New to Disboards: Need advice for Family Trip with 4yo and 2yo

[lovesmurfs]

Yes, someone please post that link!

http://www.wdwinfo.com/abbreviations.htm

 

[Pea-n-Me]

These are just suggestions:

I would consider spending a bit of time around the Magic Kingdom Resorts or Boardwalk Resorts area - somewhere in your week. You can ride the monorail and get off at the different resorts, look around, maybe get a snack or coffee, walk the grounds (Boardwalk area minus the monorail, but would be fun to rent a surrey bike and ride around). You could also hop on the boat and go over to Wilderness Lodge/FW if you wanted, too. Whispering Canyon Cafe is fun for the kids, as is Ohana. If you're there at nighttime, you can watch the Electric Water Pageant from one of the beaches. Very beautiful, and very Disney (of course next time, you'll want to stay there, so watch out!).

I also notice - no Epcot? Yes, you will be spending lots of time at MK, but I would probably try to get in some time there, too. So much to see and do (have been many threads on whether it's worth doing with young kids, will see if I can find one for you ETA: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=798921&referrerid=70088 ), especially fun to do World Showcase and see American Adventure and Illuminations. Some might suggest for this reason, to get park hoppers. MK during the day, and Epcot at night, say. Just a thought. We didn't do much of Epcot early on except for nighttime. Now it's a must do, even if we're only doing one park for the day. Love it!

You're doing a good job planning!

 

[the john]

your kids are tall the 1 year old is only 2ft 4 inches smaller than me and im 13.

 

[jenseib]

You are lucky to have gotten a room. Dh and I were thinking of that time frame too, and we wil lbe last minute planners as well. But nothing is available now, when I look on line. I have tried several resorts and all are booked.

I would consider calling Disney to add tickets to your package. Not sure why the web isn't allowing you to put tickets on it, but I wouldtell them, and see if they will ad them for you. Also wouldn't hurt to ask if there are any speicals going on. I doubt there is, but you never know.

 

[Joey04]

.....

 

[Joey04]

Thanks everyone.

It’s coming along.

Have hotel at CBR. Have flight reservations. Have ADRs, may need to change some. Couldn't get dining plan, no big deal. Haven't purchased park tickets, but we will probably get 6 day tickets instead of 4 days, for our entire family its only fifteen bucks more. Will probably have a rental car, but we may consider canceling it and using DW transportation.

We added Epcot, for the latter half of our arrival day (which is Sunday), thanks for the suggestion Pea&Me. The question now is should we change our ADRs for Sunday to make life easier on us, perhaps take off Whispering Canyon and try to add Garden Grill or something near the Boardwalk hotel? I asked the question on the dining thread. We don’t know the restaurants.

jenseib, were you able to get anything?

BTW, this is what our vacation plans and ADRs looks like.

Sunday, Arrival (Epcot in afternoon/evening), Late evening ADR at Whispering Canyon
Monday (AK) evening ADR at BOMA
Tuesday (MGM) Lunch ADR at Hollywood & Vine
Wednseday (MK) Lunch ADR at Crystal Palace
Thursday (MK) Late Evening dinner ADR at Ohanas
Friday: Morning pick a park. Back to airport late afternoon.

Thanks again everyone. Its been a ton of help.

Joey & Family

 

[Pea-n-Me]

The question now is should we change our ADRs for Sunday to make life easier on us, perhaps take off Whispering Canyon and try to add Garden Grill or something near the Boardwalk hotel?

Getting to WCC could be done, but it would take a while to get there, and you would likely miss Illuminations at 9pm - a must see. If you wanted to simplify, going to an Epcot or Boardwalk area restaurant would be a lot easier.

Besides Garden Grill, you could consider Coral Reef (Living Seas - kids would enjoy that), Biergarten (Germany), or Cape May Cafe (Beach Club) too, among others. I guess I'd probably pick the place closest to where I think we might be around that time. Or - you could just snack around the World Showcase and save your TS credits for another time, maybe lunch at WCC on Friday? (Once again, lots of threads on favorite foods around WS.) So many options!

If you do decide to stay at Epcot for the evening, you will probably want to be somewhere around World Showcase around 8:30pm to get your spot for Illuminations. Remember, if you want to get to the Boardwalk area, there's an International Gateway which leads over there from World Showcase, it's a short walk from there (umbrella strollers are helpful here ). If you want get back to your resort from there you can always hop in a cab, since busses directly to the resorts mainly leave from the front of Epcot. A little tricky, but worth it.

 

[Joey04]

Thanks again Pea-N-Me!!!

Last night, I actually asked the question on the dining board:

(3ws dot)disboards(dot)com/showthread.php?t=1277041

but haven't got any response :-(

It sounds like WCC is a nice place, but maybe not worth rushing out of Epcot and missing illuminations, when we can just eat at Epcot. We have no earthly idea where we will be. My best guess is we get to our hotel around noon on Sunday, head over to the boardwalk, and then take the backdoor entrance into Epcot. We haven't made specific park plans yet, but it seems like we should get a decent ADR plan, and then build the park plan to meet the ADR plan. The plan to go to Epcot Sunday afternoon for a half day, with a 9:20 PM ADR at WCC doesn't seem like a good ADR plan, and I appreciate the help getting that fixed.

Of those restaurants, what should we try to prioritize for myself, wife, 4yo, and 2yo?

Thanks so much!!!!!!!!!!!

Joey

 

[jenseib]

Sounds like you got some good plans.

I have stopped looking for that week. We will probably go in Jan. or Feb.since no Values are left. We will be last minute planners though, as my husband just can't make plans early on. That time of year is less busy, (an my birthday is in Feb) so we will have a better chance at getting away then.

 

[Joey04]

Sounds like you got some good plans.

I have stopped looking for that week. We will probably go in Jan. or Feb.since no Values are left. We will be last minute planners though, as my husband just can't make plans early on. That time of year is less busy, (an my birthday is in Feb) so we will have a better chance at getting away then.

Hi Jenseib,

Do you have kids you are bringing?

Before we had kids, I went with my wife in January 2001. (We actually went to the Gator Bowl, and Orlando was a bonus.) We wanted to go to places kids might not like so much, so we went to Kennedy Space Center, MGM Studios, and only Epcot Center at Disney.

We didn't have any plans at all, but we found a very nice room on International Drive (non Disney however, but that is a very nice kid friendly area) for I think just $29 a night. Thats actually a pretty cool area of Orlando for kids, and not far at all from Disney World. If you don't have kids and like being Frugal, thats the way I'd go.

Our only regret was buying tickets at the ticket window, but oh well.

If you do have kids and aren't sure which week you are going, I'd suggest making one set of Disney hotel reservations in your name, and a backup in your husbands name. Put deposits on both, but make sure to cancel the one you wont be using 6 days in advance, and take the full refund. We are only staying on Disney property because we have kids.

 

[jenseib]

I have 3 kids, but we are only taking my 2 year old. I have stayed at International Dr in the past with my older two when they were young. I know what it is like, but this time I want to stay on property. That is one of the main thrills of going this time. If we don't stay on property, then we are going to go to Colonial Williamsburg and stay on property there.
I can't make a reservation without my DH's credit card, and I wouldn't do it without his approval anyways. (I am a stay at home mom) So we'll see what pops up for us.