I've never been ....

[Macl1uk]

I don't even know what character meals are, so yeah I guess so Should I make up a basic plan for the holiday, do you think? Not a minute by minute but like what park on which day or where we're going to eat that night?

As your children are young, I would not plan too much, yes book a couple of character breakfasts, but after that go with the flow. Have a look at my Disney notes for tips and ideas.

As you are hiring a car, you will find eating offsite will save you a fortune, again don't plan meals, just take each ady as it comes.

 

[LauraBeckett]

wow, iwent to have my nails done, come back and your sorted

my advice- get onto the gardengrocer.com website, order groceries (nappies etc) for when you arrive, thats not worth stressing about

pack (try my sad ocd trick of using ziplock bags so everything is all together, the you just give the kids a bag to dress from.
esta...good advice Lee.
make sure you know where paper part of driving license is...you ll need that.
get onto tomtom and upload the florida map.
make sure you have enough medications (if anyone takes any) for trip.
sort travel insurance.
research restuarants off site to make sure your kids will eat
buy a kids eat free card (will be worth it with your family)

i would suggest golden corral, mannys, perkins, ihop style places good for kids...dennys too

you are going (if you have any sense) to be spending alot of time researching) so get nanny over to watch kids

any more questions?
tracy

Ha ha, wow that is a lot to do No need for a Nanny, the 3 oldest are currently dancing around the living room singing "A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes" Think they are excited?

 

[2Tiggies]

I don't even know what character meals are, so yeah I guess so Should I make up a basic plan for the holiday, do you think? Not a minute by minute but like what park on which day or where we're going to eat that night?

Character meals are meals (breakfast, lunch or dinner) where you eat your meal which is usually buffet or family style (they bring the buffet to your table for Family Style) and characters come around to the tables while you are eating for pictures and autographs. You would choose the one/s you want based on the type of food (pretty standard) and mostly, with your kids' age range, which characters are at that meal. They all have their own set of different characters. For you the main ones like Mickey and co. might be the best to please all.

Here's a great site for menus and prices http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm

and for character meal details http://allears.net/din/cb.htm and locations use this page, which is probably a good starting point before perusing menus. http://allears.net/din/cbchar.htm

 

[Pegasus928]

You will definately need some sort of plan.
The Disney parks have what they call EMH (extra magic hours) where only Disney resort guests are allowed in early. I would try to avoid these parks on those days.
Have a look at what firework displays you might want to see. Having the little ones with you will mean that you won't want to get to a park for the rope drop then stay there all day for the parade and fireworks.
Hollywood Studios have one of the best ones in my opinion with Fantasmic, but they only show it twice (I think) a week so you will need to plan that one.
As for hire car and child seats you will be able to hire them with your car, or take them with you. The choice will be yours.
We have used http://www.floridahire.com/ a number of times before. Just as a guide they are quoting £475 for your trip for a 7 seater minivan with gold insurance (tank of fuel, 2 drivers and all waivers and insurances) You may want to consider a larger, maybe 8 seater though, just for the extra room for luggage.

 

[joolz1910]

I only replied to you a couple of hours ago! I love your spontaneity but I am also scared by it. I am an obsessive planner and couldn't even decide where to go for a meal in the time it's taken you to book a trip with 4 young children. Good for you, Laura.

 

[2Tiggies]

I only replied to you a couple of hours ago! I love your spontaneity but I am also scared by it. I am an obsessive planner and couldn't even decide where to go for a meal in the time it's taken you to book a trip with 4 young children. Good for you, Laura.

I understand! Completely!

Laura, as Kenny said, you will want to check park hours.

Here you go: Just click on August. I gave you the main page so you can see where to click on EMH and fireworks, etc, which you need to open in a separate window.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/hours.htm

 

[LauraBeckett]

Okay Guys, I decided to skip mike's tour guide although it seems like a great thing I don't really want to have to stick to a strict schedule so if anyone had an example of a relaxed plan so that I can write everything down such as what parks on which day, shows we want to see, places we want to eat

 

[Shazzie B]

Agree you probably haven't got the time for Tourguide Mike type of planning - try this website to help you plan what day in what park. It's 'crowd planner is free for dates in August. Basically it's based on a percentile rating with 10 being the busiest. We've always found it really helpful


http://www.touringplans.com/tp2/UG2_index.php?PageID=14


Date, Crowd Level, Best Parks, Parks to Avoid
Sun, 01 Aug '10 9 MK AK EP
Mon, 02 Aug '10 8 AK HS
Tue, 03 Aug '10 10 AK MK
Wed, 04 Aug '10 9 HS AK
Thu, 05 Aug '10 9 AK MK
Fri, 06 Aug '10 8 MK EP HS
Sat, 07 Aug '10 7 MK EP HS AK
Sun, 08 Aug '10 8 MK AK EP
Mon, 09 Aug '10 9 HS AK
Tue, 10 Aug '10 10 AK MK
Wed, 11 Aug '10 7 MK HS
Thu, 12 Aug '10 8 AK MK
Fri, 13 Aug '10 7 EP AK HS
Sat, 14 Aug '10 6 MK EP HS AK
Sun, 15 Aug '10 7 MK AK EP
Mon, 16 Aug '10 7 MK HS
Tue, 17 Aug '10 9 AK MK
Wed, 18 Aug '10 7 MK HS AK
Thu, 19 Aug '10 8 AK MK
Fri, 20 Aug '10 7 MK HS
Sat, 21 Aug '10 5 MK EP HS AK
Sun, 22 Aug '10 7 AK MK EP
Mon, 23 Aug '10 4 EP HS
Tue, 24 Aug '10 6 AK MK

Mods - hope this is OK to post as free to view on Touring Plans Web-site - please remove if not.

 

[2Tiggies]

Okay Guys, I decided to skip mike's tour guide although it seems like a great thing I don't really want to have to stick to a strict schedule so if anyone had an example of a relaxed plan so that I can write everything down such as what parks on which day, shows we want to see, places we want to eat

The nice thing about Touringplans is that you can print off ready to use schedules and you can skip or abandon parts of the plans as you go along. Sometimes I use the plan up to a point in the day to maximise what we can cram in without the lines and then just go with the flow. Other days we commando through the whole thing. It is also much cheaper.

 

[LauraBeckett]

Okay Guys, can anyone give me any rides they think my kids might enjoy in particular, also which ones to by-pass because of their ages?

 

[Pegasus928]

Have you tried the link that was posted earlier in this thread.
It tells you on there all the rides in all the parks, along with the ages they are aimed at.
A lot of it is dependant on your particular kids - they may cope better with some of the rides than others and only you will know what to try them on.

 

[Pooh's-Honey-Pot]

Lordy you're a quick worker!!! Congrats on booking!

Am at work so have only skim read, but have you got trip insurance yet? That's about all I can think of that others haven't mentioned yet! Also book the cattery / kennels if you have any pets! (my friend forgot and as a result this week I am looking after her 4 cats... And I'm very allergic to cats!!!)

 

[dixonsontour]

Oh wow how magical for your children.

My advice would be
1- sort your esta's - you can't travel without these.
2- car hire-book a car including full insurance with someone like US rent a car. take your own car seats with you.
3 -If you want the UK 14 day disney tickets buy them here - you can't get them in the US. If not you can get tickets in the US - upto 10 day tickets. Don't overbuy tickets - disney and chilling out in the villa is plenty for a first trip with young children.
4 -Go online on the wdw website and maybe see if you can get a reservation for one character meal - they have a section which lists all the character meals.

 

[2Tiggies]

Laura, I am guessing you are flying into Orlando Internation Airport (MCO). This might be helpful. It is a photo guide of the step by step process from disembarking the aircraft to getting out of the airport.

http://www.orlandoairports.net/arrive/index.htm