CS meals...

[bcbmom]

we have everything planned & booked with TS meals ~
sat check in using a CS
sun WDW/whispering Canyon
mon AK/Boma
tues Epcot/Chef de France
wed Relax or Water Park/WolfgangPuck
thurs DHS/Mama Melrose
fri WDW/Character Breakfast Lilo & Stitch
sat Boatwrights Breakfast & Kona Cafe dinner
sun departure

First time going with a family of 5, children will be 13, 12 & 8. Is it easiest to just wing it with the CS meals...or should we have an idea where we are using them. And how does it work...do you always know how many credits you have left or it a little confusing.

And this you may laugh at but I feel very overwhelmed about being absolutely lost and now knowing what we are doing, where we are going and missing reservations....Is it just easy & obvious once we get there?

And another question is we are driving down so do most people park and just use Disney travel systems...or is it easier to just use our own vehicle?

And last do you feel it is important to have just a day to relax at the resort or just consider the water parks a relaxing day?


Again sorry for sooo many questions but it's been years in the making and I just want the most special/magical trip I can plan for my children.

 

[luv2nascar]

I personally like to look at the menus on allearnet.com just to have an idea of what food is served
I might plan a counter service in a certain park but if my family is hungry for a cheesburger say I know which counterservice to go to
My first time there I really studied online map so I knew where the rides and restaurants were. So I knew what was nearby when we were hungry.

We drive from PA but park the car once we get there and use Disney transportation. Heck I'm so vacation to and it is so much easier to just go to the busy stop. Disney is huge - that is the one thing that struck me on my first visit how large it truely is. You can get horribly lost driving around.

When you purchase something the bottom of your receipt has your totals at the bottom for dining plan. Always check it to make sure cashier got it right especially if you are paying out of pocket for something & plan for something else. Another thing I didn't fully understand first trip is from your resort to get to a park and get inside to a restaurant will take an hour or more. So always leave plenty early enough.

I was really really prepared my first trip. I had a special backpack packed at home with spreadsheets of trip itinerary - had my restaurant confirm# there too. I kept park maps I got from bus stop incase. I was the keeper of bandaid, sunscreen,etc. Each night when we got back to room I cleaned out bag made sure it was ready for next day. Downloaded days pictures to laptop. Took out rechargeable camera batteries plugged them to recharge and replaced them with spare charged set. Took a minute to review next days plan time parks were opening etc. Set time to get up in my mind.

Another tip check the channel on the tv that shows the park times. When we went in June it was very busy and park hours were extended everyday and extra spectro and wishes added at MK. I would not have know if I hadn't watched that channel.

Relax and have fun.

 

[grinningghost]

Many times, winging it with CS is best. Sometimes you just get hungry when you're on the "other" end of the park, so to speak. Say you've been planning to eat at the Electric Umbrella for months, but you find your stomach rumbling while you're at the American Pavillion. Might as well just eat there - no sense walking all the way back to your "planned" eatery.

 

[lady_hlh]

I think you should definitely read all the CS menus so that you have some idea of what type of food is available at which locations. I didn't consider the water parks to be very relaxing but my DD was only 5 so I couldn't just sit in a beach chair, if your kids are all older it probably could be more relaxing for you. I plan in lots of time at the resort because my DD just loves the pool. Last year we had one down day at the resort but this year I've decided to do 1/2 days hanging out at resort pool mostly in the AM and then doing some late EMH because my DD is a little night owl.

 

[kaytieeldr]

See the menus right here http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/disneydining.cfm on the DIS home site!

 

[IUHoosiers]

We just returned from our first WDW vacation in February, and I shared much of your pre-trip anxiety. Fortunately you are in the right place to get all of your questions answered. I can't imagine taking our first trip without all of the wonderful suggestions from fellow DISers!

Somethings I learned from our first trip....
I know what you are saying about the CS meals. I did familiarize myself with the CS menus and locations before our trip. I had a CS Plan A, B and sometimes C for each day/park. I based my decisions on the menus and reviews. Depending where we were at meal time, we went with the most convenient option. BTW, remaining dining credits print on your receipt whenever you make a food purchase.

In general, I had "studied" the various park maps and determined a basic gameplan for each park. However, there are no shortage of park maps, CMs and Disney veterans inside the park - so it would be hard to get too lost.

We drove in February and took our car everywhere. I know we saved a lot of time not waiting at bus stops. It was very convenient to just jump in our car and go. We stayed at SSR (one of the farthest resorts from MK) and we were able to get to MK within 10-15 minutes. MK is very easy to get around...the signage is very large. We never used a map inside the WDW property - much easier than I anticipated.

It is impossible to do everything - but I was convinced we had to try or we would regret missing something. While it really pays to be prepared, try not to overplan your day. When we return in September, we are doing about half as much per day as we did during our Feb trip.

Have a wonderful trip!