Tips for making first WDW trip as stressfree as possible!

[IvyandLace]

Hey, everyone...only 29 days 'til I'm there, smack dab in my favorite place showing my newbie inlaws around. I'm kinda at that place in my planning where there IS no more planning to be done...and it's too early to pack completely (I'm definitely doing the "piling in the spare bedroom" thing, though!) so I thought I'd pose this question to see if you guys, the greatest people on earth, have any new suggestions for me. I so want this trip to go smoothly!! What can I do to ensure it does?? (BTW, the trip will consists of me and my Dh-both AP holders and certified Disney maniacs-as well as my newbie inlaws, my DH's newbie brother and his girlfriend. No kids. We'll be there October 30-November 9th!)

Giggling with anticipation (is it time yet?? how 'bout now??),
IVY

 

[nluvwithdisney]

Congratulations! Hopefully you'll become addicted like the rest of us. The best advice I could give is to not overwhelm yourself. You won't get to see it all, so you have some planning for the next trip. I'm sure with as many people that you're traveling with you have an itinerary. Even with an itinerary, you'll need to be flexible. Chances are you will all need some "alone" time to do what you specifically want to do. There is nothing wrong with that. If you try to stay together the whole time, you will possible get on each others' nerves.

 

[jann1033]

maybe check things out with them before you go and give them an overview of what you have in mind...I ( the notebook in hand type planner) once went with a family that had never been there but went with the flow and loved being "bossed" around (in a nice way of course) and everything was fun for all of us ,another time with someone who had never been there, didn't have a clue( 'let's get to the parks around 10:30", missed every bus, forgot to bring their passes the first day after already missing the bus, the list goes on and on) but thought we should just la de dah around and basically miss everything including our PS( longest wait for them to arrive was at Chef De France when they were 1 hr late cause they had decided to go back to resort 10 min.s prior to ps time (huh?),then waited again since PS was long gone)...not as much fun. so maybe just check things out before hand so you'll know what type of "touring " you'll be doing and can adjust for it since you want everyone to have fun, including you!

 

[MJwritestuff]

I would say plan enough so that you can not have to plan while you're there. Sounds odd, but planning enough, for me, included making meal itinerary (PS or counter service) and knowing which park on which day. That left us free to enjoy everything, because we didn't have to spend time waiting. As in "where do we eat? What do you feel like doing today?"

Also, having said that, feel free to enjoy yourself so much so that you can forego a plan if you are having fun. We had priority seating arrangments in Mexico at Epcot for dinner, but were having such a blast watching our youngest daughter get pulled out of the crowd during a mime show in France (and trust me, I'm not a big fan of mimes!) that we just sat on a curb for 20 minutes and enjoyed the show, then strolled over and ate at the Cantina instead. It was so relaxing that to grab her up and rush somewhere would've been the wrong thing to do.

Enjoy yourself, and take the time to really see where you are and pinch yourself, because it's over so fast!

Have fun!
-Melissa

 

[helenm29]

Just remember not to write everything in stone and be a little flexible! sometimes you have days where things come up or you are just too tired to bother with something you have planned...no big deal! JUST HAVE FUN!!! Three years ago we had our brother, sisterinlaw and two kids with us when we went to DW and they were newbies at the time...they just HAD to see and DO everything so in the end they just didn't enjoy going because they ran around to make specific stops all the time and didn't slow down to enjoy. They say they'll never go back which is a real shame since, if you take your time...there is SO MUCH to see and do.

 

[disneysteve]

My advice would be to not overplan. Don't try and schedule your entire trip and every meal in advance. If there are a few must-do restaurants on your list, then perhaps get PS's for those, but otherwise go with the flow when you get there. I think what gets a lot of people stressed is rushing around because they want to get to a certain point at a certain time. You can't do it all and you can only be in one place at a time. If you are having a great time in MK, you don't want to be worrying about that PS you made at the Poly. On the other hand, if you planned dinner in France and you're group is tiring early, don't feel you have to drag everyone around WS for another hour or so to get to dinner. Just leave and have a casual meal back at the hotel.

We'll also be there 11/2-11/8 so look for the green Mickey heads on our bags and say hi if you see them. Just for the record, we have no PS's. Only thing we booked in advance was Illuminations Cruise.

Steve

 

[PKS44]

The thing I forgot to plan for on my last attempt at a group tour was SHOPPING! I personally have never made this a big part of my parks experience but others love it..sometimes i do- but I did not leave enough time for the shoppers according to my wife...so make sure you consider tht sort of thing...also of course i think Illuminations and Fantasmic are special and must sees...and I love the "unexpected extras" at the end of an MK day like the castle changing colors and the Electrical Water Parade....

 

[IvyandLace]

Thanks for all the great suggestions!
Here's what I have planned:

(Thursday) October 30th-Arrive, check in to All Star Music, PS for dinner at Ohana's @ 7:30pm (just my inlaws and me and DH), watch MNSSHP fireworks and EWP either from Ohana's or Poly beach

(Friday) October 31st- AM Plans: Be at MK for opening, do Fantasyland, Hall of Presidents, Splash Mountain. PS for lunch at LTT @12:15pm or take boat to FW to try Trail's End. PM Plans: Free time (we have encouraged people to REST during this time!). Dinner on own at food court. Do MNSSHP together (photo, HM, POC, first parade) until after fireworks and then everyone does their own thing. (I did this so if my MIL is tired she doesn't feel like she's missing something by leaving after the fireworks.)

(Saturday) November 1st-AM Plans: Free time! Leave for Disney-MGM Studios at noon. Do GMR, WWTBAM, One Man's Dream, parade, Muppets 3-D, Sounds Dangerous. PS for dinner at Prime Time Diner at 5:15pm. Those interested will watch Fantasmic at 7pm. Free night!

(Sunday) November 2nd-AM Plans: Animal Kingdom all day. PM Plans: Lunch ~1pm at either Tusker House (for girls) or Flame Tree BBQ (for boys). Meet for dessert (VOLCANO!!) at RFC. Watch Jammin' Jungle Parade at 4pm. Free night tonight!

(Monday) November 3rd-AM Plans: Free Day!! (we have encouraged people to use this day to enjoy Epcot especially the Food and Wine Festival!)

(Tuesday) November 4th-AM Plans: MGM to ride and see what we haven't (Beauty and the Beast, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, TOT/RnRC (for thrill ride seekers), Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular) PS for lunch at Sci Fi Dine In @ 1:15pm. PM Plans: Free time! For those interested, Spectro at 6:30pm. Everyone meets at 8:15pm for IllumiNations Cruise at marina-

(Wednesday) November 5th-AM Plans: Free time! PM Plans: Meet up in MK for Space Mt, Buzz, TTA, COP (hopefully!!), and anything else we want to ride! Watch "Come share a dream" parade @ 3pm. PS for dinner at CRT @ 5:35pm (wanted later since MK is open 'til 7pm but no luck so far!) Free time after dinner!

My inlaws will leave late on the 6th, my BIL and his girlfriend on the 7th and me and my DH stay 'til late late on the 9th!! Yippee!
IVY

 

[jann1033]

that looks great to me..can I come?(lol) seriously you allow plenty of time to do what everyone wants, on their own time, built in time for different stamina levels, plus some together time..it looks like everyone should have a lot of fun! enjoy!

 

[KLR-wlv]

We did the same thing last NEw Year's - brought my inlaws who had NO CLUE what Disney World was about - they live in MD - not on Mars so I don't know how they made it to their 60's without having some clue - but they expected carnival ride types of things. My MIL kept saying before we left - don't get any tickets for the rides for me - I'll just watch. Well - she went on everything and loved it. I think they were in a state of shock most of the time. I was worried about her because she has a hard time walking too long, but she did great. We kept things flexible - I planned out all the dinners and which park we'd be at - but other than that things were open. My husband ran around getting fast passes so we never ended up waiting long for anything and that was the week between Christmas and New Years.

Have a great time!

 

[KathyFP]

Enjoy the magic! Explore the parks paying attention to the details!

Get caught up the in the magic

Keep you must list each day to a minimum and remember there is always your next trip.

 

[xmatt0926x]

The best plan is not to plan!! You have to plan around your priority seatings of course, but other that that, dont be one of those people walking around with a list of stuff to do and timeframes. Its just not worth it. Be as spontaneous as you can be and enjoy the vacation as opposed to worrying about making deadlines. Just my 2 cents.

 

[jann1033]

sorry, please don't take offense but I respectfully disagree about not planning when there is more than your immediate family involved. personally I think the larger the group the more difficult it is unless some one knows where to go next as everyone just wanders around trying to decide on where everyone wants to go, especially if they want to be polite and not say where they really want to go or are pushy but don't have a clue what WDW is like. either way it's a disaster! been there, done that way too many times! not that you need to plan every moment but someone needs to have a general plan of first here, then there or you will waste valuable time and not really see anything...I presume you don't just want to pay gobs of money just to stroll around but want to actually go on attractions (lol)!

 

[disneysteve]

Originally posted by jann1033
sorry, please don't take offense but I respectfully disagree about not planning when there is more than your immediate family involved. personally I think the larger the group the more difficult it is unless some one knows where to go next not that you need to plan every moment but someone needs to have a general plan of first here, then there or you will waste valuable time and not really see anything...I presume you don't just want to pay gobs of money just to stroll around but want to actually go on attractions (lol)!

Jann - I can't disagree with you. Certainly, even us veterans need to have some general plan when we enter the park each day. I just think some folks get so caught up that they overplan. When the trip gets too regimented, it just isn't fun anymore. Especially for newbies - remember the first time you went to WDW. You probably spent a ton of time just strolling around, taking in the sites, appreciating the architecture and theming, taking pictures, etc. That's stuff that us veterans probably don't spend nearly as much time doing anymore because we've seen it all many times. I hardly ever photograph the castle anymore, for example, but a newbie will want it from every angle, just as I did on my first trip.

So for the OP, if there is a place or restaurant that you absolutely want to get to, definitely plan around that, but keep in mind that the newbies will probably want to spend more time wandering and exploring than you might. Shops that you may rarely enter may be appealing to your relatives. So leave plenty of time in the schedule for that kind of stuff.

Steve

 

[MinnieGi]

Ivy - you have planned a wonderful schedule for the newbies with you!!! You have lots of free time built in with lots of group time for everyone. I hope your trip goes really well!!!!

We too are having in-law newbies with us plus my DIS veteran parents so I took a real intrest in seeing your schedule. I need to sit down and talk with the in-laws more about a schedule. I've given them the guidebook and the planning video but they never seem to intrested in talking out a schedule of details. They just say, "I know we're going to have a great time." I think they might be a bit overwhelmed when they see how large the place really is. Now my own mom already has a spreadsheet schedule she has made!!

Our trips overlap a little so maybe we'll see your "group."

 

[IvyandLace]

Thanks for the kind words, MinnieGi! My inlaws were the same way-I gave them a book and planning video and nothing. So I decided to just post an email every couple of days that described a day in our schedule and the park that we were going to be exploring. I also included links to www.wdwig.com (which I've found to be very "newbie" friendly)-and, low and behold, my inlaws responded!! They are now getting the Disney "spirit!" and have told me numerous amounts of time how appreciative they are that I've taken the time to explain things so clearly to them. Obviously this makes me feel great!

Hope you have a magical trip!! Maybe we WILL cross paths!

IVY

 

[Prince Eric1]

I think you already did the most important thing to relieve stress by making sure you had plenty of time there and no kids.