My first DW Trip!

[DucksIncorporated]

Hello all, I am new to the boards. I've just started planning a Disneyworld vacation for my family (myself, wife, and 6 year old kid). My wife and I were born on the same day, so we're taking advantage of the Birthday Celebration special, for June 9th. It also falls on Donald Duck's birthday, so I was wondering if there is any special activities or attractions that will be celebrating the ol' duck's b-day?

It's my first big trip in years, and I'm a bit nervous about how to go about planning the trip and saving as much money as I can since I'm on something of a budget. I've already reserved the flight, plan on staying with an aunt who lives nearby, and will be reserving a rent-a-car soon. Are there any tips that would benefit me as a newbie to DW?

Thanks!
DI

 

[Bob P]

Hi and welcome to the DIS!

You will find a wealth of information on these boards. Be sure you check out the Theme Parks board in particular.

Also, here are a couple of other really good resources:

http://allears.net/index.html

http://www.mousesavers.com/

Take a good amount of time to look through these sites. Also, since June is a busy time at WDW, make sure you decide where to eat and then make your dining reservations 90 days in advance by calling 407-WDW-DINE.

Unfortunately, I have not seen any info on Donald's birthday...

Enjoy your trip!

 

[NJ Goofy]

Read this boards as much as you can. You can learn all kinds of things to save you time and money. As noted in the other post, make ADR's for each day. If you change your plans, you can cancel them but at least you will have that option.

One tip I can give you is get to the parks early. At least by 9:00 am. You can do more and take advantage of fast pass that way.

Good luck & have fun, that's what it is all about.

 

[cheshireqt]

Welcome and congrats on the upcoming trip. You already have dates transportation and accommodations so now you just need to figure out which park on which day and where you want to eat.

Advice would be
DINING ---make dining reservations for any character meals or popular restaurants (like le Cellier at EPCOT). Advanced Dining Reservations (ADRs) can be made 90 days ahead of time. You can check out menus and which characters to expect at the different restaurants in the dining tab up along the top of this page and decide what appeals to you. We love The Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom for lunch. Gives you some relief from the heat and a chance for great photos with Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and Eeyore

READ READ READ ----Between scouring the boards (as a lurker) and reading the 'Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World' I felt prepared for our first trip in 2006. A few plans went out the window and others worked like a charm. So also STAY FLEXIBLE if at all possible.
There are a lot of little things besides the rides that make Disney fun and you can read up on those in several long running threads.
Also for our trip in 2007, reading other people's trip reports gave me ideas for things that we had overlooked on the previous trip.

Good luck with the planning and have a blast

 

[nikkers]

We just back from our first family vacation. We had a lot of fun planning our trip. The boards were so helpful, and I felt so prepared on our vacation. I read through a lot of posts, and asked a lot of questions. I posted some tips that we found useful from our vacation. See the link below.
Good luck, and have a great vacation.

 

[cglaura]

My best money saving tip is you don't have to buy bottled water at $2 each. You can get free cups of ice water at most counter service restaurants, just be sure to ask for a CUP of ice water, not just a water. You have to stand in line of course, but we just plan it w/ meal and snacktime and good to go! That saved us tons last trip.

For in between times, I keep a small water bottle to fill up at the fountain and use the little Wylers / Crystal Light type lemonade things to improve the "water fountainyness" of it

Have a great trip!

 

[wildbillk987]

If I were you I would research as much as possible from this website and the others that were listed. There are so many tips and money saving idea's you are guaranteed to save some money. For rental cars I have found the best deals with alamo and I signed for the e-newsletter and rented a minivan for under $200 for 6 days. If you plan on the dining plan make sure you research the dining portion of the website so you can pick the restaurants you want. Remember since you are staying outside you can buy a case of water for like
$5-$6 and also snacks etc. If you don't want to eat inside Disney there are some good restaurants right outside downtown Disney such as Golden Corral and steak houses etc. Also same thing with souveneirs its always cheaper right outside the parks at the stores and there pretty much the same thing. Also you can't see it all so remember to enjoy what you can and try not to get overwhelmed and stressed out because it is alot to take in especially for your first time so utilize the fast passes and some lines will be long but enjoy the happiest place on Earth.

 

[noahdove]

I am excited for you One thing I would suggest is to take your time..don't rush, and while you are reading on here, start with a certain board and keep note paper near and right down as much of the info you can, put it in a folder and then on to the next board..keep this up until you have all the boards that you need info from and then take all of your little note papers, rewrite and then keep them all together and then go back here and ask more questions...the more you ask, the better you get at planning..remember...no question is too dumb or silly...that is what everyone on here has done to get to Disney. I have been to Disney a few times, but wow!!! I have learned so much....have a very magical time and enjoy every moment of every day...

 

[DucksIncorporated]

Thanks for the information, everyone. I've already got a large folder of tips that I plan to implement for the trip, and have worked out a first draft of the planning. I gotta admit, it's kinda fun planning for something of this scope.

DI

 

[Swmr359]

Congratulations on your first trip!
I went on my first trip in October, and I really wish I had taken more pictures of the parks, and with the characters.

 

[DucksIncorporated]

Ok, I THINK I am about done with the planning. My daughter (six years old) found out about pin trading so now I have to get some starter pins for her so she can go nuts. My wife got wind of this, and now she wants some starter pins too. I do have a few more questions, I'm at a loss here...

The Disney Store closed down two months ago in my location, so should I just buy some starter pins on eBay?

So any CM with a lanyard can trade?

Thanks!
DI

 

[natashag76]

We're also going soon with a 6 year old, as well as a 4 year old and one year old! We've done day trips before, but this time we're staying on-site. We plan to give our oldest two $5 in Disney Dollars each morning. They can use it for whatever they like, and that way we don't get bugged every time they see something. If they have change left over at the end of the day, great! They now have $5+ the following day.
Also, I'm going to pick up disposable cameras for each of them. If your daughter is anything like mine, she not only loves to pose for the camera, but to take pics as well. This way she can take her own photos and leave our good one alone!
They will have their own fanny packs to shlep all their own stuff, too!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Ok, I THINK I am about done with the planning. My daughter (six years old) found out about pin trading so now I have to get some starter pins for her so she can go nuts. My wife got wind of this, and now she wants some starter pins too. I do have a few more questions, I'm at a loss here...

The Disney Store closed down two months ago in my location, so should I just buy some starter pins on eBay?

So any CM with a lanyard can trade?

Thanks!
DI

Yes, buy some pins from eBay. There are some good sellers out there, and you can buy grab bags of unknown pins for as little as $25. You can get lanyards on eBay too. Then they will have some to trade. We in our family have themes, my DD5 likes princess pins, DD7 likes Tinkerbell and I collect Mickeys.
The starter sets at WDW can be expensive ($30 for a lanyard and 4 - 6 pins).
Any CM will trade, but if they are wearing a green lanyard, they will only trade with children. It's a lot of fun! Sometimes there will be a pin trading post - like at a resort. We encountered one at a gift shop at the Polynesian where the CM had a big bulletin board full of pins available to trade!

 

[t_catt11]

Please chek the link below - it should answer most, if not all, of your pin trading questions. That being said, I love ot help - if you have other questions, feel free to PM me!

http://www.wdwinsiders.com/view_article.php?articleid=23

You can get grab bags on eBay (smart you!) - just make sure that the seller has great feedback for pins. Alternately, you can try mousepinsonline.com - I have heard nothing but good things about them, and their prices are great!

Good luck, and WELCOME!

 

[DucksIncorporated]

Yes, buy some pins from eBay. There are some good sellers out there, and you can buy grab bags of unknown pins for as little as $25. You can get lanyards on eBay too. Then they will have some to trade. We in our family have themes, my DD5 likes princess pins, DD7 likes Tinkerbell and I collect Mickeys.
The starter sets at WDW can be expensive ($30 for a lanyard and 4 - 6 pins).
Any CM will trade, but if they are wearing a green lanyard, they will only trade with children. It's a lot of fun! Sometimes there will be a pin trading post - like at a resort. We encountered one at a gift shop at the Polynesian where the CM had a big bulletin board full of pins available to trade!

Thanks for the info. I think I'll get enough pins for all three of us to trade on. My DD wants Ariel pins, DW wants Dopey and Flower pins, while I'm going after Scrooge and Stitch pins. Time to go check out some lots on eBay!

DI

 

[Justsyd2]

Be sure to check out PhotoPass, and get in on a PhotoPass share to save money, and get great pics of your first trip!

 

[annielance]

i hope i have this in the right place. first trip to WDW

do you think we should use the taxis instead of the busses. Will taxis get us there faster.

 

[Bektasmic]

Just had to chime in. My hubby and I also share a b-day, and were excited about the prospect of "double dipping" the birthday deal. Ended up taking advantage of 4/3 deal instead, as Aug b-day will be hot (and newly pregnant). This will be our first family trip as well. Cheers to you, and have fun on your trip!

 

[Cruz91]

Ahhhh... It seems like yesterday I was planning our first trip. I now, sadly, have the planning down to a few minutes on 3 or 4 of my favorite websites which enables me to spit out a one page front-n-back Excel file with all the info I'll need. Sad because planning is part of the fun for me.

Anyway - the best advice you'll ever get is - listen closely - DO NOT try to do everything on your first trip. You won't be able to, and you'll kill yourselves trying. Just take your time, enjoy all the things you do get around to doing, and above all else - start planning your return trip before you finish the first one!

 

[DucksIncorporated]

Three more months til DW, and the entire family is on pins and needles. We are ready to go NOW! Everything is all planned, except for ADRs. I am having difficulty deciding which ones, we want to make an ADR for one evening at DTD, one evening at MK, and one evening at AK. Is a ADR needed for Donald's Breakfast Safari?