Our 1st WDW trip with the kids ... help!

[alleghator]

Basic background ... our last WDW trip was 1 day in EPCOT at the tail end of our honeymoon in June 1993. We're going back (with our kids) for 1 week (Saturday through Saturday) in March 2006. Emily (who is very petite) will be celebrating her 7th birthday while we're there. Matthew (who is very large) will be 4-3/4. (as of this posting, they're both around 42" and ~40 lbs ... though he's taller and heavier than she is, already) We'll be staying at my MIL's Westgate Town Center timeshare (full kitchen) about 1/2 mile from AK.

SO .... do I bring a stroller or just push as long as I can and the rent one? Double or two singles? (I'm worried that pushing two kids that size in one stoller is going to break our backs.)

And .... should I rethink my scheduling? As of right now, I'm planning to have us up and at the parks before opening, leave again around 12:30, have lunch/swim/chill at the timeshare, return to the same park for a dinner reservation around 4:30pm, stay through the fireworks or what-have-you. (the exception is AK, where we'll just stay through until we've seen it all and then go back to the timeshare to chill in the evening)

If I get CRT for breakfast or lunch one day, that wil adjust things a bit, of course.

Should I plan to get the hopper option and move to a different park for the afternoon/evening? I'm trying to save some money on tickets and spend it on an additional character meal, instead.

Anything I should reconsider? What thoughts do you have? HELP!

--Heidi

 

[GIOny]

I would opt for 2 different strollers, either rent them or if you have those lightweight umbrella strollers. As far as your schedule goes, it sounds pretty good, just make sure you allow yourself enough time to get in and out of the parks and back to the timeshare (are you driving or does the timeshare provide a shuttle?) It may take longer then you think. I wouldn't worry about the hopper, it's easier to hop when your kids are older and you are not planning long breaks. I think you are better off leaving it the way you have it. Good Luck and have a great time!!

 

[alleghator]

are you driving or does the timeshare provide a shuttle?

We'll be driving back and forth. The Unofficial Guide has turnaround times from Westgate to/from the parks being fairly short, so I'm not too worried.

 

[bmderd]

Your plan sounds a whole lot like what we did just a month ago. We have three boys who are 8, 6, and 4. We have big boys the 4 year old is about 45 pounds. We did not bring our own strollers we rented one for the entire week on our first day(then all you have to do is show your ticket each day). We only rented a single and by day 3 out of seven we regretted it. The 6 year old who is very active really wnated to sit in the stroller. We ended up upgrading (paying the difference for a double) the rest of the week. I would suggest that you get a double stroller for the entire week. The parks have the really great hard plastic strollers that are great for older kids. They were not hard to push and they were great at the parades, I would just push the stroller up to the end of the sidewalk.
We also went to the park every morning at opening and stayed till after lunch and went back to the hotel (except for Animal Kingdom we wne there around 10:00am and stayed till about 5:30). We also did not get the park hoppers we returned to the same park in the evening, usually about 6:00 and ate and spent the evening in that park. I really went back and forth about getting the park hoppers, I really wanted it but did not want to spent the extra money. In the end having three young children it was just as easy to go to the same park in morning and the evening..the only thing we missed was the extra evening hours which you can not use if staying off site anyway. We had a great time...let me know if you have any more questions..