Planning my Family WDW Vaca

[Phatema]

Okay this site is very overwhelming....

Anyone know when the Fall disney free dining is offered?
What are the MUST for a 6 year old girl to do?
Anyone know of great military discounts?

 

[skier_pete]

Okay this site is very overwhelming....

Anyone know when the Fall disney free dining is offered?
What are the MUST for a 6 year old girl to do?
Anyone know of great military discounts?

Hi and welcome!

1) There are two stages of "fall" free dining. The August/September free dining usually comes out in early April, though sometimes late march. The October-December free dining usually comes out late-July to early-August. The dates for both vary.

2) Man, it really all depends on your kid. Six is a good age for the first Disney trip. It really depends on their likes and fears. For instance, many would recommend the Bibbity Bobbity Beautique for getting hair/make-up done like a princess, but our DD(8 years old) hates dressing up. She prefers Peter Pan and Jungle Cruise and anything with animals to Princesses. Best is to get a good guide book that goes over the rides and attractions and go from there.

3) I can't tell you too much about this one. I do know if you get free dining, you can't really apply other discounts to it. I do know they have military ticket discounts but can't provide details. There is also a resort on property (Shades of Green) that is exclusive to military families with pretty good rates, but again you can't get free dining with those, so you need to weigh your options.

Another hint...you will get better answers on the DIS by asking specific questions (like 1 and 3) as opposed to generalites (2). It's not that you won't get people answering general questions, its just that the answers will be all over the place, and might result in more confusion rather than less.

 

[Luvmycollie]

My daughter loved everything in Fantasyland when she was that age, plus the parades. She hated the fireworks because of the loud bangs.

 

[Metro West]

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Okay this site is very overwhelming....

Anyone know when the Fall disney free dining is offered?
What are the MUST for a 6 year old girl to do?
Anyone know of great military discounts?

As the pp mentioned, it depends on when you are going in the "fall." Mid-August - September dates will be released end of March/beginning of April and any Free Dining offers past September probably won't be released until summer.

By the age of 6 my girls liked pretty much everything at WDW. I can't think of anything, other that Stitch's Great Escape, that I would say is skippable.

Also, as the pp mentioned, you can't combine discounts with Disney. They do sometimes have discounted military tickets, but free dining would be a MUCH larger discount.

Here is a link to give you all the details of EVERYTHING having to do with Free Dining Discounts:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2771101

Also, here is some info I give to people who are new to touring Disney:

I never recommend the hopper ticket option to people who are new to touring Disney, you don't need it. I would recommend 5 to 6 park days for a first visit - 2 days MK, 2 days Epcot, 1 day Ak and 1 day DHS. If you are staying on-site, you don't really need your car, the Disney transporation is good, especially with it being your first time and not being familiar with Disney property.

Pick up a copy of The Unoffical Guide to Walt Disney World and check out their companion website, www.touringplans.com. I use their crowd/best days calendar to plan all our park days and then once I know which park we will be in on which days I can make my Advance Dining Reservations around those parks or in resorts close to those parks. I highly recommend the Basic Disney Dining Plan if your party is going to eat at least one sit down/table service/character meal per day.

There are tips I give to anyone new to touring WDW:

1. Make sure you have Advance Dining Reservations as a lot of table service restaurants do not take walk-ups especially if you are going during free dinings. You can make your ADRS at 180 days out.

2. Get to the parks at opening. You really can get a lot done in the morning because so many other people sleep in.

3. Eat lunch around 11:00 or 11:30 a.m. before the fast food places get busy. Then when while everyone else is eating lunch, you will have lower crowds.

4. I buy a ton of the two for a dollar ponchos at the dollar store and keep them in the backpack. That way you can throw them a way after use and not worry about keeping up with a wet bulky poncho the rest of the day. Bring throw away ponchos to wear on Kali River Rapids at Animal Kingdom, if not you WILL get soaked.

5. Other things I put in the backpack each morning are Tylenol/Motrin, small first aid kit, camera with extra batteries, small hand towel, hand sanitizer, wipes and a bottle of water.

6. Most single service items under $4.00 are considered a snack credit on the dining plan. A Turkey Leg is NOT a snack credit.

7. At Magic Kingdom always head to Fantasyland first, if you are not doing Fantasyland on a particular day then head to Splash Mountain first, then Big Thunder Mountain; at Epcot always ride Soarin' first and get a Fastpass for later after you get off of the ride; at Disney Hollywood Studios always ride Toy Story Mania first, then head over to Rockin' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror; and at Animal Kingdom ride Expedition Everest First then head to the Safari.

8. Favorite fast food restaurants at MK are Pecos Bills and Cosmic Rays; favorite fast food at Animal Kingdom is Flame Tree Grill and Pizzafari. If you are there while it very hot, go to Pizzafari.

9. If there are two lines going into an attraction, always take the line that goes to the left.

10. My best tip would have to be USE THE FASTPASS SYSTEM. Our rule of thumb is if the wait is 25 minutes or less, we wait in line. If the wait is 30 minutes or more, use a Fastpass. It is not highly publicized, but your Fastpass does not expire until the end of the day. You can never use it before the return time stamp on the pass, but you can always use it after. We try to collect Fastpasses during the early part of the day and then use them later in the afternoon when the parks become more crowded.

Click on this link and it will give you an excellent overview of Fastpass. It is from Doconeil here on the Disboards and super helpful:

http://www.oinc.net/disney/fastpass.php

If you still don't understand, just let me know your specific questions.

11. I like the Photopass. You can pre-buy it before your trip for $99.00. When you enter the parks you will see the staff photographers, they will take your pictures and give you a Photopass and you can use that for the rest of your trip. Each time you see a photographer have them take your picture and they will scan your picture. Then when you get home you can pull up the pictures, with the code they email you after purchase, and pick the photos you want on a CD. They will then mail you the CD and the copyrights to the CD and you can take them to Walmart or Walgreens or wherever and get them developed. They also have a lot of cool software that you can use to edit your photos before you have them put on the CD.

My favorite Disney planning sites are:

www.disboards.com
www.allearsnet.com
www.wdwinfo.com
www.intercot.com

 

[Phatema]

Thank you soooooo much for that info... Great tips for starter :O)