First timer!

[tabm01]

Our first WDW trip is booked for the first week of June! We got a pirate room at CBR for 6 nights. Traveling will be me (30), husband (28), daughter (4), son (2), son (11 mth). We also got the deluxe dining plan. I like the idea that my food will be prepaid and I won't have to worry about prices and how much I'm spending while I'm there. I've already made ADR for character breakfasts each morning. We should be in the parks for breakfast around 8 each morning. Plan is day 1-MK, day 2-EP, day 3-relax at resort pool, maybe downtown disney that evening, day 4-AK, Day 5-HS. We want to get there early each morning and then around lunch time return to the room for the kids to nap, and then go back that evening for dinner, fireworks, etc. My husband thinks I'm over planning, but I don't think I've done enough! Am I?? See any kinks in my plans?? Oh, we are driving there so we will have a mini van rental we can use to travel. Would this be easier than loading the stroller and all 3 kids on the bus?

 

[tazadd0420]

Planning is important, at least to many on these boards. I think overall with the age of your kids you have a good plan. Being in the parks early will help. Have you decided on a touring plan for each park? Which rides and character to do and see? Really have you decided what is most important to do and see? If you are a planner then these are some things to think about, but do not stress, because you will have fun no matter what. Plan, bit realize may have to improvise. Good luck.

 

[mjkacmom]

Tell your DH that you've only planned the tip of the iceberg - lol! I don't think I'd do the Deluxe DP with small children - we did the regular one with our kids when they were ages 4 - 11, and we had too much food! We were scrambling to use up about 15 snack credits on our last day. Do you really want to waste all of those hours on two sit-down meals a day? Do your kids?

I suggest getting a guidebook, like Unofficial Guide, and read, read, read. The amount of information out there is big enough to fill a book!

 

[seenellie81]

I like the dining plan because then as you said everything is all included and paid for, however we had a hard time some days making it to just one ADR. We will do dining again however i will not make any ADR's for dinner at resorts. We found running around to be a pain. With the ADR's in the parks it was easier because you didnt have to account for travel time etc. More then one sit down and one counter would be way to much for us to eat in a day! I know that people like to plan every step of their trip, however i found it to be too much. ADR and what park each day is enough planning for us. We like to go with the flow a little more. We do know what attractions are a must do and we fit them in along the way, but if we miss out on one we know that there is always next time. When the kids were younger this was super important. We had to let the crowd, heat, attraction outages, and mood dictate what we would do. If we didn't I feel we would have all been very cranky and would not have enjoyed it as much as we did. Remember that you can never do everything in one trip and to take it all in. Enjoy your vacation!!! its so exciting!

 

[amym2]

I absolutely agree that you should rethink getting the DxDP. That is only a good value if you use 3 table service credits per day, and there is no way you can do that with 1 credit meals with 3 young kids. TS meals at Disney take a long time, and I'm sure your kids would rather be enjoying the parks. I'd scale back to the regular DDP, which has 1 TS and 1 CS meal per day. I'd also suggest changing a breakfast or two to a lunch or dinner. Our kids are early risers, always have been, and there is no way we could make it to the parks for 8am ADRs 4 out of 5 days. Factoring in driving, parking, walking to the restaurant, etc you need to allow an hour (where are you staying?). I'd switch your AK meal to lunch, try to make it to 2pm or so, and then leave for the day since AK closes early. You do need to have an ADR for every meal you plan to eat in a TS restaurant because it is often impossible to walk up to restaurants and get a table. So if you stick with the DxDP, you need to make a bunch more ADRs.

Many people think leaving for naps isn't worth the trouble, but for us it always has been. That said, there are days the kids fall asleep in the car on the way back to the resort and then won't nap or they are just too excited to sleep (mostly on our first day in a park). Just keep in mind that you may not make it to much of the evening entertainment, and that is okay, because chances are you will return to WDW! Again, another reason to just plan CS for dinner. Or stick it out with TS for dinner but do CS the next morning so the kids can sleep in (even if just until 7am). It's tough to be flexible because you need ADRs if you want to eat TS, but of course you don't know how your kids will do on any certain day.

You need to be familiar with the parks and know which rides you definitely want to do and which you can skip. And of course make any FP selections for the more popular rides, shows, etc. You don't have to plan out what to do when, but you need to have a general idea of what you want to do so you aren't constantly criss-crossing the parks. For me, planning is lots of fun, so I don't think you can overplan, as long as you aren't trying to plan to the minute and you are flexible that plans can change!

 

[CarouselOfLands]

Nope, not overplanned at all. I'd plan it even more if I were you. Plan out where you want to go and all your "must-see and do's" to make sure you can figure out which get really crowded and when to do them. Or, if catching every single thing you want to do is not a priority, then I'd say you are good besides your FP's and just take it easy and enjoy what you see and make a list for next time.

I'd reconsider the DDP Deluxe though. You're kids aren't going to get too much value out of it and 3 sit-down meals especially with a nap break take up so much time you won't have much time for the parks. Price out where you want to eat and I suspect the Plus plan or no DDP might be advisable from a strictly financial perspective.

 

[gocubsgo]

In my opinion, Given the age of your kids I would strongly recommend 2 days in the MK. One option is to spend 1/2 day at MK on your pool day. Or skipping AK or HS and adding a magic kingdom day. The great thing about MK is that there is a higher volume of rides in a smaller space- which is important when traveling with toddlers and babies.

Have a great time!

 

[tabm01]

I've already booked and paid...will they let me change my dining plan if I decide to?

 

[Spunky946]

If you change you will get your money back because you are more then 45 days from your trip.

We did the deluxe dining plan and did 1 ts for breakfast or lunch and most nights a 2 ts signature for dinner. We had no flexibility in our day/night and ended up having to cancel a couple and using them on qs which is not a good value for your money.

Also there were times we may have taken a break but did not because we had to get to a dinner or we did not have time to go back and forth.

We like the 1 qs, 1 ts and 1 snack per person.

We bring quick breakfast stuff with us and eat either a late breakfast/brunch or lunch ts and a qs dinner. We had one extra ts and a couple of extra qs meals we share for breakfast we paid for out of pocket. Even with this, we did not get anywhere near the price difference between the two plans.

 

[squirrel]

I also think you should do the regular Dining Plan. Deluxe will be a lot of time eating and with 3 kids you won't have much time doing park stuff.

If you decide to do a character breakfast, I suggest doing a later breakfast unless you want to do CP before park opens for the great photos in front of the castle without a bunch of people.

I found the latest breakfast time was good because we would get a few hours in the park doing things and then get a break. We would eat a little something before heading to the park (cereal, applesauce & cereal bar).

Check out www.wdweasy.com or www.touringplans.com to see what the recommended park days are for your trip. If possible I would do AK day after a busier day. The park closes earlier than the others and I also find it more of a relaxing park.

 

[GrtWtNorth]

Your plan seems very well thought out. And it seems to suit your family.

If it were my family, I would cut back on the character breakfasts. We can only stuff ourselves silly so many times on one trip. And while the characters will be different, the breakfast foods are almost the same everywhere you go. On my recent trip, we really enjoyed our character lunches at Tusker House (African/Indian/American) and Akershus (food similar to Ikea).

Since you're on the dining plan, opting to change a few character meals to lunch instead of breakfast will not affect what you pay, but they could give your family a bit more food variety than homogenous Mickey waffles, sausage, bacon, eggs, etc.

 

[MandiC]

I haven't read the responses so forgive me if I repeat anything.
I wouldn't do the deluxe dining plan personally, and I'd probably cut back on the character breakfasts, especially in Magic Kingdom, the welcome ceremony is something my kids loved so I'd make sure to be there for that once, we missed it the day we did Cinderella's Table for breakfast. Also, remember for any table service meal you have to tip, and for our family of 4 there was no table service meal under $100 (I believe the least expensive table service was around $130) so figure tipping at least 18% on meals worth $150-300 for however many table service meals you are planning. Plus they took SO much time, it got old fast, wasting precious park time (and even with a 8:00 reservation chances are you will not get out of there until after 9am) in a restaurant. The one morning we ate at Cinderella's Castle my hope was a picture in front of the castle and on Main Street with no crowds...it was so foggy that morning you could barely make out the castle standing at the Mickey/Walt statue! We did love our Tusker House breakfast though and at least with Animal Kingdom it isn't a park you truly need all day to explore.
As far as going back to the room, on our first Magic Kingdom day my husband forgot his wallet in our room so we went back to the resort to get it...we spent less than 15 minutes in our room...the time from leaving Magic Kingdom to returning was over an hour and a half. Buses take a LONG time. Our last day in the parks we left to change and decided to skip going back because we were just so done waiting for buses. So just plan on transportation taking up a lot of time, especially with only one day in the bigger parks (Epcot and Magic Kingdom both took us almost two full days and we only did one sit down meal each day).
Also, if you are staying up for the fireworks, particularly late ones...you probably don't want 8am breakfast reservations the next day. Hate to repeat it but transportation takes a long time, plan on leaving your resort no later than an hour before your morning reservation, so 7am...figure it will take a minimum of an hour to get everyone ready and you are at 7 hours or less for sleep for everyone because if daytime transportation takes a long time...transportation after the fireworks takes a LOOOONG time because you can't always fit on the first bus that comes.
When we go back we will definitely be doing less table service meals (and we only did 6 altogether, 2 breakfasts, 1 lunch and 3 dinners over the course of 8 days) and more counter service. #1 because you don't have to tip...#2 I actually really liked the counter service meals and they were all very good portion sizes. Unless you all really need a big breakfast my favorite breakfast solution was eating a quick granola bar or breakfast bar in our room before leaving and using a snack credit for a cinnamon roll or muffin once we got to the park to tide us over until lunch. We were never starving on those days and it was nice and quick and the cinnamon rolls and muffins in WDW are amazing

 

[tabm01]

I changed my dining plan to the regular one, it was a lot cheaper and I agree with everyone that my kids won't want to sit through 3 meals a day and it would take up too much time. Thanks, this is very helpful!

 

[tabm01]

My next question is should we drive our rental mini van or take the bus to the parks from Caribbean Beach Resort?? I'm wondering which would be easier since we will have 3 toddlers, a stroller, diaper bag, etc.

 

[amym2]

My next question is should we drive our rental mini van or take the bus to the parks from Caribbean Beach Resort?? I'm wondering which would be easier since we will have 3 toddlers, a stroller, diaper bag, etc.

Most people will recommend that you drive to all of the parks except the MK. Personally we like to drive to the MK because we love to take the monorail from the TTC to the MK. The issue with the buses at the CBR is that there are so many stops inside the resort. Personally I'd just go ahead and drive. We always get there early enough (before the parks open) that it's an easy walk from the parking lot to the parks and we don't have to use the parking lot trams.

 

[4xmom]

I have 4 kids that are stair steps. When we took number 4 the first time she was about 6 months and almost 2,3,and 4. I am sure that we were a comedy show trying to board and depart the buses with baby and 3 toddlers and the double stroller and the diaper bag that you could have lived out of for a few weeks. We drive to Disney, but never drive once we get there. We just like not having to stress about loading the car and driving. And the kids got great naps on the bus.

 

[squirrel]

I have always used the buses, but I also never have had a vehicle.

I've heard that MK is the only park that you should take the bus if you want to drive. You can't get parking right near the park so you need to get on the tram and then ferry. This transferring takes up all your saved time from driving.

I'd try driving to at least one of the other parks and see what you think. If you don't like it use the buses.

 

[tazadd0420]

I have 4 kids that are stair steps. When we took number 4 the first time she was about 6 months and almost 2,3,and 4. I am sure that we were a comedy show trying to board and depart the buses with baby and 3 toddlers and the double stroller and the diaper bag that you could have lived out of for a few weeks. We drive to Disney, but never drive once we get there. We just like not having to stress about loading the car and driving. And the kids got great naps on the bus.

Agree. Do not like to drive when we get there.

 

[margaret07013]

Each family is different and I can only speak based on my experience. We went to WL for 6 days last year and coming back again this year with 4.5 and 2.5 yrs old toddlers.

First time we went with regular dinning plan and this time going with DDP. I am not debating anyone about "worth it" or "not worth it" or "will I use" or "will I not use" --- simply its not about that.

With 2 small children - a buffet lunch in the park is almost a must - we simply needed a break from the heat and pushing the strollers for miles.

I wouldn't do breakfasts if you are planning to change to regular plan - we did one breakfast and we felt simply hungry in late afternoon after 8-10 hrs of pushing strollers

if you are going with small children - plan your days having 2 things in mind: escaping from the heat and having some breaks. again each family is different and I can share my experiences only:

1) 2 days at MK are must. my older son is not into animals and AK was almost - "mom can we go back?" you know your kids better. same thing for Epcot. He was simply not interested in WS. I am not saying I wasn't or I didn't enjoy it - my older son was simply not interested.

2) plan your park days having kids in mind. if you are going April or later - keep in mind it will be hot and you need a break from the heat. Lunches are perfect to rest.

3) since you are not on monorail line resort - plan your MK day with kids in mind. Last April - DD was 16 months and DS was 3.5 - both simply loved the parade at 9pm in MK. both kids fell asleep the minute we left the park in the middle of Wishes - but I wouldn't trade these 2 night hrs for anything in the world. to see my kids jumping and dancing during the parade was priceless. so ask yourself - wouldn't it be better to come to MK at 2-3pm after early nap, having 3 FP to be used on kids rides, and do late dinner around 7:30pm and stay for the parade?

I wouldn't survive entire day from 8am to 11pm with 2 toddlers in the park. since we were staying at WL - we simply went back to the resort from 1pm to 3:30pm to rest.

4) MK in the evening - the place is simply busy and with 2 strollers to get through the crowds - mission impossible. sure - lines for the rides might be shorter - but you can't get through the crowds with 2 strollers that easily. thats why i booked this time dinners at 7:15pm and will use 3 FP for obvious rides that my kids will enjoy between 4-7pm. once the dinner is over - we will try to get as close as to the entrance / exit of the park and watch the parade / wishes from that location. with 2 toddlers / strollers - I wanted to be on the first boat to WL.

5) HS - lunch with Jake & Sofia is a must. this time we are planning to arrive around lunch time and stay for the fireworks. we will use FP to get 3 rides and plan on watching 2 shows. dinner at MP with the preferred sitting for fireworks as the package.

6) AK day - for us on upcoming trip will be 1/2 day.

final thought: plan with kids in mind and how you can get some rest during the day. If you stay in the park entire day - plan your FP, shows so the little one can get some sleep in AC area as well as you can rest. character breakfasts are fine - but you will need break from the heat and kids - I would do lunches / dinners and plan having your family in mind.

 

[Kristina4109]

My daughter's first trip to WDW was when she was 4. Although we never tried to get her to nap (with this kid it was simply NOT going to happen) we made sure we did something low key in the middle of the day. Some days it was a long, sit down attraction in the air conditioning. Other days we went back to our hotel. Some days we sat down and had a long lunch. But that break saved us.

We alternated keeping her up late to watch night time stuff and getting her to bed at her usual time. Of course you know your kids best so you know if they are the type who will flip out if they're overtired, or if they're more easy going.

My daughter's favorite things about that trip surprised me. She LOVED going into each WS pavilion and getting her passport stamped. She learned how to say hello, goodbye and thank you in each language.

In AK she loved doing the activities - now they're themed to the Wilderness Explorers, so I don't know if they're similar. But she hardly even looked at the animals - she just wanted to collect her stamps!

Since we're DL vets in MK we concentrated on stuff that is exclusive to MK and not DL. We still felt like we need more time there! And now, with New Fantasyland, it'll be hard to tear kids away from there.

The Studios was the one park we felt like we did fine in one day and one night. In fact, we're going again this year and we only have one full day planned there.