Fisr disney trip with 2 and 3 year old sons!

[golfmaven]

First off, please excuse the length of this post and I apologize if I chose the wrong forum, but I had so many questions that I couldn't decide where to stick this!

While vacationing in South Florida this upcoming Christmas/New Year's (visiting grandparents), my wife and I are planning a short excursion (2 nights) to WDW (Magic Kingdom) with our 2 year old and 3 year old sons. The forum's expert feedback on my initial plans is greatly appreciated.

We are planning on driving up from Ft. Lauderdale on the afternoon of Thursday, Jan. 1st and time our arrival at WDW sometime around check-in (3 pm). 1) Do you think that the crowds will thin out a little after Jan. 1st (beginning of value season) or because of the proximity to the weekend and considering that most schools don't resume classes until Jan. 5th that WDW will be just as crowded as Christmas week?

Accommodations - We want to balance the convenience of access to MK (afternoon nap/pool time/home base) with price, so we are considering the Contemporary resort (standard Wing room). Both the Poly and the tower rooms at CR were a little pricey. We're reserved at around $225 per night using a AAA-discount but it still seems a bit pricey. 2) Am I putting too much emphasis on close monorail access (I don't really want to deal with a double stroller and a bus...of course we'll also have our car)? 3) Any suggestions on alternate resorts or ways to obtain a cheaper rate at CR are appreciated.

Theme Parks/Tickets - given my kids' young ages and since its their first trip to WDW, we thought about limiting our visit to MK only on Friday, Jan. 2nd. We assume that we'll just buy tickets at the gate or at the hotel on check-in. 4) Thoughts on this strategy are appreciated. 5) Any suggestions for non-theme park activities on Saturday, Jan. 3rd (check-out day) are also welcome. We thought about a water park (i.e., Blizzard Beach) but worry what it will be like without having a hotel room to go back to or maybe we should arrive early in the morning on Jan. 1st, drop our stuff off at the hotel and head straight to a water park for a fund mid-morning/afternoon day and return to hotel for check-in? 7) maybe we should do MGM (i.e., Playhouse Disney attractions) on the last day?

Dining - we definitely want to fit in at least one charachter meal into our schedule if not more. We were thinking of doing Chef Mickey's at CR for dinner on our arrival night (using PS 90 days out if we get a reservation) and then maybe Cinderella's Round Table at MK for breakfast or Crystal Palace. I'm thinking that it would be better to do Chef Mickey's for dinner instead of breakfast so as to not delay our arrival at MK in the morning. Maybe California Grill for dinner (a different fireworks experience) on the second night. 6) Comments on our plans as well as strategies and tips on using PS are appreciated.

7) Am I leaving anything out? This is a kids' vacation only and I want to make their first WDW experience enjoyable (if not memorable given their young age). They are really good with crowds and generally good with lines, but I don't want to overwhelm them.

 

[nicknamy1996]

Ok, I'll go first.

If you are just going to the parks for one day I would stay at a cheaper hotel. If money is no object then do what you like. But with your own car you can stay just about anywhere and drive to the MK. The monorail resort is nice, but the best thing about it is you can come and go to the parks as you please, jump back to the resort for a nap or dinner then back to the park etc... However, if you are only going to MK for one day I would recommend staying there all day (as long as you don't wear yourself out) if they need to (and they most likely will) the children should be able to nap in a stroller, and the weather should be nice for that(not blistering hot.)

One day tickets will run you around $55 each adult (not sure abou the 3 y/o ticket cost) but the 2 y/o will be free. You cannot park hop on a one day ticket.

I'm not sure how crowded everything is at that time(other people will have to help you out on that)

A water park will be open, but may be a little cold at that time. And since there's not a lot for a 2 and 3 y/o at a waterpark you're probably better off doing on of the resort pools anyway and it's free with your stay.

I would definitely recommed doing Chef Mickey's for which ever works out for you breakfast or dinner, we've done both and the are both nice.

My plan would go something like this. Check in head to DTD for some shopping then go to chef mickeys for dinner, head to the resort pool, then call it a night. Get up the next morn. and go nuts at MK. I would think about a late breakfast with Pooh and the gang then go nuts some for the rest of the day. Rides, snacks, naps, shows, parades, fireworks etc... before retiring back to the resort for the night.

 

[swilphil]

We have been in a similar situation. We have a 1 year old and a 3 year old and we just went to the parks for 3 days. The rest of our extended family actually went down to Hollywood Beach after our Disney stay.

If at all possible, it would be nice to go a little bit later during your visit to Fort Laud. It would be better to arrive Saturday or Sunday--I bet most people will be leaving that day. If you must go on Jan. 1, expect big crowds and definitely stay on site. We went during Christmas week a couple years ago and stayed off site. There were several days when we couldn't get into MK because the crowds were too big. On site guests are let in when its that crowded. Plus traffic and parking at the parks was a huge pain. The Contemporary would be a good choice for you.

I think Friday at MK is the perfect choice. It's the day after EE and it's not Saturday--stay away on Saturday. We didn't do the water parks even though we went in summer this year. We felt the kids were too young. You could spend more time at MK or go to Epcot. MGM on Sunday also sounds good. We bought a 3-day Park Hopper Pass and were glad we did because we would go to one park in the morning, back to the hotel for nap, then another park in the evening. The 3-day Park Hopper passes are a little hard to come by, but you can get the 800 number for them at Alamo.com or look at some of the past posts on this site.

You really need to take a mid-day break with kids that age. Plus when you're going, the parks should be open later so kids will be staying up late and will need the nap even more. We stayed at the Dolphin for $129/night and they run frequent rate specials, but New Years may be more expensive. We brought our Double Stroller and had no problem folding it up and taking it on the bus. Of course, since we were at the Dolphin we could take the boat to Epcot and MGM without folding it up.