First Family Trip Planners Thread for WDW Newbies!

[WishnDreamer]

What are your arrival day plans?

We have an early flight. I am actually thinking about having the kids sleep in their clothes for the next day so they can hop out of bed, brush their teeth, & eat breakfast in the car on the way to the airport if they don't fall back to sleep. I don't know if they will or not since the excitement may be too much.

We arrive in Orlando at 10 & take Magical Express to AKL. We'll have some counter service lunch there and then head to Magic Kingdom.

Here's our MK plan for arrival day:

Le Chepeau for Mickey ears
fastpass Mickey m&g if not too long a wait
Dream Along with Mickey show
Celebrate a Dream Come True parade
see Tiana
see Woody & Jesse
ride something in the area with a short wait
grab fastpass for Splash Mountain
5:10 Liberty Tree Tavern ADR
Splash Mtn
WDW Railroad to the front
Back to AKL

Does that sound laid back enough for a first night after a flight?? We are going to Epcot for rope drop the next day...

 

[salann]

What are your arrival day plans?

We fly in around 1pm, so it's off the the CR. We plan on using the day to look around and enjoy the resort, maybe spend some time at the pool. We have 6pm ADR's at Ohana. Not planning on going to the parks at all that day, maybe DTD if we have time but I am going to try to take it easy on arrival day

 

[WendyWonderland]

What are your arrival day plans?

Wake up around 3-3:30AM.
Leave for the airport at 4:30AM.
Get there around 5:30AM.
Flight leaves at 7:40AM.
We'll land 9:19AM.
Get to WDW by 11:30AM we're guesstimating.
Letting our son pick either Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach for the day.
Chef Mickey's at 7:15PM.

Then we're hoping he'll be super tired and sleep like an angel so we can sleep well and be ready to hit Hollywood Studios bright and early in the morning. Or we'll hit the boardwalk, or Downtown Disney for a bit, but I'm pretty sure he's going to crash after having to wake up so early and be outside most of the day.

We got confirmation mail from Disney today with our itinerary outlined. Is it September yet?

 

[ckwats]

9. Which character is each of your family members (including) yourself most excited to meet at Disney World? How long are willing to wait to meet them? As my daughter would say "Tangled". I am not sure how long I want to wait.. 30 min...

10. What websites or other resources have you found helpful during your planning? DIS, All Ears

11. What are the top 3 tips you've learned during planning so far?

Stop and smell the roses!!

Have fun.

Baggies

12. Are you planning to see Main Street Electrical Parade, Wishes, Illuminations, Fantasmic? Which 1 are you most looking forward to?

I hope to do all. I am not sure if the kids will stay in one place for the parades.. I have dinner ADR for the Fantasmic dinner/show. I will feed the kids sugar to have them stay up late for all the firework shows. I have heard get things about Fantasmic.

13. Are you planning to see Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade, Move it Shake it parade, Dream Along with Mickey castle show, Pixar Pal's Countdown to Fun, or Mickey's Jammin Jungle Parade? I hope. Again not sure if the kids will stand still long enough..

14. Arrival day plans

We arrive around 11:00 am so I don't think we will get to the resort until 12:30 or 1:00 ish.. If we get there early enough maybe the pool. Maybe DTD.. My partents are staying at Fort Wilderness so I think we will cookout with them and then do the Chip and Dale sing a long.

 

[WishnDreamer]

9. Which character is each of your family members (including) yourself most excited to meet at Disney World? How long are willing to wait to meet them? As my daughter would say "Tangled". I am not sure how long I want to wait.. 30 min...

14. Arrival day plans

We arrive around 11:00 am so I don't think we will get to the resort until 12:30 or 1:00 ish.. If we get there early enough maybe the pool. Maybe DTD.. My partents are staying at Fort Wilderness so I think we will cookout with them and then do the Chip and Dale sing a long.

My dd calls Rapunzel Tangled too and she's almost 9! My kids can be impatient as well so I worry about waiting for Fantasmic & the parades but I got those cute Guide to the Magic books which I hope entertains them & I plan to try to make that snack time. So maybe that will help.

I am going to live vicariously thru everyone on the thread! There's so much to do at WDW & of course you can't do it all. That campfire singalong looks so cool. Don't they do smores? I love smores. Share a picture after your trip. I am getting excited to see all the fun everyone has!

 

[WishnDreamer]

Which attractions are you most excited about at each park?

MK- I think my list sounds kind of lame, but I am not a thrill ride, roller coaster kind of person, so I am excited for Peter Pan's Flight & Snow White's Scarey Adventures-so glad this won't close before we go! Also, PhilHarmagic because I think that's going to be really good and Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin because I think my kids are really going to enjoy that.

Epcot-Soarin'-never been on it, sounds like fun. World Showcase, period.

Hollywood Studios-Toy Story Mania because I can't wait to see how much my kids are going to like it, characters, & Fantasmic.

Animal Kingdom-I am very excited about seeing Festival of the Lion King. It looks like a very good production.

 

[wallawallakids]

Hi! Just wanted to pop over here and join! We are going on our first trip ever to WDW this May! We are all crazy excited counting down the days. It took us forever to even decide where to stay. After a LOT of back and forth we are happy with our choice of POFQ. We will be celebrating DS and DD's 5th birthday there!! I am so excited about that because they really don't understand WHAT Disney is. I think they are going to have so much fun. ALso, I booked a Pirates and Pals fireworks cruise as their birthday gift and they have no clue. We are also having lunch at Tuskers that day so they can meet Mickey (they don't know about that either!) Anyway, great to meet all of you on here. Hope you all have a wonderful, amazing, first trip! Looking forward to hearing all of your trip reports too!

 

[Groomer Gal]

We can't Wait for the Christmas Story Tellers in the WS.

And I know my girls will like doing the Passports through the world too.

Both of them are going through the Unofficial Guide and they are super excited for Peter Pans Flight.

We are big zoo lovers too....can't wait to do the Safari!!! We are going to LOVE all of Animal Kingdom actually.

I don't think we will do any of the roller coaster type rides either. I'm the only one out of all of us that like them at all.

OH! And Haunted Mansion too!!!

 

[WishnDreamer]

Hi! Just wanted to pop over here and join! We are going on our first trip ever to WDW this May! We are all crazy excited counting down the days. It took us forever to even decide where to stay. After a LOT of back and forth we are happy with our choice of POFQ. We will be celebrating DS and DD's 5th birthday there!! I am so excited about that because they really don't understand WHAT Disney is. I think they are going to have so much fun. ALso, I booked a Pirates and Pals fireworks cruise as their birthday gift and they have no clue. We are also having lunch at Tuskers that day so they can meet Mickey (they don't know about that either!) Anyway, great to meet all of you on here. Hope you all have a wonderful, amazing, first trip! Looking forward to hearing all of your trip reports too!

Welcome! It's pretty neat to have your kids know about the trip but have some surprises in store for them. We are excited counting down the days too. Only 30 more here!!!

 

[WishnDreamer]

We can't Wait for the Christmas Story Tellers in the WS.

And I know my girls will like doing the Passports through the world too.

Both of them are going through the Unofficial Guide and they are super excited for Peter Pans Flight.

We are big zoo lovers too....can't wait to do the Safari!!! We are going to LOVE all of Animal Kingdom actually.

I don't think we will do any of the roller coaster type rides either. I'm the only one out of all of us that like them at all.

OH! And Haunted Mansion too!!!

Have I mentioned I am soooo jealouse you guys are going to see the storytellers. I think I may have already, but if not, I am! The quiet time between Thanksgiving & Christmas when things were decorated & they were there was my 2nd choice but I wanted to see everyting "normal" our first or only time. Call me crazy! If we ever go back it will be for that.

I am excited about Haunted Mansion too but my kids are "chickens" about scarey stuff so I wonder how they'll be...

 

[WishnDreamer]

What are your plans for souvenir money? Not just how much but what form, etc?

Haha! I ask this question for personal reasons and wasn't quite sure how to word it. When we planned the trip it's considered a once-in-a-lifetime. So we are going all out. I got the Disney Visa card and after our first purchase we got $200 in rewards. I gave each of the kids $100 for souvenir money. But that is solely things they pick out. What I mean is, I WANT them to have Mickey ears, so I am buying those.

I thought we should take $800 to cover everything from the time we left the door til we got back, luggage fees, mousekeeping & dining tips, souvenirs, etc. My husband said $1000. He won.

My plan is to put a card on our room & charge to that, but I think I'll take my Disney Visa because if you spend more than $50 at certain places you can get 10% off (thinking Downtown Disney shopping day). But how much actual cash do you think we should have on us??

What is everybody else doing??

As it gets closer and I have to make these little decisions, I am becoming perplexed. Can you tell? Maybe I am decisioned out!

 

[Groomer Gal]

I calculated how much all of our expenses would be....tips....MVMCP...BBB....Mouse-keeping....etc.....and came up with almost the same figure as you. So we are bringing that + spending money for anything extra such as things the girls want...a few Christmas ornaments...any extra drinks or snacks in the Parks and so on. so maybe another $500 on top of that.....but knowing my DH it will be MORE than that...he's the spender...not me.
As we get closer, I'm going to decide how we will handle the girls actual spending $. They personally don't keep track of 'fair amounts'. In other words...they won't be upset if one of them gets something that costs $20 and the other one gets something that costs $40....all they care about is getting the thing that they want.
Plus, for us, Christmas is 10 days after we come home so...I don't feel the need to go crazy and buy them a ton.
It's my DH I have to worry about.

 

[Groomer Gal]

Have I mentioned I am soooo jealouse you guys are going to see the storytellers. I think I may have already, but if not, I am! The quiet time between Thanksgiving & Christmas when things were decorated & they were there was my 2nd choice but I wanted to see everyting "normal" our first or only time. Call me crazy! If we ever go back it will be for that.

I am excited about Haunted Mansion too but my kids are "chickens" about scarey stuff so I wonder how they'll be...

You know, you might have mentioned something a couple of times.

For us, we made the decision based on lower crowds...and not super hot weather. None of us can take the summer heat in FLA and have a good time. Too hot for us.
BUT, honestly, my main thing was Christmas. My girls are 7. We all know I have like another hot minute or two and the "Christmas Magic" will be gone.
We want to go out with a bang!!! We may even try and go next Dec too.

 

[andieb0602]

I'm thinking around $1000 sounds about right for us, too. Here's what I've mapped out so far:

My spending money: $100
DH's spending money: $100
DD's spending money: $25 (plus whatever is in her bank; probably at least another $25)
DS's spending money: $25 (plus the same piggy bank arrangement)
Mouse ears for the family: $100 (hoping I've over-estimated this!)
Pick a Pearl in Japan Pavilion: $30 (I'm ordering carriage cage necklaces for DD and I off of ebay)

Baggage fees: $120 (we can lower the by $40 if we can stuff all our things in 2 bags + carry ons)
Tips for meals: $100 (we're doing mostly buffets for our sit down meals so I'm tipping around 15%)
Tips for Mousekeeping: $35
Tips for Bell Services: $20 (may actually be much less but I like to overestimate)

Garden Grocer: $60

Slush money for extra snacks and food for DS since he's not part of the dining plan: $100
Miscellaneous/emergency stuff: $100

Most of our spending money will be on Disney gift cards since I'm using my Target debit card to get 5% off. We already have $375 in gift cards and I'll buy more once I get my additional 5% off coupon through the pharmacy rewards program. From what I understand you can even use gift cards for tipping so we'll use those at the table service restaurants. Tips for mousekeeping and bell services will be cash. So will the misc/emergency slush. No credit cards since we don't want to charge anything.

We may take an extra $200 just in case a great bounceback rate is offered while we're there. If not that money may be going to a December 2013 Disney cruise for DH and I for our 13th anniversary. The rate for a cruise is almost a bargain compared to what this trip is costing us!

 

[HalloweenNut]

We haven't had a chance to sit down and work out a formal budget yet but were thinking around $1200 to cover everything not already paid for. Looking over all your figures looks to be about what we would expect. Ours factors out a little differently so here's a quick draft.

My Spending Money: $200 (mine will be mostly t-shirts)
DW's Spending Money: $200 (my wife isn't into a lot of souvenirs so most of that might go towards a pick-a-pearl and setting)
Presents for DD: $50 (mouse ears & t-shirts)
Gifts for Others: $150

Baggage Fees: fingers crossed we won't have to pay any
Tips for Meals: estimating about $100-140
Tips for Mousekeeping: $40-50
Tips for Bell Services: $20
Taxi Fees: $40-50 (we're planning on taking Disney transport most everywhere but will take a taxi if we have to depending on timing. I've heard that the buses back to the resorts from DTD aren't great and it's best to take a cab.)

Groceries from WeGoShop.com: $60
Factor in another $200 for OOP meals, snacks/drinks not on the dining plan
Other Incidentals: $100

In addition our DD has been saving her piggy bank money for the last 2 years (any money she gets for birthdays, xmas, tooth fairy, etc) and has about $140 - enough for $20/day! She's been really great about saving and so that money is for her to spend as she sees fit (we'll hold onto it for safety) but once she's spent her $20 she's done for the day and we'll not cave into any pressure to get her anything else.

 

[WishnDreamer]

Josh of Easywdw has the Animal Kingdom one, the last one, done now. If anyone is interested, the link is here.

My original intention was not to waste much time on characters in the parks since we have 4 character meals, but reading his character prioritizations made me decide there are some other characters we'd like to see and figure out times we should be able to see them without having to wait long. I'm excited for the kids to break out those autograph books! 29 more days!!!

 

[WishnDreamer]

It's my DH I have to worry about.

You and me both!!!

 

[WishnDreamer]

Or how are you carrying all your stuff around all day?

Have you thought about what kind of bag you're going to carry in the parks yet, if any? (Share a picture if you'd like.)

Ok, I have to admit it. I am starting to ask really biased questions. Is it too noticeable? My trip is 29 days away and all these little details are starting to come down on me. I know, I know, I probably should've decided on souvenir $ & park bags 9 months ago like everybody else, but I've been busy switching my ADRs 180 times since the 180th day. Seriously!

Anyway, I have had neck and to some degree back problems (which of course flaired up again in September 1 month after booking this trip) for years, so I cannot carry anything heavy or it will aggravate it. Hubby says, "I'll carry it all day." But I want don't want to stick him with that all day everyday. We have gone on 4 day weekend excursions where we have gone to all day walking places each day-zoo, Cedar Point, historical village, etc-and carried a small drawstring bag that has always done the trick. Last night we looked at 1 like this and I am thinking it could work. We are not planning on carrying much in.

It has the 2 mesh pockets for water bottles, a zipper pocket in front for wallet which would have $, credit card, tickets, kttw card, etc, and then the big section for a couple carryin snacks, ponchos, whatever else we take (are you sensing a question for tomorrow?)

The drawstrings are great for my neck & back for some reason. I hardly notice I'm wearing something where a bookpack kills me...

Any other suggestions? What's everyone else taking??

 

[WishnDreamer]

So does $200 cash sound good? We are not cash people, we debit card everything, so much so that I have trouble guesstimating how much cash to have on hand for things like this. If we charge the rest to the room on our credit card and have $200 cash, should we be good? Or more?

Which reminds me, I need to call the credit card company in a couple more weeks so we don't end up with 1 of those pesky holds on our account because we're suddenly spending so much $ far from home!

 

[salann]

Or how are you carrying all your stuff around all day?

Have you thought about what kind of bag you're going to carry in the parks yet, if any? (Share a picture if you'd like.)

Here's the bag I bought to take. a Baggalini everyday bag I am determined to NOT be the family pack mule this trip!! I will carry cameras/ponchos/sunscreen/autograph books, bandaids, hand sanitizer and a few other small things. But I will NOT, I repeat NOT be the pack mule...I'm giving up that responsbility! This bag is big enough that I can fit what needs to go in there and nothing more. And it's very organized so I'm not digging in for my phone or camera. And I got it on sale at Marshalls a month ago!