Itinerary suggestions

[forgop]

Looks like I'm planning on taking the family to Disney for the first time the first week of December. We'll probably be staying at a condo since the cost of staying at an equivalent resort at Disney will be much more.

My daughters are 4 & 3 and we have an infant who will be just under 8 months when we travel. They love the Disney stuff and are very much into the HSM stuff(ugh). I just saw that it looks like I'll have to go to MGM to do anything related to that.

I was thinking about spending 1 day at Animal Kingdom, 2 days at Disney World, 1 day at MGM, and 1 day at Epcot. I'm looking to spend an entire day at each property to keep from having to pay the park hopper rates as well.

Any suggestions I should keep in mind when planning so I can plan for the unexpected?

 

[dqpowell]

A few suggestions.

First, you'll find that a lot of DISers tend to get irritated or offended by folks who refer to the Magic Kingdom as "Disney World." All of the parks you mentioned are Disney World. Doesn't bother me at all, as I'm one of those who visited Disney World when the only park was Magic Kingdom, and I too used to refer to MK that way. But others are not so forgiving.

The very best advice I can give you is to buy (or borrow from the library) a copy of the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2007 (or 2008, which was just published). Tons of great information including which rides and attractions preschoolers favor. This book is worth its weight in gold.

Good luck, and have fun.

David

 

[forgop]

A few suggestions.

First, you'll find that a lot of DISers tend to get irritated or offended by folks who refer to the Magic Kingdom as "Disney World." All of the parks you mentioned are Disney World. Doesn't bother me at all, as I'm one of those who visited Disney World when the only park was Magic Kingdom, and I too used to refer to MK that way. But others are not so forgiving.

Guess they'll just need to get over themselves if they're that uptight about it. That's what it was when I was there last.

Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[moparop]

Are your kids still nappers? You might want to plan in a couple of hours every day of downtime so that they don't get too overstimulated.

Are you planning to eat in the park or off property? Which Disney "things" are the girls into? Pooh and co? Mickey and the gang? Princesses?

 

[Taja]

Allearsnet.com has solid information regarding height restrictions. Just so you can prepare yourself for potential meltdowns if the younger one wants to do everything the older one does--or if the older one is determined to ride some attractions with height restrictions.

And don't forget to note where the Baby Stations are in each park. There are changing facilities in all of the ladies rooms, but the Baby Stations have additional facilities for infants.

The nine-year-old lass who will be part of our group in December finally was able to meet the 40" height requirments at Disneyland/CA when she was 8!

I'm with you on that first visit to WDW--all that existed at the time was MK and it was Disney World! And MK always was Disneyland--where I grew up along with the park!

 

[dqpowell]

That's what it was when I was there last.

Yeah, while many people here are baffled when some refer to MK as Disney World -- they just can't understand why somebody would confuse the two -- I am equally baffled that they don't understand why some of us older folks might have that association.

Thanks for the suggestion.

You're welcome. I had planned on offering more suggestions, but the more I considered it, the better I thought to just recommend a great source for info than to offer an incomplete summary myself. To be clear, what I'm recommending is the Unofficial Guide to WDW, not the "Official" guide.

David

 

[MinMouse]

You may also want to check out mousesavers.com which is a site dedicated to saving $$$$ on all things Disney (World, Kingdom and otherwise). We found that when our girls were small they enjoyed the Magic Kingdom the most. EPCOT is a big park and didn't hold their interest; Animal Kingdom tends to be the hottest park because of the foliage(which may or may not be an issue in early December) and it also is a great deal of walking; MGM was ok for them. You may want to reconsider staying onsite . . . All Stars have some Family Suites that are reasonably priced although I've never stayed. With the young ages of all of your children the convenience may outweigh the savings of being off-site. JMHO.

 

[forgop]

Are your kids still nappers? You might want to plan in a couple of hours every day of downtime so that they don't get too overstimulated.

My youngest is still a napper as she needs a good hour and a half nap or so or she'll just be unbearable. I know my oldest is pretty good unless she has a lousy night of sleep. Do you need a park hopper pass for re-admittance to the same park if leaving to put down for a nap in this instance?

Are you planning to eat in the park or off property? Which Disney "things" are the girls into? Pooh and co? Mickey and the gang? Princesses?

My preference is to get a place with a kitchen of some sort to do all the meals. Sure, we could do some eating out there, but would prefer to do a full additional day at Disney vs. the added cost. I'm really squeezing this into our budget to go since we haven't been on a family vacation in 4 years, although the family certainly wasn't as big then as what it is now.

 

[DRRluvsWDW]

All the above advice is great!

I will add-
Character meals are a great way to get autographs, interact, etc... It is much nicer to be eating a good mealat the the park and having the characters come to you rather than waiting in line to see them. Depends on if your children are interested inthem or not. We haved loved all our character meals and the food is good. If this sounds good, you need to check out the dining plan, its an economical choice if you are interested in the restaurants. You need to be staying at a Disney resort to do the dining plan. If you are talking about this Dec though, make your meal ressies real soon!

Check out the above mentioned resources to determine what attractions you want to (and can) do, then you will know how long to spend in each park.

Enjoy!