Maybe I need a reality check..

[*NikkiBell*]

Remember the rule of thumb with any message board site: take everything with a large grain of salt. Anonymity plays a factor as does the fact that people are more likely to write about complaints than positive experiences.

If you plan to use FP+, consider some of the tips I recently wrote about. Just go in with a few major goals and consider everything else a bonus. You'll have a fantastic time!

 

[DividedSky]

I've only been a member of this board for a few months, but after reading a lot of this stuff I'm actually somewhat afraid of what our first Disney vacation will be like. Do I really need to be up at 6 am every morning to ride rides? Race people at the parks to have under a 40 minute standby wait? This is a vacation after all, and it's bad enough that every detail of it needs to be planned to begin with.

It's been a dream of mine to be able to take my kids to Disney while they were young. To be one of the families fortunate enough. I'd still like it to feel like a vacation though. Is it even a possibility to take your time, perhaps sleep in a couple days and still be able to enjoy everything we want?

relax. popular amusement parks have long lines for the best rides. Because this is the most popular park in the world, that basic fact is even more pronounced.

get there early if you want to maximize your ride to cost quotient. As a first time visitor, just being in the park is something unique and special, and sort of hard to explain.

I imagine as you visit more, that wonder of just being there wears off, so you feel you have to ride the thrill rides over and over to get a similar sense of value.

you will enjoy yourself, so long as you prepare for some waits, some crowds, and even some rude, pushy people. My wife is great at making me laugh when things or even our kids get a little less then magical, so hopefully you have someone like that in your party?

 

[DividedSky]

Not understanding the 6am wake up call. We have hit every rope drop and wake up by 7:15 to 7:30. We are gluten free so normally eat cereal bars and grab a drink at the cafe. That gets us to the park well before 9. We do not do the early EMH. We do like sleep. So we only RD the 9am parks and then do late EMH. We have even woken up at above time, gotten breakfast at on site food court (even gluten free, which takes an extra 15 min) and we still make RD with normally 10 min to spare. We do go during slow times though. So stop letting the 6am people worry you.

I'm sort of a morning person anyway, but we lose an hour in the drive, and this year we lose another hour to daylight savings, so that 7:15 wakeup is going to feel like 5:15 to me.

 

[stitch1094]

You need to go realizing and accepting that you wont see and do everything. Decide what rides and attractions are the most important to you and your family and then make sure you do them. Also, from experience, realize that your kids will get tired. You need to budget some down time during the day so the kids can recharge otherwise you will need up having a miserable time. Either go back to the hotel and swim or nap or schedule a sit down lunch.

Also don't let the 6am, sky is falling posts scare you. We just came back from a trip over Christmas - the busiest time of the year - and we had a great time. For us, our family would rather sleep in and stay up late. We never left the hotel prior to 11am on any day but we took advantage of the extra late hours staying out till 2 am several times. Multiple nights by 11pm the rides at MK were walk on. One night we rode Splash 3 times in a row and Thunder twice.

Also, for our family, the FP+ worked great. In prior visits, if we weren't at the park at rope drop then the only way for us to ride the "good" rides were waiting 45mins in line. With FP+, we were able to book a few of the "good rides" at times that were convenient for us. We rode more headliners on this Christmas trip then on our 2 prior trips combined.

Finally, don't forget to slow down and enjoy your first trip. It seems like yesterday that my daughter was dressed in her favorite princess dress and we were walking up Main Street for the first time. Now we are searching for colleges. Enjoy.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I've only been a member of this board for a few months, but after reading a lot of this stuff I'm actually somewhat afraid of what our first Disney vacation will be like. Do I really need to be up at 6 am every morning to ride rides? Race people at the parks to have under a 40 minute standby wait? This is a vacation after all, and it's bad enough that every detail of it needs to be planned to begin with.

If you are able to prebook FP+, great. Get to the parks when you are comfortable, use your three rides, see the parades and shows, eat, etc.

You won't be able to do everything on one trip, so if you let that expectation go, you'll be in good shape! Come up with your top 5 things for each park, everything else is a bonus.

There is no reason that a Disney vacation has to be getting up early and racing here and there, unless you want to ride a lot of rides every day.

 

[photo_chick]

I've only been a member of this board for a few months, but after reading a lot of this stuff I'm actually somewhat afraid of what our first Disney vacation will be like. Do I really need to be up at 6 am every morning to ride rides? Race people at the parks to have under a 40 minute standby wait? This is a vacation after all, and it's bad enough that every detail of it needs to be planned to begin with.

It's been a dream of mine to be able to take my kids to Disney while they were young. To be one of the families fortunate enough. I'd still like it to feel like a vacation though. Is it even a possibility to take your time, perhaps sleep in a couple days and still be able to enjoy everything we want?

Our first trip we didn't know how to work the FP system. We knew what it was but didn't really use it to our advantage. I had researched but wasn't really prepared for what it would be like to tour the parks. We didn't rope drop, we used maybe 3 FP's, I don't even think that many because we didn't get to the parks early enough to get one for Soarin' or TSMM (which closed for refurb during our trip). Even with all of that we still had an amazing trip. The things we didn't get to do just gave us a reason to come back again. And again.

You don't have to go commando to have a good time. You may have to wait in line but keep in mind that Disney queues are like no other queues. At least half the time you're in line can be spent exploring the queue itself, the attraction experience starts when you're waiting to board. This isn't interesting to those who go every year and know every nook and cranny of those things, but it's a lot of fun on the first couple trips.

 

[harbin]

We are not get up at 6 am people. Coming from the west coast getting up that early would make for a very unhappy trip. We usually have breakfast ADR around 9, and get to a park around 11. We went last year in July. Crowd levels were listed as a 9 on easywdw for almost everyday we were there. We managed to do everything we wanted, multiple times! Granted this was in the day of legacy fast pass... But we didn't use them that much. We did stay at each park until closing most days... We are not parade or firework people so got to ride a lot during those times. We even rode TSM three times in one day. We don't mind waiting 30-45 minutes in a line... (really not sure when this became everyone's issue)... We had such a fantastic time we are going back just 6 months after our last trip! I am so incredibly tired of the FP+ diatribe. I skip those posts now... I am sure if you go with an open mind you will have a great time! I personally can't wait tot be back!

 

[bohannonb]

I will say that its up to you and what you want to do and experience. I am one of those insane people that have stayed on site for 9 days and still didn't do everything... If you want to get up early and have a character meal in quiet-ness getting up that early may be worth it. I know that it was important for me that my kids had a great time so I have waited to meet princesses for 2 hrs before. IF you are staying on property then its more than worth taking advantage of extra magic hours (especially Epcot and MK in my opinion). We also go back in the middle of the day for an hour of pool/relaxing time which seems to have a HUGE impact on peoples attitudes, they get to relax and recharge without the constant go. We have done Disney in some form for the past 4 years... (TDL, DL, WDW) figure out what is important for each of the people in your family and plan your trip around that... I would say if meeting characters is SUPER important it may be worth paying for a character meal which my kids have had wonderful interactions... or save it until the end of the day. Hope you have a magical trip!

 

[tazadd0420]

I'm sort of a morning person anyway, but we lose an hour in the drive, and this year we lose another hour to daylight savings, so that 7:15 wakeup is going to feel like 5:15 to me.

OUCH!!!! With what you just said we would be waking up at Least an hour later maybe 2.

 

[KrazeeK120]

Like some other people, I don't get the 6 AM wakeup thing either. I don't try to "look cute" when I'm at Disney parks. I get up, put some clothes on, put my hair in a ponytail, do a little make up, brush my teeth, and off I go (shower at night).

I got up at 7-7:30 every day (except one day that we planned to sleep in) and I made it to rope drop every day (except that one day as noted). I was the first one in line at a tapstile at 7:45 at the Studios one morning! 7 AM is pretty much my limit for getting up while on vacation, even at Disney. If the time starts with a "6"...yeah...not happening. 7 AM feels like 6 AM to me due to the time difference.

 

[Ofinn]

I've only been a member of this board for a few months, but after reading a lot of this stuff I'm actually somewhat afraid of what our first Disney vacation will be like. Do I really need to be up at 6 am every morning to ride rides? Race people at the parks to have under a 40 minute standby wait? This is a vacation after all, and it's bad enough that every detail of it needs to be planned to begin with.

It's been a dream of mine to be able to take my kids to Disney while they were young. To be one of the families fortunate enough. I'd still like it to feel like a vacation though. Is it even a possibility to take your time, perhaps sleep in a couple days and still be able to enjoy everything we want?

If you don't like to stand in line. Then yes you need to get there early. This has always been the case even before all the changes. We would get there at rope drop, and would be back at the resort by 1pm after riding everything we wanted. My family doesn't do lines so it's worth it for us. I can't remember ever waiting in a line over 25 minutes. Usually it was walk on, and we rarely used fast passes. Getting up early and getting the rides done made our vacations more relaxing. We spent a good part of our vacations at the pool, and dining in some good restaurants. I've spent about 80 days at WDW over the past 4 years. If you have any questions feel free to PM me.

 

[Sparkly]

I'm not going to get up super early every day, nor rush myself, nor stress myself out trying to get on every ride. I'm sure you'll have a great time!

 

[crazymomof4]

OP- It makes me so sad that you are having negative feelings about your 1st trip to WDW. I wish I had a FP+ trip under my belt so maybe I could offer some reassurance.
I will chime in with others who said, that even before FP+ it was difficult to "do everything" at WDW especially with young kids. (We have 4 kids and they are older now, but we went many times with them at all ages starting with our 1st born at age 6 months)
The good news is that #1- you won't be comparing your vacation to "pre-FP+" trips like the veterans here are. And #2- your kids are "still young" so there are probably headliners (with long lines) that they might not be able to do or may not want to do anyway. (thrill rides and "scary" rides). So, as others said, make a list of your priorities and focus on those.
I can tell you, the real "magic" of WDW is NOT ONLY the attractions/rides. It's the whole "feel" of the parks. The theming, the scents, the music, the smiling CMs .... the "little things" are what will make your trip memorable. Speaking of "little things" .... I highly recommend that you search for the thread here with that phrase in the title!!! Read through all the things people posted that have made their trips special and memorable. It will make you feel positive about your upcoming trip. And take notice as you read through that NOT ONE person posted anything about "doing every ride/attraction" and how that is their best wdw memory!

 

[Mousemommy1]

OP, I love these boards and they do provide a lot of information....BUT, I am sooooo glad that I didn't discover them until after I had already had many, magical trips under my belt. If I had come here to plan my first trip, I don't think I would have gone.

There is so much advice on these boards about how you have to do things, and when I started reading this advice I realized I have been doing everything wrong.

I honestly haven't switched up our style at all, because the majority of the advice given here just doesn't work for us. We sleep late, were never huge FP users and just kind of do what we want when we want it. We also don't mind standing in line, so that helps.

You need to take a deep breath and realize you're going to Disney! And have a great trip!

 

[stephyamber]

I'm glad to see that not everyone is so strict with their plans. I'm actually a planner, but all of this is stressing me out! I like the idea of picking a few must do's. For anyone that asked. We are a family of 4. DD8 and DS2. Our trip is planned for September3rd-12th. So ten days. We are planning to spend 6 or 7 days in the parks. I have 2 for sure 8 AM character breakfasts I want to do, so those days we will definitely be in MK and AK before rope drop. I just didn't want it to have to be an everyday thing. We are big breakfast people so eating a big breakfast is a must. We also are planning afternoons at the hotel so my DS can nap.

So from what I gather MK days are the ones most people seem to recommend rope drop? What about the other parks? It would seem to me with FP+ that there would be a huge need to be at the other parks early! right? Unless I wanted to ride things multiple times?

Don't get me wrong, we love rides, but if riding them turns more into a chore than enjoyable it may not be worth it. I want us to enjoy the entire experience. Taking in more of the atmosphere than worrying about running past it all. If we do do rope drop, how many rides can you typically get in before the crowds and lines swell?

 

[tazadd0420]

I'm glad to see that not everyone is so strict with their plans. I'm actually a planner, but all of this is stressing me out! I like the idea of picking a few must do's. For anyone that asked. We are a family of 4. DD8 and DS2. Our trip is planned for September3rd-12th. So ten days. We are planning to spend 6 or 7 days in the parks. I have 2 for sure 8 AM character breakfasts I want to do, so those days we will definitely be in MK and AK before rope drop. I just didn't want it to have to be an everyday thing. We are big breakfast people so eating a big breakfast is a must. We also are planning afternoons at the hotel so my DS can nap.

So from what I gather MK days are the ones most people seem to recommend rope drop? What about the other parks? It would seem to me with FP+ that there would be a huge need to be at the other parks early! right? Unless I wanted to ride things multiple times?

Don't get me wrong, we love rides, but if riding them turns more into a chore than enjoyable it may not be worth it. I want us to enjoy the entire experience. Taking in more of the atmosphere than worrying about running past it all. If we do do rope drop, how many rides can you typically get in before the crowds and lines swell?

What a great time to go. Low crowd levels. We have done September 2 different years. We barely used fast passes and did all rides in all parks multiple times. To the point we were bored with some rides. Lol! Character meets were great. Each person has there own strategy. This one has worked for us at each park.
MK - peter pan, pooh, would recommend FL next(new for us), down to SM, Buzz, over to POC ( can add jungle if wait ok), Splash and/or BTMRR. We have never worried about HM, Philharmagi, or IASW as line never long enough.

DHS - TSM (rd), star tours, may want rnrc or tot depend on kids, Indian Jones show, not crowded when we went sept. So never needed FP except tsm and rnrc.

Epcot - soaring then TT. May want FP.

AK - safari, Kali rapids, dry off on everest, dinosaur. Get to lion king shows.

Make sure to met characters. Get autograph book. IMHO characters more important than rides.

Great timing. You all are gonna have a blast.

 

[Planogirl]

Keep in mind that people here who complain (and those who complain about them) are seeing things from just their own perspective. Everyone has their own touring style and you have yet to establish yours so I would just learn as much as I could, plan a bit and then don't worry about it.

A lot depends on when you go too. A quiet time makes touring pretty easy.

 

[cheesemouse]

I think you just need to get your expectations in line with what is realistic these days. If you do indeed want to ride a lot of rides or a lot of the more popular rides, without a 45+ minute wait, then yes you do need to get up early and get there when the parks open. Otherwise, if you sleep in and arrive at 11am with the rest of the crowds you will find substantial waits on a lot of the rides. That's just the way it is. So you have to make a choice - sleeping in or less waiting time. No choice is right or wrong, just whatever fits your family the best.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I'm glad to see that not everyone is so strict with their plans. I'm actually a planner, but all of this is stressing me out! I like the idea of picking a few must do's. For anyone that asked. We are a family of 4. DD8 and DS2. Our trip is planned for September3rd-12th. So ten days. We are planning to spend 6 or 7 days in the parks. I have 2 for sure 8 AM character breakfasts I want to do, so those days we will definitely be in MK and AK before rope drop. I just didn't want it to have to be an everyday thing. We are big breakfast people so eating a big breakfast is a must. We also are planning afternoons at the hotel so my DS can nap.

So from what I gather MK days are the ones most people seem to recommend rope drop? What about the other parks? It would seem to me with FP+ that there would be a huge need to be at the other parks early! right? Unless I wanted to ride things multiple times?

Don't get me wrong, we love rides, but if riding them turns more into a chore than enjoyable it may not be worth it. I want us to enjoy the entire experience. Taking in more of the atmosphere than worrying about running past it all. If we do do rope drop, how many rides can you typically get in before the crowds and lines swell?

You'll be fine...ten days during that week of the year! I wouldn't worry at all honestly. I'm sure you'll get to do everything you want and more, with FP+ and with some rope drops (or not!)

Happy planning

 

[jess1662]

What a great time to go. Low crowd levels. We have done September 2 different years. We barely used fast passes and did all rides in all parks multiple times. To the point we were bored with some rides. Lol! Character meets were great. Each person has there own strategy. This one has worked for us at each park. MK - peter pan, pooh, would recommend FL next(new for us), down to SM, Buzz, over to POC ( can add jungle if wait ok), Splash and/or BTMRR. We have never worried about HM, Philharmagi, or IASW as line never long enough. DHS - TSM (rd), star tours, may want rnrc or tot depend on kids, Indian Jones show, not crowded when we went sept. So never needed FP except tsm and rnrc. Epcot - soaring then TT. May want FP. AK - safari, Kali rapids, dry off on everest, dinosaur. Get to lion king shows. Make sure to met characters. Get autograph book. IMHO characters more important than rides. Great timing. You all are gonna have a blast.

I was just about to respond, but this said it perfectly! You'll be fine. We've gone this week several times, but you don't need to stress out. Definitely plan! But don't make yourself nuts over it. Remember that even if everything worked perfectly, you would never be able to do it all on one trip.