Advice for first timers

[Dad2Buzz]

You can't do everything

Too many first timers get caught up in buying too many tickets - decide as a family what parks you must see and buy accordingly.

Great bit of advice, and something I will do next visit. We booked 12 parks this year - only got to 10 of them and were shattered half way through.

We have decided to limit it to 6 next time - DC, AQ, BG, SW, US, USIOA no WDW parks for us, which is a bit sad, but we preferred the other ones.

 

[chmurf]

1. Rope Drop is (one of) the Key.
Crowds start to build up around 11 / 11:30am.

2. If you stay onsite, DO morning EMHs, and learn to interpret crowd calendars.
Crowd Calendars will NOT recommend EMH parks, because crowd calendars speak to EVERYONE including offsite guests, and offsite guests are at a great disadvantage if they go to an EMH park as onsite guests have already build up lines for one hour when the park opens. So Crowd calendars tell you it's not a good park to go to, but if you're an onsite guest, it is a good park to go to. But be prepared to hop to another park around 2pm.

3. Book restaurants 180 days in advance.

4. If you do Counter Service restaurants in the parks, eat at odd times.
As per 1. Crowds arrive at the park around 11 or 11:30am, it's a good time to go grab something to eat. Restaurants are empty, because people line up for rides as soon as they're in the park. You'll be out of the restaurant when the first guests who slept in will start to be hungry. And the best thing is that, when they'll eventually line up in jammed packed restaurants, they won't be in rides lines

5. Rest, rest, and rest again. Florida's weather is killing. If you have kids, take it slow. If you stay onsite, an afternoon at the resort is never a waste of time. Those 3 hours you'll spend returning to the hotel, splashing in the pool and going back to a park, it's not a waste of time, it's often quality family time, and it's absolutely nothing compared with the 3 hours you'd have spent dealing with a meltdown or cranky exhausted (and exhausting) kids.

6. If you have a long stay 14 days or more, change activities often. Park fatigue is not a myth. You need to find something else to do. A day at the beach, a day in Ocala Forest, an airboat ride, whatever is not "paks, parks, parks".
If you think you can't get enough of Disney, trust me, after 3 weeks of parks, day in, day out, you will have enough, more than enough actually.
It may not translate into a "I'm fed up" feeling, but it will show on your mood and attitude. The key to remaining sane and avoid growing mouse ears and a craving for cheese, is to know when to say "Today, we're staying at the hotel"

7. Don't try to overdo it. You'll never be able to do it all. Face it. Most of us here have a lot of trips under our belt (I'm at 15 and counting and I'm a relative newbie compared to some guys here) and we always find new things to do, new experiences.
Don't expect to do in 14 days what we couldn't do in 14 years.
Set yourself objectives and priorities.

8. Never say that your first time will remain a "one off". Once you're back the first thing you want to do is go back, and you will. So, echo to number 7. don't overdo it. There might be a "next time".

9. Plan but don't overplan. Knowing which park on which day is planning enough (along with ADRs)
You don't need to know which ride, which attraction and how long it will take to go from one ride to the other. Give yourself the time to enjoy things. You won't be able to do it all, no matter what. So try to do what you can and do it well and enjoy what you're doing. Keeping an eye on the stopwatch is no fun. Leave that to asian tourists getting off buses for a 15 seconds photo break in front of a monument.

 

[pickers1982]

Only do rope drop if your up is my advice or dont do it too often. Nonone should set an alarm on holiday too often!

 

[torsie24]

Only do rope drop if your up is my advice or dont do it too often. Nonone should set an alarm on holiday too often!

I'm the opposite! WDW isn't a holiday for sleeping (for us) - we pay a lot for our trips and feel the best way we get our money's worth is by getting to the parks at rope drop and enjoying them during the most quiet part of the day.

Then we can relax by the pool in the afternoons knowing we are missing the really hectic part of the day.

 

[Minniesgal]

I'm the opposite! WDW isn't a holiday for sleeping (for us) - we pay a lot for our trips and feel the best way we get our money's worth is by getting to the parks at rope drop and enjoying them during the most quiet part of the day. Then we can relax by the pool in the afternoons knowing we are missing the really hectic part of the day.

We sleep in the afternoons.

 

[queendisney]

I'm the opposite! WDW isn't a holiday for sleeping (for us) - we pay a lot for our trips and feel the best way we get our money's worth is by getting to the parks at rope drop and enjoying them during the most quiet part of the day.

Then we can relax by the pool in the afternoons knowing we are missing the really hectic part of the day.

yep us as well.

 

[chmurf]

Then we can relax by the pool in the afternoons knowing we are missing the really hectic part of the day.

We sleep in the afternoons.

yep us as well.

this! (all 3 posts)

wake up early, enjoy the parks with low heat, low crowds
go back to the hotel when it's too hot, too crowded and take a nap or grab a lounger by the pool
go back to the parks in the evening when it's cooler and when many guests start calling it a day (and use FP+ at that time)

Even though I do respect the next person's way of touring, I have a hard time understanding what kind of benefit there is in sleeping at the less crowded times of day, and hitting the park when it's the most crowded and the hotter.

It's a bit like
"Oh look, it's 5 minutes wait for Toy Story Mania"
"No, let's sit on that bench first, I'm to tired to stand in line right now, let's rest, we'll do that ride when it's 120 minutes"

I do respect, but that doesn't make sense at all. (no flame, please, pretty please, )

 

[pickers1982]

this! (all 3 posts) wake up early, enjoy the parks with low heat, low crowds go back to the hotel when it's too hot, too crowded and take a nap or grab a lounger by the pool go back to the parks in the evening when it's cooler and when many guests start calling it a day (and use FP+ at that time) Even though I do respect the next person's way of touring, I have a hard time understanding what kind of benefit there is in sleeping at the less crowded times of day, and hitting the park when it's the most crowded and the hotter. It's a bit like "Oh look, it's 5 minutes wait for Toy Story Mania" "No, let's sit on that bench first, I'm to tired to stand in line right now, let's rest, we'll do that ride when it's 120 minutes" I do respect, but that doesn't make sense at all. (no flame, please, pretty please, )

I should point out firstly that I go the quietest times of year (staying onsite and for two weeks) so queues etc are small (and it's not too hot)and secondly fast pass plus means you no longer have to worry about the queue for say toy story mania! I would say magic kingdom is the exception if you are only going once or twice as there s tonnes to squeeze in.

I'm clearly in the minority here, but I'm pretty laid back so if I miss a ride I'm not to upset(not that I ever do). I set my alarm too much at home to do it at disney(I'm not suggesting sleeping late, just waking up naturally) and to be honest I wake up fairly early anyway.

I do as I said acknowledge if you want to squeeze in as much as possible and your going a busy time of year rope drop becomes more appealing.

I don't get the impression you "respect" this way of doing things but there should probably be different tips for different times of year. Maybe I'm just odd!

 

[DLPDreams]

I am still not sure about the rope drop most days thing. We have been away a fair bit with our children and as they've grown, we find it quite easy to do the nap in the afternoon (sometimes takes a day or two) so they stay up later in the evening (sometimes for family meal, or entertainment at a resort depending on where we are!). But as the holiday gets on we find we do start getting up later...

So my question is, if we were to totally miss afternoons in the parks - say out from 1 pm - 6 pm, are we going to miss much? A parade or something? Not saying we'd want to see it every day but perhaps once or twice.

I guess I am still struggling with feeling I have to plan most things - ADRs, FPs and therefore parks we are visiting and when, so far in advance. I don't think we can leave much to chance going in August. Especially as potentially, US children still off school for 2 of our 3 weeks!

I think I need someone to just wave a magic wand and plan the ultimate trip for me !

 

[DLPDreams]

One tip I've read about (but didn't know about), if you would like one, you can get a '1st trip' badge to wear from City Hall and some of the CMs near the entrance, and other places but I can't remember (!). Those badges tend to get you a little extra attention with CMs/characters - adding to the magic! I just know my children will love having one .

 

[scoobydooby]

August is just very little fun in the parks between 2pm and 6pm. The heat and humidity is brutal and the queues long. That's much less fun than a couple of extra hours in bed in my opinion.

My kids like to lie in so we have reached a happy middle ground. We do rope drop for two consecutive days and leave the parks by 2pm for a swim/nap and go back for the evening. But every third day we lie in. On those days we often hit a park about 4pm when crowds are lower and there are things to do in every park if you arrive late that don't have terrible lines. The shows at AK. The shows as DHS. Lots of the 'lesser' attractions at MK. World Showcase at Epcot. We also do things like the water sports at the Contemporary, shopping malls, just chilling out at the hotel.

We once went the two weeks around Christmas and did Disney, Universal, Sea World, Discovery Cove and a rope drop every day. It was fun and more manageable as not hot, but exhausting and we were all ill when we got home. Never again.

Spontaneity is a great thing. But not well suited to a WDW holiday unless you either are prepared to only skim the surface, go often enough to just do a bit, or plan to spend two weeks in a long line bickering with your nearest and dearest.

 

[bigskip]

The most important thing is to drink while you are there.

Water - lots of it, If you think you've drunk enough, you haven't...

If you don't do the water fountains (i have no worries) take a britta bottle, or cart bottled water into the parks.

You can get ice water from CS places, but it's only a mouthful.

The next most important thing to do is drink...

Technically it's only one thing, but it's important enough to mention it twice.

Enjoy

 

[torsie24]

I am still not sure about the rope drop most days thing. We have been away a fair bit with our children and as they've grown, we find it quite easy to do the nap in the afternoon (sometimes takes a day or two) so they stay up later in the evening (sometimes for family meal, or entertainment at a resort depending on where we are!). But as the holiday gets on we find we do start getting up later...

So my question is, if we were to totally miss afternoons in the parks - say out from 1 pm - 6 pm, are we going to miss much? A parade or something? Not saying we'd want to see it every day but perhaps once or twice.

I guess I am still struggling with feeling I have to plan most things - ADRs, FPs and therefore parks we are visiting and when, so far in advance. I don't think we can leave much to chance going in August. Especially as potentially, US children still off school for 2 of our 3 weeks!

I think I need someone to just wave a magic wand and plan the ultimate trip for me !

Yes - our touring style does mean we have to make an effort to see the afternoon parades.

What we tend to do in that case is maybe see them on a day when we have a lunch ADR, have a laid back morning (maybe after a late night beforehand) and then after lunch catch the parade and not focus on rides that day. (Or if we do then do this like Philarmagic/Peoplemover etc)

I've not been since FP+ though so I guess now you could anticipate having a "parade" day and get some FPs for the afternoon.

 

[joolz1910]

I have only been once with 3 children so my tips are concerned with families.

1. Plan some 'definites' for each day - which park, headline rides, where to eat and then allow spontaneity. My kids wanted to fly The Magic Carpets as their first ride - not my first choice but hey...

2. Allow some 'down-time' every day. My kids loved the pools.

3. If your child is young, take a stroller - it saves meltdowns and allows you to stay out later if you have older children.

4. Be flexible - as someone said, don't bark at your kids if your military-style plan goes awry.

5. Don't worry if you can't fit everything in to one trip....you'll be back!

 

[chmurf]

I'm clearly in the minority here, but I'm pretty laid back so if I miss a ride I'm not to upset(not that I ever do). I set my alarm too much at home to do it at disney(I'm not suggesting sleeping late, just waking up naturally) and to be honest I wake up fairly early anyway.

I do as I said acknowledge if you want to squeeze in as much as possible and your going a busy time of year rope drop becomes more appealing.

I don't get the impression you "respect" this way of doing things but there should probably be different tips for different times of year. Maybe I'm just odd!

you're not odd. Actually we're the same. We're up early, so in the parks early (on days we do parks). But early in, early out. We're out of the parks by 1pm (2pm at the latest) back to the resort, and then FP+ to the parks come 6pm. Sometimes we don't even bother going back to the parks at all, or forfeit 1 or 2 of our FP+s because we are idling by the pool and not willing to move.
We go at slow times (october/november) and we couldn't care less if we miss a ride.

But all of this is irrelevant here. We are seasonned travellers and WDW veterans. We tour in a laid back fashion because we know the property inside and out. Vacationning at WDW, for us, is more than the parks, it's a whole resort we've learned to know and enjoy.

How irrelevant is this ? well, this topic is about advice for first timers.
In order for these first timers to fall in love with the resort, like we did fall in love with the resort, it's important to tell these first timers how to avoid crowds. That's the way they'll free some time up to discover everything else the resort has to offer.
And that's the way for them to get to know the resort, and then be able to come back, for future trip, and adopt that laid back touring style that we love.

But let's not forget that, if the first thing we want to do when we're back is to book again, for some readers here, it will be the trip of a lifetime (for now at least) So for the readers here, the main objective will not be the same as the objectives of those, like me and you, who call WDW "home away from home".

It doesn't make sense in the "trip of a lifetime" to sleep in, and to go to the parks at the busiest time.
We don't care if we don't do Soarin', or TSMM ... can you believe that we're just back from 3 full weeks in WDW and we only ever rode once Star Tours, we never bothered to see fantasmic, we didn't ride under the sea, we didn't ride splash mountain, not once in 3 weeks. We never even stopped to watch Wishes, even on MNSSHP nights (only time was at the top of Contemporary after a California Grill meal)

We have "other" priorities at WDW. But those priorities are not first timers priorities.
A first timer will most probably want to avoid crowds and waiting in lines forever. the best advice would be to minimise the wait time. And there are 2 ways to minimise wait time. FP+, limited to 3 per day so far, and rope droping (includes free unlimited walk on for rides during a couple of hours)

A seasonned WDW guest will sleep in on this (we don't sleep in, we hit water parks, disney quest, crazy golf, shopping malls and outlets, airboat rides, parasailing, character breakfast at hotels, you name it) and then FP+ through our afternoon.
But is that what a first timer will want their day to look like ? What the vast majority of them want to do is hit the parks as much as possible. That means RD.

Now, the second best advice is to tell them that at WDW there's more than just the parks. WE can spend full days not even going to the parks for a parade or a ride. But only because we have already done the parks to our hearts content on previous visits.

I hope you better understand my point, and that it's not a criticism on one's way of touring (especially since my way is the laid back way ) but we're talking to first timers. I don't think they dish out between £4 and £10k for a trip to Florida to spend mornings in bed and afternoons in the crowds.
I think it's best to tell them when and how crowds are thinner than tell them they'll be ok dealing with afternoon crowds.

ymmv.

 

[1nfrequent]

There's a lot of really good advice here and I'm going to repeat some of it, but I have some points that may be helpful to first time solo flyers:

1. Do whatever planning makes you comfortable but don't feel wedded to your plan. If it's your first time at WDW, you might find that some things you thought you'd love to do don't interest you once you get up close to see it. Personally, I only go so far as to work out which parks I want to do on a particular day and this year I've done the FP+ so I know which rides I want to do but I don't go any deeper with ride strategy. This is mainly because if you're solo, you'll be on the single rider lines anyway so your wait time won't be as much as everyone else. (You're allowed to feel a bit smug about that but I discovered that it doesn't extend to going nyah nuah nyah at those in the longer queue).

2. Don't worry about people thinking you're weird to be on your own or that you'll be lonely. You'll be surprised how many solo people there are in the Park and I've found that people are actually pretty friendly and you can have a chat in line or on the buses. I take a book with me for meal times but usually end up chatting to someone (sometimes people take pity and offer to let you join them, which is sweet but I usually decline).

3. Because of the time zone difference, I find it's easier on my insides to have my main meal as lunch. During low season I don't bother with reservations for lunch as I find it easy to get a spot but that's less likely in high season. I tend to prefer table service to counter just because I use the meal as my down time to kick back and relax. I then snack during the day and drink plenty of water because it can get very hot and you don't want to be dehydrated.

4. If, like me, you calorie count, it's going to be really difficult to do it in the Parks as there's no information. However, given all the walking you do, provided that you're sensible and eat in proportion then you shouldn't be in too much danger.

5. Don't be worried about making it to rope drop. Like I said above, you're solo so you get the single rider lines. Equally, don't feel pressured to stay until close. It's your vacation, do what works for you.

6. Sunscreen. I'm fair skinned so I burn even in winter. Take a high factor and reapply regularly - especially after water rides.

7. If you're going in low season, the water rides aren't a lot of fun. It can be cold in January and squelching around in wet knickers after being drenched on the Kali Rapids is no fun at all. (Or maybe it is for some - I shouldn't judge). If you want to do the wet rides, leave it until last or build in some time to get back to your hotel and change.

I think that's about it.

1F

 

[DLPDreams]

Yes - our touring style does mean we have to make an effort to see the afternoon parades.

What we tend to do in that case is maybe see them on a day when we have a lunch ADR, have a laid back morning (maybe after a late night beforehand) and then after lunch catch the parade and not focus on rides that day. (Or if we do then do this like Philarmagic/Peoplemover etc)

I've not been since FP+ though so I guess now you could anticipate having a "parade" day and get some FPs for the afternoon.

Thank you Torsie . I think we may have to do similar in our plan - few early days and a few late ones. I may be in contact nearer the time of planning ours . I know park programmes are out very far in advance so this should help us plan.

As for it being a 'once in a lifetime' trip as mentioned here. It genuinely is for us - we will never have this holiday budget again and because flights are the bulk of the trip and we are tied to super expensive school holidays (and in a few years we'll be paying airfare for 3 adults, 1 child), I honestly can't see that changing for us any time soon. That, coupled with the fact that we like seeing different places and our kids do too . But, I suppose you can never say 'never'.... .

 

[Sam1]

As for it being a 'once in a lifetime' trip as mentioned here. It genuinely is for us - we will never have this holiday budget again and because flights are the bulk of the trip and we are tied to super expensive school holidays (and in a few years we'll be paying airfare for 3 adults, 1 child), I honestly can't see that changing for us any time soon. That, coupled with the fact that we like seeing different places and our kids do too . But, I suppose you can never say 'never'.... .

We said ours was a one off last year as well because of the cost, yet here we are planning our second trip for just a year later.

I was going to book for a third time when the discounts come out next week, but we've decided to move house next year instead and can't afford both, so this year really will be our last. Well, probably our last.

 

[pickers1982]

you're not odd. Actually we're the same. We're up early, so in the parks early (on days we do parks). But early in, early out. We're out of the parks by 1pm (2pm at the latest) back to the resort, and then FP+ to the parks come 6pm. Sometimes we don't even bother going back to the parks at all, or forfeit 1 or 2 of our FP+s because we are idling by the pool and not willing to move. We go at slow times (october/november) and we couldn't care less if we miss a ride. But all of this is irrelevant here. We are seasonned travellers and WDW veterans. We tour in a laid back fashion because we know the property inside and out. Vacationning at WDW, for us, is more than the parks, it's a whole resort we've learned to know and enjoy. How irrelevant is this ? well, this topic is about advice for first timers. In order for these first timers to fall in love with the resort, like we did fall in love with the resort, it's important to tell these first timers how to avoid crowds. That's the way they'll free some time up to discover everything else the resort has to offer. And that's the way for them to get to know the resort, and then be able to come back, for future trip, and adopt that laid back touring style that we love. But let's not forget that, if the first thing we want to do when we're back is to book again, for some readers here, it will be the trip of a lifetime (for now at least) So for the readers here, the main objective will not be the same as the objectives of those, like me and you, who call WDW "home away from home". It doesn't make sense in the "trip of a lifetime" to sleep in, and to go to the parks at the busiest time. We don't care if we don't do Soarin', or TSMM ... can you believe that we're just back from 3 full weeks in WDW and we only ever rode once Star Tours, we never bothered to see fantasmic, we didn't ride under the sea, we didn't ride splash mountain, not once in 3 weeks. We never even stopped to watch Wishes, even on MNSSHP nights (only time was at the top of Contemporary after a California Grill meal) We have "other" priorities at WDW. But those priorities are not first timers priorities. A first timer will most probably want to avoid crowds and waiting in lines forever. the best advice would be to minimise the wait time. And there are 2 ways to minimise wait time. FP+, limited to 3 per day so far, and rope droping (includes free unlimited walk on for rides during a couple of hours) A seasonned WDW guest will sleep in on this (we don't sleep in, we hit water parks, disney quest, crazy golf, shopping malls and outlets, airboat rides, parasailing, character breakfast at hotels, you name it) and then FP+ through our afternoon. But is that what a first timer will want their day to look like ? What the vast majority of them want to do is hit the parks as much as possible. That means RD. Now, the second best advice is to tell them that at WDW there's more than just the parks. WE can spend full days not even going to the parks for a parade or a ride. But only because we have already done the parks to our hearts content on previous visits. I hope you better understand my point, and that it's not a criticism on one's way of touring (especially since my way is the laid back way ) but we're talking to first timers. I don't think they dish out between £4 and £10k for a trip to Florida to spend mornings in bed and afternoons in the crowds. I think it's best to tell them when and how crowds are thinner than tell them they'll be ok dealing with afternoon crowds. ymmv.

Sorry just to confirm by not setting my alarm i dont mean stay in bed all morning but just wake up naturally. I'm usually awake by 8 at the latest but never rush to make rope drop(if it happens it happens).

 

[dixonsontour]

Remember the time difference will work in your favour the first few days.

I am not a morning person but 7am adr at chef mickeys is no problem on the first day for me. For the first week we try and stay in an early up early to bed pattern.

By week two we naturally adjust and do later starts and evening fireworks.

I wouldn't plan a late dinner reservation for example the first few days.