1st timer going in May--HELP

[dragonfly415]

I am like a duck out of water--no pun intended. We are booked for 6 nights in eary May--2 boys 6 and 8---and I have so many questions, I almost don't know where to start. We got park hopper tickets for 4 days--my thinking was the boys may need a "hang by the pool and chill" day--and if not than I guess I can upgrade to another day as long as we do it before our tickets expire. We plan to hit one park a day. We purchased the dining plan and I'm looking for recommendations on places to go to eat and at what time of the day. We want to get in some character dining so we are looking at maybe lunch at the Liberty Tree Tavern one day, dinner at the CoralReef Rest another day (does this dinner count as 2 dinner coupons, does anyone know), Breakfast at Donald's Safari Breakfast another day and maybe lunch at Hollywood and Vine another day. Where should I fill in?? I guess I am also wondering how the plan works on the days we don't have tickets into the park (4 PH tickets but 6 nigh stay). Can we get on to the various parks for dinner?? Any help would be appreciated!! Am sure I will have more questions as soon as my head stops spinning.....thanks
PS Also, are there any places you think migh me MUST SEES--especialy for boys??

 

[DisneyRookie2007]

I am like a duck out of water--no pun intended. We are booked for 6 nights in eary May--2 boys 6 and 8---and I have so many questions, I almost don't know where to start. We got park hopper tickets for 4 days--my thinking was the boys may need a "hang by the pool and chill" day--and if not than I guess I can upgrade to another day as long as we do it before our tickets expire. We plan to hit one park a day. We purchased the dining plan and I'm looking for recommendations on places to go to eat and at what time of the day. We want to get in some character dining so we are looking at maybe lunch at the Liberty Tree Tavern one day, dinner at the CoralReef Rest another day (does this dinner count as 2 dinner coupons, does anyone know), Breakfast at Donald's Safari Breakfast another day and maybe lunch at Hollywood and Vine another day. Where should I fill in?? I guess I am also wondering how the plan works on the days we don't have tickets into the park (4 PH tickets but 6 nigh stay). Can we get on to the various parks for dinner?? Any help would be appreciated!! Am sure I will have more questions as soon as my head stops spinning.....thanks
PS Also, are there any places you think migh me MUST SEES--especialy for boys??

Welcome. Lots of questions...let me give it a try.

May is a great time to go. Weather is great and the Garden & Flower Festival is on at Epcot.


If you plan on hitting 1 park each day, Hoppers are a waste of money - unless you are heading to a different park for dinner. You can leave and enter the same park multiple times in 1 day and not need a Hopper.

Check out the menues on line for your dining choices. For my family, we hated Hollywood and Vine. Coral Reef was great for atmosphere (acquarium), but lacking on food quality.

 

[JoePa4Ever]

First, let me say welcome!

You must have a park ticket to get into a park even if your only intention is eating at a restaurant. So on days you do not have park tickets you will need to schedule adrs at a resort location.

Just an FYI - Liberty Tree Tavern no longer has character meals - they used to have a character dinner a few years ago & this past Jan/Feb they had character meals temporarily while Crystal Palace was closed for refurbishment. Crystal Palace would be an option for character dining in Magic Kingdom (Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Eyeore). Or Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary is a quick monorail ride away from MK - very fun atmosphere with Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald & Goofy.

Coral Reef is my favorite restaurant - love the aquarium view and great food - and it is only 1 TS credit.

I would re-think Hollywood & Vine unless your boys are big fans of JoJo, Goliath, Leo & June as the food/experience is not so great. Consider Sci Fi @ Hollywood Studios - it's a great atmosphere where you sit in a 50's car-table and watch old movie clips while eating - good sandwiches & alot of fun.

 

[WizardLarz]

Add the extra day it will only cost another $12+tax for 4 people. Unless you can enter a park you can not eat there. However you can eat at any of the other Resorts, it just takes a little bit of planning gettin there.

Hollywood & Vine and Tusker House are both buffets and offer a great selection of food! I have not done Tusker for breakfast but Most people rave about how good All the buffets do breakfast!

 

[marcielm]

You do not need park hoppers unless you plan to skip between parks on the same day. For instance, do animal kingdom in morning, then hop over to hollywood studios for the evening and see Fantasmic! FYI... AK typically closes around 5-6pm (animals go to sleep).
Like another person mentioned, it's only $12/day for your family of 4 to add a day of parks. I'd go ahead and add the 2 extra days, and if $$ is an issue, drop the park hopper option to save $200.

You still need 2 more TS adr's to fill out your week. You've got one at Epcot (Coral Reef), one at Animal Kingdom (Tusker House), one at Hollywood (Sci-Fi), and one at MK (Liberty Tree). You can also dine at any of the resort locations. A good one to try and get would be Chef Mickey's at CR (pick this for a day you might visit MK), or 'Ohana (at the Poly) for breakfast (Lilo, Stitch, Mickey, Pluto... and bunch of MEAT... DH's fav.). If you can't get 'Ohana for break, get it for dinner... still a bunch of meat! Another fun option is Whispering Canyon Cafe (at Wilderness Lodge).

Hmmm... there's so much more you can fill in and schedule out! Keep asking ??'s and you get a good plan down pretty quick!

 

[Metro West]

 

[lovetoscrap]

Add the extra day it will only cast another $12+tax for 4 people. Unless youcan enter a park you can not eat there. However you can eat at any of the other Resorts, it just takes a little bit of planning gettin there.

I agree with this. The price is so low that even if you end up not using it it is worth it.

I try to schedule my trips with a day for "downtime" about midweek. After a few days of go, go, go in the parks we are usually pretty tired and need a day to sleep in and just swim and go to Downtown Disney. Then we are ready to hit the parks again for a few more days. But I also look at the park hours and events and try to alternate our late nights out for fireworks/late closings, with a shorter day or later opening the next day. So if we stay late at MK one day I will try to do Animal Kingdom the next day since it is a shorter day and we can get to bed earlier.

Take a look at our Disney for Families Board and the Theme Parks board and maybe ask your questions about the best things to "not miss" for boys. But also check out our www.wdwinfo.com pages for information on all the attractions-- rides and shows-- at all the parks and that will also give you a good idea of what they would enjoy.

That also has menus from all the restaurants so you can see the food selections. And if you spend some time on the Disney Restaurants Board you can find lots of reviews for every restaurant.

 

[rjvose17]

There is so much to take in, and each person will have different advice for you. I have been going in 1987, and more in the recent years, and now have two kids(girls) myself. Ages 6 and 3. We are going again in May and this will be my DD6's 5th trip, and my DD3's 3rd trip. My sister used to live in Orlando so we had season tickets and spent a lot of time at the parks before we had kids too. So to start off my best piece of advice would be "Don't try to see and do everything in one day". There is no way you can do it all. Even with as many times that my husband and I have been, we haven't seen it all. It's total sensory overload for kids and they burn out quick. So breaks are good, along with some down time maybe while you wait for a parade. It's smart to have some what of a plan when you go to the park. Maybe just highlight the attractions or shows that you want to see the most, do those then backtrack if you have to. We always bring small snacks, however you are on the dining plan so I don't really know how that works, I've never used it. (see I haven't done everything) Sorry I can't advise on that subject. However as far as character dining. We just did Hollywood and Dine this past Novemeber. It was SO disapointing, and the food was terrible. My girls kinda liked the characters, and they did lots of interaction, but the quality for the money you pay was outragous. I would NEVER do it again. Our plan this time is to hit 1900 Fare at the Grand Floridian. We don't need a day to get into the parks with that one. Also I didn't see when it was you were traveling, but we are going May 16th - 30th and could NOT get into Chef Mickeys. We were barely able to get a reservation for 1900. As far as must see's, obviously I have girls, and it's very different for boys. If they love thrills, the best (I think) would be Expedition Everest at AK, then Hollywood Studio's has great rides. We always buy the newest addition to the Frommer's books, they give you a travelers persepective on rides, food, shows and some in's and out's for the parks. I could go on and on. I also agree with the other posts about adding some days, we have done that, and it's worked out great. We also feel the same about the park hopper, it's really not needed unless you are doing more than one park a day. Another suggestion would be to go online and check extra magic hours for the parks.( I like to avoid those times) and how often a show is running, ex: fantasmic sometimes only runs once a night. Also Spectro magic also can be shown ONLY on certain nights. It's good to study up. Have fun, and if you need more advice don't be afraid to ask.

 

[disney2mom]

You can get so much information off of these forums, don't get overwhelmed!! We will also be visiting in May and one of our favorite character meals that I did not see mentioned is 1900 Park Fare at The Grand Floridian. We usually go for breakfast and it is WONDERFUL!! You can see Alice in wonderland, the Mad Hatter, Pooh, Tigger, Mary Poppins and others!

 

[Imagummybear]

I am also heading to Dinsey World for the first time in about 2 weeks, what kind of crowds should i expect. What will the weather be like. and also any big special event going to be going on March 10-17

 

[mk199]

Welcome!