1st Trip to WDW Feb28-March3

[POOH4YOU!!]

At the end of feb we are taking our 1st trip to wdw and I was wondering what to expect. Are there any tips you can give me? I am taking my 5yr old and my 2yr old. we are driving and i am sooo excited!!!!

 

[Alberta]

Hey I'll be there with ya for some of it!!!! First and foremost just wanna let you know that you will have a blast!!! Disney is sooooo different from just an amusement park! The animatronics and the overall atomosphere is just amazing! All the parks are always so clean and everyone is so kind and helpful. I've been to Disney (Disney World and Disneyland) five times (not including my up and comming March 20th vacation!!!!). The youngest I was when I went to Disney was 6 and my younger sister was four (disneyland!). One huge tip I can give you especially considering your children are younger then I was is don't expect to be able to be there from the time it opens right to the end of the day to watch fireworks. My parents found with us they had to either go early and leave at around 3 or 4, go early and go back to the hotel for a nap or go later on and stay further into the night. If we were there too long we'd get grouchy and tired and my parents would as a result get stressed! You know your kids best but there is just sooooooooooooo much to do and sooo much excitement that it's draining even now being a teen! So make sure you mange that and it can really help everyone in the long run. Oh and just to speak on the kids part..... the odd mickey ice cream or popsicle is good!! lol. Since your visiting Disney World there are a few more "adult rides" (by that i just mean more intense rides. ie: tower of terror, rock n' rollercoaster...) and they are incredable if you can mange to ride it! We used the parent swap when we went! lol Other than that have an awsome time!!!!

Alberta

 

[crisi]

Disney is bigger than you probably expect. Four parks - and that doesn't include the non-Disney parks (SeaWorld, Universal, etc).

Have some sort of plan before you arrive at each park. The parks are big, so make yourself familiar with the layout and location of the attractions you are most interested in. There will be plenty for a 2 and 5 year old. You don't need to plan every minute - but having some idea of what is where, and when to ride the most popular attactions helps.

An hour first thing in the morning is worth three in the mid-afternoon. A Disney vacation is a wonderful time to take naps -- but generally not so good a time to sleep in.

Book a character breakfast. They are pricey, but your best chance to interact with characters. The restaurant board has several threads at any given time on which character breakfast is best.

Considering making Priority Seating arrangments at a sit down restuarant every other day or so. Although its possible to get variety from counter service - and even possible to walk into sit down restaurants and eat - adults can only consume so many chicken fingers from counter service before going insane.

 

[DisneyPhD]

Hi, we will be there Feb 28 to March 7, staying at BCV. We also have a 2 year old (well almost she will be 22 months old).

Your kids will love it. Some say don't go to MK on the 1st day because they won't want to go to any other parks. I don't think we are going to follow that because MK has some good 1st rides for the kids to get them started and see how the will handle dark or potenially scarey rides.

I plan to keep a small flash light with her if we get stopped on any dark rides.

Give them some time to get used to the size of the characters before having them get close. That can be overwelleming.

Do you have any of the sing along park videos? (Disenlyand fun and Beach party at WDW). You can find them at Target or Toys are Us for around 7$ eacg These help the kids get used to the characters. My DD LOVES them.

Bring your own stroller, snacks and water (the water there stinks both at the parks and in the resorts.)

Maybe we will see you there, have a great trip. Lets hope for wonderful weather and low crowds.

 

[POOH4YOU!!]

thanks for the great ideas I love the flashlight thing i never thought of that. we're staying at the all star movies does anyone know how they are?

 

[vicb]

That flashlight thing is soooo smart... I wish I had been that smart when my DS was 3. We got stopped on Spaceship Earth in total darkness and he lost it. It really affected his ability to go on dark rides that whole trip. We had to drag him into small world, once in he was fine.

Try not to feel like you have "to do everything". Remember you can go back another trip. On our first trip I felt that pressure the first day or so then just said "Oh well". My kids at that age loved the resort pool and MK above all else. We never even went to MGM on that trip, we opted for a day at TL and boy did we have fun there.