Newbie-I have 32 days before WDW visit! Help!

[Plumeria9]

Hi everybody, I am starting to freak out because I haven't done any planning for about 3 months, since my DH & I first booked our trip. I have dinner reservations for each night of our stay (or for all of our sit-down dining credits anyway). We have a 6 y.o. and almost 3 y.o. daughter (free!) and now I really gotta get down to business. Any tips will be greatly appreciated! We are staying at the Polynesian. It will be my 40th bday during our trip, and we might celebrate my 6 y.o.'s too, as her bday is 1/15. So we have some big stuff to celebrate, plus get as many rides in as we can w/ a 3 year old. I fortunately stumbled upon this site, and now I am going to spend 8 hours a day on it for a few weeks! Thanks all!

 

[S.Poppins]

You came to the right place for help! So give us some details about your trip. When are you going, how long are you staying, where are you staying, and most importantly where are you eating ?

This is your first trip to WDW or first with your family?

32 days is plenty of time - no worries!

 

[Indy's Girl]

Welcome to the DIS! 32 days is plenty of time, especially since you already have your adr's! The more info you give us, the more help we can be (where are you eating, what do your kids like/dislike in rides, how tall are they etc). Poly sounds like a great choice, especially for the monorail service. Here is some of my advice:
1) ask a cm at the monorail platform if your family can ride up front with the monorail driver, it is a really special experience and you get pretend licenses!
2) Have all your ADR's note that it is your and your daughter's b-day, many of them will do something special (I'm pretty sure it is okay to do this for every dinner ressie, not just the one on your b-day's) In fact, while you are calling and doing this have it mentioned on your room reservation as well, you never know when disney magic will happen
3) Get B-day buttons for yourself and daughter at the first park you visit- at guest relations I believe. The whole family can also get "my first trip to wdw" buttons if this is your first trip! These are free
4) Prep your kids, especially the 3 y.o., for character meets and certain rides, especially if you have never been. Some "tame" rides (like Snow White) are still scary for youngsters.
5) check out these guidebooks if you haven't already: Passporter WDW and Unofficial Guide WDW. You can probably check these out from your local library as well. There are great ride descriptions, restaurant/counterservice/snack descriptions. touring plans etc.

I am sure others will have great advice as well, I will post more if I think of anything!

 

[Plumeria9]

Thank you for coming to the rescue! Okay, now that I have calmed down a tad. As a family of 4, this is our first trip to WDW. We are from So. Cal., so we are usually Disneyland folk. Now we live in Texas, so we are much closer to WDW and wanted to share the magic w/ our girls. We went on our honeymoon almost 15 yrs ago to WDW, back in 1992. I think it was a "different world" then, as I don't recall doing any planning, we just went, and it was fine and not crowded at all.
We are going 1/24-1/30, for 5 full days in the parks. We have 7 day park hoppers in case we can pop in somewhere the day we land and the day we leave. We are staying at the Polynesian, since we are going during "value" season (whoo hoo!). I'm sure I will be totally spoiled by this whole thing and won't be able to go during any crowded time or stay at any lesser level of hotel ever again.
Our dining ressies are at(all are dinner ones):
Crystal Palace, Coral Reef, CA grill (my birthday), Cindy's Royal Table (we'll consider it to be 6 y.o's bday). Once I got those reservations made and settled, I promptly stopped planning as I was burnt out!!!

So the items I'm freaking out over are:
a) What rides will my almost 3 y.o. be able to ride on?
b) what rides will my 6 y.o. be able to ride on?
c) will we be able to see enough of WDW to feel like we did the right thing in going now, and not waiting until little one is older?
d) not waiting in line forever, we just are not into that. Contrarians, if you will.
I think those are the main items, but I'm sure there are more

Actually, we just went to Dinseyland on the Monday of the week of Thanksgiving. What misery! It was so crowded, we did SEVEN rides from 10:30a-8:30p. (we got there at 8:30a to meet "friends" who didn't show until 10:30a, but that is a different story) Anyhoo. So we are pretty familiar w/ the rides that are duplicates from Disneyland and at Magic Kingdom. I forgot which ones are duplicates tho. 6 y.o. was always afraid of the dark, interior rides, even the Winnie the Pooh one! 3 y.o. seems a little more easy going, but she's not too crazy about the Buzz Lightyear ride. So anything really scary is probably not going to work w/ the kids. 6 y.o. really likes Space Mountain! Maybe she is like her mama after all. DH has a weak tummy, so he doesn't like real roller coasters, but I can handle 'em. Can I go on the Rock n Roll roller coaster w/ my 6 y.o.? Things like that I have to check out. So whatever y'all have for input, I'll gladly utilize. And thanks again!!!

 

[Sunny Soph]

Welcome

 

[Indy's Girl]

Hi again!
The first thing I would do would be measure the kiddos. This way, you can eliminate some rides right away, based on if they are not tall enough (though your 6 y.o. may be tall enough for everything, it depends). Also, no disappointment when you get to the parks. Then read ride descriptions (you can do this in a limited way at the disneyworld.com site, also check out allearsnet.com for lots of info about all of wdw, and as I said in my previous post, check out some guidebooks. A good interior ride to start your girls with might be Peter Pan, have they been on this at Disneyland? If your 6 y.o. likes space mtn, you might want to gradually phase her into doing RNR, by riding a couple other "coasters" with her and making sure she is still okay. Does she do okay on this because it is in the dark?
Also, keep in mind that some theatre shows are scary for kids too, like It's Tough to Be a Bug and Honey I Shrunk the Audience. Maybe try Mickey's Philharmagic first?

5 days should be enough to hit every park, see some of the major attractions and shows, but definitley not to "do it all". From what I have heard even 2 weeks isn't enough to "do it all". Take it slow, head back to the room for naps , and take advantage of early morning extra magic hours with the little ones. Use fastpasses to try and avoid lots of waits (I have no idea what lines will be like the days you are going). Don't try to cram it all in. Choose must do's for every park and take some time to just experience it instead of feeling like you have to get it all in or get your money's worth.

Also, remember that for the big ticket rides that your husband and youngest may not want/be able to go on, you can use their tickets for fastpasses as well so you and 6 y.o. can ride twice in a row! There is also rider swap, so if you and your husband both want to try a ride but the youngest (or both) your girls don't want to ride, you can ask for a rider switch pass (I believe at the fastpass entrance?). Then you ride while hubby waits with the girls, then he gets to go through the fastpass entrance to ride while you wait with the girls. If one of the girls wanted to ride (and the other didn't obviously) she could go with both of you so get two rides. And of course there are always "chicken exits" if your daughters want to go with you up to boarding and then change their minds.

No matter what, remember that you are on a magical vacation together and enjoy being there as a family
1

 

[themudd4]

I am so excited for you!

Well the good thing is you already made your ADR's. That is something alot of newbies do not know about.
I would suggest getting you a guidebook. There are several good ones out there. I have used the official guide, the unofficial guide, Toug Guide Mike, and Passporter. All are great and will help answer alot of your questions and will answer questions you didn't even know you had.

Not knowing the heights of your children I can not tell you if they will meet height requirments of different rides. I can tell you from past experience my children rode alot even as 3 yr. olds. My 6 yr old could ride most everything this past June. I think the only thing he missed the cut off on was the Rock and Rollercoster. He was able to ride most everything else. But I would study up on how to use fast passes and not make the kids stand in line any longer than need be.

Make sure you pack EVERYTHING. When traveling with children you will need everything, and although you can buy most things there, they are pretty $$$. some people don't like doing laundry on vacation, I on the other hand don't mind. I measuer out my powder laudry detergent and put it in baggies. Then I take dryer sheets. i also take pre-treater and a bleach pen...believe me with kids...I needed it all...so did most people doing laundry at the time I was.

Even after all the planning in the world...don't foget to allow time for WHATEVER COMES UP! I have seen people pass up on great things because it wasn't in their plans for the day. Go and have a great vacation.

By the way... to the Dis!

 

[3NJDisneyDivas]

Hello & welcome.
We will be there at the same time!
We are splitting our stay this trip. 1/24 thru 1/29 at the Contemporary, then another 5 nights at the Poly. This is our first time at the Poly & we can't wait.
Hope to see you there.

Lisa

 

[Plumeria9]

Okay thanks everybody for great sensible info. I am about to pay Tour Guide Mike to get that info also. We are giving the trip to our girls for Christmas, so I can't wait until then! Maybe that is why I stopped planning, I had to hide to do it. Oh well. I think now w/ this reasonable info, I can now go forward w/o feeling like I am doomed. THANKS!!!

 

[pooh4me]

I want to recommend the Passporter guide book for you. It lists all the rides by park and the area of the park. It tells you what the ride is like and also toddler to adults ratings and warnings.It also has great maps of each of the parks and resorts. I get a new one each trip we take and have found them to be invaluable. They even have pockets to keep receipts, maps, and other important info.in. Have a great trip and take time to just look around, that can be the best part.

 

[Plumeria9]

Hello & welcome.
We will be there at the same time!
We are splitting our stay this trip. 1/24 thru 1/29 at the Contemporary, then another 5 nights at the Poly. This is our first time at the Poly & we can't wait.
Hope to see you there.

Lisa

Lisa,
Any tips on which longhouse to stay in at the Poly, and any to avoid? I need to avoid any that allow smoking at all, that just never works out for me. And I need quiet! I wake up when I hear people walking/running around above me, etc. Just call me a TX Diva
Thanks!

 

[Plumeria9]

I want to recommend the Passporter guide book for you. It lists all the rides by park and the area of the park. It tells you what the ride is like and also toddler to adults ratings and warnings.It also has great maps of each of the parks and resorts. I get a new one each trip we take and have found them to be invaluable. They even have pockets to keep receipts, maps, and other important info.in. Have a great trip and take time to just look around, that can be the best part.

This Passporter book sounds interesting, where can I buy one? Thanks!!!

 

[Plumeria9]

Is the line for the Peter Pan ride at MK as ridiculously long and crowded as it is at Dinseyland? I cannot recall the last time we went on that ride because of the line situation.

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

You know, for the low low price of getting me a room at the Polynesian, too, I'll be your personal tour guide!

Also, welcome!

 

[byoung]

Welcome to the DIS! Have a great vacation.

 

[DisneyWisher]

Is the line for the Peter Pan ride at MK as ridiculously long and crowded as it is at Dinseyland? I cannot recall the last time we went on that ride because of the line situation.

I've never been to Disneyland but have been to Disney World countless times. January is considered a slow month so wait times are reduced. Some rides are typically walk ons, that being said most of the longest wait times are in Fantasyland (MK) where all children can ride everything. Peter Pan usually does have a long line but it also has fast passes. Grab fast passes for the family and then go over to Mickey's Philharmagic (suitable for all ages and a MUST-SEE). Its right next to Peter Pan. Check out Allearsnet.com for park maps. Some rides I would be wary of is Its tough to be a bug. We love it(my youngest is 13) but you do hear a lot of screaming and crying children, a couple of scenes scare them. Maybe Dad or yourself can check it out before the whole family. You mentioned riding RocknRoller Coaster with your 6 yr old but realize it does go upside down 3 times and you are held in by shoulder harness. My youngest was 8 when she rode it. It comes down to what you and your children feel comfortable doing. All kids are different. My girls are dare devils. They will ride anything. Another great thing about allearsnet is that they show you the menus for almost every Disney restaurant. ADRs should be easy enough to get during the time you are going. Enjoy and reading Disboards. They have great tips and info.

Shirley
We'll be up there January 27th weekend. A gift from my parents.

 

[Indy's Girl]

You can get a Passporter at almost any bookstore or order directly off of their website, http://www.passporter.com/
You can also check out a library edition (same info, no pockets or planning sheets) from your local library, assuming they have it. It is my favorite guidebook!