Getting Nervous Now

[Brodiecat]

We are leaving in 2 weeks and I don't even have an itinerary planned out yet. I have the chart that shows which days which parks are busiest. Do I use that or does anyone have other tips.

I'm trying to pick which parks to do on which days??????

4 adults, 3 children 6, 3, and 18 mos.

 

[Harambe]

What days will you be there?

Are you staying on-site? Will you have a car?

What type of passes do you have?

Are you going to plan any special dinners/character meals?

 

[swilphil]

Don't worry, Brodiecat. You'll be fine. I think it is actually better to be a little more flexible when you have such young children. We went this summer with our 3 yo and 1 yo. Except for wanting to get into MK Fantasyland early one morning, I didn't really have an itinerary. It was more like: on Tuesday we'll go to MGM or Epcot. I'm not sure which chart you are talking about, but some of the guidebooks are already outdated. There is a new 2004 Unofficial Guide that has good touring plans, plus they have a great chapter on WDW with kids. It also gives you some ideas on what attractions are appropriate for your kids.

Now I will say that it's a good idea to decide what attractions you are going to do when you get to the different parks. You just can't do everything. You also might want to read up on Epcot's WS. I didn't and there are a lot of hidden things that really appeal to little ones.

Also follow the common advice: go early and take an afternoon break, and STAY AWAY FROM MK ON SATURDAY. Make good use of Fastpass, too. Many(if not all) Fastpass rides give out child watcher passes. When Dad and 6 yo turn in your fastpasses, tell them you will need a childwatcher pass. They will give you the CW pass plus another fastpass back. Then Mom and 6 yo go on the ride again through fastpass when the first riders are finished.

The two older kids will have many attractions that they want to do, so sit down with them in advance and make a list of what they want to do. Also make a few PS's for character meals, and plan around that a little. No matter how much you plan, it will change, but you'll have a great time. Stop and smell the roses!

 

[lentesta]

Okay Swilphil, you've got me. What's a "child watcher" pass and how does it work? Is it tied to FASTPASS somehow? Does anyone have a photo or image of one?

Thanks,

Len

 

[swilphil]

Wow, Len. Do I get a prize for stumping the expert?

We were there two months ago and received child watcher passes on Tower of Terror, Rock N' Roller Coaster, and I think on BTMR at MK. I wasn't "in charge" of the Fastpasses, so I'm not totally sure. Perhaps they only give the Child Watcher passes when there's a height restriction.

We got Fastpasses for our whole group. While 1 adult stayed with our two toddlers, 1 adult and two older children went through the Fastpass line and told the CM taking the passes that we needed a Child Watcher pass. The CM gave us back at least 1 fastpass and a pass that looked like the Fastpass, but it said Child Watcher Pass on it. Then when we were done with the ride, the other adult and at least one child got to go on the ride again.

The CW pass was the same size as the Fastpass with the same kind of typeface on it. I do remember it saying at the bottom of the pass something about 3 people maximum could use the pass. I don't know if that means if there are more than 3 people you can't have one, or if up to 3 people can use it when you come back through. On at least two occassions when we used the CW pass, we received two fastpasses back so both older kids could ride twice. On RnR we only received 1 fastpass back.

I found this system much preferable to the traditional baby swap because my 3 year old has a hard enough time waiting in line for the rides he can go on. There's no way he'll wait while mom and dad go on rides without him. We were able to take DS somewhere where he could play, have a snack, etc. I was somewhat concerned that others may abuse the system, and say they falsely needed child watcher pass just so they could go through the fastpass line twice.

Let me know if you have anymore questions.

 

[lentesta]

Hey swilphil,

Thanks very much. If I understand it correctly, the benefit is that it allows both parents to ride the same attraction separately, with up to 2 kids, without having to get additional FPs for the kids for the second ride. That way, it seems, neither parent has to miss out on the ride experience with either child. That's the main benefit, right?

Once we confirm this with Media Relations, swilphil, I'll be happy to give you credit for this when we post the Guide update to the website. And some lavish praise. How's that sound?

Thanks again.

Len

 

[minivan3]

Hasn't this always been called the "child-swap" pass? We were able to do this last summer.

 

[swilphil]

Len--I think that's the advantage of it. Thanks for the lavish praise. I can always use some of that.

 

[kbhehl]

Yeah, we used them in May and ended up getting more total rides than we would have without our 2 yr.old DD (whom we thought would slow the touring plans down--silly us!)

 

[michygoomy]

Yeah, we used them in May and ended up getting more total rides than we would have without our 2 yr.old DD

Ha! I kinda miss having little ones (or grandmother-in-law in a wheelchair, but that's another thing) this time. Our first experience on TT was a last-minute, unplanned stop at Epcot and we flew right through using a combo of the single-rider lane and child-swapping. This trip, with the four of us going, we still had a wait with FP.

Do you think they would frown on baby-swap with a 10-year-old? He's the one that doesn't like the wild rides, but I didn't do it because I thought it might be embarrasing for him.

 

[kbhehl]

Originally posted by michygoomy


Do you think they would frown on baby-swap with a 10-year-old? He's the one that doesn't like the wild rides, but I didn't do it because I thought it might be embarrasing for him.

Well, we did that on the Dinosaur ride, ToT, and RR because we have a "cautious" 9 yr. old (female). But come to think of it, I don't recall whether we got extra child swap passes because of her. I think we just got the passes because one adult sat out with her and the 2 yr old each time.

Maybe you could bribe him with sugar! That's more plentiful than pixie dust in WDW!

 

[Brodiecat]

We will arrive about noon on a Saturday and will check out the following Sunday AM. We have 5 day hoppers with the Armed Forces Salute. We will stay at WL and will have a vehicle. Thanks for your help>

 

[heart4dis]

I'd say, take advantage of Early Entry days (I think they are still going on...). I have an Oct 2002 listing: Sun.--MK; Mon.--AK; Tue.--MGM; Wed.--Epcot; Thur.--MK; Fri.--AK; Sat.--MGM. If those are still correct, go by that and go early.

If you don't want to go early (or for other readers of this thread who are not staying on-site), I pieced together the following info.:

Per a CM, the slowest day for ANY park is Sunday. Slowest for MK is Wed, Epcot's slowest day is Monday and MGM is also Monday. Busiest day for Epcot is Tues, MGM is Tue/Wed and MK is Mon/Fri/Sat.

Per touingplans.com (unofficial guide) in the Fall, do MK on Wed/Fri, Epcot Sat/Sun, MGM Thur/Fri, AK T/TH/Sat.

Again the latter info is if you can't take advantage of EE.

I agree you don't want to overplan w/young children, but knowing which park on which day is NOT overplanning! At least have a plan for that! Then have a "top 3" or "top 5" attraction list you want to do and go from there.

 

[kbhehl]

I so dislike to start a debate, but before you get sold on Early Entry, you should check out the thresad on this same forum entitled "AK Extra Magic Hour Observations". (Sorry, I don't know how to do the thing where you can just click on the address that takes you right to the thread.) The date was Aug. 26, author Pugsley, but it is still on the first page of posts tonight.
Made me think there's no way I'd do EMH--too crowded!

 

[Brodiecat]

Thanks for the replies.

No need to worry about EE as we do not do it. I don't like to wait to get in the parks. We went three years ago and some days we did not get to the park until 10am. Missing some things does not bother me. We have young children and it takes then time to absorb and enjoy. We will likely go back again next year and catch the things we missed thi strip.