What to see first?

[TupperMom7]

We will be going to WDW in April 2005 and have a variety of ages of children with us. We will have (as of March) a 17 year old, a 15 year old, a 12 year old and two 5 years old. I know that the twins will want to see Mickey and Minnie first so what is the quickest way to get to see them before the rest of our day can begin? Should we take the train to where their houses are, or is there a better way?

Thanks!

 

[swilshire]

We travel with DD18, DS16, DS10 and DS5. We find the best thing to do is split up a bit and let the three bigger kids ride the "big rides" they like while we do the things for the 5 yo. Sometimes DH goes with the bigger ones.

Disney is very safe and as long as you have a clear plan for getting back together, splitting up works pretty well. We also carry those little family radios sometimes, but there are so many people using them that you can't really count on them.

Sheila

 

[momxx5]

I think just being in the Magic Kingdom on the first day will make everyone happy. When we were there this past summer, ToonTown(where Mickey & Minnie are) did not open until 10:00, while the rest of the park opened at 9:00.

We always head over the Buzzlightyear ride first and even my 2 & 5 yr olds are happy.

I agree that splitting up is the best way to keep everyone happy, using walkie-talkies is the best way, but also doing alot of things together as a family is lots of fun too. Example...split up for thrill/baby rides, do Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Carribean together.

Another great idea to see Mickey & Minnie is by having dinner(or breakfast) at Chef Mickeys. We do this on our first night, after spending most of the day at MK, heading back to resort for little break, then dinner and back to MK for parade & fireworks. We do not see M & M in the parks(sometimes time consuming) because we know we will see them at dinner. Plus my girls are much more crazy for the princesses.

Have a great time

 

[KathyPem]

Mickey and Minnie are up front when the park opens meeting and signing so that would be a great place. It took us like 30 minutes to get signatures and then move on. There are other characters there as well

 

[Amirah95]

I root for MK as a first to see as well!

 

[JessetheCowgirl]

I guess I'm the one dissenting opinion.

We usually do Chef Mickey's for dinner the nite we arrive--that way you get to see Mickey without waiting in a line. I just don't like waiting at the parks to see the characters--more than once I've seen the characters cut off to take their break while leaving the people in line (which I understand they NEED their breaks, I just know my younger kids would probably start crying!!)

We schedule several character meals per trip to avoid having to wait in line at the parks.

That said, we did go to the judge's tent in Toontown when it first opened and were able to walk right in to meet Cinderella

 

[kerry34]

Hey TupperMom,

We are driving down in April as well. We also have 5 kids ages will be 12, 10, 9, and 5 year old twins at the time of the trip. Kinda sounds familiar doesnt it? Are your twins boys or girls? My twins are both girls and are very excited to go on this trip, they dont really remember their first trip (they were 2 1/2). I haven't really figured out my plan yet as to what to see first, I am still working on that, but if you don't have the Unofficial Guide for 2005 you might want to consider picking one up (barnes & noble online is a good bet, as they seem relatively cheap). There are a couple of plans in that, one being if you want to see all the characters at once get to Toontown right when it opens. (1 hour after the rest of the park. After you go to see Mickey and Minnie, you can go to the hall of fame and from what the book says there are a ton of characters there, i have not done this as of yet, but from what i read the crowds are not that bad first thing because most everyone is scrambling for the big rides first.

 

[TupperMom7]

Looks like we will be there a couple days before your family. Our twins are boy/girl twins and this is their first trip to WDW. Actually they were there before, but only as big as the period at the end of this sentence - yes the Disney magic worked on us and we conceived twins while there....my mother wanted me to name them Mickey and Minnie - not!
I posted a reply to your other response about where to stay on the way down. The last time we went we stayed somewhere on the way down through AAA planning, but it was not in a good neighborhood - I kept looking out the window to see if our luggage carrier was still there! Couldn't sleep anyways, so we may as well have driven through. This time I want a safe hotel at a reasonable hour to sleep for at least 6 hours before moving on to FL.
We can't check in until 4:00 anyways. We are staying off-site in a house we rented. I see that you are on-site this time - did you rent a villa? We wanted to stay on site but with 7 people it make it out of our budgets range.

 

[kerry34]

We are staying at the Polynesian Resort, but my mom is traveling with us, so we are splitting up the rooms 4 & 4. The older kids are staying with her and the twins will be with my husband and I. We were going to rent a villa, but my mom has always wanted to stay at the polynesian so we figured why not. We have always stayed at a timeshare condo that my aunts friend had time in, we would split it 3 ways and it always ended up costing me next to nothing to stay (last time i think my share was 150.00 for the week), so after all those budget trips we figured we would live it up a bit and stay on site. I am very excited about this trip, it is the first I have taken with my husband in a while (he was in Afghanistan for 8 months w/ the army) so this trip is extra special.

 

[motbobi]

I am just starting to plan our trip. I have been to epcot but the rest of my family has not been to florida at all. I will be traveling with my husband, myself, 20, 18 girls and two 14 year old boys. with there being 6 of us where is the best place to stay? want to stay on a wdr though. Also which parks are best for the ages I am taking. Do i get a three day hopper or a 4 day hopper? I am so glad I found this board. Bobi

ps how do you put the count down in your signature

 

[LuvindisCruiser]

We will miss you by a month. We are going in May 2005 with our twins who will be five at the time. They are also boy/girl. And people teased me when I was pregnant with them to name them Mickey and Minnie. Ha Ha, aren't they funny !! Our "twins" have never been to WDW, just Disneyland when they were 3. So, we will definately start our visit at MK. They will be tall enough for the big rides this time (well my daughter has an inch to grow, so we are feeding her all we can. She has 8 mos. to grow an inch !!) My son is 4 inches taller than her, so we are not concerned with his growth ! But, we will definately make an appearance at Mickey's house, so we can get a family photo with the "big cheese" himself !! Hope you all have fun, and I can't wait for your trip report when you get back, so post some "tips" that may help my trip go smoother !!

 

[kerry34]

Welcome...you will love this board. I have got so much information here from everyone, I am sure you will too. There are several places on sight that accomodate larger groups, one place we looked into was Old Key West, there is also the Beach Club, and Fort Wilderness Cabins if you are into that. There are others as well, you could start by looking on the disney site online, and there are several books out there that give some good info on the hotels. The unofficial guide 2005 gives you layouts of each of the resorts and tells you the good and bad points of each of them.

The parks all offer things for all ages, so there should be something for everyone in your group at each of the parks. If you want to go to all of them I would suggest getting 4 day passes.

Good luck with your planning, and enjoy your trip.

 

[Tinkerbellmom33]

I would go with MK or Chef Mickeys. Also on our first trip, we caught Minnie AND Mickey both at the America Pavillion in Epcot by chance. So, you never know!