Mich123
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2009
- Messages
- 1,016
You're in the right place! I did the same thing that you did, watched the disboards for a year or so and finally, recently, joined.
Two years ago, we split our stay, staying a week in an offsite condo that was about a mile away and a few days at Port Orleans Riverside. It was much more relaxing to stay onsite and I don't think I'll ever stay offsite again. Even though we were relatively close, we spent a lot of time driving and parking and lost on International Drive! It seemed like a waste of time and it was tiring. Sure, Disney is a busy trip, but it was a lot more work to be offsite.
We're headed back in a month and this time I have requested adjoining rooms with my parents. We're booked at Port Orleans again and we're trying the DDP--the disboards dinner reviews are a great help. You might want to consider making some dinner reservations soon if you're interested in sit down dinners. I'd recommend Ohana's dinner, which is great fun for little ones and even if the 13 year olds think it's corny, at least there's tons of good food to fill them up. We also liked Garden Grill at Epcot which is a fun, but quieter, character meal with Chip 'n Dale, Pluto and Mickey. My kids liked the restaurant descriptions in Birnbaum Guides Walt Disney World: "The Official Guide" and were able to pick character and other restaurants they thought they'd like (of course, we have veto power!).
We have a DD12 and DD9, last time we traveled with my niece and nephew, so we had kids ages 10, 7, 4 and 2...I kind of have an idea of what you're facing with the spread of ages. It actually worked out pretty well and we did split up at times so that the little kids could do little kid rides (a la Dumbo) and the big kids could do Space Mountain, etc. There are lots of rides, though, that everyone can enjoy. There are some good strategies for Disney with kids in The Unofficial Guide to Disney. One thing that surprised me last time was that the kids just loved Magic Kingdom and Epcot, so we spent tons of time there (3 days at each park) and less time at Animal Kingdom and DHS (1 day each). We did have a lot of time, but that worked well because we never felt frantic. We also did park hopping, which is convenient for dinner choices and fireworks shows. We didn't park hop too much during the day, but I still purchased the options because you just never know.
Hope this helps and hope you're enjoying the planning part of the trip! You really can't go wrong...everyone is happy at Disney!
Two years ago, we split our stay, staying a week in an offsite condo that was about a mile away and a few days at Port Orleans Riverside. It was much more relaxing to stay onsite and I don't think I'll ever stay offsite again. Even though we were relatively close, we spent a lot of time driving and parking and lost on International Drive! It seemed like a waste of time and it was tiring. Sure, Disney is a busy trip, but it was a lot more work to be offsite.
We're headed back in a month and this time I have requested adjoining rooms with my parents. We're booked at Port Orleans again and we're trying the DDP--the disboards dinner reviews are a great help. You might want to consider making some dinner reservations soon if you're interested in sit down dinners. I'd recommend Ohana's dinner, which is great fun for little ones and even if the 13 year olds think it's corny, at least there's tons of good food to fill them up. We also liked Garden Grill at Epcot which is a fun, but quieter, character meal with Chip 'n Dale, Pluto and Mickey. My kids liked the restaurant descriptions in Birnbaum Guides Walt Disney World: "The Official Guide" and were able to pick character and other restaurants they thought they'd like (of course, we have veto power!).
We have a DD12 and DD9, last time we traveled with my niece and nephew, so we had kids ages 10, 7, 4 and 2...I kind of have an idea of what you're facing with the spread of ages. It actually worked out pretty well and we did split up at times so that the little kids could do little kid rides (a la Dumbo) and the big kids could do Space Mountain, etc. There are lots of rides, though, that everyone can enjoy. There are some good strategies for Disney with kids in The Unofficial Guide to Disney. One thing that surprised me last time was that the kids just loved Magic Kingdom and Epcot, so we spent tons of time there (3 days at each park) and less time at Animal Kingdom and DHS (1 day each). We did have a lot of time, but that worked well because we never felt frantic. We also did park hopping, which is convenient for dinner choices and fireworks shows. We didn't park hop too much during the day, but I still purchased the options because you just never know.
Hope this helps and hope you're enjoying the planning part of the trip! You really can't go wrong...everyone is happy at Disney!
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