Advice Needed!

[jaimiemarshall]

Hi everyone, I'm in the process of planning a trip to Disney at the end of August and am looking for some tips and/or advice. On the trip it will be myself, my 11 year old son, 10 year old daughter, my fiance and my 13 year old step-son. My step-son has been to Disney twice but this will be the first time for myself and my two kids. We have rented a townhouse about 15 minutes from the park and will be driving down from Ontario.

We are trying to decide how many days to do at Disney since the plan is to do other stuff as well. From the overwhelming amount of information on these boards I'm thinking our original plan of 3 days may not be enough. I'm wondering for those of you who have boys that are around 11 and 13 - does Magic Kingdom have anything that will appeal to them? I have my daughter booked at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo salon and lunch at Cinderella's castle one day and the plan was for the boys to go to the Kennedy Space Station that day. Her and I are then going to spend the rest of the day in Magic Kingdom and I'm debating not going there on the days we are all there, but I don't want the boys to miss out on anything that they may really enjoy. Is there maybe a thread or post with recommendations for kids by their age? I know its wishful thinking but man I am overwhelmed with how much planning is involved in this trip.

I'm looking at buying the Park Hopper Water Park Fun and More tickets but I just want to clarify if my understanding is correct. If we just buy the park hopper that does not get us in to the water parks correct? I originally thought the park hopper did allow that but then read something different so i want to confirm. The other part that's confusing me is the and more part. If we buy a 4 day park hopper water park fun and more that would mean we can jump around MK, Epcot, HS and AK but then would also be allowed 1 visit to Blizzard Beach, 1 visit to Typhoon Lagoon, 1 visit to DisneyQuest and 1 visit to ESPN wild world of sports correct?

Is there anything in particular you guys would recommend is a "must do" for a Disney first timer? Oh and any other tips you guys could give that really made a difference in your trip would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!!

 

[parkluvr]

I have two sons who are a little bit older than your sons are, but they have always loved the Magic Kingdom. Parts of Fantasy Land may be too "girlie" for them, but there are numerous other things that they would probably like a lot. Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, The Haunted Mansion, and Pirates of the Caribbean come to mind. I really think that if your son has never been to DisneyWorld he should really give it a try.

As a first time visitor, I would recommend at least 1 day per park. You probably won't be able to see everything in some of the parks in a single day, but it will at least give you a good idea of what each has to offer. If your interested in doing water parks also, maybe another day for that.

Standard ticket allows for one park per day. Park Hopper option let's you jump between the parks and visit numerous parks in the same day. The water park and fun option gives you access to the water parks and other activities. I don't think you are limited to only one visit at the water parks, but I could be wrong.

 

[FLSarah]

My 10 year old son's favorite park is MK. His favorite ride in all of WDW is Big Thunder. There's also Astro Orbiter, Space & Splash mountains, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Buzz Lightyear Spin. My son also likes "smaller" kid rides; Little Mermaid is in his top 5 favorite rides in MK. He also LOVES the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor and begs me to go multiple times every trip.

There's the Pirates League where they can be made to look like pirates if they like that. We've never done it, so I'm not sure what age is typically there.

There's also the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom card game that is fantastic for kids (and adults) of all ages if you have some time to kill or just want some down time. It may not work well if you only have a few days at WDW.

The park hopper just means that you can hop between the 4 parks (MK, HS, Epcot, & AK). The water parks & more option allows you to the 2 water parks.

I would definitely want more than 3 days if your budget/schedule allows it. Our first trip was 4 days, and we left feeling like we didn't get nearly enough time. Our entire trip felt rushed, though we did still have a fantastic time.

 

[jaimiemarshall]

Thank you! We will add MK back to the itinerary with everyone. I think I'm more excited than the kids for this trip. The up side of needing to plan so much for Disney is that things "should" run fairly smoothly while we are there.

 

[Hannathy]

How many days are you going to be in Florida? that will have a lot to do with the advice you get. I think a day a park is good planning. Are you going to Universal?

Hard to give good advice with out knowing a few more details.

 

[FLSarah]

I definitely understand feeling more excited than the kids. I hope you all have a great trip!

 

[jaimiemarshall]

How many days are you going to be in Florida? that will have a lot to do with the advice you get. I think a day a park is good planning. Are you going to Universal? Hard to give good advice with out knowing a few more details.

We will be in Florida for a week. We are undecided about Universal Studios right now. It's probably going to depend on how many days we spend at Disney.

 

[MSSANDRA]

You do want to do MK with everyone. There is so much they will love and it's that park where you want your whole family to enjoy the magic together. I too would give answers based on your time in Florida. I would try to do a 5 day hopper pass for just the parks since it is a first trip for most of you. There is soooo much to do in the area and just not enough time!!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

The WPF&M portion functions as if it were its own separate ticket. And even if you have a hopper, if you were to go to 4 separate WPF&M options on the same day, you would use up your entire 4 allotments (assuming a 4-day ticket) on that 1 day.

The good news is you have 14 days to use up everything. If you limited yourself to EITHER 1 WPF&M option or "regular" parks each day of your trip, you could stretch a 4-day WPF&M ticket out to 8 days of fun.

As an example, skim my trip report to see one way you can use a 4-day hopper with WPF&M as that was exactly what we had.