Newbie questions--please help!

[sahm2kaitlyne]

Ok, so DD, DH and I are going to disney Jan 23-30 for the buy 4 nights, get 3 promo. I've added the dining plan as well, and made a few reservations (everything seems to be open that week, probably b/c it's such a slow time of year--I even got ressies for CRT) Anyway, I have a few questions for those of you who have been-

1. Which restaurants are your fave (both CS and TS) in each of the parks?

2. The park passes...I'm confused about this. We are checking in on Friday at 4pm (check in time). Do we not get any park passes for that day? Do our park passes just begin on Saturday and go through the week until the day we check out (would the day we check out be our last day in the parks?) Or do we get 8 days worth of park passes (including day we check in and day we check out?) I'm just confused on this. Seems like somewhere we won't be getting a full day's worth of a park...

3. DD is 2, so we'll be wheeling her around in the stroller. What do we do with the stroller while all of us are on rides? I'm already planning to pack a backpack with our necessary things, so there wouldn't be any valuables carried in the stroller necessarily...do they just have a place where you park your stroller for rides?

 

[Stasieki]

You are going to love seeing Disney through your 2 year old. We took our DD at 6 mo, 18 mo, and 2 (lived 2 hours from Disney - now we are in TN). At each ride there is an area where you park your stroller. We would bring our diaper bag on the ride, but kept a small cooler with waters in the basket and never had a problem. With some of the popular rides, it is crazy trying to find your stoller at the end (sometimes they move them around), so I would advise to tie something to it to help you find it. Our fav character meal is Garden Grill at Epcot. I think starting in 2009, however, it won't be a character meal anymore. But, I loved the food anyways. We also liked Sci-Fi at HS. I'm not sure about your other question with the park days. I would think you have 7 days of tickets. The promo was for the hotel accomodations, so I think it would depend on how many days of park tickets you got. Also, did you get the Park Hopper option? Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[dzneelvr]

The promo gives you one single day pass to any park; so let's say you want to spend the first evening at MK...you'll use those passes up. Then you'll decide how many other days you will need park passes or how many days you'll spend at just the resort/downtown Disney..and no need for any tickets there. The way we decide on the park is wherever our ADRs are at, that's the park we spend the day in. Since you've already made ADRs, just coordinate the park that day. You can also check which ones have extended magic hours and re-do ADRs for that park.
For a small child, the Pooh characters at MKs Crystal Palace would be appropriate or the princesses at either MK or Norway in EPCOt. Keep in mind that many of the characters can seem too boisterous for a child that small. I'd reserve my ADRs for later years when she's a bit older. Get on allearsnet.com and check out the menus for you and DH. DD can eat kids menu items anywhere; so it can be all about you two right now. Most of all, relax and have fun. Don't even try to see "everything". We've been going to WDW since the early 90's and still haven't seen it all!

 

[daisyduck123]

Don't wait to long to make your ADRs. It's not really that slow of a week. We'll be there the same time (Jan. 25- Feb. 2) and we had some trouble booking 2 rooms & getting some ADRs. Hope you have a great trip!

 

[deb24k]

I'm not sure what resort you are booked for, but depending on where you are staying you may want to consider booking a meal at a restaraunt in your hotel. I think the character meal you choose will largely be based on what characters you want to see. You can get a list of those in a guide book or on various websites.

Some suggestions for my favorite TS meals in the parks are:
Magic Kingdom: CRT or Liberty Tree Tavern (mixed reviews out there, but like them both)
Animal Kingdom: I have not eaten TS in this park.
Hollywood Studios: Prime Time Cafe
Epcot: So many to choose from! Teppan Edo, LeCellier

I happen to like many of the restaraunts in the resorts. We love Ohana's at the Polynesian and recently enjoyed Boma's at The Animal Kingdom Lodge

There are also some great restaraunts at The Boardwalk. You can stroll over there or take a boat ride there from Epcot.

Have a wonderful trip. I've never had the joy of going when the weather wasn't smoltering as I teach and cannot aford to go during winter and spring breaks. Take your time and enjoy The World through your DD's eyes. We loved watching my son revel in the simple magical spots created to give small ones some down time.

 

[asoko]

You should have 7 day passes to the parks for booking 7 nights. With that many days and a 2 year old, you shouldn't need to park hop. We didn't park hop last time and it worked out great. My kids were 4 & 2 when we went the first time, they are introverted and passive. They did not want to meet any characters except DD 2 would meet and loved the princesses. They warmed up to the characters after a little time, so the TS were good. If you have a Disney Visa there is a special meet and greet in Epcot at Innoventions west (I think west) It was great, we met Mickey and Goofy and it was the 1st time my DS4 actually smiled and laughed with the characters.

We enjoyed Coral Reef at EPCOT, we were right by the tank and the divers kept waiving to my kids. I don't like seafood, but easily found stuff on the menu I did like. Also enjoyed lunch buffet at Hollywood and Vine with Playhouse Disney- Leo, June, JoJo and Goliath. My sister went to breakfast at Tuskerhouse with Donald. Like PP stated check out menus on allears.net, she also lets you know what characters are usually at the service

CS - Cosmic Rays at MK
Land at EPCOT
Flame BBQ at AK

The one mistake I made the 1st time was that we had ADR at different parks and had to rearrange schedule to make it and I felt rushed all the time. The 2nd time we didn't park hop, just went to parks we were going to stay at, much more relaxed.

Note about princesses in EPCOT - Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) is on the right side of France in the back. She was the first princess my daughter met, no one was there, I don't think they knew she was there since everybody was going to the princesses that were by the lake. She is DD favorite and the only one she will actually run to.

To be honest all the characters were wonderful with the kids.

 

[asoko]

Also, one more thing about checking into hotel. You should be able to check in earlier than 4 pm, you just can't get into the room. They will hold onto your luggage and put it in your room for you. I don't remember what time we checked in, but I know our room wasn't ready. We got all our passes, so realistically we could have gone to a park.