Newbie Advice

[bicyclemark]

Greetings all,

This is my first post - I hope this is the correct place for all my questions.

First a bit of background info: I'll be driving down from Minnesota with my wife and children (Girl 9, Boy - 6) to stay at Fort Wilderness in the last week of January. We will be staying for 6 days in a pop-up. This is our first trip to DW and we have a 5 day park hopper passes. I grew up very close to Disney Land - must have visited at least 14 times during the 60's and early 70's. I really miss the experiance and can hardly wait to share it with my family.

Now for the questions.

I have been reading the boards for a while now and have not figured out all the abbreviations. When referring to family, what do DH, DS9, etc stand for?

My current thought of a schedule is ... Sunday at Epcot, Monday at Wild Kingdom, Tuesday at MGM, and Thursday and Friday at Magic Kingdom. Does this seem reasomable to you?

We are also on a very tight budget. All our breakfasts will be at our campsite. Does it make sense for us to return to our site for lunch and/or dinner? If you had to pick one meal to eat at the parks per day, which would you choose?

What is your advise on taking snacks into the parks? What about picnic lunches? Are there picnic grounds near or in the parks? Are theer lockers where we acn store a soft sided cooler?

Since we are camping, what sites/loops do you reccomend? We typically camp self sustained with no water or electric hookup.

When setting up camp, should I set up the screen room or will having just the awning be enough?

I would like to take a small pack with me to carry jackets and all sorts of other stuff. When going on rides, will ther be a convenient place to put my pack? I cant see wearing it during a ride.

I'm sure I'll think of more as the weeks progerss.

Thank you in advance for all your help!

 

[Tig]

Hi!! welcome!!!

Well, I cant help with all the questions, but some...

DH, DW, DD, DS, etc means Dear (some people say Disney) Husband, Dear Wife, Dear Daughter, Dear Son...etc...that is what that all is. I just say hubby, LOL

I would advice bring some snacks in the parks, say small personal size packs of cookies, Goldfish are great snacks, Poptarts, candy, etc. Anything small and convienent. They dont allow picnic lunches in the parks, and coolers are not allowed, although I have seen the small 6 pack size that you carry on your shoulder.
But allow a little bit of extra money to indulge in at least one good WDW snack...THEY ARE SO GOOD( Dole whips, turkey legs, beaver tails, ice cream, etc)

If you are on a budget, then I would definately go back for your meals. Eating at WDW can be expensive. Im not much for telling which restaurant to eat at, b/c we never do the really expensive restaurants, we are pizza and burger people. Someone else can help you with that. Your kids might enjoy a character meal, keep that in mind. Someone else can help you with that too, I dont have kids.

Small packs backpacks, fanny packs, are good to have for your stuff. Usually you can sit the backpack in your lap or below your feet. Now, a big ol huge duffel bad, NAH, pass on that...LOL
But you will not have any trouble with a back pack or fanny pack.

Hope this helps!!!!!

 

[cathy59]

Being somewhat new myself, it took me a couple of weeks to decipher the disboards code!
DH = Disney husband
DS9 = Disney Son, age 9
DD = Disney daughter... you get the drift.

We went to WDW (Walt Disney World) near the end of January 2002 and had great weather. I hope the same for you!

We will be at ASM (All Star Music) Jan 17-19, 2003, then we are cruisin' on the 1/19 Wonder. (Dreams do come true!)

I visited DisneyLand once or twice in the 70s. Being a midwesterner, once WDW opened, we went there instead. You won't be disappointed in WDW. The magic is still there.

As for your theme park schedule, I believe they have started early entry for WDW guests again, so that may effect which day you do which park.

Just FYI - We took our DS (Age 5 at the time) to the Magic Kingdom for the first time in January, and it took us 2 days to do everything. That wasn't because of the lines -- there weren't any! There is just SO much to see and do. My husband and I could have covered it a little faster maybe, but a 5 year old can only go so fast. We even rented a stroller for him - which was a lifesaver -- so he wouldn't spend all of his energy just walking around the park.

As far as meals, etc. go - it is hard to take the time to leave the park and return to your lodging for meals when the park closes just after dinner. There are some web sites which offer tips on the cheapest places to eat in each park, etc., that you might check out. Go to www.mousesavers.com. Also try www.wdwig.com.

And I haven't camped for a while, so I'll leave those questions for someone with more recent experience!

Good luck!

 

[cathy59]

Ooops! I was so slow at replying that Tig responded before I finished! So DH can be Dear husband, too? Nice to know. Thanks!

 

[AGAG]

Welcome to the boards and congrats on your trip!! You will have a wonderful time!!
A few suggestions...we try to maximize our time at the parks..so we plan on eating breakfast either in the rooms or carry poptarts/juice while we are waiting for a park entry! We then either eat an early luch and cruise back for a short nap/swim( 5 dc's) or eat when we return to the room. Then it's back to the parks for an early dinner and stay until closing. Eating is quite an expense at the park. We do have our favorites where the food is good and the portions are really large so we do share sometimes, especially the dc.
Snacks are a must..but if you budget well, you can still eat 2 meals in the parks without going broke!
Do try to relax and not get hung up on the cost of everything(ha..I know.. hard to do)
Don't spend all your time in transit from one park to camp ..to park..etc. It will eat up your entire day!FOr the amount of money these trips cost, it's worth it to budget a little more in for food and not go home regretting missing out while you were actully AT WDW!!
Hope that helps! Have a GREAT TRIP

 

[mkandk]

I think it sounds like a great plan. We have a pop-up and are thinking about going next summer.

You might try asking over at the camping forum, Camping at DisneyWorld . They can tell you the best sites and how long it takes to get from the parks to your campsite.

You could try snacking at the parks, and coming back to the camper for a midafternoon meal. Then going back, depending on how late the parks stay open.

But you might be better off staying in the parks to eat...if it takes a long time going back, then you've wasted a lot of your park ticket...and I am NOT fond of cooking every day on vacation!

 

[dansyr]

I have never stayed at a campsite so I can't help with you with that. My bf and I have gone to Disney quite a few times and usually on a budget. We usually only do a couple of sit down meals. With children I would pick a lunch buffet character meal. We really enjoyed Crystal Palace. Lunch is usually cheaper than dinner. For counter service we really enjoyed Cosmic rays in MK. The portions are huge so you could probably split one. In WS we usually just snack our way thru the countries. I honestly haven't found a counter service in MGM or Ak that really stood out. I would do a late lunch for your main meal and then just take some snacks for in the park. Hope that helps a little,

 

[betterlatethannever]

Here is a link to the abbreviations used on these forums. There are still some abbreviations that are not on the list but it's a start.

abbreviations

Ed

 

[bicyclemark]

Wow, what a great group of dear people. Post questions in the afternoon - have answers in the morning.

The main point that I see about food is that I shouldn't plan on heading back to Fort Wilderness for meals more than onece per day, if that. It eats up too much time.

I'll post over at the Fort wilderness section for answers on camping.

AGAC - You mentioned some favorites where resturants are concerned. Would you mind listing them for me?

Thanks Again.

 

[rajak73]

We ate at Pecos Bills when we were at WDW. DW and I would order one hamburger meal and split it. At Epcot, I think we ate a the land, ordered 1/4 or 1/2 chicken meal, (can't remember which)and was resonably priced. Also the Mickey pizzas are good. Have fun! :

 

[jmminarik]

Originally posted by bicyclemark
Greetings all,

<SNIP>
My current thought of a schedule is ... Sunday at Epcot, Monday at Wild Kingdom, Tuesday at MGM, and Thursday and Friday at Magic Kingdom. Does this seem reasomable to you?

Very reasonable. From what I remember, you're hitting the parks on the days that they historically have a lower attendence. We had the same schedule last week, except we only did the MK once on Thursday.

We are also on a very tight budget. All our breakfasts will be at our campsite. Does it make sense for us to return to our site for lunch and/or dinner? If you had to pick one meal to eat at the parks per day, which would you choose?

The answer to part one depends on the park hours, as well as your need to take a break. I'd definitely take a break back at the 'room' on the Epcot day. The other park days its a tougher call. As a general rule, I'd lean toward taking breaks so long as you're driving and not using Disney transit (the MK being the exception since you can hop a boat back to FW).

As to which meal to eat in the parks, if you're eating counter service, it probably doesn't matter. For sit down, lunch menu's _tend_ to be less expensive, and with early park closings, slightly late dinner outside the parks will definitely be doable.

What is your advise on taking snacks into the parks? What about picnic lunches? Are there picnic grounds near or in the parks? Are theer lockers where we acn store a soft sided cooler?

I loaded a backpack full of snacks...chips, pretzels, cheeze-n-cracker type things and had no problems with bringing them in for our party of 13. We didn't bother with sandwiches and we mostly grazed through the day. When we did get 'real food', it was usually an order of fries split between 2-3 people.

I would like to take a small pack with me to carry jackets and all sorts of other stuff. When going on rides, will ther be a convenient place to put my pack? I cant see wearing it during a ride.

There are lockers at the various parks, but if it starts raining and the lockers are on the other side of the park, you're stuck. Most of the rides have more than enough room to store a pack at your feet. The 'rough' rides often have elastic net storage areas to hold your stuff.

Since you're on a tight budget, you already know the one area you can save the most money...Don't eat in the parks. We fed 13 people for the price of two sit down meals for 4 people by cooking in our rooms and bringing our own snacks.

Hope this helps,
Joe

 

[SnowAngel]

If you eat in the parks I would suggest a late lunch. Lunch prices are cheaper than dinner prices for the same thing. I would also try and squeeze in one one character meal, maybe a breakfast one would be cheaper. It really depends on which character your kids want to see. We loved Crystal Palace (with Pooh and friends) at MK and Holywood and vine (has Mickey, Minnie and friends dressed as 40s movie stars) are good ones.

I heard the rule for coolers was as long as you can hold them with one hand it is okay. I don't think they have tables and such but sure you can find a place to sit

 

[mm6mm6]

Hey there BikeMark! We just did your drive in June 2002 but only from Chicago on down. A nice thing is the higher speed limits than 10 years ago. A few tips for you that I learned six months ago. To keep on budget, buy a big 50 gallon cooler on wheels. Then shop for 24oz plastic bottles of your family's favorite beverages. I did an informal survey and we bought alot of Hawaiin Punch as that was a group favorite. Load up the cooler with your plastic bottles (I bought 12 six packs at only $2 a six pack on sale) and ice. Just top off the ice when you have time. This saved a fortune on drinks everywhere and we poured the re-sealable bottles into an over the shoulder carry cooler for at the parks. It's all we drank, that and drinking fountains. You might want two for the size of your family. One other tip I would give would be to go to the Magic Kingdom your first day. It's the original. It's still the most "Disney." I think it's a must see your first day of introducing your family to the joys you remember from your trips to DisneyLand. Enjoy!

 

[karebear1]

Why don't you try giving your kids their own fanny packs? That spreads the load. They can hold their own snacks, rain coats etc and they do not get in the way for anyone, even on the rides. Also- we gave our kids xxx amount of money that they could use each day. That was also in their fanny packs. When they wanted a souvenier or snack it came out of that money (we paid for their main meals). They felt very grown up and as it happens, actually came home with money, having been very frugal. Funny how that happens when it their money isn't it? I would agree with mm6mm6- take them to the magic Kingdom on the first and last days. AND eating lundh anywhere at WDW is always cheaper the dinner- I think dinner reservations start at 4, so anytime before that would be good. Our kids were so enthrolled by everything around them that they didn't even think about eating! You and your fam are in for a great time HAVE FUN!

 

[jmminarik]

Originally posted by mm6mm6
One other tip I would give would be to go to the Magic Kingdom your first day. It's the original. It's still the most "Disney."

FWIW, I agree with the sentiment, but disagree with the tip. For many (not all) kids, the other parks pale in comparison to the MK, and they can be disappointed by other parks (esp. epcot) if they've never been to any. But, to each their own.

-Joe