First Timers Advice?

[firsttimerz]

Hi All,

Let me tell you how wonderful disboards is. We are first timers with 4 kids (6, 4, 4 and a baby). We are doing 3/17 - 3/21 and staying at Orleans Riverside.

Our plans are to do MK on 3/18 and MGM on 3/19. We are hoping that the Playhouse Disney component of MGM will make it worth it for our little ones.

Honestly, we are feeling overwhelmed now at all the planning that goes into this. We have planned our meals and have reservations in place and we think we are ready.

However, I have a sneaky feeling that I have no idea of what I am going to experience and probably need this first visit to even know...."what I need to know".

I would appreciate any advise you have for first timers with kids our age. We just want to do what we can to create a wonderful experience for the kids. The more research I do and more strings I read, I realize how little I really know.

Thanks much....

 

[mamacatnv]

Welcome and I hope you have a wonderful trip.

My best pieces of advice:

Despite the best intentions and planning you will not see/do everything on your lists. Gives you more reasons to return.

Remember your kids even if it means missing something on the list and spending that extra time at the pool or playground, watching the ducks from the bridge or riding Dumbo and the Carousel AGAIN or just sleeping in.

They are little, do not have the stamina of an adult and it is their vacation too.

Happy travels

 

[Mkrop]

Park hopping!!!!! When DS was 4 there wasnt that much to do at MGM for him besides Playhouse Disney and The Little Mermaid. So we left there after lunch, napped and then went back to MK for the evening. That is how we approached every park, we planned what he could ride and would enjoy and stayed in that park until we did all that. Made a few blunders along the way (Honey I shrunk the Audience scared the pants off of him at Epcot) but although we didnt "see" everything we accomplished so much and had a blast!

Now he is 9 so I am sure we might be there longer this haha.

Have fun!

 

[MomWith2Cinderellas]

Hi All,

Let me tell you how wonderful disboards is. We are first timers with 4 kids (6, 4, 4 and a baby). We are doing 3/17 - 3/21 and staying at Orleans Riverside.

Our plans are to do MK on 3/18 and MGM on 3/19. We are hoping that the Playhouse Disney component of MGM will make it worth it for our little ones.

Honestly, we are feeling overwhelmed now at all the planning that goes into this. We have planned our meals and have reservations in place and we think we are ready.

However, I have a sneaky feeling that I have no idea of what I am going to experience and probably need this first visit to even know...."what I need to know".

I would appreciate any advise you have for first timers with kids our age. We just want to do what we can to create a wonderful experience for the kids. The more research I do and more strings I read, I realize how little I really know.

Thanks much....

The best advice I can give is do not try to see everything. With little ones if you try to see and do everything it can go from a happy time to a miserable time. If your children nap, try to keep them to their napping schedule. Even if they do not nap during the day try to get some rest time in place, so you can have happy refreshed children for dinner time.

We pretty much kept a nap schedule with our two little ones on our first trip. We found that by doing this that the kids were happy and so were the parents! lol

 

[goofyboyzmom]

My best advice is to take it easy, see what you can see and that is it.

I know a lot of people don't feel MGM is a good park for kids, but it is a really good place to see characters (that are not princesses or princess related). They are in the middle quite often. They take 4 corners there and stay for pictures and autographs. We have seen CARS characters, Winnie and all his friends, Jasmine and Aladdin, Monsters, INC., etc.

Just take your time and do what they want, as much as you want to do "everything" you have planned.

Have a great time. All of our trips now are wonderful, but nothing compares to our first time when the kids were 9, 7 and 4. It is magic watching your kids!

 

[mama4]

Hi there. to the DISBoards! I still feel pretty new at this stuff too and I LIVE in Florida- 2 hours North of the Mouse! I've learned so much here though. All I can say is, heed the warnings. Take it slow with your little ones, be flexible and you will have more fun. Are you only planning two park days? That's a smart start if you are- I think you might be able to manage more... but 2 park days out of 5 days will definitely give you plenty of relaxation. If ya get to MK and feel like you didn't see enough (which is definitely a possibility) don't feel too bad about going back there the next day instead of MGM. While MGMis a great park, unless your kiddos are itching to see a particular character you know will be there, MK is definitely the best for kids your kids ages-IMO. My boys (4 and 2) really LOVED the stunt shows at MGM but they were a little nervous around the characters so there wasn't too much else there for us.
Oh, I've stayed at POR twice. Beautiful, peaceful resort! You'll love it! If looking for something to do on a non park day- try the boat ride to DTD. Let the kids play at Legoland and don't forget Ghirardelli for a treat- the malts are like heaven! And don't forget, you can use the pool at POFQ as well since they are sister resorts!
Enjoy your trip!!

 

[Marshay]

It would be a good idea to get a guidebook on Disney. I recommend the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World by Bob Sehlinger (and no I am not in any way connected to the authors).

Anyway, it provides great information on how to tour the parks with kids, which rides to hit right away vs those that aren't as crowded. Even if you are not a 'commando' type person (and I hope you are not considering you have little ones that won't hold out for that type of touring), I really recommend reading the tours and incorporating them in your touring style.

Another great find in the book is a description of each restaurant and attraction, esp a rating on how scary it is and why (i.e., dark, loud, etc).

This same info can be found on various web sites, but I like the convenience of reading it all in a book.

Best of luck. Just have a "plan" in mind and be open to changing it as circumstances arise.

 

[ziggybaby]

Enjoy every moment

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[lokin4deer]

Stroller/s your kids even the 6 year old will eventually wanna ride. Heck if I could fit in a stroller and my wife would push me I would have. It beats carrying them and if you are flying you can rent them. I would focus on MK we are going back this for our second trip and planning to go to MK every other day for a week. So much kid stuff there. Ride Peter Pan to me it was the best ride in Disney.Take some bottled water with you the water out of the fountains leaves a lot to be desired and to buy water is expensive. Utilize fastpass its great especially with little ones. At the end of the night if you stay till the fireworks are over and walk straight to the busses there will be long lines (at least for the Pop there was) So we learned to walk slow do some window shopping maybe walk through a shop or 2 let our 4DD use the bathroom then make our way to the busses and usually have no wait and a seat on the bus. And yes the busses will fill to capacity with the aisle full of standing people so you guys with four kids will definatley need to sit down. We learned last year that busses only run from park to resort or resot to park. No park to park or resort to resort so it makes changing parks harder as you have to ride another resort then change busses and then ride to the park you wanted to go to. Now a foot note here is there is ways around getting to some resorts and buses by using the monorail and boats but with us being new last year we had no idea. Some of the veteran WDW travelers I am sure know there way around better then me. Driving in Disney seems pretty easy if you have that option lots of signs telling you how to get to parks or resorts. Mostly lets the kids dictate like others have said and have fun your in Disney.

 

[dizkids]

Welcome~ With little ones do as all other posters have said and "dont plan on seeing it all". Magic Kingdom head to Fantasyland and fast pass Winnie the Pooh or something while riding another ride. MGM is good for PlayHouse Disney and Little Mermaid. I tried this park 2x with small kids and we never made it much more past these two attractions. However, the characters are good there.

HAVE FUN!

 

[byoung]

Welcome to the DIS!!! Go to the parks early, then back to the resort and enjoy the pool etc, let the kids nap, have a great dinner and back to the parks for a while, enjoy the fireworks.

 

[magchavez]

We stayed at POR last year with my then 3 and 5 year olds. You'll love it! You can go to the office where they rent the boats and check out life vests that you can keep for the duration of your stay (free). They let everyone go down the water slide. My kids LOVED that (as long as they had their vests on). Also over by the bike rental place, they had a HUGE binder with plastic pages in it. In each plastic page were photocopies of all of the Disney characters. You could take as many pages as you want. My kids had a ball coloring them in. Be at the park when it opens, you'll get the best rides in with very little waiting. We went the parks every am, ate lunch, went back for naps, swam, and then went back to the parks for dinner, more rides and fireworks! Like the previous posters said, be prepared to spend most of your time at Magic Kingdom. One other suggestion - I gave each child a disposable camera. They loved taking pictures of the characters, the castle, etc. If you're doing any character meals, the characters would ham it up while the kids took their picture! You're going to have a great time!

 

[Ritz]

I am new to the boards but an oldtimer at touring with little ones.

Read ride/show descriptions before hand- and prepare you kids for kind of what to expect. My daughter is a roller coaster junkie yet any 3D attraction scares her to death!

Remember that little people take 2-3 steps for every 1 you take and their little tummies empty out faster. Prepare to snack!

Have a great trip!

 

[Mkrop]

Read ride/show descriptions before hand- and prepare you kids for kind of what to expect. My daughter is a roller coaster junkie yet any 3D attraction scares her to death!




My DS is eaxcatly like that! He is a complete roller coaster junkie but the movies did him in! As well as Snow White's Scary Adventure haha


I recommend the Unofficial Guide, it can explain different rides and height requirements and scare factor so you can see what you really want and not waste time at things your kids are not eligible for or you think that would scare them. We knew the park would be a whole different experience at different ages so enjoy it for the ages your kids are now.

 

[becky_AK]

I've been to WDW many times, but this year will be my first with my son. The way we are approaching the trip this year is to take our time & try to enjoy being there as a family. We will probably go to the parks in the morning, go back for an afternoon nap or swim, and then back in the evenings. It's hard to plan every detail, but I think the important thing is to go and have fun and not try to be so strict on a schedule that you don't enjoy the time with your family. Have a wonderful time