What to expect in WDW

[ts506273]

My family and I are going to WDW on 5/23--5/30. This is our first trip and wanted to know what to expect this time of year, crowds, weather, wait times, etc.... Any suggestions for a first timer????

 

[Bob P]

Welcome to the DIS!

Plug in your dates here for some weather history:

http://www.wunderground.com/tripplanner/index.asp

Crowds will be manageable, but expect them to be a little less manageable over the Memorial Day weekend.

If you take a look through all the DIS boards you'll find plenty of great ideas for a first timer...or a 100th timer!

 

[MidgeD79]

How exciting! There is NOTHING like a first trip to WDW! Hwo old are your kids, where are you staying and for how long? You won't see or get everything done and that's ok. Our family has been 8 times and there are still things that we haven't seen or done. Things that I learned: you can never have to much money for souvenirs, share food when eating with little ones, take a break if the parkare open late, look at transportation as part of the experience.

 

[ts506273]

We are staying for 8 days, 7 nights. I am taking my niece and nephew, One girl 12 and one boy 9. We are staying at CSR and we do have the dining plan. Just wondering if we were trying to be to ambitious, but we were planning on 7 parks in 8 days. The first day we land at 8 am, so I figured we could still do a park this day. Since it is Memorial day weekend, we planned on a Water park for SAT and for universal and islands on Sun and Mon (and bought express passes since we knew it would be crowded). We already have ADR, here is a list of some of the places
O'hana
L'Originale Alfredo di Roma Ristorante
Donald's breakfast
Jiko
maya grill
yactsman
mama melrose-for fantasmic
chef mickey's
and we are doing a wishes cruise.

What I would really like is tips for getting around the parks since it will be so busy over memorial weekend???

 

[ainsleysmom]

Going the same time you are with a very similar park plan. DH and I and DD were there the same exact dates back in 2002 and the week of Memorial day was wonderful. Do yourself a favor, take rain gear. Showers pretty much everyday and most people split. Rain is usually gone within an hour or so and the park is deserted. Take in a show while it rains, or be a kid and stomp puddles. Hope you'll be wearing your lime green! Have a wonderful time.

 

[teras75]

It sounds like you have a good plan. My best advice is try to go at an enjoyable pace. When I first started going to the parks, I was in such a hurry to get everywhere and do everything that I needed a vacation from my vacation. I have been going for years and still find new stuff, so it will be impossible to see everything at every park. There will be crowds this time of year so get to the parks early and utilize the fast passes at the really hard to get to rides (like Soarin and Rock n Roller Coaster) and while you are waiting for the fast pass take the time to look around. You guys will have a great time!!

 

[italianfamilia]

Welcome to the DIS!

Plug in your dates here for some weather history:

http://www.wunderground.com/tripplanner/index.asp

Crowds will be manageable, but expect them to be a little less manageable over the Memorial Day weekend.

If you take a look through all the DIS boards you'll find plenty of great ideas for a first timer...or a 100th timer!

Thanks for that tip. Just plugged in our dates and it's going to be blazing hot and humid. First time to WDW with 4 kids, myself...and we live in the desert as it is, but never have to deal with the humidity. How does it affect the kids? 6 can hardly handle the heat, face gets all red just from sitting... planning on misting fans attached to the rental stroller each day, making sure have plenty of fluids, eating snacks brought throughout the day to ensure comfort type foods for their tummies, seem to get tummy aches when eating out too much...How are crowds there during the first week of June???? Yes my anxiety has kicked in !!!!

 

[justplaingoofy]

What great memories...

My only advice is do your homework!! the people that come home from Disney saying it was "just okay" are the ones that don't know the difference between Aladdins carpet ride and splash mountain

 

[Gomez Gang]

we will be down there from may19-27 at OKW!
Out of all the times I have gone to WDW, only 2 times have NOT been in May--it is our FAV time to go!
I don't think it is very humid at all(unless it rains and it still is nowhere near as humid in September--belive me, I know!
I find that it is usually about 80-85 during the day and 70 at night--perfect for me!
It is wonderful during the week but it turns kinda crazy friday after lunch into the mem. day wkend. Go on all the super headliners and see all the "must sees" before thurs. the 24th or on the 29th or 30th. Since I find MK a congested park, I would avoid the MK that weekend and head to a more spacious park like Epcot. We are doing blizzard beach on the 26th and downtown disney the 27th before we catch our evening flight.
I have to remember my lime green ribbon........I'll be looking for yours!
see ya real soon!

 

[Aaronbox]

The first time you go, it can be overwhelming: There is SO much to see, so many choices / decisions to make, it can actually be stressful. One way to reduce your stress is to go with a touring plan. The major sponsor of this site sells them as well as the Unofficial Guide to WDW. A good touring plan will not only relieve stress, it will reduce the amount of time you STAND in line by up to 3+ hours PER DAY! Follow a plan once, and you'll be forever grateful you did. You'll see more, wait less, and be assured that all the best attractions will be hit. Also, as someone else mentioned, research the attractions. There is more to do in Magic Kingdom or Epcot than can be done in one day. If you knew what you want to skip, it'll make your day easier, too.

 

[perdidochas]

My family and I are going to WDW on 5/23--5/30. This is our first trip and wanted to know what to expect this time of year, crowds, weather, wait times, etc.... Any suggestions for a first timer????

It's going to be warm. Expect to drink a lot of water. Make a plan for each park. Read up about and use fast passes. Plan to be at the parks at opening time--you can go to about as many rides from 9-12 as you can from 12-6.

 

[Yensid Srevol]

One tip I think would be a good one is when doing WDW with young ones, see EPCOT first. We had friends who took their kids when they were around 10 and 13 and they did MK first. After that, the kids didn't want to see EPCOT because they didn't want to be "learning" after all the "fun" of MK. When we took our kids (who were 8 and 4 at the time) we went to EPCOT first. They absolutely loved it!!! Not that they didn't love MK but we didn't have any complaints.

(We took them again in 2003 for one last family vacation, by then they were 23 and 19, and they still loved EPCOT just as much. We plan on taking them and their spouses on one BIG Family Vacation sometime next year.....hope the spouses like EPCOT, too!)