HELP! Im gonna need a lot of it. An Aussies family's first trip to WDW

[PrincessInOz]

Hi Simone...glad to see you're making the most of the great exchange rate. You should be able to get your WDW tickets this far out in advance. Your DU TA should be able to get this for you or you could try Undercover Tourist.

I don't know about the other theme parks...but I would imagine that the same is possible?

We went with Alamo car rental the last time. Their prices were good for Florida compare to the others.

 

[Mum from oz]

Well I ordered my tickets on Monday for WDW and US/IOA from Undercover Tourist......And they arrived TODAY!

It was so exciting to hold them in my hot little hands! Wow, things are becoming so real now

That is all!

Oh and thanks PIO will check out Alamo.

 

[Mum from oz]

We have now received a little cruise packet with some info on DCL. It is our first piece of mail from Disney, Ahh the "officialness" of it! hahaha!

 

[Mum from oz]

Well tonight is the night. At 10:00pm I can call and make my first ressie!

But first I want you to go over my ADR list/Itinerary so far. We are not on any dining plan as we are staying off site But we are ok with that

We are all naturally early risers....... ok since having my early rising children we are now early risers (6:30am is a sleep in)

Anyway here it is:

3rd May: First full day in Orlando
Groceries, DTD, Spend the day getting over jet lag

4th May: Magic Kingdom
ADR - Breakfast @ CRT
GOT IT! 8:10am

5th May: Epcot
ADR - Lunch @ Les Chefs De France
GOT IT! 1:30pm

6th May: Disney Hollywood Studios
No ADR

7th May: Shopping/Swimming/Relaxing
No ADR

8th May: Animal Kingdom
ADR - Breakfast @ Tusker House
GOT IT! 8:25am

9th May: Seaworld

10th May: US/IOA/WWHP

11th May: US/IOA/WWHP

12th May: Shopping/Swimming/Relaxing

13th May: Magic Kingdom/DTD
ADR's Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique/Pirates League and Dinner @ T-Rex
GOT IT! BBB 8:50am / PL 11:00am / T-Rex 4:00pm

14th May: Animal Kingdom
ADR: Dinner @ Ohanas
GOT IT! 7:05pm

15th May: Disney Hollywood Studios
ADR - Lunch @ Hollywood & Vine
GOT IT! 12:40pm

16th May: Epcot
No ADR

17th May: Magic Kingdom
Crystal Palace
GOT IT! 8:25am

18th May: Kennedy Space Centre

19th May: Board Disney Dream

So I've basically made one ADR for a table service in each park, plus a resort and DTD. Let me know your thoughts.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Hey Simone. ADR plans are looking good.

My only comment is around the ADR for OHanas. Where will you be shopping/swimming/relaxing on that day?

It's just that if you are off-site, coming in for the dinner at OHana's without planning on being at a park might mean that you pay for the parking on that day. Is there a possibility of moving this to another day e.g., when you're at MK or Epcot? You could then use the monorail to get to Polynesian for your ADR. Alternatively, I'd be tempted to try for the 14th, when you have AK planned. AK usually closes a lot earlier than the other parks so that the animals can bed down for the night.

 

[Mum from oz]

I never really thought of that! I will take you expert advice and change Ohanas to 14th May after Animal Kingdom! Thanks

 

[Mum from oz]

I was thinking of doing Pirates League for DS, any ideas on when to fit it into my schedule?

3rd May: First full day in Orlando
Groceries, DTD, Spend the day getting over jet lag

4th May: Magic Kingdom
ADR - Breakfast @ CRT
GOT IT! 8:10am

5th May: Epcot
ADR - Lunch @ Les Chefs De France

6th May: Disney Hollywood Studios
No ADR

7th May: Shopping/Swimming/Relaxing
No ADR

8th May: Animal Kingdom
ADR - Breakfast @ Tusker House

9th May: Seaworld

10th May: US/IOA/WWHP

11th May: US/IOA/WWHP

12th May: Shopping/Swimming/Relaxing
ADR: Dinner @ Ohanas

13th May: Magic Kingdom/DTD
ADR's Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and Dinner @ T-Rex

14th May: Animal Kingdom
No ADR

15th May: Disney Hollywood Studios
ADR - Lunch @ Sci-Fi

16th May: Epcot
No ADR

17th May: Magic Kingdom
No ADR

18th May: Kennedy Space Centre

19th May: Board Disney Dream

 

[jmskinner]

Your title caught me and just thought I would join in here. How exciting!!! One of my favorite things about visiting the parks now is experiencing through first time visitors eyes. Love sitting next to people for their first time on a ride.

Your kids are too cute!

I don't fly much, but I wouldn't be surprised if you had more changes before your trip. Hopefully for the better.

That is a great idea about booking Ohana on AK day, just make sure if AK does close early, you have dinner early enough to catch a bus back to the AK parking lot. Think they run up to 2 hours after park closing. But by May, I would think they were open until 8:00pm, haven't checked though.

As far as Pirate League, of course it will have to be a Magic Kingdom day. Is your reservation for BBB in MK? Thought if it was you could split up and have each child done at the same time. Think it would be cute if they saw each other made up at the same time. Would make for some cute Photopass pics.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Hey Simone - Hoping that you're going to get the rest of your ADRs.

Yes, Pirate's League would be best on a MK day. jmskinner has a good suggestion to book in on the same day as BBB. It just depends on whether you and DH want to split up with the kids and meet up when they are done. In any event, your son may get bored waiting at BBB; and will probably want to do something different after a while, so it's probably worth thinking about it. The problem is that you won't be able to see both kids transform.

The alternative is to book in for the 17th May?

 

[Mum from oz]

Your title caught me and just thought I would join in here. How exciting!!! One of my favorite things about visiting the parks now is experiencing through first time visitors eyes. Love sitting next to people for their first time on a ride.

Your kids are too cute!

I don't fly much, but I wouldn't be surprised if you had more changes before your trip. Hopefully for the better.

That is a great idea about booking Ohana on AK day, just make sure if AK does close early, you have dinner early enough to catch a bus back to the AK parking lot. Think they run up to 2 hours after park closing. But by May, I would think they were open until 8:00pm, haven't checked though.

As far as Pirate League, of course it will have to be a Magic Kingdom day. Is your reservation for BBB in MK? Thought if it was you could split up and have each child done at the same time. Think it would be cute if they saw each other made up at the same time. Would make for some cute Photopass pics.

Thank you for stopping by!

 

[Mum from oz]

Well I just about have all my ADR's. I booked most online but had to ring for CRT and BBB and Pirates League. Just have Ohana's and Sci-Fi which I can do online.

I am still deciding whether to do Hollywood & Vine seeing both the kiddos are big Playhouse Disney fans. Has anyone done it and like it a lot? I have heard Oso is there now and my kids like watching it. Hmmm.

 

[PrincessInOz]

I haven't done H&V; but if your kids are big Playhouse Disney fans, then it probably would be cool for them to meet the characters.

 

[Mum from oz]

So I am pretty sure I have the WDW/Orlando portion of my holiday but that is only half of it. I still have to do some planning for the cruise and plan out week in Anaheim.

So the cruise..... What excursions if any do you recommend at Nassau? Keep in mind we will have the two little ones.

 

[Jade+3]

We did not do any excursions in Nassau. My kids were 4, 3 and a baby. We got off the ship and went for a walk around the stores for a couple of hours. It was so hot, so we ended up going back to the ship, which was great. There were not that many people on board so it was nice to enjoy the pool without crowds. To be honest, I did not think much of what I saw of Nassau.

 

[Mum from oz]

Thanks Jade I think we may just do that. Get off, have a little wander around maybe check out the markets then go back on board.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Simone - I just came back here to check your proposed itinerary after hanging out on the Aussie section.

If you are thinking about adding 3 days to the start your trip and haven't booked your long haul yet, you might like to think about 3 days in San Francisco. You could take your kids on a cable car ride, catch a ferry to Sausalito; go check out the Walt Disney Family museum (I haven't done this one yet either)....

If you have your long haul organised (I think you might already have this), you could look to spend the extra time in Florida. There are lots of other places to go to. The Atlantic ocean beaches are just gorgeous.

 

[QuirkyButterfly]

Joining in
Your children are so cute it looks like you are going to have a great time. I am sure that your daughter will love BBB. I am jealous that you get to go on the cruise, I would love to add that to the end of my trip. Maybe if I nag DBF for the next 8 months he will give in

 

[Mum from oz]

Joining in
Your children are so cute it looks like you are going to have a great time. I am sure that your daughter will love BBB. I am jealous that you get to go on the cruise, I would love to add that to the end of my trip. Maybe if I nag DBF for the next 8 months he will give in

Thanks for dropping by! I think DD will BBB too! She is now telling me she is going to dance with Cinderella.... We'll have to see about that!!

 

[Mum from oz]

Well I have to start thinking about all the other details for our trip. I thought I had the bulk sorted out, but when I think about it there is still so much to do.

* Check out the shows/parades etc for each park and work out what I want to see and when
* Check out the attractions at each park and work out which are on the hitlist! Must do's, Would like to do's and not that fussed on doing
* Work out if there is any shore excursions I want to do on the cruise and if I want to squeeze in Palo or not
* Buy/Make a Fish Extender for the cruise and buy all the gifts for everyone else's FE
* Rental Car in Florida and LA
* Accommodation for one night pre and post cruise
* Must do's in Los Angeles

I am thinking after 10 days in WDW 2 days in DL would suffice as we want to do Hollywood and more shopping/sightseeing. The main thing I want to see in DL is World of Colour. It looks amazing! Plus a friend just got back from there and said it is something you have to see.

It is hurting my head just thinking about it all. On the plus side my ticker is going down and now says 3 months 4 weeks!

 

[Jonesloonybin]

Jumping in!! I just found your PTR and wanted to join. We are going on our first WDW trip in May too! I can't believe we are under the 4 month mark now. When my oldest was 5 we took her to Disneyland and Legoland. Legoland was pretty cool. You son would especially like it. It is a little bit of a drive from LA but not too bad. We also did dinner at Medieval times dinner show. The kids might get a kick out of that.

Terri