Need Help, First time disney trip!!

[disfirstimer]

Please Help,
We are going to Disney World for the first time...We have no idea on what to expect, things we need to be prepared for or how to get the most out of our trip.
We are staying at allstars movies..we leave on feb 15, 2009...I know right around the corner. Me, My Husband, Daughter 12 and Daughter 3. We will be there for 7days. I have decided that we will not be doing the dining plan...I dont feel as we will be spending our time worried about eating. I am going to try and get a couple of chracter meals in.
I would love to hear from some of you Disney Lovers...We have no clue.
Is there anything we need to be prepared for...Things we don't need to miss...Any extras?? Any thing we need to bring with us..we will be driving from Louisiana.
Please HELP!!!!!!!
Thanks, Misty

Please help

 

[3princesses+aprince]

My first Disney trip is coming up in May.
I will go through a list of everything that I have been planning.
I checked the park hours and saw which parks had extra magic hours on which nights.
If you want to do some character meals make sure to call and make a reservation right away.
We didn't want to be tied down to reservations for meals everyday either, so we are going with the quick service dining plan. and booking a few character meals.
I went through the menus on here to figure out which restaurants we would want to eat at. ( i think that will save some wondering around in the park)
This was FUN: we go on youtube and watch videos of the rides.
I don't know if you're going to be pintrading, but we are doing it. and i've bought lanyards and pins from the Disney store and through mousepinsonline.com Much cheaper than in the parks.
I made my kids own Autograph books. They came out so cute!
You can sign up for tourguide mike and see which parks would be best to go to on each day.

HAVE FUN

 

[disfirstimer]

Thank you 3 Princesses I will look into the tour guide thing, and the reservations. Again thank you so much for the reply

 

[LittleMissMagic]

Oh, yay! I love first-timers!

If you really want to personalize your vacation, the best thing you can do is research! For a first-timer, I suggest buying a Passporter. It has a lot of need-to-know tips for WDW. On your next trip, go for Ultimate Guide - it's wordier and has everything you ever need to know about WDW.

First thing you need to do is make Advanced Dining Reservations. I suggest at least one per day. Table service restaurants are a great way to escape the crowds. And, you won't have to wait in line at a Counter Service restaurant.

For character dining, at this point, your best bets are The Garden Grill at Epcot, maybe Crystal Palace at Magic Kingdom, or Cape May Cafe at the Beach Club Resort.

Other restaurants to try are 50's Prime Time at Hollywood Studios, San Angel Inn at Epcot, and Yak and Yeti at Animal Kingdom.

As for parks, I don't want to advise you too much.... don't miss Wishes at Magic Kingdom or Illuminations at Epcot. Magic Kingdom's parades are also not-to-be-missed. MK frequently has two parades. Parades are a great time to try other attractions in the park, but stay away from Frontierland and Main Street - you won't be able to get through.

Definitely take advantage of EMH. I suggest early EMH over evening EMH, especially at Magic Kingdom. You can get so much more done in the first hour than you can in the last three. And if you don't make early EMH, then avoid that park - it'll be packed by the time you get there.

If you drink Pepsi or Dr. Pepper or any soft drink other than Coca Cola, bring a pack of drinks. Also throw in gum, as it is not available on property. It's a good idea to take bottled water, too. And ziplock bags for electronics on water rides.

Hope you have a great time at WDW!!!! You're gonna love it!!!!!!!!!

 

[Mickeyherewecome123]

Congrats on your first trip! You're gonna love it.
Here are some tips:
If you want to eat at a character meal book an ADR (advanced dining reservation) now. We love Donalds breakfast at Animal Kingdom

use fast pass on the bigger rides like test track, soarin, rock n roller coaster, etc.

If you dont have the park hopper option, plan your parks around days when that particular park will have their parades and fireworks.

Buy the glow sticks and lightup toys for your little one before you go. I have seen Disney ones at Target and the dollar store.

bring an extra pair of shoes in the park with you if you go on the water rides, I hate walking around in wet shoes and socks

Look at the map for each park and kind of decide what your MUST RIDE rides are. Its nice to have someone of a plan. Even if its one or two rides at each park.

We like to start our trip out at MK and end it there too. Its my 5 year old boys favorite park. When we were there last year for 8 days we went to MK 4 out of the 8 days.

Check out the DIS creative boards for some fun Disney graphics to make your own presonalized tshirts or autograph books. The DISigners over there are AMAZING!!!

Try to plan on having some down time during your days esp for your little one.

Bring a stroller. I still bring on for my 5 year olds, even though they don't use one at home. In WDW there is so much walking those little legs can do. And they are so thankful to have a stroller to sit in.

We love the food at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe in Tomorrowland at MK. their chicken and ribs is really good. The portions are huge!


Thats all I can think of right now, if I think of more, I'll be sure to post it.
Have a magical time on vacation and happy planning!!

 

[Aubie881]

Outside of reading everything on this site, the best advice I got was to slow down and enjoy everything Disney has to offer. Do not rush from one place to another or you may miss some disney magic. We are making our third trip this May and there are still somethings we have not yet seen or down. We start and end our trip with MK, nothing like walking up main street for the first whether it is your first trip or not. Anyways, just relax and enjoy, you are going to the happiest place on earth.

 

[jlormeau]

I have been to Disney World thrice....but only for a couple hours each time (work related travel), so I feel like a first-timer. We have never gone as a family. I am so excited and have found the internet (including this site) invaluable sources of info. touringplans.com is really cool. You will find great info there. I hope that is not considered advertising....I stumbled on the site and thought it would be helpful to others

 

[saratogadreamin09]

Yay on the trip, my family's leaving on February 10th from new york to stay for a week.

First, be prepered for the crowds, its a very busy time but its not as bad if you prepare yourself. A good tip is to come up with like 3 must rides for each park and you can make sure you do those 3. Also, for the shows in disney you never have to wait too long so maybe try to more shows.

Second, when packing be prepared for an weather conditions. We've experienced really hot and really cold weather over presidents day weekend so be prepared either way. Pack a good amount of sweatshirts and jeans along with shorts and t-shirts.

Third, if you havent already booked your character meals your not going to get in. For mst character meals you have to book at least 2 months in advance. To be completely honest most places are already booked for this week. Try less popular places like Kona Cafe, Olivia's Cafe, Cape May Cafe (we've been able to get in here vacation week in the past), and Grand Floridian Cafe. You also might be able to get into one or two world showcase spots.

Besides that just remember to have fun and try not o plan everything out. Most times you plan things out they never work out so why stress trying to make them work.

Hoep you have a great time

 

[mjkacmom]

There are hundreds of tips (most can be found on this site), but the best one I know of is to get there at rope drop, and have some kind of plan, and grab fast passes as soon as your time window is up. As a previous poster mentioned, you're probably too late for character meals, but get ADR's somewhere, once you plan what parks you are going to do what days. Definitely pick up a Passporter - UG might be too much this late in the game.

 

[LittleMissMagic]

use fast pass on the bigger rides like test track, soarin, rock n roller coaster, etc.

Oh, yeah. Totally forgot about FP (shame, shame).

In crowded, times, FP is key. As soon as you get into the park, FP one big ride (at Epcot - Soarin, MK - Space Mountain, AK - Expedition Everest, DHS - Toy Story Mania or Rockin Rollercoaster) and get in line for another. Lines are shortest in the early morning and then right before closing. But your best bet is to get what you want to get done in the morning.

And go ahead and try to book a character meal. Your best bet may be to ask the CM what is available during your length of stay - you aren't going to get to be very choosey at this point. Try every day and every character meal - you may get in (above, I listed restaurants that are more likely to have openings). I have booked character meals the day of our departure (Garden Grill and Crystal Palace), as well as other "difficult-to-get" ADRs. It might not be too late, but your best bet is to call today.

 

[xmansmom]

Another vote for bringing your own stroller. You will be so glad you did. My son will be too big for one this year and I'm dreading it (sort of). In the past he would nap during the day in it and we could stay through EMH. The older kids and DH would ride rides and I could shop in peace because 6 yo would be sleeping. Have a great time!!!

 

[firsttimeguest]

another option for the stroller is a stroller swap. You can find some in the other threads.

 

[nikkers]

We just got back from our first WDW trip with our kids. Check out my post from the tips board about our tips from our vacation. Have a great vacation!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2077259

 

[a1tinkfans]

Have a WONDERFUL trip making memories with your family!

SLOW down to enjoy things rather than RUSHING around like a crazy family, lol!

Think about Dining plan if you are considering several character meals to see if it'll save you some $$, it just might. ADR's are a DEFINITE

Hoop De Doo is another do not miss with the kids.

Get on front of line at Monorail and see if you can get in first car with driver, they'll give kids a license, great FREE fun! Just fin to take the monorail ride all around the loop (stop at some of other resorts to check them out then hop right back on. Better yet, from MK, we go to Poly for both Ohana's and Kona Cafe our favorites!)


TIP at MK: did you know you can literally walk from one end of Main street to the other, THRU each shop avoiding rain or CRAZY crowds, they link right thru one after another. Great when it rains OR when crowds are everywhere and you wanna avoid it a bit. Of course, shopping is M E, so its right up my alley

TIP for water rides: wet feet really can hurt after a while, bring extra socks and a plastic baggie for kiddo's or extra shoes and leave in locker at front of each park.

Be sure to ASK the photopass person to "add" tink in your picture, they only do it during daylight hours, it is AMAZING! Get your family picture taken at each park by photopass people you'll LOVE looking at them online when you get home!

If you have time, visit DTD and let the kids go into Rainforest Cafe, there are HUGE fish tanks to look at and the place is just fun atmosphere (not on basic dining plans) but its free to look around and they have "animal" bird shows too. The kids can have a soda at the bar area to sit on really funny animal chairs if you wanna skip their food (average overpriced food). They can also see Legoland and play for free, and see jumping water fountains and SHOP for cheaper stuff at the under 10,00 store

POR has Piano guy show and kids LOVE LOVE LOVE it, FREE and it gets mobbed, be there earlier, good way to try POR food court, which is great or their restaurant, which is also good, make a night of it. It is an Interactive show with singing (bIngo, and lots of kids stuff) the kids are up and singing and dancing and the whole place goes wild.

See the parades, take pictures and most of all

HAVE A GREAT TIME with your family!!!!!

Wishing you a MAGICAL TRIP!!!

 

[wdwmom0f3]

I agree with everything listed above, especially the fast pass & be sure to get to the parks early. One thing that I don't think that I read here is to take advantage of parent swap on rides that your little one can't ride, but your older one will want to try such as Rock & Roller coaster.

If you have not already purchased a copy of The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World, get one. It's full of great information.

Something else, pace yourself and try not to get overwhelmed. Disney is a huge resort, but as long as you do your homework, like you are doing, you will be fine.

Have a GREAT time!!

 

[homedad]

your time is short but I'd get the unofficial guide to plan what parks to hit on what days, also plan on leaving everyday for a nap, swim or whatever downtime you need.....a great counter service meal is sunshine seasons at epcot in the land.