First trip to Disney and need answers

[mickey fan]

Hi everyone! This is our first family trip and I hope I am posting these questions in the right area. First, has anyone stayed at the Hilton in WDW? If so, did you do the character breakfast? How was it? Also, I have a 4 yr old and 8 yr old. Would they like MGM or MK better in your opinion? There are so many decisions to make. Of course, I am a HUGE Mickey fan and don't care where we go as long as I see him! LOL Any advice is greatly appreciated. Have a good day!

Tammy

 

[califred]

Your kids would probably enjoy the MK better and it'll take two days to get through all of the MK. My 7 year old likes MGM b/c the Tower of Terror is his favorite ride. To see everything in all the parks you need a good 5 park days at least.

I haven't yet been to a character breakfast so I can't help you with that, and last time I was in DW I stayed in a vacation home.

If you don't have a guidebook yet I suggest getting the Unofficial Guide it is honest and very thorough.

 

[spiceycat]

yes, a character breakfast is worth it - I would not use the Hilton -- I would go with Chef Mickey's at the Cont (especially since you like Mickey).

be warned this is a very loud and party central place.

with children I would go with the Magic Kingdom.

 

[Disneyrsh]

I gotta say, if you're asking questions that general like, what's better, MK or MGM, and asking about character meals in and not in disney, then you need to get waaaaaaaay better prepared!

Do some research!

That's why you're not getting a lot of responses to this post, because the Dis'ers here are experts in the specific, the arcane, and the obsure.

When you do a post like yours, they figure it's a waste of time because you just have no idea what you're getting into at the parks!

Focus, girl!

 

[lentesta]

I've stayed at the Hilton, and I liked it. But the only character meals I'd do again were at the Polynesian and at Cinderella's Royal Table. (I've not tried them all - these were just my favorites).

Len

 

[chrisann]

Your daughter would like Mk better and your son would like MGM better, so if you can, do both. By the way, just ignore some of the posts that come off a bit rude or pushy . I'm sure in their own way, they mean well! As for the charcter breakfast at the Hilton, it would probably be fun just a little low key compared to the one at MK. Have Fun!!

 

[heart]

Mickey Fan--

When is your trip? Research and planning will only increase your fun, so it's good that you're asking questions.

You may want to check out some printed material. I would suggest "The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World" by Bob Sehlinger (and Len Testa, but he modestly did not mention so, above). There is a lot of information in that book--you'll save the purchase price many times over in "time not wasted" alone.

Two other great informational web sites are allearsnet.com and mousesavers.com.

Have fun planning and vacationing!

 

[kml2000]

Tammy,

If this is your first trip to Walt Disney World, I would recommend doing the Magic Kingdom. There will be rides/shows/adventures for both of your children in this park. The Magic Kingdom is the "core" of Walt Disney World in my opinion.

I am not a "certifiable" Disney addict. I commend you for taking the time to read this board. I did the same for my last Disney trip three years ago. I found a WEALTH of information. Some of it made my trip easier, some was probably good for the people that posted it, just not me. You will have to decide what is most important to you.

Here are some things that stick out in my mind that you might want to consider:

1) If you schedule a character breakfast on a day you plan to visit the park, it will take away a considerable amount of your park time. Unless, of course, you have this breakfast very very early. We did Cinderella's Royal Table and had a relatively early time. We found that we were disappointed in the loss of park time because the lines were longer by the time we finished breakfast. Of course, our children were a little older than yours, and that could have played into that feeling also.

2) I read in a book this tip - Go to the Magic Kingdom and be there when the gates open. When you go in, take the train to the back side of the park and work your way forward. I did this when I went with my daughter several years ago and we got to ride many rides over and over before the crowds made it that far. It was VERY nice.

3) We enjoyed the character breakfast at the Contemporary resort and we also enjoyed the monorail ride. We got there early and were able to ride in the front of the monorail. My daughter LOVED it (she was 5 1/2 at the time). When we did this, we didn't have a park day scheduled so we could relax, ride the monorail, have our breakfast with the characters and take our time.

4) Get a stroller!!!! We pushed our 9 year olds through the parks in a stroller. I know that sounds weird, however, it made it a lot nicer than hearing "my feet hurt" all the time. We also had a place to hang backpacks, etc.

5) Remember you need to make a "priority seating" if you plan to have a character breakfast inside Disney. My first trip there, I didn't realize that. I was truly naive.

My last comment is to ask all the questions you like. You might think they sound "silly", however, none of them are. I asked lots and lots of questions on these boards and got many many answers.

Good Luck and Happy Trip Planning!!!

 

[mickey fan]

Thank you for the MOSTLY nice comments and I do have a ton of questions and thank you to most of you for understanding. I AM doing as much research as I can. That is why I am here. Anyway, we are going in September and we do not have much time there. That is why I am trying to do all I can to plan everything out. We are staying at the Hilton and have not heard one word about it from here. Good things from another website, but trying to find out more. They have a character breakfast there with Minnie and a couple friends, which the more low key the better for me. I love the advice on going to the back of the park first. Thank you for all the info. I look forward to more responses from people that don't mind answering my questions. Thanks again!
Tammy

 

[Space Command]

I just stayed at the Hilton a couple months back and it was great. 24 hour food, nice pool, and right across from the street from Downtown Disney ( a 2 minute walk). The one downfall was the transportation so i just drove my rental to one of the parks everyday and got it at the end of the day. The character breakfast was fine and much like the other disney charatcer meals. The food was good.
Between MK and MGM, I think the kids woudl probably enjoy MK if it it is the 2st DIsney experience, plus "doing" the entire park will take a whole day whereas MGM may not last as long. HOwever, I went with My 3yr old nephew not to long ago and he loved Playhouse Disney which is at MGM. He was in awe like it was a rock show.
Th

 

[mickey fan]

Thank you Thank you Thank you Space Command!! Finally someone that has done what I am doing. Can you tell me which characters you saw at the breakfast? It is right there in the hotel, right? Sorry so many questions. I would love to hear more if you have a chance. Thanks again!

 

[Disneyrsh]

It's funny how I never said anything 'mean' or 'bad', just that your original post was so general I didn't know where to start with you, and all the other posters immediately attacked me as being rude and pushy.

Hmm, who's being mean here?

What I'm saying is you need to focus, pick a starting point and then work from there. When you ask questions that I could write a book about to answer, then it's not as helpful as saying, hey, I've got this specific question, can anyone answer me?

Thanks to that poster about the cut "while I'm not a Disney Addict"-I wasn't knocking your signature, why knock mine?

What nobody's saying about the non-disney character meals is that they definitely lack the 'disney magic', that intangible, goosebump making feeling you get when Pluto comes over and sticks your kid's entire head in his mouth to huge laughs and squeals and giggles.

Just haven't seen anything like that from Spongebob, bless his yellow heart.

About Disney guide books, I'd say get them out of the library first and then buy a Passporter and take notes from the library books into the Passporter-it's a good way to save money, and not do what some of my friends have done-she has a shelf of Disney guidebooks from 1999-2005!