kimfirstdisneytrip
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2016
WHO: Me, husband, our two young daughters ages 3, and 6, my parents, and husband's mom.
WHAT: A Princess-centered, multi-generationally considered, meticulously planned, First trip for me, the kids, and my parents. 6 park days, no hoppers.
WHERE: Art of Animation, 2 family suites in Finding Nemo section, top floor, facing Hour glass Lake
WHEN: October 29th - November 5th, 2016 (over Halloween!)
WHY: Take the girls while they are young and still believe it is real, and while the grandparents can still go too. We won't be going every year, probably every 5-10 years.
Dining Plan = Yes!
Memory Maker = Yes!
Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party = No. Didn't want to spend the extra money for those tickets, and knew the girls wouldn't last during the day and at night too. No regrets there. The girls wore princess costumes during the days, and were able to Trick or Treat at our resort.
I started planning and researching a year in advance, in phases. Found DisBoards so helpful, and want to give back now. I had a very detailed itinerary which I will copy into this post, and then simply listed out what we actually did afterwards.
Planning approach/rationale = With two young children, I kept expectations really low, shooting to cover only our 3 fastpasses each day plus a dining reservation, trying to stay very flexible. They love Disney princesses so it was princess-centric. The adults/grandparents loved the nice meals and some rollercoasters/adult rides, but mostly wanted to be with family. Our kids don't take naps anymore, and with the Parks closing early for MNSSHP, we decided NOT to return to resort mid-day for break. We simply went for the day, and when we were done, we left. I tried to build some free-time, break-time, in the afternoons so we could rest somewhere in the Park or ride rides - and we rode rides. We found that we really needed those table service advance dining reservations as our "break," resting in the air conditioning, filling our bellies, and after we ate we were ready to tour again!! Totally rejuvenated.
We ended up averaging 5 miles per day. We brought our Baby Trend double jogging stroller, it was a necessity, although a pain to bring on the bus. The girls were able to rest in it, take naps if needed. If there are more than 3 fastpasses it was because we either split up or added them as we went. We were able to get so much more done than I ever thought we would! We only used Rider Swap once, at Soarin'. We either walked on to everything or waited no more than 10 minutes, with the exception of Merida on Saturday evening we waited 30 because we didn't realize it would be that long. We flew into Orlando, and went into MK that night, that was our only "let's just do whatever rides we want" day.
We LOVED our trip!! Expectations were exceeded! Disney really is magical. Customer service was AMAZING! The crowds were low. 5 out of 6 Park days we did rope-drop and/or Extra Magic morning hours - which I highly recommend. We were able to see and do so much more early in the morning!!
See next post for pre and post itineraries, thanks.
WHAT: A Princess-centered, multi-generationally considered, meticulously planned, First trip for me, the kids, and my parents. 6 park days, no hoppers.
WHERE: Art of Animation, 2 family suites in Finding Nemo section, top floor, facing Hour glass Lake
WHEN: October 29th - November 5th, 2016 (over Halloween!)
WHY: Take the girls while they are young and still believe it is real, and while the grandparents can still go too. We won't be going every year, probably every 5-10 years.
Dining Plan = Yes!
Memory Maker = Yes!
Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party = No. Didn't want to spend the extra money for those tickets, and knew the girls wouldn't last during the day and at night too. No regrets there. The girls wore princess costumes during the days, and were able to Trick or Treat at our resort.
I started planning and researching a year in advance, in phases. Found DisBoards so helpful, and want to give back now. I had a very detailed itinerary which I will copy into this post, and then simply listed out what we actually did afterwards.
Planning approach/rationale = With two young children, I kept expectations really low, shooting to cover only our 3 fastpasses each day plus a dining reservation, trying to stay very flexible. They love Disney princesses so it was princess-centric. The adults/grandparents loved the nice meals and some rollercoasters/adult rides, but mostly wanted to be with family. Our kids don't take naps anymore, and with the Parks closing early for MNSSHP, we decided NOT to return to resort mid-day for break. We simply went for the day, and when we were done, we left. I tried to build some free-time, break-time, in the afternoons so we could rest somewhere in the Park or ride rides - and we rode rides. We found that we really needed those table service advance dining reservations as our "break," resting in the air conditioning, filling our bellies, and after we ate we were ready to tour again!! Totally rejuvenated.
We ended up averaging 5 miles per day. We brought our Baby Trend double jogging stroller, it was a necessity, although a pain to bring on the bus. The girls were able to rest in it, take naps if needed. If there are more than 3 fastpasses it was because we either split up or added them as we went. We were able to get so much more done than I ever thought we would! We only used Rider Swap once, at Soarin'. We either walked on to everything or waited no more than 10 minutes, with the exception of Merida on Saturday evening we waited 30 because we didn't realize it would be that long. We flew into Orlando, and went into MK that night, that was our only "let's just do whatever rides we want" day.
We LOVED our trip!! Expectations were exceeded! Disney really is magical. Customer service was AMAZING! The crowds were low. 5 out of 6 Park days we did rope-drop and/or Extra Magic morning hours - which I highly recommend. We were able to see and do so much more early in the morning!!
See next post for pre and post itineraries, thanks.
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