First trip to Disney

[motheroffive]

We are planning our first trip to Disney with our 5 kids plus my parents in November . We are staying off site (within 10 minutes of the gate) and need your best tip to make our trip the best ever. Kids ages are 4,6,10, 12 and 13. Anybody know typical park hours for that time of year? What about weather temps? Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[jcemom]

Hi and welcome to the DIS!
Which week in November are you going?

 

[Dopey Sharon]

Unless you're going during Thanksgiving week, the park hours should be pretty much opening at 9 and closing around 6-7, with Epcot closing at 9 and Animal Kingdom closing at 5.

The weather should be perfect. We usually go the first week in November, and wear shorts and tshirts the whole time we're there. We hardly ever get any rain...it's beautiful!

Make sure you don't go to the park that has early opening that day. I'm not sure which day is which park, but I know it's on this site somewhere....

Sunday Magic Kingdom
Monday Disney's Animal Kingdom
Tuesday Disney-MGM Studios
Wednesday Epcot
Thursday Magic Kingdom
Friday Disney's Animal Kingdom
Saturday Disney-MGM Studios


With the shorter hours, we don't take breaks, but I don't have little ones either. We do park hop, though, but we stay onsite and don't have to worry about getting back to where we parked our car.

Don't spend 24/7 together. With the ages of your kids, the older ones aren't going to like the same rides the younger ones will. Split up. With your parents going, you can do this.

Try to arrive at the parks about 15 minutes before they open.

If you don't have any guide books, either buy a couple (I like the Unofficial Guide by Bob Sehlinger) or go to your library and borrow them. They are filled with tips.

Good luck and have a great time!

 

[SamanthaL]

My best tip is stay onsite. With kids it makes it so much easier to get back to the hotel for a nap.
I also recommend taking a mid day break after lunch. It helps everyone enjoy things more when they are not exhausted.
Lastly, take it easy and stop to notice the little Disney touches.
Have a great first trip!

 

[motheroffive]

Thanks for the advice. We would love to stay onsite but it is really cost prohibitive with 10 of us going. We are renting a 5 bedroom house in hopes of having lots of space so we don't get under each others' feet. I think it will be ok. I'd love to stay onsite but just can't do it this time. Also wanted a house to make evening meals to save $$ - my teens eat us out of house and home We are really excited and I've learned alot by reading various posts. I'll definitely get a stroller for the littler ones and with 5 adults, we are planning to split up sometimes. My husband and I have been to Disney but it's been about 15 years so lots has changed and there's so much more to see and do. Does anyone know which water park is best - Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach. We plan to spend one day doing this plus 4 days in the parks.

 

[motheroffive]

Oh, we're going from Nov. 2 - 11th so will be 8 days in Orlando. Hope to do 5 days at Disney, one at Seaworld plus visiting friends in Vero Beach with one day leftover. Hopefully it's not too ambitious - I don't want everybody to be wiped... but I guess that's what vacations are all about

 

[SamanthaL]

I prefer the tropical feeling of TL over the snowy BB. I am from the Boston area and snow is our life. I don't need it on vacation too. I also love the wave pool. It really just depends on what kind of theme you are looking for. DH loves to swim with the sharks too.

As far as staying on site, next time look into renting points from a member of the vacation club. We are getting a BWV studio with a Boardwalk view for $120 a night. Without the view it would be $90 anight. I know the OKW is pretty resonable when it comes to the number of points required for a villa. Just a thought. It can't hurt to check it out for the next visit.

 

[SamanthaL]

Your dates are great by the way. You will get alot done because the crowds are low and more than likely the weather will be just right. Not too hot, which can sap energy.

 

[motheroffive]

Thanks for the tip on the onsite accomodations. I will check into it for the next time. Because it is low season, the house is coming it at just a little more than that for all of us so it'll be a big cost saving. The joys of having a big family Downside to low season is shorter park hours but hopefully the smaller lineups will balance it out so we'll be able to see all we want with less hours.

We are from Eastern Canada (600 miles north of Boston) so I know what you mean about the snow. Maybe TL will be the best choice for us too. Thanks. Your kids are very cute by the way

 

[LuvTigger]

If going back to the room isn't feasible for midday naps/breaks, you might want to consider breaking up your day so that you go to a park in the morning, have a leisurely lunch at one of the resorts, then go back to another park in the afternoon. For some reason, splitting a day into two parks seems less tiring for me than spending an entire day in the same park!

Also, since you're on a budget, you might want to check out the budget board for some tips. Also, take a look at this site, http://allearsnet.com/ to get an idea of how much food costs so you can be prepared and don't suffer from "sticker shock" when you get there!

 

[TY31088]

My advice would be to study the parks and the rides on the boards. Make a list of the rides that you want to do. THe first time we went to WDW we arrived at 11 o'clock and knew nothing about the rides and got frustrated with the lines. We left after a few hours and I swore never to return. Somehow we decided to take another shot at it a couple of years later. I found the DIS boards, read about the rides and we made a list of must-dos and carried it with us to the park. We had a blast. USE FASTPASS, it can make a big difference, 10 minutes in line versus an hour.

Here's a link for weather history

http://www.weather.com/weather/climatology/monthly/USFL0248?from=search


Here's a link for PROJECTED park hours
http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/hour...Date=11/30/2004&submit2=Check+Disney+Hours+>>


Just study the DISBoards. I even printed stuff and put it in a three ring binder that I still refer to. My wife calls it the Disney bible.

And asks lots of questions. People around here seem to like answering them.

 

[motheroffive]

One other question about fireworks shows at Disney. Because the park hours probably end at 6:00 pm, does that mean there will be no evening fireworks displays? I'm assuming not but then other people have posted that there are fireworks at Disney 365 days of the year. Or are they referring to the Epcot displays? I understand the Disney ones are incredible too. I'd be sad to miss them. Any info?

 

[SamanthaL]

There will be fireworks. I am not sure if the scedule is out yet but you can check it on this web site. I think the home page has a link that say "Park Hours". There you input your dates and it will pull up a calandar which includes fireworks.