First time Family trip to wdw Feb25-Mar03..suggestions?

Kelly...hope to see you and Rob there........

We'll be the ones looking overwhelmed and extremely excited!!! LOL
Me 34
DH 36
DD 13
DD 09


Thanks everyone for the great dining tips..........
 
HI everyone,

Well, at long last we are going to WDW!!!
We are my hubby and I mid thirties and our 2 daughters 13yrs and 9yrs old!
Sooo excited :cheer2: but very overwhelmed at ALL there is to know....
None of us has ever been..........

We are booked and staying at the Pop Century for 6 nights...
I am looking to purchase my 5 day park hopper tickets online (undercovertourist) sometime today...anyone ever use undercover tourist?? OR have someplace else to reccomend to me?

I am not sure if we can book the ME for airport pickup at this late notice?? Anyone know??

Should we be booking a dinner show or something??
I'm just not sure and money is an issue....

Any help or suggestions would be most appreciated!!
Thanks in advance,
Mimi Fraser

We stayed at Pop for our first ever trip in Dec 05. We bought out tickets and room through Disneys site. Money was bit of an issue for us so we decided to just eat counter meals for our trip. We also bought things from home like small boxes of cereal for breakfast. We didn't find it bad not having any table service meals. In fact many people say you can easily lose anywhere from 1-2 hours at a sit down meal...taking time away from other fun things. We got maps of the parks on this site and we had a general idea where things were. Once we arrived we decided which area of which park we wanted to focus on first. Some people tend to plan every minute of their trip but we just picked a park each day and figured out what to do once we got there....and we had fun doing it.
 
Hi Miriam ~ CONGRATS!

FIREWORKS:

Fireworks/Night Shows are AWESOME! Especially for your kids ages! Of the four theme parks, three have evening fireworks/show. Animal Kingdom does not have any night time stuff...just a 4pm cutesy parade.

Disney Studios/MGM ~ has FANTASMIC! PLEASE SEE IT!!!!!!!! It's not a fireworks show....but it's definately an awesome show to see! If you are going on an Extra Magic Hours [EMH] evening, consider getting a seat very early. Times vary...but it's usually around 8:30pm. All seat are pretty good.

EPCOT ~ has ILLUMINATIONS! It's at 9pm. It's fireworks, music, water, lasers, fire....ABSOLUTELY Must see! Anywhere around the lagoon is a good spot. We've seen Illuminations from just about everywhere. Since we aren't ones to steak out a spot early, we tend of stand back a little and ENJOY!

Magic Kingdom!!!!!!! SpectroMagic Parade and WISHES Fireworks show! Spectro is a MUST MUST MUST see. We walked into MK 20 minutes before the parade and just sat down on the sidewalk in the Town Square. It's a great spot. Over near Peco's Bill's is good too. Not very crowded. We've also stood outside the Christmas Shoppe...that was nice a quiet too. My fav spot to see WISHES is on Main Street near the Tomorrowland bridge. We usually get a nice spot on the sidewalk.

Last year we didn't want to use a park ticket for our first day in Florida, so we drove to POLY, grabbed a bite to eat and sat on the POLY beach and watched WISHES in comfy lounge chairs. You can also ride around on the monorails without using a park ticket!

EATS:

Disney is VERY generous with portions....counter service does it for us....plus a couple sit-downs. We like character meals too! Cinderella's Royal Table in the castle is lovely, but pricy. You'd REALLY have to WANT to do it to make it worth while. Go to www.allearsnet.com for menu's and pick a few restaurants that look good to you. We also do the grocery thing because we get fed up eating in restaurants.

TIPS

* ENJOY the little things and don't worry if you don't see and do EVERYTHING! I've been to WDW alot and still didn't meet Mickey or ride Space Mtn until I my 4th trip. Live in the moment!

* Autograph books. If your girls like meeting characters, buy them each an autograph book ~ take four steps in any direction and you'll trip over them ~ you can buy them EVERYWHERE! Have the character sign on the right page and leave the left page blank. Take a picture of the character signing the book with your girls and then when the pictures are printed, you can put them on the left side of the page, beside the autograph. It's the PERFECT photo/autograph album.

* GO EARLY! Did I mention you should GO EARLY! Get to the parks before the open. It's a special time of day and you'll do and see tons!

Enjoy! Have a great time! Sandra
 
Hi Sandra,
Thanks so much for all your helpful tips!!I'm going to print all these tidbits!! You're all awesome!

ONLY 6 MORE SLEEPS!!!!!!!

I can't believe it......:cheer2: :yay: :banana:

We are arriving into Orlando at 7pm FL time...hooking up with the Magical Express to take us to POP ....

Anyone have any suggestions for FIRST night??
I figure we may be able to catch a fireworks or show for 9pm??? @ MK or Epcot??
We have an extra day to use for the passes so that won't be an issue....

Let me know you're thoughts,
Appreciate it!

BTW what do you keep your park tickets in?

Thanks Miriam/Mimi
 

Mimi:

We're getting to Orlando on Sunday the 25th too.. Even tho the park will be busy, we plan to go to Magic Kingdom that first night and catch Wishes and the Spectromagic Prade and just generally walk around.. I doubt we'll bother with rides that night.. The park is open late that day.. (1am I think?) so after 11pm the crowd usually thins and you can hit a few rides maybe.

Wishes that night will be 9pm.. so.. getting to the park for Wishes might be well impossible if you land at 7pm.

J
 
Thanks CndGuy,

THAT is exactly what I wanted to know...if we had enough time to get to MK for Wishes if our plane lands @ 7pm.

Seeing as we want to get an early morning start the next day, I don't think it's a great idea to stay up to late....BUT my kids will be WIRED, EXCITED once we arrive....

Any Suggestions??

Mimi
 














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