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I need help!
| Tue, 02-27-2007 - 12:15am |
We are going to Disney in May. I thought I had an idea of what we were doing, but after lurking on here for a day I think, let me rephrase that i know i AM lost. We are going for 7 days, 6 nights we are staying at the All Star Movies and we have a character breakfast booked in the Animal Kingdom. My boys (who are 8 and 3) along with my husband have never been to Disney. I was there 15 years ago. I was young and with my friends family so we had to do everything that they wanted to do. My question is What do i need to do now? Do i make a schedule on days to go to certain parks? I am just really confused! Plus with the age difference in my boys is that going to effect us. I don't what us to be separted for the whole vacation. What do you think some of things we have to see or do? Do you think i am over thinking this? THANKS for the help!!

Hi there!
No need to panic. :) Everyone likes to schedule a different way and to a certain degree. We are not much of a schedule family - we don't even like to schedule meals so much. Maybe just one during the trip, like you've mentioned. Other families enjoy having much more of a schedule, and that's good, too.
I like to make myself a weekly spreadsheet that shows each park's opening and closing times as well as any "specials" that day (fireworks, parades, etc.). I also note on the spreadsheet if it's an extra magic hours day. Looking at this, we make a tentative plan for the week....knowing we can change if necessary.
We really don't split up all that much, even with age differences. When we do, we have our cell phones handy so it's easy to meet up again.
Everyone will have different "must dos".....but I think Fantasmic at MGM is not to be missed. We all love that show.
You will get plenty of great advice here. Have a wonderful trip!
Laurie in OH, mom to
Alex, 12 years old
Julianne and Leah, 10.5 years old
Audrey, 3 years old
WDW visits in 1973, 1986, 1987, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006!
LAURIE IN OH, Mom to:
Alex, 1
Hi Molly-I'm a newbie to Disney myself and wanted to throw out my perspective since we're in a similar boat.
What I like to do is make a spread sheet with the park hours, parades, EMH and such. Then pick the days that I think we are most likely to visit each park. I split the day into morning and evening sessions. I try to schedule a morning and an evening at each park with more time in MK and Epcot. We only have 2 ADR's for our upcoming trip which allows us to be more flexible. I admit that I spend a bit of time "planning" each day, but I also realize that my itinerary is just a guide and that we probably won't stick to it. Our last trip conincided with a tropical storm. So, I shuffled my park days around to accomodate. I agree with the other posters that it is really helpful to make of list of attractions that you don't want to miss.
I was like you in that I worried about us splitting up on our "family" vacation. But, we did it some and it worked out very well. I plan on doing it some more for our next trip. I want to take my oldest DS on some rides with just me and him since I don't get as much one on one time with him as I do my youngest. Your 8 year old will likely want to ride things that your 3 year old won't be able to. If you don't want to split up, you could aalways do the baby/child swap which should allow you to stick together more.
I hope that helps! Have a great time!
Charis
Hi! I might not be the best one to talk to about overplanning, because I feel that you can't overplan a Disney trip....LOL
My first thought for you is whether or not you are on the Disney Dining Plan. If you are, you will want to make ADR's (Disney-speak for reservations) as soon as possible for your sit-down meals. Rumor has it that it is nearly impossible to just walk in to a sit-down (table service) restaurant these days, without a reservation. Even if you aren't on the Disney Dining Plan, you may want to make a few more ADR's, otherwise you may be forced to eat nothing but counter service meals for the length of your trip.
What I usually do is figure out what restaurants we want to eat at (we enjoy one table service a day, usually dinner, whether or not we are on the dining plan) by looking at the menus on www.allearsnet.com . After we've figured out where we want to have dinner, I make the ADR's and then plan my park days around those meals. I don't plan the park days right down to what hour we will ride Buzz Lightyear, but I do make a plan of action of what park on what day. This also eliminates waking up in the morning and looking at each other and saying "Hmmmm. Where do you want to go today?". We go to bed saying "Yay, we're going to Epcot tomorrow!" or whatever.
As far as attractions that will be exciting to both of your kids, the Magic Kingdom is probably going to be your best bet for doing everything together. When you do encounter rides that your 3 year old isn't tall enough for, or won't enjoy, you can use the baby swap option. The cast members at the ride will give you a pass to go up to the exit and wait for your party there. When your party rides the ride, they get off at the exit, you hand over the baby to your family, and then the Cast Members put you on the next ride. We used this alot when my youngest was smaller...my kids are 4 years apart. It's really easy and convenient! And better, imho, than splitting up all the time.
We are going in May too...can't wait! We'll be staying at Pop from the 12-19. We stayed at All Star Movies (ASMo) on our last trip and LOVED it!! It's a fun resort, and I think your kids will like all of the giant icons!!
Have fun!
Marcy
Can I ask is your name really Charis? My friend has a 10 year old named Charis!
Amy
Care iss. my DH claims he went to highschool with a Charis but I never have belived him maybe I should, LOL.
Amy
EMH is Extra Magic Hours
Every day (I think? most days anyway) one of the parks opens an hour early or stays open up to 3 hours late at night for WDW resort guests only. Since you're staying at ASMovies, you will qualify. You have to show your resort id and you'll get a wristband so they CMs know you're allowed to be there.
Steph