Where should I start reading/touring for these interests?

[Skipadeedoodaa]

If you have an Elsa-loving preschooler who likes dress up and make-believe, you'll probably want to check out _______.
If you have an adventure-seeking coaster-loving tall youth who can only be in the park about 3 hours at a time, you might spend a good bulk of that time in _______.
If you have a geeky young adult who likes study and excitement but can't handle fast-paced, tight crowds, or fright, that would probably start you off in _______.

I'm just trying to figure out where to start reading for an as-yet unplanned trip. My husband said he thought Magic Kingdom for the preschooler but I saw Elsa as the image for Epcot. I'm thinking the young adult might want to go on a tour first. We have no clue. I would assume there's a little something for everyone in each park but I thought it best to just ask where I should start reading to get things started. Thanks for the help!

 

[Best Aunt]

I think most of the tours are for people who have been to the parks many times and want to do so something different. Is this the first trip for your group? I would not do a tour on a first trip. Also there are minimum ages for most of the tours.

 

[Skipadeedoodaa]

I think most of the tours are for people who have been to the parks many times and want to do so something different. Is this the first trip for your group? I would not do a tour on a first trip. Also there are minimum ages for most of the tours.

Very helpful! Thank you! The teen is a legal adult who went to Disneyland before and was excited by the tour possibility, finding things like museums, history tours, etc generally more interesting than amusement parks. I thought it would be a good orientation and private adult thing away from siblings.

It is a first, and could easily be only, trip in childhood for the younger ones depending on if we go and how it goes. And because of disabilities, we'd need to really have priorities carefully chosen. I don't even know where to start so thought these three would be a good jumping off point. Do you have alternative suggestions?

 

[DisLiss]

It sounds to me that you need to start with your time restriction and work around that first. Because given the wait times for some things, the 3 hour time frame may dictate what you can and cannot do to some extent. And then I feel like what might be helpful rather than for me to try to give you specific things to try would be to give you a few things to think about as you go into your planning phase.

So you can be in the park 3 hours at a time. Will you be driving your own car or renting? Because while there is free transportation to and from the parks it can take awhile, and I don't know if that travel time would need to be included in the 3 hours. The buses can be pretty crowded sometimes...especially first thing in the morning and late at night. If perhaps a monorail or Skyliner ride might be better for your family, then you can look into resorts that offer those choices.

I would think about how many times you'd be willing to go to a park in any given day. If you're at a park from 9-noon, and then you go back to your resort for a few hours to calm down and recharge, would you want to go back from say 6-9 at night?

Will you want to use some of those 3 hours eating meals in the park, or would it be better for you to eat meals at restaurants/food courts at the resort; or would you be going for an accommodation that gives you a kitchen to prepare your own meals?

If you do think that you'll go to parks more than once a day, would you consider paying a bit more for park hopper tickets so that you can go to 2 different parks each day? One of the reasons we like Hoppers ourselves is the ability to try to avoid the largest crowds.

Are you willing to split your group sometimes? While 2 of you are off doing a tour at, for instance, EPCOT, then the other 3 can go to the Frozen ride, and that will help you fit in more things in your given window of time. Or, would you be willing to have one adult at the resort with the younger kids taking a break while the other goes back with the teen for a tour? That could help the teen see tours without it cutting into your park time and without worries about age requirements.

My only immediate thoughts on specifics are:

EPCOT definitely still has some educational elements for those looking for them, yet more and more for the littlest guest, too. And I know they have 1 shorter tour, the Behind The Seeds tour at the Land pavilion. Depending on how big of a thrill your adventurous child is looking for, all 4 parks do offer some degree of thrill ride, including EPCOT.

While it might not be a tip many folks would like, with a time restriction and someone who dislikes crowds, I'd perhaps opt out of the most popular lands/attractions, or at least not try for all of them. They can really eat up time and they will obviously have the biggest crowds. I'd also research crowd levels during different times of years and see if any of the lower crowd times would work for your family.

Best of luck!!

 

[hiroMYhero]

DISboards-wise, check the FP FAQ to see the Priorities section for most popular rides where using a FP will save you time especially for Frozen Ever After in Epcot. You won’t need a FP for the Frozen Sing Along in DHS.

The Families Board and the DISabilities Board will give you more info to help with time challenges.

A planning guidebook such as My First Visit or the Unofficial Guide to WDW will give you more specifics on how to plan out your day. You can check Amazon to read reviews on the guidebooks before you purchase one.

Good luck in planning! Don’t hesitate to post questions on the various boards.

 

[Skipadeedoodaa]

It sounds to me that you need to start with your time restriction and work around that first. Because given the wait times for some things, the 3 hour time frame may dictate what you can and cannot do to some extent. And then I feel like what might be helpful rather than for me to try to give you specific things to try would be to give you a few things to think about as you go into your planning phase.

So you can be in the park 3 hours at a time. Will you be driving your own car or renting? Because while there is free transportation to and from the parks it can take awhile, and I don't know if that travel time would need to be included in the 3 hours. The buses can be pretty crowded sometimes...especially first thing in the morning and late at night. If perhaps a monorail or Skyliner ride might be better for your family, then you can look into resorts that offer those choices.

On property somewhere (we're figuring out accessibility to cost, etc), and we have our own vehicle or can use Disney transport or the Minnie Van (I think it is called). I figured about 4 hours out at a time so subtracted transportation to be 3 hours roughly in the park.

I would think about how many times you'd be willing to go to a park in any given day. If you're at a park from 9-noon, and then you go back to your resort for a few hours to calm down and recharge, would you want to go back from say 6-9 at night?

I'm really conflicted on this. It depends how much support we hire. Do I take 2 kids and do an early morning, come back and rest, then take 2 for an evening? I have no clue. I imagine it would look something like early morning and early evening day, split day with dad out in morning and mom out in evening, down day not in the parks, early morning and early evening day, afternoon and night all togetherin the park, down day not in the parks, lots of support for a long day with plenty of trading-off to get anything we'd missed or loved. I don't know--that's a starting guess.

Will you want to use some of those 3 hours eating meals in the park, or would it be better for you to eat meals at restaurants/food courts at the resort; or would you be going for an accommodation that gives you a kitchen to prepare your own meals?

My husband would like to bring our camper trailer and stay at Fort Wilderness with little park-bought food. Ages ago when I took the older two to Disneyland, I had a fridge put in the room (for medical need) and ordered grocery delivery, which worked very well. I imagine almost all meals would be homemade like that but a character meal for the preschooler would be an exception.

If you do think that you'll go to parks more than once a day, would you consider paying a bit more for park hopper tickets so that you can go to 2 different parks each day? One of the reasons we like Hoppers ourselves is the ability to try to avoid the largest crowds.

I hadn't considered the crowds! We are slow-moving and time-limited so assumed we can't easily "hop" but would purchase them if it would be a net gain.

Are you willing to split your group sometimes? While 2 of you are off doing a tour at, for instance, EPCOT, then the other 3 can go to the Frozen ride, and that will help you fit in more things in your given window of time. Or, would you be willing to have one adult at the resort with the younger kids taking a break while the other goes back with the teen for a tour? That could help the teen see tours without it cutting into your park time and without worries about age requirements.

Yes, we will split up where intuitive. And the teen can/will occasionally go alone to identified activities. However, one parent being active means the other has to be pretty sedate or have hired help to be able to meet the other kids' needs so what is intuitive for splitting up is very different from average for us.

My only immediate thoughts on specifics are:

EPCOT definitely still has some educational elements for those looking for them, yet more and more for the littlest guest, too. And I know they have 1 shorter tour, the Behind The Seeds tour at the Land pavilion. Depending on how big of a thrill your adventurous child is looking for, all 4 parks do offer some degree of thrill ride, including EPCOT.

While it might not be a tip many folks would like, with a time restriction and someone who dislikes crowds, I'd perhaps opt out of the most popular lands/attractions, or at least not try for all of them. They can really eat up time and they will obviously have the biggest crowds. I'd also research crowd levels during different times of years and see if any of the lower crowd times would work for your family.

Best of luck!!

My husband thought we might focus only on The Magic Kingdom for this reason but I'm concerned it might not be the best choice for those priorities (1: Elsa/Princes and Princesses, 2: any rides but especially thrill, 3: educational, historical, and shows with some rides). Which park(s) would you recommend?

 

[DisLiss]

Well, for the most part, the Magic Kingdom is the home of all thing Princess related, *but*, and I know someone will jump in and correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the only actual meet & greet with Elsa & Anna is in Norway at EPCOT.

Plus a few other princesses have meet & greets in EPCOT, too. Jasmine, Mulan, and perhaps Snow White? Again, I'm not up on the princesses very much, but I'm sure others here will let us know the most up to date Princess info.


(Also, bear in mind that Magic Kingdom can be very busy and Main Street can be a bit crazy during parades, so if you are going to stay a limited time, be sure to time your coming and going as not to be in main Street during the parade time or while people are staking their claim on spots to sit/stand beforehand. )

 

[DisLiss]

I hadn't considered the crowds! We are slow-moving and time-limited so assumed we can't easily "hop" but would purchase them if it would be a net gain.

The ways Hoppers can help you are if you think you might be taking advantage of extra hours in the morning or if you are there during a time when a park is closing early for a hard ticket event. They allow you to go to a less crowded park in the morning and avoid that same park in the evening if it is more crowded later or if it is closing early. But that will only be helpful to you IF you think you'll go to the parks more than once a day and if one of those other situations is involved. If you are only going to go out to a park once a day, then there is no point in having Hoppers at all.

 

[dawnnikol]

Well, for the most part, the Magic Kingdom is the home of all thing Princess related, *but*, and I know someone will jump in and correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the only actual meet & greet with Elsa & Anna is in Norway at EPCOT.

Exactly correct! EPCOT is the only meet and greet, it's right outside of their ride. We had originally planned to go to MK to meet them, back when they were in the castle, but they were moved a few months before our trip. It turned out for the best though because we were going to originally skip EPCOT all together and it turned out to be a favorite park. I would highly recommend it for Elsa/Anna/Frozen lovers and any other princess lovers. I'd also highly recommend it for anyone else who likes anything ever.

I, literally, started by reading some of the Unofficial Guide to Disney World books. You should also have your family members review the video Disney provides as an overview of the parks. It's not long and even a pre-schooler can sit through it. You'll get a good grasp on where you might want to go from there I think without being too overwhelmed.

 

[Skipadeedoodaa]

The ways Hoppers can help you are if you think you might be taking advantage of extra hours in the morning or if you are there during a time when a park is closing early for a hard ticket event.

Very good to know! Thanks!

Well, for the most part, the Magic Kingdom is the home of all thing Princess related, *but*, and I know someone will jump in and correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the only actual meet & greet with Elsa & Anna is in Norway at EPCOT.

Plus a few other princesses have meet & greets in EPCOT, too. Jasmine, Mulan, and perhaps Snow White? Again, I'm not up on the princesses very much, but I'm sure others here will let us know the most up to date Princess info.


(Also, bear in mind that Magic Kingdom can be very busy and Main Street can be a bit crazy during parades, so if you are going to stay a limited time, be sure to time your coming and going as not to be in main Street during the parade time or while people are staking their claim on spots to sit/stand beforehand. )

Ahhhh! Thank you! Then we definitely have to do Epcot. Is there a character meal with Elsa? I just did a search for where to find the princes and they seem to be quite elusive based on the page I saw of a woman tracking them down around the world. It said two can be found in highly competitive dining places. This feels overwhelming to coordinate.

Exactly correct! EPCOT is the only meet and greet, it's right outside of their ride. We had originally planned to go to MK to meet them, back when they were in the castle, but they were moved a few months before our trip. It turned out for the best though because we were going to originally skip EPCOT all together and it turned out to be a favorite park. I would highly recommend it for Elsa/Anna/Frozen lovers and any other princess lovers. I'd also highly recommend it for anyone else who likes anything ever.

I, literally, started by reading some of the Unofficial Guide to Disney World books. You should also have your family members review the video Disney provides as an overview of the parks. It's not long and even a pre-schooler can sit through it. You'll get a good grasp on where you might want to go from there I think without being too overwhelmed.

Thank you! Epcot has now become our must-see thanks to Elsa's exclusive presence. ❄❄ ❄❄ I'll buy the Unofficial Guide to Disney World for my husband now! Is the video online or requested?

 

[DisLiss]

Is there a character meal with Elsa?

I don't believe so. There are other princesses at the character meal in Norway, but I don't think Elsa is included.

 

[Callist]

I hear there's a museum type exhibit in Morroco in EPCOT. The countries can definitely be educational, especially if you look up things about each country ahead of time, try to identify architecture, artwork, etc.

 

[elaine amj]

One good place to start is with a list of each attraction in each park.

I started by looking at each park one by one. Then I wrote down a list of what I thought my family would particularly like in each park. (There are awesome things in all 4 parks)

Then I sat down and looked at the list as a whole and narrowed down the absolute must dos and the "would be nice to do".

As a newbie, this gave me a very good starting point as to the major attractions and what my family would like.

Alternatively, what a PP suggested with watching a planning video is a great idea. This is a good one:

When I was planning a trip for a newbie friend, I got his whole famiky to sit down to watch it with me. Paying close attention to each person's reactions really told me a lot about what they would like/dislike.

 

[Timhags]

EPCOT for frozen related for the youngest but mk could work as well, princesses and all plus the awe of it.


All the mountains in mk for the middle one, fast pass selections are the key with the time frame

For the oldest a backstage tour at mk while everyone is riding meeting characters but also sounds like he/she might enjoy just walking around and experiencing world showcase in EPCOT.

Staying on site will help with logistics

 

[fhtpdw20]

Here is a list of tours I have taken for Epcot. Just a word of warning for the oldest, some tour there are not too many people, others you can be split into groups of about 12-15 people if it is a popular tour.

Future World: History of bringing Epcot to life, facts and ride on Spaceship Earth, Fountain of Nations history, significance of moon outside of Mission Space, view of aquarium at Coral Reef before opening for lunch, history of the Land building, since there was just 4 people total on our tour we got a bonus look at how they wash all the 3D glasses from all over WDW, history of Imagination building and Figment, information on monorail, Wonders of Life building and Odyssey building, visit to one of the 3 VIP lounges, backstage and ride on Test Track then finishing the tour backstage at Cast Members Services.

Destinations: Picks up where Future World left off with Fountains of Nations history, stop and history of each country of World Showcase (I never realized how much artwork is on display for each country), history of and backstage view of Illuminations barges and globe, and lunch at Rose and Crown.

Behind the Seeds tour is short and for all ages. You become part of the Living with the Land ride as you learn about aqua and hydroponic gardening, the variety of plants within the area and how everything in the ride is used by Epcot restaurants.

The Royal Tea Tour was another short but very informative tour of the tea cup planters in the garden during Flower/Garden Festival, a history of the Twinnings Tea Company and ends with tea and scones at Rose and Crown.

I can recommend the Marceline to Magic Kingdom tour as a shorter tour. You will get a history of Main St that reflects Walt's life growing up that starts at the train station progresses down Main St. The best part of the tour is stories in the Haunted Mansion que, a ride on and then going under the ride to see how it functions while the ride operates. We took a break at Tangled area and finished the tour with the history and ride on Carousel of Progress.

The Keys to the Kingdom is also a good tour relating a history of Disneyland which inspired WDW with rides on Jungle Cruise and Haunted Mansion. We went backstage to the parade barns, trash collection area, and ending with the utilidors,

 

[dawnnikol]

I'll buy the Unofficial Guide to Disney World for my husband now! Is the video online or requested?

You should just borrow the 2019 from your local library (if they have it), because the 2020 will be out in August-ish and will surely have new info.

The video used to be mailed to you (I got mine in 2017), however when I searched for it, I only found the online thing through their website: Here! Enjoy.

 

[YesterDark]

I think every park has something to offer. Depends on where you stay when developing a touring plan.

 

[Best Aunt]

I think you need to approach this as general blocks of time, then fill in the specifics. Your problem is that you have 3 kids with very different interests/tolerances.

Are any of them willing to spend time doing what someone else wants? If the middle one can only spend 3 hours in the park at a time, are you going to use any of those three hours to do something which only the little one wants to do? Conversely, what are you going to do with the little one and the oldest one while taking the middle one on a roller coaster? How much time is the oldest one going to be off on their own?

For example:
Day 1:
Go to Animal Kingdom park.
Adult # 1 takes middle child on thrill rides from 9:00 am to noon.
Adult # 2 takes youngest child to meet characters and do easier rides from 9:00 am to noon.
Oldest child can accompany adult # 2 or go off on their own from 9:00 am to noon.
You can have a tour booked for oldest child during this time slot. (Although at this particular park, there are tons of educational opportunities just walking around, if this person likes animals.)
At noon, everbody heads to a sit-down restaurant inside the park for which you have a reservation.
Or, everybody meets up at a spot inside the park near the exit and then you head over to a nearby hotel for lunch.
After the meal: if eating at a hotel, does anybody want to explore the hotel? Animal Kingdom Lodge has things to see and do, for example. If not:
Adult # 1 takes middle child back to your own hotel.
Adult # 2 takes youngest child back to the park or back to your hotel, depending on energy level.
Oldest child accompanies adult # 1 or adult # 2.

After you decide which park for each day, you can read up on rides and tours and fill in specifics. You also can read up on restaurants in nearby hotels.

If you have a limited number of days, focus on Epcot. Princesses for the youngest kid, thrill rides for the middle kid, educational stuff for the oldest kid.

AllEars.net has menus for all of the restaurants.

 

[Dug720]

Well, for the most part, the Magic Kingdom is the home of all thing Princess related, *but*, and I know someone will jump in and correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the only actual meet & greet with Elsa & Anna is in Norway at EPCOT.

Plus a few other princesses have meet & greets in EPCOT, too. Jasmine, Mulan, and perhaps Snow White? Again, I'm not up on the princesses very much, but I'm sure others here will let us know the most up to date Princess info.


(Also, bear in mind that Magic Kingdom can be very busy and Main Street can be a bit crazy during parades, so if you are going to stay a limited time, be sure to time your coming and going as not to be in main Street during the parade time or while people are staking their claim on spots to sit/stand beforehand. )

Yes, Anna and Elsa only meet in Epcot. (Though OP they are hardly the “image of Epcot” - Spaceship Earth is the icon and Figment is for all intents and purposes the mascot.)

 

[DisLiss]

I would just be sure that you have the medical logistics figured out before you start talking up the planning too much with the kids, just in case things don't work out as you hope, kwim? I saw your other post about the logistics of this trip for your family, and it indicated a much higher level of medical needs than I realized when reading the original post in this thread. (I didn't originally even realize that both posts were about the same family, or I would have probably answered differently in some of my posts, such as the ones about splitting up and leaving one adult with most of the kids, for instance.)