was thrilled to go everyday

2. Rollarcoasters - from BTMR to Barnstormer, she loved them.
Unfortunately, my DD is short, so unless she has a growth spurt, we'll be going through the single rider line and baby swapping!

3. Characters - she was only afraid for the first 2 days, after that she did not want us to walk with her to the characters, she wanted to do it alone like a big girl. Beware, those lines can be long, so like I said earlier, plan those character meals. We told Faith that we would see Mickey for breakfast and that is was some other kids turn to see him now, someone who could not have breakfast with him. This seemed to work for everyone but Pooh, who we had to stand in line for and then see at breakfast the very next day. :confused3

4. The dance parties, or other kid activities - We stumbled across a dance party at DTD one night and she could have "danced all night". We also hit Woody's Cowboy Round Up at the right time and she got to ride a horse. She loved to join other kids whenever she had a chance. I would check with CMs for the Cowboy Round Up, High School Musical, the Pirate lessons (we just missed that one 2 times) and the other kids related activities. Faith loved these!! We also had to go to the arcade in the hotel one night, she asked us everyday, so we finally did. Boring for us, but she liked it.

5. We gave her her own money - well not really, but we had $50 set aside for her to spend on whatever she wanted. We could not say no. We still bought her other things, but this was for those things that parents always say no to. Anyway, she would ask for something and we would say "You can use your money for that, but if you do you won't have enough for...." And then she would decide. Lots of times when we put it like that, she said she could wait. It saved us from buying a lot of junk or having to say no all the time. This $50 was partly saved by her too from doing small things around the house and selling some books and toys she no longer played with. I think she had a little bit of money understanding (as much as a 3 year old can have).

6. She loved Dumbo, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Snow White - you know all the rides that have lines. The rest of the park is empty and you can walk on, but we were waiting in a 40 minute line for Dumbo in the heat - lol!! Oh well, it was her vacation too. She also loved Speedway, but we found that the wait was never as long as posted (if it said 20 min, it was only 10, etc). This one was worth it as she got to "drive".

7. We explained a ride to her first, and gave her the option. We also had a small flashlight, which we used the first day (funny story, on the last day we got stuck in POTC and could've used it, but did not have it, so we had to look at pictures on mommy's camera to pass the time and get some light - moral, always bring the flashlight). Anyway, we showed her the drop on Splash and she still wanted to do it. We went through the TOT line once where she chickened out, but the second time she wanted to do it. We really did let her lead us on what she could handle. She surprised us several times (TOT and BTMR for example).

OMG...I can't believe she rode TOT. My DD might have a heart attack.....but the photo would be hilarious....so wrong!! :rotfl2:

8. 1900 Park Fare - All 3 of us agree this was the best charater dinner we went to. Anastasia and Drizella were awesome, they played up their roles and did an amazing job!! We were actually entertained, instead of just photo ops and food. It was great.

9. Before we left I ordered a bunch of items from disney.com and had them delivered to the hotel. (We are in Canada, so this saved me a ton on shipping). Anyway, I wrote a letter from Aurora (Faith's favorite) saying here were some things for the trip, oh and a few things for her cousins (yeah, I bought some souveniers too). Well, Faith just cannot believe Aurora did this and tells everyone "Aurora bought me this shirt" "Aurora bought my this dress". Her cousins ate it up too, and are thrilled to have gifts from Aurora!

Cute idea.....my DD would totally buy into that!

10. (Actually #1, I just saved the best for last) Faith's favorite was BBB and it was well worth every penny!! My advice is to buy on of the outfits from EBay if you can as there is a seller who sells them for less. I did not do this so after the $65 for the dress, $17 for crown and $55 for hair and nails, the grand total with tax was $145!!! WORTH IT!! Her face was priceless!! She loved it!! She dressed up again later in the trip and it was just as special for her. She loved being a princess!!

We already have an Aurora costume for Halloween, so we're ahead already!

Faith wishes we would've skipped

1. Haunted Mansion - once you are on, you are on and it is kind of creepy even for an adult. I just talked her through it as much as possible, trying to pass the time as quickly as possible. She was OK with it and did not cry or freak out, but even she says she did not like it.

I wondered about this one...

2. She liked the 3D movies, but did not like the 4D effects (I hope that makes sense). I do not want to give spoilers, so I will be vague, but she did not like "feeling" anything in the movies. I had read on these boards to avoid Its a Bugs Life and Honey I Shrunk so we skipped those, but even the others, she was only OK with. (FYI - we were at the exit of Its A Bugs Life taking pictures of the tree and I am serious when I say at least 7 kids came out of there screaming - 2 were uncontrollable, I am glad we skipped it).

I figured my DD wouldn't like these.....good to know.

3. Epcot World Showcase does not have alot for kids other than the kidcot station. Faith thought this was cool for the first 2, after that she kind of looked at me like "I already did this remember". She was very bored there.

4. Fireworks - yup my kid hated them!! Should've known, she hates them here too. Why would it be any different in Florida - LOL!! Anyway, they are loud and they are bright. I regret not preparing her more for these as she bawled through Hallowishes. I would not suggest to skip this, I just wish I had prepared her more.

LOL....I don't like fireworks! BUT she loves them so we will go!!

5. She did not like Monsters Inc Laugh Floor. She thought the monsters were scary. Go figure, TOT does not scare her, but Mike Wazowski does:confused3

6. Dinosaur - just because she was tall enough, did not mean she should go on it. She hated it, and not because it was scary, but because the ride was so rough. I think she felt a little like it was out of control. She asked to not go on it again.

7. Waiting for ADRs - she would have preferred to eat in the room rather than was for 1 hour for O'Hanas. Again, it was just mom being unprepared. Most of the time I had snacks or acitivities in the stroller, and could keep her entertained and we never waited more than 20 min. Then O'hanas happened. Stroller is in the car because we drove there. She was good up until the 40 minute mark. At 50 minutes, she was melting down. At one hour, I went to ask how long and just as I was about to say forget it, they called us. She had 6 of the pork dumplings!! Moral - always be prepared for a wait!! (1900 Fare was a wait as well, but it was a bigger hotel, so we walked the lobby and the stores).

We're going to try to keep those limited....hopefully! But I will pack the snacks and entertainment when we do go!

Other Mom Tips

1. Kids do not eat at Character meals. You are not paying for the food - lol!! Faith (and others) never ate. She just watched the characters make their rounds.

This is such a great point....never would have thought of that, but totally makes sense!
2. Kids do not nap at DisneyWorld. Faith ALWAYS naps in her stroller when we are out. And she easily goes down for naps if she needs them. This is not the case in Disneyworld. Therefore, she is up early for those ADRs and Rope Drops and not napping and staying up for Fireworks and she is over-excited and over-stimulated throughout. Hmm...not a good mix!! We planned a lot of down time and I am glad we did. She did nap in the car, so we drove around sometimes just to get her to sleep (or so that mom could go to Target, another thing we do not have here).

I'm thinking my DH and I will need sleep more than her (or will WANT to sleep more than her!!). :lmao:

3. Chef Mickey's is loud. I am sorry, you may not have heard me, I said CHEF MICKEY'S IS LOUD. Did you hear me now? I am not joking. I am glad we went, but boy oh boy, it was loud!!!

4. We loved CRT!! You will be happy you did that.

princess:

5. The Princesses also are at the back of County Bounty, the store beside Minnie's House in ToonTown. The line moves pretty quick, so it was worth the wait.
Great tip!

I know I missed things. If there is any ride, meal, attraction specifically you want to know about, please ask.

I'm sure I'll be asking more as we get closer...we don't go til March, but I've been planning away!

Thank you for letting me share!!

Amy[/QUOTE]


Amy, you rock! Best advice I've received so far! If you think of more, keep passing it along!! :worship: Thanks again!!! :thanks:

[BostonMom]

Thanks for posting such great advice. We leave in a few days for our first trip with DD4. We will also be staying at ASMo and are hoping for the Dalmations building.

Your notes on Epcot really caught my eye. We have been debating about whether or not we will go at all. We also have an Akershus lunch reservation, but have thought that with a 1900 Park fare dinner and CRT breakfast, maybe we should cancel it (We have 1 more ADR than our DDP covers, so we thought to maybe eliminate this one). We don't have park hoppers and are only going for 7 days, which works out to 5 with travel. It sounds like leaving Epcot until the kids are older may be a good idea. Interestingly, we are also originally from Canada and our Folklorama at hame sounds very similar to your Folkfest. Maybe it's a Canadian thing eh? :lmao:

[ntsammy5]

I've noticed that a lot of first time visitors don't like Epcot too much - we were the same way when we started taking the family in the early 80s (2 parks then). After 30+ trips though, Epcot is our favorite by far! :lmao:

[ToddyLu]

:cutie: The older I get the more I like Epcot, creeeppyyy. Even DH likes it more and we find ourselves spending more time there on our yearly trip. Does this mean I have finally hit middle age?? :rolleyes:

[tinkerbellsmom05]

I think Epcot is a 1/2 day park. Make sure you hit 3 amigos in Mexico (its kind of like Small World), Figment and all the neat stuff you can do after the ride in the pavillion, The land ride (my DD(3) loves seeing the chocolate tree and the Mickey pumpkins), that innoventions pavillion where they have the house that you find fires in with a laser gun (my DD still talks about it) and of course Nemo and Turtle Talk with Crush and the aquariums....we found so much to do at Epcot...but of course MK is always my favorite!

[mom2faith]

Oh I just thought of one more tip.

PACK A CHANGE OF CLOTHES FOR THE LITTLE ONE!!!!

Faith LOVED playing at Pooh's Playful Spot and Ariel's Grotto. But she was SOAKED!! She is one of those kids who can get wet, but does not want to stay wet. So even after Kali River Rapids she wanted to change.

Since her clothes are compact enough I would suggest packing 2 sets (there was one day I needed 2 and did not have 2). I just put them in a ziploc and squeezed the air out of it, then threw it in the bottom of the stroller.

Oh - an do not forget undies - she was soaked all the way to them!!

[Twitterpated Dad]

OP, what a great post from a first time visitor. :thumbsup2

One comment about the dining plan: You should never leave with unused credits. Credits can always be used to get "snacks" to go home. Some of these snacks make very nice gifts.

Now, I've probably broken all sorts of Disney rules doing this, but, here's what we like to do. We always separate our park tickets from our KTTW cards. And, we make sure that our youngest son's KTTW does not have charging privileges. We will test it. Then, on our last day, if we have any dining credits left, we will give them away using his card. Most of the time we will give them to a local peace officer. Though once, we gave them to a navy petty officer who was visiting Epcot with his bride. When we have explained that the credits will expire at midnight and that we won't be able to use them, they have always been gratefully accepted.

[mom2faith]

Now, I've probably broken all sorts of Disney rules doing this, but, here's what we like to do. We always separate our park tickets from our KTTW cards. And, we make sure that our youngest son's KTTW does not have charging privileges. We will test it. Then, on our last day, if we have any dining credits left, we will give them away using his card. Most of the time we will give them to a local peace officer. Though once, we gave them to a navy petty officer who was visiting Epcot with his bride. When we have explained that the credits will expire at midnight and that we won't be able to use them, they have always been gratefully accepted.

What a GREAT idea - I would have never thought of this!!

[missesdisney]

Quick tip for those with little ones on 3D rides - small children don't understand that the pie is not really two inches from their faces (particulary when there are 4D effects for other things) so you may want to try it out without the glasses or try putting them on and off. DS7 had me walking out of Muppets till he was about 5! He was just afraid of things coming at him like that. Tough to be a bug I would not put the glasses on the small ones and keep them on your lap to avoid some 4D effects as well. Feel the kids out on this one a bit.

Funny about Epcot - we feel the same way as a few of you - it was ok before and now it is one of our favorites - I think it's age :)

[julezdisney]

We got back a week ago.

Here's my tips:

Keep your water bottles on hand.

When in doubt- rent the stroller.

Make the latest ADR for dinner you can at any restaraunt w/in the park. We did that with an 8:45 at Sci-Fi in DHS and it was so awesome to have a nearly empty park as we left. SO magical to stroll out of the park w/DH and the kids. Many shops were still open on our way out as well, even though it was nearly 10.

Don't forget the shops stay open 1 hour later than the rides. You can get your purchases later so you don't have to haul 'em around.

Have your kids do a "pin check" after every ride or bathroom break. They just go down their lanyard and squeeze the pin and back together. Great habit to get into and we didn't lose one pin.

[vs1023]

I love all this info! DD is 3 and we're going in January. DH and I have been here solo, but this is a first for her and it's so different with a little one.

We're definitely bringing our stroller! She's not a napper but i anticipate all the excitement will wear her out.

I was curious about the rides and how another 3yo would do. She's ~38 inches now so I'm hoping she'll grow another inch to an inch and a half and with sneakers will be 40 inches.

Thanks for all this great info!

[julezdisney]

Bumpin' This. Anyone else have suggestions?