Top 3 Must pre-plan things for family Disney trip

[georgiaroots]

I am currently planning my family's first trip to Disney World which we will be taking in October. While I have been reading as much as I can I feel like I see something everyday that would require me to research and strategize about. I will hopefully get to it all by Oct, but because I am also planning a couple of other major events for this year I want to at least know I have covered the most important ones. It will be me, my husband and our 3 kids (2.5, 4.5, and 6.5 at time of trip)

So far I have decided where to stay. That's about it. We decided based on the ages and personalities of the kids it would probably be best to stay at BLT near Magic Kingdom. This will be a short trip (4-5 days) and we are only planning to spend time in MK (and possibly go to Sea World).

I would love to know from experienced Disney visitors what are the things that are a must for planning ahead to make this a great trip for us and how far in advance can they/should they be done.

 

[xlsm]

I write this assuming you have an MDE account online. If you don't, sign up on the disney world website. All of your reservations will be right there together for you to see.

You can book table service dining at 180 days out, so that's the first "priority" for planning. Since you have little ones, I'm assuming you'd like to do some character meals. I'd look at those and figure out which ones would suit your family the best.

After that, you can relax a little. Look through the different attractions available at your park of choice and decide which ones look like "must dos". At 60 days out you can choose your Fast Pass selections. You can choose three per day (but can ride as many rides as you can throughout the rest of the day...your three choices are just to save you a spot on a certain ride at a certain time of day. They can be managed online and via the MDE app, and times can be changed even when you are in the park).

My best advice is to not expect to see and do everything. Your kids might want to ride Dumbo four times in a row and not care one bit that you scheduled a 2pm fast pass for Winnie the Pooh. That's ok! As long as everyone is having fun.

One more thing...since you are going in October, are you planning to go to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party? If so, you will need to get tickets for that event, and I'm pretty sure that MK closes at 7pm for guests without tickets for the party. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong about that.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[evcollins]

I would definitely recommend planning out your restaurants, either quick service restaurants or places that will require a reservation. Family of five, three kiddos under 10 years old, it was nice just knowing where to go without walking around and trying to figure it out. We just completely bypassed the tiredness and whining by having a plan for our meals.

Have fun!

 

[georgiaroots]

I write this assuming you have an MDE account online. If you don't, sign up on the disney world website. All of your reservations will be right there together for you to see.

You can book table service dining at 180 days out, so that's the first "priority" for planning. Since you have little ones, I'm assuming you'd like to do some character meals. I'd look at those and figure out which ones would suit your family the best.

After that, you can relax a little. Look through the different attractions available at your park of choice and decide which ones look like "must dos". At 60 days out you can choose your Fast Pass selections. You can choose three per day (but can ride as many rides as you can throughout the rest of the day...your three choices are just to save you a spot on a certain ride at a certain time of day. They can be managed online and via the MDE app, and times can be changed even when you are in the park).

My best advice is to not expect to see and do everything. Your kids might want to ride Dumbo four times in a row and not care one bit that you scheduled a 2pm fast pass for Winnie the Pooh. That's ok! As long as everyone is having fun.

One more thing...since you are going in October, are you planning to go to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party? If so, you will need to get tickets for that event, and I'm pretty sure that MK closes at 7pm for guests without tickets for the party. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong about that.

Good luck and have fun!

Thanks! I had not even thought about the Halloween party. We are going in early Oct so don't know if it will be going on yet. Will definitely need to look into that ASAP. And great advice on not expecting to see and do everything. Knowing my kids they would want to do exactly as described. Don't have an account yet as I haven't booked the hotel yet. Working on renting points now.

 

[georgiaroots]

I would definitely recommend planning out your restaurants, either quick service restaurants or places that will require a reservation. Family of five, three kiddos under 10 years old, it was nice just knowing where to go without walking around and trying to figure it out. We just completely bypassed the tiredness and whining by having a plan for our meals.

Have fun!

Thanks. Sounds like planning meals should be priority 1.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I would definitely recommend planning out your restaurants, either quick service restaurants or places that will require a reservation. Family of five, three kiddos under 10 years old, it was nice just knowing where to go without walking around and trying to figure it out. We just completely bypassed the tiredness and whining by having a plan for our meals.

Have fun!

Not to say your idea is wrong (because for you, it is not), but we prefer to do the exact opposite. I'd much rather skip the sit-down meals completely and have a combination of carried in sandwiches and Counter Service meals. I hated the inflexibility of meal reservations. Don't go to that part of the park, our reservation is in 40 minutes. Don't get in line for that ride, our reservation is in 20 minutes. Don't grab a fast pass, we don't know how long lunch is going to take. Blech!

But, that's us. If you're more like evcollins in your preferences, do definitely make your reservations. It's great advice if sit-down meals are a priority for you. It's just not a good fit for my family.

 

[bella2117]

Definitely get your dining reservations booked. Plan on what park you will be in on what days and plan accordingly for what restaurants are in that certain park or even look at nearby resorts from that park and see what's good to eat there. You can also plan on your fastpass+ selections but you won't be able to reserve them for quite sometime but get an idea of how you want to tackle each park. EASYWDW has great maps that can give you an idea of which rides to do first.

 

[DaniMoon]

We went last October. My kids were just 5 and 6. We did enjoy several sit down character meals, because it was a great way for the kids to meet characters and not stand in line. Most were buffets and even my pickiest eater would find something to eat. We loved Chef Mickey, and my daughter loved Akershus in Norway for the princesses.

We had very warm weather and my kids are early risers, so we did rope drop every morning, and toured at the kids' pace. We would spend time in the parks til 2-3 oclock then head back to the hotel for pool time. Neither of my kids took naps. Then we'd go to our evening dinner reservation and decide what we wanted to do in the evening. My kids loved the activities at the pool as much as the parks. We only had three later nights (we were there 10 nights). So early mornings weren't difficult, but everyone is different.

I would suggest the Pirates and Pals cruise, our whole family loved it and it was nice to be able to watch the fireworks away from a crowd. We had some yummy treats and got pictures taken with Hook and Smee. The Pirates on the boats are hysterical and had such a fun time. The water pageant was something different we hadn't seen.

If you are interested, make reservations early as they only have a couple boats a night. Oh, and Peter Pan was waiting when we came back to the dock.


Another piece of advice, don't let the kids know EVERYTHING there is. This way, if something was closed, or we couldn't get to something, there was no disappointment. Following the kids lead was key, if they saw something that caught there eye, we would stop. We didn't have a single tear the whole trip. I can't wait to go back.

 

[DaniMoon]

Two meals my kids loved, that don't get that much credit -- My kids loved eat at the Coral Reef -- we got a table right next to the glass and it was such an enjoyable meal. We also went to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for a meal at Sanaa, we again sat at a window seat and watched Zebras, Giraffes, Gnus, cranes and antelopes while we ate. Also went outside and got closer to the animals. It was an unexpected jewel.

 

[MickeyChix]

All of the above is good for pre-planning. Once you are there my no. 1 advice is to hit your park of choice for that day the minute it opens. Be in front of the gates before opening. This strategy has worked every time for us especially at the MK. We could ride popular rides more than once and by 10-11 am we hit most of the hot rides! By 1-2 we would see almost all of the major attractions. All this we could do without using FP. Just go ride!

We usually booked it to Space Mountain (ride it twice), head over to Tea Cups (once), Barnstormer (once); Peter Pan (once); Big Thunder Mountain RR (twice if lines are short); head over to Pirates (once); Haunted Mansion (once); then from there pick up with some of the other attractions like Speedway, Space Ranger spIn; Laugh Floor Comedy Club; Small World, Carousel, Magic Carpets.......

We usually skip Dumbo but if someone in your party enjoys it ride it ASAP --after tea cups or before. And the other ones we haven't mentioned like Slash Mountain or Jungle Cruise we skip just because. Anyway the above was just example.

Honestly though it's so important to hit the parks first thing in the morning. It's in all of the guidebooks no. 1 tips and it amazes me how few follow it.

 

[amym2]

1. Definitely spend some time researching restaurants and planning ADRs. If there is somewhere you absolutely must eat, make the ADR 180 days ahead. You can always change them. We like to do one table service meal per day.

2. I wouldn't do the Halloween party unless your kids are night owls. And I would only do it on a day when you aren't already doing a park. Since this is a short trip and you will have plenty to do, I wouldn't try to fit it in.

3. Choose a few "can't miss" rides for each park and get your FP+ for those or plan to hit them as soon as the parks open.

 

[MandiC]

I'd first plan what parks you want to be in on which days of your trip. Look at crowd calanders, figure out if there are things you want to see that only happen at certain parks on certain days (Main Street Electrical Parade).
Then, I'd book meals. Those NEED to be booked ahead of time for most of the popular meals, especially character meals. I personally wouldn't do more than one sit down meal a day, they do take a lot of time. The counter service meals are very filling and very good food (and honestly they aren't that badly priced). Book meals in the park you will be in that day or close. I made a list of meals in/around each park I was wanting and then booked and figured out where we'd eat when. (I even planned out counter service snacks, not the times but for instance on one MK day I said we'll eat lunch at Pecos or Harbor House depending on where we were (that was the MK day we did the Adventureland/Frontierland/Liberty Square side of the park) when we got hungry. Main Street Bakery for breakfast on MK day....ect. One day we decided to eat a late lunch and wait till after the fireworks to eat dinner at our resort (we loved our resort's food court) Just try to figure out where you might be at meals times and for counter service pick an option or two just so you know (there was a website that rated all the meals, allears maybe?).
From there I wrote down our 'must ride/do' list.

 

[georgiaroots]

Thanks for all the tips. It seems as if meals/reservations, and planning a rides/attractions strategy (with some flexibility) are fairly consistent so I will make sure to do those things. Would love to hear more.

 

[daisygirl902]

Since you have all the basics covered here - and by the way I also highly recommend planning out and booking your dining ahead (we use AllEars for dining research, they have all the restaurant menus online) - I will give you a bit of strategy that my family and I always use.

Get to the parks at park opening (we also avoid any park that has extra magic hours that day as that's normally the busiest park) and get in as many rides as you can early in the day. Eat lunch in the park or plan to grab it back at the resort, then go to the resort for an afternoon swim break. The hottest part of the day is NOT the time to be wandering through the throngs of people in the parks! Then head back out for dinnertime, going to wherever you have reservations that night, and catch a few more rides and/or a show at night. We almost never wait in lines, because if you get to the parks early enough you kind of beat the rush. Although it's tempting to dawdle in the morning because you're on vacation, getting to the parks at 10 or 11 is a virtual nightmare!

Also I agree that if your family can handle a later night, do the Halloween party. It's a fun event, you can often ride rides with little to no line-up, and there are many characters there that you don't normally see (especially villains).

Enjoy!

 

[tink'smom2B]

These are my priorities:
#1 - Book the room
#2 - Dining Reservations
#3 - Extra Activities
If you are trying to get a room in October, things fill up quickly. Disney offers free dining sometimes, and the cheaper rooms are sold out. Look at last years posts to see which resorts (and rooms) got free dining. Those are all gone already. BLT will be hard to get unless you are a DVC member.We are going in Oct. and I've been watching. Also, you can't make dining reservations if you don't have a room. Dining reservations for Oct. 1 begin on April 1. There are so many things to learn about Disney it's hard to keep up!

 

[bella2117]

These are my priorities: #1 - Book the room #2 - Dining Reservations #3 - Extra Activities If you are trying to get a room in October, things fill up quickly. Disney offers free dining sometimes, and the cheaper rooms are sold out. Look at last years posts to see which resorts (and rooms) got free dining. Those are all gone already. BLT will be hard to get unless you are a DVC member.We are going in Oct. and I've been watching. Also, you can't make dining reservations if you don't have a room. Dining reservations for Oct. 1 begin on April 1. There are so many things to learn about Disney it's hard to keep up![/QUOTE

Unless they changed it I was able to make my dining reservations before I booked our vacation last year. But they might have changed it.

 

[Chrispygal]

Sounds like you are spending all your time at MK, which will give you plenty of time to enjoy all the park has to offer, especially if you use your fast pass +'s to their fullest.

My best advice for the Fast Pass+ reservations (3 per day) is to book them after 11am - afternoon/evening if you will be at the park. It's a waste to book them before 11am when crowds are much lower. We could never quite make it for rope drop but even arriving at 10am would allow us to get a ride or two done without major waits. If you can get there early, you will ride more. For days you cannot get there early, it was nice reserving 3 rides ahead of time and knowing we'd be able to do those. I made sure we picked popular attrations for the fast passes (Enchanted Tales with Belle, Peter Pan, Little Mermaid, etc) and there were many rides we could just hop on with little wait.

My can't miss things include all the parades and fireworks. They are a MUST do for me. The rides are great but what makes Disney "Disney" for me is their shows, parades, fireworks, and all the details throughout Disney. I would also suggest you fast pass lunch in Be Our Guest Restaurant (different link, and you can book one day for your trip - totally worth it).

Reserving one sit down meal per day is nice, but it does take up some time. I prefer not to stress myself out though and just go with the flow while I am there and do my best to stick to a "loose" plan. Besides, sitting down for a meal can be a nice break for everyone. My personal favorite is Cinderella's Round Table. It's not cheap, but it's really an experience to eat in the castle! Be Our Guest was excellent food as well - we ate here for both lunch and dinner and enjoyed both these meals. I personally wouldn't plan more than one table service per day because between that and the fast pass times, you do tend to be on a schedule for a good portion of the day. Oh, and remember if you miss a fast pass time you can reschedule it for another time. We also felt having the my disney experience app on our phone to be a huge help!

 

[MickeyChix]

And if you don't want to use touring time for all the parades, I happen to think the best one Disney has right now is the Electrical one in the evenings at MK!

 

[mrsp1030]

I agree with everyone else. Secure the room, then plan meals out according to parks, then other activities. One of our favorite things to do is book an early dinner at Crystal palace around 4pm as you will eat with the pooh characters and then you can enjoy the evenings without having tired kids looking for food.

 

[DaniMoon]

Our ADRs were split between late breakfasts or early dinners. I have one child who does not eat much for breakfast and for the other it is the best meal of the day.

This worked well, we would not do breakfast before we got to the park, we took granola bars. We toured for several hours and then did breakfast -- grabbed a snack in the afternoon.

We went in October, we were there during free dining promotion -- since we were at a value, we had the QS plan, but I upgraded to the DP for about $40 a day, so the four of us ate a quick service meal, table service meal, and a snack every day for $40. Not too shabby. Definitely worth it, because we would never have done as many character meals if they weren't "included".

We did not do the Halloween Party. I did not rule it out, but waited til we got there and saw how our days and touring went. For us, it just wasn't worth it. I decided to add a day on our hotel and park tickets and it was still less than buying four tickets for the Halloween party. The party looked fun, but many of the night's we were there were sold out, so it seemed very crowded (we could stay in the park til 7pm on those nights, but then those without the separate ticket had to leave).

The fireworks for Halloween are supposed to be the best of the year (Hallowishes). We did see them from the Pirates and Pals cruise I posted about earlier.

My kids also loved EPCOT, so don't think little kids won't like it. Soarin' and Test Track were two of their favorite rides of the whole trip. They also enjoyed the countries more thought.