Disney NewMom......Lost, help.......

[SamElkins]

Anyone love to plan Disney Trips?? I need MAJOR help!

I have no idea where to start.....I have really no clue........I saw this board on another baby clothing board I am on..........

I am a mom of 5 kids........I would like to take them to Disney FL. I have a range of ages........17, 14, 12, and the latest 2 little ones.....2 (3 in June) and 10 months (1 in May)........

Should we go in June before Anna turns 3? Do I have enough time to plan?

Did I mention, I would need to go on a budget?

Is 4 days enough time to see parks?

I will be driving from WV, so I would like to arrive on Saturday night or Sunday....(it will take 2 days to get there, well an overnight in South Carolina, maybe?)

How can I do these parks with such a range in kids ages?


I just need help. The internet research is SOOOO confusing and I don't know who to trust and what to believe.........

My wealthier friends just call up Disney, book a resort, buy tickets and get in the car........With 7 of us, I just can't do that.......LOL!


I am open to any tips, suggestions and questions!

Thanks bunches,
Sam

Oh, I would love it if there was another mom of a large family that could be my guru!!!

 

[Metro West]

 

[momof2n2]

I am a mom of 4, with #5 on the way. Although mine are a lot closer together. We are not well-to-do, but have managed to do Disney 4 times since the first was born.

I always say, "A bad day on vacation is still better than a good day at work!" You may not do everything under Disney's banner, but what you ARE able to do can be fantastic.

With a family your size, I would 100% not stay on the property. I would rent a 2 or 3 bedroom condo or townhouse, or a vacation home. The rates are amazing. You will have your own car anyway.

 

[magicaldisney]

You need to take this one step at a time. First things first....you need to see if you can find a place to stay, whether it's on site or off site. If you are interested in staying on site, you will need two rooms at a budget resort or you could rent some points from a DVC member for a villa. I'm not sure what the occupancy is for the value suites at the All Star resort but that might work for you. The other option of course, as mentioned above, is to stay off site.

 

[magicaldisney]

Sorry, no go on the value suites...the only accommodate 6.

 

[lovetoscrap]

You have found the right place to help you out, so relax! One of the best things that you can do right now is get a cup of coffee and start reading. Start with our information site www.wdwinfo.com. There we have plenty of information to get you started. Also we have several forums on here that can help you with the specifics. I suggest you start with the Disney for Families board-- you may be able to find some with a similar situation that can help you out. We also have a Resorts Board for both the onsite resorts and other resorts around the area (Orlando Hotels and Attractions).

One thing to keep in mind is that you don't have to be rich to call up a travel agent and get some help. You will get the same pricing with a TA as you would with Disney, and a lot of help along the way. Our boards are sponsored by Dreams Unlimited and they are specialists in all things Disney.

But you can also plan it yourself. The only problem you may have with planning for a June trip is that you may have a hard time getting any reservations at a sit down restaurant at Disney. But those are also not a very budget friendly option. Since you have a car and such a large group you may want to really look at some of the offsite options, particularly the ones that have a kitchen, if you would like to try to make some meals to help save on costs. But if you are like me and don't like to cook on vacation then you could also get 2 rooms at a Value Resort. Kids stay free so you would just request connecting rooms (or adjoining if you don't think you have to have a door between the rooms).

It may benefit you to go to the Disney website right now and sign up for an account and opt in for the things that they want to send you by email. Once you register with them they will sometimes send out special offers that are intended for your family only -- we call them PIN Code offers, since you have to have the special PIN on them to use them. You can read more about these on the Codes and Rates board, found within our Disney Resorts section. There is currently one that is being sent out for Free Dining for your stay during that time period. With that many people that could really help your budget!

Also you should go to www.mousesavers.com and read all that you can over there-- lots of budget tips and sign up for their newsletter. There will be one that comes out on May 15th and will have a link for a site to get tickets at a slight discount, which would be the best way to get them if you decide to stay off site.

Okay, I know this is already overwhelming so don't want to go much further for now. Go and check out these sites and boards and see if that helps you out any. The first thing you need to figure out is if you want to stay onsite or off and pick your resort/hotel and make a reservation. After that the rest is easy!

 

[lovetoscrap]

Sorry, no go on the value suites...the only accommodate 6.

Actually that still might work. The baby is usually not included in the count of people. So that would be 6 (OP we are assuming you are bringing another adult with you?) and the baby.

You might want to look at the All Star Music Suites. About the same cost as 2 rooms, and you get a kitchenette where you can make breakfasts, maybe keep some things for lunch (as long as you use a fairly small cooler you could pack some sandwiches and chips and drinks and keep them under the stroller to eat in the park) and be able to put together some dinners in the room. The advantage to staying onsite is that it is fairly quick and easy to go back to the room for naps or meals. Particularly if you want to come back to the resort so the little ones can nap and let the older ones go ahead and stay in the parks. Disney provides Free Transportation that is really easy to use so if you want to drive to the park in the morning, then drive back with the little ones the others can just grab a bus and come back when they are ready. Staying offsite that may not be quite so convenient.

 

[SamElkins]

Ok so I should "try" to stay on the property for the first visit..........All star Music or Sports?

Yes my hubby and I and the 5 children, connecting rooms is great.......

Is 4 or 5 days the best to do? My husbands job isn't very flexible, so I considered leaving Friday after work, driving as far south as SC.......stay the night..........then drive the rest of the way arriving Sat evening.......Park tickets start Sunday -Wed or Thursday enjoy a day in Fl on Friday.......and drive back Friday night, over night in SC and arrive home sometime Sat night ( it always takes us longer to get home........)

Should I try for June 13th arrival........

Is park hopper a must? if we are only staying 4 days or maybe 5 I thought one day at each park would be ok.........And water parks.......we are not great at standing in line........so if the lines to slide down a huge slide are long, my kids wouldn't do well with that, they would rather stand in line for a roller coaster or food...........

I am hoping for someone to tell me just what to do.........I can't make choices never being there........And dining is great, but I doubt I can afford much of that, so we are ok with packed lunches and maybe one character dinner......and dinner off site maybe......

 

[lovetoscrap]

Ok so I should "try" to stay on the property for the first visit..........All star Music or Sports?

Yes my hubby and I and the 5 children, connecting rooms is great.......

Is 4 or 5 days the best to do? My husbands job isn't very flexible, so I considered leaving Friday after work, driving as far south as SC.......stay the night..........then drive the rest of the way arriving Sat evening.......Park tickets start Sunday -Wed or Thursday enjoy a day in Fl on Friday.......and drive back Friday night, over night in SC and arrive home sometime Sat night ( it always takes us longer to get home........)

Should I try for June 13th arrival........

Is park hopper a must? if we are only staying 4 days or maybe 5 I thought one day at each park would be ok.........And water parks.......we are not great at standing in line........so if the lines to slide down a huge slide are long, my kids wouldn't do well with that, they would rather stand in line for a roller coaster or food...........

I am hoping for someone to tell me just what to do.........I can't make choices never being there........And dining is great, but I doubt I can afford much of that, so we are ok with packed lunches and maybe one character dinner......and dinner off site maybe......

Check out the All Star Music Family Suites if you would like a kitchenette. Do two connecting rooms if you don't-- but keep in mind you don't get a refrigerator or coffee maker in the regular rooms-- you can rent a small fridge from Disney but it is something like $10-$12 per day. For that price I would just buy one and bring it, and then use it at home or send it to college with a kid. Go ahead to the Disney.com website and plug in your dates and see what resorts and room types are available. That will be a good way to figure out your dates and where to stay.

I wouldn't worry about park hoppers. But you do need to realize that you won't be able to see and do it all. Heck even with multiple visits you can't see and do it all, but generally we recommend at least 2 days for Magic Kingdom, 2 days at Epcot and 1 day each for Disney Studios and Animal Kingdom. And then you would have to also figure in how to do all the night events (Parade and fireworks/show) which are not done every night. To keep it to a budget I would skip the hoppers and the water parks. Just focus on the highlights at each park that everyone really wants to do.

ETA: Make sure you read and understand the information about FastPasses-- it will help minimize your wait times. You might also look at the library for The Unofficial Guide to WDW and it has "touring plans" that will help you get around the parks. Even if they have an older edition it is still useful information. The other advantage of staying onsite is that you can use Extra Magic Hours-- more time in the parks (great for budget stretching, use those tickets all you can!), and when you get there first thing in the morning you can do a lot of rides before it gets crowded with long waits.

 

[Disn3y]

Welcome to the DIS!

I would say yes to staying on site, as far as what resort I have stayed at both All Star Music & Sports, just really your preference on themeing. The more the days the better, when I go we usually spend 5 days, but if budget allows 4 you will still have a great time. I personally always go with the parkhopper because we usually only do half a day at Epcot and like to head to another park for the rest of the day. We skip the countries which I know a lot of people really enjoy, so it's just a preference thing.

I hope everything works out, you and your family will have a great time. We always pack lunches and have a great time!

 

[jimmalru80]

Hello and welcome to the DIS!!

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Ok so I should "try" to stay on the property for the first visit..........All star Music or Sports?

Yes my hubby and I and the 5 children, connecting rooms is great.......

Is 4 or 5 days the best to do? My husbands job isn't very flexible, so I considered leaving Friday after work, driving as far south as SC.......stay the night..........then drive the rest of the way arriving Sat evening.......Park tickets start Sunday -Wed or Thursday enjoy a day in Fl on Friday.......and drive back Friday night, over night in SC and arrive home sometime Sat night ( it always takes us longer to get home........)

Should I try for June 13th arrival........

Is park hopper a must? if we are only staying 4 days or maybe 5 I thought one day at each park would be ok.........And water parks.......we are not great at standing in line........so if the lines to slide down a huge slide are long, my kids wouldn't do well with that, they would rather stand in line for a roller coaster or food...........

I am hoping for someone to tell me just what to do.........I can't make choices never being there........And dining is great, but I doubt I can afford much of that, so we are ok with packed lunches and maybe one character dinner......and dinner off site maybe......

We are a family of 6 and we ALWAYS stay on-site with two connecting rooms at a value resort. It is the most cost effective way for us to stay on-site.

Are you set on June for traveling? Everyone is waiting on the fall free dining discount to come out which will probably include travel dates around August 15 - October 2. In the past the annual fall Free Dining Promo has saved us about $1,500.00.

I would definitely do at least 5 days in the parks, if possible. That way you can do 2 days Magic Kingdom, 1 day Epcot, 1 day Animal Kingdom and 1 day Disney Hollywood Studios. You don't really need hopper passes on your first visit and if you only have 5 days in the parks, I would not waste a park day at one of the water parks. I mean, they are great, but there's just so much to see and do on your first visit to the parks.

I would highly recommend that you purchase, or check out at your local library, The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World. In my opinion, it is the best travel guide out there. I use their website www.touringplans.com and their Best Days/Crowd calendar to plan our park days.

Here are a few of my favorite touring tips:

1. Make sure you have Advance Dining Reservations, as you will be going during a very busy time.

2. Get to the parks at opening. You really can get a lot done in the morning because so many other people sleep in.


3. Eat lunch around 11:00 or 11:30 a.m. before the fast food places get busy. Then when while everyone else is eating lunch, you will have lower crowds.


4. I buy a ton of the two for a dollar ponchos at the dollar store and keep them in the backpack. That way you can throw them a way after use and not worry about keeping up with a wet bulky poncho the rest of the day. Bring throw away ponchos to wear on Kali River Rapids at Animal Kingdom, if not you WILL get soaked.


5. Other things I put in the backpack each morning are Tylenol/Motrin, small first aid kit, camera with extra batteries, small hand towel, hand sanitizer, wipes and a bottle of water.


6. Most single service items under $4.00 are considered a snack credit on the dining plan.


7. At Magic Kingdom always head to Fantasyland first, if you are not doing Fantasyland on a particular day then head to Splash Mountain first, then Big Thunder Mountain; at Epcot always ride Soarin' first and get a Fastpass for later after you get off of the ride; at Disney Hollywood Studios always ride Toy Story Mania first, then head over to Rockin' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror; and at Animal Kingdom ride Expedition Everest First then head to the Safari.


8. Favorite fast food restaurants at MK are Pecos Bills and Cosmic Rays; favorite fast food at Animal Kingdom is Flame Tree Grill and Pizzafari. If you are there while it's very hot, go to Pizzafari.


9. If there are two lines going into an attraction, always take the line that goes to the left.


10. My best tip would have to be USE THE FASTPASS SYSTEM. Our rule of thumb is if the wait is 25 minutes or less, we wait in line. If the wait is 30 minutes or more, use a Fastpass. It is not highly publicized, but your Fastpass does not expire until the end of the day. You can never use it before the return time stamp on the pass, but you can always use it after. We try to collect Fastpasses during the early part of the day and then use them later in the afternoon when the parks become more crowded.

Click on this link, provided by fellow Diser Doconeill, and it will give you an excellent overview of Fastpass:


http://www.oinc.net/disney/fastpass.php


If you still don't understand, just let me know your specific questions.


11. I like the Photopass. You can pre-buy it before your trip for $99.00. When you enter the parks you will see the staff photographers, they will take your pictures and give you a Photopass and you can use that for the rest of your trip. Each time you see a photographer have them take your picture and they will scan your picture. Then when you get home you can pull up the pictures, with the code they email you after purchase, and pick the photos you want on a CD. They will then mail you the CD and the copyrights to the CD and you can take them to Walmart or Walgreens or wherever and get them developed. They also have a lot of cool software that you can use to edit your photos before you have them put on the CD.


My favorite Disney planning sites are:


www.disboards.com

www.allearsnet.com

www.wdwinfo.com