First Family Trip in April!!

[mommytothreeboys]

My husband and I went to WDW in 1992 for our honeymoon, but are now ready to embark on our first family trip! We have three boys ages 6, 9, and 12. We are staying at POR and using the Dining Plan. I had NO IDEA what would go into planning this...I'm a bit overwhelmed! What parks do you think we should plan on visiting twice...we don't have Park Hopper and want to get the most bang for our buck, so to speak! Thanks for your advice!

 

[mericletwins]

My husband and I went to WDW in 1992 for our honeymoon, but are now ready to embark on our first family trip! We have three boys ages 6, 9, and 12. We are staying at POR and using the Dining Plan. I had NO IDEA what would go into planning this...I'm a bit overwhelmed! What parks do you think we should plan on visiting twice...we don't have Park Hopper and want to get the most bang for our buck, so to speak! Thanks for your advice!

I would do each of the 4 parks once and then have everyone vote on what to revisit. Also, if you are going over Easter, you may not get everything done at each park. Personally, I find the hopper invaluable at busy times. If you are going at the end of April, you'll probably have better luck at getting through one park a day. Have a great time! We'll be leaving for Fla. FIVE WEEKS from today. I am very excited.

 

[a1tinkfans]

HAVE A MAGICAL TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY!
LUCKY YOU !!!

I agree, one park a day then re-visit a favorite (or two or three, Ha! Ha!)

 

[Dallas]

I agree do one park at a time. One suggestion I have is do Epcot first. With the ages of your younger one's it hard sometime to get them to go there after they have been to MK and AK. I would keep these two for the last if possible. I"m sure they will have a great time at each of the parks.

 

[weeluvdisney]

I would visit MK twice. It has the most rides and it's a wonderful park especially for kids.

 

[dzneelvr]

First and foremost: don't stress out about all you may "miss". The way I look at it, there's never going to be a trip you see it all and that's what makes future trips exciting. that said, here are suggestions for each park (and be sure to call WDW Dining for reservations): AK--It's tough to be a bug (maybe too intense for the 6yo). Dinoland, the safari, take the Wildlife express to Rafiki's Planet Watch (your 6y/o will love this) and Festival of the Lion King. Eat at Tusker House or the Rainforest. tip: avoid loitering on the paths when you first enter AK to look at the animals, birds, etc. You can do that on the way out. It gets very congested and you really want to get into the park and get on the major attractions. MK: walk through Main street (again, you can wander here as you leave) and go to Mickey's toontown for the character interaction. then work your way back through tomorrowland (Buzz, Stitch) and have a meal waiting for you at Crystal Palace (character interactions). then go through adventureland, frontierland and fantasyland.
EPCOT: the maelstrom ride on Norway is fun and Mexico has a boat ride that should be totally refurbished by the time you get there. Some of the other countries have movies which are excellent, but you stand during them and our kids weren't much interested at that age. Eat at Germany Biergarten for a unique experience and great buffet food that your kids will definitely enjoy.Walk back through the countries and spend the majority of time in the Land (Soarin and Circle of Life), Living Seas (Crush), and Imagination (Honey I Shrunk the Audience) sections.
MGM: must eat at the Sci Fi. It's Disney magic at it's finest. again, work your way from the back of the park and get to the stunt show early if you want to see it. That show is totally dependent on the weather, so if it looks rainy that day, don't bother. The muppet movie is wonderful (for all ages), Star Tours, Indiana Jones, ToT (maybe not the 6y/o?) but he could play on the Honey I Shrunk the Kids area. The evening Fantasmic is a must and don't bother with the meal deal--you shouldn't have a problem getting a seat. General advice, use fastpasses whenever you can. always make dining reservations--that way you have no hungry kids and no place to eat save shopping and browsing until you are leaving each park. we do the majority of our shopping at Downtown Disney in one shot--the Disney store there has most everything you see in the parks in the store; stay in the parks until closing and do repeats in the last hour when alot of folks have gone, and DON'T worry about what you didn't see--you will NEVER see it all. Enjoy each other and make some memories!