I'm a newbie, taking my 1st trip to WDW, and have a lot of questions, MORE ? added

[GraceLuvsWDW]

Be forewarned. We went to T Rex 2 weeks ago (not to eat just to check it out) and it was A MAD HOUSE!

Truly, I would not want to brave that chaos and eat there!

It looked cool though. If your family is ok with this type of environment then go, otherwise beware!

 

[GraceLuvsWDW]

Also, I want to mention, though others might disagree, that if you think your dd won't like ToT definitely do not put her on RnRC until you've ridden it and can make the decision on whether she'd do ok on it. Personally, I wouldn't put my dd on it (I told her she can't ride it until she's 16! ). That's really the ONLY ride I would give you warnings on. It is IMO the most extreme ride at WDW.

Have a great trip!

 

[P&B's Mom]

You have gotten some great advice so far, but you will need to make the final decision as to the kind of family vacation is best for you. First of all, you have bought the best book out there--the others are not worth the paper they are printed on, IMO.

I am going to give you some advice based on our first trip. RDs are completely worth it. You can get so much done those first couple of hours because many people have the attitude, "It's my vacation and I am sleeping in." Don't get fooled at their importance. I also think that there is room in a vacation for a day off from the parks and a couple of later arrivals. I would schedule out the later arrivals after a late evening to see Wishes or F! at DS. I personally don't think that it's worth the extra money for the water parks, but if you do then go for it. I would only add if you think you are going to go to the water parks more than once or you are going to use the Disney Quest portion of the ticket.

I also don't believe in EMHs, but others love them. I don't like to hop, but others love to do it. You need to decide what is best for your family. I would rather sleep in an extra hour and get as much done than be at the gates one hour earlier. I also like the RDs and wouldn't even attempt one if I stayed out super late. We did hop a couple of times and absolutely hated it. I felt we wasted so much time traveling and trying to catch up on things we missed earlier.

Before you go, please have a plan. Know where you are going to go each day. Be sure to get FPs for the big rides first. TSM and then RnRC at DS, Splash at MK, Soarin' and then TT at EP, and EE and then Safari at AK. I like to get FP/ride standby/go back later for a second time. You didn't mention anything about dining, so I am going to assume you don't have the DDP. If you do, then you are going to have to work your plan around existing ADRs.

Remember that WDW is over 40 square miles and you are not going to be able to do everything. Have your priorities and everything will fall into place. Have fun!

 

[TinkerbellinLouisian]

If you stop at that first Florida Rest stop (The BIG one with the free orange and grapefruit juice)
they will have maps of the parks and "Park Times" - the same flyers that are given out at the park.

Walk into the rest stop and go to the mid-left side.

It's a really great rest stop to stop at with clean restrooms, drink and snack machines, and a full staff...

Hugs,
Mary

PS - other than that I recommend the nice "parchment paper" maps that you can get once every six months...

 

[Lizziejane]

I'm going to suggest....do RD half of the time, and sleep in the other half! If, for example, you do a RD one day, then go back to rest in the afternoon, then back to a park for EMH - sleep in the following morning. Then go to a park where instead of head-line rides, you do some of the less-popular shows or attractions where wait times aren't too bad.

And we always rent a car. I think Disney parking lots are probably the most slick, well-oiled piece of non-machinery I've ever witnessed! Mind you, we've never travelled at Christmas time, or super-busy periods, so perhaps that's the difference. Having a car = flexibility unmatched by any public transport system.

 

[Lizziejane]

regarding the XSi question, I have the XTi and it handles an 8 gig card no problem. The XSi is newer, therefore, should have no problems with 8 gigs.

 

[MiaShella]

Thanks for all of the info so far. I haven't thought of anythig else yet, I'm sure more will come to mind, just have to get the mind working, LOL!

Michele

 

[caroline1851]

You're going to have a fantastic time!!!!!

If you only plan to do a water park one day, then just buy a day pass, it's cheaper that way.

Check out menus on allearsnet.com and figure out some TS meals you want to eat and make adrs asap.Our familly enjoyjed TS lunches-great break/rest from the crowds/park.

You're there 9 days, you'll be able to see almost everything you want to see-especially all the rides at MK.

You don't have to do everyday at RD, but definently plan several days at RD. YOu'll be shocked by how many rides you can do before the lines start building. my dh is totally not a morning person at all and he whined and complained about getting up early but he was so glad he did!!!

Make a super early breakfast ADR at MK, that way you can get into the park before it opens and get a picture in front of the castle with no one else in it.

Don't underestimate transportation time, especially if you're taking a mid-day break. You ahve to walk to the bus stop, wait for the bus (up to 20min), ride the bus, walk to the entrance of the park. Do it again to return to your resort. And then do it all again to go back to a park at night. It's a lot of time!

Mid-day breaks weren't great for us, but my kids are smaller. Ifound it was just too much wasted time traveling. Our most successful days were when we got to the park at RD and stayed until about 3 or 4, went back to resort to enjoy the pool and then had dinner and bedtime at normal time for them. Of course, you miss stuff that way. But at least there are tons of things we wnat to see on our next trip that we missed.


HAVE FUN!!!!!!

 

[kelldawn]

Hi there I am from Eden Texas. The geographical center of Texas and have a monument to show it. Where are you driving from? It took us 2 hard full days to get there. But let me say we did have 9 days last Dec and it still was not enough time. Are you doing Disney and the other 2 attractions you mentioned in those 9 days???? If so you will still not have enough time to be satisfied that you went. This will be our 3rd time and it still was not enough time. We thought we could take it easy but lines are so long that you use alot of your time in the day waiting.So keep that in mind. Also going back to the resort will take a min of 4 hours out of your time. Bus up, waiting resting, waiting for bus back and then walking into the park you are choosing, then eating takes a chunk out. I hope this 9 day trip we can see things we still have not done or seen. Also if you get there early enough on the first day you will think you can chill out but your first time you just have to get somewhere do something. So go to Downtown Disney and get a feel for Disney. Grouchy or not you won't be when you see what it has to offer and can't sleep each night for wanting to be back at a park somewhere. Trust me. it is the most exciting thing in the world is to finally get to Disney and then a huge let down when you didn't get to do more. If I were you I would skip those 2 attractions you wanted to do and just do Disney, then next time go on those outings. Where are you staying??? I hope you have a great time. Again where are you from????

 

[BuzzLightyearInTampa]

We will be at WDW for 9 days, one day of that will be spent going to Cypress Gardens and Dinsaur World in Winter Haven. I

My first suggestion would be to skip these two places all together. Cypress Gardens is cheesy, overpriced, rather old, and the food is sub-par, to say the least. Dinosaur World is OK for two hours or so if you're driving right by it, but no way in a million years I'd skip a day away from WDW for it. Even with 9 days at Disney, you still won't be able to do and see everything there.

 

[MiaShella]

btt

 

[BBG-BLT]

It only took me about 7 trips to WDW to learn tip #1 - made the trip SO much better.

Tip #1: The first time you lose your patience and find yourself fighting with your kids to do one more ride/event is the time to go back to the room/pool and relax. Not as a threat but as a "hey let's go play at the pool at the hotel."

Tip #2: learn how to use your FastPass. Get your first one – get your second as soon as you can and then go back and ride the first ride… keep doing that while you can get still get Fasspasses.

Tip #3: Go in first turn around and get a picture of your child's expression the first time they see Main Street. I've done that with kid #3 and plan to do that with #4 when we go in Sept.

Enjoy your first time - it is truly magical

 

[dismagiclover]

If you like Chronicles of Narnia don't miss the Meet n Greet with Prince Caspian at the Studios. Each group gets a private audience with the prince and he was very charming I wish I had pictures to show you, but they are on my photopass CD and it hasn't arrived yet. Both me and DD9 were quite smitten with him.

 

[LMN]

Hello fellow Central Texan! Congrats on your upcoming trip to the World. We are from Austin and our first family trip was last summer. I had been twice before as a child. We are going again in Dec. YEA!

Here are my random suggestions:

I would use Disney transportation as opposed to bothering with your car. We found it to be quick and clean. I don't think we waited more than 10 min for a bus last summer.

I would highly recommend making an early morning character breakfast reservation at Crystal Palace in MK- sometime before the park opens. We had an 8:10 reservation, and got to go into the park before it opened. There is nothing more magical than an empty park! It felt like we had the entire park to ourselves! Talk about some great photos! DH got some great pics of the castle and main street with hardly anyone around.

My kids were 11, 8 and 3 last summer. We would get to the park right after rope drop and go hard all morning while it was relatively cool and less crowded, have lunch and then head back to the hotel. After resting or pool time we would head back for dinner and more park time/fireworks/night time parade. This worked really well for us; no one got really grouchy and we all stayed fairly sane!

Hope you have a great trip! Oh, I also highly recommend stopping at that reststop that a PP mentioned- the one on the Florida state line. Very nice, clean and free orange juice! We also drive- airfare is too steep for the 5 of us to fly. Took us 18 hours to drive it last summer; stayed overnight in Pensacola Beach going out there and Crescent Beach (St. Augustine) coming home. When we go back in Dec. we are thinking of driving it straight thru just to save on time. I'm wondering if we're crazy to even consider it though! We shall see. Have a great trip! Happy planning!

 

[MiaShella]

Thanks for all the wonderful info!!!

 

[Lori1960]

Since you cant find in your book at the memory card You can e-mail cannon and they will tell you and siince not sure bring extra ones