Help with first visit to Disney World

[Mortlives]

Originally posted by lap3
After a while, this can be tiring so I can see taking a break during the week would be a welcome. That being said, if we purchased the UPH pass, would this be a waste of money? We'll be there for 7 days but I know at least one of those days will be used for a relax day.

I wouldn't consider it a waste of money. Part of what you're paying for is flexibility. So, if on your relax day, you wanted to do Disney Quest, or get a sitter for the kids and do Pleasure Island, those options are open to you. You could even decide to go to Epcot, just for dinner. Or you could do your Fantasmic package that day, without doing a formal park visit. Or nip over to a water park, and just laze on the "beach". The important thing on relax day is take it easy, and don't line up for anything.

Kungaloosh!
Mort.

 

[Eeyore2003]

Well, I guess the first decision is when to go and where to stay. After that you can work on the rest of the stuff at your leisure. I just had a vacation where I rented points from a DVC owner for OKW and now I'm doing the same for December at the BWV.

For about the price of a moderate room, you can get a studio with a kitchenette, including a fridge, microwave, toaster and coffee pot. We found OKW wonderful, but for more convenient locations to the parks, Wilderness Lodge Villa's would be near MK and Beach Club and Boardwalk are by EPCOT and MGM. For more money, of course, you can also rent a one bedroom with full kitchen etc.

This is just an optional suggestion. You could check into that on the DVC Rent/Trade board here at the DIS.

For rooms, I usually book them right away and then watch the boards for deals. Last year I booked Boardwalk Inn about 8 months in advance for rack rate and by the time we went in December I had found deals to take about $750.00 off that price by the time I went. AAA does give a deal too, but the Dream Maker Pkg. last year ended up being cheaper.

I do sit down with paper and pencil and figure out prices of packages vs. buying room/tickets separate etc.

A nice place to start is http://allearsnet.com/ , she has pictures, prices, info on deals, and also a little thing on renting points if you'd like to check that out. Look under "Accomodations" and there are links on the side of the page with facts and photos of all the resorts and their pools. Also, remember the prices she quotes are rack rate and usually SOME deal can be found along the way, even if it's AAA.

I guess that's where I always start. I get my room taken care of, at least, like I said, even booked for rack rate, then I move on to "details".

 

[SpecialK]

We did our first WDW trip with children - ages 6 and 8 - last June. We stayed at the Polynesian with the 7/4 deal and really came to appreciate the monorail and bus transportation. We knew it would be hot but didn't realize how our youngest would be affected by the heat. We ended up spending a lot more time at the resort and less time at the parks than we had anticipated. You may want to consider that when choosing a hotel. Also, I don't believe the moderate rooms have balconies. My husband and I enjoyed our alone time on the balcony after the kids went to bed.

We got a great rate on a pkg. so we had the UPHs. We didn't use any of the features except the basic park entry. We had planned on doing the mini-golf one evening but had to revise our plans for evening park visits to beat the heat. It takes more planning to get the park-hopper but that's what we're getting for our next trip. I didn't like feeling like we were "wasting" time if we weren't using it - too much pressure.

I did make a PS for a sit-down meal every day. We ended up cancelling/changing some but the basic framework was in place. We ate at least one sit-down meal per day. My kids LOVED the character breakfast at Chef Mickey's.

We were usually at the park at opening and back at the resort by noon for lunch and pool time. There's no way my kids could handle the afternoon heat at a park. Yours may be different but be prepared for the possibility. Went out again in the evening, sometimes only for dinner.

We, too, had hoped to see as much as possible and found that, with kids and heat, we had to go with the flow. We had a great time with what we did and we're currently planning a return trip next summer. We're staying longer and planning on resort days every other day.

I do enjoy the planning but I have learned to consider them to be tentative and just go with the flow. (Read: children's moods)

 

[lap3]

Originally posted by Eeyore2003
For about the price of a moderate room, you can get a studio with a kitchenette, including a fridge, microwave, toaster and coffee pot. We found OKW wonderful, but for more convenient locations to the parks, Wilderness Lodge Villa's would be near MK and Beach Club and Boardwalk are by EPCOT and MGM. For more money, of course, you can also rent a one bedroom with full kitchen etc.

Thanks, Eeyore. I would consider getting a room with a kitchenette, and there may be debates over this, but I don't want me or my wife to worry about cooking and cleaning while on vacation. Honestly, I don't know when the next time will be until we visit WDW after this trip. It may never happen again...at least, for a while. From what I'm pricing, I'm looking in excess of $5k for this trip! I really want to make the most of it...but budget within reason. Keep the advice coming! I'm finding out more from you guys than I ever discovered on my own!

 

[lap3]

Originally posted by SpecialK
We did our first WDW trip with children - ages 6 and 8 - last June. We stayed at the Polynesian with the 7/4 deal and really came to appreciate the monorail and bus transportation. We knew it would be hot but didn't realize how our youngest would be affected by the heat. We ended up spending a lot more time at the resort and less time at the parks than we had anticipated. You may want to consider that when choosing a hotel. Also, I don't believe the moderate rooms have balconies. My husband and I enjoyed our alone time on the balcony after the kids went to bed.

We got a great rate on a pkg. so we had the UPHs. We didn't use any of the features except the basic park entry. We had planned on doing the mini-golf one evening but had to revise our plans for evening park visits to beat the heat. It takes more planning to get the park-hopper but that's what we're getting for our next trip. I didn't like feeling like we were "wasting" time if we weren't using it - too much pressure.

I did make a PS for a sit-down meal every day. We ended up cancelling/changing some but the basic framework was in place. We ate at least one sit-down meal per day. My kids LOVED the character breakfast at Chef Mickey's.

We were usually at the park at opening and back at the resort by noon for lunch and pool time. There's no way my kids could handle the afternoon heat at a park. Yours may be different but be prepared for the possibility. Went out again in the evening, sometimes only for dinner.

We, too, had hoped to see as much as possible and found that, with kids and heat, we had to go with the flow. We had a great time with what we did and we're currently planning a return trip next summer. We're staying longer and planning on resort days every other day.

I do enjoy the planning but I have learned to consider them to be tentative and just go with the flow. (Read: children's moods)

Exactly how hot was it when you went? Living in So. Cal, we are(and I don't mean to rub this in) subjected to almost perfect weather year round. Was the heat and humidity unbearable to do most activities during the day? I talked to my wife about this a while ago and she says that this is the only time we can really go. Any tips for beating the heat during the day? I've heard of those coolling gadgets that wrap around your neck but that's just more stuff to carry. I also heard that bring my own bottle water because you'll need it because it's so hot but also it's very expensive to buy them at the parks themselves.

 

[lap3]

Originally posted by Mortlives
I wouldn't consider it a waste of money. Part of what you're paying for is flexibility. So, if on your relax day, you wanted to do Disney Quest, or get a sitter for the kids and do Pleasure Island, those options are open to you. You could even decide to go to Epcot, just for dinner. Or you could do your Fantasmic package that day, without doing a formal park visit. Or nip over to a water park, and just laze on the "beach". The important thing on relax day is take it easy, and don't line up for anything.

Kungaloosh!
Mort.

I'm really leaning towards getting the UPH passes only because we plan on venturing to the many parks at WDW. My only concern is that the heat and being tired would reduce the amount of use that the UPH has to offer. I, just like many of you, don't want to waste any money either.

 

[SpecialK]

From what I understand, we were there during an early heat wave. It was in the 90s every day. Once we got acclimated, the boys could do mornings in the parks but not much past noon. I made a huge planning mistake that made it worse also. I planned a park visit for our first day - wanted to use the UPH!!!! (Though I must admit that after reading through these posts, I'm giving some thought to UPHs. The flexibility can't be beat even if you don't use the extras.)

I didn't give the boys time to get used to the heat with a pool/resort day - ended up with my youngest being sick from the heat. Talk about a guilt trip! If I had it to do over, I would have stayed at the resort for the afternoon, swimming and relaxing, and done a park at night.

If it's very hot when you're there, take it slow the first day and let your bodies get used to it. I don't want to scare you off. My husband and I are heat wimps and we were okay. It's not unbearable, you just need to build in break time. We're going back next summer - only time we can go - so either it's bearable or we're nuts...

We rented a fridge and bought a case of water and some Gatorade on our way to the hotel. Took water to the parks every day along with a wet wash cloth in a ziploc. Very handy for cooling off.

 

[averysmom]

Hi! We went last August with our 15 month old and we had booked with the 7 / 4 deal. This was the first time we had used UPH, the other times we had just bought park hoppers, because, like you we didn't want to "waste money" on the rest days. I have to tell you we loved having the flexability of the UPHs! On one day our ds decided about 1 hour into MK that he had had enough for the day. We were able to just leave and not worry about it because we knew we could always go back tomorrow. WE ended up going back to the resort - napping and then enjoying the practically empty pool! If we had bought park hoppers we would be one day gone and would have been less likely to leave I think!

The best piece of advice I read about travelling with kids to WDW is to remember that it's their vacation too. You cannot be a park commando with young kids. You will see parents in the parks yelling at their tired, crying kids, dragging them along because "This vacation is costing enough - we're going to see everything!". 4 - 5 hours in the morning MAX - nap & swim then whatever in the evening is the best touring schedule for youngsters. Plan to probably not see all the evening shows (Fantasmic etc.).

Finally - the car issue.

The first time we went with our DS - he was 4 months old and we didn't get a car - we never had before - so we didn't think we needed to. At the end of our trip we wished we had. Lugging his stuff on and off the bus - waiting for a bus when he just wanted to go, the 90 minute bus ride to dinner (POFQ - AK - AKL) When we went with him last Aug. we booked a car and it was awesome. We got a super rate and I think it ended up costing us only $100 more (including extra insurance and gas) than we spent getting a town car back and forth to the airport, and we had the car for the whole week!

The only place that you shouldn't take the car is MK! It is so much longer to take the car! To avoid the "stroller issue" on the bus the days we went to MK we rented their strollers. Totally worth it.

 

[lap3]

Originally posted by averysmom
Hi! We went last August with our 15 month old and we had booked with the 7 / 4 deal. This was the first time we had used UPH, the other times we had just bought park hoppers, because, like you we didn't want to "waste money" on the rest days. I have to tell you we loved having the flexability of the UPHs! On one day our ds decided about 1 hour into MK that he had had enough for the day. We were able to just leave and not worry about it because we knew we could always go back tomorrow. WE ended up going back to the resort - napping and then enjoying the practically empty pool! If we had bought park hoppers we would be one day gone and would have been less likely to leave I think!

The best piece of advice I read about travelling with kids to WDW is to remember that it's their vacation too. You cannot be a park commando with young kids. You will see parents in the parks yelling at their tired, crying kids, dragging them along because "This vacation is costing enough - we're going to see everything!". 4 - 5 hours in the morning MAX - nap & swim then whatever in the evening is the best touring schedule for youngsters. Plan to probably not see all the evening shows (Fantasmic etc.).

Finally - the car issue.

The first time we went with our DS - he was 4 months old and we didn't get a car - we never had before - so we didn't think we needed to. At the end of our trip we wished we had. Lugging his stuff on and off the bus - waiting for a bus when he just wanted to go, the 90 minute bus ride to dinner (POFQ - AK - AKL) When we went with him last Aug. we booked a car and it was awesome. We got a super rate and I think it ended up costing us only $100 more (including extra insurance and gas) than we spent getting a town car back and forth to the airport, and we had the car for the whole week!

The only place that you shouldn't take the car is MK! It is so much longer to take the car! To avoid the "stroller issue" on the bus the days we went to MK we rented their strollers. Totally worth it.

That's funny you mention that! I was starting to get all caught up in the planning stages and making sure we get to do everything that I completely forgot about my kids' timetable! Another good tip! If it turns out to be hot that week, going to the parks in the morning, break in the afternoon, then return to the park in the evening sounds like a great idea! Again, this is something that I didn't even think about... Thanks!

 

[lap3]

Originally posted by SpecialK
From what I understand, we were there during an early heat wave. It was in the 90s every day. Once we got acclimated, the boys could do mornings in the parks but not much past noon. I made a huge planning mistake that made it worse also. I planned a park visit for our first day - wanted to use the UPH!!!! (Though I must admit that after reading through these posts, I'm giving some thought to UPHs. The flexibility can't be beat even if you don't use the extras.)

I didn't give the boys time to get used to the heat with a pool/resort day - ended up with my youngest being sick from the heat. Talk about a guilt trip! If I had it to do over, I would have stayed at the resort for the afternoon, swimming and relaxing, and done a park at night.

If it's very hot when you're there, take it slow the first day and let your bodies get used to it. I don't want to scare you off. My husband and I are heat wimps and we were okay. It's not unbearable, you just need to build in break time. We're going back next summer - only time we can go - so either it's bearable or we're nuts...

We rented a fridge and bought a case of water and some Gatorade on our way to the hotel. Took water to the parks every day along with a wet wash cloth in a ziploc. Very handy for cooling off.

I've tried to convince my wife to go during another time but she really wants to go in June! I'm not looking forward to the heat but I'll learn to live with it but I hope the kids will be ok...

 

[LisaZoe]

Keep in mind that the UPH only comes in a package and is a "length of stay" pass, which means you're paying for pass days on arrival and departure days whether you use them or not (although there are ways around that with creative planning). When researching our upcoming first trip (DD, almost 3, and me), I decided that the PHP made more sense for us for a few reasons:

1) I only needed to buy a pass for the number of "full" days we'll be at WDW.
2) Any unused days or "plusses" are good "forever" while the UPH expires at the end of the stay whether it was used each day or not.
3) I found buying the pieces separately was cheaper than a comparable package.
4) The only park the UPH offered that isn't part of the PHP is Disney Quest and I doubt we'd be interested in going this trip. Even if we do, a one day entry will be plenty and still cheaper than the UPH.

As a fellow first-time planner, I'd recommend you buy or borrow the "Unofficial WDW Guidebook" as have others. The Birnbaum book is intersting and informative but I feel the UG is a better because it is more objective.

 

[lap3]

Originally posted by LisaZoe
Keep in mind that the UPH only comes in a package and is a "length of stay" pass, which means you're paying for pass days on arrival and departure days whether you use them or not (although there are ways around that with creative planning). When researching our upcoming first trip (DD, almost 3, and me), I decided that the PHP made more sense for us for a few reasons:

1) I only needed to buy a pass for the number of "full" days we'll be at WDW.
2) Any unused days or "plusses" are good "forever" while the UPH expires at the end of the stay whether it was used each day or not.
3) I found buying the pieces separately was cheaper than a comparable package.
4) The only park the UPH offered that isn't part of the PHP is Disney Quest and I doubt we'd be interested in going this trip. Even if we do, a one day entry will be plenty and still cheaper than the UPH.

As a fellow first-time planner, I'd recommend you buy or borrow the "Unofficial WDW Guidebook" as have others. The Birnbaum book is intersting and informative but I feel the UG is a better because it is more objective.

I didn't realize that the PHP passes do not expire. Hmmm... I'll have to give more thought about this. Regarding the Unofficial WDW Guidebook , where do I get my hands on this book? Barnes & Noble, Amazon, etc?...

 

[Eeyore2003]

You can get the book at Barnes and Noble in the travel section. And from reading the other suggestions, I DO agree that the most important thing is that break in the afternoon, your kids and YOU will NEED it. I always plan on picking a nice resort, because I know that the resort time is important for all of us.

 

[lap3]

Originally posted by Eeyore2003
You can get the book at Barnes and Noble in the travel section. And from reading the other suggestions, I DO agree that the most important thing is that break in the afternoon, your kids and YOU will NEED it. I always plan on picking a nice resort, because I know that the resort time is important for all of us.

Thanks again, Eeyore! I'll stop by the bookstore today and pick one up. After all of the info I gathered, it looks like I can expect some fairly high heat indexes. So, visiting the park in the morning, break in the afternoon, and coming back in the evening will make the trip go by fairly smoothly. That being said, a "nicer" hotel will probably what I'll look into.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

We always go in July or August and we have three small children. It is hot, but if you prepare it's manageable. Definitely get one of the fan/spray bottles to carry with you. We stop at a grocery stop with the towncar service and get a case of water and a styrofoam cooler, along with snacks. With small kids, IMHO you definitely need to take a midafternoon pool/nap break so that the kids don't drop before the nighttime parades or fireworks. Also if one of you were to get an AP pass you would qualify to hotel AP rates (as long as they come out) and save quite a bit on hotel - maybe even being able to switch from moderate to deluxe, or value to moderate with the savings. Enjoy the planning that's half the fun. Oh, and you're not planning too early - we were at US/WDW July 15-26 and I'm already planning next years trip July 7-19, 2005. That's the advantage of an AP - you can get two trips in as long as it's less than 365 days apart.

 

[lap3]

Originally posted by DisneyMomx7
We always go in July or August and we have three small children. It is hot, but if you prepare it's manageable. Definitely get one of the fan/spray bottles to carry with you. We stop at a grocery stop with the towncar service and get a case of water and a styrofoam cooler, along with snacks. With small kids, IMHO you definitely need to take a midafternoon pool/nap break so that the kids don't drop before the nighttime parades or fireworks. Also if one of you were to get an AP pass you would qualify to hotel AP rates (as long as they come out) and save quite a bit on hotel - maybe even being able to switch from moderate to deluxe, or value to moderate with the savings. Enjoy the planning that's half the fun. Oh, and you're not planning too early - we were at US/WDW July 15-26 and I'm already planning next years trip July 7-19, 2005. That's the advantage of an AP - you can get two trips in as long as it's less than 365 days apart.

Is the AP worth it if we're only going once this year? Hmm... I'll have to look into this one as well. On a different topic, how do you guys post the countdown timer that shows when your next trip is? That's pretty cool!

 

[Mortlives]

Check the Technical Support board for all the info on that.

Kungaloosh!
Mort.

 

[lap3]

Originally posted by Mortlives
Check the Technical Support board for all the info on that.

Kungaloosh!
Mort.

Thanks, Mort. After I posted that, I did a search and found it.

 

[GeekChic]

BTW, I can't believe that you made 44 trips in 33 years! Wow! You are a veteran. If it's ok with you, when more questions pop up, I'm going to pick your brain! Again, thanks everyone for the very useful tips and please keep them coming!

Feel free to do so, Lap! Most of those trips came when I was a kid, back when there were only 4 hotels, the villas, and 1 park! can you imagine? LOL But i have been to WDW four times in the past five years, with another coming up soon!

Okay; here's a couple things to consider about UPH's/length of stay. As the others have said, you need to think about the features that are bundled in with them: what are the ages of your kids? Will you really be planning time to go to the waterparks and DisneyQuest? If not, these are options that it may not be worth paying for. Also, if you do not plan a repeat trip to WDW within 11 months, I would suggest foregoing the Annual Passes. Unless REALLY great room rates pop up (and you never know in advance, and i think it's a lot less likely during the busy season over the summer) they will cost you more than you will get out of them.

It is VERY hot in June, also you need to find out about possible senior nights at the MK (when local high school graduates take over, basically) that may occur during your stay, and plan around it.

Breaks during the day are a must, for mom and dad not just the kids, hauling strollers/diaper bags etc is taxing and above all, you have to be sure you all keep hydrated! It's easy to lose track of time and not realise someone is getting dehydrated until they're already feeling sick.

Once you have your dates, read up a little in the book, let us know what questions you have and I and others too will be happy to give you input!

sorry to jump around too, my MS brain does that a lot LOL.

If you have small children and really want to get the most out of your trip (and you said you don't know when you'll get to WDW again) you may want to consider really splurging on a Monorail (deluxe) hotel if you can afford it. Especially when its really hot, being able to get back to the hotels quickly is a huge advantage, and also they have nicer amenities and rooms. But it's the convenience of travel that really sells my family on the monorail hotels.

If you tell the approx ages of your kids and how many kids you have, that will help us give suggestions that will be more helpful.

Most of all..enjoy every step of the planning! Your trip will be magical when all is said and done

geek

 

[lap3]

If you tell the approx ages of your kids and how many kids you have, that will help us give suggestions that will be more helpful.

Most of all..enjoy every step of the planning! Your trip will be magical when all is said and done

geek [/B]

Hi GeekChic! As mentioned in my original post, my wife and I will be bringing our 2 kids, ages 4(girl) & 6(boy). Both really enjoy everything about Disneyland and Disneyworld. In fact, when anyone asks them where they're going on their next vacation, they always mention Disneyworld! Go figure! Anyways, do you or anyone know of any activities that allow kids to have hands-on arts & crafts projects? I've heard that one(or some) of the hotels offer storytelling and my kids would love that. But, at some point, they would get a bit restless and would really like to make some Disney stuff on their own. Any idea about this?