1st Disney Trip - 7 days with 3 wee ones

[luvmy3jewels]

Good afternoon! I am hoping you guys can provide a little advice for making sure our trip goes smoothly.

I have been obsessively planning for the last two months our first family trip to Disney World. Traveling along on this wonderful journey will be myself, dh, dd (6), ds (4), dd (2), mom, and my sister. (I really didn't want to be outnumbered in the adult to kid ratio).

We were originially going to stay on-site, but due to budget restraints and the size of our party, my final reservations are for a 3 bedroom townhouse off-site (5 mins. from the park). We are flying down and renting a minivan for our trip.

Will 7 days at Disney with 3 little ones be an overkill? I am thinking we will take afternoon breaks every day and spend some time in our resort's pool. Should I try to plan on doing some other fun stuff around Orlando with the kids? (If so...what?) Or, since this is our first time, should I make this an all Disney trip??

Thanks for any advice!!

 

[mericletwins]

Good afternoon! I am hoping you guys can provide a little advice for making sure our trip goes smoothly.

I have been obsessively planning for the last two months our first family trip to Disney World. Traveling along on this wonderful journey will be myself, dh, dd (6), ds (4), dd (2), mom, and my sister. (I really didn't want to be outnumbered in the adult to kid ratio).

We were originially going to stay on-site, but due to budget restraints and the size of our party, my final reservations are for a 3 bedroom townhouse off-site (5 mins. from the park). We are flying down and renting a minivan for our trip.

Will 7 days at Disney with 3 little ones be an overkill? I am thinking we will take afternoon breaks every day and spend some time in our resort's pool. Should I try to plan on doing some other fun stuff around Orlando with the kids? (If so...what?) Or, since this is our first time, should I make this an all Disney trip??

Thanks for any advice!!

If anything seven days will not be enough! The first 3 trips with our kids were about 10 days each and the last few are still about 7 or 8 and we still don't get it all done, nor have we done everything there is to do between all the trips. We still have some new experiences ahead of us and this will be my twins 6th trip and my 5 y.o's 5th trip.

 

[MeMom]

There will certainly be plenty of Disney stuff to keep you busy, and since my family is Disney crazy, I am so excited for you guys being able to make this first trip. You are in for a treat like you can't imagine! The kids will probably be more than fine, but the adults might decide to try some different things. I've thought about us going back to SeaWorld or Universal for one day during our trips, but after I've paid for all our Disney stuff, I hate to add on extra money for outside activities. I'm sure one day we'll finally give in and go to other places again, but for now, there are too many things we still want to do and see (or do and see again) at WDW. I think once you set foot on Disney property and see what all there is to see and do, and you catch that Disney fever, you'll mostly be very happy doing Disney activities.

 

[ajcolorado]

There are some advantages to sticking with Disney for the duration:

1. the longer the ticket, the lower the "Per Day" cost.
2. Disney has "theme" parks, rather than "thrill" parks so there will be a lot of attractions that the whole group can do together.
3. You can easily spend 2 full days at Magic Kingdom - especially with little ones.

Just be sure to go with a touring plan that is geared to families with little kids. I know that The Unofficial Guide, www.tourguidemike.com, and www.buildabettermousetrip.com all offer those options.

But have you considered a beach day? I didn't catch your location - if you do not live near a beach, it seems a shame to miss the opportunity. I love Clearwater Beach for families. It is on the Gulf (Western) side so the surf isn't so rough. There is a playground and bathrooms at the beach.

We've gone to WDW several times but there is something just did for the first time - the Campfire Sing-Along with Chip & Dale. It was fun and was very inexpensive - we bought a s'mores kit which was our only cost. The sing-along itself is free. For more information see: http://www.buildabettermousetrip.com/activity-campfire.html