First Trip Tips(12y,10y,42y)

[HarryPotterFan]

This is my first trip to disney in Feb. With a 12yearold,10yearold, and a mom
Have any tips or suggestions???

 

[delswife]

Wow! Did you come to the right place. My first tip, visit these boards daily!
How long are you going for?
I would recommend staying at an All Stars restort with kids these ages. I asked my 17yr old daughter if she would like to stay at Dixie Landings this year and she said "NO!" my kids love the all stars.

"NEXT!"

 

[dzneelvr]

Hey--
same age difference as my son and daughter !!

We always stay at the All Star Movies (I'll spell out things in my thread since it's sometimes hard to decipher all the abbreviations at first).
Stay in the Dalmations and you will be close to the main building and also the Mighty Ducks pool. Let them each get credit on their room key to go through the food lines independently and/or pick up a souvenier or 2 (their ages will love that !)

The Disney Studios park is filled with stuff just for them--Rock/Roll Coaster, Tower of Terror, Star Wars....don't miss the Muppets 3D or the Backstage tour.
Then Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowland with Buzz, Space Mountain, Alien. The Haunted House, Splash Mountain, parade, etc.

EPCOT my kids are still learning to like a bit at a time. They like the ride on Norway, Honey I shrunk the audience, and try Test Track.
Animal Kingdom--we like everything, especially kali falls and the safari. A must see is A Bug's Life.

This board has so many wonderful threads that will help out more specifically with questions.
And above all--relax and don't worry about doing "everything". That's why you'll want to return again and again !!

 

[mgrebenc]

If you are staying long enough that you might feel the need to skip the parks one day, Disney Quest, in downtown Disney is really fun. My 15 and 9 yr old spent all day there(mom and dad too) only leaving for a lunch and dinner break.

Mary

 

[HarryPotterFan]

Thanks!
Do you have any more tips?
I am staying offsite
Going to the parks for four days
They dont like huge thrill rides but a some thrill is fine.
The girl is 12 and boy is 10





Harry Potter Rules!!!
Any other HP fans here????????

 

[NCRedding]

Plan on at least one character meal--my DD still loves them at 11. Use fastpass to maximize your time in the parks. Our last trip, I bought a passport at Epcot for my dd who loved it--we actually spent most of our time at Epcot this trip--which was great because we have never spent that much time there. It was very helpful for her--she missed some school so she had to do an educational report for her teachers.

 

[mad4themouse]

Originally posted by HarryPotterFan
Thanks!
Do you have any more tips?
I am staying offsite
Going to the parks for four days
They dont like huge thrill rides but a some thrill is fine.
The girl is 12 and boy is 10





Harry Potter Rules!!!
Any other HP fans here????????

We are Mom43, DD12 and DS10. We've been doing Disney every other year or so since 1996. The kids' favorites have changed over the years as has our touring style.

With only 4 days to do the parks, chances are that you will be taking the "commando" style approach to touring WDW. A good guidebook will help with your planning. I recommend The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2003 by Bob Sehlinger. There are lots of great touring tips as well as very good ride descriptions. I also like the PassPorter Walt Disney World 2003: The Unique Travel Guide, Planner, Organizer, Journal, and Keepsake! by Jennifer Watson and Dave Marx. It makes for an excellent keepsake as well as being very informative.

As far as thrill rides are concerned, I think that you will find that WDW is rather tame in comparison to most theme parks. The most thrilling, IMHO, would be Rock n Roller Coaster...it goes upside down in the dark. Most of the others are not that intense. My DD12 is afraid of precipitous drops and will not go on the Tower of Terror or Splash Mountain. She's a pretty big coward when it comes to roller coasters but she will ride RnR, Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain RR.

My best advise would be to pre-plan your touring so that you spend as little time as possible staring at a map and deciding where you will be going next but don't let it rule your day. Use FastPass when you can, it costs you nothing to use it.

Eat lunch either very early or very late in order to avoid the noon-time crowds. If the parades are not important to you, that can be the best time to ride some of the more popular rides or grab that late lunch.

Try not to park-hop too much in one day. You will spend too much time in transit by doing so. If you must park hop, you can easily get from EPCOT to the MK via monorail or you can go from the International Gateway at EPCOT via boat to MGM. AK is the most remote of all the parks and if you have a car, I would suggest that you drive from there to any other park rather than relying on Disney transportation.

Since MK will probably be closing earlier than EPCOT during your stay, I would suggest that when you are done with MK, take the monorail to EPCOT, do Future World and make sure that you catch Illuminations that night.

Another day could be spent starting in EPCOT and then taking the boat from the International Gateway to MGM, where you can finish your day by catching Fantasmic! (which you should not miss).

Start another morning very early in the AK, making sure that you see the Festival of the Lion King. From AK, take your car or a bus to whatever park you choose, keeping park closing hours in mind. The AK closes earlier than any other WDW park. In general, EPCOT will be open latest.

This would leave you with one more day to return to whatever park(s) you like. You can return to do attractions that you missed the first time thru or to enjoy favorites one more time.

You can check for park hours, parade times and other special events scheduled for your stay by clicking this link:

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wa...ore/parkhours/parkhoursindex?id=ParkHoursRoot

 

[MELSMICE]

mad4themouse had awesome tips. Here's a few additional things:

In Feb. the parks probably won't be open extremely late. I would say give one day to each park. I would put AK on the 2nd or 3rd day because they will probably close the earliest. Depending on how you feel you could always head to EPCOT for Illuminations or MGM for Fantasmic. Those 2 shows should not be missed.

Get each of you a fanny pack & water bottle holder to take snacks & water into the parks. Get munchie snacks like pretzel nuggets, goldfish, dry cereal & put them in snack size ziploc bags. This will save money in the parks & also time waiting in food lines. It's also nice to have snacks when you get back to your room.

There are few things you shouldn't miss.

AK - Festival of the Lion King
Tough To Be a Bug
Dinosaur (intense, but not an actual roller coaster)

MGM - we love Voyage of the Little Mermaid
Beauty & the Beast
The Great Movie Ride
Muppet Vision 3D

EPCOT - Honey I Shrunk the Audience
Spaceship Earth
Test Track (a lot of fun)

MK - Try to see as much as possible, including
Peter Pan's Flight
Haunted Mansion
Jungle Cruise
Pirates of the Caribbean

Have a great time. Try to relax & enjoy yourself.

 

[katiemegcz]

Harry Potter rules!

OK, having said that...visit All Ears.net for a wealth of insider tips, menus and info. Get the Passporter to plan and save your memories.

My must-do picks for kids your age:

Festival of the Lion King-AK
Test Track-Epcot
All of MK
DON'T miss Fantasmic! We had the dinner package, got preferred seating, and it was the highlight of our last trip.
DON'T miss Illuminations. It is unbelievable.

I know you said they are not too into thrill rides, but Dinosaur was so cool, as was Rock and Roller Coaster. TOT was cool, but a bit intense for me. I went once, and skipped it as I can't handle the multiple vertical drops.

Now one for mom...I LOVE Epcot World Showcase, but could never get the kids into it. Then I discovered the Passports you can buy at the entrance, and they have loved it since. I'm not sure how teens will take to it, but we had an 11 yo, and she loved it. You take the Passport to the individual countries, and someone native to that country will stamp the passport, and write a message in their language. I got to shop and see the sites, they got to collect stamps.

Another favorite of my kids, since the parks closed early during our visit, was a visit to the Boardwalk in the evening, dinner, and surrey bike rental. You can ride around Boardwalk, Swan, Dolphin, BC and YC. Very magical.

Have a great trip!!!