Whats the best way for a First Timer

[rtm4slm]

This is my first time taking my family to DW
I have one daughter 7 & son 5. My wife & I have been to DW in 92 But have not been back since. Whats the best way to plan for our family
to have a good time? We are going 4/29 thru 5/6 staying at CB. Thanks for any suggestions.

[joonyer]

Read these boards as much as you can before you go, and also a good WDW guide book. The more you know the better prepared you will be and even more important, you won't have unrealistic expectations, so you won't end up feeling disappointed by them. I think that happens to a lot of first timers. Decide what you think your family will enjoy the most and don't worry about trying to do/see everything all on the first day. Take a deep breath every so often and soak up the magic. Being there a week, you will have time to experience most of the attractions, but not every nook and cranny of WDW. Learn how to use the FastPass system to your best advantage.
And finally, my special tip: ride Splash Mountain at least once after dark, preferably during Wishes (Magic Kingdom fireworks show). We did that (by accident) on our first trip and it was such a magical experience we've done it on every trip since as a family tradition. It's pure "Disney magic" seeing the fireworks bursting over the Cinderella's castle as you ride what we think is the most magical and fun attraction in WDW. We take another night to view Wishes from Main Street to get the full effect of the fireworks.

[Tigerinvestigator]

You are on the right track already! Great week to go and the crowds should be great. Use this sight in your planning and get a good guide. Don't try to do everything, but concentrate on the things you want to do most. Leave plenty of time to relax and enjoy your vacation.

My tip: Make sure you eat at the Garden Grill- best food and one on one time with Mickey!:thumbsup:

[GrumpyFan]

First off,
:welcome:

to Intercot! And, congratulations on your trip.

I would definitely recommend a guide book, and keep reading the boards here. There are lots of friendly and knowledgeable folks here to help with your questions.

Check out this post (http://intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=151053) for links and a review of the major guidebooks.

[RBrooksC]

I would suggest getting the Passporter. My wife and I love using it. There may be other guides that are better are certain things than the Passporter but I think it would help you and planning your trip and having a basic understanding on what you want to do before you get there.

[GrumpyFan]

I would suggest getting the Passporter. My wife and I love using it. There may be other guides that are better are certain things than the Passporter but I think it would help you and planning your trip and having a basic understanding on what you want to do before you get there.

D'oh! Can't believe I forgot about The Passporter!

Agreed, the Passporter is a great guidebook that wasn't on the previously posted list (not sure why). My wife likes to do a lot of the planning, and it's got lots of great places to keep your confirmations and times which she really likes.

Make sure to check the Travel Guides & Books page (http://intercot.com/shop/books/default.asp) here on Intercot.

[MOJoe]

My advice, after you do some homework, like reading some posts here and getting a guide book, is to make a game plan. You don't need to schedule every hour of the day, but it will help a great deal to have a plan. You should know what parks you plan to start your day, what attractions and character greetings you would like to see, and have at least one sit down meal scheduled. And your children, as young as they are, need to have some say too. That gives them a sense of teamwork and something to look forward to.
If you don't have a plan, the defacto plan becomes - do everything! Which is totally unrealistic. So it really helps to focus on a few important things, giving you a sense of accomplishment when you have finished. Many people are frustrated on a Disney trip, because they either failed to plan or had unrealistic goals.
So plan....to have a great time! :mickey:

[jcvalenti]

The guidebooks are absolutely invaluable ... but there is just as good (if not better) tips on this site.

If I were to suggest just 5 tips for everyone visiting WDW, I would offer as follows (in descending order of importance):

1. Get to the parks BEFORE they open. Especially in the summer, you'll see more of the Magic Kingdom (and all the others) in the first two hours than the next 10, as long as you're there at the rope drop.

2. Don't try to do or see everything. A trip (especially with kids) is draining enough ... when you need a break, take it and don't worry.

3. Have dining reservations for every day - either late lunch or dinner. During the summer, getting food is a chore. Even if you end up cancelling a reservation because you just aren't hungry, make sure you have it just in case.

4. Avoid the magic hours. If it's EMH at MK in the am, make sure you're at AK, DHS or Epcot.

5. Break your day up. With kids that age, they'll get tired and irritable. Hit the mark from morning until noon, return back to the hotel for some swimming or napping, and then head back around 3 or 4 pm for dinner and a show.

Have fun !

[FaithTrustPixieDust]

5 and 7 are FABULOUS ages for your kids to go to DisneyWorld! In my opinion, 5 is truly the magic number because he should be tall enough to ride just about everything (44 inches is the key), but still young enough to truly believe in the magic.

My suggestions:
*Book a few character meals . . .especially princess meals for your daughter if she's not "over that phase" yet.
*Once you've checked out the guide books that others have already suggested, pick out your top couple of rides that you want to do in each park. When you enter the park, send a grown up to Ride #1 with all your park tickets to nab fastpasses. The rest of the fam proceed to Ride #2, and the other grown up will double back and meet you there. Once you've done your top two rides, you'll take the pressure off the rest of your day . . . . and you can wander and figure it out as you go.
*Let WDW know it's your kids' first trip! They have "1st Trip" buttons or stickers for them to wear.
And most of all . . . .
*Talk to Cast Members throughout your trip. (They may even approach you when they see the "1st Trip" stickers you plaster all over the children.) Tell them what rides you've done so far, and ask their suggestions. They love to help and will often find little ways of making your visit more magical.:mickey:

[c&d]

I have to agree with what others have said. Take your time, I know it will be hard because you'll want to do everything.

You're children are at the age where they will probably be really really excited when the arrive. So I suggest that as a family before you leave take a look at each park and see what things you really want to do (rides, shows, dining) and make a list. Definitely go with some sort of plan even if you don't stick to it religiously. That way if you don't get to do everything during that visit you'll remember what you wanted to do if you go back to that park. I know this will sound odd considering what I just said but leave time in the parks to just soak in the magic.

Take time during the day to go back to your resort and relax. That down time helps keep everyone sane (at least in my family). :D

Use photopass. I love that I now have pictures of all of us at WDW.

And finally, :welcome:

[GoofyforFun]

I agree, read the posts as much as you can and if you have a similar thought. Ask more ?
There are many tips you can use, Try this.http://allears.net/pl/tips.htm
Simple tips that some use.. Go to MK and go straight back to Dumbo ride it twice and start from there .
For some special things to do :
Nemo show, Festival of the Lion, Fantasmic night show..use the parades to relax a little
If your a planner plan ahead. What park , what day, where do you want to eat. See what the kids want to enjoy from the websites. Planning is also part of the fun ( for Some)!

[DawsonAR]

Welcome! There is a lot of good advice you can get from this board. I think one of the most important things you can do is actually follow a lot of the advice. I can't tell you how many times people have asked advice, then not followed some of it and then let me know later how sorry they were. There is so much combined experience on here and all of us have already made mistakes so you don't have too.....we are all here to help each other! Most of all ENJOY! :number1:

[the other micki]

Our upcoming trips will overlap! We'll be there April 26 - May 3. My advice is to make dining ressies now, if you haven't already. Decide which park(s) you'll be in each day (we don't do EMH), but don't micromanage the trip too much. Let each family member pick 2 or 3 "must-do's" for each park and let the rest be lagniappe.

As far as taking breaks in the afternoon, when my boys were 3 and 5, we took them back to the room to rest on 2 days of our trip, but all they did was want to jump on the bed or go to the resort playground. You know your kids best. I would leave plenty of time for swimming, though. Kids love it!

Have a great trip!!!

[Turtle Dude]

Hi rtm4slm. Our family just returned from a week long trip. We have one six year old. My first suggestion is to use the Fastpass(es) to their full potential. We would go straight to the main attraction for each park when it opened and get a fastpass. Then we could go to other attractions in the same area (sometimes 3-4 rides) before returning to use our fastpass. Worked for us even better than I expected.

I highly recommend the "2009 Birnbaum's for Kids" parks guide. My sister, Melanears, suggested this one for our son. Well...even though I also brought along the 2009 Passporters Guide we stuck with the Kid's Guide. It was all about him on our first trip after all. And he loved to look through the book. Passporter's did help us with dining.

On a side note: Our little one loves the "I Spy" books. The Birnbaums for Kids guide tells you where to look for hidden Mickeys. In other words, it will tell you a Mickey outline is in the clouds on a certain ride, etc... Lotsa fun!

Have fun planning as well. You're in for a treat.

[mrsgaribaldi]

I agree about a guidebook.:thumbsup:
I also say be prepared to take breaks, remember with kids you can't do everything, they need to rest. (just like my hubby) ;)

:welcome:to Intercot :wave:

[DANAM]

Love the guide books unofficial and passporter I buy them for every trip. We went the same week as you for our first trip and the weather was perfect not to hot. With kids those ages we normally head out very earlier take a break mid day and head out until late at night. It works good for us. I also read the boards religiously esp. the weeks before our trip. Try to get a gameplan together. I'm very **** so I have it planned out minute by minute with alternatives but you don't have to get that crazy (if you don't want to). I suggest a little more than a list of what you want to do. The unofficial guide has touring plans in the back and also the passporter tells you how long it takes to go from one place to the other. Between those two books it's easy to get something together. Have a great trip!!!!!

[Drachengeist]

Depending on what the actual weather is down there on your trip, keep this tidbit in mind.

A lot of people are not prepared for Florida humidity and temps, even during the temparate seasons. Hot kids are not the stuff dream vacations are made of.

Of all the parks Epcot has the most water to mediate the hot temps in the middle of the day. Most of the queues for the rides are also in the cool.

If you have a park hopper pass and dont want to leave the parks for a swimmin hole. Mid-day is Epcot time. The sedate rides in future world give time to get temps normalized and legs a bit rested. Even the exciting ones let you cool down in line.