First ever WDW trip with kiddos - this is a whole different ballgame!

[TeamDP]

I'm so excited to start my first PTR! My DH and I have been to WDW twice together a dozen years ago and grew up going to DL a lot longer than that ago.

We are finally planning to take the kids next summer and my parents have decided to come along as well to see the grandkids experience their first Disney trip. We know things have changed a TON even since our last visit as adults in 2006 so I'm trying to figure it all out as I will be in charge of most (if not all) of the planning. I'll be getting input from everyone but most likely I'll be doing the actual planning. And just to make things even more complicated, we'll also be taking two side trips - Universal for Harry Potter and to the coast to see friends and the Kennedy Space Center!

On to the details


Our cast of characters:


Me (38 at the time of the trip) – former policy attorney turned mostly at home mom/professional photographer, cannot wait to see everything through my kiddos’ eyes


DH (39 at the time of the trip but celebrating 40 while we're there) – cost analyst, big kid at heart and seriously can’t wait to experience everything Harry Potter (and share Disney with the kids, too)


DS (7 at the time of the trip) – very active, loving boy who loves space, travel, and has recently gotten into Harry Potter


DD (5 at the time of the trip) – sweet, athletic, Princess-obsessed little girl who cannot wait to meet all the Princesses (especially Moana – praying maybe she’ll be back from her voyage by next year but trying to minimize her expectations on this one!) and get Hermione’s wand at Ollivander’s


My mom (64 at the time of the trip) – retired teacher and loving grandma who can’t wait to see her grandkids experience all things Disney and Harry Potter


My dad (66 at the time of the trip) – retired Air Force (and willing to get us all the discounts possible ) and loving “papa” who can’t wait to see his grandkids at Disney. I think he’ll enjoy Harry Potter, too, but he still jokingly asks “it’s a book?” whenever we talk about reading Harry Potter.




When:


The plan is to leave the day after the kids get out of school, so May 31st. We are still up in the air as to just how long we will be staying. We plan to do WDW (probably with the Armed Forces Salute 5 day park hopper – 2 days at MK and 1 day for each of the others with possible hopping after an afternoon break depending on how the kids handle the parks), a day at Universal (exclusively to do all the Harry Potter stuff), and then at least a day maybe two over toward the coast to see my childhood best friend and her family and see the Kennedy Space Center (my DS is a huge space fan!). I’m thinking with my DH’s leave schedule, we will probably need to return on either the 8th or 9th of June.




Where:


This is also up in the air. We (or should I say one of my parents) are calling tomorrow to reserve a junior suite at Shades of Green (the military resort on property) for all 6 of us. My guess is we will end up staying at SOG the entire time, but if the Armed Forces Salute program continues next year (which we are really hoping it will obviously!) we may switch over to the Cabins at Fort Wilderness to be officially at a Disney Resort. In the back of my mind, I’m also wondering if it’s worth it to move over to a Universal Resort for one night. I’m thinking it won’t be worth the hassle to move for that short of time with 6 people including 2 youngish kiddos. We'll see how everything comes together.




Next up: Initial agenda/priorities

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[VandVsmama]

Your kids are going to be at such a great age for your trip! I have a friend who stayed at Shades of Green last summer w/their family of 6. They really liked it. She said that on the days they were going to monorail parks, they would walk over to the Polynesian and take the monorail from there.

 

[TeamDP]

Your kids are going to be at such a great age for your trip! I have a friend who stayed at Shades of Green last summer w/their family of 6. They really liked it. She said that on the days they were going to monorail parks, they would walk over to the Polynesian and take the monorail from there.

I'm really hopeful that they will be old enough to remember it well and still young enough for it to be magical for them

I'm glad your friends enjoyed Shades. I'm thinking it will be a great place for us. From what I've read, I'm guessing we will be heading over to the Polynesian for most of our transportation needs - at least in the morning.

 

[reyasmommy]

I'm really hopeful that they will be old enough to remember it well and still young enough for it to be magical for them

I'm glad your friends enjoyed Shades. I'm thinking it will be a great place for us. From what I've read, I'm guessing we will be heading over to the Polynesian for most of our transportation needs - at least in the morning.

My kids remember most of their trips after the age of 5 …… Even if they don't YOU will, and that's just as important. I look back on all of my previous trips and every single one is engraved in my mind. It won't be long when my children are off to college and I will cherish the memories of all of them. My son was 3 months when he took his first WDW vacation. Although he doesn't remember it, I loved every second of it. The Good and the bad! My daughters first trip was when she was 18 months old. They are now 12 and 8.

Have fun ….. It's going to be extra special with your parents!

 

[reyasmommy]

I admit, I miss when my daughter was into Princesses. It was so emotional every time she saw one and wanted to dress up. I'm not kidding when I say that phase flashes before your eyes!

 

[TeamDP]

My kids remember most of their trips after the age of 5 …… Even if they don't YOU will, and that's just as important. I look back on all of my previous trips and every single one is engraved in my mind. It won't be long when my children are off to college and I will cherish the memories of all of them. My son was 3 months when he took his first WDW vacation. Although he doesn't remember it, I loved every second of it. The Good and the bad! My daughters first trip was when she was 18 months old. They are now 12 and 8.

Have fun ….. It's going to be extra special with your parents!

I'm glad to hear your kids remember so many trips so well! They are so special! I can't wait to build our memories! My kids both seem to have pretty good memories - we moved from the DC area to Texas two years ago and they both still talk about things that we did in VA. Either way, I'm excited to have memories of them enjoying the magic
​

 

[TeamDP]

I admit, I miss when my daughter was into Princesses. It was so emotional every time she saw one and wanted to dress up. I'm not kidding when I say that phase flashes before your eyes!

I'm hoping she's still into all the princesses next year!

 

[TeamDP]

First Thoughts of Our Itinerary/Plan

For now, I'm going to plan as if we will be able to get the Armed Forces Salute tickets which means a max of 5 days in the WDW parks. At the moment, I think we will likely do rope drop with a break in the afternoon and then back to the parks but I really have no idea how my kids will do with that plan. I know the calendars and park hours for next year won't be out for awhile yet, so this is just to get something down knowing that it will likely change:



May 31 - travel day/get settled/play at resort pools

June 1 - Magic Kingdom - probably FP for Space Mountain for DS, a princess meet for DD (she likely won't be tall enough for the 44" rides), Enchanted Tales with Belle for all of us as both kids love Beauty and the Beast, and probably 7DMT for all of us - we'll also probably get a lunch reservation for BOG

June 2 - Epcot - Akershus princess breakfast before park opening, ride FEA, FP for Soarin, Mission SPACE, and not sure what else on this one - maybe a character meet?

June 3 - HS - Hollywood and Vine breakfast before park opening so that we can get to sign ups for Jedi Training ASAP, work around timing for Jedi Training but hopefully be able to use FP for Tower of Terror (my absolute favorite!), a Toy Story ride probably the coaster, and then maybe Star Tours for our 3rd FP (none of us want to do Rockin Rollercoaster since my husband is 6'6" and doesn't fit well in rides like that and my head doesn't do well on those either)

June 4 - Animal Kingdom - FP for FOP for some of us (not sure what to do with my daughter during this since she won't be tall enough, so we will probably use rider swap or I might just not go and we'll have some fun on our own), Safari and Kali River Rapids (the one my son REALLY wants to ride!).

June 5 - Magic Kingdom - Not really sure on this day yet but thinking maybe FP for BTMRR, Splash and Haunted Mansion and hope we can get another for Space if my son likes it on day 1

The last few days I'm not sure how we want to do. We want to see as much as humanly possible of Harry Potter at Universal. This is honestly what my son is most excited about over everything else. We know we have to get park to park tickets to ride the Hogwarts Express which might be #1 on my son's list, definitely #1 if we include Platform 9 3/4 in that. My daughter won't be tall enough for Forbidden Journey but we will still all go in line so she can see Hogwarts. We are pretty sure we will only need one day for this since we really aren't interested in anything else in Universal. If there's time, we might check out Jurassic Park but if we miss that, it won't be a big deal at all. So, we will either do that on the 6th and then head to the coast to see my friend and the Kennedy Space Center or we'll go see my friend and then come back and do this on the 7th. As of right now we are set to travel back on the 8th but that is yet another thing that may change. If we fly back on the 9th, then we would go to Universal on the 6th and then head to the coast and stay the night near my friend over the 7th and 8th. Still lots of time to plan...​

 

[reyasmommy]

I'm hoping she's still into all the princesses next year!

I'm sure she will...… I'm just saying enjoy every second that you can of it! It goes by fast, then they think they're too old or too cool for princesses. Sometimes I wish I could turn back time, just a little bit.

 

[reyasmommy]

First Thoughts of Our Itinerary/Plan

For now, I'm going to plan as if we will be able to get the Armed Forces Salute tickets which means a max of 5 days in the WDW parks. At the moment, I think we will likely do rope drop with a break in the afternoon and then back to the parks but I really have no idea how my kids will do with that plan. I know the calendars and park hours for next year won't be out for awhile yet, so this is just to get something down knowing that it will likely change:



May 31 - travel day/get settled/play at resort pools

June 1 - Magic Kingdom - probably FP for Space Mountain for DS, a princess meet for DD (she likely won't be tall enough for the 44" rides), Enchanted Tales with Belle for all of us as both kids love Beauty and the Beast, and probably 7DMT for all of us - we'll also probably get a lunch reservation for BOG

June 2 - Epcot - Akershus princess breakfast before park opening, ride FEA, FP for Soarin, Mission SPACE, and not sure what else on this one - maybe a character meet?

June 3 - HS - Hollywood and Vine breakfast before park opening so that we can get to sign ups for Jedi Training ASAP, work around timing for Jedi Training but hopefully be able to use FP for Tower of Terror (my absolute favorite!), a Toy Story ride probably the coaster, and then maybe Star Tours for our 3rd FP (none of us want to do Rockin Rollercoaster since my husband is 6'6" and doesn't fit well in rides like that and my head doesn't do well on those either)

June 4 - Animal Kingdom - FP for FOP for some of us (not sure what to do with my daughter during this since she won't be tall enough, so we will probably use rider swap or I might just not go and we'll have some fun on our own), Safari and Kali River Rapids (the one my son REALLY wants to ride!).
June 5 - Magic Kingdom - Not really sure on this day yet but thinking maybe FP for BTMRR, Splash and keeping one up in the air to see how their interests develop (maybe Pirates, maybe Space again for DS and another Princess for my daughter)

The last few days I'm not sure how we want to do. We want to see as much as humanly possible of Harry Potter at Universal. This is honestly what my son is most excited about over everything else. We know we have to get park to park tickets to ride the Hogwarts Express which might be #1 on my son's list, definitely #1 if we include Platform 9 3/4 in that. My daughter won't be tall enough for Forbidden Journey but we will still all go in line so she can see Hogwarts. We are pretty sure we will only need one day for this since we really aren't interested in anything else in Universal. If there's time, we might check out Jurassic Park but if we miss that, it won't be a big deal at all. So, we will either do that on the 6th and then head to the coast to see my friend and the Kennedy Space Center or we'll go see my friend and then come back and do this on the 7th. As of right now we are set to travel back on the 8th but that is yet another thing that may change. If we fly back on the 9th, then we would go to Universal on the 6th and then head to the coast and stay the night near my friend over the 7th and 8th. Still lots of time to plan...​

The line for Forbidden Journey is a must and basically an attraction in itself. Your son will be blown away, especially if he's as big of a fan as me! My husband and I are going to the Studio where the movies were filmed in London in July and I'm excited to see how all the sets compare to what they have done at Universal.

 

[TeamDP]

I'm sure she will...… I'm just saying enjoy every second that you can of it! It goes by fast, then they think they're too old or too cool for princesses. Sometimes I wish I could turn back time, just a little bit.

I can't wait to soak it all in It's really true what they say "the days are long but the years are short" - I already wish I could turn back time some days...

The line for Forbidden Journey is a must and basically an attraction in itself. Your son will be blown away, especially if he's as big of a fan as me! My husband and I are going to the Studio where the movies were filmed in London in July and I'm excited to see how all the sets compare to what they have done at Universal.

How exciting! Your trip sounds amazing! My son and daughter are just getting into the books and movies (we're on book 2 reading and they've seen the first two movies, may show them the 3rd soon) but they both are already big fans! Hermione is *almost* up there with princesses for my daughter but for now at least Disney and princesses win out as what she most wants to see this trip.

 

[TeamDP]

We officially booked Shades of Green for 8 nights! This is starting to feel like it's really happening!

 

[TeamDP]

Thanks to @reyasmommy for linking me to the tutorial, I can now show you who we are!

The only picture of all 6 of us who are going together that I have (it's almost a year old and after a hot, sweaty afternoon but at least it's all of us!)



And here's a more recent picture of our family of 4 (from January):



And a close up of my babies from April in the bluebonnets




Can't wait until I have pictures from Disney to show! I'll have to see if I still have any I can find from from our 2006 trip.

 

[reyasmommy]

Glad you figured it out

 

[TeamDP]

Glad you figured it out

Me, too!

 

[TeamDP]

So I've been doing a lot of thinking trying to figure out the right order to do all the different parks/places we want to see. We've got Disney for 5 days and unless the military options change that's pretty set in stone, though the days don't have to be continuous. Then we're planning one day at Universal to do all things Harry Potter - with our kids ages and personalities we don't really see doing anything else there besides Harry Potter so I'm pretty confident we can do it all in one day. Finally, we also want to spend at least 1 day - ideally 2 (or at least 1 1/2) - to see the Kennedy Space Center (for my son) and see my longtime best friend and her family who recently relocated to about 5-10 minutes from the KSC.

I've been running a few possibilities through my head.

Option #1: Friends come first - Fly in on either the 30th or 31st depending on flights available/cost, rent a car and head straight for the coast. Spend the afternoon/evening with my best friend and family, head to the space center the next day and then drive back to Orlando, turn in rental and get checked into Shades and do everything else from there - Disney is obviously fine without a car and then maybe take a taxi or Uber to Universal for the 1 day we decide to go there based on crowd calendars I'll look at once they're out. The downside to this plan is obviously that the kids will be hyped for Disney/Harry Potter and while I think my son will be super excited for KSC, I'm not sure the same will hold true for my daughter.

Option #2: Harry first - Right now, both kids are VERY into Harry Potter and my son is far more interested in the Harry Potter stuff than anything Disney. Both kids would be happy kicking off with Harry plus since we are taking this trip to celebrate my hubby's 40th birthday, it seems appropriate to kick it off with something he's been wanting to do since the day he heard the Wizarding World was happening. With this plan, I do wonder about possibly staying at a Universal hotel to get early entry for the one day we will be there and whether it would be worth the splurge? Definitely something I'll have to come back to as our budget is firmed up. I also worry about starting off on the potentially highest note for my son but I really do think he will love Disney even if he's not super excited about the characters right now. In this scenario, we'd likely do Disney next and then rent a car and head out to the coast for friends/KSC which might mean heading back to our return flight from the coast instead of from Shades. We're an hour from the airport here at home so I don't really think it would be a big deal to be an hour and a half away assuming we don't have a super early return flight.

Option #3: Disney first - Go ahead and kick it off with the real headliner/main attraction and do Disney first (maybe go to Universal in the middle of these days if that works better based on the crowd calendars). Get set up at Shades and just go from there with our first day at Magic Kingdom hopefully (though I think the kids would be good with basically anything but Epcot) and the rest depending on the crowd calendars. Pack up everything, rent a car right from Shades, and head over to the coast just like in the previous plan to round out our trip. I do worry if we end with KSC that it will lose some of its wonder after all the excitement of Disney and Harry Potter but we have flexibility if it's just not as great as we think, we'll cut bait and head to the beach with everyone which should be a winner for my water loving kiddos.

I'm sure there are variations of all of these that could work, too. I guess I'm struggling with what will be most magical for both kids and not set anyone up for disappointment? Then I'm also wondering what I need to figure out first. Does everyone generally wait to figure out flights now that we've booked when we think we will be at Shades? Is it generally better to be at the parks on weekdays, so we should head to the coast on the weekend? Or because we are going in June, will that even matter? There's just so much to plan and not knowing how my kids will do is the huge wild card that we didn't have to deal with 12 years ago when we went with just adults. I cannot WAIT to see the magic through their eyes, though! This trip is going to be so much more special than that trip for that reason alone and I know things will fall into place

 

[reyasmommy]

I prefer saving the best for last, so I always do Disney last.... But that's just me. You'll figure out what's best for you.

As far as Universal Studios..... Make sure you buy 1 or 2 interactive wands at Olivanders, the kids can spend a lot of time doing magic. Don't forget the butter beer!

I know you said you'll probably only do WWOHP, but there are a few more rides your kids might like. Universal has the E.T. ride, Minnons ride, and your son would probably love Transformers and MIB . Islands adventure doesn't have as much for little kids. Spider Man is really fun and your daughter would like everything over in Suess-landing.

 

[VandVsmama]

I think you should do Option #1 and end the trip with WDW. Do Universal Studios in the middle of WDW, but end with WDW.

 

[TeamDP]

I prefer saving the best for last, so I always do Disney last.... But that's just me. You'll figure out what's best for you.

As far as Universal Studios..... Make sure you buy 1 or 2 interactive wands at Olivanders, the kids can spend a lot of time doing magic. Don't forget the butter beer!

I know you said you'll probably only do WWOHP, but there are a few more rides your kids might like. Universal has the E.T. ride, Minnons ride, and you're son would probably love Transformers and MIB . Islands adventure doesn't have as much for little kids. Spider Man is really fun and your daughter would like everything over in Suess-landing.

We are definitely planning on the interactive wands. My biggest kid (DH) will insist on having one, too, so we will have at least 3 and the kids are already talking about which wand each of us should get!

I figure we will do WWOHP first and then if the kids are still hanging in and we have time, we will check out the other areas of the park. Thank you for pointing us in the right direction of other areas because I really haven't researched that part at all!

I think you should do Option #1 and end the trip with WDW. Do Universal Studios in the middle of WDW, but end with WDW.

Option 1 does seem to be winning It's the opposite of what I had originally thought when thinking of this trip but as soon as I thought of that idea, it's been the way I'm leaning. I'll need to check out the crowd calendars of course but I'm really liking the idea of going to see my best friend first and then settling into Orlando.

If I do that (go to the coast first), I'm wondering if I should try to stay onsite at Universal for one night (and then move to Shades) or if that's just asking for more trouble with another change in location right away? I guess my next stop is checking out whether a Universal hotel would even fit in the budget...

 

[TeamDP]

I've been doing more research and it's just led to a lot more questions. I will definitely figure it all out but I have a lot more research to do to figure it all out.

I went ahead and bought access to touringplans and the week we plan to go is projected to be VERY busy - there's even a 10 out of 10 day. I was shocked to see that since the other site I had looked at had it as one of the best summer weeks to go. therSo we are thinking about changing plans. We've only booked Shades so far, so I'm guessing/hoping it wouldn't be too hard to change the dates to the next week. The week after is lower crowds - it's still summer but I think the highest crowd level that next week is an 8 - and closer to my husband's actual birthday, so I have a feeling we may change our plans. I'm going to wait and see if the military salute packages are announced the same time as the regular ones this week (I doubt it but a girl can hope right ) and then we'll see how long we wait and see any further.

I'm also trying to figure out the ADR syste m. On a whim while I was on Disney's site earlier this week, I decided to check and see what reservations were available 180 days out and not one thing I was planning to book was available, so I figured I'd check the next time I was up when they first opened for the day (i.e. 6 am my time) - still, nothing! So I'm a little worried about my plans - I guess I will just have to do my best to plan those days toward the end of our trip and hope that the 180+6 or 7 is enough.

Finally, I'm trying to figure out rider switch. My daughter will likely be between 44-48" next summer. I doubt she'll be 48" but she should be over 44" so she should be able to go on just about everything at Disney with a couple of exceptions that I'm not even sure we will try to do. But what I'm trying to figure out is if she's not actually too short to go on the ride but doesn't want to go or if my son doesn't want to go (he'll easily be well over 48" since that's what he was last September), can we still use rider switch or is it only if the kids are too short for the ride?