DH and I had both been to WDW, but this was our first family vacation to WDW. DS is 5 and DD is 2 1/2.
I am so glad that I found such great advice on the boards. I felt very prepared throughout our vacation. Here is what I am very glad we did.
Getting in a shared photopass group. I enjoyed just letting the photographers snap away. We have some great family pictures.
Brought ponchos. It never rained, but we used them on the Kali Rapid River ride and Splash Mountain.
Used M&M tubes for quarters and pennies. My kids loved the press penny machines. We never had to stand in line for change.
Brought glow sticks and glow bracelets. They were great for Spectro, Wishes and Illuminations. Neither of my kids asked for the light up spinning toys. We even had enough to share with the kids around us.
Using Garden Grocer. We had water, milk, and beer delivered to our room.
We shipped a Fed Ex box ahead of time. Packed a lot of misc items.
You can get a glass of ice water for free, at any vending spot. We brought drink mixes and mixed them in.
I made our own autograph books and passports. We got a lot of compliments on both. Especially the passports, they couldn't believe I made them. Thank you to the Disigners!
We ate breakfast in our room. That saved a lot of time. And kept 2 kids from getting crabby.
Always had colorbook and crayons in our backback. They enjoyed coloring in the restaurants while waiting for our food.
We stayed a total of 9 days. I am very glad that we added a couple of extra days. We never felt rushed, and had time to go back and see what we missed. We also enjoyed a day of down time. Swam at the hotel, and enjoyed all of the kids events at the hotel.
I am glad we chose the Animal Kingdom Lodge and got a Savanna view room. The kids loved the view. But we would definately try a different hotel next time! Each hotel seemed to have their own unique qualities.
I am also glad we chose January the weather was great and the lines were not long. I think the longest time we stood in line was 30 minutes. And that was for Dumbo.
I am so glad we did the dining plan. We made reservations at the park we were visiting each day. For us it would have been an inconvenience to leave for a ADR. We enjoyed all of the restaurants we ate at. Especially, the character meals. What a great way to meet characters. We ate at Akershus, Le Cellier, Coral Reef, CRT, Hollywood and Vine, Tony's and Boma. We had great service at all of them. I have to say our waiter at Boma was the best. That was definately mine and DH's favorite meal. It was fun to try something different. We did not have bad food at any place we ate. But I think I was expecting the worst, and was pleasantly surprised. We also thought Akershus was just as good as CRT. At least for the experience. It was fun to eat in the castle, but the princesses did not spend very much time at each table. They let you get a picture and off they went. The princesses really took their time at Akershus. Each princess chatted, and let us take several pictures. Next time we will choose completely different restaurants and character meals.
Animal Kingdom and Epcot were the best places to meet characters. My DH stood in line with DD once at MK to meet Winnie the Pooh. It took over an hour. Way too long for a 2 year old. When we were in Epcot, just happened into the toy store in England and waited 10 minute to meet Winnie the Pooh and friends. Also, the character spot in Epcot was great. Waited only 15 minutes and met Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Pluto. That was great. Also, Camp Minnie and Mickey at Animal Kingdom was a great place to meet characters. While the Lion King show was going on the lines were empty. After the show the lines got kind of long. My other character tip, before standing in line ask the CM how long the character will be there? I heard several people say that they waited in line, and the character's time ended. They never got to meet them.
My kids loved Epcot and Animal Kingdom. My DS's favorite rides were Test Track and the Kali Rapid Rivers. They couldn't get to each Kidcot fast enough. My DD loved the Carousel at MK. We would get off and go right back on.
DH and I enjoyed Test Track, Soarin, and Expedition Everest.
I can't say enough about how wonderful all of the CM's were. Any of them were willing and ready to answer any questions!
Thanks for reading. I hope you have as much fun planning as we did. And have a magical vacation.
I am so glad that I found such great advice on the boards. I felt very prepared throughout our vacation. Here is what I am very glad we did.
Getting in a shared photopass group. I enjoyed just letting the photographers snap away. We have some great family pictures.
Brought ponchos. It never rained, but we used them on the Kali Rapid River ride and Splash Mountain.
Used M&M tubes for quarters and pennies. My kids loved the press penny machines. We never had to stand in line for change.
Brought glow sticks and glow bracelets. They were great for Spectro, Wishes and Illuminations. Neither of my kids asked for the light up spinning toys. We even had enough to share with the kids around us.
Using Garden Grocer. We had water, milk, and beer delivered to our room.
We shipped a Fed Ex box ahead of time. Packed a lot of misc items.
You can get a glass of ice water for free, at any vending spot. We brought drink mixes and mixed them in.
I made our own autograph books and passports. We got a lot of compliments on both. Especially the passports, they couldn't believe I made them. Thank you to the Disigners!
We ate breakfast in our room. That saved a lot of time. And kept 2 kids from getting crabby.
Always had colorbook and crayons in our backback. They enjoyed coloring in the restaurants while waiting for our food.
We stayed a total of 9 days. I am very glad that we added a couple of extra days. We never felt rushed, and had time to go back and see what we missed. We also enjoyed a day of down time. Swam at the hotel, and enjoyed all of the kids events at the hotel.
I am glad we chose the Animal Kingdom Lodge and got a Savanna view room. The kids loved the view. But we would definately try a different hotel next time! Each hotel seemed to have their own unique qualities.
I am also glad we chose January the weather was great and the lines were not long. I think the longest time we stood in line was 30 minutes. And that was for Dumbo.
I am so glad we did the dining plan. We made reservations at the park we were visiting each day. For us it would have been an inconvenience to leave for a ADR. We enjoyed all of the restaurants we ate at. Especially, the character meals. What a great way to meet characters. We ate at Akershus, Le Cellier, Coral Reef, CRT, Hollywood and Vine, Tony's and Boma. We had great service at all of them. I have to say our waiter at Boma was the best. That was definately mine and DH's favorite meal. It was fun to try something different. We did not have bad food at any place we ate. But I think I was expecting the worst, and was pleasantly surprised. We also thought Akershus was just as good as CRT. At least for the experience. It was fun to eat in the castle, but the princesses did not spend very much time at each table. They let you get a picture and off they went. The princesses really took their time at Akershus. Each princess chatted, and let us take several pictures. Next time we will choose completely different restaurants and character meals.
Animal Kingdom and Epcot were the best places to meet characters. My DH stood in line with DD once at MK to meet Winnie the Pooh. It took over an hour. Way too long for a 2 year old. When we were in Epcot, just happened into the toy store in England and waited 10 minute to meet Winnie the Pooh and friends. Also, the character spot in Epcot was great. Waited only 15 minutes and met Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Pluto. That was great. Also, Camp Minnie and Mickey at Animal Kingdom was a great place to meet characters. While the Lion King show was going on the lines were empty. After the show the lines got kind of long. My other character tip, before standing in line ask the CM how long the character will be there? I heard several people say that they waited in line, and the character's time ended. They never got to meet them.
My kids loved Epcot and Animal Kingdom. My DS's favorite rides were Test Track and the Kali Rapid Rivers. They couldn't get to each Kidcot fast enough. My DD loved the Carousel at MK. We would get off and go right back on.
DH and I enjoyed Test Track, Soarin, and Expedition Everest.
I can't say enough about how wonderful all of the CM's were. Any of them were willing and ready to answer any questions!
Thanks for reading. I hope you have as much fun planning as we did. And have a magical vacation.
