New Here :)

[browneyedplanner]

Hi everyone! I'm new here and was referred here by many people.

Our family is thinking of WDW in February 2017 (my husband, 2 young boys, myself, and my in-laws). I have been chosen to do all of the research and planning as that is one of my favourite things to do!

My problem is, I have no idea where to start!!

Help please!!! We don't have exact dates yet, we don't know which parks are best for the kids who will be 7 and 4 at the time of travel, which resort (on-site), etc....It's a little overwhelming for me.

I haven't been to WDW since I was 11 and I didn't have any say, but I loved every minute.

Thank you all for your help and patience as I start my planning journey

ETA: We are from Toronto if that makes a difference

 

[siskaren]

Start with this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/19...Code=as2&tag=ea03e-20&linkId=JR7YSN4TSMF7EI2N

 

[browneyedplanner]

Thank you siskaren!

 

[Kiersten]

I'm new too and will be going around the same time you are! As for which parks are good for 7 and 4 years old- I suggest Magic Kingdom and Epcot. That's what my parents took us too when I was four and my brother was six. I had a blast and I still remember the trip 19 years later.

 

[magicaldisney]

 

[boundfordisney]

Hi everyone! I'm new here and was referred here by many people.

Our family is thinking of WDW in February 2017 (my husband, 2 young boys, myself, and my in-laws). I have been chosen to do all of the research and planning as that is one of my favourite things to do!

My problem is, I have no idea where to start!!

Help please!!! We don't have exact dates yet, we don't know which parks are best for the kids who will be 7 and 4 at the time of travel, which resort (on-site), etc....It's a little overwhelming for me.

I haven't been to WDW since I was 11 and I didn't have any say, but I loved every minute.

Thank you all for your help and patience as I start my planning journey

ETA: We are from Toronto if that makes a difference [it ca!

 

[boundfordisney]

 

[boundfordisney]

dont know what happened to my past reply lol you are on the best site possible for info. the unnofficial guide to walt disney world is another good source to check out I would be more then happy to help any way I can as we are frequent disney travellers. Im from Hamilton and plan alot of friends and co workers trips for them, ask away and will share what I know

 

[boundfordisney]

oh for starters you need to figure out your budget and how many nights you will stay, thats a good starting point, if possible I would suggest doing 9 or 10 nights , thats if your budget will allow for that many,, if this is a once in a lifetime trip Id suggest it even more so. Staying onsite is in my opinion the better option. Once you have a budget in mind then deciede where to stay, we have stayed at all star music resort in the family suite, multiple stays at caribbean beach resort, the yacht club, the poly and at old key west resort in both one and 2 bedrooms, my daughter and family have stayed at aoa allstar movies and por, so if any of these interest you we have lots of info on them and will happily pass it along, my daughter has also stayed off property and has info there as well. Dining reservations really book up so that needs, to be done as soon as your able to book at the 6 month in advance period.All the parks would be good to see I wouldnt suggest skipping any but magic kingdom and epcot really need more then 1 day for sure , , we have gone in Feb, before also in May, Sept Oct November Dec March is Feb the only time you are looking at or are there any other possibilites, other then summer months which I would avoid! hope this helps a little and please feel free to ask away!

 

[theflyingTosher]

like others said, without a basic idea of what you're looking for (time of year/length of stay) its hard to give you much specific advice. However everyone here is very helpful and I hope you get the info you are looking for. I just returned from my first trip a week ago and utilized this site to help me an incredible amount. Here are a few key things based on your OP.

1. Stay onsite, we did one night off and the rest on the property and the transportation options were great, the magic bands that come with the vacation package are awesome, they serve as a wearable door key, park ticket, photopass link, fastpass, and more and its incredibly convenient. Plus you get the Extra Magic Hours which are incredibly helpful especially toting around kids, get to the park early or stay late (depending on am or pm EMH) and take advantage of MUCH shorter lines and wait times for tons of stuff (Ex., at Epcot one night, the character spot had Beymax and the wait was 50 minutes or so, at 9 the park closed and the EMH went into effect and we returned to that character spot and were the 2nd in line.)

2. Stay long enough (or parkhop) to enjoy ALL the parks. We took my daughter (just turned 6) and there were things for her at all the parks, she loved all the rides and rollercoasters (except dinosaur at AK, too dark and scary) and there are unique character interactions at each park. If the boys like animals and dinosaurs I wouldn't miss Animal Kingdom, the safari is great, and one of my daughters favorite things was the boneyard/dinosaur digsite (of course it was, pay thousands of dollars, kid wants to sit in a gravel pit and dig up fossils). Hollywood studios has the star wars characters and attractions that lots of kids love (and can participate in the jedi training one). Epcot has SOOO many character interactions and test track and mission space and buzz light year stuff that would probably interest young boys. Then Magic Kingdom, well it's the Magic Kingdom, I wouldn't miss that for any reason. We only were at the parks for 3 days, but we utilized the time well and spent time at all the parks. We did one park each morning, then rested/played in the pool at the resort mid day (another reason to stay onsite) then did another park in the evening.

3. If your kids are used to strollers, by all means take strollers, if they are or will be big enough to walk, save yourself some hassle and go on walks with them frequently before your visit, get them used to the idea of walking longer. We did this with my daughter for a little over 2 months before we went, we'd walk to a park down the street, or around the neighborhood, or find longer walks to go on anytime we'd travel, just to get her used to walking more and more. When we got to Disney, we didn't have to take or rent a stroller, easier on the wallet AND there are A MILLION strollers at the parks, and at almost every attraction you have to park it outside and leave it, which seemed to me like a big fuss. Between her being used to walking and her excitement for seeing all the magical things she only asked to be picked up once, on the last night, as we were leaving the magic kingdom. It was awesome.

 

[boundfordisney]

yes I agree with the pp we took my 3 year old grandaughter in November, it was her 1st trip and staying onsite made it all the better for going back to resort each day for a little afternoon nap. She had just turned 3 and managed to walk all of the parks! We had brought a stroller with us but she has never been one to stay in it, we tried but to no avail and she was more then happy to just walk it, by the time we went back to resort for nap she was tired enough and did sleep for a couple of hours all but 1 day of our trip, after getting up we would head back to the parks and do our character dinners without any meltdowns. We were amazed at how well she manage to do it all without any problems, we had a great trip she loved every second of it and we did too!

 

[sunshinemelody]

Welcome to the Mad House!

 

[tj6285]

These forums are addictive so just keep reading. Get some Disney World travel books from the library too.

 

[tagerton72]

I'm going in May 2016 and cant wait! I have been several times and I always use Disboards and Allears for help planning.

 

[RHMH]

Dis - Friend ...... To Disney