Family's First Trip - Tips?

[AngelicFruitcake]

Hi, all. This is my first post though I've enjoyed reading the boards for a few weeks now. We are taking our very first trip to Disney World the week of May 16th. I had been to DisneyLand back in high school, but the rest of the family has never done anything Disney. (Except watch movies, obviously). We are, myself, dh, dd8 and ds5.

We are driving down from Virginia, and staying at the Pop Century. We don't have parkhoppers. I'm feeling pretty zen about things, but I worry I may be too zen. DH and I are not the most organized/planning type people in the world. I've read about people planning for their trips for over a year, and we just decided to make the trip a little over a month ago.

So, I don't want to get riled up about things, but I also don't want to be blindsided by something we should have been prepared for.

So, any tips/tricks/info for a newbie Disney vacationer?

Also, park itineraries. I wasn't really planning on using one, I kind of just wanted to hit each park as go with the flow. How crucial are these at this time of year?

Oh, and, so we made reservations for Hoop Dee Doo, Cinderella's Breakfast and The Spirit of Aloha. By the time those were paid for, it was nearly half the cost of the Deluxe Dining Plan, so we decided to go for it. Now I'm worried we'll be spending too much time eating. Thoughts? For those of you with Deluxe Dining Plan experience, what was your experience like?

And last but not least, we still have one Dining credit left. What is your favorite Disney Dining Experience (that's available for the Dining Plan)?

 

[kiteri]

I have been a member on the DIS for a while, and though you may get told you should plan more... I personally think you are doing THE perfect thing for your first trip.

You are going to get to be wowed by the magic for this trip!

Sometimes ignorance is bliss. To know ALL THESE THINGS that you want to go and see with no feel for the size of the parks or where anything is could make it really overwhelming.

ESPECIALLY with lots of dining reservations. I went during free dining once with lots of dining reservations and inevitably found myself on the other side of the park from where my reservations were because I was following a tour plan.

IF you want to use fastpass, don't worry that the time on your fastpass is the same time as your dining reservation. You can use that fastpass any time AFTER the window printed on the pass.

When you enter the park and pick up a park map, check the show times for anything you want to see. If there are only two shows and one of them is during your dining reservation, then you know you have to go to the other show.

Make sure you keep your eye on where you are, where your restaurant is that you have a reservation, and what time it is getting to be. Give yourself enough time to get to where you are to eat. (ie, don't get in line for a ride when there is only an hour left until your reservation at a restaurant on the other side of the park)

Disney actually does some neat things for crowd control. If you aren't running commando style to your next conquest, and you stand around watching the drummers, or chinese tumblers, or whatever else crops up.... you will find yourself in a flow of people who are "planned for".

An example... My family and I stopped to watch some gentlemen parade by playing Pink Elephants on saxophones. A crowd gathered and followed the sax players and they led right to a fresh crop of characters with handlers. We got to be first in line for Chip and Dale.

Go with the flow sometimes, but also don't be afraid to do something random. My kids and I decided to go rent a locker while their father went off to get fast passes and when we were done in the lockers, Snow White had JUST come out. She chased my son in circles around me and laid a big lipstick kiss on his cheek because she was still making her way to her staging area.

We were WALKING through Animal Kingdom while all the other commandos were RUNNING and they all ran right past Lilo and Stitch! I got to ride the same rides AND I got to see Lilo and Stitch

There are little magical moments everywhere, and I think they find the person who doesn't look like they are on a mission late for their only meal of the day!

With kids the age of yours, I would suggest a breakfast buffet! My kids did best if they ate a good breakfast!

HAVE FUN, RELAX, ENJOY!!!!!!!!!

 

[Eric in TX]

Hi Angelic,

First off - CONGRATULATIONS! The first trip is always so much fun when you get to experience everything for the first time!

I can't really offer any answers to your questions about the dining plan, but I can talk to your "Zen-ness" a bit.

Everybody does things a little differently at WDW, and the important thing is to figure out what works best for your family. I know some folks who have their entire day planned out in 15 minute intervals, ride by ride. I could never follow along with that level of detail myself, but it works for them.

But I am definitely an advocate of doing a little bit more than simply "going with the flow." If nothing else, having a general gameplan for each park will allow you to limit some of the time you spend just standing in line. Here's my advice:

**Without Park Hoppers, I would avoid the EMH parks. At some point during the day, those parks typically get over-crowded (due to the EMH). Since you can't bail out when they reach that point, it's best to just skip them altogether.

**I highly recommend getting to your selected park each morning at rope drop. It's hard for many folks to get up that early on vacation, and that translates into less crowds in the early morning. You should be able to get as much done in the first 2-3 hours after rope drop than you would in 4-6 hours later in the day.

**I also suggest to my group that we identify a handful of things we absolutely must do each day in the park. For MK, it might be Buzz, Peter Pan, PhilharMagic, Splash Mountain, Pirates, and Dumbo. We concentrate on these attractions initially, and then we just pick out everything else as we go along with the flow. Everybody gets to see a couple of favorites, but we don't spend the day racing around trying to fit "everything" into the day.

**All that being said, the biggest factor will obviously be your DD and DS. You are the best judge of how they're feeling, whether they're still having fun, and when they've reached their saturation point. When visiting WDW with kiddies, my "Plan B" is always: Whenever the need arises, we will (a) stop for an ice cream, (b) let the child splash in the water fountain for 30 mins, (c) return to the resort to play in the pool, and/or (d) toss all of "Plan A" out the window.


As several people have observed, it's hard work being on vacation in Disney World Plan a little bit - just enough so you don't end up overwhelmed - and then just have fun

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[mjkacmom]

I agree with plan a little. At least know your "must" attractions, and do the most popular rides first, and utilize the fastpass system. I made a plan for each morning, what we would ride, in what order. Since we get there at rope drop, we would get everything in, and then meander around for the rest of the day, go back to the resort for a swim, and head back to the park at night, and meander.

 

[shalom]

Also, park itineraries. I wasn't really planning on using one, I kind of just wanted to hit each park as go with the flow. How crucial are these at this time of year?

They're crucial if you want to hit a lot of the more popular rides multiple times. If you're happy getting an FP to one of the mountains at MK and riding once after the FP time comes up, not so crucial. They're fairly crucial if you go at a busy time; just the "get there early" advice can be a help. Books like the Unofficial Guide can also give you an idea how long it can take to get TO the park after you've gotten to the parking lot (the MK parking lot, in particular, is a long ways away from the park proper).

I suspect they're crucial if you want to "see everything" - meaning you want to ride all the rides. But I would argue that people who insist on doing all the rides in a day don't see everything anyhow. There's more to Disney World than the rides. If your family style is to go with the flow, and it won't be a big deal to miss this or that, planning isn't crucial. If there's a ride one of you MUST see, and it's one that gets long lines later in the day, you'll probably be happier doing a bit of planning.

 

[mouseketeer_mom]

We took our first Disney trip when my kids were just about the age of your kids now. We also didn't do park hoppers and that worked just fine for us.

Some suggestions:
Although you don't have to have a plan, I would defintely "information gather", I promise you'll have a more enjoyable trip because of it.

I'd check out the crowd predictions for each park and just plan to attend a park that is not listed as the most crowded park for that day.

Have a good handle on the fastpass system and how it works.

Understand the transportation system and how it works.

Know the general location of your absolute "must do's" in each park.

We got up most mornings, hit the parks, and took the afternoons to just relax at the pool, nap etc. You can always go back to the same park in the evening.

For me, if I could compare Disney World to anything for a first timer, it might be: heading to the grocery store with my list in hand and finding out the grocery store is exactly 1 square mile. Without a little bit of general information, I'd feel overwhelmed.

 

[unclescrooge_0707]

My biggest advice to EVERY 1st time visitor to WDW is that you will NOT see/do everything there, so don't try. Not that you won't be "wowed" plenty, and be worn out, but there is TOO much to try to do in one vacation to do it all. So, don't try to do Everything. Do lots, but also, you'll have to plan a 2nd trip 3-5 years from now, and catch what you miss then.

 

[Aliceacc]

You don't need a set touring plan, but you do need an idea of what's there, and what you want to see.

PLEASE, if at all possible, get to the parks at rope drop. That first hour or two, while thousands of other visitors are waking up and enjoying their pancakes, is your golden opportunity to get on the big attractions with virtually no wait at all. So you want to spend it wisely. Know which attractions you want to see, and start getting those fastpasses-- you can use them later in the day as the lines get long.

Our approach was to split up at the very beginning: I would get the first set of fastpasses and meet my husband and the kids at a designated attraction. I was able to get through the crowds much faster alone, and it didn't really cost us any time. So, for example, in the Magic Kingdom I got us FP's for Peter Pan, then met them at Thunder Mountain. In Epcot, I got FP's for Test Track and met them at Soarin'. In DHS it was Toy Story Mania-- they caught up to me there. And in AK, I got the FP's to Kali and let them catch up as we headed to the Safari.

Even that little bit of a plan will put you miles ahead of the sleepers, and ahead of the people who get into a park, open up the map, and say "What shall we see first?" As they're deciding, people like you and I are getting on line ahead of them.

So become familar with what you want to see, its general location, and which things offer FP's.

And know that you won't see everything.

As to the dining plan, we were very content with the regular dining plan. We started each day with a snack-- a bagel or croissant or something, then had a counter service lunch most days, and a bigger dinner. (The exception: we had a delightful lunch at Yak and Yetti in AK-- it was a delicious break from the heat.) For my family, the temptation with the deluxe plan would be to maximize every cent spent and book 2 sitdowns per day. Not only would it simply be too much food, but it would be too much time. Again, though, that's my family not yours.

But if you haven't already booked the rest of your meals, I suggest you do so ASAP. You can always call and cancel if you choose, but you want that option to be yours. If you choose not to book anything, you may find that your dining choices aren't the ones you want. Again, reservations can always be cancelled.

 

[AngelicFruitcake]

Thank you to everyone who responded, I really do appreciate the feedback. Yes, we did pick the "not busy" parks each day, except our one day at Hollywood Studios because we wanted to see Fantasmic.

Also, thanks for the PMs. I can't respond as I don't have enough messages. (I guess I am not chatty enough) ;-)

We will definitely attempt to get to the parks for rope drop. DH will be the biggest hurdle for that, but I'll get the kids to assist with dragging him out of bed. Luckily he also has long legs, so I will send him after the fast passes.

Again, thank you all for the feedback. It is a bit hard to wrap my head around quite how big it is, as Disney Land is my only point of reference. But I'm getting an idea.

Cheers!