need help with planning for a scaredy cat family :) plus MNSSHP?

[jennipherf]

We are going in 3 days (!) Staying at All Stars, going to all 4 parks. Family is me, DH and DD age 5. My husband (big military guy, it was very funny watching him white knuckle the tea cup ride last trip) and my daughter is the same.

Any suggestions for tame rides? Must eat at restaurants?

Schedule:

T-10/15- Arrive, DS
F-10/16- Cinderella's Castle for Breakfast, AK the rest of the day
S-10/17- Epcot for the food and wine festival (not doing seminars though), dinner at Chef de Paris (hope to see Remy)
S-10/18-MK, MNSSHP

What kind of souvenirs are at MNSSHP?

We are going to do counter service for most of the days.
We went back in Feb but we were only there 3 days and didnt have a plan going into it so we just wandered around for the most part. Hoping to have a better plan this time around. Thanks for any help!

 

[oogieman8541]

Well just to answer the MNSSHP question they give away candy I know but I don't remember any souveniers. When I went like 5 years ago you could get a free facepaint at Pete's Garage in toontown.

 

[JeanfromBNA]

DHS has a lot of shows your family would like. The Great Movie Ride is tame. Jedi Training Academy is fun (not a ride, but a presentation of sorts).

Animal Kingdom has Lion King and Finding Nemo shows. The Jungle Safari is fun and not frightening. There are several trails with wonderful animal exhibits to explore. Camp Minnie Mickey is a popular character greeting spot. You might want to skip It's Tough To Be A Bug if you're anxiety prone and bugs give you the creeps. Dinosaur and Expedition Everest are out of the question.

Since you're going to Epcot on Saturday, leave right after dinner before it gets too crowded and rowdy during Food & Wine. Epcot has a Living Seas with Nemo & Friends ride, Spaceship Earth, Ellen's Energy Adventure, Journey Into Imagination with Figment, Living With The Land, and Soarin, which are all pretty tame.

Magic Kingdom, well, avoid anything with "Mountain" in the title, and anything else that isn't visually appealing. Some children think that the Snow White ride in Fantasyland is scary, so you might want to skip that. We love the incredible detail in the Haunted Mansion (it's Ghost and Mr. Chicken scary), but you might not. Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor is funny, not scary. Stitch's Great Escape takes place in complete darkness with some odd special effects that might be anxiety producing. Some children have a little anxiety over Pirates of the Caribbean, but except for a couple of brief effects, it's not scary.

That's all I've got. Try this website for more info: http://allears.net/tp/themeparks.htm.

Have a magical time at the World. Maybe we'll see you there.

 

[JeanfromBNA]

Just noted that you were looking for a better plan. Try the Unofficial Guide website for touring plans: http://www.touringplans.com/tp2/UG2_index.php?PageID=0

It costs about $8 to join for a year, and you can print as many touring plans as you like.

 

[mcco5543]

If you would like to do some rides, but want them to be tame, try the rides where you sit in a cart and go through different scenes while a narrator tells the story i.e. the great movie ride, Journey into imagination etc..

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Mostly rides with no height restriction are going to be tame. You can ALWAYS aska CM at ride entrance to give you info. They can tell you element softhe ride, without giving away all the fun: spinning, drops, length of drops, top speed, total ride duration. I think the last bit is often key to enjoying - or enduring a ride. If you kow the big drop is really only 70feet - or teh total ride is only 90 seconds - that makes it less scary. The fear is often before you go.

A second suggestion is to try to go on rides twice. If you can convince yourself to go on it a second time, it won't seem so bad - usally. I mean if you were close to throwing up,then going twice doesn't make sense, but if you were just too scared to enjoy it - then a second trip may help, ause you'll know exactly when the troblesome element starts and ends.

Food preferences are HIGHLY subjective, and I have no idea what kinds of food you normally like. Suffice it to say, just about every dining option has it's fans - if it doesn't, it gets changed. My one suggestion would be if you want a little quiet at lunch- consider leaving a park for the nearest deluxe resort. One will be close and quiet mid-day. Often they have good food options, plus it's nice to see at least one other resort on your stay.

 

[Silver Queen]

We will be down there almost exactly the same days as your family (Friday through Monday). We are also going to MNSSHP on the 18th. The previous posters have given you some good advice. I was just curious, is your family afraid of the motion on the rides or the scary effects or both? I think your family would also enjoy Toy Story Mania (DHS) and Buzz Lightyear. I would not waste time on Stitch. The TTA has now reopened in the MK. That's always fun and restful. It's always fun to take the train ride around the MK too. In AK I would also recommend the Fights of Wonder Show. We saw it for the first time in August and were glad we did.
I also agree with the poster who recommended that you try one of the resort restaurants for a meal. We love doing that and will hop over to Kona Cafe or the Grand Floridian Cafe for a nice quiet lunch.
We used to be a afraid of trying some of the more adventurous rides, but have gotten much braver and are very glad that we did. We were missing a lot. I now can't imagine going to the MK and not riding "the mountains". At this point we've tried every ride except EE in AK and we plan to do that this weekend. So far there isn't a ride that we wouldn't do again.
Have fun!

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I was just curious, is your family afraid of the motion on the rides or the scary effects or both? Have fun!

I agree that if you can narrow your concerns to specific aspects that will help you and help us give you tips.

Lots of folks are bothered by something like spinning, others by drops.

I thikn one thign about WDW is that compared to other amusement parks that only do motion thrills - WDW is much more about the story. Even the rides that do have thrills are relatively tame compared to most other theme and amusement parks.

Another thing to consider is that DIsney has LOTS of ways to have fun that aren't just rides: shows, character greets, gardens, unusual dining (at least in terms of scenery), animals, crowd watching, gift shops,playgrounds, carriage rides, boat shuttles, monorail shuttles, pretty resorts, pools.

I do enjoy the rides, but we also enjoy visiting the various resorts too.

Your family might also really enjoy Disneyquest, which is full of allkinds of video games. You can even doa virtual 'rollercoaster.' You get to design exactly what it will do - so it can be totlaly tame. The only thing about it is that it's rather enclosed- so it may not eb for you if you have clausterphobia.

I also thought maybe the Passporter guide is a good tool for you to consider. The guide lists aspects of each ride for you. Also, many rides have signs posted. Teh signs are especially revealing - personally I think they often makea ride sound MUCH more intense than it really is...liability - but they may be a useful guide. One ride in particular -the safari - is totally tame, despite the warnings they give.

 

[sharonabe]

I have a couple questions for you too:

Do you have park hopper tickets? If not, you can't go to Cinderella's Royal Table and then go to AK.

Sorry, this is not a question for you, but maybe someone else will have the answer:

I believe Remy only comes around at lunch time. Can anyone confirm/deny this????

 

[sharonabe]

OH! One more thing!

I always recommend Birnbaum's Guide to WDW for KIDS. It's not overwhelming, but gives enough info on all the rides that you should be able to decide if it is within your tolerance zone. Our local library has a copy, so you may want to start there, but it's not very expensive if you want to buy one.

 

[jennipherf]

unfortunately it's both, my dh cant take the spinning and my dd doesnt like sudden movements.
I did get the Fodor's WDW guide for kids, it has been very helpful.
Yep we have park hoppers but hopefully that will be the only time we use them, I think that going back and forth is such a hassle.
thanks for all the help!

 

[PrincessKate's Mom]

Have you considered dropping the hopper if you are only going to use it once? You could just stay in MK the day you have CRT booked, then go to AK on the morning of MNSSHP. Then you could save the $ of the hopper for something better.

 

[ajpa]

We are a pretty scaredy-cat family too.

I think you will like Soarin. The only scary feeling you get is the kind like if you are on an elevator and it goes up too fast. And if don't sit in the very front row it is even less scary. Very exhilarating ride.
I am also guessing your dh will like Test Track. It's just like driving top-down.
Big Thunder Mountain is the least scary mountain, although it is a bit jerky, imo.
AK - watch Festival of the Lion King; fantastic live show. The Safari is neat and not the least bit scary.

 

[sharonabe]

I agree with Princess Kate...DROP that hopper option and change your MK and AK days. Put the savings in your "next trip fund"!!!

 

[jennipherf]

unfortunately the tickets are already bought and paid for so we may use it, who knows!