First-timers just back

[NLD]

Hi everyone,

We are a family of 3 (dh-32, me-30, dd-5) and just returned today from WDW. I had been once fifteen years ago; dh and dd had never been.

I am EXHAUSTED so won't make a full trip report here, but wanted to give a "current conditions" update for those about to leave.

We were there Sept 19-25. Obviously I have nothing to compare crowds to really, but IMHO they were not bad--quite light. Wait times were minimal. We never did make a rope drop (not morning people) and even despite that we really didn't need Fastpasses.

Dh and dd never made it to DHS, but I went on my own for night EMH, and that is where I waited in the longest lines of the week: 25 minutes for Rock n Rollercoaster and maybe 30 minutes for Toy Story.

Rest of the week was a breeze.... Epcot day we got there about 10:30 and immediately got FP for Soarin'--return time was only an hour later--but we rode standby after getting the FP and got on in 15 minutes. (Ended up giving away the FP as we left the park late afternoon as we never used them.)

We did use a FP for Safari at AK but didn't actually need to, standby was about 10 minutes middle of the day. Also used FP for Peter Pan twice (two different nights), when standby wait said 30 minutes--with FP we got on in about 5 minutes.

Oh, those Peter Pan FP were available LATE in the day. First night dd and I went to MK--got there about 6:30 pm--FP for Peter Pan were available.

We stayed at POR and personally I thought it was beautiful. Buses were great up until yesterday with MK buses--they were rather a mess, especially at park closing.

I researched and planned a LOT for this trip and to be honest it did not go at all how I really expected. We had a lot of fun but I've learned that no matter what, it's impossible to really KNOW your first time how to make it work--at least for us--b/c you just don't know your own family's quirks and needs at WDW until you do it once.

Weather was great, HOT and HUMID, but absolutely no rain. Two or three tiny sun showers. (And when I say tiny, I mean TINY--like it rained for three minutes and then it was done. No hurricanes, tropical storms, or even thunderstorms.)

We didn't use even close to all our CS credits and even TS credits, so I think if we ever go again we won't get the dining plan. We could have used more snack credits, believe it or not. Probably because one meal a day in that heat was often enough! And the rest of the time we just wanted Vitamin waters and smoothies and Dole Whips and ice cream!


LOVED LOVED LOVED the Dole Whip floats!

One of my favorite magical moments of the trip: First night at MK, walking out, they did the "Kiss Goodnight" and dd stopped in her tracks and started smiling and gazing in wonder.... and then very seriously made a wish in the middle of Main Street. She was positively glowing.

Okay.... now I'm off to upload photos. Thank you to everyone on the DIS for sharing your knowledge and experience! It helped make our trip great. Hope this mini-report helps someone about to leave for their own trip!

[MarieS]

Glad to hear you had a good trip!

[shelemm]

Great report - you're right about the dining plan... hard to think about the food THAT much, plus I guess I just don't like the commitment.

Also saw your pe-trip report - wow, your daughter really has daddy's eyes!

[J'aime Paris]

Sounds like your family made some very precious memories! So glad you had a wonderful trip!

[Kathy Z]

Thanks for taking the time to post your quick report of your just completed trip. In case you do ever have the dining plan again (like if you get it for free) you should know that you can use credits to go down a level, you just can't substitute up. In other words, if you know that you will have unused CS credits but need more snacks you could use the CS credit for a snack. It only makes sense of you would otherwise not use the credit and it is saving you from paying OOP for extra snacks.

[cherokeemamma]

Thanks for posting.
So happy you had a fun time, and great weather.

[serene56]

We are going next year at the same time. GD will be almost 5 years old.
Glad to hear all abou it

[Singinglizzie]

Glad you had a happy time. BTW, what's the goodnight kiss???

[NLD]

Thanks for the replies!

We did have the free DDP, so I wasn't too upset about not using all our credits. And yes, we did trade a couple CS for snacks... didn't realize we could do that until the end, but oh well. Next time we'll know.

Oh, we dined at: Yak and Yeti (GREAT!), Akershus (Princess lunch), Cindy's Royal Table (dd LOVED it; Major Domo pie was good!), Marrakesh (Morroco--also very good, wished it was spicier though!), and Kona (breakfast).

Highly recommend Yak and Yeti to anyone who hasn't tried it yet.

[scrapindis]

if your trip report is anything like the update you just gave, I am totally looking forward to it!!!

[wifisker]

Thanks for the update! DD and I are also looking forward to our very first trip, leaving in just under a week now. Hope it goes as well for us, too.