My 2 DS First time in the World...

[DisneyGuy758]

Ok, here's the scoop. We're booked for the 24th to the 31st of August 2007 at ASMo, we being myself, my DW, and 2 DS'(one 7, one 1). Now I've been to the world at least six times, and fancy myself pretty Disney savvy, but I want to make this a trip that the family won't forget. I know certain attractions and events I want to go to with the Fam, but I'm wondering what some of the other things that people seem to overlook are.

We have the Dining plan so that will help save some money, but I've read both good and bad about the plan though, so I'm up in the air.

My DS7 is a rider, so I know I can count on him to hit certain rides with me, bu tsome I know he'll opt out of, like Space Mt and Rockin Roller Coaster, unfortunatly he's still a bit scared of the dark. As for the infamous Mission Space, I've read that there are different levels of intensity on it. Is this true? How much do they vary?

I know I've got a list of things I haven't asked, but I don't want to over populate the board on my first post. Any help on these Q's is very appreciated.

Thanks

DH Andre

 

[Ariel8676]

Welcome and feel free to ask as many questions as you'd like!!!!!
The dining plan is great, we have used it 3 times and i just want to warn you it is A LOT of food..lol. We used our TS (table service meals) for dinner , all except one day we did a character breakfast..just to get the most out of the plan. We usually pack some snacky things, like pop tarts and the small boxes of assorted cereals, granola bars..im not a breakfast eater, but that way my girls can eat something small for breakfast..then we eat our CS (counter service) lunch early. We also ship a case or 2 or water down to our resort (free through Staples rewards), you will need it ..August is HOT, we have gone down the last week of August the last 2 years.
Also make sure you make your ADR's (advanced dinner reservations) as soon as your 180 days comes up..to make sure you get to go where you want when you want.
As far as Mission Space goes...there are 2 different rides now...i went on the orignal, and didn't like it at all. Made me nauseous and dizzy, so i never even bothered to go back to try the new version. My younger brother on the other hand LOVED mission space (original) said it was one of the best rides he had ever been on... sorry not much help there.....lol
Hopefully i helped a bit...if you have any other questions please feel free to ask away, and i (or anyone else) will be more than happy to help out.

 

[momtoBrandon&Jacob]

This will be our first time as a family as well. I'd love to hear any good tips. We are staying at POFQ 4/25 - 5/1 and are on the dining plan. I already made our ADR's at:

Liberty Tree Tavern (dinner)
Chef Mickey's (dinner)
Ohana's (breakfast)
Crystal Palace (breakfast)
Garden Grille (Lunch)
Mama Melrose (fantasmic package)

 

[princess_mouse]

Hi DisneyGuy! I practically grew up at Disney, thanks to my grandmother! Now, we only get to take our children annually. Anyway, this past trip my boys were 16 months and almost 7. My daughter was 4. We all had a blast!

Don't overlook the Kidcot stations in each EPCOT pavillion. My children were on a mission to get a stamp from each country. We bought them the "Passports" and they made one of the free masks as well. The autographs from Characters are also a lot of fun!

Our baby loved the little splash fountains outside Test Track and just before the International Gateway in EPCOT. We tossed a few swim diapers in our backpack for this. Don't miss the Bugs Life playground in the Studios or Playhouse Disney. My kids all loved it.

My 4 yr old is a daredevil and a night owl, so we rode EVERYTHING and stayed until park closing most nights, when the boys had crashed. That one on one time was great! My oldest two children and I love the original Mission Space, my husband doesn't. My oldest son did not like the Tower, Rockin' Roller Coaster or Big Thunder, and refused to ride Space Mountain. He did like Dinosaur and spent the ride giving me the scientific names of all the dinos and letting me know which ones wouldn't eat us. My daughter rode the TOT 8 times, gave Everest 2 thumbs up and adored Space Mountain.

Our youngest napped will on Spaceship Earth (Only if he was tired, he really liked this one), American Adventure, Hall of Presidents and Ellen's Energy adventure.

Since we were only toting diapers, wipes, a sippy cup and a camera in our backpack, we got a clear one which helped cut down the security check time.

OH! All of our kids had their first haircuts at the Barbershop on Main Street in the MK! That might be a fun thing for the boys! In the back of Exposition Hall is a fun little area, too! We have some great pics from back in there!

Hope you enjoy your trip!

 

[princess_mouse]

Dining Plan - I almost forgot!

There are pros and cons. Yes, it saved us a ton of money and it was A LOT of food. We were there in May of 06, so we could eat at any restaurant or Character meal.

What I didn't like about it:
Personally, I felt tied down by the priority seating and my husband was freaked out that we'd lose money if we didn't use a meal or snack. For me it was like "Oh, we can't ride this again because we have to go here to eat." I didn't feel like we could wake up and decide which park to go to that day, I felt like we had to go to the park where our next meal was "scheduled."

We also felt like the service wasn't what we were used to. It was almost as if the servers knew they were getting the 20% and just "forgot" about it. We were there 10 days and only at two table service meals did we feel like the service was what we're used to. That was Le Celler and the SciFi.

Usually, we make our PS for the big stuff - and then the night before or the morning of, we get the PS when we're at Disney. We usually eat at "off" times so it's never been a problem for us.

Anyway, I hope that helps. Those were the drawbacks for us and everyone is different. ;-) There's about a 35% chance I'd get it again.

 

[DisneyGuy758]

I've read about the excess of food on the DDP. And I'm not scared about not using credits, my oldest DS is always looking for a snack. I only have a few more days until I can call for ressies for dining. I have about 4 places off the top of my head that I wanna set up for. Also can the CS meal be used for breakfast in the hotel? If so, that'll prolly be that.

Mission Space I will probably ride and see if it'd be ok for DS7. TOT is out for the time being.

My DS7 is a big Cars fan, and I was wondering if anyone had any idea of what kind of schedule they have for bringing them out at MGM(it'll always be MGM to me). I have been thinking of those fountains non stop and can't wait to see reactions from both DS', and maybe DW too if I can fool her. Do they still have the big one at DTD? Or was that taken out long ago? I recieved my DVD yesterday in the mail and have watched it thouroughly, though it didn't tell me much I already knew.

I do want to do the autograph books for both DS' and my wife is actually thinking of making a coupla books to save $$$, she's crafty like that.

That's all I can think of for now, but there will be future questions...

Thanks for all the great information!!!


Andre

 

[TheDizMom]

I loved the DDP myself . We also used the TS meals for dinner and 1 character breakfast. It worked great. We had no service issues at all but we were also getting in on the ground floor. We did on several occasions tip extra because we liked our server so much. I don't see why that would make a difference anyway, because if I wasn't on the plan I would more then likely only tip 15% because I would be trying to save money. We saved so much money (about $300) over what we would have spent if we had to pay for every meal that trust me even if we hadn't used all our meals we would not have lost any money. There is a lot of food and we saved on some of our CS meals by sharing and used them for breakfasts we wouldn't have gotten otherwise. We pretty much ate what we brought from home for breakfasts to make up for the meals we didn't get on the plan. We planned our meals by where we were going when the restaurant we wanted to try was going to be in a park, but the rest of the time where we went during the day made no difference to us. We could always go back to the park after dinner if there was more we wanted to do. We went in August too. I brought some of our snacks in my bag most days, and because it does get hot we found we really weren't interested in eating other then at meal times. The kids were more interested then we were so a lot of the snacks got used for them. We had a ton of those left over and it was because we didn't realize right away we could use them to just get a beverage. Once we did we used them mostly for that to keep us hydrated in the heat. I don't think you need to ship water down because you can refill a bottle easily. We actually brought sports bottles down with us and just loaded them up with ice in the morining and just kept refilling them throughout the day.

It will be hot so plan for that. We never left the parks mid-day to rest or swim and were still fine. When we got hot we went into a shop and cooled down while we looked. We definitely used Donald's Boat at toontown for cool downs for the kids. If you want to do this I would recommend having them wear their suits under their clothes and bring dry undies for afterward or carry their suits and change them before they go to get wet. We didn't do this and our DD got so wet we had to buy her clothes because the water was literally dripping off hers. Bring a comb or brush too because her hair was a disaster and I had nothing to brush it with. Oh and don't forget a ziploc to put the wet stuff into. HISK and Epcot have the llittle water spouts too so be prepared there too. AK has fans throughout the park that spray a nice cooling mist at you and they are fabulous because they cool you down without getting you wet. Kali river rapids is a good one for cooling down too.

Great restaurants were Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace, and 1900 Park Fare all of which were great for getting character autographs. We also had a blast at 50"s Prime Time.

Have cell phones with you because you have 2 kids at vastly different ages. This way when one of you are riding something your little one can't the other parent can take the little one to something your older child can't do or won't be interested in. Your older son won't want to do the Playhouse Disney show but you don't want your little one to miss it. It's great! When you are done on the rides for bigger people then you can contact each other and reconnect easier. You never know how long you may have to wait for a ride so designating a time very often won't work. There were also several rides my DH wanted to go on that no one else did so it made it easier to find him when he was done.

Don't miss turtle talk with Crush. It's great for both kids. My kids absolutely loved Living Seas. The night parade and fireworks at MK and Fantasmic(You may not want the little one here, it's about Mickey fighting the D villans) are absolutely fabulous. Philharmagic too is a must do although again the little one might have some issues with things coming out of the screen at him. We also wouldn't miss Kilamanjaro safari. It was the most amazing experience of the whole trip for me. The giraffes were so close to us we could have reached out and petted them, which we of course didn't. Don't forget to spend some good quality time at the pool. We actually took one day mid-trip just to regroup by doing nothing but hang out at the pool the entire day. We actually preferred that to the water parks, because of the crowds and our kids big age difference. Logistically it was hard to manage and even harder to find each other later because you can't really take your cell down a water slide (or your watch unless it is water proof). Most people disagree with me here, but for me personally I could have done without the water parks just fine.

Well now that I have written you a book, have a great trip with your family.

 

[Elmo888]

Get a retractable Sharpie for the autograph book.

We just went with DD6 (she will be 7 in a few weeks and we went in Jan.) and DD2. Esp. since you are on the DDP, do character meals. It saves so much time in the parks. No waiting in line when you see characters - just tell the kids "we will see Mickey for breakfast Tuesday morning", etc. This worked well for the most part. We did 3 in a week, and I really enjoyed the interaction with the kids.

CS credits work at any CS restaurant, in the resorts and parks. Also, you can usually get fruit instead of dessert at the CS meals. Since we had dessert at TS meals, I didn't feel like we needed more dessert. When I found out about the fruit, I tried to get it when it was available. When you are ordering, always say that you are on the DDP and check the receipt to make sure they didn't charge it to your room. DH didn't say "DDP" once, and they charged it to our room. The resort fixed it. The DDP receipt states at the bottom how many credits are left, and there aren't any amounts listed (everything is listed as 0.00). My goal was to leave with no credits. On the last day, we had 1 CS meal and 3 snacks left, so we managed to get lunch for all of us using the rest of the credits. If you want to know if it will work on the DDP, just ask. DD6 wanted a grilled cheese at Restaurantosaurus in AK, and it wasn't even on the menu. I asked if they could make one and charge it as a snack. The CM said that if the computer takes it, then sure, and it did.

I agree with the cellphones.

I wouldn't take your 7 yo on Mission: Space. At all, in my opinion, but if I were you, I would ride it myself first,without him, and then decide. I rode it a few years ago, and there is no way that I would let my inexperienced, non-thrill-seeking DD6 ride it. Heck, Soarin' freaked her out.

Do you know about the Baby Swap (they don't have to be babies!)? If the ride has height restrictions, ask the CM at the front of the attraction about the baby swap. The CM gives you a pass so one adult stays with the baby while the other adult (or adult and older child) rides the ride. When the riders return, the adult with the pass can ride the ride (and can take one or two others with him/her - this allowed DD6 to ride some rides twice in a row - once with me and once with DH).

We did the afternoon naps, and DD6 napped 4 out of our 6 full days. And one of the days that she didn't nap, she slept until 9 (late for our family). Sleeping was difficult in general. DD2 was in a pack and play, and it was very crowded. Next time, we'll try the family suites!

 

[Elmo888]

I forgot to add - ask when you enter MGM about the Cars characters. We accidently ran into them, so I don't know what the schedule is, but I'm sure that someone will be able to tell you.

Also, I found Disney themed notebooks at a $1 store. DD6 used these for autographs. DD2 wasn't interested, even though I brought one for her. They kind of fell apart, but I decided to take them apart and put the corresponding pics in a photo book with the autograph. I am not crafty, so I'm sure that your DW can do something cute with the autographs and pics!

 

[DisneyGuy758]

I like the retractable Sharpie idea Elmo. And I'm glad to hear that the DDP is somewhat flexible. And I was talking to DW tonight about rides, and we agreed that there are a few that I would go on first before bringing DS7 on. I'm really happy to hear about the Rider Wait Ticket, it'll make it just that much better for me and DW. Even though we're 6 months out, I've been snagging some things here and there, those glow in the dark braclet thingys for one, 200 on ebay for $13 shipped. I'll be sure to ask about Cars, i'd hate to miss that. We're def going to be taking nap time here and there, it'll do DS7 good. And we're def going to have cell phones.

Now here's a doozy of a question. Hidden Mickeys. I really want to look for them, but I don't want it to monopolize my mind while I'm there. Any suggestions as to where to look for some good HM's? I know, it's kinda an odd over the top question, but he, why not?

Thanks


Andre

 

[Perditamarie]

Welcome to the Dis!! You are going to have a great time planning, much less going!

We saw Mater and Lightning McQueen "parked" at MGM by the Indiana Jones attraction for a "meet n greet"...you can pose next to them for photos, but it can get crowded.

There are great playgrounds at MGM, MK and AK if your guys need a place to run around.

There are some great threads on the Creative DISigns board to inspire your DW if she wants to make an autograph book. It is a great way to get inspired for your trip and the characters also give your kids a lot of extra attention when signing. I think character meals are a great place to get autographs, because it does take up a lot of time, so plan for that. I also vote for the retractable sharpies. Some other ideas are to have t-shirts, bucket hats, tote bags, etc autographed by characters.

I believe you can either buy a hidden mickey book, read about them on the DIS boards or you may even be able to get a list of hidden mickeys at the parks -- maybe guest services. Also check w/your resort if you are on-site.

Happy planning.

 

[DisneyGuy758]

Being that our trip is soooooooooooo far off, I'm trying to keep from going crazy by taking in as much information as possible. DW is going to be working on the autograph books in the next few days, I'll try to throw up some pictures if I remember. I'm going to use the 3x5 card idea I read somewhere, putting what park, certain rides, event and time and restaurants we would like to go to. As for the Hidden Mickeys, I'll do my best to see what I can, and maybe pick up a book.

Does any one know if they have fixed the transportation problem with the AS resorts? Problem menaing usually only one bus for all three stops, and by the time they hit Movies(mine), they're fairly full and only have standing room. Now I have no problem standing, it's not a long ride usually, but with my DS1 one of us, me or DW will be carrying him and that'll make things a bit more...stressful.


Thanks again for all the great info!!!


Andre

 

[Elmo888]

Here is the Hidden Mickey book...

http://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Mickey..._bbs_sr_2/102-0307299-5317728?ie=UTF8&s=books

I can't help with the AS bus question...I would try posting on the resort board - you might find some answers there.

From personal experience, people seemed very accommodating on the bus. We were on a crowded bus one night after Epcot closed, and a couple came on the bus with a 2 yo and asleeping 4 yo. People on the bus moved around so they could sit. I always made my 6 yo stand and put my 2 yo on my lap if the bus became crowded. Hopefully, you will have the same experience if the buses are crowded.

 

[DisneyGuy758]

I've seen that book around Elmo, and I'm unsure wether I'll pick it up or not. But it's good to keep in mind.

Now, I wan't to send a box of various goodies, and the odd diaper or two to the hotel before hand. Does anyone know how long will they hold a package for me, in case I ship too early and it arrives before me? I'd hate to send things and have them be discarded because they sat for too long.


Thanks again everyone!!


Andre

 

[DisneyGuy758]

Ok, so I caved and bought the hidden mickey book...just haven't gotten a chance to look at it yet, but I will. It'll probably be worn out by the time we hit WDW, not unlike my Birbaums book.


Andre