Disney 1st timers - HELP!

[9-11mommy]

We will be doing a 3/4 Land and Sea in April and this will be our 1st time at Disney and on the cruise. What activities do we need to plan in advance for? I know there are character meals, etc and i don't want to miss out on anything that my 4 year old son would enjoy just because I didn't know to plan it. Thanks so much! We will be staying at POFQ, by the way!

 

[Goofy4]

I'll chime in with this thought as it turned out to be significant on our first trip with the kids (others will have much more detail for you, I'm sure): don't overlook the importance of picking up the daily schedule as you enter the park. This will inform you of any schedule changes, special events (live entertainment), character appearances, etc.

 

[LuvAriel]

There are so many things NOT to miss out on, I wouldn't even know where to begin....My best advice is to check out www.allearsnet.com. It will tell you everything and anything you need to know about what a 4yo boy would love at Disney!!! It is truly a wealth of information.

 

[MECH8T7]

First thing that comes to mind is the Pirate Cruise from 9:30 to 11:30 (certain days only) at the Grand Floridian. Of course, if you were planning to be in the parks every morning, you might want to pass on this.

When you are planning out your itinerary and PSs, have regard for which parks are open earlier or later for Disney resort guests so that you can take advantage of these early openings and late closings. Also, make sure you take into account when the parades and fireworks are at each of the parks so that you can plan to be there when they happen (parades - MK, AK, MGM, fireworks - MK (Wishes), Epcot (Illuminations), MGM (Fantasmic). If you'd like to see the Fantasmic show at MGM, consider making a PS for the Fantasmic dinner package which will give you a dinner at a sit down restaurant at MGM and a voucher for preferred seating at the Fantasmic show.

You can find more about all the above elsewhere on these boards by doing a search.

Good luck with your planning.

 

[debloco]

The BEST advice I can give you is to RUN, not walk to your nearest bookstore and buy a copy of the "Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World". The boards are great but it would take a long time for you to cover everything. Trip reports are fun to read but are subjective and incomplete and the UGTWDW is objective and complete. If you have the book it's right there for you to reference anytime, and it's more efficient than hours on the boards. Plus, then when you have a question about what you've read, you can come post a thread on the DIS!
We took our DD for the first time when she was 4 and it was one of our best Disney trips ever. Have fun!

CLC Tiger Pom Mom
Deb

 

[vicb]

I remember feeling sooooo overwhelmed planning and going on my first trip to WDW with my kids. I wanted to do it all and for them to see it all.... they were 3 and 6. Guess what their favorite thing about WDW was...

THE POOL!!!!!!

After a day or so DH and I relaxed and the vacation became a whole lot of MK and Poly pool because that is what they wanted. We never made it to MGM, we did a half day only at AK and Epcot. We did a full day at TL which they loved because.... it was a pool!

So my advice is to relaxe, don't think of this as your only chance to be at WDW with your son, you can come back again and do more things. We have been back 3 times since our first trip with the kids and each year as they get older we do more new things.

We have done the Pirate Cruise and it was awesome, the fav thing my kids did that year! But it wasn't on our first trip and they were 6 and 9 when they did it, a bit older and independent. Personally I would wait, also it takes up a good half day when all is said and done and if you only have a couple of days there I would rather be in a park myself.

At the young age my kids loved character meals at: Crystal Palace, Garden Grill and Cape May.