New and confused.

[allip815]

Hi!

I'm new to the boards and starting to get very overwhelmed.

I am surprising my two daughters, 6 & 8, with our first trip to Disney. We are less than a year out of a divorce so I really want to make this a special trip for us.

We leave in a few weeks and I feel like I should have somewhat of a plan.

I've managed to get this far: We are staying in a pirate room at the CBR, have a meal plan and I have already reserved the character meal for our first night.

After that, I am clueless. I do not have the park hopper but I am thinking that I should add it. Also, I was able to great flights in and out so in effect I have an extra day without park passes. Should I add the day to my package?

What is this speed pass thing and how exactly does it work?

And most importantly, will I be able to find a glass of wine at the end of the night?

 

[Pikezh638]

Hi!

I'm new to the boards and starting to get very overwhelmed.

I am surprising my two daughters, 6 & 8, with our first trip to Disney. We are less than a year out of a divorce so I really want to make this a special trip for us.

We leave in a few weeks and I feel like I should have somewhat of a plan.

I've managed to get this far: We are staying in a pirate room at the CBR, have a meal plan and I have already reserved the character meal for our first night.

After that, I am clueless. I do not have the park hopper but I am thinking that I should add it. Also, I was able to great flights in and out so in effect I have an extra day without park passes. Should I add the day to my package?

What is this speed pass thing and how exactly does it work?

And most importantly, will I be able to find a glass of wine at the end of the night?

Awesome hotel choice The theming is great, but the bed may be uncomfortable. (not to be negative)
I recommend park hoppers as well as the extra day, you never know what might happen.
Fastpass
•Look for the "Disney's FASTPASS® Distribution" sign near the entrance of an attraction.
•Check the "Return Time" displayed on the sign.
•The sign will indicate the time you would return to enjoy the attraction using a FASTPASS ticket.
•For attractions, the return time is a one-hour window (e.g., 1:10 p.m. to 2:10 p.m.), so you don't have to be there exactly at a given time. For shows, your return time will be for a specific performance.
•If the return time is one that works for you, just insert your admission ticket into the Disney's FASTPASS Service machine. (You may use your Walt Disney World Resort admission ticket, readmission ticket, Disney Resort Hotel keycard or Annual Passport.)
•A FASTPASS ticket will emerge with your return time printed on it. Now you're free to go and enjoy the rest of the theme park!
•Go back to the FASTPASS ticketholder entrance when your return time rolls around, show your ticket to the Cast Member and enjoy the attraction with a minimal wait.
Sounds complicated but it isn't, basically you put in your ticket to the machine and you get a FASTPASS for a later return to go through a "quicker" line.

As long as your night doesn't end in Magic Kingdom you will be able to get a glass of wine (no alcohol in MK)

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

If you have the Disney Dining Plan with one table-service meal and one counter-service meal per day, you need to make more reservations. You can make them online. Check the DIS Restaurant board for suggestions. Some of our favorites include Crystal Palace at Magic Kingdom (with Pooh & friends), Liberty Tree Tavern at Magic Kingdom for lunch, 50's Prime Time Cafe at the Studios, Whispering Canyon Cafe at Wilderness Lodge, and I've heard great things about Via Napoli at Epcot, It's hard to get walk-up seating at regular meal times, so you need to book ahead of time.

 

[mobesfamily]

Just joined 2 weeks ago to start planning for our first trip this October (1st time for twin girls 4yo). I have been reading through these boards and gained valuable insight into where to eat, the dining plan, what to pack and many other tips. Anything I see that may be helpful later I copy & paste to a word doc to revisit later. I made a list of restaurants that we may enjoy then checked out the menus & prices on www.allears.net to see if there are things my picky eaters will get. So far we have decided against the dining plan & will instead purchase Disney gift cards to use for all meals (so it's like pre-paid dining) and then we'll know what may work for us in the future. I definitely recommend the park hopper especially with your kids' ages (may not need the breaks we will) so if you are done with Animal Kingdom by 2 pm you can just go to another park. I think that even if you don't have a "plan" you & your daughters will have wonderful time at WDW full of precious memories! Have Fun!

 

[DisGirl1971]

Hi!

I'm new to the boards and starting to get very overwhelmed.

I am surprising my two daughters, 6 & 8, with our first trip to Disney. We are less than a year out of a divorce so I really want to make this a special trip for us.

We leave in a few weeks and I feel like I should have somewhat of a plan.

I've managed to get this far: We are staying in a pirate room at the CBR, have a meal plan and I have already reserved the character meal for our first night.

After that, I am clueless. I do not have the park hopper but I am thinking that I should add it. Also, I was able to great flights in and out so in effect I have an extra day without park passes. Should I add the day to my package?

What is this speed pass thing and how exactly does it work?

And most importantly, will I be able to find a glass of wine at the end of the night?

If you are going to be there during President's Day/Week, the crowds will be quite large. Alsok, the dining plan is very popular and you need to make sure you make all of our Advance Dining Reservations before you leave, most of the popular restarants and character meals will not take walk up reservations. I like to use the website touringplans.com and use their crowd calendar to pick our park days and then make our ADRS for meals around those park days.

If this is your first visit to WDW you do not need the park hopper option on your tickets - I would save that money. There's so much to see and do in each of the parks and learning how to get around without worrying about park hopping. You don't say how many day you are going, but after 4 or 5 day base tickets, the cost is very minimal to uprage, maybe $30.00 for all of you to add another day. For first visits you need to do at least 2 days Magic Kingdom, 1 day Epcot (2 days if you can!), 1 day Animal Kingdom and 1 day Disney Hollywood Studios.

Fastpasses are awesome - they are free and are included with your ticket/admission. We typically go to the standby line if the wait is 25 minutes or less and if it is more than 25 minutes then we get a Fastpass - not all attractions have Fastpasses, but the big/popular rides do. Also, it's no widely publicized, but Fastpass do not expire until the end of the day. Meaning if your ticket return window says come back between 10:30 a.m. and11:30 a.m., they will not accept your Fastpass before 10:30 a.m. but you can use it any time after 10:30 a.m. for the rest of the day. We love Fastpasses

 

[bear_mom]

We are a park hopping family, but if you are unsure at this point if you want it, wait and add it later if you decide you want it. You can upgrade you tickets at any time during your trip - the cost will be the same, so no savings, but this way you can wait and see if you want this option or not.

I would add the extra day, even if you only go the the parks for a few hours, the cost of adding a day (after 3 days?) is pretty minimal.

You need to make some more dining reservations. I like the new on-line system, it allows you to see all the options that have openings at a certain date and time.

If you give us somemore information, we might be able to offer some more suggestions (length or trip, dates, etc).

Emily

 

[Jessica527]

Congrats on your upcoming trip! I just sned you an PM with some great tips

 

[squirrel]

For more information on crowds and best parks for your dates you can check out this free site: www.easywdw.com

 

[tzeitel]

I would not add the park hopper if this is your first visit - you have so many things to see and do in each park you wont even think of going anywhere else!

As for the extra day, it really depends on how many days you are there for - remember that you have Downtown Disney, the awesome pool at CBR and since you did a package through Disney you get a free round of mini golf

Which meal plan do you have? I would try to book a few meals if you have an idea of where you will be on certain days (and plan on doing table service meal). DD was 6 last time we went and she loved Sci-Fi Dine-In (at DHS), Crystal Palace (MK), Teppan Edo (Epcot) and Yak & Yeti (AK).

 

[SweetMissy]

You've gotten good advice so far. Just want to add...you can only have 2 fastpasses at a time. Also...you don't have to make reservations every night. I'm sure some people do this but it gets to be expensive. There's nothing wrong with eating quick service once in awhile....or all the time, lol. We go out to eat enough at home, don't want to waste my time in a restaurant while on vacation, especially at disneyworld. But that's totally up to you. We did the park hopper for our 1st trip and honestly thought it was a waste of money. You can easily spend 1 day in each park without needing to leave and go to another....in fact, it's very hard to do everything in each park in one day. Anyway....good luck figuring it all out and have fun!

 

[aLLpInK]

Looks like you have already a lot of valuable insight already. All I can say is read, read, read these boards as much as possible before your trip!

I learned SO much here that I know for a fact made our trips so much more Magical than if I hadn't!!!!!

 

[squirrel]

You've gotten good advice so far. Just want to add...you can only have 2 fastpasses at a time. Also...you don't have to make reservations every night. I'm sure some people do this but it gets to be expensive. There's nothing wrong with eating quick service once in awhile....or all the time, lol. We go out to eat enough at home, don't want to waste my time in a restaurant while on vacation, especially at disneyworld. But that's totally up to you. We did the park hopper for our 1st trip and honestly thought it was a waste of money. You can easily spend 1 day in each park without needing to leave and go to another....in fact, it's very hard to do everything in each park in one day. Anyway....good luck figuring it all out and have fun!

You can get the character FP (Mickey & Princesses) and another FP. When the time on the bottom of the FP is reached you can get more. It's possible to have more than 2 FP if you don't use them right away. They are good for the whole day.

I also would recommend not buying hoppers. You can always add them later if you find you need/want them, but if you never hop you have wasted the $ to have that on your tickets.

 

[SweetMissy]

You can get the character FP (Mickey & Princesses) and another FP. When the time on the bottom of the FP is reached you can get more. It's possible to have more than 2 FP if you don't use them right away. They are good for the whole day.

I also would recommend not buying hoppers. You can always add them later if you find you need/want them, but if you never hop you have wasted the $ to have that on your tickets.

Yeah I didn't know the fastpasses are good the whole day until reading that a few posts up, lol. I thought you had to use it in between the time on the pass. That's definitely good to know. You can get a fastpass to meet the characters?

 

[Alesia]

You've gotten good advice so far. Just want to add...you can only have 2 fastpasses at a time.

^This is incorrect. The best (and most complete) description of fastpass can be found here.

 

[chasemac]

I am going to add my suggestion that you NOT do park hoppers. I really agonized over this, at first sure that we add them and use them. But, with it being our first trip and with children around your age, decided not to get them up front and to add them later if we found we need them. I am so glad I did this because we would never have used them. We found so much to do in each park each day, that it would not have made much sense for us. We finished up early-ish at Hollywood Studios one day and just came back and relaxed at the resort before heading to dinner. This was really the only day we could have hopped to another park, but the break was just what we needed. We just made sure that any dinners we planned were either at the same park we were spending the day at, or most of the time, we ate dinners at different resorts.

As far as stressing about a plan, I did this too. I found everything very overwhelming and stressful, until I wrote out a rough schedule. Basically, just the days we were there and what parks we were planning to go to that day. I looked EMH and open close hours to plan which day we were spending where. Then after I had that figured out, decided on restaurants and made ADR's. I am not a super-planner, so I didn't have each day planned to the minute, but had a general idea of what we wanted to do when. Once I had something written down, it made me feel so much calmer.

Fast Passes made a great difference in our trip - I can't believe how under-utilized this is! We met so many people who did not understand FP's! Read up on it! The best tip we got regarding FP's is that they really do not expire - we used almost all of ours after the printed time window had expired. And, we made sure to note when our FP window would "open" back up and as we approached that time period, started thinking about where we wanted to get our next set from. One of us would go get those while the other one took our little ones for a potty or snack break. (this would only work if you had an extra adult to do the FP run).

If you had an extra day without tickets, especially if it is an arrival or departure day, that would be a good time to have some fun at your resort or check out Downtown Disney.

As for the wine, you should be able to find that anywhere, except Magic Kingdom! Good Luck, you and your girls will have a blast!

 

[clutter]

First and foremost, look at a good tour book or at a description of rides online and make a list of what you think you and the girls will REALLY want to do. (Ex: Fantasmic? Wishes? SPace Mountain? Soarin'?) It does help to sketch a plan of what park each day around that. If you end up without park hoppers, and you have the regular dining plan, you need to have an idea of what park/what day so you can make some dining reservations. (As a single mom, I LOVE the regular DDP. Gives me a chance to sit and get waited on, not something we do much of at home.)

Having an idea of what is important is also a good idea so that you can arrange your days around them. Soarin'? Get to Epcot and get fastpasses first. Then do some other things while waiting. (Also, check the rehab schedules!)

I'm in agreement with Chasemac's post, except we LOVE park hoppers. If your kids tend to go to bed early (parks, dinner, bed) you'll be fine without them. If they tend to be ok at night (parks, dinner, parks, bed) they can be nice to have. For instance DHS tends to be crowded on evening EMH and Fantasmic days. So you could do those in the evening, but do the rest of the park during the day.

You don't say how long you are going for, and that would affect some of my suggestions. If it's for 4 or 5 days, it will be a bit less relaxing than a 7 or 8 day trip. As for buying the extra day, you can add on once you're there. (You can also upgrade to annual passes for your next trip if it's within a year. )

As for the wine, you can always buy some at the resort gift shop. I LOVE CBR, it's one of my favorites.

 

[DisGirl1971]

Yeah I didn't know the fastpasses are good the whole day until reading that a few posts up, lol. I thought you had to use it in between the time on the pass. That's definitely good to know. You can get a fastpass to meet the characters?

They have Fastpasses for some of the character meet and greets in Magic Kingdom. And you can definitley have more than 2 Fastpasses at one time. We get there early and ride stand by while the lines are short, but all the while picking up Fastpasses everytime our window is open. By collecting them in the early in the day, we then come back later, when the parks are much more crowded, and use our Fastpasses then.

 

[BurghRocks]

We have done Disney I think 4 out of the last 6 years and my girls are about the same age as yours. It doesn't seem to matter what resort we stay at my kids always look forward to swimming in the resort pool. Save the money for the one day and hang out at the pool and check out Downtown Disney. We also do not use park hoppers just because as others have stated, there is just too much to do at any of the parks that it really isn't possible to get it all done in one day. As long as you have four days worth of tickets then you can hit all the parks (except waterparks) without having to worry about park hopping.
Best of luck, I hope you and your girls have a great time!

 

[amym2]

Thought I'd clarify a couple of things...

Because you have the DDP (dining plan) you will want to have reservations for enough meals to use up your table service credits. Even in the off-season, many restaurants fill up and you don't want to be left with points you can't use.

I would get the park hopper, if only to make your ADR making easier. If you get to day 5 and your kids really want to go to EPCOT but you have ADRs at MK, you'll have to change your plans for the day. If you have the park hopper, you can still go to EPCOT and then hop over to MK for your ADR.

It doesn't cost much at all to go from 5 days to 6 or 7 for tickets, so I'd do it. Even if you only spend a couple of hours in the parks those days, it's worth it in my opinion.

Definitely read up on what rides you need to hit first and how to use FP. You can only collect one FP in a time "window" (ie if you get a FP at 10 am and it says return between 12-2, you cannot get another ride FP until after 12). Even if you haven't used that first one, you can get another one after 12. They don't know when you use the FP only when you collect them. And you can have lots of FP if you collect them every two hours, there is no limit.

Hope that helps! Don't stress, but do have a plan. Making ADRs should be your first priority.

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

Thought I'd clarify a couple of things...

Because you have the DDP (dining plan) you will want to have reservations for enough meals to use up your table service credits. Even in the off-season, many restaurants fill up and you don't want to be left with points you can't use.

I would get the park hopper, if only to make your ADR making easier. If you get to day 5 and your kids really want to go to EPCOT but you have ADRs at MK, you'll have to change your plans for the day. If you have the park hopper, you can still go to EPCOT and then hop over to MK for your ADR.

It doesn't cost much at all to go from 5 days to 6 or 7 for tickets, so I'd do it. Even if you only spend a couple of hours in the parks those days, it's worth it in my opinion.

Definitely read up on what rides you need to hit first and how to use FP. You can only collect one FP in a time "window" (ie if you get a FP at 10 am and it says return between 12-2, you cannot get another ride FP until after 12). Even if you haven't used that first one, you can get another one after 12. They don't know when you use the FP only when you collect them. And you can have lots of FP if you collect them every two hours, there is no limit.

Hope that helps! Don't stress, but do have a plan. Making ADRs should be your first priority.

I stand corrected I thought you could not get another FP until after 2 in this case