Hi! My family is planning our first Disney World trip for March 2012. I'm so excited!
We have a group of 13 going (My Mom, Dad, Sister, BIL, nephew (12), Sister, BIL, nephew(10), niece(5), Me, DH, DD(18mo), DS(3) ) We will be there 3 nights and 3 days are all getting our own rooms and are reserved at the All Star Movie resort and have the dining plan... we have a lady from the 'Glass slipper consierge' planning our itinerary, but we know where our sit-down meals will be each day we will be there. (Coral Reef, Tusker house with characters!, and Rainforest Cafe)
Just thought I'd join to get some good tips and see what this trip is going to be about. I can't wait!
I don't usually recommend the hopper ticket option to people who are new to touring Disney, you don't need it. I do recommend at least 5 park days for a first visit - 2 days MK, 1 day Epcot, 1 day Ak and 1 day DHS. If you absolutely can't stay more than 3 days, I would get the hopper so you can do 1 day MK, 1 day Epcot and 1/2 day AK and 1/2 day DHS. If you are staying on-site, you don't really need your car, the Disney transporation is good, especially with it being your first time and not being familiar with Disney property.
Pick up a copy of The Unoffical Guide to Walt Disney World and check out their companion website,
www.touringplans.com. I use their crowd/best days calendar to plan all our park days and then once I know which park we will be in on which days I can make my Advance Dining Reservations around those parks or in resorts close to those parks. I highly recommend the Basic
Disney Dining Plan if your party is going to eat at least one sit down/table service/character meal per day. ADRs open up 180 days before your check-in date.
These are tips I give to anyone new to touring WDW:
1. Make sure you have Advance Dining Reservations as a lot of table service restaurants do not take walk-ups or busy crowd seasons or during free dining promos. There are a number of free dining dates in March and the last three weeks of March are considered Spring Break season, so I would get on the WDW dining site and try to see what availability they have. A number of the character meals and popular restauratants will already be booked up or have limited availability.
2. Get to the parks at opening. You really can get a lot done in the morning because so many other people sleep in.
3. Eat lunch around 11:00 or 11:30 a.m. before the fast food places get busy. Then when while everyone else is eating lunch, you will have lower crowds.
4. I buy a ton of the two for a dollar ponchos at the dollar store and keep them in the backpack. That way you can throw them a way after use and not worry about keeping up with a wet bulky poncho the rest of the day. Bring throw away ponchos to wear on Kali River Rapids at Animal Kingdom, if not you WILL get soaked.
5. Other things I put in the backpack each morning are Tylenol/Motrin, small first aid kit, camera with extra batteries, small hand towel, hand sanitizer, wipes and a bottle of water.
6. Most single service items under $4.00 are considered a snack credit on the dining plan. A Turkey Leg is NOT a snack credit.
7. At Magic Kingdom always head to Fantasyland first, if you are not doing Fantasyland on a particular day then head to Splash Mountain first, then Big Thunder Mountain; at Epcot always ride Soarin' first and get a Fastpass for later after you get off of the ride; at Disney Hollywood Studios always ride Toy Story Mania first, then head over to Rockin' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror; and at Animal Kingdom ride Expedition Everest First then head to the Safari.
8. Favorite fast food restaurants at MK are Pecos Bills and Cosmic Rays; favorite fast food at Animal Kingdom is Flame Tree Grill and Pizzafari. If you are there while it very hot, go to Pizzafari.
9. If there are two lines going into an attraction, always take the line that goes to the left.
10. My best tip would have to be USE THE FASTPASS SYSTEM. Our rule of thumb is if the wait is 25 minutes or less, we wait in line. If the wait is 30 minutes or more, use a Fastpass. It is not highly publicized, but your Fastpass does not expire until the end of the day. You can never use it before the return time stamp on the pass, but you can always use it after. We try to collect Fastpasses during the early part of the day and then use them later in the afternoon when the parks become more crowded.
Click on this link and it will give you an excellent overview of Fastpass. It is from Doconeil here on the Disboards and super helpful:
http://www.oinc.net/disney/fastpass.php
If you still don't understand, just let me know your specific questions.
11. I like the Photopass. You can pre-buy it before your trip for $99.00. When you enter the parks you will see the staff photographers, they will take your pictures and give you a Photopass and you can use that for the rest of your trip. Each time you see a photographer have them take your picture and they will scan your picture. Then when you get home you can pull up the pictures, with the code they email you after purchase, and pick the photos you want on a CD. They will then mail you the CD and the copyrights to the CD and you can take them to
Walmart or Walgreens or wherever and get them developed. They also have a lot of cool software that you can use to edit your photos before you have them put on the CD.
My favorite Disney planning sites are:
www.disboards.com
www.allearsnet.com
www.wdwinfo.com
www.intercot.com
