First WDW Trip!!

[b1gr3dmachin3]

Hey guys, hopefully I'm posting this in the right place, but if not please move it! My wife and I just booked our first WDW trip and are beyond excited. We live in Las Vegas, NV and visit DL in Cali often because we love Disney! Now we finally have a chance to visit WDW! With neither of us ever being there, we have several questions.

1. We are flying Southwest airlines. We never fly so is there anything we should know beforehand such as checking in, luggage issues, seating, etc?

2. We are staying offsite at the Clarion Inn @ Lake Buena Vista. Has anyone stayed at this hotel or know of it?

3. We are staying 3/20 - 3/26 but the first and last day are pretty much travel days so really 5 days of playing. We are thinking of getting a 5 day ticket. I'm guessing we don't need park hopper since it will probably take us at least the whole day to play in each park. We were also thinking of maybe just purchasing a 4 day ticket and the 1 day to Universal/Island of Adventure. Any thoughts?

4. Doesn't look like we need to rent a car since transportation is provided by the hotel to all the theme parks. Any tips on using shuttle service to get around? Is it really practical?

5. Should we consider using the Disney Dining plan? Is it worth it? What restaurants are must-dos both inside and outside of Disney?

6. I'm sure we will have more questions as our vacations get closer but any other tips/advice will be greatly appreciated!! Thanks everyone!!

 

[kmb584]

Hey guys, hopefully I'm posting this in the right place, but if not please move it! My wife and I just booked our first WDW trip and are beyond excited. We live in Las Vegas, NV and visit DL in Cali often because we love Disney! Now we finally have a chance to visit WDW! With neither of us ever being there, we have several questions.

1. We are flying Southwest airlines. We never fly so is there anything we should know beforehand such as checking in, luggage issues, seating, etc?

2. We are staying offsite at the Clarion Inn @ Lake Buena Vista. Has anyone stayed at this hotel or know of it?

3. We are staying 3/20 - 3/26 but the first and last day are pretty much travel days so really 5 days of playing. We are thinking of getting a 5 day ticket. I'm guessing we don't need park hopper since it will probably take us at least the whole day to play in each park. We were also thinking of maybe just purchasing a 4 day ticket and the 1 day to Universal/Island of Adventure. Any thoughts?

4. Doesn't look like we need to rent a car since transportation is provided by the hotel to all the theme parks. Any tips on using shuttle service to get around? Is it really practical?

5. Should we consider using the Disney Dining plan? Is it worth it? What restaurants are must-dos both inside and outside of Disney?

6. I'm sure we will have more questions as our vacations get closer but any other tips/advice will be greatly appreciated!! Thanks everyone!!

You're going to have such a fantastic time at WDW! I've been to DL as well and while there are similarities the differences are much grander and on a completely different level (in my opinion).

#1: Be prepared and arrive early, at least 2 hours prior to your departure. McCarren can be a zoo but I've never once encountered an extremely long wait to check in or navigate through security. NO liquids in bottles >3oz are allowed on flight so make sure larger bottles are packed in the suitcase, not the carry-on. Also, all liquids carried on board need to be clear bag no larger than 1qt in size. Said bag must be removed and placed into a tray (along with purses, carry-on, shoes, jackets, zip sweatshirts, etc) and go through the scanner. Flight delays are more prevalent now than ever so again, be prepared. Luggage is checked when checking in and can be picked up (hopefully) in baggage claim once you land at MCO.

#2: No advice. I've never stayed there.

#3. Honestly, I'd go with the hopper option just for the flexibility. Day at MK, dinner at Epcot. Morning at HS, afternoon at AK, etc. Since this is your first WDW visit I'd stick with just WDW. There is just so much to see and do that I can't imagine venturing to another park during your stay.

#4: If possible, get a shuttle schedule from your hotel as soon as possible. In October we stayed off-site for the first time in over a decade, at Sheraton Vistana LBV, and their shuttle schedule made no sense whatsoever. More often than not it didn't pick up until well after the parks were open and the trip "home" was even worse, ex: one day MK had a 5pm pick up and that was it. The park on that day was open until 11pm. Thankfully, my aunt had joined us on our vacation and had her SUV with her as she drove up from Palm Beach.

#5: DDP can be both worth it and not, depending on ones appetite and the selected plan. Your best bet would be to select which restaurants are must-do's (mine include 'Ohana, Jiko, Flying Fish, 1900 Park Fare, Le Cellier) and average what you would spend per person, per meal, per day. For us, we go without as we eat one big meal each day.

 

[b1gr3dmachin3]

You're going to have such a fantastic time at WDW! I've been to DL as well and while there are similarities the differences are much grander and on a completely different level (in my opinion).

#1: Be prepared and arrive early, at least 2 hours prior to your departure. McCarren can be a zoo but I've never once encountered an extremely long wait to check in or navigate through security. NO liquids in bottles >3oz are allowed on flight so make sure larger bottles are packed in the suitcase, not the carry-on. Also, all liquids carried on board need to be clear bag no larger than 1qt in size. Said bag must be removed and placed into a tray (along with purses, carry-on, shoes, jackets, zip sweatshirts, etc) and go through the scanner. Flight delays are more prevalent now than ever so again, be prepared. Luggage is checked when checking in and can be picked up (hopefully) in baggage claim once you land at MCO.

#2: No advice. I've never stayed there.

#3. Honestly, I'd go with the hopper option just for the flexibility. Day at MK, dinner at Epcot. Morning at HS, afternoon at AK, etc. Since this is your first WDW visit I'd stick with just WDW. There is just so much to see and do that I can't imagine venturing to another park during your stay.

#4: If possible, get a shuttle schedule from your hotel as soon as possible. In October we stayed off-site for the first time in over a decade, at Sheraton Vistana LBV, and their shuttle schedule made no sense whatsoever. More often than not it didn't pick up until well after the parks were open and the trip "home" was even worse, ex: one day MK had a 5pm pick up and that was it. The park on that day was open until 11pm. Thankfully, my aunt had joined us on our vacation and had her SUV with her as she drove up from Palm Beach.

#5: DDP can be both worth it and not, depending on ones appetite and the selected plan. Your best bet would be to select which restaurants are must-do's (mine include 'Ohana, Jiko, Flying Fish, 1900 Park Fare, Le Cellier) and average what you would spend per person, per meal, per day. For us, we go without as we eat one big meal each day.

Yes, I have heard over and over again how amazing WDW is so we are very excited and know we'll have a great time!

1. Thanks for the tips, seems like they have lots of rules so I'll have to do more research on it, maybe check their website or call them. I heard that I need to check in online 24 hours prior to my flight, otherwise there is a chance my wife and I won't be able to sit together?! Is that true??

2. No worries, hopefully someone else who has stayed there or at least heard of it can give me some details!

3. The problem with going to more than 1 park per day for us is that we probably are not renting a car so I think getting around like that might be a problem. The hotel we are staying at does have a shuttle service but I don't believe it goes from park to park, just hotel to park or park to hotel. Also we are big harry potter fans so we really wanted to see the ride! My thought is since we probably won't have time to see and do everything anyway, even with 5 days, might as well do 4 days at Disney to at least see each park 1 day and then harry potter 1 day. We are going to start making WDW an annual trip so I figure we will have plenty of time to see and do everything in the future, might as well relax and take our time and enjoy ourselves this go around lol!

4. Yea, I just looked at the shuttle service schedule @ their website and it doesn't really make too much sense. We're not really morning people anyway so it will probably work for us and we'll just make the best of it. The only problem is, I don't see a route to DTD. We were hoping to enjoy DTD after the parks close. How would we get there??

5. The hotel we are staying at has a buffet style breakfast so we'll probably do that in the morning and we usually just snack on small stuff or eat a small lunch during the day and have a nice big dinner at night. So sounds like the DDP won't work for us?

6. By the way, how's the weather like during that time of year? I believe it is spring break during that time for most schools, so I'm guessing it will be busy. How are the crowds during that time?

Thanks for all your help!!

 

[Laurali]

Sounds great!

Sounds like you have the airport under control, great advice there!

I would have to say I would also go with the park hopper option. We loved bouncing from park to park and Disney provides great bus service and other transportation to get in between the parks virtually hassle free and quickly.

I would skip the dining plan especially if your hotel offers breakfast. It is a great option but I think its truly the most rewarding for those staying on property or with large families.

If there are any restaurants that you think you may want to eat at make sure you book reservations as soon as possible as they fill up quickly! They can be booked as early as 180 days in advance so you may run into some being booked.

You should have nice weather! I couldn't attach the link, but if you google wdw park attendance or weather there are sites that give you the historical park attendance and weather for specific dates!

I would love to help you out with any questions or ideas that you might have or like for your trip! Feel free to PM me as I hop around all the boards and will make sure to get an answer to you.

 

[Laurali]

Sorry double post

 

[Metro West]

 

[b1gr3dmachin3]

Thanks for all the welcomes!!

Sounds great!

Sounds like you have the airport under control, great advice there!

I would have to say I would also go with the park hopper option. We loved bouncing from park to park and Disney provides great bus service and other transportation to get in between the parks virtually hassle free and quickly.

I would skip the dining plan especially if your hotel offers breakfast. It is a great option but I think its truly the most rewarding for those staying on property or with large families.

If there are any restaurants that you think you may want to eat at make sure you book reservations as soon as possible as they fill up quickly! They can be booked as early as 180 days in advance so you may run into some being booked.

You should have nice weather! I couldn't attach the link, but if you google wdw park attendance or weather there are sites that give you the historical park attendance and weather for specific dates!

I would love to help you out with any questions or ideas that you might have or like for your trip! Feel free to PM me as I hop around all the boards and will make sure to get an answer to you.

Thanks for all the info! I don't know if park hopper would be really practical for us especially since this is our first visit and each day we visit a park I'm sure we'll be spending the day there. Also, because we are staying offsite I'm not sure how easy it is to get around. We were thinking about exploring the different Disney Resorts or DTD after each park closes. Are there shuttles that go to those places from the parks and if so are they free for everyone? Looks like it might be crowded when we go, but at least the weather should be nice! I heard it rains a lot in March as well, but that doesn't bother us since we love the rain anyway =) We are going to go through all the restaurants and see if there are any we really want to eat at and make a reservation. Would you suggest anything for Italian dining? Thanks again for all the help guys, greatly appreciate it!!

 

[b1gr3dmachin3]

Just thought of another question, for those of you who have rode southwest, how much room/how comfy are the seats? I'm 6'6 athletic build but I have trouble sometimes because I am so tall. I'm just a little worried especially since the flights are long.

 

[Laurali]

Thanks for all the welcomes!!



Thanks for all the info! I don't know if park hopper would be really practical for us especially since this is our first visit and each day we visit a park I'm sure we'll be spending the day there. Also, because we are staying offsite I'm not sure how easy it is to get around. We were thinking about exploring the different Disney Resorts or DTD after each park closes. Are there shuttles that go to those places from the parks and if so are they free for everyone? Looks like it might be crowded when we go, but at least the weather should be nice! I heard it rains a lot in March as well, but that doesn't bother us since we love the rain anyway =) We are going to go through all the restaurants and see if there are any we really want to eat at and make a reservation. Would you suggest anything for Italian dining? Thanks again for all the help guys, greatly appreciate it!!

I'm sure you can fill up each day without hopping parks! It is a great option but can be a little overwhelming.

If you click on WDW above and then on dining you can search Italian. Some reccomended are Il Mulino in the lobby of the Swan, Mama Melrose's at Hollywood Studios, and I believe there are a couple in the Italy showcase at Epcot but I haven't tried those. Also, Portabello in DTD.

Yes the Disney buses will take you anywhere between parks, hotels and DTD, just make sure you know the last times and where and when your hotel shuttle runs.

If you like Mexican cusine I recommend checking out the restaurant in the Mexico showcase. It is indoors, but makes you feel as though you are dining under the stars next to a river by candlelight..

I have flown SW many times but woul be a bad judge of seat size for you as I am only 5'6". My only advice would be to check in online as early as you can..I believe its 24hrs before but you may check. That way you will get A seating priority and hopefully the pick of better seat selection. Let me know if there is anything else and again..I forget to check all the threads so feel free to PM me!

 

[disneychard]

have a great time!!!