I'm New Here & about to make my first trip to Disney since I was 4...

[kandy75]

I will making my first trip to disney since I was 4. I don't remember a thing other than I was scared of Mikey and Minnie (oh the thought of that).

I will be staying at SOG July 3-10 with my DH39 (never been) , DD16 (went in 09 with the band) , DS 14 (never been).

I can't wait to go. I've been making of list of things to get and looking at all the post as where to go when. .. We will be using our 4-day military passes
so MK is blacked out for the 3rd and 4th.

I think we will be going over the Poly beach on the 4th to watch the fireworks from the beach.


If anyone has any spread sheets or ideas of what park we should go to when and what we should hit first would be great!

I know AK should be early am so all the animals would likely be out.

 

[Metro West]

 

[magicaldisney]

 

[VAN]

Welcome to the Dis!

My best advice for anyone going for the first time is to make sure you schedule anywhere from 7-10 days for your visit. I have been thanked for this advice many, many times. Sure you can exhaust yourself trying to completely tour each park for a full day, doing the 4 day visit; however, IMHO WDW is so much more than the parks! You miss out on all the other things that make up WDW.

Besides that, both adults and children get seriously physically and mentally drained by trying to do too much in a short period of time. You almost need to have a down day inbetween the park days ... especially if you go commando!

The other advice is the same for any vacation. Discuss expectations with your group prior to leaving. What is a priority for them? Is it pool time? Is it the Dumbo ride? What? Make sure your "plan" includes the items that are a priority for each of your group. If you don't get to do/see everything in this visit, it will just give you a reason to go back in future. The important thing is to make sure that everyone's expectations are listened to and then met. If you can't meet all the expectations (e.g. I want to go to Sea World), then you can deal with them PRIOR to departure. Much easier than standing in the middle of Main Street USA with someone throwing a hissy fit that they "thought we were going to ....."

Okay, other than that, have a plan for each and every day. Be flexible based on your group and the weather, but at least know what you are going to do once you get through the turnstyle!

Have fun!

p.s. It is okay to leave part of your group behind if they want to sleep in. Just plan to meet up at a designated time/place later on.

 

[kandy75]

Right now Universal is up in the air, DH wants to do that & go see the blue man group.

But we want to decide all that before going.

We will be going to see Eclispe while we are in Orlando because DH says we better not go w/o him.

 

[Disneydonnam]

Welcome to the Disboards.

 

[Rylee]

Hi,

I don't know if you'll have Park Hopper Passes, but when planning for the parks, here are some things to consider...

Go to the WDW site and click on the calendar and/or park hours -

If you are interested in taking advantage of Extra Magic Hours, (EMH) morning or evening, (opens 1 hour earlier or stays open up 'til 3 hours later for WDW resort guest) note which park has them on each day of your stay.
(If you do not plan to use the EMH, AVOID the park that has EMH on those days, as that park will be more crowded. If you have Hoppers, spend the majority of your day in a park that does NOT have EMH and "hop" over to the park with EMH's later.)

Note days & times of any parades, evening shows, etc., that are important to your family. (Example - If you want to watch Fantasmic, plan to be at DHS on a night that Fantasmic is scheduled.)

If you have any Advance Dining Reservations, (ADR) plan to be in the park where your reservation is. If you plan to make any ADR's, book in or near (resort restaurants) the park you plan to visit, to save traveling time.

Get to the parks early! (You can see and do more in the morning hours before the parks get really crowded. Take a break in the afternoon, when crowds and temperatures are at their peak. Return to your resort for an afternoon swim or nap, if needed.)

Make a list of Must-See-And-Do for your family. Try to hit these attractions first thing in the morning.

Learn about Fast-Passes (FP) and use them! Always have a FP in hand.
If you think you family will really enjoy an attraction and want to do it twice... grab a FP for it but then get in the stand-by line and ride it, then return again at the FP time.
For "headliners attractions" located near each other, examples - At DHS - grab FP for Rockn' Roller Coaster, then get in the stand-by line for Tower of Terror. At MK, grab a FP for Splash Mountain, then go ride Thunder Mountain.
*Grab a FP for Soarin' as soon as you enter Epcot.
Grab a FP for Toy Story Mania as soon as you enter DHS.
(Both of the above attractions are hugely popular and have long wait times, both can and have run out of FP's for the day.)

Plan to see shows and 3D movies during the afternoon hours. It's a nice way to get a little rest, and these can usually accommodate a large number of people.

*Recognize you won't be able to see and do it all... (that's what the next trip is for. ) Once you have checked off a few attractions from your Not-To-Be-Missed list, RELAX, take your time, and enjoy discovering the magic at your own pace!

 

[SBJB12]

Have a great trip!!

 

[jspringe]

How fun! Epcot is my favorite park.

 

[kandy75]

Epcot was being built when I was there last

 

[Disney Vegas]

One thing we learned too late, when we were there was you HAVE to RESERVE RESERVE RESERVE! We were in the parks and we only reserved a couple of Character breakfasts, but we just figured we'd find a restaurant to eat at in the park for dinner and OMG...every sit down restaurant in all of Disneyworld was booked. They told us you HAVE to reserve a table weeks if not months b4 you arrive, so ASAP RESERVE and the Dining plan will save you sooo much $$ as well (it may seem expensive) but believe me, paying out of pocket is WAY more expensive.

 

[JoePa4Ever]

welcome!

 

[CdnBuzzFan]

Welcome!

 

[Mousefan72]

Rylee---great advice. The only thing that I would add to the Fastpass information is that once your 2 hour window is up and you're still waiting to use your first fastpass, you can now get fastpasses for another attraction. You don't have to wait to use the first fastpass before getting another. It just has to be 2 hours after you swiped your passes for the first fastpass.

Also, advance dining reservations is a must!! My favorite place is Ohana's, but on our last visit we tried Tony's Town Square and the food was very good.

Planning things out is a must for having a Disney trip run smoothly.

 

[ILuvMulan]

One of the best disney tips I have received came from a cast member on our last trip (our 4th, so I wish I had received it earlier). She told me to "look up". That's it, just "look up". When you are waiting in line, walking from point a to point b, in the stores, in the resturants... You get in such a hurry running from one attraction to another that you don't notice all of the amazing details.. As pp said you will not be able to see or do everything even under the best of circumstances so enjoy the small things along the way.

WELCOME to the Dis-boards and have a wonderful trip!

 

[kandy75]

thank you everyone for all the advice.

 

[suchthe]

Welcome!