First Time Visit and very Confused

[mom2twins]

Okay, not sure if I am doing this right. I would like to take my twin boys (6) and my mother to WD in January. I am so confused. I have looked at thtese boards for places to stay (I assume we will spend almost all of our time in MK), if I should purchase a package or everything separately, what the weather is like and just about every other question someone that has never been would ask. Please Help.

 

[DMS_cruisers04]

I would suggest staying on-site (at a Disney property), you don't have to worry about parking, you can go back and forth to your hotel anytime (with the right type of passes), you get in an hour early on selected days, anything you purchase gets delivered back to your hotel (so you don't have to carry it all day, through the whole park) AND it's just more fun.
Depending on how long you're staying, your budget, and what you would like to do while you're there, kind of helps to determine where would be good to stay and what type of passes you should purchase.
We almost always stay at one of the value resorts, they are farthest from the parks, but we are rarely in our room that much anyway. And we always purchase park-hopper passes BEFORE we get there, that way we can come and go as we please, visit multiple parks on the same day (good for seeing more of the parades and doing character breakfasts), and since the days never expire, you don't feel like you've lost anything if you don't use all the days.

 

[DMS_cruisers04]

Not sure about January weather or how crowded it might be, we've never been during the winter months.
But our last visit was in April, and the longest we waited was 30 minutes (which was for the bus back to our hotel when Animal Kingdom closed for the day). Since we have a 4 year old, we didn't do very many "adult" rides, and of the few we did ride, we always use "kid-swap".
Of course your boys will love MK, but I would also suggest MGM. Animal Kingdom is nice, if you like the zoo. And I would either avoid Epcot or visit on an afternoon/evening when you can see Illuminations.
Most of our time was spent meeting characters, taking pics and getting autographs (she thought that was just wonderful) and watching the parades. The parades were a huge hit. We got a curbside seat for the MGM parade and she loved it.
We were only there 5 days, so we didn't visit any of the water parks, and we were only at Epcot for the Princess Breakfast.
But we did spend about half a day at the Disney Marketplace to do some shopping.
It all comes down to what you want to do while you're there.
Feel free to post questions or ask for more info.