Questions for MUST DO's - 1st trip to DisneyWorld!

[Missybea]

Hello everyone!

My fiance and I are planning a 2 week trip to Florida for us and his 2 kids during their spring break (yes I know it will be crowded, already mentally preparing myself). I have been to WDW twice when I was younger, my fiance and his kids have never been. We want to make this trip the magical trip of a lifetime! They will be 8 and 9 when we go.

1 - We want to do the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique one day (I'm going to buy the Disney princess dresses ahead of time and get the cheapest package) and go to a fancy character dinner. I'm trying to decide between Cinderellas castle or Be Our Guest. What would you say is the best. Food, experience, everything. Or have I missed one that is even better?

2. So far we are planning on staying at the All Star Movies hotel. We are very much on a budget and honestly I would rather spend money on doing experiences rather than upgrading the hotel. Plus I love how it screams DISNEY! Any tips on staying there? Or is it really worth the money to upgrade to a moderate hotel?

3. Is it worth it to rent a car? We are going off site maybe 3 out of the 9 days we are there. I was going to see if Uber is there, but my fiance thinks we should get a car.

4. Any other things that are a must do to make this trip amazing?

Thank you in advance!

[CzepielCrew]

Hi. I am always excited for someone's first trip!!

We just got back last week. Here are my suggestions. Cinderella's Castle was good for the magic, terrible on the food. We were all still hungry when leaving. For the money, we would not do it again. Be our Guest was great food and some magic. The restaurant is beautiful. You get your picture taken with Beast at the end of your meal. We will definitely return.

We have stayed at All Star Movies. Nothing wrong with the All Stars. I would suggest paying extra for a preferred room to avoid a long walk back to your room at night.

If you plan on venturing out, I would go with the car. We just went for 2 weeks and left the property once. We ran into traffic and would have been happier not having our car.

Ohana at the Polynesian is a must do for dinner. The best quality on property in my opinion.

Make use of the boat transportation from resort to Magic Kingdom, especially at night. The views take your breath away.

Have fun!

[Kairi_7378]

While I wouldn't call the dinner fancy, we saw a lot of families with girls in princess dresses enjoying dinner at 1900 Park Faire at the Grand Floridian. The girls loved dancing to the live music in the lobby of the hotel (which I would call fancy.) You might want to consider this as another meal to add to your list. (I wouldn't eat there instead of Be Our Guest.)

My 8 year old loves to eat snacks around the World Showcase at Epcot. If the kids are into Star Wars, you might want to sign them up for the Jedi Training Academy. If they love animals, you might want to book a meal at Animal Kingdom Lodge. In Magic Kingdom, you may want to look at the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom or Pirate virtual games.

We have never felt the need to rent a car at Disney, but I know that some people are not a fan of the WDW transportation.

[Missybea]

I did not know there was a boat transportation! Thank you!

[faline]

I haven't been to Cinderella's Royal Table in quite some time but always loved arriving via the elevator and walking down the staircase after our meal. This place is full of charm and Disney Magic. Food was good when we ate there but that, like I said, was some time ago.

We have gone to Be Our Guest on two occasions (both for dinner). (I actually had reservations for our last trip and canceled them for a different dining experience). Our first experience here was mediocre - both food and service. We were not seated in the main dining hall during this first trip. Our second experience was priceless but not something you can count on. We were in the main dining area but were seated directly in front of the Windows where the snow fell. We ordered different items on this trip which were quite good and our service was much better as well. As an aside, this is a huge dining space - had we been seated elsewhere in this space - I would have have enjoyed it as much. Also, Be Our Guest is not a character meal. The Beast does walk through the dining room from time to time but does not visit tables. Character meals typically feature 3-4 Disney character who rotate through the dining room and visit each table in turn. This is true of Cinderealla's Royal Table.

We once stayed at All Star Music. Basic rooms. Worked for us at the time. If most of your time will be spent in the parks, you are on a budget, and you basically need a place to sleep, this will work fine for your family. Moderates do offer a bit more in the Disney experience (depending upon one's perspective of "more") but you would also need to be spending some time at your resort for this to make a difference.

Cars - personal preference. Uber does come to Disney World. When on site, we generally use Disney transportation. If you only need a car for a couple/few days, I might consider renting for a limited time period. The last time we had a rental, it sat in the parking lot for the entire time we were at Disney World (We started our trip at Vero Beach and it was actually cheaper just to keep the rental than to turn it in after we arrived at Dinsey World.)

Must dos? These are so specific to what's important to you and your family, it's hard to say that my list of must-dos would coincided with your list. I'd suggest you become familiar with what Disney has to offer and create your own must-do list from what is important to each of your family members.

[faline]

I did not know there was a boat transportation! Thank you!

Actually, there is not boat transportation from the resort you mentioned to the Magic Kingdom. Transportation from the resort you mention to all parks will be via bus.

[CynBeth]

We always do a few things offsite and rent a car from Alamo. If you sign up to be an Alamo Insider for free you get a discounted rate.

[joonyer]

Ditto on 'Ohana. Its our favorite family didning experience at WDW. We've eaten there on every trip but one, and we wished we had done it that trip too.

Here's my suggestions for must dos for a first trip to WDW. These are all iconic classic (not necessarily old) attractions or shows. You will probably need FPs for some of these so plan ahead.

At MK:,
Splash Mountain
Pirates of the Caribbean
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Carousel of Progress
Wishes Fireworks

At AK:
Kilimanjaro Safari
Festival of the Lion King

At DHS:
Toy Story Midway Mania
If the kids are up for thrill rides, Tower of Terror and Rock 'n Roller Coaster. And Expedition Everest at AK, although it is pretty "hairy".

More later.

[Pirate Granny]

NEVER O'Hana-- no characters and most of the time, never seated when your reservation time, and food is quirky. If princess' I would suggest the cheaper route, akerhaus in EPCOT, much cheaper than cindys table, and I think outside of eating upstairs in the castle, once you are seated, you wouldn't know the difference. If on a budget, I would forego, you will meet five Princess' and have a princess parade at Akerhaus, just my opinion.

[Fangorn]

This is just my personal preference, but if you want a nice character dinner, seriously consider 1900 Park Fair instead of Cinderella's Royal Table (awful food and horribly over priced, IMHO). Be Our Guest is a lovely environment, and has decent food. But it's not really a character dinner. Beast does make an appearance, but you have to go see him - he doesn't come to you. 1900 Park Fair has Cinderella and Prince Charming, along with the step- sisters and Lady Tremaine. The latter three REALLY get into character and the interaction is great. For a character meal, the price is almost reasonable. Our 8yo granddaughter had a blast. She had been to BBB that morning and had on her Elsa dress. Cinderella and Prince Charming treated her like royalty. It was pretty special.

Again, that's just my take on it.

As for a car, you won't "need" one on Disney Property, but you can rent one on property (Alamo) for the few days you may need one. There are two locations - the Car Care Center by the Magic Kingdom's parking lot, and at the Dolphin Hotel. Alamo will come get you and take you back. Enterprise is also located in one of the hotels in the Disney Springs area. They will also pick you up and drop you off. Chances are that Enterprise will be cheaper. You pay a premium to rent on site.

The most important thing you can do to make the trip special, is to understand that even with 2 weeks, there is no way you can do and see everything. Figure out what is important to each person and make plans to do those things. Fill in other stuff as you can and want, but don't get caught up in trying to do it all, or even doing too much. You'll just frustrate everyone and turn the joyful experience into drudgery. There is so, so much to WDW beyond the rides. Take time to look at the small details that will surround you everywhere. Look everywhere, especially up! People forget to look up and take in the whole scene.

Folks here will gladly answer your questions, so try not to get overwhelmed with it all.

Steve

[Fangorn]

Oh and BTW. Welcome to Intercot.

I just looked at your signature and saw that you're a fellow Portlander. Welcome.

Steve

[Arielfan98]

Hey!

First, congrats on your first trip, hip-hip-hooray! :cheer:
Before I make recommendations, use this trip as a way to experiment. Every family does Disney their own way and they have their own traditions (e.g eating at O'Hana's every trip, going to MK rope drop, etc.) So use this first trip to get a feel for what works for your family for future trips :D

Next, to address your hotel question, I would say ASMovies is fine. I grew up to ASMusic, and all my childhood memories are based off that hotel. In fact, I would feel more out of place staying at a Moderate because ASMusic is my "Disney Home". If you are looking to save money I'd recommend looking at ASMusic or All Star Sports as they tend to be a bit cheaper than Movies.

As far as must-dos, I'd recommend dining at Cinderella's Royal Table the same day your daughter goes to the Bibbity Boppity Boutique. You take a picture with Cinderella and then dine in the castle! They give all the little girls a magical wand and the boys a sword I believe. This is a character meal, so other Disney princesses like Ariel, Aurora, Belle come to your table. The food is served to you and if you're lucky enough you might get a window table to overlook MK.

As for my family's must dos, we LOVE the Turf Club Bar and Grille Restaurant at Saratoga Springs! It is only one dining credit and they serve steak with lobster fondue :tasty: You may find the character meals more enticing, however since you have young kids. A popular character meal is Garden Grill at The Land in EPCOT. It features Chip n' Dale and Mickey. They serve food to you, all-you-can-eat style.
We always get FP+ for Space Mountain, Star Tours, Expedition Everest, Rock N' Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, etc. My family also loves to start our trip at MK. It is what we prefer and a tradition. We also always have to have lunch at Columbia Harbour House, which is one of the best Table Service (TS) places in all of WDW. I'd also recommend The Seasons at The Land and I always get their strawberry shortcake (it's out of this world!)

Best of luck to you and hope you have a wonderful family vacation! :mickey:

[Genie1953]

Crystal Palace at Magic Kingdom for breakfast is always a "must do" for us. We always try to get a reservation for between 8am and 8:30 so we can see Main Street and the castle without a lot of crowds. Plus they have Winnie the Pooh characters three.

Ohana's is also a must do for us. We always do dinner because the food is so wonderful but our next trip we will also be doing breakfast which is a Stitch character meal.

Chef Mickeys is another favorite table service meal with all the Mickey and Friends characters.

We always do counter service meals at Columbia Harbour House in Magic Kingdom and also we do Sunshine Seasons food court at EPCOT. Earl of Sandwich is another great counter service located at Disney Springs.

If you are ever heading from one of the Parks to Disney Springs be sure and take a bus first to one of the Port Orleans resorts and then take the nice relaxing boat ride to Disney springs.

And finally if you haven't done so already then you just have to try the Dole Whips. They can be found at Magic Kingdom, Polynesian Resort, and Animal Kingdom.

Hope you have a great time planning your vacation. I always say the planning is half the fun of a Disney trip.

[PopPhan]

I did not know there was a boat transportation! Thank you!

The boat transportation is from the monorail resorts (Contemporary, Polynesian, or Grand Floridian) to Magic Kingdom. There is also boat transportation to EPCOT and/or Disney's Hollywood Studios from the Boardwalk, Yacht and Beach Clubs, Swan, and Dolphin. Last, but certainly not least, there is boat transportation between Port Orleans: Riverside, Port Orleans: French Quarter and Disney Springs. (I am not sure but there may also be boat transportation between Old Key West and Disney Springs, and Saratoga Springs and Disney Springs...I know the waterway makes it look like there is.)

Since you are staying at an All Stars resort, your only direct route, to or from your resort, will be through the bus system.

[Imalismom]

I wrote this a very very long time ago, but it might be worth taking a look at:
http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?48755-REPRINT-ALL-Stars-to-GF&highlight=

[faline]

Yes, both Old Key West and Saratoga Springs have boat transportation to Disney Springs

[#1donaldfan]

I'd go with 1900 Park Fare .... the food is really good and the character interaction is great !! I've not read through all the replies but for you guys, I'd say keep the resort you chose and use the money spent in upgrading on having fun !!

[ASweetLov]

Welcome to Intercot :mickey:
There is nothing wrong with staying in a value resort, we always stay at Pop Century Resort which is our home away from home and absolutely love it! Fits within our budget, its clean, great food court and love the pools. The rooms are just right for us.
I am a picky eater and the menu to Cinderella's Royal Table and Be Our Guest didn't call out to me. So on my last trip (which was last month) I took my daughter to Disney World for the first time and looking at all the princess character dinners we picked 1900 Park Fare to try and we are glad we did. Food was DELICIOUS!!! and the character interaction was amazing. You get to meet Prince Charming, Cinderella, Lady Tremaine, Drizella and Anastasia.
We are also huge fans of Ohana for dinner, check out their menu.

Good Luck on planning :mickey::mickey3: