First Trip for family....help

[epfdman]

First off i wanted to say hi just joined the group and enjoy reading all the hints and tricks.


My family (12 of us) will be going to the parks 12-28 thru 1-03. like i said there will be 12 of us in our family troop. We have never been to wdw and i would love for my 2 kids 3 and 8 to have the best time of there lives. neither one of them know yet we are going to suprise them around christmas time. going to buy them autograph books and ticket holders and wrap them and see what they say when the open them.

I feel like i'm the only person trying to plan this trip. the others...sister and her family and my dad and mom and bro and sis. just think we will go down there with out a plan and have fun....we tried that at sea world san antonio and had a crappy time and that is a small place. i can't imagine wdw with no plan.


so i am asking you all veterans of the parks to help me plan..what not to do what to stay away from and what to expect.

the only thing i now we are doing is dining with the characters at chef mickeys...good idea bad idea???

thank you for helping

 

[Desnik]

Welcome to the DIS!!! Planning is half the fun! You have found the best place for info so you're on the right track!! Please do not attempt to go to WDW for your first trip, during X-mas without a plan!!! You all will be miserable. You are going during the most busy time and it will be packed. You need to decide where you want to go, and eat and make those ADR's(advanced dining reservations) right now!! I would pick up a guide book, take a look at all the park maps and rides/attractions. Pick your must sees and work from there. You don't have to plan every minute of your day, but you should know what park you want to go to on which day. I would read up on as much info as you can on going to WDW that week. Try doing a search on these boards. Accept that you will not be able to see everything and that it will be very crowded. But, know that if you have a plan, you will have a great time! Try to get to the parks at opening. Will you be staying on property? If so take advantage of the extra magic hours.

 

[dana1003]

Welcome to the board! well im not a expert and i've only been on this
board for a little while now but i've gotten so may tips and advice that i wouldnt have gotten in a book..

1. Have you picked a hotel yet? do you plan on staying in the park? we are 7 and we are staying at All stars Music family suite. it sleeps 6 and its the most affordable out of all the resorts. i think like 130-140 a nite. if you split that w/others then it should run you very cheap. check out the "resorts" board for info.
2. what about food? do you plan on paying for every meal or going w/the dining plan? the dining plan is $38 a day and includes 2 meals and a snack daily. check out the "restaurants/planning board for pics of food and reviews.

3. are you renting a car or will you need transportation from the airport? for a party your size you could rent a van and split the cost or use disneys shuttle bus which is free. check out the "trasportation board" for info.

lastly-how many days you plan on going? disneyonline has a great planning tool that lets you read ride descriptions, make dining reservations etc.

im planning this trip for allof us also and i hope they like what i got planned. you'll still have a great time even if you dont plan hour by hour. have fun!!!

 

[epfdman]

No we are not staying on the resorts we have timeshare condos at the cypress palms resort. we are just planning on doing 1 park a day since there are so many of us.

 

[HollyP]

My biggest piece of advice is don't be afraid to split up. I went with a group of 11 people and the most frustrating part of the experience was everyone standing around saying..."where do you want to go next""no, you pick"!!! We had breakfast together. Split into 2 or 3 groups with a plan of where to meet for lunch. After lunch we split into different group (ie Grandparents took the little ones for a while so we could ride the big rides) and then met up for dinner.


Holly

 

[epfdman]

yeah getting there that is half the fun. we will be driving there from texas. so we will have a big van already.lol....the food thing is that only if you are staying at a resort the 38 dollars a day thing. i would love to see everything but i know that is next to impossilbe with 12. what should i do with kids that are 3, 10 and 2 8y/o. and the rest of us so called adults lol....

 

[nicolemarie]

Do LOTS of research!!

I really loved Tour Guide Mike. You can click on the top of this page to join his site. It's about $17 and well worth it - especially for that time of year.

These boards and the site are a great resource, too. You can search and post questions and read tons of trip reports for lots of details. But TGM was more step by step and a little more organized. Although it has LOTS and LOTS of info. And if you don't think he's worth the money, he will refund your subscription.

You will HAVE to plan for that time of year, and the Tour Guide Mike information is particurlarly worth it during the busy times.

Have fun planning and welcome to the DIS!

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Some people just don't like to plan their trips down to the last deatil. I'm not criticizing you - itr's just that some people are planners and some are not. We've had great spontaneous trips that weren't planned. I actually agree with you though, that while you can go to WDW unplanned, and have a great time, having some plan at WDW will probably make the trip more enjoyable, especially with a group that large.

A good place to start might be to get a good guide book. Passporter is good, the Unnofficial Guide book is also very good.

Also. the rest of this site has great info, Mousesavers.com, and allearnet.com are also helpful.

It is probably a good idea for you to consider making a few more ADR's. With a group that large, you'll probably want to do a few nice sit down meals, but gettig in with agroup that large can be tough with no plan. Then if the group decides against it, you can just cancel. But at least if you have an ADR, then you won't get stuck with nothing. It also might be helpful to have an idea if your family is the type to stick to gether or if they'll be more likely to split up. If they want to split up a lot then plannig meals together might be more tricky. Either way, I'd plan no more than one ADR meal together per day. If you think people might like to split up a lot, then it might make sense to plan some of your ADR's for dinners at the resorts (Like the monorail resorts or the Boardwalk area resorts) that way if someone doesn't go to a park or they don't get hopper passes (and decide to go to a different park that day) they can still join the group for dinner. The locations I mentioned are also quite close tothe parks, so they aren't too hard to get to from the parks either. There's quite a variety of places to choose from.

On the other hand....a breakfast ADR inside a park on the first morning might just be the thing to get your group motivated to get out the door, and set the tone for the trip. In that case, I'd choose a 10 am ADR at Crystal Palace or the like. Crystal Palace is good choice - buffet, characters. Breakfast is the least diverse meal too. (There just aren't that many different food choices for American breakfasts) Just make sure everyone knows to allow a full hour to get to the place! If some arrive at 9am, they'll be able to hit a quick ride before breakfast.

 

[Desnik]

Click on this link and scroll down to the days you will be at WDW. It will tell you the expected crowd level and what parks to avoid/got to on each day.
http://www.*****************/tp2/UG2_index.php?PageID=14

Since you will be off property, I would suggest avoiding the parks that are having the early entry for resort guests. Also getting there at opening to each park you plan to go will help.

 

[Desnik]

Sorry the link doesn't work!
Here's a copy of what it says:

Thu, 28 Dec '06 crowd level:10 Park to go to:AK Park to avoid:MK&EP
Fri, 29 Dec '06 crowd level:10 Park to go to:EP Park to avoid:MK DS AK
Sat, 30 Dec '06 crowd level:10 Park to go to:MK&EP Park to avoidS&AK
Sun, 31 Dec '06 crowd level:9 Park to go to:AK Park to avoid:MK EP DS
Mon, 01 Jan '07 crowd level:8 Park to go toS Park to avoid:MK EP AK
Tue, 02 Jan '07 crowd level:7 Park to go to:MK Park to avoid:EP DS AK
Wed, 03 Jan '07 crowd level:6 Park to go toS Park to avoid:AK


I think it's great advice to split up! Let everyone know that you all don't have to be joined at the hip the whole time. It is nice to have meals together and Chef Mickey's is a great idea! Great characters and character interaction and lots of fun!

 

[apr9twins]

I've read many different places that you should pick up a guide of some kind when you get to the park each day to find out what characters are going to be where (for meet and greets). I believe that it also has parade and fireworks times in it.

Is there a way to find out in advance what times the parades and fireworks, and scheduled meet & greets happen? It would be helpful to know that when trying to plan ADRs.

A tip that I've gotten from these boards is to make sure that you take time to have fun and notice the details. I thought that was a great reminder. I think that with a group that large, on a first trip, (we're doing the same thing with 12 people in April) it would be easy to get really carried away with trying to cram as much as possible into each day - and not stop and watch the smiles on everyone's faces as they see things for the very first time.

 

[Desnik]

I hope this link works!!
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wd...darHome?id=MKCalendarParkHoursMonthlyViewPage

This is the official Disney site. You can change the park and month to check the hours. Also, click on the date for parade and show times. As far as meet and greets and other special things those times are usually out the week before. You can get those at your resort too if staying onsite.

 

[clonetothebone]

This site will give you entertainment times and meet and greet times but it only is for one week at a time. While it would be ok for someone to look at it now and compare to a week in October I'm not so sure the times will be the same since you picked the absolute busiest time of the year to go. Here is the site anyway so will give you an idea:

[url]http://pages.prodigy.net/stevesoares/[/URL]

As for your family that doesn't want to plan anything I would suggest some places to dine as a group and maybe meet for the parades, Illuminations, Fantasmic. I would plan the days for your family with their favorites and tell the rest of your extended family that this is what we are doing and you are welcome to tag along but other than that I wouldn't worry about what they are doing.

I would also plan on splitting up within your own family if your 8 year old likes to do some of the bigger attractions like Space Mountain that the 3 year old won't be able to go on. While it is a family vacation if won't be any fun for the 3 year old if all he/she gets to do is wait in line while the 8 year old goes on rides.

I highly recommend getting a copy of Unofficial Guide and read it from cover to cover. Pay attention to Chapter 2 Understanding Walt Disney World Attractions. In the 2007 edition which is out now it begins on page 89. Go on the attractions that have High loading volume. Since you will be going the busiest week of the year you should expect long waits on all attractions but if you get on the fast loading ones at least the line should be moving a bit.

An earlier post from Desnik gave the crowd levels and recommended parks but didn't explain the crowd levels. These are from Unofficial Guide and are pretty accurate. Below explains what the crowd level means:

The Crowd Level column is based on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being least crowded conditions and 10 being most crowded. The scale measures the peak wait time at the Magic Kingdom's three headliner attractions (Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad). Thus, the Crowd Level is a "worst case" scenario, predicting the longest wait at any of these three attractions on a particular day.

1 = Peak wait times of 14 minutes or less
2 = Peak waits of 15 - 24 minutes
3 = Peak waits of 25 - 34 minutes
4 = Peak waits of 35 - 44 minutes
5 = Peak waits of 45 - 54 minutes
6 = Peak waits of 55 - 64 minutes
7 = Peak waits of 65 - 74 minutes
8 = Peak waits of 75 - 84 minutes
9 = Peak waits of 85 - 94 minutes
10 = Peak waits of 95 minutes or more

The one piece of advice that I can give you that you should insist all 12 members of your family abide by is to be at the parks 30 to 45 minutes before the official opening time. Even though you are going at the busiest time of the year if you do this you will avoid some of the crowd that is sleeping in.

 

[mmeb144]

If you use the touring plans site, you can get a itinerary listing what rides in what order to maximize your fun time. By the way, this does cost a little bit, but you can get a discount, check out the allears.net site.

http://www.*****************/tp2/UG2_index.php?PageID=0

If you know that everybody wants to do the same rides, this would be really helpful, especially at the Magic Kingdom (MK). However, don't be afraid to split up, it will give your family that valuable one on one time to talk.

Definitely use the days from a previous poster to plan what the best park for that day would be. Call right now, run from the computer to your phone, and make those advanced dining reservations (ADR). Well, you really need to get everyone decided about one sit down meal per day. (Or, if they want to see each other that much!) We were there last year on Christmas Day and you couldn't get a seat at a restaurant unless you had an ADR, which we did.

Plan to see the parades, they are so awesome! Just get there early to get a good spot on the curb. It's worth it!

Marie

 

[Desnik]

This site will give you entertainment times and meet and greet times but it only is for one week at a time. While it would be ok for someone to look at it now and compare to a week in October I'm not so sure the times will be the same since you picked the absolute busiest time of the year to go. Here is the site anyway so will give you an idea:

[url]http://pages.prodigy.net/stevesoares/[/URL]

As for your family that doesn't want to plan anything I would suggest some places to dine as a group and maybe meet for the parades, Illuminations, Fantasmic. I would plan the days for your family with their favorites and tell the rest of your extended family that this is what we are doing and you are welcome to tag along but other than that I wouldn't worry about what they are doing.

I would also plan on splitting up within your own family if your 8 year old likes to do some of the bigger attractions like Space Mountain that the 3 year old won't be able to go on. While it is a family vacation if won't be any fun for the 3 year old if all he/she gets to do is wait in line while the 8 year old goes on rides.

I highly recommend getting a copy of Unofficial Guide and read it from cover to cover. Pay attention to Chapter 2 Understanding Walt Disney World Attractions. In the 2007 edition which is out now it begins on page 89. Go on the attractions that have High loading volume. Since you will be going the busiest week of the year you should expect long waits on all attractions but if you get on the fast loading ones at least the line should be moving a bit.

An earlier post from Desnik gave the crowd levels and recommended parks but didn't explain the crowd levels. These are from Unofficial Guide and are pretty accurate. Below explains what the crowd level means:

The Crowd Level column is based on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being least crowded conditions and 10 being most crowded. The scale measures the peak wait time at the Magic Kingdom's three headliner attractions (Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad). Thus, the Crowd Level is a "worst case" scenario, predicting the longest wait at any of these three attractions on a particular day.

1 = Peak wait times of 14 minutes or less
2 = Peak waits of 15 - 24 minutes
3 = Peak waits of 25 - 34 minutes
4 = Peak waits of 35 - 44 minutes
5 = Peak waits of 45 - 54 minutes
6 = Peak waits of 55 - 64 minutes
7 = Peak waits of 65 - 74 minutes
8 = Peak waits of 75 - 84 minutes
9 = Peak waits of 85 - 94 minutes
10 = Peak waits of 95 minutes or more

The one piece of advice that I can give you that you should insist all 12 members of your family abide by is to be at the parks 30 to 45 minutes before the official opening time. Even though you are going at the busiest time of the year if you do this you will avoid some of the crowd that is sleeping in.

OMG!!! A 10 means 95 min waits!!

 

[kaddjr]

OMG!!! A 10 means 95 min waits!!

Yes, so utilize the Fast Pass system as much as possible! With a little planning, even the busiest times are doable. Since you are staying offsite, do avoid going into a park if it has EMH that day. Go to MK the day after a pm EMH- get there before the park actually opens and you will get tons done before it starts to get too crowded.

Good luck and have fun!