First family trip to WDW & I need help planning

[marymag]

My family of 4 (including 2 kids, age 9 & 7) will be going to WDW for the first and probably only time this Nov. or Dec. 2003. My husband is "anti-Disney" and is only going because it's important to me. He thinks 3 days would be enough to spend at WDW. Can we see what needs to be seen in only 3 days? What are the must see attractions at what parks? Should we stay onsite or offsite, and which hotels would you recommend? Do we need to rent a car while in Orlando? Any and all input would be greatly appreciated!

 

[TooBoyz4us]

Firstly, and this is just my little ole opinion, but, I do not think 3 days is long enough for Disney, especially if you are a first timer.
We just went in Oct, and our boys were 8&9. They still tire out at this age, and having the afternoon breaks that I scheduled into the itinerary was super. Not to mention, a necessity for Dh and I
We were at Disney for 5nights/6days, and in no way shape or form did we see everything.And this was our second trip!

But, if 3 days if your limit, then I suggest, plan, plan, plan !! Research all the parks, and know ahead of time what attractions are most important to you, and plan accordingly.
You can buy some great Disney guidebooks at your local bookstore, and there are numerous online sites that would be helpful as well.
And, this board is the BEST !

We are partial to the moderate resorts, specifically CBR and CSR.
You just have to decide what is most important to you in a hotel, and what your budget will be.
I say, stay ON-SITE ! You will love it.

And if you do plan to stay on-site, you will not really need a rental car.
You can get transportation from the airport through the Disney shuttle(Mears) or pick from many private towncar companies.We found that for the four of us, a town car was cheaper.And ALOT nicer
Once onsite, you can get around the "world" by bus,boat or monorail quite easily.

I hope I have helped you some.If you have more questions, feel free to ask

 

[bananiem]

I would suggest getting a few of the official and unofficial Disney guidebooks from your public library. Encourage your husband to read up on the rides and shows and to think of them as "amusement park rides" as opposed to strictly Disney. He may see for himself that 3 days isn't going to allow enough time for each person in your family to do and see the things you each want.
November and December can be excellent times to go crowd-wise but the parks do close earlier during the week and we found weekends to be pretty crowded. I've heard that's the time of year Floridians go with their annual passes. Weekends work well for them.
We went this past December and didn't go back to the hotel for mid-day breaks. Our kids are 8 & 6. But we did try to do a couple of shows midday and having lunch in a nice sit-down restaurant was nice too.
And if your husband still insists on 3 days, leave him at home and take the kids yourself for longer!! With the Disney transportation it would be a breeze!
Oh, I forgot! Staying onsite is more important if you are staying for a short amount of time, IMO. You'd be surprised how much you can see and do in that hour! You can get pretty good deals at that time of year for the resorts so you might want to take a look in the guidebooks or the internet and see what each one has.

 

[Mogs30]

Welcome to the dis-boards. You have come to the right place for any and all help regarding Disney. BOY do I feel your pain. My husband sounds just like yours. We are going in 13 days for our 1st time and I know my husbands last time to disney world. HE is as anti-disney as they come. Because this will be our ONLY time going as a whole family we are going for 10 days and seeing as much as we can. Including Kennedy space center, universal studios and the beach/ocean. I count the days till we leave and he is counting the days until we return! Mostly he just does this to bug me. The more you invistigate this trip the more you are going to realize that 3 days will not be enough time to do what you want to do. Good luck in your planning as it is just as much fun to plan than to go I think--although havent' been there yet. We are also not renting a car except for the day we do KSC/and the beach. OTherwise it is disney transportation and town car service for us. We are staying at the value resorts cuz we will only be there to sleep and shower. Have a great time whatever you decide to do.

 

[bananiem]

Mogs30 has a good point. You should tell your husband that since it is your one and only time to show the kids WDW you need to let them experience it all. They'll hear from other kids how cool such-and-such ride was and you don't want them to feel like they missed a bunch. The kids deserve a "whole" trip if it's their one and only time.
OK, it's playing on his emotions and trying to get him to feel guilty but sometimes you gotta do whatever it takes, right?
Good luck!
P.S. My dh loves WDW but he liked going to ESPN Club and watching a football game on Saturday night too. Maybe your dh would like to go golfing one day while you and the kids do Animal Kingdom or whatever. That's the nice about Disney transportation. And it's important to read the guidebooks because there's SO MUCH more than just amusement rides. He might even be able to take a class at the Institute! Find something he enjoys and it'll be easier to convince him, I think.

 

[whozit]

I don't think 3 days is enough to see everything (particularly if it your first trip and you don't know your way around). You can easily spend a full day at each of the parks, and you will be surprised how exhausting it can be. I took my 9 year old niece, and we spent our first day at the Magic Kingdom. We went in August, so the park hours were longer than you may find them in Nov or Dec and we were there when the park opened and stayed until closing (we did not do e-nights). The next day we went to Epcot and again spent all day. The crowds were light, so we did not spend much time at all waiting in lines, and we did not spend time at lengthy sit down meals, but we were busy the entire time. By day three, we had to take a break, we were just worn out, so we spent that day at our resort's pool, and also took the Disney bus (and boat) to some of the other resorts to look around, and rode the monorail. We then spent our 4th entire day at MGM and our fifth at AK. We went back to MK on day 6 (we really had seen/done everything there on day 1, but she wanted to go there again). Day 7 was also our getaway day, so we spent part of the morning at Blizzard Beach, but had to leave to get checked out of resort. We spent the rest of the day at the resort pool before leaving for the airport. We had a great time, but we were on the go the whole time, and there were things we just didn't get a chance to do (spend some time at Downtown Disney, see the Electrical Water Pageant, go by Fort Wilderness, spend more time at the resort pool).

If you do only have 3 days, read up in the guidebooks on the best strategy to see the parks. Also, search these boards for tips and other's trip reports. If it were me, I would decide ahead of time which park NOT to go to....splitting your day in two parks is okay if you have some extra days, but it takes some time to get from one park to another, and you will already be pressed for time, so I would spend a full day at each of the three parks I chose. And keep in mind, you will be worn out....you'll need a vacation when you get home. Try to talk your husband into expanding your trip beyond three days.

 

[marymag]

Thanks for all of the input and sympathy regarding my hubby only wanting to spend 3 days...the good news is that I will be planning the trip, so I can extend it without too much grief. So, I need to know would 5 days be enough? Magic Kingdom, Epcot and MGM are 3 I'd like to tour for sure...what about a 4th? Animal Kingdom? Anyone got any feedback on Howard Johnson's Maingate East hotel? (which I believe is offsite)

I'm going to try to find a reliable travel agent to work with---is this a good idea, or would I be better off going it on my own?

I do have the Unofficial Guide to WDW...tons of info in it...I don't know if I'll even have time to read through it...I'm looking for detailed easy answers fast!

Keep 'em coming!

 

[beattyfamily]

Originally posted by marymag
Thanks for all of the input and sympathy regarding my hubby only wanting to spend 3 days...the good news is that I will be planning the trip, so I can extend it without too much grief. So, I need to know would 5 days be enough? Magic Kingdom, Epcot and MGM are 3 I'd like to tour for sure...what about a 4th? Animal Kingdom? Anyone got any feedback on Howard Johnson's Maingate East hotel? (which I believe is offsite)

I'm going to try to find a reliable travel agent to work with---is this a good idea, or would I be better off going it on my own?

I do have the Unofficial Guide to WDW...tons of info in it...I don't know if I'll even have time to read through it...I'm looking for detailed easy answers fast!

Keep 'em coming!

5 days isn't bad at all. You'll get a lot done but you have to know going in you'll not experience everything! We've gone 4 times not and still have done everything there is to do.

Also, onsite is SO magical. Maybe you can call the All Star Sports, Movies, or Music and see what their rates are. Do you have the Disney Club card or AAA? The All Stars are the cheapest onsites. My brother-in-law is staying there for $414 for 6 nights with the Disney Club discount (or even AAA) in December. That's a really good price and then you'll have the Disney Transportation if you don't want to rent a car.

Keep the questions coming!

 

[whozit]

I found the Unofficial Guide very helpful in planning our strategy for touring the parks. Try to carve out some time to read it before you go and make your plans. If you don't, you may find yourself inside the park, trying to figure out where you want to go next, and its much better to have a plan in advance than to waste your time after you've come through the turnstiles. With limited time, make sure to hit the attractions you want to see first (read about this in the Unofficial Guide), and not be distracted by a short line at an attraction that isn't on your "must see" list....some of those lesser run attractions may have a short wait all the time, and delaying your arrival at a "must see" can really slow you down. Once you've hit all of the must sees, you can go back to the second string offerings. Also, try to determine ahead of time if there are attractions that you think will be too intense for your family, otherwise, you could spend precious time waiting for an attraction, only to find that your 7 year old (or for that matter, any member of your party) isn't up to it.

I would try to stay onsite if possible, if for no other reason than to take advantage of the "extra magic hour". When we went, Early entry had been stopped, and the extra magic hour hadn't been introduced yet, but if you can get into the park an hour early, you are that many steps ahead of the crowd. And if you can't or don't take advantage of entering early, at the very least, be at the park when it opens, again, you'll be that much ahead of the crowd.