First time in 18 years...

[BobaScott]

Hi all, this fall I will be returning to WDW for the first time in 18 years. This time with my wife and 3-year old daughter. We are incredibly excited as it will also be their first time.

I remember what the parks/resorts were like back then, but I'm sure quite a bit has changed. I'm aware of the FP+ system, and the whole online MDE thing... I'm curious to know if there are any less obvious changes that would be good to know and plan for ahead of time? My frame of reference for everything (hotels, parks, rides, transportation, etc...) is WDW circa 1998.

 

[rwdavis2]

Pack extra money. You seem to already be aware of the most important changes. I'm sure I've forgotten some.

 

[Hopefully]

I would buy a good tour book and read up. Just about everything is different.
After an 18 year lapse, I think of you as a new comer
Have Fun

 

[rwdavis2]

I would buy a good tour book and read up. Just about everything is different.
After an 18 year lapse, I think of you as a new comer
Have Fun

Excellent advice. I like "The Unofficial Guide".

 

[Mikie]

My favorite sites to steer new or "like-new" visitors are **************.net and EasyWDW. The authors of those two blogs also have a guidebook "The Easy Guide to Your First Visit", but I have not read the book. You are not really NEW, so you'd be able to skim a lot, but it's a good source to get your bearings and make sure you're not missing anything.

You're already aware of MDE, but this thread FastPass+ Frequently Asked Questions is highly useful when you're ready to get into the nitty gritty of planning your in-park days and FP reservations.

Some people argue the opposite, but I think FP+ makes the approach of planning your park days more "necessary" than in the past. I have always liked making dining reservations, so those pretty well tied me to park plans already, but FP+ dovetails right into that. So, personally, I'd start with deciding on your time of year, then your resort (onsite or off? specific resort?) and then start looking at which parks you plan to visit and when. Art of Animation resort is new since you were there last and its extraordinary theming may be especially interesting to a 3 year old.

If sit-down dining is a part of your plans, know that reservations open 180 days out (plus the number of days of your stay if you are on-site) and some popular ones fill immediately. If you are not set on exact places at exact times, your group of 3 should easily be able to find many choices well after 180 days, though.

For your 3-year old, personally, I think the simple fact of a WDW trip is plenty to thrill and amaze, but lots of folks like to tack on something "extra" to the trip as well. There are lots of add-on experiences like a princess makeover at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique (inside Magic Kingdom or at Disney Springs), or a fireworks dessert party for prime viewing and limited wait, or afternoon tea at the Grand Floridian that may be of interest.

Have a great time! Going with someone on their first WDW trip is one of my favorite things!!

 

[Pmlocke]

WOW. 18 years. My wife and I go every year and we always encounter something new. I agree with everyone else, get a guide book. You will not recognize the place. Or, you can just go for it and experiance the place as a newbie, which is what you guys really are at this point. I always remind those who have never experianced WDW, make plans. I don't know when you are planning on going but if you like a good sit down meal, get your advanced reservations. If getting on every ride isn't that important to you, don't worry about fast pass. The Magic Kingdom averages over 56,000 visitors every day-that'ts the average so be ready for crowds. We used to enjoy a quiet time when we traveled in February every year but the crowds have grown for that time as well. Remember, if you fail to plan, plan on failing.

 

[BobaScott]

Thanks All... lots of good info here. We only started booking a little more than a week ago with an October timeline. Dining I think I have covered... I check the site compulsively and managed to score everything on our wishlist. Sit down dinners for most days, leaving the rest of the day open for quick service/snacks. (first time with the dining plan too)

Getting used to the FP system will probably be the biggest change from what I remember. Well, that and actually going there as a parent this time.

I will follow up on the suggestions about the guidebooks though. Not sure why I hadn't thought of that, but good idea. A strategy for how to attack the parks with FP will be my homework.

 

[tlmadden73]

There are a lot of little planning nuances that you may not even care about as this is essentially your "first time" (as a family).

Fast Pass is amazing . especially with a three year old. Being able to skip 3 (or more) lines per day is awesome. S

I would recommend the following since you are going for the "first time" with your family (and a toddler):

1) Relax, enjoy the ride, and stop and smell the roses. Don't rush and don't stress about touring plans and efficiency. No matter how little you do (or don't do) you'll enjoy seeing the Magic Kingdom through your child's fresh eyes.

2) For a toddler I would suggest the Disney Junior show at Hollywood Studios. It was the highlight of my son's day (and it was the first thing we did).

3) I suggest making 3 Fast Passes in close proximity and time from about 10am to 1:00 PM. That frees up your afternoon without having to worry about a "schedule" and gives your toddler time to rest.

4) The big thing that has changed now too is reserving table service meals well in advance. Don't get caught up into that too much. I'd suggest getting a reservation at Be Our Guest (because it is darn cool inside) and just maybe play the rest by ear. Don't bog down your day with reservations. Make no more than 1 meal reservation a day.

5) Make your Fast passes based on the rides that your child can go on .. even if guides say that is not the best choice. Skipping a 10 minute line at Aladdin's carpets is still NOT waiting in a line with a toddler.

6) Remember .. you won't be able to do it all.

 

[may12th]

My family has not been in 5 years and so much has changed since then! But that was our first trip as a family and my first trip in about 20 years, so I get where you are right now. Here are my suggestions most of which I got from obsessively reading these boards. I didn't know how helpful they would be until I got there...

1) Mark your stroller! Seems like a simple thing but there are a ton and they move around while you are on a ride. Makes it a lot easier. I don't mean put a little tag on it. I had a huge lime green (disboard green) pipe cleaner wrapped around my handle.

2) If your child starts fussing, feed them. Again, seems like simple parenting. But their schedule gets all off and they don't realize how hungry they get. You are busy having fun and don't realize how long it has been since they had a snack. It happened to me one day in MK and my whole family, DH, 5year old, and 3 year old just started dragging and the kids were fussing. I decided to stop for an early lunch and it was amazing how that changed everything about them. I think the sitting and eating did more than a moving snack would have done. Another time late in the trip the same thing happened so we grabbed a snack for the people mover and they perked right back up.

3) Character meets. So very different! I was still used to the days where you just happened upon a character roaming around. I did a lot of reading about the character meet and greets. My 3 year old son got way more into this than I realized he would. I had and was so thankful for all the character meals I had planned. I originally planned them just because they were free and I was going to the most out of this free dining deal, but they ended up being fantastic!

4) Your 3 year old has no idea what Disney World is. Don't kill yourself trying to meet ALL the princess because your daughter loves them ( or Disney Junior Characters... or whatever it is that she loves) You are not going to be able to do it all and she will not know what is getting left out unless you tell her! Your expectations are higher than hers! She is going to love whatever experiences she gets to have. Don't kill yourself or take on any guilt for not being able to make something happen.

5) For sure plan your FP+ reservations, but don't be surprise if there is one thing that she wants to do over and over again instead of trying all the new things that are there. That age loves repetition. For us, we had a dinner reservation in Epcot our first night so the first thing we rode was figment. My three year old loved it and any time wanted to do it over and over again. Thankfully it is not one with a long line. I think we found ourselves back in Epcot every night to finish with figment.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

Restaurants and reservations! I first visited with my DH (then just DBF) about 17 years ago, and back then you could just make reservations for where you wanted to eat the day of. Walk-ups at restaurants are pretty much a thing of the past now. And if you want a "prime" eating opportunity (like, eating with princesses in the castle) you had best be logging in to make reservations at 6am six months before your trip date. No, I am not kidding about that. Everyone I tell about how difficult it is to get Royal Table reservations thinks I'm being dramatic. I'm not.

 

[BobaScott]

Restaurants and reservations! I first visited with my DH (then just DBF) about 17 years ago, and back then you could just make reservations for where you wanted to eat the day of. Walk-ups at restaurants are pretty much a thing of the past now. And if you want a "prime" eating opportunity (like, eating with princesses in the castle) you had best be logging in to make reservations at 6am six months before your trip date. No, I am not kidding about that. Everyone I tell about how difficult it is to get Royal Table reservations thinks I'm being dramatic. I'm not.

I have found that out over the past week or so... I didn't realize how competitive it actually is even months out! When I first booked we had literally no character meals and the other places we did want to eat at were all at almost 9pm or later, I was pretty bummed they were gone already!
I started checking... constantly... it's almost become a compulsion for me to check now, but, thankfully, so far I have managed dinners at CRT, 'Ohana, Akershus, 1900 Park Fare, breakfast at Cape May for Minnie's Beach Bash, and lunch at BoG (as far as themed dining goes) all for normal times. (I dropped Chef Mickey's because I heard the food wasn't as good as Cape May)

I have been trying really hard to maximize the characters for my daughter... firstly for her... but secondly to help save us time in the park from meet and greet lines.

Funny enough I have been checking so frequently I actually found 4 Cinderella's Royal Table reservations for the week we are there, so I shuffled to the one that fit best and wasn't the one at 11pm either. I know this is predominantly luck to do with under 80 days, so next time I will definitely be online 180 + 10 days out! ...it will save me countless hours of checking the site.

My worry is, that if it has become so competitive to get a meal, how will the parks themselves be.

 

[BobaScott]

5) For sure plan your FP+ reservations, but don't be surprise if there is one thing that she wants to do over and over again instead of trying all the new things that are there. That age loves repetition. ...

Boy do I know it... that's definitely something I'm mildly concerned about. Not sure what the wait times are like on some of the smaller rides but I remember ridiculous waits years ago for most things I rode.

I'm looking forward to using FP, I just don't want to screw it up and waste them needlessly. Much more strategy involved now.

 

[Mikie]

My worry is, that if it has become so competitive to get a meal, how will the parks themselves be.

You said you're going in the fall, right? I can't remember if you said it's during the free dining promotion or not - if so, that would definitely contribute to the dining challenge without necessarily indicating busier parks. If all those pricey character meals are "free" vs parents seeing the actual bill (!), lots more people book them. Also, there is a lot of ADR "hoarding" that occurs. Since 180 days out is pretty darn far, lots of people haven't *really* decided what they want to do yet. They may book more than one reservation, then plan to eliminate the unnecessary ones as their trip nears.

So hopefully, your parks will not be outrageously crowded, despite the impression you may get from making reservations.

 

[BobaScott]

If all those pricey character meals are "free" vs parents seeing the actual bill (!),

We did manage to get the dining plan included with our stay... CRT will cost us 2 credits but I believe everything else is just 1. It's early Oct, so I think the Epcot dining is going on...

I have never been in the fall before... typically I have always been at the height of the summer, so I'm hoping for a (albeit small) relief from mid summer crowd levels.

 

[DisneyFive]

You'll love it. Wishing you an awesome time

Dan

 

[BobaScott]

You'll love it. Wishing you an awesome time

Dan

Thank you Dan.