Help planning WDW trip with 1st timers!

[Ducky4Disney]

On our next WDW trip I will be taking my father with me and he has never been to WDW! He is a BIG KID and I know he will like a lot of it, but I'm am trying not to cram too much into the trip.

He will be with us 12/5-12/11 which I know is plenty of time, but I feel like I'm playing "hostess" and I need to show him EVERYTHING! We are doing MVMCP on 12/7 and I think I will make a couple of PS's, but what else should I do? I am interested in doing some out-of-park stuff like the Luau at the Poly, Hoop, or a sleigh ride at WL. But I also want to do things like a park tour and maybe Fantasmic.

Help! How much is too much?

How's this:
1> MVMCP
2> A park tour
3> Luau (or Hoop)
4> A character meal (or two) (Donald's Breakfastsaurus and Garden Grill)
5> A couple PS's (like the Biergarten for lunch and something else)

I usually plan my PS's pretty loosely. We are going WAY off season so we don't have a lot of problems making our PS's the day before we want them (then again, we're not asking for Cindy's breakfast!).

MVMCP is at night, park tours are daytime things, the Luau is a night thig, one character breakfast, one character dinner, and then couple of PS meals.

That doesn't sound too bad? Does it?

D4D

PS - What about a cruise? I need to call for one of those now if we want one - are they worth it?

 

[kilee]

Don't plan too much. In the last year I have taken 2 trips where we brought along "newbies". Well, both groups had fun-- but both said they felt overwhelmed. When you've been there so many times, it's hard to remember what that first trip was like. (For us it was disaster--- too much planned w/ too little knowledge).

Anyhow, feel out your guest and see what he wants to do. I think MVMCP sounds great, as well as making a few PS's. The park tours and dinner shows really depend on how much "park time" the person wants. It will be hard to fit everything into 6 days. Schedule the "must do's" and go from there.

 

[Ducky4Disney]

And keep the tips coming!

When I went over this with my DH he also reminded me what kind of person my Dad is, and that I shouldn't overwhelm him. MVMCP and a few PS's should do it. You are absolutely right Kilee, this is NOT my frist trip and I need to remember where I was back then. We'll play some of it by ear while we're there.

Keep the "help-I'm-bringing-newbies" tips coming!

D4D

 

[Eeyore2003]

I learned quite a bit about taking first timers in July when I went with my brother and family. I planned allot and we got allot done. We didn't get everything done on my list. We went early, took really nice breaks and went to nice meals and night time shows. I think everyone felt very relaxed.

The biggest thing I learned is that it doesn't matter what you're doing, just so you're having fun. You are feeling just like I did at first. You just WANT to show them EVERYTHING because you know there's so many fun things to do, BUT you have to make your priorities. Decide what you're MUST do's are and specifically plan them in, jot down your "if you have times" and pencil that in, and put the rest out of your mind. Unhappy people do not make happy memories, and that's your bottom line.

I learned that the most important thing for me to be doing at "this" moment, is NOT worrying about rushing to get in the next ride that "I" think no one should miss. I needed to put MY plans on hold to let my 7 year old neice get that signature from "Baloo". As long as we were having fun, who cares.

 

[Eeyore2003]

I should also add, only YOU know what they're missing!!! Keep that in mind. THEY are having a wonderful time and have no idea "what else" there is. My special gift at that vacation was being able to see it all for the first time again through their eyes. We take it all so much for granted and seeing it all again for the first time...................pure magic!!! ENJOY!!!

 

[mickeysaver]

Originally posted by Ducky4Disney
We are doing MVMCP on 12/7 and I think I will make a couple of PS's, but what else should I do?

Well, you took the first step, you asked for help in the right spot. Now, relax.....you seem a little more wound up than this guy.

I am interested in doing some out-of-park stuff like the Luau at the Poly, Hoop, or a sleigh ride at WL. But I also want to do things like a park tour and maybe Fantasmic.

Help! How much is too much?

Ok, I can say that we did a carriage ride at FW on our 9/02 trip and loved it, so the Sleigh Ride at WL might be something fun to try one night. I don't know that I would do the Luau or Hoop. We found plenty of stuff to do at night in December last year to keep us busy and we didn't even have the Osborne Lights.

How's this:
1> MVMCP
2> A park tour
3> Luau (or Hoop)
4> A character meal (or two) (Donald's Breakfastsaurus and Garden Grill)
5> A couple PS's (like the Biergarten for lunch and something else)

1. MVMCP is a 100% must do! I encourage you to plan it for a Sunday or a Tuesday. If you go on a Friday the locals have the place so packed that you lose a little of what makes it so great.....the freedom to do almost any ride at MK without a wait. The shows are cute too. I also suggest that if you have the means, go to two MVMCP's. We did and it was pure magic.

2. A Park Tour.....many times, these are pixie dust killers. They are also expensive. I would think that a first time visitor would not appreciate the experience as much as a veteran. I still haven't gotten to the point where I want to do a tour, I still want my magic to stay fresh and unexplained. lol

3. Luau or Hoop....well, I really have thought about doing these and I almost did the Mickey's Backyard BBQ last year. I decided against it. Main reason being that it was too cold and too expensive and without kids in tow, it made no sense to us to do any of these. So, we opted for some more reasonable meals and more goodies to bring home.

4. Character meals.....ya' gotta love them. Certainly do at least one. Maybe even consider doing the Ice Cream Social as a nice mid-day break at Epcot. We really enjoyed the Ice Cream Social back in 9/02. It was massive pixie dust and character interaction for a great price. Oh...and the ice cream was good too.

5. A couple of must do PS's are certainly ok. We made several PS's before we left, but found that we only used 2 or 3 in the end. We were thoughtful enough to cancel at least a day in advance on the ones that we did not use. Luckily, it was so uncrowded until the Friday before Christmas last year, PS's were no necessary for most meals.

MVMCP is at night, park tours are daytime things, the Luau is a night thig, one character breakfast, one character dinner, and then couple of PS meals.

That doesn't sound too bad? Does it?

D4D

PS - What about a cruise? I need to call for one of those now if we want one - are they worth it?

I am afraid that I can't offer much info on a cruise. I had one planned last year that I had even gathered others to join us on and at the last minute, we cancelled it. I felt like whale slime, but it just wasn't in the cards for us to do last year.

One other suggestion....I have no idea if you are interested in Candlelight Processional. It was nice, but I was really glad that we did the dinner package deal that night. The lines for this are just nuts. So, if you have any desire to go to CP, do the dinner package that way you know that you will get to see it.

At Epcot, don't forget to check out all the holiday storytellers at all the pavillions. They looked really neat last year, but we rarely had the right timing to catch all their shows. We did however catch Imaginum many times and enjoyed their shows immensely.

Oh, don't forget to take the time to check out the character trees at Camp Minnie Mickey. They were too cute last year. I really wanted to take them all home for our yard, but somebody said no.

Anyway, there are so many wonderful things to do at WDW during any season that a newbie particuarly would enjoy, but during holiday season, it's just extra sweet. Have fun and remember you can't do it all in one trip. Relax and enjoy. Maggie

 

[jordgubben]

The tours are great. I think you appreciate the little things even more after having them pointed out. Our honeymoon was the first trip for my husband (big risk right?) and I planned the tour for the second to last day so that he would get to experience things on his own first. After the tour we agreed that in the future we would do them in the first part of our trip so that we could spend the rest of our trip looking for things on our own and truly appreciating the stuff that they told us on the tour.