Tips, advice and must do's for a first time trip for a family of 6?!

[disneymom1313]

Hi everyone,

I am new to the DIS and still pretty new to the parks (have only been twice - as a kid and on my honeymoon 10 years ago). My husband and I have not been able to afford to take our kids to the world, something that has always been a dream of mine. However recently we came into a bit of money and are now able to give our kids the magical trip we've always dreamed of!

My husband and I have four beautiful children - 3 girls & 1 boy
Savannah - 7 (turning 8 in August)
Cooper & Addison (twins - turn 4 in September)
Grace - (10 months - 1st birthday in April)

I'm started to feel a bit stressed looking over all the info and thought I'd ask for some advice on where to start! As well as any must do's while we're there as I know we won't get through everything!

Thanks

 

[Dani C]

How long do you plan to stay? On or off site? When do you plan to be there? Water parks or just theme parks? Quick meals or longer ones? Character meals or no interest?

The more people know about your plans and any likes and dislikes, the better they can help. Have a wonderful visit!

 

[seenellie81]

How exciting!! You are going to have a fantastic vacation. For the first vacation i booked for our family, i bought a book at the book store about disney. It really helped with the planning. It was not as overwhelming as the internet can be. They have a bunch of different ones, check them out and see what one you like the layout of information provided etc.
Suggestions from me are:
Consider the amount of time you will spend in your hotel and how important amenities are to you when picking a resort. I would also stay in a disney resort. We have taken very budgeting trips as well as trips where we had the ability to spend as much as we pleased, still we always stayed in a value resort for a few reasons. We are not in the room for that long, we are usually in the parks. We also would not take time away from the parks to use different amenities other then the pool. My kids love the larger then life themes of the value resorts. If amenities and a little more room are important to you then you would want something different then a value.
Take advantage of Extra Magic Hours. They are not as busy as i ever thought they would be.
If you like the idea of an all inclusive feel to a trip do the dining. Dining plan costs about the same or a little more then what i would actually pay out of pocket. Sometimes we get it sometimes we dont. It is nice though to know that everything is paid for before you arrive including food. I also have tried different restaurants i never would have tried because i had the dining plan.
Do park hopper, it is nice to know you can switch parks. Its also nice to start at one park for Extra Magic hours and then leave that park when it gets busy.
Some of the add ons that my kids have really enjoyed are Bibbity bobbity boutique, Pirates league, and the family Magic tour. BBB is expensive if you buy everything there. Of course after i spend the money i learned you can bring your own dresses that you can purchase cheaper somewhere else. Lesson learned, but i dont regret spending the extra money my daughter loved it and it was such a great mommy daughter time in the park. Pirates league is so much fun, the cast there does such a great job with the kids. They also make girls into pirates and my daughter loved it as much as my son. I believe that it was very inexpensive and totally worth it. Family Magic tour was so much fun! My kids really enjoyed this.
Hope the little bit of info i gave is useful to you.

 

[PJBeans]

I would recommend that you buy a couple of books to do some research. These are as follows:

Birnbaum's Walt Disney World (2014) - very colourful and has coupons too.

Birnbaum's Walt Disney World for Kids (2014) - does exactly what is says on the tin.

The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2014 - another very good book.

Also, this site and allears.net will help immensely.

Have a fantastic trip and remember don't stress too much, it's supposed to be fun right???

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I would also get the free Disney planning DVD and watch it to determine your own ideas of "must do's". And I would pick just a couple per day so you don't get so hurried trying to "do it all". Accept the fact that you WON'T and CAN'T do it all and it will alleviate much of the planning stress.

This is just personal opinion, but I also would not go overboard planning sit down meals. Aside from the cost, they are a HUGE time commitment and again just add a lot of additional stress. Just my $.02 on that

 

[Rose23]

http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/outlet.asp?id=17

If you are going to have a vehicle, it would be worth your while to visit the Disney Character Warehouse at the Orlando Premium Outlets very near Downtown Disney. The link is above. The character warehouse has many "very" discounted souvenirs (often times the same things that are in the theme parks). Why spend more money on souvenirs if you do not have to.

Also, let everyone take a part in planning the trip. Let everyone pick a "must-do" ride and make sure you get FastPasses. You also want to be at the park at rope drop and you will have several hours of being able to ride anything you want to ride several times.

Congratulations and wishing you a great trip in advance.

 

[KelleyK75]

That's so exciting! Your kids are going to have a blast!

Like Dani C mentioned, How long do you plan to stay? On or off site? When do you plan to be there? Water parks or just theme parks? Quick meals or longer ones? Character meals or no interest?

That will help answering more specific questions.

I have been when the kids were 3 & 1, and now we are going next month and they are 6 & 4. I think the biggest tip I can give you is don't expect to do everything in the parks. There is so much to do, it just won't happen, especially with little ones. Pick your top 3 or 4 things in each park, and anything after that is a bonus. The Disney planning DVD is great because the kids can watch and tell you what they want to do. We do that with the kids and they get so excited seeing the attractions.

Also try to plan out some sort of map you are going to do for the day. Our biggest mistake the first trip with the kids was that we would just head out in one direction, then realize it was time for a Dining reservation, so we'd have to trek half way across the park to get there. If you can do some sort of plan, it will be much easier on all of you.

ADR's (Advance Dining Reservations) are great with little ones, because it gives you a break. Beware though that the character ones do take up a lot of time, as it will probably take 1-2 hours for the meal and character interaction. The character meals though are great for little ones because you don't have to stand in a line to meet them, they all come to your table. We really like Crystal Palace (Winnie the Pooh and friends), Chef Mickey's (Mickey and friends), Tusker House (Donald, Daisy, Mickey, Goofy) and this time we are trying Hollywood and Vine for the characters (Doc McStuffins, Sofia the First, Jake (from Jake and the Neverland Pirates), and Handy Manny. A lot of people don't like Chef Mickey's, but we really liked it for breakfast. Lunch may be different? I don't have any girls, so I haven't done any of the Princess meals, but I am sure any Princess fan would love these, especially CRT in the castle.

Have fun!!

 

[KelleyK75]

http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/outlet.asp?id=17

If you are going to have a vehicle, it would be worth your while to visit the Disney Character Warehouse at the Orlando Premium Outlets very near Downtown Disney. The link is above. The character warehouse has many "very" discounted souvenirs (often times the same things that are in the theme parks). Why spend more money on souvenirs if you do not have to.


This is a great tip! I wasn't aware of this outlet so we'll have to check it out this time. We have went to the Walmart near Disney before and they have a lot of cheaper souvenirs, too.

 

[disneymom1313]

How long do you plan to stay? On or off site? When do you plan to be there? Water parks or just theme parks? Quick meals or longer ones? Character meals or no interest? The more people know about your plans and any likes and dislikes, the better they can help. Have a wonderful visit!

We haven't decided exactly how long yet - but are thinking 2 weeks? Does anyone think that is too long though?

I think we'll just go to the theme parks, would it be worth visiting water parks in September/October? Does it have much for little kids - 4 year olds? I'm guessing there would be plenty for my 8 year old, but not sure about things to do for the twins

I definitely think we'll do character meals. I'd love to do the breakfast in the castle with my 2 older girls and then on another day maybe let DH take our son to do something together. Or do you think the castle meal would be good for the whole family?

The kids love all the disney characters - the girls love the princesses, Minnie and Disney fairies

DS loves the show Mickey Mouse clubhouse, monsters inc and Jake & the never land pirates

We have seen disney on ice and they all loved it so I think they will love any parades/shows there are.

DD7 & DS3 also love animals!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

There are things to do at the water parks for 4-year-olds, and it should be warm enough in Sep/Oct. There will be some things they cannot ride. With 2 weeks, you have plenty of time to include that if you want. You can always add that to your tickets later too.

 

[MandiC]

I just wanted to point out that if you stay on-site your least expensive option would be to stay at Port Orleans Riverside. You can get a standard room in Alligator Bayou that sleeps 5 plus a baby in a crib under 3. We stayed at POR in an Alligator Bayou room and it was very nice. However, if I had to do it over I would rent a car. Personal preference, with so many little ones including one that would definitely need a car seat it might be easier to just do bus transportation.
We also have a family of 6, our youngest will be 3 before our next trip (we only brought our older two for this first trip) so I've priced out other room options and family suites in Value resorts are a good amount more than standard rooms at a moderate.

I think 2 weeks in Disney sounds wonderful with young kids you will likely want to come back to the room each day so if you want to see more of each park you will need more than a day a park and it might be nice to have a few days where you just relax at your resort. Riverside has lots for kids to do right at the resort. Campfires, movies, games, arcade and of course the swimming pool.
You can do Hollywood Studios in a day and Animal Kingdom can be done in a day but I would definitely do at least 2 days each in Epcot and Magic Kingdom.

I advise against scheduling too many sit down meals because they really do take up a bunch of time. HOWEVER, so does waiting in line to see characters so if you have any must see characters that do a meal, it might be worth it depending on your food budget. I preferred Akershus over Cinderella's Table personally (mainly because we preferred the food at Akershus and it was less expensive), Hollywood & Vine does a meal with the Disney Jr. characters.

 

[disneymom1313]

That's so exciting! Your kids are going to have a blast! Like Dani C mentioned, How long do you plan to stay? On or off site? When do you plan to be there? Water parks or just theme parks? Quick meals or longer ones? Character meals or no interest? That will help answering more specific questions. I have been when the kids were 3 & 1, and now we are going next month and they are 6 & 4. I think the biggest tip I can give you is don't expect to do everything in the parks. There is so much to do, it just won't happen, especially with little ones. Pick your top 3 or 4 things in each park, and anything after that is a bonus. The Disney planning DVD is great because the kids can watch and tell you what they want to do. We do that with the kids and they get so excited seeing the attractions. Also try to plan out some sort of map you are going to do for the day. Our biggest mistake the first trip with the kids was that we would just head out in one direction, then realize it was time for a Dining reservation, so we'd have to trek half way across the park to get there. If you can do some sort of plan, it will be much easier on all of you. ADR's (Advance Dining Reservations) are great with little ones, because it gives you a break. Beware though that the character ones do take up a lot of time, as it will probably take 1-2 hours for the meal and character interaction. The character meals though are great for little ones because you don't have to stand in a line to meet them, they all come to your table. We really like Crystal Palace (Winnie the Pooh and friends), Chef Mickey's (Mickey and friends), Tusker House (Donald, Daisy, Mickey, Goofy) and this time we are trying Hollywood and Vine for the characters (Doc McStuffins, Sofia the First, Jake (from Jake and the Neverland Pirates), and Handy Manny. A lot of people don't like Chef Mickey's, but we really liked it for breakfast. Lunch may be different? I don't have any girls, so I haven't done any of the Princess meals, but I am sure any Princess fan would love these, especially CRT in the castle. Have fun!!

Great thanks for all the advice. I will definitely look into Hollywood & vine as DD3 loves Sofia and Doc McStuffins & DD3 loves Jake & the never land pirates! Will look into getting the Disney planning DVD today.

 

[disneymom1313]

I would recommend that you buy a couple of books to do some research. These are as follows: Birnbaum's Walt Disney World (2014) - very colourful and has coupons too. Birnbaum's Walt Disney World for Kids (2014) - does exactly what is says on the tin. The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2014 - another very good book. Also, this site and allears.net will help immensely. Have a fantastic trip and remember don't stress too much, it's supposed to be fun right???

Great thanks, I will look into all of those!

 

[Heidi K]

We are going for 11 days in August and my kids are similar ages (will be 8, 5, and 2 at the time). I think 2 weeks would give you plenty of time to do everything you want--my best advice for such a long trip, though, is to be consistent with naps for the little one and early bedtimes for everyone. Even your older ones will probably either nap or go to bed earlier than usual. If you all stay well rested, though, sounds like a wonderful trip!

Our plan is to be at the parks early every day (kids are early risers), then one of us will bring the youngest back to the hotel for an afternoon nap. The 8 year old will stay with the other adult and ride height restricted rides, etc, and the 5 year old will probably alternate naps & parks. Then we'll all meet up for dinner and possibly a couple more hours in the parks.

We also let each family member pick one restaurant (within reason)--the kids love being involved in the planning!

 

[Dani C]

September/October timeframe means possibility for Food and Wine festival at Epcot as well as Mickey's not so scary Halloween party within your stay. With little ones, you might find the party to be a great thing one evening. Just know that it is a separate cost.

If you are staying onsite, I agree that Port Orleans Riverside would be a great choice. It also provides the boat transportation to Downtown Disney for more dining options (such as T-Rex and Rainforest Cafe if you don't mind the added noise of the animatronic dinos or animals and you think your kids would enjoy them.)

If you want to do character meals, especially breakfasts, consider making reservations as soon as allowed (180 day) and look into possible breakfast before park opening if possible to gain early entry and see the park without the crowd on your way through.

BBB is adored by young girls but is also rather pricey. If you want to pamper her without spending so much, consider buying a dress before you leave and taking it along and even doing her hair and nails yourself for some bonding time. (Glitter hairspray is easy to locate around the time of your trip.)

Consider buying and bringing light up bracelets, wands, etc. from a thrift store to avoid the wants so much at night events when they sell glowing items from carts. Also, if the kids use tattoos, consider doing the same. You know your kids.

Make use of kidcot stops in Epcot to give them a little break. They can color and learn from the cast members representing the various nations.

Don't forget that they tend to have water spouts around the parks and the kids could get wet, so you may want to bring extra clothes to change them and be mindful of their footwear. Also, medicines and other needs are rather pricey so you may want a small kit from home just in case.

A small folding stroller is a good idea too as you will probably want one for getting around the resort and going to bus areas and park strollers stay in the parks.

There are so many tips to be found throughout the boards, and always feel free to ask. We've all been there and though we don't always agree as each person and family is different, we all want to share in making each trip as magic as it can be.

 

[disneymom1313]

We are going for 11 days in August and my kids are similar ages (will be 8, 5, and 2 at the time). I think 2 weeks would give you plenty of time to do everything you want--my best advice for such a long trip, though, is to be consistent with naps for the little one and early bedtimes for everyone. Even your older ones will probably either nap or go to bed earlier than usual. If you all stay well rested, though, sounds like a wonderful trip! Our plan is to be at the parks early every day (kids are early risers), then one of us will bring the youngest back to the hotel for an afternoon nap. The 8 year old will stay with the other adult and ride height restricted rides, etc, and the 5 year old will probably alternate naps & parks. Then we'll all meet up for dinner and possibly a couple more hours in the parks. We also let each family member pick one restaurant (within reason)--the kids love being involved in the planning!

Thanks, that's great advice about keeping a routine for the time we're there with naps & bedtimes! I think we'll do the same, try to get to the parks earlier and then DH and I can alternate days taking the 3 youngest back for naps and the other can stay at the park with DD7 or take her to the pool. That's a great idea about letting each of the kids pick a restaurant to eat at, I think they'll love getting to choose!

 

[disneymom1313]

September/October timeframe means possibility for Food and Wine festival at Epcot as well as Mickey's not so scary Halloween party within your stay. With little ones, you might find the party to be a great thing one evening. Just know that it is a separate cost. If you are staying onsite, I agree that Port Orleans Riverside would be a great choice. It also provides the boat transportation to Downtown Disney for more dining options (such as T-Rex and Rainforest Cafe if you don't mind the added noise of the animatronic dinos or animals and you think your kids would enjoy them.) If you want to do character meals, especially breakfasts, consider making reservations as soon as allowed (180 day) and look into possible breakfast before park opening if possible to gain early entry and see the park without the crowd on your way through. BBB is adored by young girls but is also rather pricey. If you want to pamper her without spending so much, consider buying a dress before you leave and taking it along and even doing her hair and nails yourself for some bonding time. (Glitter hairspray is easy to locate around the time of your trip.) Consider buying and bringing light up bracelets, wands, etc. from a thrift store to avoid the wants so much at night events when they sell glowing items from carts. Also, if the kids use tattoos, consider doing the same. You know your kids. Make use of kidcot stops in Epcot to give them a little break. They can color and learn from the cast members representing the various nations. Don't forget that they tend to have water spouts around the parks and the kids could get wet, so you may want to bring extra clothes to change them and be mindful of their footwear. Also, medicines and other needs are rather pricey so you may want a small kit from home just in case. A small folding stroller is a good idea too as you will probably want one for getting around the resort and going to bus areas and park strollers stay in the parks. There are so many tips to be found throughout the boards, and always feel free to ask. We've all been there and though we don't always agree as each person and family is different, we all want to share in making each trip as magic as it can be.

Thanks for all the advice do you know when the dates of those events will be released? I would love to do the Halloween one. Luckily for this trip money is not too much of a worry and we happy to spend a bit more of we have to as we have waited so long for this trip and have the luxury of a more flexible budget. I think I'll definitely have to find out a bit more about port Orleans as it sounds great! Do you know if you can already book for September/October hotel reservations? I definitely want to do BBB as DD7 is still into dressing up and loves the disney princesses and I don't know how much longer that will last so definitely want to do that while she's still into it and I'm sure DD3 will love it too! I definitely think I might buy a few glow sticks and light up toys from the dollar stores before going though because I hate wasting money on junk that I know they won't use again! I love the sound of those kidcot stops in Epcot I think the kids will love that!

Thanks for the advice about the change of clothes & medicines will definitely do both!

I'm still unsure about what to do about the stroller, as DD1 will need one, but don't know about DD3 & DS3 - although they will be 4 when we go.

Thanks for all the great advice

 

[disneymom1313]

I just wanted to point out that if you stay on-site your least expensive option would be to stay at Port Orleans Riverside. You can get a standard room in Alligator Bayou that sleeps 5 plus a baby in a crib under 3. We stayed at POR in an Alligator Bayou room and it was very nice. However, if I had to do it over I would rent a car. Personal preference, with so many little ones including one that would definitely need a car seat it might be easier to just do bus transportation. We also have a family of 6, our youngest will be 3 before our next trip (we only brought our older two for this first trip) so I've priced out other room options and family suites in Value resorts are a good amount more than standard rooms at a moderate. I think 2 weeks in Disney sounds wonderful with young kids you will likely want to come back to the room each day so if you want to see more of each park you will need more than a day a park and it might be nice to have a few days where you just relax at your resort. Riverside has lots for kids to do right at the resort. Campfires, movies, games, arcade and of course the swimming pool. You can do Hollywood Studios in a day and Animal Kingdom can be done in a day but I would definitely do at least 2 days each in Epcot and Magic Kingdom. I advise against scheduling too many sit down meals because they really do take up a bunch of time. HOWEVER, so does waiting in line to see characters so if you have any must see characters that do a meal, it might be worth it depending on your food budget. I preferred Akershus over Cinderella's Table personally (mainly because we preferred the food at Akershus and it was less expensive), Hollywood & Vine does a meal with the Disney Jr. characters.

Thanks for all the help! Will definitely look into port Orleans. Yes was thinking about getting a car and whether it would make it a bit easier.

Great idea, I think not going to the parks for a couple of days would be good. We could just relax by the pool, maybe have lunch at another hotel. My kids like a bit of time to chill out haha!

Yes I'm not sure about all the waiting in lines to see characters so thought character meals may be a bit easier!

Okay thanks will check out Akershus!

 

[disneymom1313]

How exciting!! You are going to have a fantastic vacation. For the first vacation i booked for our family, i bought a book at the book store about disney. It really helped with the planning. It was not as overwhelming as the internet can be. They have a bunch of different ones, check them out and see what one you like the layout of information provided etc. Suggestions from me are: Consider the amount of time you will spend in your hotel and how important amenities are to you when picking a resort. I would also stay in a disney resort. We have taken very budgeting trips as well as trips where we had the ability to spend as much as we pleased, still we always stayed in a value resort for a few reasons. We are not in the room for that long, we are usually in the parks. We also would not take time away from the parks to use different amenities other then the pool. My kids love the larger then life themes of the value resorts. If amenities and a little more room are important to you then you would want something different then a value. Take advantage of Extra Magic Hours. They are not as busy as i ever thought they would be. If you like the idea of an all inclusive feel to a trip do the dining. Dining plan costs about the same or a little more then what i would actually pay out of pocket. Sometimes we get it sometimes we dont. It is nice though to know that everything is paid for before you arrive including food. I also have tried different restaurants i never would have tried because i had the dining plan. Do park hopper, it is nice to know you can switch parks. Its also nice to start at one park for Extra Magic hours and then leave that park when it gets busy. Some of the add ons that my kids have really enjoyed are Bibbity bobbity boutique, Pirates league, and the family Magic tour. BBB is expensive if you buy everything there. Of course after i spend the money i learned you can bring your own dresses that you can purchase cheaper somewhere else. Lesson learned, but i dont regret spending the extra money my daughter loved it and it was such a great mommy daughter time in the park. Pirates league is so much fun, the cast there does such a great job with the kids. They also make girls into pirates and my daughter loved it as much as my son. I believe that it was very inexpensive and totally worth it. Family Magic tour was so much fun! My kids really enjoyed this. Hope the little bit of info i gave is useful to you.

Thanks, I forgot about extra magic hours, but I think we will definitely stay at a disney resort anyway! I think we should also get park hoppers. I didn't know that about BBB that you can bring your own dress. I'll have to chat with DH about because I don't want to waste money, but we were thinking we'd surprise them on the day and I'd hate to buy a princess dress and then they don't want to be that one!! Didn't know about pirates league, that's will be perfect. DH can take DS3 on a different day and they can have some special bonding time together DS3 is obsessed with Jake & the never land pirates and just pirates in general! I'll have a look into the family magic tour, that might be something good to do too! Thanks for all the great ideas

 

[disneymom1313]

http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/outlet.asp?id=17 If you are going to have a vehicle, it would be worth your while to visit the Disney Character Warehouse at the Orlando Premium Outlets very near Downtown Disney. The link is above. The character warehouse has many "very" discounted souvenirs (often times the same things that are in the theme parks). Why spend more money on souvenirs if you do not have to. Also, let everyone take a part in planning the trip. Let everyone pick a "must-do" ride and make sure you get FastPasses. You also want to be at the park at rope drop and you will have several hours of being able to ride anything you want to ride several times. Congratulations and wishing you a great trip in advance.

Thanks, have saved the details for the outlet in my phone, I definitely agree, while we don't have to be on a strict budget on this trip, I'm not going to pay more for things if I can get them cheaper. We were planning to get there right at opening and as everyone has been saying the same thing I think we'll stick with this plan! That's a good idea about the must do rides, especially for DD7 as she will want to do lots and this may be good so she can pick maybe 2 per day she really wants to do and the twins can pick 1 each. Thanks for your help