*wdw For The First Time!!!*

[disneyfanforever]

:mickey: My family is going to WDW for the first time in July. Mon. July 30-Mon. Aug. 6. I was wondering what parks we should go to on each day. We are staying off disney property, so we won't participate in the "Magic Hours". Please help us make the best desicion for "avoiding" major crowds. THANKS!!!

[CM~Mserrano]

If you're not going to be able to do EMH, I would suggest not going to the parks on the days that they have them. They tend to be much more crowded. Also, the weekends are also the days that Fl residents like myself go to the parks for the day, so I would reccommend either something other than the parks, like maybe a waterpark or downtown disney for shopping on at least Saturday. Those are my suggestions.

But no matter what, have fun!! :thumbsup:

[MOJoe]

By all means, if you are staying offsite, avoid going to the park that has morning EMH. You do not want to arrive at a park that is already full of resort guests. Look in info central here on Intercot under Extra Magic Hours for the schedule. A good plan is to visit the park that had it's morning EMH the day before. Most people do not go to the same park on consecutive mornings.
Also, Saturday is actually one of the lightest attendance days at all the WDW parks - except the water parks, where locals tend to go.
If you find yourself in a park that has Evening EMH, you may find the crowds swelling late in the afternoon. So you may want to try to avoid that park as well. But it is not as critical.
Have fun where ever you decide to go!:mickey:

[brad192]

Since it's your first time at WDW, I strongly recommend that your first ever park be MK. The experience of the very first time you walk under the train station, round the corner, and look down Main Street at Cinderella Castle will stay with you forever!:cloud9: I still remember that very first time, and it's been 35 years! (Of course, I get to relive it each time I return).

Since you'll be there during summer season, crowds will be unavoidable, but there are ways of handling it.;)

Get to the park you've chosen early - at opening. Unless it's an EMH morning, the crowds will be considerably less for the first couple of hours, and you can accomplish a lot.

Be sure to get the hopper option on your park passes. If the park you're in is wall-to-wall, you can zip over to another, less crowded park.:bolt:

Utilize Fastpass when you can for major attractions. It takes a little planning, but you can save literally hours of wait time.

Rain is your friend. I can almost guarantee it will rain while you're there. I can also guarantee the crowds will thin quite a bit when it rains. Grab a poncho & take advantage.:rain:

That's about all I can think of right now. Boy are you gonna have fun!:woohoo:

[magicman]

My key suggestion is to GET THERE EARLY.

Also, I agree with everyone else who says that, "If you aren't participating in EMH...Avoid that park."

Also, understand & use the Fast Pass System for popular, slow loading rides.

A couple of other crowd avoidance tips:
- Eat at 'off times' & use the standard lunch & dinner times to go on popular attractions.
- If you aren't going to watch a parade, use that time to ride popular rides as the lines for rides are very short during parades.

Again, my best tip for everyone is always...GET THERE EARLY:alarm:

[LoriMistress]

I would use either Ultimate Guide or use TourGuideMike.com If you want to REALLY plan for this trip, I would use one of the two.

[PetefromRI]

First off...Welcome to Intercot!!!You'll become a Disney pro in no time on this site.I wish you guys could have stayed on property,it's really the complete experience.When staying on property you are completely immersed in Disney.But with that said,you guys are gonna have a great time reguardless where you stay.Everyone so far has givin great advice.By all means go to the MK first.I still remember in 1975 walking through Main Street U.S.A. and being amazed at how beautiful it was.I was only 16 at the time and I can never forget that first time.Back in those days the MK was the only park at Disney and I think that the only resorts were The Poly,where we stayed,the Contemporary and the Golf Resort.Take the time to check out the Poly.It's pretty awesome.The crowds will be there so just live with it and slow down and enjoy.You will be run over by strollers so just relax and keep your cool.Remember,YOU WILL NOT SEE EVERYTHING,so enjoy what you can see and take frequent water breaks.Also,right over the bridge to Adventure Land on your right is a small stand called Aloha Isle.Make sure that you order a Dole Whip Float,the're awesome.
I don't know how old the kids are but they usually enjoy EPCOT.Future World has some really cool attractions like Soarin' and Test Track.Being your first time,make sure that you get a schedule of all parade and night time shows.Wishes in the MK is my favorite and Spectro Magic is too cool.Epcots night time show is also not to be missed.:number1:
I haven't even touched on the Animal Kingdom or The Studios.All I can say is it's all good.If I sound excited it's because we leave in 16 days:cloud9: and I get to relive that first trip all over again like everytime we go.Enjoy and keep posting any questions,I know that you've got a million to ask.We really love first timers here on Intercot!:D

[Vanlandingham]

A couple of other crowd avoidance tips:
- Eat at 'off times' & use the standard lunch & dinner times to go on popular attractions.
- If you aren't going to watch a parade, use that time to ride popular rides as the lines for rides are very short during parades.

This tip works quite well. We generally eat lunch around 11-11:15 and dinner around 5-5:30 and hardly ever have any problems.

I agree about going to MK first, and I DEFINITELY agree with the getting to the parks early.

Also, while I know that the temptation is there, don't push yourselves too hard to try to do everything. You'll just wear yourselves out if you do that. During that time of year the parks will get real crowded around 2:00 until the early evening, so if you have a mind to relax and do some other things. For example, if you're at MK, take an hour or so and ride the monorail around to the three monorail resorts and walk around each for a little bit. I promise that its worth the time.

Another thing: that time of year anticipate there to be an afternoon thunderstorm sometime between 1:30 and 3:30 (this is where having a poncho helps). If it rains at that time, it generally only lasts about an hour or less and then slides on out. But if it rains after that time, expect the rain to linger for a couple of hours or more. It doesn't rain everyday per say, but do note that the Orlando forecasters during late July and early August slap a minimum of a 40-50% chance of rain on every day.

[Speedy1998]

Rain is your friend. I can almost guarantee it will rain while you're there. I can also guarantee the crowds will thin quite a bit when it rains. Grab a poncho & take advantage.:rain:
:

Amen. In the 25 years I have been going I have only found one thing better at clearing the park. Sleet, but there is no way you will experience that is July. Heck it was a suprise to get it in Dec the one time it happened to me, but it was fun to have an almost private showing of Spectrlamagic.

[dumbo ears]

well that is a tricky question. when you are going it will be torward the end of the summer so maybe people may be trying to put in a last minute trip at the end of the summer. i would say visit MK on monday because usually on monday there are less people. but thats just me.

[heart4princephillip]

Sending you a PM with some info.

[WED1901]

A tip for the hot weather. Going in the summer can be brutal in a Fla theme park if you not used to Fla heat. Evenings are not that bad but standing in lines at 2-3pm can be rough. We take a small backpack with our own bottled water and refill them through out the day from the water fountains instead of buying them all day long. Another thing we try to do is during the day go on rides that are inside. Most of them will have lines inside with A/C. Then at night do the outside rides. The heat can zap you quickly just drink plenty of water!

I also recommend going to the MK 1st!
Have Fun!:mickey:

[TKSax]

[QUOTE=brad192;1268852
Rain is your friend. I can almost guarantee it will rain while you're there. I can also guarantee the crowds will thin quite a bit when it rains. Grab a poncho & take advantage.:rain: [/QUOTE]

I have used the rain in the summer to my advantage, espically with you staying off site. When we were there in 94 during the summer, we would eat a lite snack around 10:00. It always seemed to rain right around 1:30/2:00 so we would leave the park around 12:30,go grap a quick bite off site then back to part when it was raining. (sometimes we switched parks) By the time we got in the park it had usually stopped raining an we would then hit all the "popular attractions" it worked great! We were also able to use our paking stub and not have to pay parking agian.

[Ricbr]

Since it's your first time at WDW, I strongly recommend that your first ever park be MK. The experience of the very first time you walk under the train station, round the corner, and look down Main Street at Cinderella Castle will stay with you forever!:cloud9:

I dont have much info for you about which days to do what parks....Ill leave that up to other folks. But I do agree with the above quote %100!.

There is nothing like your first memory at Disney World and the first views of the Magic Kingdom truely are worth the extra crowd that you may experiance on your first day.

[Mickey91]

:rain: Rain is definitely your best friend. Just be careful of thunderstorms. We live in the mountains and don't see lightning like we do in FL. It is pretty intense.

All the advice so far is awesome!! I will just add that if you go to MGM and stay for Fantasmic! grab some food at a nearby counter service place and take it to the seating area at least an hour or hour and a half before the show and eat dinner there while you wait. This one fills up pretty quick. Also, a center seat isn't necessarily the best and too close to the front can be wet and hot:flame: .

At the Magic Kingdom, Frontierland is a great place to view parades. The crowds are less and you have a better chance of being up front.:wave:

For the heat, we have found that the water fans are a great way to stay cool. Don't forget the sunblock.

There are so many things you can do to maximize your enjoyment. The main thing is not to let yourself get too stressed. Anything that you don't get to do this trip can go on next trip's list. You will also find that no matter how much advice you get, you will still come away with a whole list of things to do differently or better next time. :minnie:

Hope you have a truly magical vacation!:pixie:
Oh, and one more thing..upon entering the MK, go to the left after you pass under the railroad to City Hall and ask them for "My First Disney Trip" buttons for your family. The cast members will treat you extra special all week!:party:

[TKSax]

All the advice so far is awesome!! I will just add that if you go to MGM and stay for Fantasmic! grab some food at a nearby counter service place and take it to the seating area at least an hour or hour and a half before the show and eat dinner there while you wait. This one fills up pretty quick. Also, a center seat isn't necessarily the best and too close to the front can be wet and hot:flame: .


Defintaly don't miss Fantasmic!, I saw it for the first time in 2004, and woundered why we kept skipping tha show. I seem to remeber that if you made Dinner Reservations at some of the resturants at MGM they have saved seats for Fantasmic.

Also I would defintaly go see the Lion King show at the AK. WE also did no see that until 2004 and also woundered why we had not seen it before.

[imaprincess!]

WELCOME! :rocks: Part of the fun is planning the trip. Head over to the "Vacation Planning" forum and you'll get lots of wonderful advice. Get to the parks early and make a run for your favorite attraction!! :bolt:

[disneyfanforever]

:rain:

Hope you have a truly magical vacation!:pixie:
Oh, and one more thing..upon entering the MK, go to the left after you pass under the railroad to City Hall and ask them for "My First Disney Trip" buttons for your family. The cast members will treat you extra special all week!:party:

THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP!!!!!!! I'M REALLY EXCITED NOW!!!!! :thumbsup: Is this quote above really true about the buttons? I think thats a great idea for us to get those :mickey: my kids would like them!

[Mikey Piano 23]

If you are doing the park hopper option (where u can visit many parks in one day) my suggestion to you is try to hit all 4 of the parks in one day! We always do this on our second to last and and my girlfriend and I think its awesome. It may sound nuts but it is a great way to squeeze in all the attractions you want to do in one day. However I wouldnt suggest doing it with little kids. Have a blast!!! :mickey: