First timer

[iggler]

Hi I finally booked for end of May 2011, We are younger prandparents taking our two oldest grandkids will be 14 and 11, is this too old to be going???

I have never been to disney, we have the dining plan.....how do you decide where to make reservations for dinner? I havent a clue about any of this!!

What are the must do's for kids of this age? I am open to any and all suggestions to help me get a start on this. Do you suggest a break in the afternoon then head out for dinner ressies?


HELP, I am sooooo overwhelmed. We will be there May 29-June 4th, have park hopper passes but no water park.
Thanks for all your help!!!!!

 

[pkondz]

Okay, first, Now, take a deep breath and relax. My (and others too) first big tip would be to make your way to your nearest book store and get a copy of The Unofficial Guide to Disneyworld (aka UOG). Read it. It'll help a lot. As to your specific questions...
1. You're never too old for Disney. My first trip was when I was about the same age as your grandkids and I couldn't wait. Been a fan ever since.
2. For dining, check here: http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=127 for dining reviews. The UOG will be able to help you here too.
3. Must do's are a matter of personal taste. Here's a quick list though which will probably appeal to you and your grandkids...

MK
POC
Splash Mtn
Space Mtn
BTMR
HM
PPF (Peter Pan's Flight)
Buzz

EPCOT
SE
MS
TT
Soarin'

DHS
Star Tours
TSM
RnR
TOT

AK
FOTLK
KS
KRR
EE
Dinosaur

For a list of common abbreviations, see here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1660743 The above list is no where near exhaustive, but should give you a starting point. Try what looks interesting... and even what doesn't. You'd be surprised at what you might wind up liking that isn't on the above list.

4. Yes I do suggest taking a break in the afternoon. Some do, some don't. You might need one, your grandkids might not.
Good luck!

 

[Millie12591]

First off....

And....

As the previous poster=pp (see your learning your first abbreviations already ) said about getting the books....You can never learn to much about Disney before you go, so get them. If your not sure, sit in the store and read to see which you think will give you your best answers, although the book mentioned should do it for you along with the sites mentioned on here.
If your also wanting other reviews....this website I'll give you is another great place to look. AllEars.net
This was my Disney reviews bible if you will, when I planned my first trip....still is when I plan!

Also as the pp-previous poster said...your never, ever too old to go to Walt Disney World!!
I was 18 the first time I went to DisneyLand=DL. I didn't think I would like it let alone love it, needless to say here I am at 39 and still going back to Disney and loving every minute of it!!

Our first trip to the "World," was in 2007 as you can see in my siggie=signature at the bottom of my post.
My kids were ages 15 and 8 when they went to WDW for the first time and they had a blast! I think as long as they love things about Disney and are willing to get into the spirit of things they will have an amazing time! As will you!!

As for the dinning I will suggest a couple of places you don't want to miss....
Ohana's-at the Polynesian-Poly, and...
Boma-at the Animal Kingdom Lodge-AKL

Boma is a buffet, but not just any kind and not all buffet's are to be thought of as a typical buffet's here in WDW. You'll see the reviews, they will show you how awesome this place is thought of. Plus you do not want to miss seeing the lobby of the AKL, it is....well, you don't want to miss it!! Don't get turned off by the idea of African food's at Boma, trust me , there is plenty to eat there, even for the most picky eaters. Besides....the soups, salads and desserts here are worth dining here alone.

Ohana's happens to be a place that brings the food to you family style, they bring skewers of meat to your table almost non-stop! Amongst many other yummy foods I might add.
It's a really amazing and fun place! The atmosphere is outstanding and the food is pretty darn good!!! We had a great time there this last time we went and I will make this a for sure every time my family goes back!!

Of course when it comes to dining everyone has different tastes so you'll get conflicting reviews on places to eat, but these two are a must for everyone in my opinion.
I know it might seem silly to do some character meals (places to eat with Disney characters) but there are some really great places to eat. You also don't want to miss out on the people to character interaction, it can be some of the most magical experiences while visiting WDW.

Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom-MK, being one of them. (This also helps you to not have to leave the park to eat if you don't want to) This is a great breakfast, lunch or dinner restaurant. Tigger, Eeyore, Piglet and Pooh are here.
1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian-GF has a fun breakfast with the Mad Hatter (not the one from the recent Alice movie, the original hatter from the original Disney Alice movie), and he's down right hilarious! There are a few Pooh characters also along with Alice herself of course.This resort is a must for the Grandmother in the family, this is such a beautiful resort and you should not miss it!!


As for the breaks in the afternoon.....well, that's really up to you as the grandparents, honestly if I were you I would. May can get pretty hot so I strongly suggest getting to the parks before they open for Rope Drop (rope drop is when they open the gates to allow you into the parks) and doing as much as you can before lunch, hit one of the Counter Services-CS to eat when they open (you'll avoid the crowds this way) and then think about heading back to the resort for an afternoon swim/break as the rest of the masses have decided to get their "park on."
Once you've rested a while, and relaxed with a swim and shower, then you can get all gussied up for the evening (or not) make your way to your park or resort with at least an hour and half to travel to your destination for your ressies/ADR's=reservations or Advance dining reservations.
I know this sounds nuts to take that long to get to your ADR, but trust me you will thank me for it later. If you happen to make it early to your ADR, then you can explore the resort. It's a win, win. Chances are you won't make it too early, the transportation systems can be a bit slow at times. Hey! It's free, so you can't really complain about not having to rent a car, right?!?

I better stop now or I'm going to overwhelm you more than you already are. Once you get 10 posts you can Private Message someone, if you click on my name it will give you a way to send me a PM. Just call on me any time if you have questions, I'll be more than happy to help. I know just how over whelming this planning can be.
I myself only had two months to learn the ropes when I planned my first trip, so your doing good to give yourself 6-7 months to plan.
Take it easy, but do make sure your getting your ADR's picked as soon as you can, your six month window to make your reservations are to open up soon.
Sound nuts to plan what your eating six months out? Trust me, I know it does, but you'll be happy you did when your there and your seeing people being turned away left and right from the restaurants your dining at.

Hope you have a Magical time planning!!

 

[iggler]

Thank you so much for the replies, both of these are so helpful.....I will be around for the few months and Im sure I will have more questions to come.

 

[westcoastsunshine]

Hi,

Member services can be very helpful.

 

[Metro West]

 

[mickeystoontown]

Hi I finally booked for end of May 2011, We are younger prandparents taking our two oldest grandkids will be 14 and 11, is this too old to be going???

I have never been to disney, we have the dining plan.....how do you decide where to make reservations for dinner? I havent a clue about any of this!!

What are the must do's for kids of this age? I am open to any and all suggestions to help me get a start on this. Do you suggest a break in the afternoon then head out for dinner ressies?


HELP, I am sooooo overwhelmed. We will be there May 29-June 4th, have park hopper passes but no water park.
Thanks for all your help!!!!!

Welcome to the Disboards! We are traveling to Walt Disney World the same time you are. Where will you be staying?

I, personally, don't think that 11 and 14 are too old to enjoy Disney especially if this is their first trip. I have a 13 year old son and a 23 year old daughter who have been going to Disney since they were just 1 and 11, respectively.

Believe me, there are lots of things for kids their age to do. If I were you, I'd go to a book store and pick up two guidebooks. One is the Birnbaum's Official Guide to Walt Disney World and the other is The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World. I have found that the Birnbaum's Guide is a bit on the "sweety cutesy" side and the Unofficial Guide is a bit on the "harsh" side. So, the two balance each other out and provide you with tons of information.

With kids their age, you may find that you won't even need a break from the parks. There are plenty of places to relax and rest within the parks. If you do decide to takea break in the afternoon, be aware that it could take you a while to go back and forth to your resort. The travel time will depend on where you are staying.

Relative to where to dine, I'd suggest you check out this link: http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm

The link has menus to each and every Disney restaurant. This should help you decide what restaurants you want to dine in. In order to make the dining plan work for us, we use our counter service meals for lunch, snack credits for mid-day snack and our tabl service meals at dinner. By the time dinner rolls around, we are ready for a nice-sit down meal.

If you have other questions, please feel free to ask as I am sure that we can give you lots of suggestions.

 

[ILoveDisney&Cruising]

Welcome to the DIS!!!!!!!!

 

[Disneydonnam]

Welcome to the Disboards.

 

[iggler]

Thank you for all the help, I already have the unofficial guide to WDW, Plus 2 other books that someone gave me, but those are for universal studios and something else that we don't plan to do.

Welcome to the Disboards! We are traveling to Walt Disney World the same time you are. Where will you be staying?
We will be checing in on may 29th and checking out June 4th we are staying at the CBR. Does this mean we will have meal tickets for 7 days????? (we have the dining plan) Do they include check in day and check out day?

Has anyone ever eaten at the scifi at hollywood studios? Was it any good? does that just take 1 ticket per person?
Thanks again for all the help
I love this board
Iggler

 

[Goofy4]

nearest book store and get a copy of The Unofficial Guide to Disneyworld (aka UOG). Read it. It'll help a lot.

The companion website, http://touringplans.com/, will also have some suggestions. The "Touringplans with tweens" plan would be close enough for your 12 and 14 year olds if you want a specific plan for one or more parks.

Sci-fi is more about the environment than the food. It is a very unique experience that I think everyone would enjoy. 50's Prime Time is right next door and it also offers something very unique. Plan on one or the other, but I would start with Sci-Fi. And yes, it's just one credit.

 

[pkondz]

Thank you for all the help, I already have the unofficial guide to WDW, Plus 2 other books that someone gave me, but those are for universal studios and something else that we don't plan to do.

Welcome to the Disboards! We are traveling to Walt Disney World the same time you are. Where will you be staying?
We will be checing in on may 29th and checking out June 4th we are staying at the CBR. Does this mean we will have meal tickets for 7 days????? (we have the dining plan) Do they include check in day and check out day?

Has anyone ever eaten at the scifi at hollywood studios? Was it any good? does that just take 1 ticket per person?
Thanks again for all the help
I love this board
Iggler

We ate at Sci Fi. It's a lot of fun. Foods not bad too. The fun is in eating in a "car" and watching the campy previews on the big screen. It is one TS credit per person.

 

[canopynut66]

Thank you for all the help, I already have the unofficial guide to WDW, Plus 2 other books that someone gave me, but those are for universal studios and something else that we don't plan to do.

Welcome to the Disboards! We are traveling to Walt Disney World the same time you are. Where will you be staying?
We will be checing in on may 29th and checking out June 4th we are staying at the CBR. Does this mean we will have meal tickets for 7 days????? (we have the dining plan) Do they include check in day and check out day?

Has anyone ever eaten at the scifi at hollywood studios? Was it any good? does that just take 1 ticket per person?
Thanks again for all the help
I love this board
Iggler

as prevous post stated the Unoffical Guide to Disney World has all the food place in all the parks and is the best place to start and you do need reservations for any table sevice (TS) meals. The counter service meals are where you cam walk up and just order you rown foor (CS) you have your dining plan until midnight the day of check out (unless you have used them all by that time. You can start booking reservations at 180 days out from your arrival

 

[mickeystoontown]

Thank you for all the help, I already have the unofficial guide to WDW, Plus 2 other books that someone gave me, but those are for universal studios and something else that we don't plan to do.

Welcome to the Disboards! We are traveling to Walt Disney World the same time you are. Where will you be staying?
We will be checing in on may 29th and checking out June 4th we are staying at the CBR. Does this mean we will have meal tickets for 7 days????? (we have the dining plan) Do they include check in day and check out day?

Has anyone ever eaten at the scifi at hollywood studios? Was it any good? does that just take 1 ticket per person?
Thanks again for all the help
I love this board
Iggler

We will be there at the same time! You should be able to look at your email confirmation and see what tickets came with your package.

We have eaten dinner at Sci-Fit several times. The food is nothing spectacular but the atmosphere is great. Even though the burger isn't on the dinner menu, you can still order it during dinner hours.

 

[iggler]

Thank you everyone!!!!!! I have been learning so much from this board, have also read most of the book already, turns out I have a nephew and family that go to disney they have even purchased a timeshare, sio he is excitedly telling all that he can about what to do and where to go!!
I can't wait to go now!!

 

[floridatheme]

good luck