Does someone want to take me under their wings?

[rhiansmom]

I'm heading to WDW on the 6th of May for 7 nights. Staying at SOG and flying in to MCO.

It will be me and my five year old daughter and I feel like I'm missing A LOT... Anyone want to volunteer to email with me off list to help me with my vacation plans?

We went in Feb of 04 and my daughter did the Wonderland Tea Party and had a blast... so thinking of activities like that and also doing the Princess Party Tea but gosh.... that's just the food aspect....

I would be forever grateful to anyone who would be willing to help me with the daunting task!

 

[swilshire]

The bulletin boards are great, but I find that I get a better start on vacation planning with a trip to the library. Pick up every Disney guide you can find (there will probably be lots) and spend some time just thumbing through and reading anything that looks interesting. That will help you decide the basics.

Another option would be to use a planning service, such as Tour Guide Mike. I've never used it, but it seems highly recommended here.

After you have a basic plan, you can come back here to fine tune it.

Sheila

 

[Selket]

I highly recommend Tour Guide Mike- http://www.tourguidemike.com. You pay to use his website but the money is well spent. You will not do better than his touring plans and there is a bulletin board over there of the most helpful people you can find! TGM will give you info on the best days to visit the different parks and a touring plan for the rides once you're there. He also has tons of info on restaurants, how to get the CRT ressie with less sweat, and really just everything.

I think it couldn't hurt to pick up (even at the library) an issue of the Unofficial Guide to WDW. There is a revised version coming out in mid-FEbruary sometime so wait to buy it then if you want to purchase it. The Passporter is a nice guide too for general info. However the best touring plans are still at TGM.

I'd be happy to answer any questions you have if you want to pm me. I recommend, like the previous poster, that you get a basic touring plan together and then try to tweak it. I plan to be at WDW the same week as you btw! I have 2 boys though (ages 3 and 7 years old) so no tea parties for us! LOL!

 

[lovesdumbo]

WOW-how fun for the 2 of you! May 6th is my birthday. I gave serious thought of taking my DD who will be 6 on May 22nd for a quick trip either for her or my birthday-just the two of us but just couldn't figure out how I could do that without hurting my DS(4) or other DD(2). But I still would really love to have some special time with just oldest DD-I tend to expect a lot of her as the oldest-so I'm thinking of going down ahead a few nights with just her for our already planned Oct trip and DH and other kids along with an adult friend can meet us there.

So my biggest piece of advice for you is to realize that you can't see everything so its best to take it slow and smell the roses and really enjoy what you can see. I learned to take it slow when I took my oldest in 2002 while I was pregnant with baby #3. I just had to go slow and we had a great time.

I ususally plan my trip by plotting out the EMH days. Figure out which ones I want to do (MK-yes, others no) and then plan from there. My plan is very loose with just a few PS's.

I had an afternoon alone with DD last October and we did the World Showcase in Epcot. She made a mask and I took lots of photos of DD at the different countries. At China someone saw me taking her photo and they offered to take one of the 2 of us. I have always found folks very willing to take photos. Maybe it would be fun for the 2 of you to have your photo taken together at each country.

Another highlight of our Oct trip was the day we spent the morning at MK and then took the boat to Ft Wilderness to have the buffet lunch at Trails End. The price is very reasonable and the food was great-even for my pickey DD. Then we spent time at the petting zoo (free) and the kids had Pony rides $3 each and we visited the horses from Main St. It was a great break from the parks.

I would look into the schedule of special events for the Flower Fest and for the 50th Disney Land Celebration.

 

[MrIncreadable]

Our family will be at SOG for the same week. We went in 03 the same time and had a great vacation. We did not stay at SOG as they were closed for renovations but they put us up in CBR. There are several books and all sorts of info on the net. I found the passporter very usefull when we started to plan the parks. We have three kids, DD3, DS5 and DS7. We also had DSIL and her kids the same time. There are lots of things to see and do with a 5yo. Chef Mickeys was a great way we started our vacation.

If there are any specific questions you may have let me know.

Good luck in your research quest.