First Family Trip Planners Thread for WDW Newbies!

[WishnDreamer]

When my parents agreed to go with us, we knew we wanted accommodations near each other, at least. We were thinking either Coronado Springs or POFQ. We knew they couldn't guarantee connecting rooms, but we knew they would try. With a toddler, I thought it would be nice so they could help with her perhaps during naps or getting ready in the morning.

When I started looking into DVC, I realized we could stay AKL-Kidani in a two-bedroom suite for the same price as two rooms at POFQ, rack rate. We chose this resort ultimately because it was the cheapest DVC available. We did not get savannah view.

Yes, we may have been able to snag a discount, but this seemed like a great deal for us. We will have a washer/dryer and full kitchen in our room! We don't plan on eating anything but snacks and most breakfasts in our room, but we will have a full-size fridge! Also, we will have three bathrooms! The pool is zero-entry with a kids' play area.

The only thing I worry about is that something bad will happen and we won't get to go. It's non-refundable, but we have insurance. I just worry that it's too good to be true, I guess.

The zero-entry pools are really cool. The splash pad sort of area at Kidani looks really nice too.

 

[WishnDreamer]

So we got free dining, but couldnt get POP, so I upgraded to POR because of the boat to downtown Disney and possibility of getting a trundle/murphy bed because my two sons WERE. NOT. LOOKING. FORWARD. TO. SHARING. A. BED. (Did you catch the emphasis, ).


Sorry this has turned into a story, but I am SO excited. I've already told the kids that I don't care if they are boys or teenagers, I will be getting autographs and character pictures and we are dressing in costume for MNSSHP. So there.

I will be watching for everyone to post how their trip goes. I hope everyone has an even more magical time than they are expecting.

Beth.

I DID catch your emphasis. I can imagine at their ages they wouldn't be looking forward to sharing! I can also only imagine the looks you got about the autographs, characters, & costumes!! LOL. I am so excited too. I am pretty sure more excited than my 7 & 8 year olds who are more excited about flying for the first time.

I just logged onto the WDW website today and got the alert that in 30 days I can do online checkin. I could have done cartwheels in my living room! I will definitely let you all know how our trip goes.

Thanks for joining us.

 

[WishnDreamer]

Today I logged onto the Disney site and got an alert that I can do online checkin in 30 days. I was so excited!!! I definitely plan to do it. I can't think of any disadvantages.

How about everybody else staying onsite? Do you plan to do online checkin 10 days before or not?

 

[cmoran81]

Hello! Well let's see:

This is my family's first time to Disney EVER! (OMG, can you tell I'm super excited???) It will be: Me, my DH, DS11, DD3 and we will be going from June 9th to June 14th. We decided on those dates because there was a 25% off room coupon that was valid only until June 14th and because I think it's still pretty early in the summer and we might be able to beat the summer crowds a little bit (we get out of school pretty early around here).

I have already made quite a few ADR's:
6/9: Dinner at Ohana
6/10: Lunch at Crystal Palace
6/11: Breakfast at Cape May Cafe and early dinner at Akershus
6/12: Breakfast at Hollywood and Vine
6/13: Brunch at Chef Mickey's and early dinner at Tusker House
6/14: Lunch at Mama Melrose's and Dinner at Tony's Town Square.
So many places!!!!

We will be staying at Caribbean Beach Resort and we picked it because we love going to tropical beaches for vacation and because it has quite a few pools

I can't wait!!!

 

[ckwats]

Has anyone made ADR's yet? Did you get what you wanted? What did you pick? I know I want Chef Mickey, CTR, Plaza, Mama Melrose for the Fantasmic! Dining Package, Rose and Crown, Sci- Fi not sure what else. The kids are picky so nothing fancy...

If you haven't made your ADRs yet, what are you planning & when is your 180 day mark? I can make mine on Tue. I am going to try online. Wish me luck.

3. What resort or hotel are you staying at? CBR- Pirate room. My kids are going to love it. How did you decide on it & what are you most looking forward to there? We liked the Pirate room and the pool.


4. If you are staying onsite, will you do online checkin? I am not sure if I will do online or not. I have read that doing it in person is good when it is your 1st time at the resort.

 

[ckwats]

Is anyone keeping the trip a surprise? We usually go to my parents in Aug so we are going to tell the kids that is were we are going. We hope they don't notice until we get on the airport bus to go to WDW. I really hope they are as excited as I am!!

More questions... Moms with smaller kids do you plan on going back to the resort during the day for naps? My 5 year old no longer naps and I think the 3 year old could pass on naps... We are renting strollers so I am hoping they might sleep while we walk..

 

[WishnDreamer]

Hello! Well let's see:

This is my family's first time to Disney EVER! (OMG, can you tell I'm super excited???) It will be: Me, my DH, DS11, DD3 and we will be going from June 9th to June 14th. We decided on those dates because there was a 25% off room coupon that was valid only until June 14th and because I think it's still pretty early in the summer and we might be able to beat the summer crowds a little bit (we get out of school pretty early around here).

I have already made quite a few ADR's:
6/9: Dinner at Ohana
6/10: Lunch at Crystal Palace
6/11: Breakfast at Cape May Cafe and early dinner at Akershus
6/12: Breakfast at Hollywood and Vine
6/13: Brunch at Chef Mickey's and early dinner at Tusker House
6/14: Lunch at Mama Melrose's and Dinner at Tony's Town Square.
So many places!!!!

We will be staying at Caribbean Beach Resort and we picked it because we love going to tropical beaches for vacation and because it has quite a few pools

I can't wait!!!

Welcome! We have a few of the same ADRs: Akershus, Chef Mickey's & Tony's. We were originally going to Akershus for dinner but changed to brunch. We also considered Cape May rather than Chef Mickey's but no Mickey there so Chef Mickey's won out. I think the food at Cape May is supposed to be better. I've also heard Crystal Palace is really good & the character interaction is great too.
Welcome!

 

[mymickeyfans]

This will be our first family vacation to WDW as well. DH has never been I went twice as a child. We will be surprising the kids the morning we leave...I'm SO excited!!

1. Who? myself, DH, DS(8yrs when we go), DD(3.5 yrs).. we are also meeting up with 4 other families with kids around the same age while we're there.

2. Dates? We are going October 8-14th. We wanted to go in October for MNSSHP and got a 30% off room Pincode beginning on the 8th.

3. ADR's? No ADR's yet haven't reached the 180 mark yet, but we want..
10/8 - Dinner at Chef Mickey's
10/9 - Dinner Ohana
10/10 -Lunch Coral Reef and dinner at Tokyo Dining
10/11 -MNSSHP and dinner at The Plaza
10/12 - Dinner at resort Boatwright's
10/13 - dinner at Whispering Canyon
10/14 - Breakfast at Cape May Cafe before leaving

planning breakfast in our room and CS meals for lunch

4. Resort? Port Orleans Riverside ( Royal Room) switched from CSR and we're excited to stay here.

5. On-line check in? Not sure. I was told if we don't do online check in, we can get more important info. from the CM's at check in?

What a fun thread!

 

[WishnDreamer]

Has anyone made ADR's yet? Did you get what you wanted? What did you pick? I know I want Chef Mickey, CTR, Plaza, Mama Melrose for the Fantasmic! Dining Package, Rose and Crown, Sci- Fi not sure what else. The kids are picky so nothing fancy...

If you haven't made your ADRs yet, what are you planning & when is your 180 day mark? I can make mine on Tue. I am going to try online. Wish me luck.

3. What resort or hotel are you staying at? CBR- Pirate room. My kids are going to love it. How did you decide on it & what are you most looking forward to there? We liked the Pirate room and the pool.


4. If you are staying onsite, will you do online checkin? I am not sure if I will do online or not. I have read that doing it in person is good when it is your 1st time at the resort.

I LOVE the idea of the Fantasmic package. I kept wishing they'd announce 50s PrimeTime was part of it. A friend of mine who goes to Disney a lot made me promise to go there 'cause she said we'd love it. Sci-Fi sounds fun too. Instead, I will be waiting in line forever for Fantasmic. Originally, I was going to skip it but my DD REALLY wants to see it so we're going to.
I like the 180 day mark. I enjoy the planning for Disney because there's all these little marker points along the way to get ready. It's like a grown-up countdown! LOL.

 

[nene0182]

If you haven't made your ADRs yet, what are you planning & when is your 180 day mark?

My 180 day mark is 4/2. So far we have these planned:

9/29- arrival day
9//30- Rainforest-lunch Narcoossee's- late dinner
10/1- Le Cellier- dinner
10/2- 'Ohana- dinner
10/3- Mama Melrose- dinner
10/4- Raglan Road- dinner
10/5- Boma- breakfast Whispering Canyon-dinner


What resort or hotel are you staying at? How did you decide on it & what are you most looking forward to there? We are staying at CSR. I wanted to stay at a moderate but didn't really care where, I narrowed it down between POR and CSR and my husband picked CSR

 

[nene0182]

Is anyone keeping the trip a surprise?

We are keeping it a surprise from my son and not telling him we are going on vacation until we leave that Friday and probably not telling him we are going to WDW until we get to the airport

 

[WishnDreamer]

Is anyone keeping the trip a surprise? We usually go to my parents in Aug so we are going to tell the kids that is were we are going. We hope they don't notice until we get on the airport bus to go to WDW. I really hope they are as excited as I am!!

More questions... Moms with smaller kids do you plan on going back to the resort during the day for naps? My 5 year old no longer naps and I think the 3 year old could pass on naps... We are renting strollers so I am hoping they might sleep while we walk..

You are reading my mind. This was another question I was going to pose. So we will go ahead & post it now.

My husband wanted to surprise our kids but only so they wouldn't ask us a million times when we are going! LOL. We told them at Christmas so they could help plan & we have had a countdown chain since then.
Did I already answer you about the naps or am i having deja vu? My kids are older though so my answer may be different...

 

[WishnDreamer]

If you haven't made your ADRs yet, what are you planning & when is your 180 day mark?

My 180 day mark is 4/2. So far we have these planned:

9/29- arrival day
9//30- Rainforest-lunch Narcoossee's- late dinner
10/1- Le Cellier- dinner
10/2- 'Ohana- dinner
10/3- Mama Melrose- dinner
10/4- Raglan Road- dinner
10/5- Boma- breakfast Whispering Canyon-dinner


What resort or hotel are you staying at? How did you decide on it & what are you most looking forward to there? We are staying at CSR. I wanted to stay at a moderate but didn't really care where, I narrowed it down between POR and CSR and my husband picked CSR

Whisphering Canyon sounds like a lot of fun. I was thinking about it for a while, but decided against it. If we ever go back, I think we may have to do that 1.

 

[LucyBC80]

1.Who are you going to Disney with? When are you going and how did you choose your dates?

I'm going with my mom. My first trip was 12 years ago and my mom has never been (this will be my mom's first international trip).

We're going on February 2013. We arrive on the 7th and stay till Feb. 26. We choose these dates because it coincides with our Carnaval, which is a four day holiday here in Brazil. It's a way to maximize my vacation period. I have some time off I've been saving specifically for this trip. So my 15 day vacation magically becomes a 25 day vacation (two unpaid days, Carnaval and then I start my vacation days on the 13th).

2. Has anyone made ADR's yet? Did you get what you wanted? What did you pick?
If you haven't made your ADRs yet, what are you planning & when is your 180 day mark?

Nope, but I have almost all restaurants picked. Our 180 day mark is on August 12th. I have a mix of character breakfast restaurants and the crowd's favorite I'd like to try.

3. What resort or hotel are you staying at? How did you decide on it & what are you most looking forward to there?
If you have not yet chosen, are you looking at offsite or on? What are your choices narrowed down to, if any?

We'll stay at POFQ. I had no idea where I wanted to stay when we started to plan, all we know is that we wanted a moderate. After some fine folks from the DIS posted their opinions, we've decided on POFQ because it's the smallest moderate, there won't be much walking involved (mom has a bad knee) and the bus system seems pretty solid. Also, the boat to DTD is a very nice perk.

4. If you are staying onsite, will you do online checkin?

Absolutely! Nothing beats online check in, I do it all the time when flying.

 

[WishnDreamer]

I just wanted to let everyone know I am adding the questions of the day to the first post for easy access.

I also listed all our first trip planners during their month and where they're staying. We have several in June and September/October.

If I miss listing you, there's missing info (because I was going crosseyed looking for it thru the posts), or you just want it posted faster, pm me and I will list you.

Thanks!

 

[Groomer Gal]

We are surprising our twin girls! They are going to FLIP! They know that we are saving to go...but thunk we aren't going until 2013 or 2014. (tee hee)

We def have 'must do's ' Number one being BBB and dining in THE Castle! It's all the girls talk about. I cannot imagine a more ridiculously over the top wonderful thing for an 8 year old girl!!! We actually already bought their Princess dresses at The Disney Store about a month ago. They were 25% off and one of the twins is slightly picky so I didn't want to chance she would not be able to get what she wanted at WDW. PLUS, now that part is paid for so we just need to get one of the hair/ nail packages. We got it a tad bit big so it should fit perfectly by the time we go.

Other than that we do want to try and do the Fanstasmic dining package....Ohana's.....1900 Park Fare.....Liberty Tree Tavern.....and maybe Ashkersus BUT I may be Pricessed out by then,

Wishn....I wanted to update you at we did book our flights today and got the EARLY 7 am flight.
My husband thinks it's just better sense to get there early and try and get the girls to take a nap (never gonna happen) and go for dinner. I will convince him over the next few months that we will go out for a late lunch then call it a day. Getting up at 4 am is gonna hurt!!!!

 

[WishnDreamer]

We are surprising our twin girls! They are going to FLIP! They know that we are saving to go...but thunk we aren't going until 2013 or 2014. (tee hee)

We def have 'must do's ' Number one being BBB and dining in THE Castle! It's all the girls talk about. I cannot imagine a more ridiculously over the top wonderful thing for an 8 year old girl!!! We actually already bought their Princess dresses at The Disney Store about a month ago. They were 25% off and one of the twins is slightly picky so I didn't want to chance she would not be able to get what she wanted at WDW. PLUS, now that part is paid for so we just need to get one of the hair/ nail packages. We got it a tad bit big so it should fit perfectly by the time we go.

Other than that we do want to try and do the Fanstasmic dining package....Ohana's.....1900 Park Fare.....Liberty Tree Tavern.....and maybe Ashkersus BUT I may be Pricessed out by then,

Wishn....I wanted to update you at we did book our flights today and got the EARLY 7 am flight.
My husband thinks it's just better sense to get there early and try and get the girls to take a nap (never gonna happen) and go for dinner. I will convince him over the next few months that we will go out for a late lunch then call it a day. Getting up at 4 am is gonna hurt!!!!

I am really LOL'ing right now. You should place a LARGE bet with him on that 'cause I agree. NEVER GONNA HAPPEN. And if it does, you better check 'em for a fever 'cause I think 8 year old girls who just arrived for their first trip to Disney HAVE to be sick if they can take a nap!

On the other hand, maybe, just maybe, you can convince them to take a snooze on the plane if they have to get up at 4, but the excitment may kill that idea too.
Wasn't buying the plane tickets exciting? I tell ya, I've never been as excited to shell out so much $ in my life as I have each time it was time to pay for another aspect of this trip! I think I've lost my mind!

 

[Groomer Gal]

I just somehow knew you'd see it my way.

And OMG! I was literally walking on air today after buying the plane tickets!

You would have thought I actually got PAID to fly but no no...I am actually shelling out the money myself and thrilled about it!!!

Paying off the entire trip is gonna be euphoric !!!!

 

[ckwats]

I am with you ladies. We have a bright and early flight... I hope the kids will sleep on the plane. I really don't see any napping going on the 1st day we get there. They are going to be on overload.

 

[jayce]

Is anyone using one of the touring plan sites? I've been looking at Easy WDW and Touring Plans and they seem to conflict on some days. I have also seen TGM and Ridemax on here. I'm just wondering which is the best way to go.