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

[AKGAL]

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?!?!

Actually that is the experience I have had in France!!!! I guess they were really in character.

 

[overlyspoiled4sure]

Mom2Faith--here's an idea that might save you lots of walking time when you want to get to MK. Say you've planned dinner at the Polynesian. The monorail stops there. Drive there & leave your car; take the monorail to MK. Less walking! You'd just need to be sure to allow enough time to return to the Poly for your character meal! If you valet park your rental, they'll get it for you after your meal is done & you're ready to leave.

Or just take the bus from your resort to MK. We stayed at ASMo too & liked it very much. The food court was just the thing for our varied likes/dislikes when it comes to eating!

We had a rental car our first time to WDW because we didn't use ME but ONLY because they didn't go to Sanford airport. You can be sure the next time we didn't choose Sanford! We decided for the next trip we really didn't need the rental car. For us using Disney transportation worked better. We also used taxis.

 

[Harters2WDW]

My DD will be 3 1/2 when we go! Any recs on rides? Shows? Meals? I appreciate any tips you have! We are doing CRT and Chef Mickey's for sure, but can't do any other ADRs yet. She absolutely LOVES the princesses! Anything that was completely a waste of your time?

TIA!!!

 

[mom2faith]

My DD will be 3 1/2 when we go! Any recs on rides? Shows? Meals? I appreciate any tips you have! We are doing CRT and Chef Mickey's for sure, but can't do any other ADRs yet. She absolutely LOVES the princesses! Anything that was completely a waste of your time?

TIA!!!

Hi there!!

Well, first of all, check your DD's height. Faith was 39 1/2 with no shoes and therefore just made the cut off with her shoes. However, before we left, she was already prepared for no big rides. We explained to her that she may not be big enough for some rides, etc. It was a nice surprise for all of us when she was tall enough for all of the 40" rides. But she was turned down at both Universal and Sea World for a 42" ride. She was OK with this, like I said, we had prepared her.

Faith's Top 10

1. Swimming everyday - even if just for a few minutes, she was thrilled to go everyday

2. Rollarcoasters - from BTMR to Barnstormer, she loved them.

3. Characters - she was only afraid for the first 2 days, after that she did not want us to walk with her to the characters, she wanted to do it alone like a big girl. Beware, those lines can be long, so like I said earlier, plan those character meals. We told Faith that we would see Mickey for breakfast and that is was some other kids turn to see him now, someone who could not have breakfast with him. This seemed to work for everyone but Pooh, who we had to stand in line for and then see at breakfast the very next day.

4. The dance parties, or other kid activities - We stumbled across a dance party at DTD one night and she could have "danced all night". We also hit Woody's Cowboy Round Up at the right time and she got to ride a horse. She loved to join other kids whenever she had a chance. I would check with CMs for the Cowboy Round Up, High School Musical, the Pirate lessons (we just missed that one 2 times) and the other kids related activities. Faith loved these!! We also had to go to the arcade in the hotel one night, she asked us everyday, so we finally did. Boring for us, but she liked it.

5. We gave her her own money - well not really, but we had $50 set aside for her to spend on whatever she wanted. We could not say no. We still bought her other things, but this was for those things that parents always say no to. Anyway, she would ask for something and we would say "You can use your money for that, but if you do you won't have enough for...." And then she would decide. Lots of times when we put it like that, she said she could wait. It saved us from buying a lot of junk or having to say no all the time. This $50 was partly saved by her too from doing small things around the house and selling some books and toys she no longer played with. I think she had a little bit of money understanding (as much as a 3 year old can have).

6. She loved Dumbo, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Snow White - you know all the rides that have lines. The rest of the park is empty and you can walk on, but we were waiting in a 40 minute line for Dumbo in the heat - lol!! Oh well, it was her vacation too. She also loved Speedway, but we found that the wait was never as long as posted (if it said 20 min, it was only 10, etc). This one was worth it as she got to "drive".

7. We explained a ride to her first, and gave her the option. We also had a small flashlight, which we used the first day (funny story, on the last day we got stuck in POTC and could've used it, but did not have it, so we had to look at pictures on mommy's camera to pass the time and get some light - moral, always bring the flashlight). Anyway, we showed her the drop on Splash and she still wanted to do it. We went through the TOT line once where she chickened out, but the second time she wanted to do it. We really did let her lead us on what she could handle. She surprised us several times (TOT and BTMR for example).

8. 1900 Park Fare - All 3 of us agree this was the best charater dinner we went to. Anastasia and Drizella were awesome, they played up their roles and did an amazing job!! We were actually entertained, instead of just photo ops and food. It was great.

9. Before we left I ordered a bunch of items from disney.com and had them delivered to the hotel. (We are in Canada, so this saved me a ton on shipping). Anyway, I wrote a letter from Aurora (Faith's favorite) saying here were some things for the trip, oh and a few things for her cousins (yeah, I bought some souveniers too). Well, Faith just cannot believe Aurora did this and tells everyone "Aurora bought me this shirt" "Aurora bought my this dress". Her cousins ate it up too, and are thrilled to have gifts from Aurora!

10. (Actually #1, I just saved the best for last) Faith's favorite was BBB and it was well worth every penny!! My advice is to buy on of the outfits from EBay if you can as there is a seller who sells them for less. I did not do this so after the $65 for the dress, $17 for crown and $55 for hair and nails, the grand total with tax was $145!!! WORTH IT!! Her face was priceless!! She loved it!! She dressed up again later in the trip and it was just as special for her. She loved being a princess!!

Faith wishes we would've skipped

1. Haunted Mansion - once you are on, you are on and it is kind of creepy even for an adult. I just talked her through it as much as possible, trying to pass the time as quickly as possible. She was OK with it and did not cry or freak out, but even she says she did not like it.

2. She liked the 3D movies, but did not like the 4D effects (I hope that makes sense). I do not want to give spoilers, so I will be vague, but she did not like "feeling" anything in the movies. I had read on these boards to avoid Its a Bugs Life and Honey I Shrunk so we skipped those, but even the others, she was only OK with. (FYI - we were at the exit of Its A Bugs Life taking pictures of the tree and I am serious when I say at least 7 kids came out of there screaming - 2 were uncontrollable, I am glad we skipped it).

3. Epcot World Showcase does not have alot for kids other than the kidcot station. Faith thought this was cool for the first 2, after that she kind of looked at me like "I already did this remember". She was very bored there.

4. Fireworks - yup my kid hated them!! Should've known, she hates them here too. Why would it be any different in Florida - LOL!! Anyway, they are loud and they are bright. I regret not preparing her more for these as she bawled through Hallowishes. I would not suggest to skip this, I just wish I had prepared her more.

5. She did not like Monsters Inc Laugh Floor. She thought the monsters were scary. Go figure, TOT does not scare her, but Mike Wazowski does

6. Dinosaur - just because she was tall enough, did not mean she should go on it. She hated it, and not because it was scary, but because the ride was so rough. I think she felt a little like it was out of control. She asked to not go on it again.

7. Waiting for ADRs - she would have preferred to eat in the room rather than was for 1 hour for O'Hanas. Again, it was just mom being unprepared. Most of the time I had snacks or acitivities in the stroller, and could keep her entertained and we never waited more than 20 min. Then O'hanas happened. Stroller is in the car because we drove there. She was good up until the 40 minute mark. At 50 minutes, she was melting down. At one hour, I went to ask how long and just as I was about to say forget it, they called us. She had 6 of the pork dumplings!! Moral - always be prepared for a wait!! (1900 Fare was a wait as well, but it was a bigger hotel, so we walked the lobby and the stores).



Other Mom Tips

1. Kids do not eat at Character meals. You are not paying for the food - lol!! Faith (and others) never ate. She just watched the characters make their rounds.

2. Kids do not nap at DisneyWorld. Faith ALWAYS naps in her stroller when we are out. And she easily goes down for naps if she needs them. This is not the case in Disneyworld. Therefore, she is up early for those ADRs and Rope Drops and not napping and staying up for Fireworks and she is over-excited and over-stimulated throughout. Hmm...not a good mix!! We planned a lot of down time and I am glad we did. She did nap in the car, so we drove around sometimes just to get her to sleep (or so that mom could go to Target, another thing we do not have here).

3. Chef Mickey's is loud. I am sorry, you may not have heard me, I said CHEF MICKEY'S IS LOUD. Did you hear me now? I am not joking. I am glad we went, but boy oh boy, it was loud!!!

4. We loved CRT!! You will be happy you did that.

5. The Princesses also are at the back of County Bounty, the store beside Minnie's House in ToonTown. The line moves pretty quick, so it was worth the wait.


I know I missed things. If there is any ride, meal, attraction specifically you want to know about, please ask.

Thank you for letting me share!!

Amy

 

[Harters2WDW]

Faith's Top 10

1. Swimming everyday - even if just for a few minutes, she was thrilled to go everyday

2. Rollarcoasters - from BTMR to Barnstormer, she loved them.
Unfortunately, my DD is short, so unless she has a growth spurt, we'll be going through the single rider line and baby swapping!

3. Characters - she was only afraid for the first 2 days, after that she did not want us to walk with her to the characters, she wanted to do it alone like a big girl. Beware, those lines can be long, so like I said earlier, plan those character meals. We told Faith that we would see Mickey for breakfast and that is was some other kids turn to see him now, someone who could not have breakfast with him. This seemed to work for everyone but Pooh, who we had to stand in line for and then see at breakfast the very next day.

4. The dance parties, or other kid activities - We stumbled across a dance party at DTD one night and she could have "danced all night". We also hit Woody's Cowboy Round Up at the right time and she got to ride a horse. She loved to join other kids whenever she had a chance. I would check with CMs for the Cowboy Round Up, High School Musical, the Pirate lessons (we just missed that one 2 times) and the other kids related activities. Faith loved these!! We also had to go to the arcade in the hotel one night, she asked us everyday, so we finally did. Boring for us, but she liked it.

5. We gave her her own money - well not really, but we had $50 set aside for her to spend on whatever she wanted. We could not say no. We still bought her other things, but this was for those things that parents always say no to. Anyway, she would ask for something and we would say "You can use your money for that, but if you do you won't have enough for...." And then she would decide. Lots of times when we put it like that, she said she could wait. It saved us from buying a lot of junk or having to say no all the time. This $50 was partly saved by her too from doing small things around the house and selling some books and toys she no longer played with. I think she had a little bit of money understanding (as much as a 3 year old can have).

6. She loved Dumbo, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Snow White - you know all the rides that have lines. The rest of the park is empty and you can walk on, but we were waiting in a 40 minute line for Dumbo in the heat - lol!! Oh well, it was her vacation too. She also loved Speedway, but we found that the wait was never as long as posted (if it said 20 min, it was only 10, etc). This one was worth it as she got to "drive".

7. We explained a ride to her first, and gave her the option. We also had a small flashlight, which we used the first day (funny story, on the last day we got stuck in POTC and could've used it, but did not have it, so we had to look at pictures on mommy's camera to pass the time and get some light - moral, always bring the flashlight). Anyway, we showed her the drop on Splash and she still wanted to do it. We went through the TOT line once where she chickened out, but the second time she wanted to do it. We really did let her lead us on what she could handle. She surprised us several times (TOT and BTMR for example).

OMG...I can't believe she rode TOT. My DD might have a heart attack.....but the photo would be hilarious....so wrong!!

8. 1900 Park Fare - All 3 of us agree this was the best charater dinner we went to. Anastasia and Drizella were awesome, they played up their roles and did an amazing job!! We were actually entertained, instead of just photo ops and food. It was great.

9. Before we left I ordered a bunch of items from disney.com and had them delivered to the hotel. (We are in Canada, so this saved me a ton on shipping). Anyway, I wrote a letter from Aurora (Faith's favorite) saying here were some things for the trip, oh and a few things for her cousins (yeah, I bought some souveniers too). Well, Faith just cannot believe Aurora did this and tells everyone "Aurora bought me this shirt" "Aurora bought my this dress". Her cousins ate it up too, and are thrilled to have gifts from Aurora!

Cute idea.....my DD would totally buy into that!

10. (Actually #1, I just saved the best for last) Faith's favorite was BBB and it was well worth every penny!! My advice is to buy on of the outfits from EBay if you can as there is a seller who sells them for less. I did not do this so after the $65 for the dress, $17 for crown and $55 for hair and nails, the grand total with tax was $145!!! WORTH IT!! Her face was priceless!! She loved it!! She dressed up again later in the trip and it was just as special for her. She loved being a princess!!

We already have an Aurora costume for Halloween, so we're ahead already!

Faith wishes we would've skipped

1. Haunted Mansion - once you are on, you are on and it is kind of creepy even for an adult. I just talked her through it as much as possible, trying to pass the time as quickly as possible. She was OK with it and did not cry or freak out, but even she says she did not like it.

I wondered about this one...

2. She liked the 3D movies, but did not like the 4D effects (I hope that makes sense). I do not want to give spoilers, so I will be vague, but she did not like "feeling" anything in the movies. I had read on these boards to avoid Its a Bugs Life and Honey I Shrunk so we skipped those, but even the others, she was only OK with. (FYI - we were at the exit of Its A Bugs Life taking pictures of the tree and I am serious when I say at least 7 kids came out of there screaming - 2 were uncontrollable, I am glad we skipped it).

I figured my DD wouldn't like these.....good to know.

3. Epcot World Showcase does not have alot for kids other than the kidcot station. Faith thought this was cool for the first 2, after that she kind of looked at me like "I already did this remember". She was very bored there.

4. Fireworks - yup my kid hated them!! Should've known, she hates them here too. Why would it be any different in Florida - LOL!! Anyway, they are loud and they are bright. I regret not preparing her more for these as she bawled through Hallowishes. I would not suggest to skip this, I just wish I had prepared her more.

LOL....I don't like fireworks! BUT she loves them so we will go!!

5. She did not like Monsters Inc Laugh Floor. She thought the monsters were scary. Go figure, TOT does not scare her, but Mike Wazowski does

6. Dinosaur - just because she was tall enough, did not mean she should go on it. She hated it, and not because it was scary, but because the ride was so rough. I think she felt a little like it was out of control. She asked to not go on it again.

7. Waiting for ADRs - she would have preferred to eat in the room rather than was for 1 hour for O'Hanas. Again, it was just mom being unprepared. Most of the time I had snacks or acitivities in the stroller, and could keep her entertained and we never waited more than 20 min. Then O'hanas happened. Stroller is in the car because we drove there. She was good up until the 40 minute mark. At 50 minutes, she was melting down. At one hour, I went to ask how long and just as I was about to say forget it, they called us. She had 6 of the pork dumplings!! Moral - always be prepared for a wait!! (1900 Fare was a wait as well, but it was a bigger hotel, so we walked the lobby and the stores).

We're going to try to keep those limited....hopefully! But I will pack the snacks and entertainment when we do go!

Other Mom Tips

1. Kids do not eat at Character meals. You are not paying for the food - lol!! Faith (and others) never ate. She just watched the characters make their rounds.

This is such a great point....never would have thought of that, but totally makes sense!
2. Kids do not nap at DisneyWorld. Faith ALWAYS naps in her stroller when we are out. And she easily goes down for naps if she needs them. This is not the case in Disneyworld. Therefore, she is up early for those ADRs and Rope Drops and not napping and staying up for Fireworks and she is over-excited and over-stimulated throughout. Hmm...not a good mix!! We planned a lot of down time and I am glad we did. She did nap in the car, so we drove around sometimes just to get her to sleep (or so that mom could go to Target, another thing we do not have here).

I'm thinking my DH and I will need sleep more than her (or will WANT to sleep more than her!!).

3. Chef Mickey's is loud. I am sorry, you may not have heard me, I said CHEF MICKEY'S IS LOUD. Did you hear me now? I am not joking. I am glad we went, but boy oh boy, it was loud!!!

4. We loved CRT!! You will be happy you did that.



5. The Princesses also are at the back of County Bounty, the store beside Minnie's House in ToonTown. The line moves pretty quick, so it was worth the wait.
Great tip!

I know I missed things. If there is any ride, meal, attraction specifically you want to know about, please ask.

I'm sure I'll be asking more as we get closer...we don't go til March, but I've been planning away!

Thank you for letting me share!!

Amy[/QUOTE]


Amy, you rock! Best advice I've received so far! If you think of more, keep passing it along!! Thanks again!!!

 

[BostonMom]

Thanks for posting such great advice. We leave in a few days for our first trip with DD4. We will also be staying at ASMo and are hoping for the Dalmations building.

Your notes on Epcot really caught my eye. We have been debating about whether or not we will go at all. We also have an Akershus lunch reservation, but have thought that with a 1900 Park fare dinner and CRT breakfast, maybe we should cancel it (We have 1 more ADR than our DDP covers, so we thought to maybe eliminate this one). We don't have park hoppers and are only going for 7 days, which works out to 5 with travel. It sounds like leaving Epcot until the kids are older may be a good idea. Interestingly, we are also originally from Canada and our Folklorama at hame sounds very similar to your Folkfest. Maybe it's a Canadian thing eh?

 

[ntsammy5]

I've noticed that a lot of first time visitors don't like Epcot too much - we were the same way when we started taking the family in the early 80s (2 parks then). After 30+ trips though, Epcot is our favorite by far!

 

[ToddyLu]

The older I get the more I like Epcot, creeeppyyy. Even DH likes it more and we find ourselves spending more time there on our yearly trip. Does this mean I have finally hit middle age??

 

[tinkerbellsmom05]

I think Epcot is a 1/2 day park. Make sure you hit 3 amigos in Mexico (its kind of like Small World), Figment and all the neat stuff you can do after the ride in the pavillion, The land ride (my DD(3) loves seeing the chocolate tree and the Mickey pumpkins), that innoventions pavillion where they have the house that you find fires in with a laser gun (my DD still talks about it) and of course Nemo and Turtle Talk with Crush and the aquariums....we found so much to do at Epcot...but of course MK is always my favorite!

 

[mom2faith]

Oh I just thought of one more tip.

PACK A CHANGE OF CLOTHES FOR THE LITTLE ONE!!!!

Faith LOVED playing at Pooh's Playful Spot and Ariel's Grotto. But she was SOAKED!! She is one of those kids who can get wet, but does not want to stay wet. So even after Kali River Rapids she wanted to change.

Since her clothes are compact enough I would suggest packing 2 sets (there was one day I needed 2 and did not have 2). I just put them in a ziploc and squeezed the air out of it, then threw it in the bottom of the stroller.

Oh - an do not forget undies - she was soaked all the way to them!!

 

[Twitterpated Dad]

OP, what a great post from a first time visitor.

One comment about the dining plan: You should never leave with unused credits. Credits can always be used to get "snacks" to go home. Some of these snacks make very nice gifts.

Now, I've probably broken all sorts of Disney rules doing this, but, here's what we like to do. We always separate our park tickets from our KTTW cards. And, we make sure that our youngest son's KTTW does not have charging privileges. We will test it. Then, on our last day, if we have any dining credits left, we will give them away using his card. Most of the time we will give them to a local peace officer. Though once, we gave them to a navy petty officer who was visiting Epcot with his bride. When we have explained that the credits will expire at midnight and that we won't be able to use them, they have always been gratefully accepted.

 

[mom2faith]

Now, I've probably broken all sorts of Disney rules doing this, but, here's what we like to do. We always separate our park tickets from our KTTW cards. And, we make sure that our youngest son's KTTW does not have charging privileges. We will test it. Then, on our last day, if we have any dining credits left, we will give them away using his card. Most of the time we will give them to a local peace officer. Though once, we gave them to a navy petty officer who was visiting Epcot with his bride. When we have explained that the credits will expire at midnight and that we won't be able to use them, they have always been gratefully accepted.

What a GREAT idea - I would have never thought of this!!

 

[missesdisney]

Quick tip for those with little ones on 3D rides - small children don't understand that the pie is not really two inches from their faces (particulary when there are 4D effects for other things) so you may want to try it out without the glasses or try putting them on and off. DS7 had me walking out of Muppets till he was about 5! He was just afraid of things coming at him like that. Tough to be a bug I would not put the glasses on the small ones and keep them on your lap to avoid some 4D effects as well. Feel the kids out on this one a bit.

Funny about Epcot - we feel the same way as a few of you - it was ok before and now it is one of our favorites - I think it's age

 

[julezdisney]

We got back a week ago.

Here's my tips:

Keep your water bottles on hand.

When in doubt- rent the stroller.

Make the latest ADR for dinner you can at any restaraunt w/in the park. We did that with an 8:45 at Sci-Fi in DHS and it was so awesome to have a nearly empty park as we left. SO magical to stroll out of the park w/DH and the kids. Many shops were still open on our way out as well, even though it was nearly 10.

Don't forget the shops stay open 1 hour later than the rides. You can get your purchases later so you don't have to haul 'em around.

Have your kids do a "pin check" after every ride or bathroom break. They just go down their lanyard and squeeze the pin and back together. Great habit to get into and we didn't lose one pin.

 

[vs1023]

I love all this info! DD is 3 and we're going in January. DH and I have been here solo, but this is a first for her and it's so different with a little one.

We're definitely bringing our stroller! She's not a napper but i anticipate all the excitement will wear her out.

I was curious about the rides and how another 3yo would do. She's ~38 inches now so I'm hoping she'll grow another inch to an inch and a half and with sneakers will be 40 inches.

Thanks for all this great info!

 

[julezdisney]

Bumpin' This. Anyone else have suggestions?