First Time Disney Advice

[defendthehill]

I booked my FIRST ever Disney vacation for the first week of June. I have three little princesses ages 8, 5, and 3. I booked us at The Beach Club mainly due to its pool. I have read many of the threads and discussions on this board and they are great. But this is my first time at Disney...I am 40 :yay: and my daughters first time:yay: :yay: :yay: and I want to make this the best. I will listen to any and all advice. Thanks for the insight!

[Metro West]

http://bestsmileys.com/welcome/10.gif

[MarkinNM]

:welcome:

to the DIS!!!


We will be at WDW in June also!!

Have fun...........

[RNtheRN]

WELCOME HOME

[Fram]

The one thing I can say is enjoy it to the fullest ,the first time we took my 2 girls it was amazing to see the look on there face and that is one memory that will be etched in to my memory forever . Thats why we are going back with our 3rd child in September

[defendthehill]

How much time does it "normally" take to get from the Airport to Disney Resorts via the Express? We have ADR at CRT for 7PM and my flight lands around 2:30.....does that give me enough time?

[DWFan4Life]

I just wanted to say welcome to DISboards and may you have a great time, have fun and enjoy in your upcoming trip. Looking forward in hearing more from you.

Have a nice and safe trip coming. :)

[Aliceacc]

Hi and welcome.

A few ideas:

- Are you on the meal plan? If so (and even if not) have you booked any Princess meals yet? (You can book them 90 days out, so your window is open.)
Aside from dinner in the Castle, 2 alternatives:
a) Dinner with Cinderella and the Stepfamily at 1900 Park Fare (easy to reach by monorail from the Magic Kindgom.) We did this last year and it was hysterical!!! The characters go from table to table, signing autographs. The stepsisters bickered about who was prettier, and Lady Tremain was the best!! My daughters both wore their Halloween Princess costumes to dinner (my youngest kept hers on all night) and they were called "Your majesty" all night... they just ate it up!
b) Princess meal at Aukerhaus (Norway) in Epcot. This one has lots of princessses. We may add this one on this year.

Also, think about eating at Chef Mickey's in the Contemporary (again, easy to reach by monorail) But be careful here-- are your kids freaked out (as one of mine is) by characters in costume? If not, it's a great choice!

[VAN]

You should have time to get settled in at your resort prior to your ADR on your arrival day.

If this is your time at WDW, I would like to suggest that you purchase and read the "Unofficial Guide to WDW" ... it will give you a very good overview of the property and what to expect.

I would also suggest that you plan on having some downtime between park visits. The weather will be warm and it gets very exhausting for children and adults alike pounding the pavements, battling the crowds, and being exposed to every kind of stimuli known to man!!! LOL.

For the days you plan to visit the main parks, please try to be there early and then take a break mid-day when the crowds begin to build. Don't know how late you will want to be at the parks with the younger ones, but just be prepared to adjust your plans based on how everyone is doing. You can always plan another visit if you do not "see it all." In fact, plan on the fact that you will NOT do/see it all on this visit.

The UGW will help you to familiarize yourself with the parks ... you should then have the discussion with your children as to what their "must see" attractions are and make sure those get top priority. You certainly don't want to hear about "I didn't get to do what I wanted" on the trip home.

Enjoy, pace yourself, and do your homework PRIOR to arrival.

[defendthehill]

Thanks for the info.....my wife did buy the Unofficial Guide and we have started reading it. We also did purchase the meal plan and at the encouragement of a few Veteran Disney Friends made all our dinner reservations already. They include CRT, Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace and a few others that escape me at the moment.

We will certainly take the advice of returning back to our resort during the mid day.....everyone we have talked to says this is great advice for the kids......but I think I will probably need the nap:thumbsup2

Should we rent a stroller? We had this discussion last night. Does anyone have advice on this?

[defendthehill]

One other question for now. The Disney Photo package....is it worth it? I don't mind spending money on something that is worth a lifetime of memories.

[tjmac11]

One other question for now. The Disney Photo package....is it worth it? I don't mind spending money on something that is worth a lifetime of memories.

I'd still take a camera, but the Photo package is nice.

[VAN]

I believe that strollers are uber expensive to rent. You may want to bring one with you or purchase one ($50 umbrella stroller) at a WDW gift shop.

You will definitely want your own camera; however, the Disney photographers do a nice job and I would think the pre-purchase of a Photopass CD would be well worth it for first time visitors with children.

Don't be shy about approaching the photographers and asking for them to take photos. Sometimes things can get busy and you might need to be the one to initiate the contact with them. You'll see them all over though and also at the character greeting areas.

I can't say enough good things about the character greeting area at Epcot. A lot of people don't seem to know it is there and so I've never seen a large line. Good way to meet a lot of the major characters.

Sounds like you have had a lot of good advice!

[Tigerman81572]

I will not rent a stroller again. Its nice at the park but you can't take them anywhere else. When we left the park, the kids were out, we had to pack them to the transportation station, stand in line , and then pack them from the bus stop at the resort all the way to our room. You can take a stroller on the bus and monorail with you, its not a big deal. Have a great vacation.

[Tigerman81572]

Here is some counter top meal advice I learned from reading one of the disney guide books and believe it or not, it works. When your at the parks and you go into one of the fast service meal places, the lines are usually very long. For some reason, everyone packs into the middle and right lanes. Always go towards the left, the lines are much shorter. I don't know why but it works. Iv'e been to DW 2 times since 2005 and am going back the first week in June too. Here is some other news you might want to know that I found out about after it was too late. The first week in June is Gay Pride Week in Orlando with Gay Day at DW on Saturday June 6th. They come from all over the country to Orlando that week. Just my luck! I don't know if you care about that or not just thought you should know since DW does not tell anyone about it. Have a great vacation!

[Malibustyle23]

One other question for now. The Disney Photo package....is it worth it? I don't mind spending money on something that is worth a lifetime of memories.

I think the worth is based on how much you will use it. Our first trip we didnt even know about it. The following two we used it and every future one we will also.
You can get as many pictures as you would like on it. A CM has told me that he has done them with 3 discs on them before (and I thought I was hot with 120 pics on mine! :( )You always have the option of having everyone being in the pic, they can always locate the pics even if you lost your photopass as long as you have the id # (not the case when I lost my camera in park). There is photopass photographers everywhere but as a PP said sometimes you may have to approach them but its their job and the memories are well worth it.

[Malibustyle23]

Oh and I also read somewhere that with a first time visit and especially with young children NOT to visit the MK first. Try another park first and then work up to the MK because it is so magical and so much what everyone expects of WDW that the other parks are kinda a dissapointment after that to younger kids (please dont flame me for this I just read it but kinda agreed since I started out at MK too).

[defendthehill]

Our plan is to go to Magic Kingdom the night of our arrival at Disney. We have dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table and then we thought we might hit a couple of the classic kid rides...Dumbo and Peter Pan's flight before we head back to our hotel to hit the sack. Then we are going to hit Animal Kingdom, Epcot and Hollywood Studios before we go back to Magic Kingdom. I hope that plan works out for my family. I am excited to think that my daughter's first experience at Disney will be walking into MK and to the Palace to have dinner! I hope that is worth the entire trip!:thumbsup2 :thumbsup2

[LMO429]

Welcome to the disboards

the biggest piece of advice I can give you is to ensure you are at the rope drop (or about 10 to 15 minutes) before the parks open. Go to the bigger attractions first. It will make your trip much more enjoyable!

[darrius1st]

I purchased the guide by Beth Haworth. Is there another?

[David 1980]

Welcome to the boards. WE are going in June and it will be the third year in a row. I cannot describe the joy you will feel the first time they enter the magic kingdom and you see the look on their little faces. I just want to say relax have a great time and enjoy the magic only Disney can bring

[GoofyTraci]

:welcome: to the Dis! I want to first say as I think someone have already said. Take your time and have fun. Dont go with the thought that you have to do and see everything. It will make an exhausting trip. Ask the people in your trip for a couple must do's and do those and get to the others if possible.

I have gotten the photopass on my trips due to the fact that I travel alone with my son and it is my only way to get both of us in the pictures. But I also bring my own camera.

Have fun and live it up. My son and I remember these trips like we did it yesterday.

[defendthehill]

It is, somehow, hard to believe that by going to Disney for a week that it will be difficult to see everything. I have come to that realization. Also, many of the thrill rides will be too much for my kids so I may have to skip most of that. Another factor for me is my 3 year old will be lucky to be 40" by the time we go. She is little...even for her age!

Another question for you expereinced Disney travelers......when I go from a park back to my hotel (Beach Club) for our mid day siesta and romp in the pool.....how tedious is it to catch the bus to get back and forth?

My kids are early risers and early to bed.....will I have a better Disney expereince this way or if I break my kids normal routine and stay up late and sleep late?

[lovetoscrap]

Hi and :welcome:! You are gettting some great advice here for your trip but also keep in mind that we have specific boards dedicated to some of the topics that you have asked and you will probably get faster and sometimes more experienced advice if you start threads on those boards for your questions about Transportation, Strollers (Family Board), Resorts (Resort Board), Meals (Dining Board) etc...

And make sure you do some reading on these different boards. Often you find tips and tricks you might otherwise never know about, or come up with questions you didn't even know to ask!

It sounds like you are well on your way to planning a great trip!:cheer2:

Oh, and I prefer the Unofficial Guide by Bob Sehlenger (no idea if I spelled that right!) You can find it at most libraries if you want to check it out before you buy. It is my Disney bible!

[Freddy Bear]

It is, somehow, hard to believe that by going to Disney for a week that it will be difficult to see everything. I have come to that realization. Also, many of the thrill rides will be too much for my kids so I may have to skip most of that. Another factor for me is my 3 year old will be lucky to be 40" by the time we go. She is little...even for her age!

Another question for you expereinced Disney travelers......when I go from a park back to my hotel (Beach Club) for our mid day siesta and romp in the pool.....how tedious is it to catch the bus to get back and forth?

My kids are early risers and early to bed.....will I have a better Disney expereince this way or if I break my kids normal routine and stay up late and sleep late?

I am new to Disboards, but I have been a Walt Disney World freak for a long time. Our rules: (1) listen to everyone's advice but do what is best for us and (2) reevaluate and alter the schedule during the vacation. If your instincts say A, do A even if everyone else is saying B. Everyone says take your children back for a nap. We stay in the parks unless the children's behavior indicates a nap is necessary. If your children can adjust their sleeping schedule so that they get up early, nap in the afternoon, get to bed late and then get up early again--great. Unfortunately, getting to bed late usually means getting up late. Also, napping takes a lot of travel time unless you are in Epcot (and maybe Disney's Hollywood Studios) and can walk or boat to the Beach Club. Plan on a ten minute walk from the park to the bus line. Plan on waiting in line for a bus about fifteen minutes. Plan on a twenty minute ride to the resort and a five-minute walk to your room. After getting the children wound down, taking a one-hour nap and getting back to the park, you have taken three and one-half hours. If you swim, that takes even more time. I suggest keeping your children's sleep routine the same (with some expected vacation variations) and staying in the park if workable. When you get back home, they will be on the same routine. However, be flexible as stated. You know your children better than everyone else. If their behavior says they need a nap, trash my previous advice and get them a nap.

Final rule: have fun. You are going for your first time, and you are creating a plan. You are light years ahead of the rest of the crowd. Do not get so immersed in your planning that you forget to have fun.

[defendthehill]

Excellent advice. Thank You!

[VAN]

Because you are at the Beach Club, you might want to try MK or AK until break time and then go to Epcot or the Studios later. Epcot and the Studios are reachable by boat and/or walking, so you are a little closer to "home."

I'm not saying do this every day, but it might be something to keep in mind during your visit and may help to keep things a little less stress free if you are going out later in the afternoon for just a couple of hours.

Make sure you have the park hopper feature and this should work for you.

[BoogasMom]

Welcome! I am new to these boards myself!

My DH and I took our two sons, ages 8 and 5, to DW in December 08 and it was the first time for all four of us. I'd like to share two tips that we found very useful.

First, with the fastpasses. They will have a time period printed on them when you obtain them. For example, return between 1:00 and 2:00. We found out that as long as you go AFTER the first time listed on the pass, they will let you enter the fastpass line. You don't have to necessarily return to the ride BEFORE the end time listed. Does that make sense?

Also, when you ride the monorail, you can request to ride up front with the driver. It seats up to 2 adults and 2 children at a time. Each person who rides in the front car gets their own Honorary Monorail Driver pass which makes for a great keepsake!

I know that I can think of a few more and when I do, I'll be sure to post them.

HAVE A GREAT VACATION!!!! :banana:

[shewchukj9r]

Thanks for some of the advice it was helpful for me too.