Ist Time Ever Going to Disney Newbie Fr TX

[TXmom2princesses]

Hi Everyone! I'm new to the disboards and I'm trying to absorb all this info to help me plan our very 1st trip to Disney! We are planning a late June or July 09' trip for 8 days. This is also our 1st vacation that is more than 4 days so needless to say I am super excited! My DH is not as excited he doesn't seem to like going to theme parks and we own our own insurance business and he's freakin' out at how many days we will be going...ugh! My dear mom is going with us! (She has always wanted to take me and my bro as children, but never really could afford it) She is excited to go, but does not like to plan...so that leaves me doing all the planning! I'm trying to figure out all the age old questions like to stroller or not to stroller...CSR, POR, or AsMu for 3 adults and 2 kiddos and the best spot to request...DP or not to DP...to take DH ...and of course where all the best places to stuff our faces are at! I can't wait to get all the info by looking and searching through all of your wonderful thoughts! I never knew Disney World was actually a world all it's own...please take me to your planet!

 

[Disney Crazy Debbie]

Welcome to the land of Disney! I have the problem you do with planning, I plan, plan, plan and everyone else wants to be spontaneous. However, if you want the best for your buck you've got to plan for WDW.

Everyone has their own opinion about resorts, DDP or not, etc. But we like POFQ best, but with a family of 5 you would have to do POR. If your DH likes to golf, great if you're trying to close a big deal, set up a tee time for him! Do the parks but trade off with sport activity or other things like the water activities, etc.

Anything you do will be fun because you are at the happiest place on earth! But planning does take the stress out of meals, especially places where you really want to eat but the wait is so long, so the ADRs gives you less wait time and more park time!

People will call you obsessive but it is part of the fun and the rite of passage! Just remember, once you go, once will never be enough!

 

[Wild4Walt]

Welcome! This board is like no other place I have found. Everyone is very willing to share any info they have.

You'll find lots of different answers to the questions above. I'll throw my 2 cents in and say Do the Stroller! You can have a private company that rents them drop it off at Disney for you if you don't want to have to lug your own through the airport and you don't want to rent the plastic ones at the park. I can't remember the name of the company my DSIL used but I'm sure someone on this board will have some options for you.

Have fun planning!

 

[Metro West]

 

[LaNina72]

Welcome to the Dis!

 

[TXmom2princesses]

Thanks so much everyone for the welcome and advice! I 've got my notebook ready, plenty of post it notes, and of course my Super Planning Woman cape

 

[physiciansalt88]

My favorite place i stayed was Fort Wilderness. It comes with a seperate bedroom with a full sized bed and a bunk bed. It has a nice sized kitchen/living room with a murphey bed in the living room area. It has a refrigerator and a stove and microwave, dishes and a dishwasher, and a cute little kitchen table. My favorite part of the camp grounds is the fact that you can rent golf carts to drive around in. The food at Trails end and the Hoop Dee Doo is GREAT. Even if you don't stay there, the Hoop Dee Doo is a great dinner theater. I'm just as new as you are here, but i've been to Disney 5 times already.

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

I'm pretty new here too (just a couple weeks). My number one tip for everyone we know going to Disney for the first time is to enjoy what you are doing in the moment. Don't worry about what you arn't eeing or doing, but enjoy what you are seeing or doing. Disney is so large, you won't see it all, so do what is most important to you and just relax, there is always next time. Basically don't waste your trip thinking about what you missed. We had friends come back one time and tell us all about what they didn't see, where we talk about all we did enjoy. So, relax and enjoy it.
My second tip, do a character meal, at least one. My personal favorite is chef Mickey's. We love it so much we do it twice every trip, once for our Thanksgiving dinner and once our last day for a late breakfast before we head home. But, like with all things, read this boards, decide what works best for your family (we are all different, we all have different preferences), and ENJOY the planning as it is half the fun...

 

[Cousin Ron]

Welcome!

 

[RNtheRN]

WELCOME HOME

 

[iu97alum]

Welcome! The folks here are AMAZING and have LOTs of advice to offer. Just get yourself familiar with the layout and do a lot of searching and posting.

We stayed (family of 5 with our MIL!) at the Villas at Wilderness Lodge and LOVED LOVED LOVED it! It allowed us to put the kids to bed and then the adults unwind.

As for stroller, we brought an umbrella stroller but used it mainly for DD4 since she was still undergoing Chemo and tired easily. DH carried DD2 1/2 or more often than not, i carried DD 2 1/2 on my back in a baby carrier (which is where she took MANY of her naps).

Third of all, buy some sort of planner. I LOVED my passporter as it really allowed me to customize our trip and plan well. I'm also a big scrapbooker and the passpockets were a lifesaver in keeping day receipts and stuff and journaling all togehter.

If you have a question about a particular resort, post in the resort forum, where you might get more responses.

Good luck. Plan until your heart is content and then go with the flow. I am a planner from you know where but once we hit the parks, I was in heaven and really didn't care what we did ('cept for a few highlights like pick a pear at japan, etc).

Oh, and one more thing. With a time as long as you're going to be there, try to anjoy your resort. make an afternoon (or day if you can) as a rest, relax and enjoy your resort day somewhere in the middle of yourt rip. It will revie and make it much better to make it through the rest of the week.
Good luck!

 

[sebzmom]

I have to agree Fort Wilderness cabins are the way to go, very laid back. Especially if DH likes to relax. My DH does not like crowds but now he is hooked! If he like fishing and boats this is the way to go!