The Time has Come!

[Dizzyfor Dis]

We will be making our first trip to Disney World, beginning this weekend and we are so excited we can hardly stand it! My husband has a conference and my self and my two daughters ages 5 and almost 8, actually she turns 8 while we are there which is exciting enough for her I think. Not sure what to even ask, but if anyone has any tips or suggestions for us, maybe things you have learned in your travels to Disney we surely would appreciate it. I did make the reservations for all of the character meals the girls wanted to do. We have not bought our park tickets yet but will do so when we arrive at the Contemporary.
I am not sure who is more excited my girls or myself! So anything you can offer up will be great appreciated.

I'm so Dizzy!

 

[MousekaMaddi]

wear comfy shoes, dont go for fashion, go comfy or u will regret it, I wear crocs WITH sox and LOVE commando WDW no prob!

Make a list of must dos- and after theyre checked off, slow down and enjoy, do this each day and u will be happier ...

pack light and do laundry one day while poolside, (laundry is located RIGHT next to pool for this exact reason)

bring quarters and pennies in M& M tubes for penny press machines for souvies for kids.

bring tylenol to the parks

 

[MousekaMaddi]

use photopass whenever possible so u are in pix with your kids,

look into fastpasses
theyre included in ALLLLLLLLLLLLLL park tickets (AKA free....)

 

[Dizzyfor Dis]

thank you I wrote all of this down. I am not sure what photopass is but I will check it out. We will check into fastpasses as well. I have heard about those. We definitley are not going for fashion and have all discussed what shoes we are bringing already. I never would have thought of bringing pennies. Great idea. thank you for your help.

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Photopass is Disney's photo system. Usually when there is a character out, a Disney photographer is there as well. They take your picture and then hand you a Photopass card. You then give this card to any photographer you encounter and they will scan the card and take your picture. Then, after your trip, you can go online with the ID number from the card and look at all the pictures from your vacation. This is a "free" service. I say "free" because the Photopass card itself is free but if you want the pictures you have to order from the Photopass website and it can get a little pricey. There are also some good Photopass photographers and bad ones. People seem a little divided on this issue. This is what my family does:

We get a Photopass card at the first opportunity. We use it whenever possible. We also bring our own camera and a lot of times the CM that is with the character will take the picture for you. This is not always the case. If you absolutely want a picture of some character with your kids then take the picture yourself and also use the Photopass. That way, you have two chances of getting a really great picture! Note: There are also photographers around the parks at prime locations (Epcot Spaceship Earth, the Cinderella castle, etc.) be sure to approach these photographers as we have gotten several really awesome pictures from them. What have you to lose, it's free to take your picture.

I also second the fastpasses comment. Though you might not need them in January. Check it out anyway, very important!!

 

[Dizzyfor Dis]

Thank you, will do!

75 hours and counting

 

[stitchlover]

I have a suggestion! We do this with our 12 year old DD and it helps with purchases! Go to the Disney Store at your local mall and get each of you children a Disney Gift Card or Disney Dollars (we do dollars because they are soooo cute). Tell you little ones that this is the money they have available to spend on purchases. I tell you it makes a world of difference! It might not with the 5 year old but with the 8 year old it would help.

My daughter knows this is HER money and she is more sensible about what she purchases. She will look at something and realize it is $40 and say that's not worth it. If I was just breaking out the debit card for every purchase she wouldn't think twice about asking for a $40 item that isn't really worth it.

Also make sure you go first thing to the gift shop in your resort or at DTD and get them autograph books. Our first purchase of each trip is a lanyard for trading pins, a pen for autographs and an autograph book. Our daughter loves her autograph book and you will want them since you are doing character meals!

Have so much! The first trip is so exciting.

 

[Dizzyfor Dis]

Thank you for the info. Unfortunately we do not hav a disney store near us at all anymore, but when we talked about her budget, she said to us she wanted 1000 pennies everyday to spend. LOL Of course we quickly agreed and then told her that was only 10 dollars. It was very funny. So you wait til you get there to purchase the autograph book, pen, and such? I figured I would go get something here, but I would like it to say WDW somewhere on it I guess. We will have to keep her reigned in. Lord I hope the Webkinz are locked up. lol I am getting more and more excited. only 65 hours til we touch down in the MK woohoo

 

[stitchlover]

Yeah, we buy ours when we get there. In '07 they had these great ones that on one side of the page was a place for the autograph and the other page was a place for a picture. She filled two of them last visit and she loves to go back and look at them. Her friends love to look through them also.
Too bad about no Disney Store! Our daughter earns Disney Dollars through out the year and even gets some from Santa. She is all set for this next trip.
What character meals are you doing? I'm so excited for you! The first trip with your little ones is absolutely wonderful.

 

[stitchlover]

Are you staying on site? If so where?

Do you have any questions about getting around property?

 

[disney54us]

Hi and welcome to the boards!! How exciting for you, and it is true we get so excited to see the joy on our kids faces it is a toss up who's more excited. The autograph books you can get in the hotel gift shops or at the parks. I would get them at the hotel, since sometimes Mickey and Co. are when you first walk into the MK or other parks. So you want to ready. Sounds like you have checked out what you and your girls want to see. We use to do so many Character Breakfast's when DD was young. So I think you have most of it covered. Remember to sit back and enjoy. Take time to marvel and relax a little. you can't see it all in one trip (I know, ++15 trips), and I still haven't seen it all. That's the plan, they want to keep you coming back for more!

 

[PirateSusan]

Do not miss Soarin' in Epcot! Enjoy and I bet you start planning your next trip on your way home.

 

[Dizzyfor Dis]

Thanks, I will make sure I pick up the autograph books after we check in. I am statrting to realize 10 days is not gonna be enough. I reallly never dreamed it was so big. Honestly

 

[ILoveDisney&Cruising]

Have a GREAT trip!!!

 

[Dizzyfor Dis]

Thank you, Can't even imagine how we couldn't.

 

[byoung]

Have a great trip.

 

[Dizzyfor Dis]

Yeah, we buy ours when we get there. In '07 they had these great ones that on one side of the page was a place for the autograph and the other page was a place for a picture. She filled two of them last visit and she loves to go back and look at them. Her friends love to look through them also.
Too bad about no Disney Store! Our daughter earns Disney Dollars through out the year and even gets some from Santa. She is all set for this next trip.
What character meals are you doing? I'm so excited for you! The first trip with your little ones is absolutely wonderful.

A friend came over today with some disney dresses for Eme (my 5 yr old) and she wore tinkerbell for a while then switched to her own Snow White, but I couldn't get her to try on the white Cinderella wedding dress, which is so cute. But tonight I took a 45 minuite ride to the nearest Disney Store and bought us some t-shirts, and a few pins, and of course some Disney Dollars. It was great. Now we all have a shirt to wear the first day there, and my girls have a new outfit too. And oh yes Tinkerbell has some new light up wings and pretty green shoes. We have some character meals set up, like: Chef Mickey twice, Happily Ever After Dinner at 1900 Park Faire, Lilo and Stitch breakfast on my daughter's birthday, Pirate and Princess Party, Family Magic Tour, Behind the Seeds, and then we have reservations at Whispering Canyon, Coral Reef and Yak and Yeti. If anyone has any other suggestions for me let em rip, so I can get on the phone. Its been about 12 hours since I have heard "have a magical day" I kind of miss it. LOL I just realized I booked breakfast and lunch for my DD birthday but failed to make ADR for dinner. UHOH. Guess I better figure out where to take her.

 

[Dizzyfor Dis]

Forgot to POst, we are staying at the Contemporary, and I am hoping I figure out how to get around so I am not late for any of these meet and greets and meals. LOL We are always late for things, so I am a little anxious about that. My husband and I have a night out alone planned with dinner at Citricos, but I was thinking of changing it to somewhere else. I checked out the menu and it didn't thrill me. I woudl be hapy just tasting Epcot. lol