A trip with first timers?

[Thegoatfeeder]

Our next Disney trip is in December, but this time we are taking my parents. They have been before so not technically first timers however their last times were family trips in 1998 (the year AK opened), and 1997.

I got the bug on those trips and 25 years later me and my partner are DVC owners and cross the Atlantic a couple of times a year to eat, unwind, visit the parks and just generally de-stress! My parents have been trying to understand why we continue to go back (not in a judgemental way, just in a curious way) they are very much 'one and done' travellers I would say.

My mum however is nuts about Christmas and so we thought as a gift this year we would give them some money so they could join us for part of our December trip so she can see all the decorations and take them to a Christmas Party which I know they will love. We have rented points for them to stay at SSR (we are at BRV and the RIV - we need some space from them ).

On top of that however we have just been thinking about what are the other 'must do' things that would be really enjoyable and impressive for folks new to Disney. We have a few attractions planned ROTR, Cosmic Rewind, FoP etc. We have considered taking them to Topolino's in the evening, and maybe Le Celier, for food, and then we have also thought about checking out the Christmas decorations over at Fort Wilderness, but I guess the reason for this thread is just to ask what would you show people, eat with people and ride with people that you were taking to Disney for either the first time or first time for 25 years, whether it be Christmas related or not.

TLDR version - What would you do in Disney World to 'wow' people that haven't been before?

 

[thanxfornoticin]

If you have someone who loves Christmas, perhaps coordinate a nice dinner at EPCOT with a dining package that includes the Candlelight Processional at EPCOT. The show is amazing and is a great way to celebrate Christmas.

 

[wolfawk540]

You could always do the monorail tour of the resorts for Christmas decorations, including the Gingerbread House at the Grand Floridian.

 

[RoseGold]

I'd think about changing them to AKL savanna view. It isn't that hard to book, and it was my MIL's favorite thing about the whole trip. She could care less about the parks, she just wanted to stay on that balcony. And the decorations at AKL are lovely.

I'm pretty indifferent to WDW food in general, especially for the cost of those places. I'd consider Jaleo at Disney Springs.

 

[sndral]

My must sees during the holidays are:
1) the big trees…Grand Floridian lobby, Wilderness Lodge lobby, & Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo lobby.
2) Beach club lobby carousel
3) DTD trees
4) the Christmas decorations/activities at the various countries in the world showcase in Epcot.

 

[MartyParty]

Our next Disney trip is in December, but this time we are taking my parents. They have been before so not technically first timers however their last times were family trips in 1998 (the year AK opened), and 1997.

I got the bug on those trips and 25 years later me and my partner are DVC owners and cross the Atlantic a couple of times a year to eat, unwind, visit the parks and just generally de-stress! My parents have been trying to understand why we continue to go back (not in a judgemental way, just in a curious way) they are very much 'one and done' travellers I would say.

My mum however is nuts about Christmas and so we thought as a gift this year we would give them some money so they could join us for part of our December trip so she can see all the decorations and take them to a Christmas Party which I know they will love. We have rented points for them to stay at SSR (we are at BRV and the RIV - we need some space from them ).

On top of that however we have just been thinking about what are the other 'must do' things that would be really enjoyable and impressive for folks new to Disney. We have a few attractions planned ROTR, Cosmic Rewind, FoP etc. We have considered taking them to Topolino's in the evening, and maybe Le Celier, for food, and then we have also thought about checking out the Christmas decorations over at Fort Wilderness, but I guess the reason for this thread is just to ask what would you show people, eat with people and ride with people that you were taking to Disney for either the first time or first time for 25 years, whether it be Christmas related or not.

TLDR version - What would you do in Disney World to 'wow' people that haven't been before?

This suggestion in on my list to do I just haven't managed to pull it off yet. Sounds like you have a DVC unit with a full kitchen. Consider hiring a private chef for one of your dinners in the room. If you research on the internet you'll find its rather common at WDW. Spend the day looking at the big trees then plan on being back in the room for a nice evening dinner. I think you can organize it so that you're there to enjoy the cooking experience or simply have it nearly ready when you walk through the door.

Best of luck....

 

[mort1331]

HDDMR!! fun for all

 

[Thegoatfeeder]

If you have someone who loves Christmas, perhaps coordinate a nice dinner at EPCOT with a dining package that includes the Candlelight Processional at EPCOT. The show is amazing and is a great way to celebrate Christmas.

That's a really good idea actually, also, despite us having made several December trips over the years, its actually something we haven't done let alone my parents, so new for all of us!

You could always do the monorail tour of the resorts for Christmas decorations, including the Gingerbread House at the Grand Floridian.

Great idea, I had forgotten about the Gingerbread House at GF.

I'd think about changing them to AKL savanna view. It isn't that hard to book, and it was my MIL's favorite thing about the whole trip. She could care less about the parks, she just wanted to stay on that balcony. And the decorations at AKL are lovely.

I'm pretty indifferent to WDW food in general, especially for the cost of those places. I'd consider Jaleo at Disney Springs.

Yeah AKL would have been great, but we had to rent points through an agency, not sure which ones I can name here so I won't! We just thought we'd go with SSR to keep expences down and because I think they'll love Disney Springs, we are definitely planning a trip over to AKL though to see the tree at least.

My must sees during the holidays are:
1) the big trees…Grand Floridian lobby, Wilderness Lodge lobby, & Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo lobby.
2) Beach club lobby carousel View attachment 759343
3) DTD trees
4) the Christmas decorations/activities at the various countries in the world showcase in Epcot.

Really like all these things, the tree's at Disney Springs are amazing.

This suggestion in on my list to do I just haven't managed to pull it off yet. Sounds like you have a DVC unit with a full kitchen. Consider hiring a private chef for one of your dinners in the room. If you research on the internet you'll find its rather common at WDW. Spend the day looking at the big trees then plan on being back in the room for a nice evening dinner. I think you can organize it so that you're there to enjoy the cooking experience or simply have it nearly ready when you walk through the door.

Best of luck....

Sadly we are just in studios, but next time we're in a 1 bedroom, this is a must!

HDDMR!! fun for all

That really is fun for all, and we've not seen it since it returned so long overdue!

Thanks so much everyone, really really appreciate the responses

 

[loves to dive]

I think a drop into each park is needed at Christmas. They all decorate differently and each has it's own magic. I love the puppets at AK, the old fashioned feel of the decorations at HS are actually my favorite even over Main Street in MK. Every resort decorates for the holidays so don't forget the Epcot resorts (including Dolphin) and CSR has beautiful decorations in it's main lobby. We tend to spend a few hours a day doing - the monorail loop include WL, walking about the Epcot resorts, hoping on the first bus to arrive and do some of the mods and values, hoping on a bus to AKL. Don't forget to boat over to the Fort at night if you can, campers really know how to decorate.

 

[mikeuno]

Never thought about hiring a private chef when we stay at a deluxe WDW resort. Great idea!

 

[CraigInPA]

Universal has much better Christmas events and decorations than DIsney. You might look at going over there for day, especially if you can time that day with a day they have a concert (we saw Mannheim Steamroller there). And, for a truly special experience, ask if you can volunteer to be in the parade (they may have discontinued this, but guests used to be recruited to hold the floats in the parade; my wife did it and thoroughly enjoyed it).

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Universal has much better Christmas events and decorations than DIsney. You might look at going over there for day, especially if you can time that day with a day they have a concert (we saw Mannheim Steamroller there). And, for a truly special experience, ask if you can volunteer to be in the parade (they may have discontinued this, but guests used to be recruited to hold the floats in the parade; my wife did it and thoroughly enjoyed it).

Loved our day at Universal several years ago, especially the awesome experience of the Christmas show by MS. But having done both US and WDW at Christmas, we feel the decorations at Disney are superior. Maybe it's tradition of the things we see and do at WDW at the holidays, but WDW at Christmas is a must-do for us frequently. I wouldn't go back to Universal unless for a concert event like MS.

 

[starquake]

Hi, new member, but we took parents (DVC since 2014 here) first trip in 2022 (postponed from a covid 2020 booking). They were wowed by several things, but things that just seem silly to us ! So we stayed at Saratoga Springs week 1, AKL week 2 (standard view, but ended up with restritced Savanna).

Their view of things they found amazing, was just visiting Boardwalk for a drink after a day at the parks ("What this is also Disney, it's so nice"). And that was before all the entertainment was back! This was parents first trip to USA ever at age 69 too, so could have been quite overwhelming. They liked, but didn't love Jellyrolls that night, but loved the drinks we had before it at the outdoor micro pub thing.

The things they loved inside Disney were Animal Kingdom itself, they LOVED it, and LOVED the safari and Lion King show. Favourite ride being the Flight of Passage ride.
The surprising thing was we only booked Magic Kingdom for one of the 14 nights over, and they actually loved the feel of that too. They also loved the (tamer) rides there.
Dad was a Star wars buff, and loved all of HS due to that. Also loved Indiana Jones stunt show.
Epcot, they liked, but didn't love, despite Flower show being on.

I do agree though visiting the various resorts is a MUST -> Mum and Dad loved this, especially when we had to explain all the DVC resorts we can stay at and took them for drinks at the Poly and the Grand Floridian (Tiki Terrance, and the bar at pool at GF).. Dad came away with a new opinion on Disney in general "They must make so much money!", where before he just thought they were a Movie firm with themeparks, not realising the scale of their land and hotel ownerships.

Best food they had in Disney was Teppan-edo, blew them away as they'd never had Japanese "properly" before.

Outside disney (boo hiss you all say) their favourite places were:

Rock and Brews on 192​

Chuys on 192 too (Had never visited a tex-mex type place before). They liked this enough we went 3 times in 14 ni.​

​

Key thing was after the trip, woudl they go back... and teh answer is yes, we're planning a trip for their 71st Birthdays.

 

[starquake]

Key thing was after the trip, woudl they go back... and teh answer is yes, we're planning a trip for their 71st Birthdays.

Forgot to mention in the week at SSR we were asked to go back to the House of Blues TWICE for dinner by them due to the amazing barbeque tips -> Dad liked this dish so much he wanted back just for this, and we only found it when having drinks on the Disney Springs terrace as a starter topper on Nachos. (The Pulled pork) Overall we visited HOB 4 times including twice on the terrace having drinks just for this dish. If your parents are like mine and a fan of BBQ overall, this may be a winner and easy to get to from SSR as you can just walk from near the boat dock to it FASTER than taking the boat and walking through springs.

I'd also add we'd been going to Disney for > 20 years on and off and had only visited HOB once in the preceding 20 years.. Can safely say when Dad likes something he'll go back again and again. We've also been disapointed by off-site BBQ before and can safely say the pulled pork at HOB is really nice.

 

[shairpdrh]

We have done Christmas trips with my parents 3 times and they love touring several of the resorts. I would recommend Grand Floridian in particular for their tree and gingerbread house. The Crescent Lake resorts can be a fun visit as well if you are up for a stroll around the lake to see the 32 lobbies. The "sleigh" rides at Fort Wilderness were also a hit. That is a fun way to see the decorations people have put up and to enjoy a nice ride around the Fort. If you plan to visit Disney Springs, the Christmas Tree Stroll could also be fun.