Help with first visit to Disney World

[Mortlives]

When last I was there, kids could make masks at Epcot. But DS is a little old for that, so perhaps someone else could fill you in on the details? There's also kids clubs, which apparently have arts and crafts, and will keep your kids in the evening while you enjoy an adults' night out.

Kungaloosh!
Mort.

 

[GeekChic]

oops sorry I missed the ages in your first post!

Hmmm...I have heard about some hands-on type activities at the Wilderness Lodge; one time they had little craft projects going on in the gift shop at the Grand Floridian, but there are more in-depth kids programs at WDW like the little chef's thing they do at the GF (we had a crew of miniature chefs bring us cute, but questionable looking chocolate pudding with gummy worms as we dined in the restaurant one day on our last trip LOL)

There is also the Pirate Cruise that your DS may like (no adults, drat!) and then there are the masks in Epcot which they were still doing last fall when we were there. There are pony rides at Fort Wilderness and a petting zoo too.

Fort Wildnerness

I think they do some little craft type things at the Disney Neverland Club (babysitting service at the Polynesian) if you and your wife wanted to take in the luau or something that may be fun for the lil ones.

I think you definitely with kids of that age, being that you'll be going in the heat, need to have ease of transportation as a factor in choosing your resort, in that heat, with two small kids, you will want to be able to get back to the hotel for that all-important mid-day break.

for more info on kids programs at WDW you can visit here on their website:

Disney Kids Recreation Programs

happy planning!
geek

 

[lap3]

Originally posted by GeekChic
oops sorry I missed the ages in your first post!

Hmmm...I have heard about some hands-on type activities at the Wilderness Lodge; one time they had little craft projects going on in the gift shop at the Grand Floridian, but there are more in-depth kids programs at WDW like the little chef's thing they do at the GF (we had a crew of miniature chefs bring us cute, but questionable looking chocolate pudding with gummy worms as we dined in the restaurant one day on our last trip LOL)

There is also the Pirate Cruise that your DS may like (no adults, drat!) and then there are the masks in Epcot which they were still doing last fall when we were there. There are pony rides at Fort Wilderness and a petting zoo too.

Fort Wildnerness

I think they do some little craft type things at the Disney Neverland Club (babysitting service at the Polynesian) if you and your wife wanted to take in the luau or something that may be fun for the lil ones.

I think you definitely with kids of that age, being that you'll be going in the heat, need to have ease of transportation as a factor in choosing your resort, in that heat, with two small kids, you will want to be able to get back to the hotel for that all-important mid-day break.

for more info on kids programs at WDW you can visit here on their website:

Disney Kids Recreation Programs

happy planning!
geek

Once again, thanks Geekchic for your tremendous input. You, and maybe the rest of you, are probably getting tired of replying to my posts but I sincerely value them greatly! They are helping out tremendously! Anyways, what was it about the chocolate pudding that you found "questionable"? Hmmm... It sounds like there's plenty of children's activities for them to do. Going back to the ease of transportation, for some reason, I have my heart set on the CS resort. I read that they provide shuttle to the parks and other hotels by bus. Do you think this is ok to do during the time we're going or is one of the hotels that have the monorail system a better choice? I'll be honest with you and it's something I didn't mention. We planned on spending anywhere from $7k-$8k for this trip. So, it's not that I've got loads of money but we've been saving quite a while for this trip. We want to be able to enjoy everything about WDW but also spend some time in the hotel. With that being said, yes, I would love to save money wherever possible. However, I always don't want to cut corners at the expense of the enjoyment of our trip, does this make sense? Hopefully you know where I'm coming from and this will help you with what I'm trying to accomplish....

 

[Mortlives]

Wow, that kind of cash gives you lots of room to play with! You might want to consider Yacht or Beach, for Storm Along Bay. Not to mention being able to walk to Epcot, Boardwalk and MGM. Check mousesavers for specials and codes closer to your time when going. Of course, the only drawback to staying in a deluxe first time is that that can set the bar for your kids (and you). So, if you were to decide you wanted to come back next year, but could only afford value, your kids might feel disappointed. Something to consider, anyway.

Or, if you wanted monorail, the CR should be within reach, and I've heard good things about it and its pool. Even if you do decide CS, and I would recommend spending time on the trip reports board and seeing if that's the experience you want or if something else sounds better, you will probably be fine with UPHs. They're not that much more expensive, and you do get the worry free nature of not having to remember how many of whatever you have left. The other thing is that they frequently offer discounted stays (5+2 or last year's 4+3), which actually makes a UPH stay more cost effective. I did UPH's last time, and I wouldn't go back to individual tickets, although YMMV.

Kungaloosh!
Mort.

 

[susy]

If you can stand anymore advice.... I live in FL and you really need to consider the weather. Sweltering comes to mind...daily afternoon thunderstorms...

If at all possible I would upgrade to the Wildreness Lodge. It is a compact resort with lots of activities, you can get food without getting soaked (if it's pouring), you have a boat to the Magic Kingdom , Ft Wilderness, and the Contemporary Resort (Chef Mickey's).

My personal tip to get "ahead" of the crowds- book a character breakfast in the parks one hour before they open (8am). You'll have to book 90 days out. At the Mk , you can dine with Pooh and friends or the Princesses (hard to get, but we'll help you with that one), at the AK, you can eat with Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Pluto, and at Epcot there are Princesses as well. We are usually done with breakfsat before the park opens. This would not work well on an EE day, though.

If you haven't been directed there already, go to allearsnet.com and read the whole website!

Oh, both of your kids will need strollers ( or a double)-I believe you can rent them on the first day for the whole week, so you don't have to stand in line at each park to pay and you'll need to take an afternnon break at your hotel for swimming and naps-trust me on this one. When that thunder starts-it puts you right to sleep.

 

[GeekChic]

Not tired at all Lap! i love to help people with info esp. first timers

Mort and Suzy have given you great advice here: I would def. recommend that if you can get your heart off of CS (check the reports boards for more info on that, I haven't stayed there but I know it's a huge convention center and may not be what you're looking for for family atmosphere...) then do consider the WL or a monorail hotel. with that kind of budget you can do a lot!

The 'questionable' with the pudding was just wondering how many little hands were actually in it before they offered it to us LOL. Some of the kids had considerable amounts of chocolate on their aprons. We thanked them profusely, and told them that we were saving the pudding till dessert LOL. they skipped off happily, boy were they cute in their little chef's hats. They seemed to be having a ball.

Again, def. consider ease of transportation, a good point is made by suzy about the rain and WL would be a great option for your family...right now I'm trying to convince my in laws to stay there (they don't want to spend on a monorail hotel) because it will be their first time staying on property and the WL is such a gorgeous hotel.

keep those questions coming!

geek

 

[susy]

The only reason I mentioned the rain thing is that we stayed at Pop Century for two nights in January. We left Epcot around 3pm because our son wasn't feeling well and it was raining steadily...drip...drip...drip... by the time we got to our room it was pouring. At dinner time we were hungry, but it was still pouring!!! DH had to brave all to get our food at the food court and bring it back to us. That was it-we were stuck in the room all evening. I kept thinking that if we were at our beloved lodge, we could have salvaged our evening by going downstairs to eat, walk around the gift shop and enjoy the lodge.

I can't imagine this on a longer trip when it rains everyday (as it does in the summer).

I do love CSR- my favorite moderate, but WL wins hands down!

 

[SpecialK]

Had the same problem with staying at the Poly last June. As much as we loved the resort, we got pretty tired of having to go out in the rain just to get to the lobby. I'm leaning toward the WL for the next trip but DS has his heart set on the Contemporary. Good point to consider with little ones.

 

[PrincessCandaceMarie]

Have a fun and safe trip~! Happy Planning!!

PrincessCandaceMarie

 

[lap3]

Now, I'm a bit concerned. Am I budgeting too much into this trip? I want us to have a good time but then I don't want to shell out anymore money than we need to. Please tell me what is an average all of you have been spending. I know this varies greatly from the time you go, where you stay, where you eat, but at least this gives me something to go by. Thanks Susy for the tip about the character dining. I can see these places getting filled up really quick.

 

[Mortlives]

I wouldn't say you were budgeting too much. People have spent more. Not us, though, we can't afford it, mostly because we travel too often. But, if you have the cash, it certainly won't hurt to plan on spending that much. Even if you stay in Y&B or the CR, you still should have a comfortable cushion of money that you can do what you want, and end up with money left over. And that's no bad thing.

The most I ever spent on a WDW trip, staying in a moderate, including stupidly high air fare, was less than $8000 CDN. At the time, $1US was $1.67CDN. That was for 10 days. Remember that the major part of the trip is airfare, accomodation and park admission. Once that's paid for, food, souvenirs and incidentals are all that's left, and you can budget them according to your means. I would say you could get by on $100US a day, although you could easily spend a lot more if you wanted to.

Kungaloosh!
Mort.

edited to correct freudian slip typo (buy for by)

 

[michmouse]

We (family of 7: DH, myself, DDs 4 & 6, DSs both 2, and my mother) are going to WDW and are staying WL in December (2 rooms) for 4 nights/5 days. Our entire trip, including airfair, tickets, rooms, food, etc., will run us about $5000-$5500. I budget alot for the food portion of our trips, my DH and I love to eat out, so we budget $120-$150 per night for dinners. My 2 year olds can eat free at buffets and share the kids meals with my girls or eat off my plate. We found that the kids portions were large and my girls could even share. We will do either a characher breakfast or sit down breakfast every morning, and eat a light snack in the afternoons before a big dinner.

 

[GeekChic]

yes, it all depends on the level of accomodations you require to make your stay a happy one, how many sit down meals a day you eat, and how many days you plan to spend in the parks (which pass you buy)

Also, you can plan to spend more for the a trip with the same exact room/etc. if you're going during regular and not value season.

So it varies a lot. I'd think that for a family of four for a week long vacation in a deluxe hotel, that 6-7k is not out of the question for what you can spend.

Now, for my family for this slap-together-planned-in-no-time-flat with mega discounts, this is what our budget looks like without food involved:

This is figured for 3 adults 1 child age 8 (my dad has an AP so no park admission has to be paid for him)

Discounted room rate for CR wing standard view room, 6 nights (incl. 25 per night extra adult fee 1231.00
airfare for three (my ticket was free with a voucher) REALLy low rate : 408.00

Park passes: 2 adult 1 child 5 day hoppers ordered in advance online with Will Call pick up (no shipping fees) approx. 685.00

Ground trans towncar through mears, round trip for 4 to Magic Kingdom Resort (includes 10.00 extra 'gate fee' for a MK resort) 130.00

so our budget for a six night, seven day trip from MI to WDW in September (value Season) before any food is figured in is: $2454.00

of course my dad says he wants to kick in some for the hotel room so our actual mileage may vary LOL.

Now, to book the exact same room at the CR in regular or prime season...WAYYY more expensive. So to go in the summer you're gonna usually pay more (unless you can get a discount rate at the last minute like they gave out for august this year).

so bottom line? you could very well end up spending 8k if you WANT to but you don't necessarily have to.

Read these boards, look at Mousesavers.com and keep your eyes peeled for discount rates on airfare and rooms...and book the best deal you can get.

this is why i plan trips at the last minute, cause we can get a much cheaper price on a trip that at another time of the year would cost us a lot more.

hope that helps and doesn't confuse you more! LOL
keep those questions coming and have a great day!

geek

 

[lap3]

Our family loves to eat but I've been known to pass up some meals for a hearty dinner. So, that'll save some money there. However, I'm sure we'll be dining at some life fare restaurants for lunch as well as a couple of nice sit-down restaurants for dinner for a few of the days. I'll have to keep checking these boards frequently for any deals that come my way as well as on mousesavers.com, too! Thanks for the tips everyone! I'm sure they've been covered here before but I appreciate that you spent the time to chime in with your suggestions. I'll have more questions for you, I'm sure!