April Disney Trip - First with children

[Bobbyzgirl]

I am slightly overwhelmed with all the info on this board and thought I would post this and someone may take pity and give me advise My husband and I have been to Disney before but never with children.

We are taking our first trip to Disney with our children (DS 7, DS 5) and my parents during April vacation (april 12th - 19th). We are staying in a time share owned by my parents and that is all paid for. I want this trip to be a magical experience for them and I need your help.

My "yes, I did that list": We have plane tickets, Disney World Park Tickets for 4 days with the park hopper option. (we actually ended up with too many park tickets - we received 2 sets of Adult disney tickets for Christmas!)

Now for my "to do and find info about" list:

*car rentals (best price)
*dining in Disney World, dining outside Disney (best places that is not too $$)
*character dining (how do I do this and where is the best place)
*nightime entertainment for the boys - any suggestions?
*Is there anything that my boys simply can NOT miss? what is it?
*Booster seats - should I bring them with us?

I am so sorry to throw this all up here but I want this to be a wonderful memory for my children and I do not want to forget anything important.

Thank you soooo much for anyone that can help or guide me to the right places

 

[vod2117]

Hello and welcome. The car rentals should be from Avis or Hertz. You should buy the entertainment book because it contains coupons that can give you discounts on the car rentals. The best place to dine in Disney is in the Magic Kingdom by the Cinderellas Castle. Also you should dine at Chef Mickeys which is in Disneys Contemporary resort or Whispering Canyons Restaurant. They are both kid-oriented. I m not familiar with anything outside the Disney resort. The night-time entertainment you cant miss is in the Magic Kingdom. They have special fireworks and also sometimes parades. Also you cant miss the Light parade which is by the beach of the Wilderness Lodge, Grand Floridian, Polynesian and Contemporary resorts. Your children cant miss many things in Disney World. They cant miss Once Upon a Toy Shop which is located in Downtown Disney, they cant miss the Lego Store in Downtown Disney, they can't miss the Fort Wilderness Campground or the Wilderness Lodge. You should bring a booster seat if you have little children.

 

[DeeDeeDis]

the boys are 5 & 7, the fact that they are at disney world will be enuf to make this a trip to remember but for some suggestions

Car rental - We always use Alamo or national, love the fact that we can prepay and you dont have to stop at the rental counter at the airport, just walk out to the parking garage, pick your car and drive up to the exit window with your already completed paperwork which you printed out at home - its fast, easy and one less line to stand in.

Entertainment for boys? - 5 & 7 year old will most likely just enjoy being at the pool for a few hours but if you are talking about firework shows at the parks - imho they are all wonderful (Fantasmic may be alittle scarey for young kids theres fire, loud noises, dragon and the bad guys from movies). If the noise of fireworks scare the kids there are some you can see without hearing. For magic Kingdom Wishes - sit on the beach at the Poly Resort, great view without the noise. SpectroMagic Parade at Magic kingdom is a really neat parade, very bright and colorful - we love this

Booster seats - are you flying? i'd ask the rental car agent when booking if they have any

Offsite eats - decent meal, reasonable price = Logan's Steak House, large menu and kid friendly.
Dont forget Pizza is always a great choice. Or you can just take a ride down International Drive and your find every type of fastfood/family style restuarants you could imagine.

Charactor meals - we enjoy; at the magic kingdom -Liberty Tree Tavern (goofy, Minnie, Chip & Dale) or Crystal Palace (pooh characters). At EPCOT there is also the sit down family style resturant in the Land Building, we haven't eaten there yet but there are charactors

School vacation week is a pretty busy time at wdw - if you dont already have reservations for dinner in the parks - you may have some trouble getting them at this time. To make reservations call 1-407-wdw-dine

you could also try going to tthe following sites for discount codes/ideas and more information on entertainment on property and off and menus
www.wdwinfo (dis home page)
www.mousesavers.com
www.allearsnet.com

Hope you, dh and the boys have a very magical trip

 

[Bobbyzgirl]

wow...you are both wonderful to help me!

I will definitely do the "pre-pay" option for the rental car, that is a great idea. My parents are getting their own car so that they can off on their own if they want.

i am going to look at all the options that you have mentioned for fireworks! Sounds great.

Character dinner (or lunches) sounds great...i will call tomorrow about that. We plan on eating our dinners (or most) at the time share (I think it is called Westgate Lakes Spa) or at local restaurants. The only "fancy" dinner will be for my hubby and I, April 18th is our 10th year wedding anniversary...so we are going to go out to dinner, just the 2 of us.

You both mentioned several of the Disney resorts - if we are not staying at a Disney resort can we still eat and visit there?

 

[DeeDeeDis]

Yes you can visit the resorts but you can not use their facilities; ie pool, gym etc.. Yes you can eat at one of the resort restuarants.

Go to www.allearsnet.com click on dining, scroll down the left column, they have a section called "Charactor Dining" your be able to see what is on the menu at these restuarants, the charactors that appear and the cost per person.

www.mousesavers.com has discount code that you can use when renting cars. you can also get discounts if you are a cosco member.

 

[Bobbyzgirl]

more questions

I called and made our reservation for the Ohana's Best Friends Breakfast featuring Lilo and Stitch, at the Polynesian. Now here is my stupid question....is that a hotel or a restaurant in Disney World?

After reading all the great advice on allears (and here) I decided to make our breakfast reservation late (10:40) to try and get away from the crowds.

This place is so fabulous!!!

 

[coneeny4]

Ohana's is a restaurant at the Polynesian hotel .

Have a great trip !!