What do we HAVE to do?

[A10560]

We are going to Disney at the end of March with our two boys. DS1 is just turning 4 and DS2 just turned 2. We have never been to Disney World and have no idea what to do and when to do it. We will be at the park Sunday evening and can go until Friday evening. We are staying at Animal Kingdom and are DVC members. We did not buy the dining plan since we have a full kitchen back at the hotel.

What are the things that we must do for our first trip? What are the things that we must book in advance? I thought I heard they do parades on certain days and times... is this true? What are the different park hours?

Please any help would be greatly appreciated! I am going to start my binder of things to do and times.

Thanks everyone!

 

[happyjen]

Hi There - My family is going April 7 - 14 and it will be our first time as well. I don't have any info to tell you, but what I do find I will gladly post here for you! There is a another link somewhere on the boards that has tips for Disney, I haven't had a chance to go through them yet.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

We are going to Disney at the end of March with our two boys. DS1 is just turning 4 and DS2 just turned 2. We have never been to Disney World and have no idea what to do and when to do it. We will be at the park Sunday evening and can go until Friday evening. We are staying at Animal Kingdom and are DVC members. We did not buy the dining plan since we have a full kitchen back at the hotel.

What are the things that we must do for our first trip? What are the things that we must book in advance? I thought I heard they do parades on certain days and times... is this true? What are the different park hours?

Please any help would be greatly appreciated! I am going to start my binder of things to do and times.

Thanks everyone!

You can go to www.waltdisneyworld.com and click on the March calendar. You can click on each day of your trip and it will give you the park schedule for each day, including parades and fireworks.

 

[msminnieears]

I would start out with a disney planning book. I like to use Passporter. It's a great book that will give you all the details on everything disney and also give you suggestions. There is lots of websites that can help mousesavers.com, allears.net are just a few. The most important thing is to be familiar with the parks and have a general day planned out. WDW is not a vacation you can just go do without planning. All the parks will have something to offer your young children. I would recommend doing at least one character meal depending on the characters your sons like. The WDW website can also be a big help.

 

[dogodisney]

One thing that I think is a must do is to see the opening ceremony at Magic Kingdom. To me it sets the tone for the rest of the park.

 

[testtubes]

I would suggest that anyone with small children and going for the first time spend two days at the Magic Kingdom. I also second buying a guide book so the planning can begin. Good luck and have fun.

 

[DisneySJB]

Plan for some "downtime" at the resort. AKL has a great pool and always has activities planned through the day. I find that pooltime/downtime every 2-3 days of park hopping is very helpful with little ones, especially the morning after extra magic hours.

Also, you must have dinner at Boma. It is our very favorite restaurant in all of Disney.

 

[Carolina_Ggirl]

I would definitely research on the Disney site to determine some of the attractions you/your family really would enjoy. That way at a minimum you can work thru the park & hit the key things you 'must see' without feeling like you're in a race to do it all. Fit in the other stuff at your leisure!!

We're taking our 3 yr old for the 1st time this spring, so I'm preparing myself to not get in the mode of trying to do everything & not enjoying anything! I agree with the previous post about building in some much needed downtime. We have always done this before our little one came along...so I am thinking this will be very important w/ kids in the picture!

 

[PrincessTiffany]

"Downtime" really depends on your family. We have been touring WDW with our kids since they were 2, 3, 4 and 7 and we have never really taken breaks. Even when they were little, they would just sleep in the stoller and we would stay in the parks. We usually have one half day that we spend at the resort in the pool and we always have one sit-down/character meal per day - other than that we don't take "breaks."

 

[DSDopey48]

i have many friends who i have traveled with to disney and one thing we always take a break at some point in the day and head back to the room to just relax. We always do a character meal, the most important is to take your time and enjoy the parks. Take at least two or more days at the magic kingdom. Disney world has a great little brochure for kids 5 and under, i can send a copy if you pm your address to me.

Have a great trip.

Judi

 

[mreid1974]

I would definatly buy the passporter!! It was a great tool to learn just about anything you think of.. Downtime i think is a great thing.. It allows you to get some rest but you can also enjoy your resort pool.. Days can be really long in the park so do your best at getting some rest.. And i feel a also definate is hitting the nighttime shows like Wishes and Spectromagic at MK and Illuminations at Epcot and Fantasmic at Hollywood studios

 

[DisneyMom4964]

Oh Disney has everything! Visit Downtown Disney for a night. They got lego land (which your boys will really enjoy) and its just a fun atmosphere. Obviously visit the parks. Here is what I recommend at each park for your children:

Magic Kindgom- Buzz Lightyear ride, Transit Authority, Dumbo ride, and teacups.

Animal Kingdom- Finding Nemo show, a bird show ( not sure what its called?!), a walking trail of animals, take train ride to petting zoo.

Hollywood Studios- They got some good shows your little ones would enjoy.

Epcot- Innovations!, Soarin, and just the countries are great to explore!

***You can also see parades through out the day and fireworks at night***
Also you can check Disney website for the calander and list of activites to do. Or you can always just call them, they would be more than happy to help you out!