Never been to Disney and need some advice

[Finally - A Vacation]

Hello everyone

First of all I would like to say that I am soooo glad that I found the DIS. Reading everyone's comments has been so helpful already. I'm totally addicted.

Well, I am planning my first trip ever to Disney and I am soooo excited !
Actually this will be the first vacation that will take as a family. We are long overdue. Speaking of the family, let me introduce them. DH29 - has been to Disney once - went with the band while in high school. He is very excited to be taking a vacation but not so excited about planning a vacation. I, on the other hand, am all about the details and love planning! We just decided a few weeks ago that we were going to take this trip and already, I am driving him banans! On to the princesses. 5 (will be 6 when we go) thrilled with the rinky dink roller coaster at the small town summer carnival. I'm sure she will be blown away with Disney! She also loves the princesses - Jasmine and Sleeping Bueaty are her favorites. DD3 (will be 4.5 when we go) our little dare devil! She too will have a blast with the rides. Her favorite princess is Cinderella. She will be more excited about the rest of the characters too. DD6weeks (will just turn 1 - if she goes) our newest little princess. She may be staying home with grandma - if grandma decides not to join us on the trip. We may also be joined by Dsis, Dbil, niece7, nephew5, and nephew4. Not knowing who will be coming has made some decisions a little difficult to make. However, I was told by all to plan as if they were not going and to do what we want to do.

So far I have a lot of ideas in my head and a lot of questions. Any feedback will be much appreciated!

 

[PrincessMonkey]

What month of the year are you going? With such young children, princesses no less (!), I would recommend trying to go to a character meal with them. There are many wonderful restaurants at Disney World, and even though it can take a couple of hours out of your day to eat at them, the interaction your kids will have with the characters can be magical. The face characters (like the princesses, princes, villains and pirates) do talk, so your kids (or you) can ask them anything.

Be sure to let the Disney vacation planner know that it's your first trip to Disney! You can go to Guest Relations (located after you enter every park, don't be scared!) to tell them too, and they will give each of you a special Disney button (for free) to wear during your trip! Also, if you are celebrating anything important (birthday, anniversary, etc.) let everyone know when you make any reservations, as you may have some extra magical experiences, even if you're just wearing a simple button.

My DBF(30) and I (almost 28) enjoy going to Disney parks by ourselves, and we aren't treated any differently by the CMs than the children around us. We have smiles on our faces the whole time we're there, and there are so many nice people, guests and CMs, we've met at the parks over the years.

Make sure you bring something for the characters to sign. Did you know that a signature you get today from a Disney Park is the same signature that you would have gotten 20 years ago or how it will be 10 years from now? But of course, that's Disney magic!

Have fun planning the trip, and make your reservations for meals as soon as you can so you can get the dates for the meals you want. The magic is infectious and wonderful for all ages -- have a great time at Disney!

 

[Finally - A Vacation]

Thanks for the advice! We will have to go during the summer months because of school. We were thinking mid August of 2009. I know summer is the busy season - but is there a best time to go? I have already been looking into some character meals CRT for breakfast, Chef Mickey's for breakfast, and Akershus for breakfast. I know I will need to make ADR's at 180 days. I have questions about making the ADR's. When calling, do you make the ressies for the resturaunts in order of importance or by the date you wish to go? If I am making them right at 180 days, will I have trouble getting the ADR's that I want? Will I have a choice of what time that I want the ressie for or do you take what you can get?

 

[Finally - A Vacation]

Ok, so as of right now, our trip will only include myself, DH, DD5, DD3, and DD6wks. We will be going next summer, I am thinking Friday Aug. 7 to Fri. Aug. 14. Again, nothing is set in stone, so if anyone has a suggestion for a better time to go, it would be appreciated! On to the details I do know. First, I know we will be driving. Second, I know we will be staying on-site in a value resort. I really want to stay in POP. However, If Dsis and fam do decide to go, they will need a suite, which means ASMu. I can't decide if we will stay in ASMu with them or go ahead and stay at POP. Unfortunately, Dsis will not know until Jan. if they are going - I don't think I can wait that long to make reservations! Third, we will be using the DDP. As of right now, I am pretty sure I know which resturaunts we want to hit, but there is still a lot of time to change my mind! That's about all I know for sure.

I just recently found this site and have been addicted to reading all the valuable information you all share. After all the research, I have come up with an itinerary that I think sounds good, but always room for improvement. If anyone sees a problem, or has a better suggestion, please let me know!

So, here is how I am thinking that our trip will go. We live in Central IL and I've been told that it will take at least 18 hours to drive. MY sister's father-in-law lives near Cocoa Beach so they have made this trip before. They have been to MK for the day but never stayed on site. I really hope they will be able to join us for this magical experience! Anyway, I plan to leave around 3:00am. Hopefully, this will give DH and I a few hours to sleep before the long trip and maybe the kids will sleep for a few hours in the car. Who am I kidding, I will be way too excited to sleep! I plan to pack a cooler for drinks, lots of snacks, and something to eat for breakfast - maybe cereal bars, or donuts or muffins - I don't know. For lunch I would like to find a McDonalds or somewhere similar with a play area. We will have to stop and let the kids run off some energy! It will be somewhere quick again for dinner. I plan to drive until about 8:00pm, find a hotel with a pool and let the kids swim for a little while. Then it will be off the showers and time to hit the sack. Sorry, I know Day 1 is not very exciting. To keep the kids occupied on this long trip we are going to buy the portable DVD players and bring lots of Disney movies. I will also pick up some Color Wonder books. DD5 will be able to use some type of hand held game. Any more suggestions?

On to Day 2

So, I know that I said it would take at least 18 hours to get there and in Day 1 we have 17 hours of driving planned - so why stay in a hotel? Well, we have never traveled this far before and just don't know what to expect. Mapquest said it would take 16.2 hours to drive straight through and my sister's experience was 18 hours. Who knows how long we will take! The plan is to get pretty close on day 1 and have maybe 3 to 4 hours to go on day 2. I would like to leave the hotel around 8:00am and have breakfast in the car again. Leaving around 8:00 will not be a problem for me, I just can't seem to sleep in when I'm in a hotel. DH on the other hand is notorious for being late!

The plan for today is to see the ocean. DH is the only one who has been to the ocean before. We would like to be in Cocoa Beach around lunch time. I thought it would be neat to do one of the eco-tours. I found a website for Wildside Tours, it looks really neat. If anyone has done this before, I would love your input! Then I would like to relax on the beach for a couple of hours. Although, I don't know if I will be able to relax - the thought of the undertow and the kids really scares me! From the beach we will head to Disney! Finally! I'm really leaning towards staying at POP whether Dsis and fam decide to come or not. So after we check in I would like to check out the resort a little bit, take some pictures, find the food court and head to the pool. Now, every single member of my family thinks that I am completley nuts for even thinking about where we will be eating, let alone what we will be eating 11 months from now, but I know I am not alone here! I am thinking that we might order a pizza and breadsticks from the food court. I haven't decided about the mugs yet, I'm not sure if we will get full use of them. They can only be used at the resort you buy them from, correct? So tonight we will check out the pool. I believe the POP has 3 pools - any suggestions for kids? After some fun in ther pool and our belly's are full it will be time to clean up and head for bed. Hopefully, everyone will get a good night sleep because there are big plans for Day 3!

 

[addictedtothemouse]

Hi, we listen to books on Cds when we travel. Also the lines for a bus to get back to your room can be really long at night. I would suggest driving if your staying until park closing, because sometimes you have to wait for 2-3 busses and then stand all of the way to your room.
Have a blast