Disney World, 1St and Last time any suggestions?

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Angie K

I agree... it won't be your last... its very addictive!

You made some great choices by staying on grounds and going with the meal plan. Not sure if you have the park hopper or how may days you are going.

There are 4 main parks with a magic your way package - which you have. My suggestion would be doing the parks the day after it had magic hours the day before - less busy. Although the evening Magic hours are great 3 hours!! Also if you are going to a water park - the busiest days are tue-wed... so stay clear on those days.
Use the fast pass as much as possible.
Mark out the rides you want and figure out which ones will have fast pass and use it wislely.
Plan for your gratuities before hand and some people even buy giftcards to pre-pay for them in that way.
If you have baseday tickets - do a dinner show on the day you plan on going to Animal kigdom because it closes early around 5pm. Also do downtown Dsney - great shopping.
Don't miss any of the Wishes, Fantasmic or Illuminations- those are magic you don't want to miss.
Disney also has Photopass and it is a free service and just the pictures you have to pay for. You can pre-buy the CD before had for 20% savings.
Make sure you made all the dining reservation for the table services 90 day proir to your arrvial - on the very day at 7am EST... some of the hard ones to get into are Castle, Chef Mickeys, LeCellier and Tuskerhouse.
If you can try to get a Fantasmic Dinner package so you won't to wait in line so much for it that night.
There is Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique for the little girls and there are pirate cruises for the boys.
There are tours you can do in each park some are for the whole family and some are for 16 and above.

Lastly, have fun and take a deep breath and take in all the Magic because that is truly what will make it a memory maker for your whole family.

My 1st was are "only" trip...I was 25 and now I have been too many time for some but not enough for me. I have sailed the Disney cruise also this past March- WONDERFUL!!
I also get to book and plan trips for people ging to Disney Vacations everyday!!
So you can see its addictive!
Have a wonderful trip and I won't say relax.. because you won't while your at Disney.. its a go go go vacation but well worth it!

JUNEPUCK

well i a have been to disney 5 times and counting
I love disney allot what i can recommend to you is that you don't spend more than a day or 2 at each park and what is really fun is they have character dining that you can go to but have to have reservations to but all the characters come around and get pictures and autographs
you can go to walt disney world .com they tell about that.
My favorite things and rides to do is buzz lighter ride, space mountain, splash mountain, test track, epcot ball, spaceship earth, haunted mansion, soarin, lights motors action are all really great!
also what i do is collect pin at disney they range from about average $6 and high about $10 but they are really cool because you can buy a pack of 6 for $30 or what ever pins you have and trade with the any one that works at disney!
If you like gum bring your own because no were on disney property can you buy any so yeah.
Also one more word or advice you should go to downtown disney it is really really cool there is this place that you can eat at called planet hollywood and it is one of the coolest places you can go in disney to eat so do it!

I hope that helped and here are some links to Planet hollywood and disney

http://www.planethollywood.com/restaurants_orlando.htm
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/

Marc M

lol i dont htink this will be your last time. youll all love it!

Erika

I'm not sure how much time you plan on spending at each park but if you are planning on only doing 1 day for each park then you might want to check into the software you download for $15 that tells you the right times to go on rides so you have the shortest wait. Its called Ridemax and we used it for our trip in Dec. It saved us hours of waiting in line. If you don't want to pay the money or feel like you have to stick to a schedule then use Fastpass. You can use them ANY time after your window opens. The shows are great esp. the 3-D ones and they are nice cool break from the hot weather! Since you are staying on Disney Property make use of the extra hours. We found that the extra night hours were great for riding the more popular rides; everyone left after the fireworks letting us go on SPace Mountain as many times as we wanted with no wait! Going back to the hotel for an afternoon siesta/swimming lets the kids rest a bit so you don't have cranky kids when you want to stay late to take advantage of the smaller crowds. I'm sure there will be lots of souvieners to collect throughout the week but I would suggest keeping tabs on what you want and then going to Downtown Disney on your last day for a shopping spree. We had everything we bought sent home in one shipment. Great deal! And while you're downtown check out Disney Quest, your kids are the perfect age! I think you will be surprised with Disney World and will be returning again!

JEANNIE

I don't know why - but I hope it will not be your last. We stayed at CBR last year and again this year. It is a great moderate resort with wonderful themes, nice pool choices and fairly good quick service food choices. I don't know which meal plan you selected - if it includes sit down meals - the kids would love sci-fi dine in and a character meal is a must. There are alot of choices so look at Disney on line, Allears and I like the Unofficial Guide Book. Sometimes dinner can be a wonderful memory. Make sure to leave energy for the fireworks at MK, and Fantasmic at HS. Catch the Stunt Cars show at HS and enjoy a walk around the world at Epcot. Take "GREAT" shoes and mole skin. Since you are on site, sleep in one day or lay around the pool and visit the park with extra evening hours. The lines are less for the rides and you won't be as exhausted from the heat. There are a lot of great rides for every personality in your family. Soarin for we tamer Moms and Rock N Rollercoaster and Tower of Terror for the Brave ones. Everyone should ride Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion as they are classics. AK is great - walk through the animal areas and ride the safari. Everest is Fun! Try to plan in the budget one "special" souvenier. We do a "family" kind of thing - such as one year was a print (about $100) and another an ostrich egg from AKL. We look at these and remember. The little trinkets fade and the shirts become outgrown. Now shirts, to go back to school and show everyone are also a must. Do your research and get fast passes for the rides you like, make your advance dining reservations if you have sit downs at 90 days prior as they fill up fast - then sit back and have fun!

ness300

Get the book the Unificial Guide to Disneyworld. It will go over all the rides and attractions that they have so that you can plan according to your family needs. That is the main item. There is so much to do that if you have another adult you may want to split up to see everything. We went 2 years ago my children at the time were 8 and 13 just the same age as yours. The 13 yr old and I did all the shows while my husband and 8 yr old did all the adventure rides. Everything you do will be a memory maker, so don't worry about that to much. Check out the muppet show even though it may seem young for them they will enjoy it. Right around the corner is Bugs life playground. Take time out and enjoy, Find a spot in the caves and relax while the children have fun climbing. Yes there are kids of all ages in there and no one is turned away. The other things that my kids remember the most was the dinosaur ride at animal kingdom, there are two rides and both are great, sorry can't remember the name. The 8 yr old loved the dinosaur dig. Again a nice place to relax for the parents, ehile entertaining the kids. Both kids loved epcott, not sure if the same stuff that they enjoyed is still there, they redid the activity center. They were able to build a robot and race them. Build a toy robot and other interesting things that you would not think that they would like, but they loved it. We did however avoid the countries with the 8 year old, he was not into it, so agian we seperated and he did his favorite rides while I took the older one with me. Check out touringplans.com for up to date information on Disney

arrowheadadventure

Go buy "The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2009". This was the best $20 I spent for my family's July 2008 vacation to Disney. The book contains reviews for restaurants, hotels, and attractions on and off Disney property. However, the best part of the book are the touring plans! The plans give you step by step instructions on where to go and when to go in order to avoid the longest lines.

For example: "Soarin" in EPCOT is one of the most popular rides in all of Disney. A 2-hour wait in line is not uncommon to partake in this awesome experience. However, using the touring plan in the book and maximizing Disney's "Fast Pass" system, we were able to ride it twice in a row without waiting in line one time!

By the way, if you don't know what the "Fast Pass" system is, then definitely get the book or ask us that are in the know at yahooanswers. It's fast, easy, and one of the few FREE things in Disney. Yes, it is absolutely FREE!

Go out and buy the book today. I promise you will not be disappointed.

Have fun!

Jade C

Make reservations for meals exactly 90 days before you leave. Cinderella's Castle fills up so quickly, you have to do it fast. Take your time going through the parks and enjoy the extra magic hours.

Have fun!

Lilli

There's a ton of info available to help you. I highly suggest investing in a guidebook or two - Birnbaum's is a good beginner book, and Passporter is a little more realistic. Also, this is my favorite planning website: http://www.allearsnet.com

Read up ahead of time. Let your kids pick out a couple of don't-miss rides. Have at least a bit of a plan. If you are on the meal plan, you need to make advance reservations (90 days) for any sit-down meals. Use Fastpass. Get to the parks when they open to bypass crowds. Consider going back to your hotel for an afternoon break, then coming back to the parks.

honeebee86

First, this is not enough info to give you advice on planning. If I knew what time of the year and for how long you were going then I could help you better. If you are going soon, it is going to be rather busy. I recommend making a list of rides and shows that you must do. Oh, and you said you were on the dining plan. Make dining reservations ASAP or you will not get your moneys worth because there will be nothing available for sit-down restaurants. Here are two websites that I highly recommend.
http://www.allears.net
This one has menus and rides/shows descriptions
http://www.intercot.com
Also has tons of info but is also a wonderful message board that is free to join and the folks there will answer any questions you come up with quickly.
Remember, you will not be able to do everything so making a list of the must-sees is a smart way of making sure you don't miss the ones that interest you most. Use fastpass for any attraction that allows it. You just insert your theme park ticket into the fastpass kiosk (located outside the ride) and it will spit out a one hour time slot for you to come back to the ride and have a little to no wait. Since you are staying on property, take advantage of the extra magic hours. When you check in, they will give them to you...but if you are going soon, they may already be listed on the disney world website. The key to having a fun, relaxing trip is to plan ahead. It may seem like a lot, but it can be fun and you'll have less to worry about once you get there.
If you need anymore help or have any questions I would be happy to help!
dsnygrl86@yahoo.com
Have a magical trip!

Donna L

Everything you need to know about Disney World can be found at http://www.allearsnet.com. Be sure to sign up for their free weekly newsletter.

And have a magical trip!

Sam

Make sure you go to Club Cool at Epcot!! You can get free drinks there all day- better yet, they're all from different countries! Just don't try the Beverly. It's disgusting. Make sure you bring a water bottle to fill it up. :)
For Epcot go to the world pavilion first thing. most people will start from the front of the park so there should be less wait time for rides when the park first opens.
Magic Kingdom has the cheapest breakfast.
go to www.mousesavers.com
they have lots of amazing tips such as the cheapest places to eat and such.
If you have a little girl- The Bippity Boppity Botique is always a memory maker. They'll give her a princess dress and do her hair and some glittery makeup for a fee.

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