Disney Virgin

[Laumau]

Hi all!

I am in the midst of planning our family's first trip to WDW. I got wind of these boards from my neighbor who went last fall and had a ball with her family. I swore I would never go myself but then my DMIL decided she wanted to send us as a present- can you believe it?! Mega-generous, especially considering the fact that we're a family of six. Anyways, my neighbor gave me the Unofficial guide to Disney, which mentions these boards as well, and it's off to the races. I'm so excited now after looking at everything, and I feel better informed already.

I originally thought we'd go over Christmas but don't handle crowds well, neither does DH, so we booked Wilderness Lodge, deluxe room, from Jan 1-7 instead. The kids will be out of school for 3 days after vacation. Hopefully that won't be too bad. I love planning stuff- it's half the fun for me- so I've got a rough itinerary already- just the park and dinner each day, that's it so far. It's definitely a rough idea seeing as how the park hours aren't even available yet. Also, we're going to drive there from Texas (about 18 hours) and then the 3 older kids and I will fly home and DH and the "baby" (she'll be 4) will drive home. I think that we'll like having our van there.

I look forward to posting on the boards and getting some good info!

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Hi all!

I am in the midst of planning our family's first trip to WDW. I got wind of these boards from my neighbor who went last fall and had a ball with her family. I swore I would never go myself but then my DMIL decided she wanted to send us as a present- can you believe it?! Mega-generous, especially considering the fact that we're a family of six. Anyways, my neighbor gave me the Unofficial guide to Disney, which mentions these boards as well, and it's off to the races. I'm so excited now after looking at everything, and I feel better informed already.

I originally thought we'd go over Christmas but don't handle crowds well, neither does DH, so we booked Wilderness Lodge, deluxe room, from Jan 1-7 instead. The kids will be out of school for 3 days after vacation. Hopefully that won't be too bad. I love planning stuff- it's half the fun for me- so I've got a rough itinerary already- just the park and dinner each day, that's it so far. It's definitely a rough idea seeing as how the park hours aren't even available yet. Also, we're going to drive there from Texas (about 18 hours) and then the 3 older kids and I will fly home and DH and the "baby" (she'll be 4) will drive home. I think that we'll like having our van there.

I look forward to posting on the boards and getting some good info!

We are also a family of 6 and we love Disney!!! I also use the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World. I joined their website, touringplans.com. It is well worth $7.95 to have all of their updated info, especially the crowd calender. We live in Alabama and we have driven down to Disney and we have flown. Either way we have never needed our car. The Disney transportation is fantastic - the free magical express to and from the airport and the bus transport to and from the parks and between the parks. I guess I am writing this with the assumption you are staying on-site. The most economical way we have found to travel to WDW and stay on property, with our family of six, is to stay at a value resort and get two adjoining rooms. We like All-Star Movies and Pop the best. We also love the dining plan (basic plan). Having a family our size, we have found that it really saves us money. You get 1 Table Service Meal per person per day, 1 Counter Service (fast food) Meal per person per day and 1 snack per person per day. So, unless you just plan on eating fast food/counter service for every meal it might not save you money, but we usually eat at least one sit-down meal per day, so it does save us money. Hope this info helps!

 

[Laumau]

We are also a family of 6 and we love Disney!!! I also use the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World. I joined their website, touringplans.com. It is well worth $7.95 to have all of their updated info, especially the crowd calender. We live in Alabama and we have driven down to Disney and we have flown. Either way we have never needed our car. The Disney transportation is fantastic - the free magical express to and from the airport and the bus transport to and from the parks and between the parks. I guess I am writing this with the assumption you are staying on-site. The most economical way we have found to travel to WDW and stay on property, with our family of six, is to stay at a value resort and get two adjoining rooms. We like All-Star Movies and Pop the best. We also love the dining plan (basic plan). Having a family our size, we have found that it really saves us money. You get 1 Table Service Meal per person per day, 1 Counter Service (fast food) Meal per person per day and 1 snack per person per day. So, unless you just plan on eating fast food/counter service for every meal it might not save you money, but we usually eat at least one sit-down meal per day, so it does save us money. Hope this info helps!

Hi Tiffany- thanks for the info. Yes, I joined the touring plans website yesterday. Already checked out the crowd calendar.
We are staying on site- at Wilderness Lodge. We haven't decided finally on the travel plans yet, driving vs. flying. It's good to hear you didn't feel that you needed your car. We are definitely getting the dining plan.

It looks like our families are very similar- 3 girls and 1 boy, but yours are a bit more closely spaced than mine.

 

[stopher1]

WELCOME!!

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Hi Tiffany- thanks for the info. Yes, I joined the touring plans website yesterday. Already checked out the crowd calendar.
We are staying on site- at Wilderness Lodge. We haven't decided finally on the travel plans yet, driving vs. flying. It's good to hear you didn't feel that you needed your car. We are definitely getting the dining plan.

It looks like our families are very similar- 3 girls and 1 boy, but yours are a bit more closely spaced than mine.

3 girls, 1 boy! That is a coincidence! My son kept asking when God was sending his brother. We finally got him a boy dog (named Buzz Lightyear, of couse) so he would stop asking! lol!!! My husband says 4 was enough!

You are going to love Wilderness Lodge, it is beautiful! We flew last September on Southwest and got round trip fares for $99. So with taxes and such we flew non-stop from Birmingham for about $800.00. We thought that was a great deal. So, I would check out SW and see if ya'll might get a deal. Also, don't forget that you can make your ADRs (dining reservations) 180 days in advance. Your ADR window will open up around July 1 and since the first couple of days you are there it will still be busy, so I would go ahead a make those dining reservations then. I usually pick my best park days off the UG crowd calender and then I pick my restaurants from the area I will be in on those days to make my ADRs. Some of our family favorites are: Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace, O'hana, and 1900 Park Fare in the Magic Kingdom area; Norway Princess Storybook meal and LeCellier at Epcot; 50's PrimeTime Cafe and Hollywood & Vine at DHS (Mgm). I really hope ya'll have a magical vacation!!!

 

[Laumau]

3 girls, 1 boy! That is a coincidence! My son kept asking when God was sending his brother. We finally got him a boy dog (named Buzz Lightyear, of couse) so he would stop asking! lol!!! My husband says 4 was enough!

You are going to love Wilderness Lodge, it is beautiful! We flew last September on Southwest and got round trip fares for $99. So with taxes and such we flew non-stop from Birmingham for about $800.00. We thought that was a great deal. So, I would check out SW and see if ya'll might get a deal. Also, don't forget that you can make your ADRs (dining reservations) 180 days in advance. Your ADR window will open up around July 1 and since the first couple of days you are there it will still be busy, so I would go ahead a make those dining reservations then. I usually pick my best park days off the UG crowd calender and then I pick my restaurants from the area I will be in on those days to make my ADRs. Some of our family favorites are: Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace, O'hana, and 1900 Park Fare in the Magic Kingdom area; Norway Princess Storybook meal and LeCellier at Epcot; 50's PrimeTime Cafe and Hollywood & Vine at DHS (Mgm). I really hope ya'll have a magical vacation!!!

Yep, our ADR window opens on July 5. I'd like to do Chef Mickey's the first day. We're definitely doing Norway Princess dinner. We'd like to go to Hollywood & Vine and do the Fantasmic package. I think we'll do Magic Kingdom the 5 and 6th days- less crowded then. My husband really wants to take advantage of the Cubs Den in Wilderness where the kids can hang out and have dinner and we can go out by ourselves- probably in the Lodge itself. We'd like to do that the last night.

We checked out Southwest too. Still up in the air about that part so to speak.

Do your kids like to get the character autographs?

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Yep, our ADR window opens on July 5. I'd like to do Chef Mickey's the first day. We're definitely doing Norway Princess dinner. We'd like to go to Hollywood & Vine and do the Fantasmic package. I think we'll do Magic Kingdom the 5 and 6th days- less crowded then. My husband really wants to take advantage of the Cubs Den in Wilderness where the kids can hang out and have dinner and we can go out by ourselves- probably in the Lodge itself. We'd like to do that the last night.

We checked out Southwest too. Still up in the air about that part so to speak.

Do your kids like to get the character autographs?

My three girls love to get the characters autographs. My 8, almost 9, year old son could take it or leave it. The only, and I mean the only, "character" he was interested in meeting was Captain Jack from the Pirates movies. The line was so long, but I told my husband that it was the only one my little guy wanted to see and we were waiting. It was so worth the wait. He was in total awe of Captain Jack. The pictures I got were precious. "Captain Jack" was fantastic with the kids. He showed my son his treasure and his sword and even gave him a sword and had a sword "fight" with him. Some of my very favorite pictures from our last trip are of the kids at the Captain Jack character meeting. By the way, I believe Disney posted the December hours the day before yesterday. Everybody on the themeparks boards, including me, was estatic. Check it out!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1825902

 

[123Disney]

Sounds like a great trip. ENJOY!

 

[Metro West]

 

[ammeador2]

Hi, I am a newbie as well. Well, I take that back I went to WDW when I was 15 and to be honest with you I didn't enjoy like I wish that I had enjoyed it. I think that maybe I was too old considering I've been to Cedar Pointe and big parks with really cool coasters. So, reluctantly I talked my husband into booking our first family vacation that is kid oriented. The last trip we took was before my son was born and my daugther was 1 and we went to New Englad. We had a good time.

Now, my DD is 3 and my DS is about 17 months. We will be going to WDW on Aug 21-24. We will be staying at the Port Orleans French Quarter. I've been told that there is so much stuff for my kids to do, but I will admit that I am nervous considering what kind of money we will be spending.

Is there plenty of stuff that my kids can do? We made our dinner reservations and that kind of stuff. Any extra information will be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[tinkbutt]

I am not totally positive how much your kids can do but there are indeed plenty of things to do with young kids!

I would say you have to go into disney knowing that the thrill rides are not the reason to go you have to emerse your self with the Disney atmosphere!

the dreams that inspired the park and the magic it brings to so many.

you must do

toy story mania- hollywood studious
finding nemo- epcot
fantasy land - magic

just know that with every step you take on property that experiance we preconceived for a reason every sign,banner and window was put in its place to make you feel or think a certian way! enjoy the details and your kids enjoyment of their favorite characters and I assure you you should find yourself loving it!


It will be hot! so make sure you don't get too caught up in making sure you do everything...I have been over thirty times and I still have not done EVERYTHING. just enjoy your family and what you can get to with out killing yourself!

hope your trip is good!

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Hi, I am a newbie as well. Well, I take that back I went to WDW when I was 15 and to be honest with you I didn't enjoy like I wish that I had enjoyed it. I think that maybe I was too old considering I've been to Cedar Pointe and big parks with really cool coasters. So, reluctantly I talked my husband into booking our first family vacation that is kid oriented. The last trip we took was before my son was born and my daugther was 1 and we went to New Englad. We had a good time.

Now, my DD is 3 and my DS is about 17 months. We will be going to WDW on Aug 21-24. We will be staying at the Port Orleans French Quarter. I've been told that there is so much stuff for my kids to do, but I will admit that I am nervous considering what kind of money we will be spending.

Is there plenty of stuff that my kids can do? We made our dinner reservations and that kind of stuff. Any extra information will be appreciated.

Thanks!

Both of your kids will be able to go on every ride that doesn't have a height restriction (ie: Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Soarin', Test Track, Mission Space, Rockin Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, Expedition Everest, Dinosaur). Everything else they can do which leave about a hunderd other things that ya'll can do. They will be able to see and enjoy every show. Goofy's Barnstormer in Toon Town has a 36 height restriction, but your three year old can probably ride it at her age, my children rode it at three.

By the way, I grew up in Mt. Vernon, Indiana and I have a number of cousins that live in Evansville. Welcome to the DIS boards!

 

[eversole]

Welcome!

 

[ammeador2]

My DH's family lives in Mt Vernon. Small world.

Thank you so much for all of your insight. I keep hearing that my family will have a wonderful time, and then I have people that scowl at me telling me that I am doing nothing but wasting my money and whatnot. "My kids are too little..there's nothing they can do.." So it's kinda aggravating.

Anything that we definitely MUST see, do or eat?

 

[MakeLifeGood]

Some one above mentioned the Finding Nemo at Epcot.

Another MUST SEE is the Finding Nemo show in the Animal Kingdom. This is a 30 minute BROADWAY QUALITY musical. The sights and sounds of the show - not to mention the powerful music will be something that your children will never forget.

The cast is FABULOUS!!!! Go see it.

 

[ammeador2]

To go see the Nemo show is that something that I will need a reservation for?

 

[SGMCO]

To go see the Nemo show is that something that I will need a reservation for?

No, you won't need a ressie. Just check at guest service whenever
you first enter AK and you can get the show times list.
With this show you will get to choose your seats, if you are
able to get the middle upper section in the theater, it seems to
be a good location to see all that is happening. The characters
will come off of the stage at one point and if you sit up front it
is very hard to see what they are doing.
Also a must see is "Festival of the Lion King" Show--also at
AK--we see this show every trip and have not tired of it--
the music from the movie, colorful outfits, audience participation--
so much fun--check the show times.
You're Gonna get Hooked--just like the rest of us!!!

 

[Em126]

... You get 1 Table Service Meal per person per day, 1 Counter Service (fast food) Meal per person per day and 1 snack per person per day...

Just a teeny-tiny correction: You get 1 table service, 1 counter service and 1 snack per person per NIGHT of your stay. I just don't want anyone to go booking an extra day of meals that they can't cover with the dining plan!