Just back - Tips from a first-timer, for all first-timers!!

[mom2faith]

I have added links to my tips posts at the botton of Message #1 as I keep thinking of more to add. I will continue to do this as I think if them (I guess I am doing a TR after all - LOL!

WOW!! I cannot believe that after six months of meticulous planning that our trip is over But we had so much fun!!!

I had to write out all of my tips, for all first timers!! I have already passed them on to my sister who isplanning her first trip too. Keep in mind, we have a 3 1/2 year old, so some of these are geared for families. Here you go!!

1. Go in value season!! We went Sept 1 to 12 and for the most part there were no crowds at all!! But when you see things like no TSMM fast passes as of 1pm, you think "and this is value season". I am so glad we went during the low crowds.
2. Stay onsite. Orlando and Kissimee are not that easy to manover through - we got lost twice - LOL!!! We are so happy we stayed on site!! We only left to go to Universal, Sea World and the Outlets, other than that, everything we needed was right there.
3. We loved our Value Resort - All Star Movies. It was clean, and we had a great room in the Dalmation section. The room was perfect size for 3 of us. I probably would get a fridge next time as we were trying to keep things cold in a cooler with ice. But the room was perfect. The pools were great, and I thought the cafeteria style food court was also good. We ate there at least once a day and the food was fine.
4. Get a refillable mug each!! We must've had this paid off within the first 24 hours!!
5. Rent a Car. From what we could see the buses were full and busy (but we do not know this first hand). We found the road signs easy to follow and we liked being able to leave when we wanted to etc. We really preferred having our own wheels!!
6. Go on the dining plan! The food is so expensive!! We originally paid $945 for the dining plan for the 3 of us, but were lucky enough to get this creditted with Free Dining. But, even if we had paid the $945 - it would have been worth it!! CRT, Akershus and 1900 Fare alone were almost $300!! And there was so much food!! We often shared quick serve meals as the portions were tremendous!! We would do dining plan again wether is was free or not (and save your money, you do not need the deluxe - the portions make it more than enough!! We actually left with 6 QS credits unused. We could not eat anymore!! We loved using our snack credits for ice cream in the afternoons!! Oh and funnel cakes during the parades!! MMMM!!! I want to go back for the food alone!!
7. Stay as long as you can your first trip!! We sayed for 11 nights and we are really glad we did. We got to take our time and really enjoy the parks. Next time, we will go for a week or so, and not the 11 days, but we are glad we did this for our first time.
8. Plan to take your first full day very slow!! Our plan was to be at DHS for rope drop and stay until the parade (DD naps in her stroller so this was not a concern). After the parade, we were going to go to the hotel, and head to MK for Spectromagic after supper. Well, DD was not the problem - it was us!! The heat was so hard to get used to!! By noon we were on our way back to the hotel to swim. We still went to Specto, but we revised later plans to return to DHS when we had not originally planned to.
9. Be flexible!! Plan to change plans!! Our plans were kept to ADRs only, after that we could do whatever, and I am glad we did that. We ended up going to MK almost everyday (which was not in the plans).
10. The only time we saw lines for rides was evening EMH and the weekend. We left MK during evening EMH as we could not walk on the rides (which we were used to doing). And the weekend was crazy!! So that was when we went to the outlets and left the parks. Next time we will plan for this, and maybe even travel on the weekend
11. Take advantage of the Character meals. It was a great way to meet the characters. The only other time that we saw lines was for the characters. The line for Ariel at Ariels Grotto was over an hour. Well, we saw Ariel 2 times at character meals.
12. Skip Universal with young kids - it really is for teens. Although they have 2 kid areas, it is not worth the money. I would have rather spent that in the parks.
13. Skip Seaworld in the off season - most of the park was closed and there were limited shows. Glad we went, but we would not go back.

A few of our favorites:

• Favorite Character Meal - 1900 Fare for Dinner - Anastasia and Drizella are worth it. They were the most entertaining of all the characters. They really got into their roles and had the room laughing!!
  
• Favorite Breakfast - we loved the food at Cinderella's Royal Table, mmmmm those french toast were amazing!!
  
• Favorite Dinner - O'hanas. DH LOVED this one. I found it a bit spicey, but still enjoyed it.
  
• Favorite Park - MK all the way. We were there almost everyday.
  
• Favorite Ride - Me - POTC (I love Captain Jack) we walked on everytime and rode it about 8 times, DH - ToT walked on 3 times, RnRC walked on once, he also loved Kraken at Seaworld; DD (3 1/2) surprised me with a rollarcoaster love!! She loved Goofy's Barnstormer and BTMR I was shocked!! She also loved Peter Pan's Flight
  
• Favorite Quick Serve - Cosmic Rays!! OMG they had so much food!!

A few of our dislikes:

• Akershus was great for the characters, but the food was only OK. I am Norwegian and was looking forward to the traditional food and was a bit disappointed. The dessert was AMAZING!! But the rest of the meal was only OK.
  
• Epcot in general. We just found it not what we expected. We have something here called Folkfest where we go to Pavillions of various countries and cultures. I thought it would be like this. I found that the CMs were not that into their countries and that the fanfare was just not there. It was just Big and Hot!! We left early and did not return for a second day as planned. We did however LOVE Soarin'!! WOW!!!

A few surprises (good and bad):

• We got dreamed in Epcot (funny the one park we did not like), we got the Lanyards/Pins.
  
• The prices of food - CRT for 2 adults and one child $117!!!, Children's Ravioli at Akershus $18.99!!, WOW!!! Like I said the Dining Plan is worth every penny!!
  
• The trek to Magic Kingdom. We had no idea it was such work to go to Magic Kingdom but you park your car, take a tram to the monorail and then take a monorail to the park. You are tired before you get there - LOL!!
  
• There is nothing that can prepare you for the humidity!! Was it HOT!!!
  
• We loved all of the 3D and 4D movies. Muppets 4D and Philharmagic were our favorties.

Well, if I think of anything else I will add it later.

Already planning a return for 2009!!

Amy

MORE TIPS

The Good and Bad of Epcot
Faith's Favorites, Not So Favorites and some Mommy Opinions
A VERY improtant thing to remember
Seaworld in September

 

[zoie101]

Sounds like you had a magical trip!
thanks

 

[absmom2]

Thank you for posting. We go for the first time in over 10 years and the first time with kids (ages 4, 4, 6, 7) next week. I always appreciate any insight anyone can give us. I'm hoping the parks are not too crazy next weekend. We will be going to MK for our first park on Sunday. I did not originally plan to hit a park on the weekend but due to scheduling changes we have to and the kids want to start out at MK. Glad to hear you had a great trip! Thanks again for the information!

 

[loriandmatt]

thanks for the tips....i am not a first timer, but i always check these threads to see if i can learn something new.

i can't agree more about the horrible wait time for ariel in the grotto at MK. i waited for 2 hours in the blazing sun with my then 2 year old to meet her.

please do tell where you were able to meet her otherwise. you mentioned that you saw her 2 times at character meals. i would LOVE to have that info. (see, even and old DISer can learn new tricks.)

 

[mom2faith]

please do tell where you were able to meet her otherwise. you mentioned that you saw her 2 times at character meals. i would LOVE to have that info. (see, even and old DISer can learn new tricks.)

We met her at Akershus and CRT Breakfast. She was in her "human" outfit - and I have hear that she is a Mermaid at the Grotto. Like I said, Akershus was awesome for the Characters - but beware of the food - LOL!!

 

[tam626]

Thanks for all the great tips.

 

[ByRoy]

Wow! loads of great tips.

I am glad you had a great time on your first trip. We have stayed at the All Stars twice before and found it to be really good. Didn't have the same problems that you had with buses though, I guess yu just have to travel at the right time.

 

[ntsammy5]

Good tips. I'd like to see your likes/dislikes after your 30th trip. I bet they change!

 

[Moms3sons]

[*]Skip Seaworld in the off season - most of the park was closed and there were limited shows. Glad we went, but we would not go back.
[/LIST]

I have a question regarding the above tip on SeaWorld... which parts of the park were closed (or open if that list is shorter) and which shows were not available? We are not first timers to Disney, but we are planning a visit to SeaWorld for the first time (in 2 weeks). Our oldest loves whales, dolphins and sharks - so we thought we would really enjoy this, but not if the park isn't fully operational. Anyone else out there know of where I can find what is open and when the shows are scheduled for Sept. 28th?

Thanks!

 

[wilder2244]

Great information! We are going in October and while it will not be our first time, it will our first trip with our 2-year-old daughter. Thanks for sharing your experience with a little one!

 

[mom2faith]

I have a question regarding the above tip on SeaWorld... which parts of the park were closed (or open if that list is shorter) and which shows were not available? We are not first timers to Disney, but we are planning a visit to SeaWorld for the first time (in 2 weeks). Our oldest loves whales, dolphins and sharks - so we thought we would really enjoy this, but not if the park isn't fully operational. Anyone else out there know of where I can find what is open and when the shows are scheduled for Sept. 28th?

Thanks!

I am racking my brain here...I was a little upset so I did not really "note" anything from this park.

The only shows were Clyde and Seamore, Shamu, Pets Ahoy and the Dolphin, Bird one (I cannot remember the name). The way they shows were timed, you could NOT have seen them all. There were only 2 Shamu show 1:30 and 5:30. It was set up really poorly.

As for the park - in Shamu's Kiddie Area about 1/2 the rides were open, the rest were closed.

A lot of the vendors were closed for drinks, etc.

The behind the scenes Dolphin tour was not available.

We just noticed that areas seemed empty, unmanned, etc. It is difficult to say what it was supposed to be like, but I know this was not it. It just looked closed (hard to describe, but you had that sense that you were there after the party was over).

Anyway, for the three of us it was almost $200 that I would have happily spent with Mickey. I think this park and Universal just try to hard and there is something missing. I hate to say it, but there is no magic

Hope that helps.

Amy

PS Remember, this is only my opinion. I hope if you do decide to go to Seaworld that you enjoy every minute of it!!

 

[Erin13178]

So we just got back from our first BIG Dis trip. I'd been a lot when I was younger, and my dd and I went last year, but we'd never been and stayed on site. I agree with you, I like staying on site, and when we took the buses they weren't too badly crowded. We too walked onto almost every ride. If I could, I would go and do more character dinners, they were awesome.

It's funny cause my dd (who just turned 4), her favorite ride was Peter Pan, lol.

We too stayed at ASMo and loved it. We stayed in the Mighty Ducks wing, and it was actually closer to ride the buses from ASM.

I agree, the dining plan is worth it, it was awesome. We left with a bunch of snacks left.

What we found that worked for us was to go to the "less popular" parks on the weekends, and then hit MK through the week.

BTW we had a blast and I can't wait to go back! Glad you had fun too.

 

[suzimar57]

great advice from a first-time visitor!

i agree with number 8 - take it slow the first day!

this december we plan to do nothing more than check in (at Pop) and then relax around the resort all afternoon (even if our room is ready early) - no visiting parks or DTD - last year DH had a migraine "meltdown" at capn jacks that first day - never again.....

 

[Anonomom]

If I could add one more tip (we were also basically first-timers for this trip), it would be to go to each park every day with at least a rough list of what you want to see. The only park we didn't do this for was Epcot, and that was (not surprisingly) the park where we saw the least and that we enjoyed the least. We wasted a ton of time figuring out what we wanted to do and where we wanted to go that we ended missing a good half of our priorities. By contrast, we got to see all but one thing we wanted to at DHS and everything at MK.

 

[freedogshampoo]

I looove the long trip to the Magic Kingdom! It's an attraction all in itself!

 

[Christmas-in-Disney]

Thnx for the great tips!

 

[Disney Crazy Debbie]

Thank you for your first time impressions, especially with a tot. I am taking my grandniece and grandnephew with their mom, of course, next August and can't wait to see their wonder. My DS's first WDW trip was when he was 10. He loved it and we have gone a couple times since. I am planning on the dining plan because my grandnephew will only be 16 months old and we are doing the deluxe so we can have sit down meals - time to rest. So we will be doing lots of character meals.

Epcot is not a "ride" park, though they have some rides. The CM are from the countries represented their as good ambassadors and are very personable if it is not busy and they will engage in conversation. The kidspot along the world showcase give the kids creativity to make masks, etc. but it does take time.

 

[mom2faith]

Epcot is not a "ride" park, though they have some rides. The CM are from the countries represented their as good ambassadors and are very personable if it is not busy and they will engage in conversation. The kidspot along the world showcase give the kids creativity to make masks, etc. but it does take time.

I just wanted to say, we knew Epcot was more educational, so we were prepared for that, I just thought there would be more fanfare at each Pavillion. Our experience was a bit sour, and it could have been just the CMs on an off day, but to give you some examples:

In Mexico the CM we asked could not direct us to the Kidcot station - which we found to be right by the exit.

In France there was a sign saying Characters from Beauty and the Beast were available at 1:30, since it was 1:25 we decided to find them. We asked and the CM said she had no idea where they would be. We followed her to the perfume store where 2 other CMs shrugged their shoulders. They siggested we hang out in front until we see someone ?!?! Huh?!?!

Anyway, these were not our only concerns, and we did have a OK time, I just expected the CMs at each pavilion to be more "into it". Like I said, because of the FolkFest we have here, I expected it to be like that, and it was not.

Good things about Epcot:

We loved the Norwegian Pavilion (mmmm Lefse)

We met Mary Poppins.

We were Dreamed (lanyards - our one and only dream)

We liked the Frozen Coke.

We LOVED Soarin!!

We ate a Coral Reef which we good, and we got a Diver Sign

So, like I said, it just was not what we expected that is all.

 

[Mermaid_Ariel]

Epcot in general. We just found it not what we expected. We have something here called Folkfest where we go to Pavillions of various countries and cultures. I thought it would be like this. I found that the CMs were not that into their countries and that the fanfare was just not there. It was just Big and Hot!! We left early and did not return for a second day as planned. We did however LOVE Soarin'!! WOW!!!

This was a very informative post, thank you!!

I have to agree with you about Epcot - we just weren't impressed last December as first-timers.

 

[vcgirl925]

Glad you had a great trip! And great tips!