What have I gotten myself into???

[tgriff3]

Hi folks! I am totally new to WDW vacation planning. We are taking our first ever trip from OH to WDW in Sept. (yeah for the free dining plan!!) and now that the trip is booked I don't know where to begin planning!

We will be 8 by then, my husband and I and our 6 children. At the time of our trip they will be: son 16, daughter 13, almost 14, daughter 8, son 5, daughter 2.5 and newborn baby boy due end of July. (We have a grown son too who is not coming with us.)

We are Disney movie/character fans. My husband, myself, and our teens love thrill rides. Our 8yo loves animals, our 5yo loves Toy Story and Cars, our 2yo loves Mickey and Nemo with a passion, also loves Pooh and Tigger and is getting into princesses now.

We are staying at a value resort, figuring most of us won't be in the hotel room but to sleep! LOL! The babies and I will be there more, I'm sure we will need naps, often. I'm happy with our hotel choice and our budget which, with the dining plan, will leave room for extras that we may not have been able to afford otherwise, but I don't know what those will be because I've never been there! We have 6 days of park hopper passes, btw, but one will be for the day of our arrival, which may be late afternoon.

My biggest dilemma right now is to decide on my advanced reservations for our meals. We are not yet at 90 days out but will be very soon. I don't know where to begin. Buffets are typically very good for our family. We would like to do at least 2 character meals. Ideally we would like a meal with Toy Story characters but I don't see one offered. Also, it would be better for us to eat our TS meal at lunch, then I can take babies for naps while my husband stays with bigger kids for more fun. Will that work for us you think? Which ones are best? I've seen the Chef Mickey one recommended but we can only do that one for dinner, right? Should we do that maybe on the night of our arrival since we wouldn't have had dinner anyway? It would be kind of nice to get it out of the way early.

Also, how safe will my teens be if let to go off by themselves (together)? They will have a cell phone but is it ok to assume that they can get to where they want to go without us?

I know we will not be able to see/do everything but what are the not misses for us?

What are your best tips for first timers, especially ones with kids? Honestly, my husband and I don't expect to ride much ourselves. He has reserved a Richard Petty Driving Experience for one of our days there so that's his big thing (car guys!!). Otherwise he is all about the kids. I will have a nursing newborn and so will not be planning on much but taking cues from him. My teens can do their own thing if that's safe, as long as they stay together. I think they will have the most fun of all!!

Sorry for the epic post but I can use all the help I can get. Thanks!

~Tina~ married to Gregg, mom of 6 soon to be 7!

 

[Mith]

I think your teens will be fine. I plan on turning our two girls loose when they are about 15 and 12(maybe even sooner). I feel its very safe in the parks and its extemely easy to find the correct bus to get back to the resort.

One "extra" that we really loved is the Bippidi Boppidi Boutique. It's not cheap, and it can't be enjoyed by all, but I bet your 8 y.o. and 2.5 y.o daughters would love it!

For your meals, you may want to consider the Hoop-dee-doo. It'll chew up 2 TS credits, but we find it to be worth it. Lots of fun. Our favorite restaurant is Le Cellier at Canada, I highly recommend it. As for buffets, we love Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for something a little different than your usual buffet.

Anyway, I didn't address everything in your epic post, but that's my two cents. Enjoy your trip!

 

[DisCopper]

You've gotten yourself into a lot of fun!

OK, here's the advice I give all first timers.

Plan, but DON'T over plan. You don't want to have to follow a strict schedule. It will only make you miserable. Buy the "official" Disney book by Birnbaum (sp?). Figure out what you really want to see, what you might want to see, and what you don't care about seeing. Then go wander. If you start to get low on time, you can focus on the things you really want to see.

Learn about the FastPass system and use it to your advantage. But don't let it ruin your day. Don't run like a maniac to get a Soarin' Fastpass first thing if a sprint across EPCOT is going to ruin your morning.

Make your Dining Reservations, and then do a general outline based on that. By outline, I mean that if you've got reservations for Le Cellier in Canada (EPCOT) at 7:00pm, you probably want to spend at least that afternoon in EPCOT.

As for letting the teens run free, I think it's up your opinion of them. Do you normally let them wander free at the mall? Can they take a subway around your city by themselves? If so, then let them spend some time by alone. They'll be much happier. But, if you live on a farm, and the only place they've ever been is school and back, you might want them to be a little more worldly before you let them loose at Disney. How safe is it? I'd say pretty safe- as long as they're sensible.

Kudos to you all for your husband booking the Driving Experience. Yeah, the kids are important, but it's the adult's vacation too. You need to find something that you want to do and make sure you do it.

My opinion on Dining: if you look on the Boards here, you'll find all sorts of opinions on every restaurant. That can help... just look for things that strike your fancy. But I'd read about the food in one of the books (or on the Disney web page) and get some specific ideas about what you might want first. I like your concept of Table Service meals at lunch and counter service for dinner. One thing that this helps with is seeing some of the nighttime shows. You don't want to have to rush through a sit down meal at EPCOT so that you can run to Illuminations.

Good luck! Have fun!

 

[mickeystoontown]

First of all, welcome to the disboards. You'll find tons of information and if you don't find it, just ask the question on one of the boards and you'll get lots of opinions/answers.

Second of all, congratulations of your first trip to WDW. Our first trip was in 1998 and we thought it'd be a 1 time thing. Our 14th trip is scheduled for this August. We instantly fell in love with WDW and I hope you guys do to.

As far as planning meals, I suggest you go to www.allearsnet.com and click on Dining. Then, click on Current Menus. There, you will find menus for each and every Disney restaurant. We like to schedule our table service meals for dinner time. We have found that works best for us because by the end of the day, we are ready for a nice sit down meal.

If you are looking for character meals, I recommend the following: Garden Grill at Epcot (family style meaning they bring platters of food to the table and replinish it as needed), Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom (buffet), Tusker House in Epcot (buffet). The character meal at Hollywood Studios has characters from Playhouse Disney so your teens may not like it at all. We like the Sci-Fi at Hollywood Studios. Even though it's not a character meal, we like the atmosphere (looks like a drive in theater). There is on Toy Story character meal but there is a Toy Story Pizza Planet counter service restaurant at Hollywood Studios. There's an arcade in the restaurant too.

Don't forget that you can do child/baby swap. To do this, everybody in the group gets in line. One adult rides with the older child and when the ride is over, the other adult can ride with the other child. This means that one adult is always with the younger child(ren) without having to wait in line twice.

Fastpasses are a super big timesaver. Be sure to take advantage of it.

As far your teenagers go, if you think they are mature enough to meet you back at X o'clock, they will be fine. We let our teenager (she was 17) take the bus back to the CBR by herself.

Hope this helps, Lisa

 

[Metro West]

 

[MarkinNM]