First and (possibly) only trip to the world.

[larralu]

My sister and I are planning a trip for our kids (16,13,12,10, and 2 The only girl is 10) to Disney world next year. We will be arriving on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and leaving the following Saturday. We are going to be at Pop Century and are going to purchase both the standard dining plan and memory maker. We will only be spending one day at each park. I haven't been to the park myself in over 20 years and it would be the kids' first and possibly only trip. I am trying to find out what people believe to be a can't miss and what would be some of the hidden gem's. We will have two days set aside just for going to the beach and wandering around the orlando area. Any ideas's would greatly appreciated.

Edited: My nephew will have just turned 13 and my 12 year old will turn 13 while we are there. If someone has an idea for a good birthday surprise that would be great too!

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Only trip! Are you moving to Mars? Not to be presumptuous but your kids will grow up and have kids of their own if nature has its way. I'd hate to think they will never return. We need more members on the board.

 

[ErinsMommy]

I think all 3 parks fireworks are a must -- Fantasmic Wishes & Illimunations -- MK enchanted tales with Belle is really sweet. My 8 year old loved SDMT as well. TSMM and TOT are her imust at DHS. We're not bug in AK but she likes EE if we're there. Epcot so much you can't go wrong

 

[larralu]

I mean as kids. For me Disney has a completely different vibe and meaning when your under 18. Plus I know since it has been 23 years since I was there it will be like a completely different place.

 

[heidi8]

You need to make a few decisions - will all of you stick together all the time (except for things the 2 year old is too small or young to go on) or will the 16 year old be allowed to go solo on any rides, or with the 12 year olds, for a few hours separate from the rest of you, with a set meetup time? Did you check out the price difference between a 4- and a 5-day ticket? You might want to go for the 5-day one rather than spend a day elsewhere in the Orlando area, and speaking as a lifelong South Floridian, the beaches in late November might be far from awesome. You might get more enjoyment out of a day at the hotel pool and Downtown Disney if you want one no-parks day, though you may be able to be flexible on this. Are you driving in, or will you be renting a car? Is anyone afraid of roller coasters or spinning experiences, or particularly into a specific non-character thing that Disney has a focus on, like marine biology, space exploration, art, history, Star Wars or cars?

 

[2Gma]

Is this a surprise trip? I think the kids might enjoy reading about what Disney has to offer or watching some ride videos to get an idea of what they'd like to ride/see. Getting their input prior to the trip might reduce some of the standing around when actually there and deciding what you should do as a group. Plus you could develop more of park touring schedule that would include everyone's must do's. I know, I know, its vacation and you should just "take it as it comes" but I find its hard to see alot if you are backtracking and don't have a "loose" plan.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

My sister and I are planning a trip for our kids (16,12,12,10, and 2) to Disney world next year. We will be arriving on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and leaving the following Saturday. We are going to be at Pop Century and are going to purchase both the standard dining plan and memory maker. We will only be spending one day at each park. I haven't been to the park myself in over 20 years and it would be the kids' first and possibly only trip. I am trying to find out what people believe to be a can't miss and what would be some of the hidden gem's. We will have two days set aside just for going to the beach and wandering around the orlando area. Any ideas's would greatly appreciated.

Hello, and welcome to the Boards.

Congratulations! Whether by design or by good luck, you've picked a lovely time of year to visit WDW. Manageable crowds and weather, tons of holiday decorations...In fact, your trip will be overlapping with the one I have planned by a few days.

You'll get a lot of different answers from people as to what they feel are "can't miss" or "hidden gems". But, here goes.

1. Do at least one character meal. They're classic.

2. The nighttime fireworks shows (Wishes, Illuminations, and Fantasmic) are not to be missed for first timers.

3. Since you'll be there during the holiday celebrations (e.g., The Osborn Spectacle of Dancing Lights), you might want to check those out as well.

4. The Animation academy at DHS.

Have you thought about your Fastpass selections? There's a very useful thread on here by mesaboy that you might want to check out.

 

[Disneyliscious]

Go to the Christmas party while you are there. And I can't recommend doing The Pirates League enough. It is fantabulous and kids that age will love it. And unless you are dead set on staying on site, with that many kids I'd consider staying at a private home or condo so everyone can spread out. Many are decorated with Disney themes.

 

[larralu]

We will be driving from Ohio and stopping in Ga to spend the night on Friday. We plan on 2 rooms and plan on spending the whole park time together. We are all pretty adventurous except my 12 year old nephew, We figure that we will do rider swap with the baby. As far as the beach is concerned they know it will be too cold to swim but they have never seen the ocean before so its pretty much nonnegotiable as far as their concerned. No one in our groups really cares about characters so meet and greets aren't necessary. It wont be a surprise trip and and we plan on getting touring plans.

 

[kmoore7]

Only trip? Zoinks!! Seriously consider adding a fifth park day. It's hard to do MK in one day, no matter what age.

Can't miss? Everything for a first time.

Hidden gems? All of it, lol

Never been at that time, so check crowd calendar at easywdw. You have come to the right place for info, so you are off to a good start

 

[larralu]

That's why we are going that week! The week after Thanksgiving is picked as the #1 week to go as far as crowds, prices, and things going on.

 

[goofydisney2015]

The Unofficial WDW guide helped me a lot. You can find it at any bookstore and sometime the library. Tons of great info !!

 

[elaine amj]

I am helping a good friend plan his first (and possibly only) trip to WDW for the end of August. They are not into characters, and not into dining so are just doing the quick service dining plan. No meet and greets. They are not really into Disney but want to do it now since their kids are 14 and 9. His wife was not interested at all and was resigned to being the babysitter/bag holder. She's getting more excited now - there's stuff she can do! I pointed out that there are only about 5 rides she and her son won't do, everything else they can experience together

As we got deeper into planning, he realised he needs a little more time than he expected. Originally, he thought of cutting back to just 2 park days and skipping two parks. After a bit, he decided to go with 4 park days but still considering perhaps skipping a park or two. Last night, I sat his family down to watch the WDW planning video. They want to do quite a lot of things. And surprisingly, his 14 yr old has requested to spend some time in the countries in Epcot. I pointed out that adding a 5th day is about $10 more pp. There's nowhere else he can really go for a full day entertainment for $10pp. He's going to add the 5th day so he can have an extra day at Epcot (he had originally thought of skipping that park). He doesn't have little kids so he can manage MK in just one day (based on his family's interests).

I highly recommend watching the planning video and some ride videos - that will give you an idea what everyone likes and is excited about (each family is different). 4 park days is still doable (but tight), realizing you will focus primarily on the highlights only. Keep in mind that the 2 year old will slow you down some. The night shows are an absolute must.

With such a short time, put together a set our touring plans (I use a spreadsheet). In my spreadsheet, I list every attraction. Then I figure out the day and see what I can fit in. From there, I can tell if we need an extra day or not depending on what had to be left out. If too many important things are left out, I add another day. A caveat: a person's willingness to have a schedule is a VERY individual thing. I was thrilled when my friends gave me the go-ahead to create a plan for them. The wife said: "So following this plan will maximize my day allowing us to see more things? YES please!". Another friend of mine would go bananas "having" to walk past a ride that looks interesting to do something else on the plan first and then backtrack. (My son occasionally gets like that and I reshuffle the plan if I can so he can have the experience he wants too).

I personally wouldn't do Pirate's League, etc for a first, very short trip. It will eat up too much time unless there is a kid who is pirate crazy (then it's worth it!). What about the 10 yr old girl? Into Princesses or not? A Princess or a Mickey meal is a classic Disney experience, but not always essential for everyone (we've done most of them and we don't do them much anymore).

Any favorite movies/characters? Find out since that makes a lot of difference in what you choose to do.

 

[onenursebrandy]

That's why we are going that week! The week after Thanksgiving is picked as the #1 week to go as far as crowds, prices, and things going on.

I followed this recommendation for our trip a couple of years ago....we encountered the recording of the ABC Christmas Special, and throngs of cheerleaders. I had an 8am ADR for Crystal Palace, and wasn't willing to change my MK day, but I now wish I would have. It is a highly recommended week....but check to see what else is going on while your there. Being stuck with thousands of "peppy" teenage girls while trying to avoid film crews/restricted access areas, and blocked rides/lands made navigation nearly impossible.....it was not a good day for us.

 

[Lucius Best]

I would dump the wandering-around-Orlando day, it is not expensive at all to add a 5th day to a 4-day ticket, then you can revisit your favorite park on the last day. I would also make sure to research the dining plan to make sure that it works for your family, a common remark is that it can be a lot of food. Also, on a "first and only" trip, I would want to maximize time in the parks and on the rides, and not have too many sit down restaurant reservations.

 

[larralu]

My niece is more into rides and maybe a show a two. She has the nickname Evil Knievel. lol

 

[larralu]

I followed this recommendation for our trip a couple of years ago....we encountered the recording of the ABC Christmas Special, and throngs of cheerleaders. I had an 8am ADR for Crystal Palace, and wasn't willing to change my MK day, but I now wish I would have. It is a highly recommended week....but check to see what else is going on while your there. Being stuck with thousands of "peppy" teenage girls while trying to avoid film crews/restricted access areas, and blocked rides/lands made navigation nearly impossible.....it was not a good day for us.

I looked into it and Pop Warner is the following week. We were told most of them would start arriving the day we leave. Thats also the main reason we decided to stay away from from Allstar Sports.

 

[larralu]

The reason for the dining plan is were not very good at saving. We figure it would be a easy wait to have one more thing paid off before we got there. We originally had every intention of only doing 3 days at disney and doing two days at Universal. My 12 year old is the only one that has any real interest in ak. We ended up deciding to to just stick with the four parks and spending the extra day doing downtown disney and hoop dee doo.

 

[itchin2go]

The four parks are not equal in terms of number of things to do. I think it's hard to do MK in one day, and you may find yourselves bored at DHS and/or AK shortly into your days there.

I agree that investing in a good guide book will go a long way toward helping you narrow down what attractions you're interested in.

 

[larralu]

I'm sure i will reamed for this but personally MK was my least favorite park and DHS was my favorite. If we didn't have the two youngest with us we would skip MK and AK and do Universal instead. My kids are most interested in Epcot actually.