First time going to Disney

[TmJ98]

hey every one read my post you would so love it it is called moody london

 

[dizchick]

Welcome! I'm so excited for you to go on your first trip. Disney is a truly amazing place and I'm pretty sure your family will be dying to go back after this trip! The good thing is that you have plenty of time to read the boards and learn as much as you can before your trip! I also recommend Tour Guide Mike. Another favorite of mine is the Passporter travel guide. They have neat pockets in there where you can store all your trip information. Just google it...I also think they sell them at regular bookstores.

Definitely make your ADR's (dining reservations) as soon as you're able (180 days out I think) especially if you're going to character meals. Have fun! For me, the planning and the anticipation is half the fun!!

 

[byoung]

Welcome to the DIS!

 

[not-too-old4fun]

Brise Nannie ~ Point taken! No commando for me.

gymborocks ~ Did it! Tourguide Mike has been added. We'll see what ideas he brings me.

mecllap ~ Thanks for that Photopass info! I googled it and is does sound great! I'm normally the picture taker so this will be a great way to get the whole family in the shots. Thanks! I had never heard of that.

Disneyfairy ~ Thanks for the welcome!

Disneynutz ~ Boy do I owe you big time!!!! Thank you!!!

TmJ98 ~ Will do. If I can find it!

dizchick ~ I'm going to check our local bookstore for the passporter. Sounds like a very convenient thing to have! I'm confused about the meals though... how do you make reservations if you have no idea where you'll be? Or do you plan your trip around your reservations? *ack* So much to think about!!!!! I don't even know where to make the reservations. I've written down the suggestions here so I guess between that and Tourguide Mike, I may be able to figure out our meals. And I agree.... this part (the planning) is probably half the fun but man.... I need some sleep! It seems all I'm doing lately is surfing the net. That's not a complaint in the least. I love it but my guess is that if this keeps up for 6 months, I will need a vacation from planning a vacation!

byoung ~ Thanks for the welcome!

 

[deekaypee]

I'm confused about the meals though... how do you make reservations if you have no idea where you'll be? Or do you plan your trip around your reservations? *ack* So much to think about!!!!! I don't even know where to make the reservations. I've written down the suggestions here so I guess between that and Tourguide Mike, I may be able to figure out our meals.

You're making lots of good progress already. If it makes you feel any better, I always find making my ADRs (reservations) the hardest thing. I never know what I want to eat or when, so I'm not the greatest menu planner at home either. But less about me....Plan your trip around the parks you want to visit and on what days. Then make your ADRs based on where you'll be. You can call 180 days in advance, so you're almost to the window if I remember your dates. Don't worry about getting them all at once if you don't know exactly what you want. But if there's something extra special you want to do--like Cinderella's Royal Table--try to call on the very first day possible. I'm not sure you want to with all the menfolk--hah! that phrase makes me want to add Grumpy's phrase, "wicked wiles"--but it's a lovely experience. Regardless, you get the idea.

You'll have to let us know how your experience with TourGuide Mike goes; I've never used him (before my time, so I feel pretty confident), but I'm always curious.

 

[drivencrazy]

We are going to be 1st timers as well!! We are booked to stay at the same place as you, so you'll have to let us know how you liked it and let us know what to look forward to!

 

[gymborocks]

I really liked this book, but only for the AWESOME maps (much easier to understand than Disney's own park maps) and the pockets. I thought the touring advice was silly - like taking a train ride around the park when you first arrive!

Anyway, I got mine (a new 06 in the summer) for about $5 shipped from one of Amazon's partners. Search for it on Amazon and buy the cheapest new one you can find.

You won't be sorry about TGM. Seriously, if it were a cult I'd be the first one in line to join!

Also - regarding when/where to make your ADR's. Once you've subscribed to TGM, read his "best days' charts to decide where you'll be when. Also read his article about when to make ADR's. Once you know where you'll be and what time to book, you can decide on the restaurants you want to try. At this point, I'd make way more ADRs than you think you'll use. Cancel them as you narrow down exactly what you'll be doing.

 

[dizchick]

Not-too-old4fun,

Regarding ADRS's-like others have suggested, I would read tour guide mikes recommendations for the best parks to visit each day while you're there, then try to base your reservations off of that. If you don't do tour guide Mike, then just try to create a park plan that you think you may follow. I think the 180 days out is most important for restaurants that are almost impossible to get reservations at, like the castle. I was just suggesting it since it's your first visit! But, to be honest, I've never made reservations 180 days out b/c I usually don't plan my trips that far in advance and I like to have flexibility! I actually just called last week and got reservations for Victoria and Alberts for the end of the month. That's the only ADR I have for the whole trip. My BF and I tend to eat really late, so we usually don't have too much trouble getting in wherever we want.

As for Passporter, their website is www.passporter.com. It's an excellent guide! Have fun planning!

 

[WI_DisneyFan]

Welcome aboard! It looks like you've gotten most of your questions answered so far, but I'll just chime in on the thrill ride concerns. Last year was my DW's (Disney/Dear Wife) first trip to WDW. She is not a thrill ride person at all. She's had back problems her whole life, so getting thrown around like a rag doll isn't her idea of fun. But me, on the other hand, I'm built more rugged and love thrill rides. So we always tried to get a FastPass for any thrill rides I wanted to do. This way my wait time was only 10-15 minutes max, and in the mean time she could check out the shops around the ride while I was on it. It would also give us a good meeting point when I was done.

One more note on this. My wife's favorite ride from that trip was the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (aka Peoplemover). When I was riding Space Mountain, she rode this ride 3 times in a row. It is just a little tram thing that circles Tomorrowland, and goes into Space Mountain (which I admit is pretty cool). So this is something else to keep in mind if the guys want to do Space Mountain.

 

[connie1042]

If you are not going til April, now is the time to get in shape. You will be walking about 15 miles a day in the parks. If your getting new shoes start breaking them in now. The parks are not a place to break in shoes. You may want to head to the beach for a day. Cocoa Beach and Daytonna are not that far. Just have fun planning, and have a great trip.

 

[perkinselectric]

Welcome, I to went for the first time at 40, The best advice I can give is make your resturant reservations as soon as possible and work your park schedule around those (planning is half the fun), and take tons and tons of pictures.

Enjoy the an-tic-i-pation Mike P.

 

[not-too-old4fun]

Hi everyone! Sorry to bump this up again but I wanted to answer a question on here.


deekaypee ~ Tourguide Mike is absolutely amazing!!! I love it! The reviews and suggestions are unbelievable. It's certainly worth every penny and I haven't even read 1/4 of it.

I've made 2 reservations so far based on his suggestions:

Cirque du Soleil
Hoop Dee Doo

I would read his suggestions and then pop in here to see if there were threads pertaining to this. There were.

I'm not sure what other shows or dinner shows I should do or what other reservations I need to make right away. I'm at the 180 day mark and I can book now!

I'm having sooooo much fun planning this but I'm exhausted too. I hate going to bed at night cause I have so much more reading I could get into so I haven't been getting much sleep!

I also stopped in at our dollar store in town and purchased some Mickey stickers and tattoos etc... I plan on preparing an autograph book for each of them.

dizchick ~ I'm going to check out the Passporter site too (thank you!)

drivencrazy ~ when are you going?

connie ~ I've been thinking about that! I have 6 months to get in shape. Let's see what I can do. Thanks for the suggestion!

Mike ~ you know... that's exactly what I've done so far! I book the 2 events and will now plan the park outings based on that. It seemed like the most logical thing to do. Let's hope I don't mess it up.

WI_DisneyFan ~ I've written that advice down. It's a great idea!

Thanks again for all the ideas guys!

I'm feeling so Disneyish here it's unbelievable. This place is great!

 

[luvgrumpy]

Hi Sorry I'm late chiming in here. I just found this today. I think most of what I was going to say has already been said. I'm glad you got tourguidemike. Take your time reading, there is a lot to digest but you'll be so glad you did. He will recomend an afternoon break which will be a must. Don't want to overdo on your first trip or you may not get hubby to go back. Be sure to visit the forums at TGM also for specific advice related to your TGM plans. There are a lot of really nice and helpful people there too. A lot of people use a combination of TGM & passporter. TGM for plans and passporter for organization.
I think like someone said being your first trip you may find it easier to just do the pool at your resort instead of a waterpark. If your youngest is afraid you may not have a good time at a WP. We went to Typhoon Lagoon for the first time in Aug. I am the only one in our family that doesn't swim. I did everything except the wave pool. I would have done that but I needed get showered so we could catch our flight. You really don't have to swim on the slides but I wasn't really wild about going under at the bottom. My hubby always went first so he could be there to grab me and get me up out of the water fast. That is one thing for an adult but I can see where an 8yo may find it traumatizing. I don't know your son so I can't speak for him.
And don't worry about being too old for fun. I am older than you and I still get teary eyed when I see Mickey Mouse. Happy Planning!

 

[deekaypee]

It's great to hear your planning is coming along! And thanks for the feedback on TourGuide Mike. I might give him a try on my next trip, just to see what he recommends. On my last trip, Disneyland this summer, I tried RideMax and was very pleased at the recommendations...helped me think outside the box and experience old favorites in new ways. So it's good to hear of a WDW option.

And I'm so glad you hear you've booked Cirque du Soleil! You'll love it. And the get-in-shape strategy is brilliant--so glad other posters mentioned it. I can't believe I forgot to bring that up. (Where is the slap-my-hand-tomy forehead smiley when I need it?)

So, what ADRs have you decided on/made?

One last comment...there's a thread about people's favorite CS restaurant on the Strategies Board. You might check it out: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1254684

 

[not-too-old4fun]

luvgrumpy ~ thank you for the welcome! Everything you mention is the reason I've decided to skip the waterparks. My boys are pretty good swimmers now but I'm not comfortable with them tackling that yet. This is the first year my 8 year old decided swimming underwater is not so bad.

deekaypee ~ I guess I haven't made any ADR's yet. I'm trying to figure out what they are exactly and how it works. I didn't realise there was so much to do. I'm a bit confused as to whether I book all the ADR's at the same time or one at a time. If I can make my tentative schedule, I'll be able to make only one long distance call.

One suggestion was to try the Liberty Tree Tavern prior to going to Spectromagic. I wanted to book the Spectromagic in on our arrival day. We'll be arriving in Florida at 11:50am and I'm wondering if maybe that's too much for one day.

I guess I'm trying to plan as much as possible with the thought that hubby may never want to go back. He hates travelling and there's a good chance he may not want to again. or... there's a chance he may end up bitten by the travelling bug!

 

[hobbester]

Hopefully your husband will surprise you and love the whole trip, mine did. Mine was the same way, hates to leave home, especially for a whole week. We just got back a couple of weeks ago and he said he would like to go back in 3 years or so. I read these boards for 6 months and shared infomation with him and other family members that were going with us (9 of us total). When we got there, my husband took the camera and did not give it back until the end of our trip (over 1000 pictures later), it kept him occupied and he had fun. He loved the rides, but did get tired of standing in lines for the characters sometime, so he would go off and get something to eat while the rest of us waited for pictures. Just have fun, he may surprise you!

 

[MEG&MINNIE]

One of my favorite Character meals is at The Crystal Palace ..nice selection of buffet offerings and Winnie-the-Pooh and friends circulate for autographs and photos throughout the dining room. It's centraly located in The Magic Kingdom.

We also enjoyed Chef Mickey's @ the Contemporary for their Breakfast Buffet !

Sorry to say DD9 and myself went to Hoop-de-Doo on our last visit and it cost us 2 Meal Plan tickets each and we were seated way up on the 2nd floor towards the back of the dining hall and could not really enjoy the show since on the 2nd floor your not facing the stage...we had to turn around from our table to see the show. IMHO it was not worth the $ , but many others on these boards seem to really enjoy it . Just make sure you get a table on the 1st floor ...not the 2nd floor balcony like we did.

Are you all getting the meal plan...we did the last time and loved it...actually had more food to eat than if we payed out of pocket . DD9 and myself shared many of our counter service meals.
Happy Planning

 

[not-too-old4fun]

hobbester ~ I'm crossing my fingers and praying that's what will happen with my husband. Mine won't take pictures though. Maybe I should pray for that too! I'd love that. I'm the camera happy one in our family so it would be a nice break for me!


Meg ~ I will check out the Winnie the Pooh character meal! Sounds awesome! I'd also read about the Hoop Dee Doo and did book my tickets at the Tier 1 level. Not sure if we'll get a table right by the stage but we're guaranteed one on the floor level. I sure hope it's worth it.

So far I haven't taken the meal plan because I have a housefull of picky eaters and I'm not so sure it would be worth it. I'm up in the air about this though. I don't really know what to do yet.

 

[bigskyernurse]

We are taking our first family trip in January (staying at ASMo) and I have learned so much from this board! This thread has added more things to check into, as I had not checked out tourguidemike yet.

I've made all of our ADR's thanks to doing my homework here (Coral Reef, California Grill, Hoop De Doo, Boma, Ohana, CG Breakfast, LTT, Breakfastosaurus, 1900 Park and others that I can't think of now).

I too think I am more excited than the rest of the family, but having grown up near Disneyland and having so many memories of trips there, I can't wait to see the faces of my kids. They have no idea what they're in for!

Anyways, sorry for the rant, just so glad I found this board (although I am spending waaaayy too much time here!!)

Amy