First Ever Family Trip to DW

[mossimo81702]

Hello everyone...my family and I plan to go to DW for the first time (wife, 3 kids-3, 7, 9, & 11). We plan to stay from 11-21-14 to 11-25-14. I've done some reading on whether we should stay on site or not and we've decided that for at least our first visit we would stay on site. We've looked at several places and it looks like Art of Animation (Car's Studio) is one of the few places for a family of 6. Other places were a little more costly than what we wanted to spend.

Anyway, looking at various postings I've read where some folks would get the hotel and meal plan through DW but then get tickets through another source. I'm not sure what sources are out there and what is reliable or not so that's what I need help with. Also, I'm not sure if this is the best (most economical) way of doing it, just getting the hotel and meal through them and finding tickets elsewhere or just reserving everything on the DW web site?

From everyone's experience here and with us staying on site, what is the most economical way getting tickets and dining?

Also, are Hopper tickets really worth it for us. I was thinking that we would visit one park each day, there's 4 of them right? So is the hopper really worth it for us "first timer's?" In addition to that question, do we really need to go to the water park? I was told that with the 4 parks alone there's a lot there to do.

All and any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks!!!

Mike

GO WINGS!!!

 

[ceecee]

AofA is probably the cheapest for a family of 6, staying onsite is great you won't regret it. I would think you could save $ with single day and not hoppers. You can price it online and see for sure. Plan, plan, plan what you really want to do at each park. May be crowded.

 

[mom to minnie&mickey]

Actually the family suites at All Star Music are less expensive than AOA and they basically offer the same amenities. Of course AOA is newer and better themed with its own dedicated busses.
Another I believe cheaper option is requesting 2 connecting rooms at a value.
The problem is connecting rooms are never guaranteed but people here post that they usually get them.
In order to get the dining plan you have to book a package from Disney which includes hotel and tickets, so no choice there if you want the dining.
The parks are huge with a lot to do especially for first timers. Seeing that it is only a 4 day trip I would definitely save the money on the park hoppers/water parks and do that option on a future longer trip.
Have a magical vacation!

 

[pad406]

Hi Mike and welcome to the DIS, you're certainly in the right place to 'study' for your trip. I don't know where you're coming from but there was a free dining offer for arrivals upto 20th Nov, so if that's still available and you go a day earlier you could get free dining for the entire trip, it's based on the arrival date. Once you arrive before it's over you get it for the entire stay. But to get that you need to book the tickets with Disney also.

WDW is BIG, real BIG. Not just the parks themselves but the distances between them and the resorts. You could spend a significant amount of time travelling, so take your time. You're not going to see it all and you'll be back To us Park Hoppers are a must, Animal Kingdom closes quite early and Epcot by 9:30 usually so being able to hop to another park offers great flexibility. For 4 days it's about $40 per person.

These are out favorites in each park:

HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
Star Tours - A really cool simulator type ride. Someone gets picked to be the Rebel Spy for each 'trip'. The CM who controls the doors picks them. Wear a 'First Trip; button and try and catch their eye. Smile nicely and look excited. When you site down, don't put on the glasses immediately, looks straight ahead and don't fidgit. Good chance of getting picked.
Jedi Training - Sign up first thing, no FP+ for this. Must have the kids with you. They get to 'fight' Darth Vader! They'll love it
Indiana Jones - Stunt show based on the movie. Adults can volunteer as extras, great fun.
Lights Motor Action - Really cool show and a nice way to rest for a while
Toy Story Mania - THE family ride in WDW. Hugely popular. Even at that time of year, a must FP+
Rock N Roller Coaster - Good thrill ride. In the dark. Might be a bit scary for younger kids, my DS10 still won't go on it, but DD & I love it. Not sure of height requirement
Tower of Terror - Love this ride. Again might be a bit scary
Muppets Show - Great fun
Beauty & The Beast- Not a must see for us but we did enjoy it. A musical based on the characters from the movie
Fantasmic - Fireworks and water show and more. Hard to explain. Must see

EPCOT Our favorite park.
Soarin - A 4D simulator ride on a kind of glider thingy. Really cool.
Misson Space - Another simulator type ride. There are 2, Green and Orange. Not for the claustrophobic or those prone to motions sickness. The green is a lot less intense, would recommend you try this first if you're unsure
Test Track - Haven't done the new version yet, but loved the old one
Turtle Talk with Crush - Kids love this, it's fun. Just sit in a room and 'talk' to Crush from Finding Nemo
Agent P's World Showcase - Haven't done this, is the replacement for Kim possible, kids loved that and is a really nice way to explore the world showcase with kids. Keeps them busy while the adults can stroll around.
Spaceship Earth - We like this, some don't. Not leading edge but fun and worth doing at least once.
Innoventions - We nearly missed this. If any of the kids are into roller coasters. must do 'Sum of All Thrills'. You design a coaster, or airplane flight (and some others) and then 'do' them in a simulator.
The Seas with Nemo & Friends - A gentle 'ride' through an aquarium
World Showcase - We easily will spend 1-2 days just wandering through here. A lot is hidden off the main track, just explore.

ANIMAL KINGDOM
Partly a HUGE ZOO, partly a theme park
Expedition Everest - Love this coaster
Kali River Rapids - Good raft type water ride
Dinosaur - Dark and possibly scary for younger ones. We don't mind too much if we miss this
It's Tough to be a Bug - Great show
Nemo the Musical - Class
Lion King - Great show - broadway type of production
Flights of Wonder - Great fun, missed it our first time nearly missed this our second time.

MAGIC KINGDOM
Well it's magic Kingdom !
The first walk up Main St and seeing the castle :smile:

There is so much to see and do here. I couldn't possible list them all but here's our top ones
Space Mountain - Indoor roller coaster in the dark. Note the 'cars' are 2 seater one behind the other, not side by side. May be an issue for younger kids
Big Thunder Mountain - Our first ever ride in Disney, will always hold a special place in our hearts. Good family roller coaster, fairly gentle but fun
Splash Mountain - Log/Flume water ride, good fun, you don't get too wet if you're careful
Monsters Inc Laugh Floor - Love love love this
Buzz Lightyear - Ssshh but we prefer this to Toy Story
Mine Train - Opening soon, so haven't ridden it. A gentle type family coaster
Haunted Mansion - Might be a bit scary. DW and DD love this, I'm not bothered either way
Jungle Cruise - If you get a good guide, excellent, otherwise just good
Pirates of the Caribbeann - Love this, again might be dark and scary
Mickeys Philarmagic - Another 4D show, cool

And after all that, there's the fireworks, Wishes and Illuminations.Both are excellent. Then there's the show they project on the castle in Magic Kingdom, Celebrate the Magic, really really cool.

That's our highlights, many other will have many different ones, but hopefully it will give you some idea. We got lots of help on out first time, so payback time!

Most of all have fun, don't kill yourselves rushing around.

Oh, nearly forgot, get reserving your meals, most people staying at that time will have already done so, so there may be limited availability

 

[Troystu]

I would agree, staying on site is best, it will save you from rental car costs. There is a magical express bus that's free that takes you to & from the airport from your hotel. You need to set that up ahead of time. Getting a ticket for one park for each day probably is best, you don't want to be hauling all 6 of you from one park to another, but be advised, Magic Kingdom is huge and will take you ALL day. Animal Kingdom is pretty small & won't really take you all day. I get my tickets from Undercovertourist.com. It is a reliable company and my adult ticket was $30 cheaper than Disney site. I would skip the water park, your kids would probably have just as much fun as hotel pool & that's free! Remember, it is a vacation, so you need to relax a day or two as well! Have a magical trip!

 

[Marionnette]

Actually the family suites at All Star Music are less expensive than AOA and they basically offer the same amenities. Of course AOA is newer and better themed with its own dedicated busses.
Another I believe cheaper option is requesting 2 connecting rooms at a value.
The problem is connecting rooms are never guaranteed but people here post that they usually get them.
In order to get the dining plan you have to book a package from Disney which includes hotel and tickets, so no choice there if you want the dining.
The parks are huge with a lot to do especially for first timers. Seeing that it is only a 4 day trip I would definitely save the money on the park hoppers/water parks and do that option on a future longer trip.
Have a magical vacation!

Actually, Disney has what they call a "ticketless package". You cannot book it online and it won't be offered if you call. You have to ask for it. It may or may not be available for the dates that the OP is traveling, but unless they call they will never know.

My own feelings are that the dining plans are no bargain and they are, at best, a break-even proposition. Of course there are a few exceptions, such as *free* dining when staying at a Value Resort and filling it to capacity with tweens and adults.

 

[SGMCO]

Going to WDW for the first time can be overwhelming but I think staying onsite and getting a package from Disney is the easiest way.Taking the Magic Express is wonderful, we've done it several times, they get all your Checked in bags and deliver them to your room for you, you just check in at the ME desk and get on the bus. I would not add the park hopper for your first trip, it cost more and you probably would not use it, there is so much to do in each park and if you take a mid day break you can go back to the same park. Unless you can get the Free Dining plan, I would not go with adding the DP but would pick out only a few Table service restaurants (maybe some Character dining place for the kids) to eat at and Pay OOP for these, for the rest of your food I would eat at Counter Service (Disney fast food) places, they have lots of food choices (not just burgers, chicken nuggets). Most families are in their room for a short time, bath and sleep, you are mostly at the parks, so pick what you can afford. We always use the buses at the Resort to go to the parks, they are easy to use, and drop you off right at the entrance of the park. Plus at the end of the day at the park, most people are exhausted so it's nice to ride the bus back and not have to drive or fight traffic.

 

[SGMCO]

sorry double post.

 

[carrie1626]

Hello everyone...my family and I plan to go to DW for the first time (wife, 3 kids-3, 7, 9, & 11). We plan to stay from 11-21-14 to 11-25-14. I've done some reading on whether we should stay on site or not and we've decided that for at least our first visit we would stay on site. We've looked at several places and it looks like Art of Animation (Car's Studio) is one of the few places for a family of 6. Other places were a little more costly than what we wanted to spend.

Anyway, looking at various postings I've read where some folks would get the hotel and meal plan through DW but then get tickets through another source. I'm not sure what sources are out there and what is reliable or not so that's what I need help with. Also, I'm not sure if this is the best (most economical) way of doing it, just getting the hotel and meal through them and finding tickets elsewhere or just reserving everything on the DW web site?

From everyone's experience here and with us staying on site, what is the most economical way getting tickets and dining?

Also, are Hopper tickets really worth it for us. I was thinking that we would visit one park each day, there's 4 of them right? So is the hopper really worth it for us "first timer's?" In addition to that question, do we really need to go to the water park? I was told that with the 4 parks alone there's a lot there to do.
All and any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks!!!

Mike

GO WINGS!!!

Best advise I can give you: Do more researching!!

Since you're stay isn't very long and you want to make the most of it, READ UP ON WDW more!!!!! For your stay I would strongly recommend One park per day.

 

[crisi]

We do hoppers because we tend to treat MK as a morning park and Epcot as an evening park. But we've never been - not in the 35 years I've been going - at any time nearly as busy as you've picked - for us hoppers add flexibility to a flexible plan. You are going to need to do super planning, get your fastpass pluses, book any meals you want to sit down for (if you want to sit down), and get to the parks at opening.

 

[mossimo81702]

Wow!!! Thanks to each and everyone of you for all of the advice. I guess I do really need to read/research more. Anyway, the free dining really made me research that part more and I even called DW about it, they said I needed to book by August 8.

Another good thing about this post is that I did not realize I had to book restaurants in advance.

Anyway, it sounds like I need to make reservations through DW to get the dining plan huh? I did find another source on-line and it was about$ 600.00 cheaper, wanted to know if any of you have ever used them and are they legit. It's called Dreams Unlimited, I think I found it on this site, can't remember. Anythoughts on them?

 

[mossimo81702]

I take that back, I just realized it's the same exact price.

Is there even a site that I can save money on instead of getting lodging-Art of Animation, base tickets, and dining plus?

 

[mossimo81702]

Another question: Where do I get magic bands? I can't seem to find a cost for them. Are they even worth it? Is it free at all? Sounds like you get a fast pass if you get one of those, is that right?

 

[pad406]

Fast pass has nothing to do with magic bands other than you can link them together. Your bands are free if you stay on site. They will either be delivered or you'll collect them when you check in. Fast pass can be booked 30 days out if offsite or 60 days if on site. Bar A&E or the new mine train you should not have a problem getting what you want. They are free for everyone. Search for a post by mesaboy2. He has a link on his signature for all things fast pass.

 

[Kristi391]

For such a short trip I would definitely skip the water parks and concentrate on the 4 regular parks. Like a previous poster said, read up on each park and see what your family's priorities are. Be aware, you won't see it all. Also, don't underestimate down time for your kids. If you sense them starting to tire, head back to the hotel mid day to decompress and then head back to the parks in the evening.

Have a fantastic trip! First trips are fabulous.

Ps Love the Go Wings! Quote!!!

 

[4HOLIDAYS]

I would not do the dining plan unless you are planning a bunch of table service Character meals. Check on allears.net and on the dining thread for some of the dining plan calculators to see if it would really save you any money at all.

 

[dpswift]

The first time that I took our kids we did not have park hoppers but we did have the dining plan.

Not having the PH option helped to concentrate on the park we were in and not put off things that we wanted to do. It was more relaxing than when we have had PH. PH can be added at any time even during your trip.

As far as the DP I like it. I am more relaxed knowing that my food is paid for. Also if you are planning character meals it can be a good value.

 

[hsmamato2]

OP, here's my best advice for newbie family with young kids like yours....
Get a suite onsite, the cheapest is at the allstars if you can get one.... then I guess it's AoA... you are only staying a few days, so don't bother trying to cram in waterparks,it isn't going to happen with those little kids,and that tight schedule- (let them have fun in the resort pools in their off time)
Get NON hopper tickets, thru Undercover tourist is probably your best bet- I recommend that site- remember,one park per day is WAY more than you can realistically fit in with those ages also.
You are only staying 4 days,so it would be good to think about and decide which parks interest you the MOST.
easywdw has a crowd calendar,with listings by month for 'light' vs 'heavy' crowd days,and which parks are recommended on which days.(for instance go there, look at your dates in Nov. and see what days look best to visit the park of your choice.)
You can go to allears .net for a comprehensive list of ALL WDW menus and prices. This way you can decide what looks good to you,pricewise and foodwise.
Many,many,many families don't bother with the dining plan. There are lots of table service,character meals,and buffets. These are VERY pricey. IMHO, if you take your kids to just 1 character buffet meal,and then eat counter service the rest of your trip, they should be very happy. Even if you just eat counter service, this place is overwhelmingly large,and so full of activity you won't miss it.
If you take the magical express bus,and disney buses(bring your own small foldable stroller),eat counter service(lots of kids meal options are pretty good) and allow your kiddos some downtime to just swim and play at your hotel, you should have a great time!

 

[ZephyrHawk]

Welcome and congratulations on your upcoming trip!

I'm going to add my advice about park hoppers. Personally I love them, but even so for my daughter's first trip I'm not getting them. They're better used by people who are long time Disney travelers. First timers will have so much going on at one park that hopping will seem out of the question. I would also not suggest doing the water parks if you're only staying 4 days. In fact, I might suggest, with that schedule, not visiting all four of the parks. Both the Magic Kingdom and Epcot are two-day minimum parks, and especially since this is your family's first trip you will want to make sure you don't miss anything at the Magic Kingdom. As others have said, do some more research on what each park has to offer and make a decision about where you want to spend your Disney time.

 

[PatsGirl]

My advice:

Use the Magical Express transportation to/from the airport. If you are arriving late day, pack sweatshirts, bathing suits, pjs in a backpack or carry-on. We've had the occasional issue with not getting our luggage before we want to go to the pool or to bed.

Stay at the cheapest onsite suite, AoA or All Stars, etc...whichever is cheapest. Bring dry breakfast/snack food (granola, trail mix, whatever the kids like) and a dry drink mix and container. You can pick up milk and fresh fruit at the convenience store. I also pack boxed wine for the room.

Book a character buffet for your first day (first meal if possible) and have the kids bring their autograph books. Most people enjoy Chef Mickeys or one of the breakfast buffets. Not anything I'd want to do every trip but you will save alot of time from standing in meet and greet lines at each park. If you think you want to do more than one character meal, I'd go with the dining plan. At the very least, cost it out. If you opt for the plan, still bring the breakfast items and use the plan for lunch and dinner. Make reservations for your sit-downs asap. Try to eat at off-times, we like early lunch and early dinner and then use a snack for the best bang (Main Street Bakery is very good!) on our way out of the park or at the resort.

We did Hoppers once with the kids and it didn't work out for us. We usually stay five nights, do one park each day, from opening through dinner. One day is open for hanging at the pool or exploring other resorts, just a down day. If you only have four days, you can either just do three parks or maybe save swim time for after dinner. Hoppers for adults is great! We like to eat and drink at Epcot so we will leave the park of the day at 4 and head there but not really necessary or advisable with kids. Eat at whatever resort you are at or a close resort restaurant, keep travel time to a minimum. Everyone is exhausted at the end of the day. If you don't do the dining plan, food is pretty reasonable at the resort food courts.

We don't leave the parks for naps. We generally start our day early, usually leaving sometime between 8 and 8:30 am, and head back after dinner, again usually back at the room between 8 and 8:30 pm. Your youngest will most likely be in a stroller and can nap in that.

Definately check the crowd calendar, decide your park plan and make your dining reservations.

Bring disposable rain ponchos from your dollar store in case of rain. Have the older kids carry their own stuff in small backpacks.

And...the one thing I did for my kids' first trip and it was a huge hit (learned it here!) was Tinkerbell gifts. I purchased all my Disney souveniers at home and wrapped them. I told the kids we could walk through the gift stores but they could not ask for anything. If they could do that, Tinkerbell would leave a gift under their pillow when they were sleeping. I matched the gifts to what we would be doing the next day; ie, first night was an autograph book and a Mickey or Minnie tshirt if we were headed to Magic Kingdom. Another gift was a character stuffie the night before we headed to AK. I think it cost me approximately $3/day/kid to do this and it was a highlight of that first trip

Don't forget to bring quarters for the penny press machines. You can fill the mini-M&M containers, two quarters and one penny, keep alternating, and you are all set.

Good luck and enjoy! I love to see the kids' eyes when they first see WDW, its the best.