1st timers; need lots of advice

[tmrmom]

This is our 1st trip to WDW (me, husband, 9yrDS; 7yrDS;3yrDD) and I want some advice on where to go; want to see. What character meals I should plan on? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. We will arrive into Orlando at 10:00AM in June and would also like recommendations on what I should plan to do that first day/night.

 

[Okiemom]

Have fun Plannning!!

Get PS for any sit down meals you want. This will save you lots of time.

The Character Meals we did were the Liberty & Cinderella Brkf at the castle. Both were very good. You will need PS for sure on these meals.

Information on these sites are wonderful. I would find out all parade times, show times, night fireworks "Wishes", times so you can plan around these activities.

Learn how FP works, its a great help.

 

[lclark0621]

You will get a lot of great advice on the boards.

If this is your first trip I would reccomend going to your local book store & picking up a copy of Birnbaums guide to Disney World.

That has EVERYTHING in the world for you to review.

Are you staying in a Disney Resort?

 

[TJA]

What resort are you staying at? Definitely utilize the free transportation at your resort. Depending on where you are staying, this could include the monorail, boat, walking, and buses.

Go to this site for menus at every restaurant in every resort and park in WDW:
http://www.wdwig.com/menu/menus.htm

Our kids personally love Chef Mickey's as far as character meals go. This is located in the Contemporary. You will need to make a PS (which means priority seating, sort of like reservations). The menus link above will tell you about the character meals.

Since you are arriving in the morning, you could always do some pool time and/or naps for the kid(s), then head over to a park for dinner and some rides.

What kind of passes do you have? And how long are you staying? You will find brochures for each park at your resort. Maybe when you check in, you should take brochures to your room and look them over to get a feel for what is at each park. The 4 main parks are MK, Epcot, MGM, and AK. My kids love AK and MK right now. There are also 2 water parks, Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon. They are both very fun.

Ask lots of questions on these boards -- the people on here are great and full of experience and information. Good luck!

 

[tmrmom]

Thank you all for your great advice. We are staying at the Port Orleans Riverside.

 

[waltdisneyworlddreamer]

You will love Port Orleans. We stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter last time and it was beautiful. I would definitely plan to take and afternoon at visit the pool at the French Quarter. It has the big dragon slide that your kids would love. My best advice to you is to learn as much as you can about WDW between now and June. The place has become so huge that you must be well prepared before you go, knowing what attractions you would like to visit, places you would like to eat, to make the most of your visit. The thing that I found so difficult on my first trip was that many of WDW attractions are not visible from the outside. Like, if you go to a carnival, you see the ferris wheel and watch what it does, before you decide to get on. But at Disney, many of the attractions you only see the cue line. So if you don't know what Carousel of Progress, or Pirates of the Carribbean is it may or may not be a good choice for your children. I notice that your little one is 3. We are taking my DS this fall who will be almost 3. I would suggest getting a Passporter: Guide to WDW. This book is great at describing the scare factor for little kids. Although all the attractions are in fun, even Haunted Mansion, some things do have periods of darkness or special effects. I would hate for the first ride to spoil the rest of the trip for a little one. Also, be sure to check out the restaurants at other resorts. It's a great way to check out other places to stay and get a great meal. Hope this helps!

 

[waltdisneyworlddreamer]

Sorry to post again, but I just had another thought.
I would definitely head to the MK first. I would suggest taking the monorail to the Contemporary and have a character dinner at Chef Mickey's that evening. Head back to the MK after dinner and catch the Spectromagic parade. A great way to catch the magic!!

 

[Deesknee]

Sorry to post again, but I just had another thought.
I would definitely head to the MK first. I would suggest taking the monorail to the Contemporary and have a character dinner at Chef Mickey's that evening. Head back to the MK after dinner and catch the Spectromagic parade. A great way to catch the magic!!

I agree.

Also, we used to watch a sing along video (Disneyland Fun) every night before kids bedtime. they got so they new when the song "When you wish upon a star" came on it was time to start saying good night. It really helped them get excited about going to disney. Just be sure to explain the characters don't ride in the rides with you. It also gives the kids an idea of how big the characters are & that they don't talk.

Have fun! planning is sooooo exciting

 

[MrsPete]

On our last trip we finally went to Chef Mickey's (we did dinner, but they also serve breakfast), and I understand why everyone says it's the best. Getting in there is a bit chaotic, and the food is quite ordinary; however, the character interaction is simply the best. We saw a slew of characters, and my girls had a blast! When my little one and I went to the restroom, Donald Duck chased after us and "forced her" to dance with him. Goofy sat at our table, then he went to the empty table next to us and pretended to drink a child's soda. My girls were quite scandalized and wondered if they should tell the little girl that he'd been drinking from her cup. I knew they were having fun, but when I looked at the pictures later . . . their faces . . . it was probably their favorite part of the week.

The other really great character meal is Cinderella's Royal Table. It's difficult to snag a reservation, but so worth the effort! My girls loved meeting the Fairy Godmother downstairs, and they laughed and laughed because the she asked them how they arrived in Florida, then she announced to the room that she needed to know the identity of this "Ford Explorer" which had brought these two children to her castle. The dining room was beautiful, the food was excellent, and the princesses were wonderful. My husband even enjoyed himself at that meal -- he had his picture taken with Jasmine.

One more you should consider is O'hana. It's not a character meal, but it's delicious food, and they have games for the kids.

 

[sprite]

We love Chef Mickey's Everytime I start talking about WDW, my children all ask, "We're going back to Chef Mickey's, right?" It's a great way to start and/or end your trip. We have done most of the character meals (with the notable exception of cindy's breakfast) and Chef Mickey's wins hands down. Runner-up: Crystal Palace breakfast with Pooh.

We stayed at Port Orleans last summer and loved it. We rented the little boats (river runners?) one afternoon and had a blast. We didn't take the boat trip to DD until the last day and really regretted not doing it sooner, the trip down the river is lovely and very relaxing.

My dd was three on our last trip and these are her favorites at MK: Dumbo, Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo, Teacups, Dumbo, Cinderella show at the castle, Dumbo, Buzz Lightyear, Dumbo, Peter Pan (my personal favorite) and......did I mention Dumbo?

Have a great trip!

 

[HitchhikingGhost]

We will arrive into Orlando at 10:00AM in June

Don't forget the sunscreen: Florida sun is brutal in the summer. A minimum 45 SPF is suggested.

Have fun.

 

[highland3]

We've found "Fodor's Walt Disney World & Universal Orlando with Kids - 2005" to be a VERY helpful book!!! It's full of tips, ideas and things we just would never have thought about. We got it at Chapters but I'm sure it's available lots of places. OUr local library even had a copy.

We are also staying at the POR and have booked a character breakfast at Chef Mickey's. I was glad to hear everyones comments about it. I'm sure we'll love it.

Good luck with the planning.

 

[princess-rn]

First of all..this is a GREAT place to start looking for advice. We just went to WDW in October and I "researched" this sight for about 8 months before we left. (I had just found out about it) It was a life saver and a money saver as well. Some of my BEST tips that I learned from here are:
1. Get those Brita bottle filters. They are like a sports bottle..but they have a little brita filter in the top of them to make that florida water taste like home! They saved us TONS of money on drinks. We would fill them up at every water fountain we found and IF the water wasn't cold enough we'd go to a counter service resturant and ask for a cup of ice. FREE!

2. Plan Plan Plan..but remember it's a vacation. WDW is HUGE! If you don't plan you will miss A TON of stuff...but don't get overwhelmed in the planning. (trust me..it's easy to do) Give your self a little room for suprises.

3. Character meals are WONDERFUL. You asked about what to do your first night there...I would suggest dinner at Chef Mickeys. We went to the MK our first day and then called it an early night and headed over to CM for dinner. While other people were at the parks waiting in line...or running around trying to find Mickey..we were having dinner with him and DAle, Chip, donald, and goofy visiting our table. It was great and I think we have started a tradition there.

4. Stay ON Disney property. The benefits of staying at a disney resort far out weigh any benefit of staying off site and the "Money" you will supposedly save. You get FREE transportation on the bus to the parks (and yes..I do complain about them sometimes..but it's still better than driving...trying to find a place to park...etc) you also get the free magic hour everyday, plus even the "value" resorts at disney are better than any cheap motel anywhere!!! We LOVE POFQ!! It's one of disney's small moderate resorts...and the first stop for the buses going to the park...and coming back to the hotel.

5. Get the Unofficial guide to WDW. It's a great book and will give you tips that other's wont.

6. Have a GREAT vacation! WDW is truly magical and you will feel like you are a kid again when you enter "the world".

 

[Daisy'sMom]

My suggestion would be to make sure your kids know before you go that you can't actually go into the castle (unless you're eating there.) I still clearly remember my whole group being very disappointed when we walked up to the castle only to walk through a tunnel and out the other side with nothing in between. I'm scarred for life now. Not really, but I've already told my niece and nephew about the castle so they will be prepared.

 

[TN Traveler]

My DH & I took our 3 DDs ages 4, 7 and 12 at the time last year over Memorial Day week. I sure wish I had found out about this sight before we went. So many helpful hints!! First, you will Love, love LOVE POR!! We stayed there in the Alligator Bayou and just really had a great time. The resort is like a park w/squirrels, rabbits and ducks everywhere. We live on a farm and have cattle and goats but very few squirrels, rabbits and ducks thanks to our Black Lab. My girls were amazed that you could actually walk up to these little critters and feed them!! Take lots and lots of pictures!! If you have a regular 35 mm camera take rolls of film (I took 19 rolls!) and an extra battery. If you have a digital camera take extra cartridges.
Here are my Park suggestions:
1)Take advantage of early admission. We didn't and missed out on alot.
2) Plan what you want to do...you don't have to follow your plan to the letter but at least have an idea. We did this at all the parks except for AK and missed out on the parade.
3) See the parades as much as possible. They are really fun...even for Moms and Dads. Take pictures of your kids WATCHING the parades. Catch the awe, the wonder, the amazement. Priceless pictures that will put a tear in your eye when you get the pix back home.
4) Somene suggested it and I agree.....take in water bottles. We didn't ahve the filtered bottles mentioned but when you're hot and thirsty, water in general is good! Epcot has a great water fountain by Test Track that has EXTREMELY cold water...don't know why but that was the best water we found in all 4 parks.
5) also consider fans/misters. It's extra stuff to pack but just 2 of them help. We paid $4 for ours from Wal-Mart and glad we carried them.
6) If you have girls w/long hair--pull it up!! Ponytails, dog ears, braided -- whatever it takes, get it off your neck!! Don't worry about makeup -- you'll only sweat it off.
7) sunglasses, sun screen, sun visors and ball caps--need I say more?
8) Take at least one backpack. We carried one and found it was one of the best things we did! We carried cheap ponchos, my film in a ziploc freezer bag, the autograph books and a few other things. The ballcaps and sun visors were easily attached to loops on the backpack as were the water bottles and spritzers. We took turns carrying the back pack but usually ended up w/DH!

Think that's it. Everyone else has made other great suggestions. Just remember you are on vacation. Have fun, be flexible and don't worry about every little detail.

TN Traveler

 

[LadyBears]

Purchase a CD of the themepark music well in advance & play it a lot (especially for your youngest). A child who normally would be apprehensive about a new situation, will feel a little more at ease when they already know the music to the attractions. My DD loved singing along to the songs. This was REALLY helpful in the Haunted Mansion!!