First trip with kids

[CinderShelley]

and it is a surprise from hubby.
I have 2 months to plan it even though he purchased the trip back in the winter. And I don't know where to start.

Can you give me the cliff notes version of what to know about disney world with kids?
where to go, what to do, what to see?

the kids are 13,12,7,3 and he bought the dining plan, i do know that (I called and asked him what he booked after the shock wore off.) and we are at the grand floridian for the last week of summer.

 

[KelleyGirl]

You should pick up a guide book. Birbaum's Official Guide to Disney is full of pictures and easy to get through (some others are great and have loads of information, but I think Birnbaum's is a good 1st book to get acclimated to the parks).

Have you yourself ever been? Studying up on the maps and the attractions would be helpful so you don't miss anything. We have close to the same age of children: 11, 8, 5, 3. They all still love the character meals - I would recommend Chef Mickey's. Because of the age difference, and our oldest being fearless, our 2 in the middle a little timid, and the little guy being too small for some rides, we bring both cell phones so that we can split up while at the park and meet up later, satisfying everyone. We don't spend the whole day apart, just for some attractions.

If dining is important to you, be sure to make some ADRs to avoid long waits at prime times! And read these boards!!! Just don't go blind - it can be overwhelming. I've spoken to more than one person who went on their first trip to WDW and couldn't believe that all hotels/parks/waterparks were not within walking distance of each other. Its a big place!

Have fun!

 

[Taja]

Since you'll be on the dining plan, you need to make ADRs yesterday! *eek*

Slight exaggeration, but not much.

Seriously, here's what you need to do:

1. Note park hours, parades and events for each park for the days you will be at WDW.

2. Select which parks you'll attend on which days.

3. Review dining menus for TS restaurants and coordinate choices with your park days. You don't want to be running from MK to an ADR at AKL. At this point, you'll need to be pretty flexible with your locations and times.

4. Call Disney Dining and make your TS ADRs immediately.

You're going to have to make some difficult choices quickly, but then you can relax with the rest of the planning.

 

[TheDizMom]

Oh I am sooo jealous! You are staying at the best resort too as far as I am concerned. We absolutely loved the GF! You are going to have a ball!

Use Disney's site for things like park hours, EMH, what restaurants are on the DP (this has drastically changed) and any of those other basic pieces of information. I would then get the adult and children's versions of Birnbaum books. This makes it easy to go over everything you need to know. Then have the kids look at the kids version (which is great as it has reviews done by other kids), and have them each make a list of things they really want to do and start planning from there. For example if they have a ton of things they want to do at MK but only a few at Epcot, then plan more then one day at MK and 1 or less at Epcot. Make ADR's ASAP if your husband hasn't done them already. You are behind the game on that one because the good reservations fill up fast and people can start making them 180 days in advance of their trips. We still love the character meals and the nice thing is many of them are buffets so everyone is likely to find food they will like. Remember to take advantage of fast passes especially for those popular rides like Everest and Tower of Terror. We also always plan a hotel day mid-way through our trip to enjoy our hotel and just catch a breather from the parks.

The great thing about having kids the ages of yours is that they can participate in the planning of the trip too and it will really make the trip more fun for everyone as they all had a hand in making the decisions. Also because they are older, if some want to do a water park but not all of you, it's easier to split up and meet each other later because you aren't dealing with small children where you need 2 adults to handle 4 kids. On our last trip our daughter and I didn't want to go to TL so we stayed at the hotel pool all day while everyone else went to TL. It was so nice and we got to have some Mommy and me time.

Have a great trip !

 

[Hoosier Mom]

I liked the book "The Passporter". I have it plus the Birnbalms.

I agree with the previous posters about getting your ADR's made. Read all the menus so you'll know in advance where you want to dine. Another character dining that was good was Garden Grill. It's a revolving restaurant and Mickey, Pluto, Chip & Dale visit your table.

Also maybe familiarize yourself with how the dining plan works. We decided to use ours for lunch and dinners. We did a room charge for all our breakfasts. Also we had some snacks left at the end of our trip and we used them towards breakfasts too. If you are doing breakfasts in your room, your resort giftshop may sell half gallons of milk, bread, donuts, etc. You can use snack credits towards some of those too.

You must try a kakigori at Epcot. Delicious! It's just to the left of Japan. It's shaved ice. My favorite flavor was cherry, but I think they have tangerine, and a couple other flavors as well. You can use snack credits on those as well.

As far as strategy on planning for the parks, we had heard that whichever park has extra hours, might be more crowded that day. So I planned our days at another park, then we could hop over to the later park later that day.

Also we noticed at Magic Kingdom, we did Fantasyland first thing when they opened. Then about 10:30ish, a wave of people came in. We were all done with that section by then.

We were glad we had a mister fan. Our trip was hot.

Take a couple rolls of quarters for laundry, assuming your resort has laundry facilities. You'll only have to pack half as much.

If you can get by with no tote bag in the parks, you'll be able to go thru the no bag line upon entering the parks. It's much quicker. Maybe take cargo shorts and put a few things in your pockets.

I did a review of our trip, and the restaurants we picked. It's below in my signature.

Have fun!!

 

[kmodory]

I agree. Pick up the guide book. It, too, is a bit overwhelming but at least you feel like you understand what you're getting into. Planning is essential if you want to have a good trip. Good luck and have fun!

 

[noahdove]

Just please don't forget to take a good break in the afternoon..it's much needed especially if you are going back to the parks at night. Also, wow, what an awesome dad and husband!!! Give him a hug for all of us...I can give my honest opinion for these boards as I have been to Disney 6 other times and I HAD no idea as to many of these ideas and hints...You might want to check out the design board as I made shirts for the 3 of us to wear in August Good luck and happy planning for the Happiest Place on Earth...don't forget to try the Crystal Palace for breakfast...it's awesome!!!!

 

[scootch]

Do as much research on the various disney boards beforehand... truly, the more you know the better your vacation will be. Realize you will NOT see everything... and be happy with what you see, dont' be disappointed in what you didn't see..... We too take swim breaks every day... just to get out of the hustle and bustle of the parks makes a huge difference!

Photopass is another great option, especially for a large family... let them take the majority of your pics(with characters and such) so you can just watch them having a great time.... also you can all be in the picture!