First Trip to Disney-Help appreciated

[2BigKIdz]

I am 31 years old and will have my first trip to Magic Kingdom in July and I am so excited! Have been to Orlando before but always to Universal/IOA and Sea World parks. We have always been in April or May before, is July going to be miserably hot?

There are tickets on sale on e-bay for 2-day park hopper tickets, but I can't find them for sale anywhere else. Anyone know how to get these other than e-bay?

Also, e-bay has meal vouchers, are they worth buying? Obviously I don't have a clue about the restaurants at the park, but here are a couple that the vouchers are good for: Columbia Harbour House, Cosmic Ray's, El Pirata y El Perico.

Any tips are appreciated. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

 

[debkorb1]

Welcome to the Boards

I am sure you'll get a lot of help and suggestions, but may I suggest that you give us a few more details about your trip. Perhaps the most important question is who is in your vacation group and how old are they? Also, are you staying on Disney property?

With that information the Disney Veterans here will be able to give you LOADS of advice. Just to start - July will be very hot indeed and most definately hotter than April (although depending on when you've been in April, perhaps no more crowded).

So my first piece of advice is to structure your day as follows - arrive at the Magic Kingdom at least half an hour before official opening (perhaps an hour if you're extra enthusiastic). Leave at noon/one O'clock, take a long break in the middle of the day and return at 5 or 6.

My second tip is buy yourself Bob Sehlinger's Unofficial Guide to Disney. If you scour these boards you will find A LOT of people raving about the book - it will give you a huge base of knowledge and a very frank view of Disney crucial to any Summer trip (its a fun read too). You may find 2 days won't be enough!

You can get passes at a pretty good rate at www.ticketmania.com but I'm not sure about the meal vouchers. The Unofficial Guide has a profile of every restaurant (counter or full service) in Disney World!

Hope that helps - ROLL ON JULY.

 

[kaylajr]

HI and welcome

this is the place to learn all you need for your vacation

we love to help plan so as the above poster said

please share a few more details

and again Welcome to the boards but be careful they are addictive

 

[cleo]

Welcome to the DIS, 2BigKidz! We're glad you joined us.

May I suggest you don't purchase passes or vouchers through e-bay? You will have no way of verifying that they're not expired until you arrive, and that's not a great way to start off a vacation. The meal vouchers do expire. Stick to a reputable dealer.

Tell us more about your group, your touring style, and how long you'll be there. We're always happy to help!

 

[2BigKIdz]

I am travelling with my husband, his two sisters and their husbands, and my best friend. The kids include 2 -14 yr old girls and an 11 yr old girl, a boy 13 and a boy 11. Possibly one older nephew that is 20.

We have rented a home in a resort 3 miles from Disney and are staying 8 nights, the house also has a pool so we will want to spend some time just relaxing. Some of the group is not interested in Disney at all and won't be going. As far as plans are right now it will be me, my husband, best friend, the 13yr old and the 2 11 yr olds. Others may join in once we get there.

My best friend has been to all of the Disney parks except Epcot so she knows a little about what to expect.

We are only going to Magic Kingdom, possibly MGM if time allows, we already have 5 day passes to Universal/IOA but will probably only spend 3 days there, and tickets to Disney Quest. We went there last year and had a blast. I'm realizing I am not going to have enough time to do everything!

We also want to go to Clearwater Beach for a day.

I wanted so much as a child to go to Magic Kingdom. It's funny that the other times we have been to Orlando we've never made it to any of the Disney Parks.

Thanks for the tip about the meal vouchers and the book, will definitely pick that up. Sorry to write so much. Thanks again for all of your help.

 

[RLewis]

first go directly to MK. Sundays and Thusdays are typically Early entry days 9for Resort guests) - so you prbably want to stay away from those days.

the age of your kids suggest that they won't tant to spend much time in Fantasyland - although they may enjoy Peter Pan and M PhilharMagic. The dining coupons you mentioned are counter service eateries. I don't know if it's a good deal or not. But I suggest making lunch/dinner Priority Seating arrangements at one of the park's sit-down restaurants (call 407-WDW DINE - it's free and no penalty if you don't use it). You could also try a retautant at one of the resorts on the monorail line (so you can take a ride). These include Contemproary Resort, Polnesian, and Grand Floridian.

If you only want to do 2 days, I would next suggest MGM - make sure you see Fantasmic there at night. EPCOT would be the third choice.

 

[oogieboogie]

1. Welcome to the DIS

2. Never ever buy passes/tickets on Ebay. There's a thread right now on the community board about a person who got scammed buying off an auction site.

3. Meal vouchers - read the top of the budget board. It'll give you all the info you need to see if it makes sense for you to buy it.

4. Research, research, research. Can't stress that enough. You'll have a better time if you do plenty of research.

5. Ask questions. That's what the DIS is for. No question is stupid and it may have been asked 1000 times but ask anyway.

6. Half the fun is in the planning, so don't stress out when you think you've hit infomation overload.