First trip - help on planning

[ali5on]

Hi

You have put my mind at rest regarding taking food and drink into the parks. I was worried we would be spending a small fortune constantly buying snacks and beverages.

The airboat rides sound fantastic - I have always wanted to experience one in the Everglades but realised they would be too far to drive to on our first trip. The Bogey creeks ride sounds like a good compromise. Now its just a case of fitting it into our plan!!! I knew we should have booked to go for three weeks!!!

On the subject of plans, anyone want to settle the debate between hubby and me? Will we be too tired on our first full day to go to one of the parks?

Ali

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

The general view around here is that your first full day is absolutely fine for visiting parks. The combination of your bodyclock still being on UK time (therefore you wake early) and the excitement of being in Orlando (especially for the first time) means you are raring to go. You might find that staying up late on your first day is more of a challenge, but I doubt you'll have any difficulty in spending a day in the parks.

Regards

Rob

 

[ali5on]

Thanks Rob. I know the children will be desperate to experience Disney at the first possible moment. I'll just have to convince my husband!

Ali

 

[BiGGy]

well i remember the first time we went, i made the mistake of going to bed too early the day we landed and found myself walking around at 4am trying to find something to do LOL

first day wasnt a problem for us, we went to sea world as it was closer and more relaxed.

Maybe worth trying animal kingdom or epcot the first day as you could leave early if yoiu was tired and not really miss out on anything


Rgds

BiGGy

 

[Muppet]

First and foremost have a fantastic time.

If you want to do a themepark on the first and hubbie doesn't, compromise and do either animal kingdom or mgm as they are smaller.

From reading trip reports the kids seem to love the characture meals. A big hit is the Ice Cream Social at the Garden Grill in Epcot. Lots of charactures there, plus ice cream which is an excellent balance.

 

[Mrs Dazzle]

Hello and welcome

I've joined the debate a bit late, but your questiona bout what's best to do on your first day is one that I asked first time we went. We find we have no problem whatsoever - we're always up earlier the first day due to going to bed earlier the night before (always try and stay up until at least 9pm US time - 2am ours ). When DD was smaller we always did MK first - they so love this park when they're younger and it's the main disney magic park for children, I guess. The only problem with that is to choose the right park for the second visit . . .

5 days at Disney and 2 Universal are spot on - we only go for a week to Orlando and this is what we do, we then head down to the gulf coast for the rest of our 2-3 weeks.

Don't worry if you're not a huge rollercoaster fan at IOA - we're not and there's loads to do there. The characters are straight out of the comic books (especially all the Spiderman stuff - DD was in her element and had to explain to me who half the characters were last October ).

Our park days started with a large buffet style hot breakfast which lasted most of the day, then dinner in the evenings. Sometimes we needed to just get a small snack (cookie or similar) in the parks, but the Sizzler-type buffet breakfasts really do fill you up for a great price too.

Above all - just take time to enjoy yourselves - you will

 

[UKDEB]

Another late-comer here. I always have an itinerary, but only because it's all part of the build-up and I love doing it - we never stick to it. I do agree that it's sensible to have at least a list of things you're keen to do. The most important thing to remember is that it's supposed to be a holiday! Take time to savour every moment and soak it all up - it will be over so quickly.

I would definitely recommend visiting a park on your first morning. You <i>will</i> be awake at the crack of dawn and you'll end up feeling that you've wasted a day if you don't. Like you say, your kids will be itching to get to Disney. My guess is you will too! During our first trip we made the mistake of going along to the welcome meeting scheduled for 11am on the first day. We were awake at around 4am and just hung around the hotel until it was time to go.

I agree with Annie that you don't need to be a thrill-ride fan to enjoy IoA. It is a stunning park and the whole Universal complex is right up there with WDW, IMHO.

 

[ali5on]

I'm overwhelmed by all your helpful comments!

Debbie mentioned the welcome meeting. Do you think it would be useful for first-timers to attend, or just a waste of valuable Disney time?

Ali

 

[BiGGy]

we went to the welcome meeting the first time and i cant really say it was worth losing half a day for tbh.

The last time we went my brother had to go to the meeting becuase of his wedding plans and it was 100% not worth going to, we went to the cinema in downtown disney and sat down to watch movies about the different parks etc then had to cue up to buy tickets after.

This was before i found this great board thou

i would say with the information you find on here, and also the information in simons book is more than enough to prepare you for the first trip.


rgds


BiGGy

 

[Mrs Dazzle]

I agree - IMHO the Welcome meeting was not worth the time - I was getting really stressy watching the clock going around thinking "I should be in a park by now".

The only welcome meetings we ever go to now are when we go somewhere new on the coast - they are invaluable for learning local trips etc down there - but like Biggy says, you can actually learn far more from these boards . . . even the so called ticket prices at the welcome meet can be bettered elsewhere.

If you feel you really could gain something from going, then go - but I think you have quite a good plan already