Hi everyone! I'm planning a our first family vacation to WDW in September 2011 with our two daughters 4 and 2 years old. I have a couple questions for anyone that would like to help. We are so excited but I was reading that some attractions may be closed. What exactly will be closed in September? Will Fantasyland be open? Also, at what time at night does the fireworks go off at magic kingdom? How hot is it in September? And does anyone have any tips in general for visiting the various parks, attractions, dinning, must-dos etc? I haven't been there for 20 years so I know a lot has changed!
Siobhan
Mickey's ToonTown is now closed and the Enchanted Tiki Room will be closed until next year due to a fire, but pretty much everything else should be open. Mouseplanet.com does a weekly closing list, so just check it on Mondays and it will give you any scheduled closures or refrubishments. For Fireworks, Parade and Park Hours/Schedules you need to look at the offical WDW calendar on their website. We have been twice in September and it is HOT, very, very hot. I know the previous post indicated averages in the 80s, but we have never found that to be the case, it's usually in the upper 90s and extremely humid. It is still extremely hot in September so you need to prepare yourselves for the heat. The only reason we have gone twice in September is because that's when they normally offer the free dining discount and the savings was worth going in the heat.
How many days are you going to be in the parks? Are you on the
Disney Dining Plan? It doesn't sound like ya'll have done a lot of planning yet, so I would highly recommend that you pick up The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World or at the very least join their website,
www.touringplans.com. I use their Best Days/Crowd Calendar to plan our park days and then plan our Advance Dining Reservations around those park days. Your ADR window opened up in March, so there will be limited seating left at the Character meals and popular places. Once you decide on your park days, I would suggest going to the WDW site and doing a blanket search of the park or resort area you will be at on a particular day and see what availability they have left.
Here are some tips for people new to touring WDW:
1. Make sure you have Advance Dining Reservations for any Sit Down/Table Service/Character Meals as you will be at WDW during the Free Dining Promo and the restaurants will be packed and will not be taking walk-ups.
2. Get to the parks at opening. You really can get a lot done in the morning because so many other people sleep in.
3. Eat lunch around 11:00 or 11:30 a.m. before the fast food places get busy. Then when while everyone else is eating lunch, you will have lower crowds.
4. I buy a ton of the two for a dollar ponchos at the dollar store and keep them in the backpack. That way you can throw them a way after use and not worry about keeping up with a wet bulky poncho the rest of the day. Bring throw away ponchos to wear on Kali River Rapids at Animal Kingdom, if not you WILL get soaked.
5. Other things I put in the backpack each morning are Tylenol/Motrin, small first aid kit, camera with extra batteries, small hand towel, hand sanitizer, wipes and a bottle of water.
6. Most single service items under $4.00 are considered a snack credit on the Disney dining plan. (This doesn't apply to you since you are staying off-site)
7. At Magic Kingdom always head to Fantasyland first, if you are not doing Fantasyland on a particular day then head to Splash Mountain first, then Big Thunder Mountain; at Epcot always ride Soarin' first and get a Fastpass for later after you get off of the ride; at Disney Hollywood Studios always ride Toy Story Mania first, then head over to Rockin' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror; and at Animal Kingdom ride Expedition Everest First then head to the Safari.
8. Favorite fast food restaurants at MK are Pecos Bills and Cosmic Rays; favorite fast food at Animal Kingdom is Flame Tree Grill and Pizzafari. If you are there while it very hot, go to Pizzafari.
9. If there are two lines going into an attraction, always take the line that goes to the left.
10. My best tip would have to be USE THE FASTPASS SYSTEM. Our rule of thumb is if the wait is 25 minutes or less, we wait in line. If the wait is 30 minutes or more, use a Fastpass. It is not highly publicized, but your Fastpass does not expire until the end of the day. You can never use it before the return time stamp on the pass, but you can always use it after. We try to collect Fastpasses during the early part of the day and then use them later in the afternoon when the parks become more crowded.
Click on this link from fellow Diser Doconeill and it will give you an excellent overview of Fastpass. It is from Doconeil over on the Disboards and super helpful:
http://www.oinc.net/disney/fastpass.php
If you still don't understand, just let me know your specific questions.
11. I like the Photopass. You can pre-buy it before your trip for $99.00. When you enter the parks you will see the staff photographers, they will take your pictures and give you a Photopass and you can use that for the rest of your trip. Each time you see a photographer have them take your picture and they will scan your picture. Then when you get home you can pull up the pictures, with the code they email you after purchase, and pick the photos you want on a CD. They will then mail you the CD and the copyrights to the CD and you can take them to
Walmart or Walgreens or wherever and get them developed. They also have a lot of cool software that you can use to edit your photos before you have them put on the CD.
My favorite Disney planning sites are:
www.disboards.com
www.allearsnet.com
www.wdwinfo.com
www.intercot.com
Welcome to the Disboards and happy planning!
