Booked it, now what?!

[unityco]

We have booked our DW vacation at Coronado Springs Resort with the QS Dining Plan for the week of Feb. 21. Now what should I be looking at? I've read that I should be making reservations for certain restaurants, or events and the like. It will be just three of us (DH, 3yo DS and I.) DH & I are not huge Disneyphiles duck, so we're really only interested in doing things for DS's sake (although either of us would *love* a "true" behind-the-scenes tour.)

DS is not well-versed in the Disney catalogue either. He doesn't know Mickey and the original crew, so I doubt he would have any interest seeing them. He does like a bunch of Disney movies - Peter Pan, Finding Nemo, Cars, Toy Story, Lilo & Stitch and The Little Mermaid are in the current rotation (we'll probably introduce a few more before we leave. ) He thinks the castle logo at the beginning of the movies is just awesome, though. We recently took him to a local event with puppets/characters, and he was very timid/stand-offish with them, so I'm a little worried he may not enjoy the characters at Disney (I hope that's not the case!) He currently really enjoys heavy equipment, pirates, farms and transportation (anything about buses, trains, planes, boats, etc.)

So, all that background info to ask for some more direction in planning. What can we do with our 3yo? What rides are appropriate for him? What parks? What's the deal with the "character" meals, and are they only Mickey? Can we still apply 2 QS credits to get a table meal? What things should I be making reservations for now?

Thanks so much!

(There doesn't happen to be any combine driver simulator rides at Disney, are there, lol? Our downtown urban born and raised son is quite adament he's going to be a combine driver when he grows up. )

 

[unityco]

Any thoughts for me?

 

[Bren's Mom]

Congrats on booking your trip!

To start, if you booked the QS dining plan I don't think you will have any table service credits. The regular dining plan does (1 TS per day, 1 CS per day, 1 snack per day). So you won't need reservations unless you're planning to pay out of pocket.

I'd head over to the Disney Dining forum here, and to the Dining Plan sub forum, you should be able to get all the specifics there.

You'll find Nemo at Animal Kingdom and Epcot, Cars at Hollywood Studios.

They have character meals with Little Einstein's and Jo Jo's Circus characters and some with Pooh and his gang as well.

You'll find lots of great transportation things at Disney! Be sure to plan to do the train around MK and a monorail ride!

 

[mom0299]

You are going to love Coronado Springs. It is a beautiful resort. Your DS will really like the pool, too.
With a 3yo you will probably spend most of your time at MK. Fantasyland and Toon Town have most of the little kid rides. If you get to ToonTown as soon as it opens and rush to Goofy's Barnstormer you can ride the coaster with Goofy. If you are a little late you can at least watch him ride. Take some time and wander through Mickey's and Minnie's houses and Donald's boat. Pooh has a play area in Fantasy land. Mickey's Philharmagic is a must see. There are always places to meet the characters if he's into that. You'll also want to visit the other parks. AK would be my next pick for a young child. There are great places to see animals. Take Rafiki's train out to the petting zoo. Ride the Safari. They have a great Nemo show. Dinoland is the kids area. There are several rides and a play area called the boneyard. At HS you can play on the "Honey, I shrunk the kids" playground. Watch the Muppets 3D show, go see Lights, Motors, Action, and the Backlot tour. He can train to be a Jedi. Epcot is my family's favorite park, but with a little one it may not be yours. There are a few rides he can handle like The Living Seas with Nemo and Friends, and Living with the Land. I can't remember the height requirement for Soarin', but you must do that! You can make cookies in the Land, get free refreshment at Coke's club cool. Innoventions has some great activities. Visiting the different countries can also be a lot of fun.
The possibilities are endless when it comes to WDW. I do want to mention that they have something called a Baby Swap. If you and your spouse want to ride a ride and the child is too little you can all get in line. Let the CM know you want to do the baby swap. You will ride while the other waits with the child. When you get off you wait with the child while your spouse rides the ride. That way you don't have to wait in line again. It works a little bit different at some rides, they'll give you a special fast pass to come back, but still you're not waiting in line twice. I'm sure there will be more tips coming, but these are a few of mine.

 

[unityco]

Thanks for that, Mom0299, I appreciate it! I got another report about Epcot that led me to believe it could be my son's favourite park too. The Nemo ride, and a farm area would really be up his alley, and I guess there's a couple of boats, a test track, a garbage truck thing and a firetruck thing? Any of those would make his day!

Just to add some more info, DS is really tall for his age - 42.5" - so he may be able to go on rides a typical 3yo wouldn't be able to.

Thanks again, everyone! Please keep the advice coming!

 

[ToTLaugher]

At EPCOT go to test track to see the cars. They have a display of new cars and trucks. Lots of fun for little boys. My son loved checking out the cars and sitting in the driver's seats.

Also in Germany they have a train display that will be fun for him to check out.

I am willing to bet you will all have a wonderful time with memories to last forever!