Disney World - Edmond,OK

I have never been, but I know of a family that goes every year! Here is a link where you can find a list of things to read about nearly anything you want to know: http://www.couponingtodisney.com/disney-world-training/ It has everything from where to stay, dining plan ot not, transportation, park hopper option, places in the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Epcot! (There is also great info on how to save to go!)

Have a fantastic time!

Best advice I ever received: Get to the parks first thing in the morning, as soon as they open. Come back to the hotel for lunch, a swim, a nap, and go back to the park for the remainder of the day. If you stay all day, you will be exhausted and each day you will just get more tired. For Animal Kingdom, getting there first thing is a must. The animals go inside as the day gets hotter.

Not to make you paranoid, but keep eyes on your children. It is super easy for someone to wander off because there are so many cool things to look at.

Have a great time and take lots of pictures!

We went in May and had so much fun! My kids were 5,3, and 1. So you guys should be able to do a little more and possibly hit up some of the night time parades. I wanted to do Disney as efficiently and cheaply as possible.
As someone already mentioned, unless you are staying on a Disney property there is NO way you want to walk. We walked from the close parking spot to the parks and that alone was a .5 mi walk. So be prepared to pay $10 a day or so for parking. Or if you are on property definitely use the shuttles. Also, we stayed off property extremely close to the parks, and our hotel had a shuttle from the hotel to one of the parks. From there you could use the Disney transportation. So check the times that the hotel would offer a shuttle. Ours only came once in the morning (it left and hour after the parks opened) and two different times it came back at night (6 pm and 10pm), which is why we chose to drive. Also you can leave and enter the park as many times as you want. So if you need to leave and come back it's not big deal. You don't have to pay any more parking and the park lets you go in and out of that same park all day.
We also did the one park a day thing. We did 2 days at Magic Kingdom and 1 at Animal Kingdom. I think you can definitely do one a day and have fun. If your boys want to do Dumbo go the minute the park opens! Otherwise it is usually a 1+ hour wait throughout the day. The animal safari ride in AK is also one you want to hit up first thing. It's at the back of the park, but it's worth it. My kids loved seeing all the animals so we went and got fast passes, then rode it and went straight back on it again using the fast pass. Make sure to use the fast pass! The fast pass allows you to go to a ride, insert your park ticket and then receive a mini paper ticket for that ride. It will have a time frame in which to come back to the ride and you get to cut in line! Each ticket can have one pass per ride per hour. So you can go get 5 fast passes for 5 different rides in one hour. Then after you ride the ride get another fast pass and you can come back. It was a great way to avoid lines and to make sure we got on some of the fun rides (Thunder railroad, Space Mountain, Everest, rapids, splash mountain, safari, ect.) . If the ride doesn't have a line I would hit it up a few times, just because it takes up some time and I like avoiding lines.
To me the most surprising and money saving thing is, you can bring coolers into the park! Nothing huge and with wheels, but a small cooler. We ate PB&Js for lunch everyday that we brought and and were able to keep snacks in our backpack. We also brought some thermos/water bottles, so we didn't have to pay for water. We just filled them up from the fountain or using the sinks. We also filled them with mostly ice at our hotel so our water was cool all day no matter how much we added. This was a HUGE money saver since food at the parks is super expensive. They check bags at the park entrances and make sure you don't have any glass containers.
I know you are going in the Fall but you didn't say when. We live in FL and it can still be hot in Oct. I would go to Wal Mart and pick up the water spraying fans if you are going in Aug, Sept, and the first of Oct. They are $4 at wal mart and $18 in the park. We went at the first of May and were dying the first day. But after then we went and bought a misting fan and it was heaven! You could probably pick them up in the summer and save them for your trip, or even find them on sale at the end of summer to save even more money.
Souvenirs are expensive but we just had a set limit on what we were spending. Last time it was $20 a kid and it wasn't enough (for me :) ). So I would just plan on buying something towards the end. Each shop has lots of different stuff so I would stop in every one and just see what they have. That way towards the end of your trip you'll know what you want. But if there is something the boys love or you love just get it because chances are it's specific to that store.
Kissimmee is close to the park (where we stayed) and has a lot of chain restaurants to eat dinner at (all fast food, sandwhich shops, Chili's, ect). There is also a Wal Mart close to pick up anything forgotten or frozen dinners if you want to save some more money.
Have a fun trip! If you have any other questions just message me and hopefully I can help you out!

We were there in March with our 2 girls (ages 2 & 5) and 8 year old nephew. I spent a lot of time planning, and it was the trip of a lifetime for all of us. The kids still talk about it all the time and beg to go back. We had 6 day passes (one park per day, which was plenty) so we got to visit all 4 parks. Magic Kingdom is a MUST. The others each have their reasons to visit. I'd say that your boys would really enjoy Hollywood Studios. The Toy Story ride is awesome, and my nephews love the Star Wars stuff there. If you have to skip a park, then I guess I'd skip Animal Kingdom even though it's pretty cool, the others were just way better for us. Look at each park online and see which attractions are going to be "must-sees" for your family. I also love the "Unofficial Guide to Disney World" book, and I got some good money-saving tips at mousesavers.com. Also, we got the Disney Visa which gives you 1% back on all purchases in "Disney money" and we saved enough to pay for 2 character meals (breakfast at Chef Mickeys was awesome and a great way to meet the main Disney characters all in one place without waiting in a line). Have fun planning and going!!

We went in July and stayed at the Hilton (free because my husband travels so often). We also had 4 day park hopper passes. Our boys are 11, 7, and 5. I could write a VERY long email on this subject, I'll try to scale it back...lol.

Nothing in Disney is withing walking distance. It's 20,000 acres. You have to take shuttles to each park. Our hotel offered a free shuttle, but it dropped at all 4 parks each trip and it could easily take 30-45min to get where you needed to be. It also picked up from other hotels on Disney property that weren't "Disney" hotels. So they were FULL in the mornings. We will stay at a "Disney Resort" next time for more convenience using the tram and the tons of "disney" shuttles. We did have half of breakfast comped at this hotel and it was a great meal that we got full on. We carried a Camel Pak with water and took nuts, fruit snacks, crackers for snacks then only had to have dinner. It was summer so we weren't as hungry, it was too hot to think about food! We ate popsicles each day at the parks too.

If you are going to do a Character Dining...call and get a reservation TODAY! I didn't know this and we didn't get to go to Chef Mickey's :( The food at Disney is just ok, nothing special. We ate at four restaurants and I didn't find any of them to be great.

You have to get the 4 day passes. You will want one day for each park. We started with Epcot because we thought it would be least interesting for the kids...it turned out to be tons of fun! Next we went to Hollywood Studios...lots of fun too...you may be able to make this a half day park and do Downtown Disney that afternoon/night. Animal Kingdom was next...we went at opening and the animals were all out and roaming around! Lion King and Nemo shows were awesome at this park!!! Don't skip the Disney Shows/Plays! Last we went to Magic Kingdom and were there ALL day until the fireworks and parade were over. They have schedules at the front of each park get them on your first day and plan. Get maps at the Disney website ahead of time to see which rides are most important to your family.

Hope this helps! We loved it so much we want to go back next summer:)

Boys will LOVE Stitch ride! It's a bit crude, but hilarious! Hollywood Studios Haunted Hotel and Rockin Roller Coaster. There's parasailing ride in Epcot that's really awesome too!

You have already had some great advice! We went last Christmas (Dec 2009) when our kids were 6, 4, and 2...it was the most amazing time EVER!! We are already booking our trip to go again next Halloween to go trick or treating with Mickey :o). I figure every other year will work for us! Have a BLAST!!!

If you haven't already, check out http://www.getawaytoday.com/ to buy your disneyland tickets and you can save a few dollars (we saved about $30 for our family). Only place I know of to get discounted tickets. If you are going to eat in park (and I highly recommend it if you visit the epcot center...lots of good cultural food.....ohh I can still remember that delicious quiche I had in the French sector) it'll be around $15-20 and person (or more if you spend more of course) or do what we do, eat outside the park and bring in snacks (though we do pick one or two places to eat inside anyway).

Toy story rides are a must ride, DO NOT RIDE the stitch ride. It goes completely dark and if you have a gag reflex definately DONT go on it you'll never eat another chili dog again.
we saved a ton on food by getting breakfast stuff and snacks on the way and keeping them in our room.
it's not worth buying the dining plan , if you plan carefully you can eat a couple of meals in the parks and still go home with money.
you can take drink and water with you into the parks.

Hi I hope you have a wonderful trip - WDW is one of our favorite vacation spots and we go several times a year. Your family would find lots to do in all of the parks. Animal Kingdom has the shortest hours so you might need to decide if you want to do that park or spend 2 days in the Magic Kingdom or Epcot. You can request a free cd from Disney on planning your trip. I do have a question for you--unless you are staying on Disney property at one of the Disney hotels or Disney vacation club property or at the special military family facility or at the Give Kids the world facility and can use Disney transportation, you are not in walking distance of all the four theme parks! The Disney Parks are spread out over several exits off I-4 in Orlando. I don't know where you are staying, but I wouldn't plan on walking to the parks. It is feasible to walk from EPCOT to Hollywood Studios, but it is a long long walk (and would be really hard with kids). I would schedule one or two character dining experiences--so your family can visit with the characters. Who are your kid's favorite characters?? You have to do this far in advance because they sell out. If you are eating in the parks, plan to eat at off times because they are less crowded. Bring some snacks with you to hold your family over til meal time. Also avoid the gift shops when you get to the park. You can spend a lot of time and money in the stores when you should be heading out into the parks and the rides and attractions. Make sure you schedule in time to see the fireworks at night. If you have specific questions, send me a private message. Enjoy!

Hi. We just went this past June.

You have to visit Magic Kingdom at least one day, if not just to ride the tea cups. Your boys would most probably like Tomorrow land (buzz lightyear) the most, and its right next to Mickey's Toontown and Fantasy Land which has the classics.

Your boys will also like Hollywood Studios.

For food, you make food reservations way in advance. Trying to make last minute dinner reservations is a joke. We tried it one night at 6p and were told we couldn't get a reservation to a restaurant in our hotel until 930p.

If you fly in, there is a series of buses that will pick you up and take you to your Disney property. The signs for this, in the airport are not very clear. The pickup location is in the terminal on the first level.

If you drive, stop at Walmart and stock up on water/snacks, etc. A bottle of water is $4 a piece. Staying at a Disney property, you'll be able to charge everything except meal tips to your room. They will require you to have a credit card on file at check in, for this purpose. (found this out at checkin!). If you stay at the Contemporary, Polynesian or Floridian, getting to/from Magic Kingdom is a breeze! Getting to other parks there is a bus system, but it has long waits and driving there is usually faster. You'll have a parking pass so you won't have to pay throughout the system.

If you can afford the Park Hopper do it. If you can get the meal plan, do it. It saves you a ton of money at lunch and especially dinner! Its amazing! Also, each park has special 'before' or 'after' hours just for guests staying on Property.

We would make our breakfast, pack our lunches and half the time pack our dinners too. Large lunchboxes with freezer packs were great and saves you A LOT of money!! Packing waters, juices and sodas helped too.

Food at Disney - everywhere - is expensive. I'd rather save that money on souvenirs and stuff to bring home.

All the parks are great!

Disney is so exciting!! My family is going again in March 2011. People below have already given some great tips. Check out allears.net for more great tips and reviews. Have fun!!!

Well, Magic Kingdom obviously will be one of your parks. You will probably need 2 days for this park alone. Your boys are older and can do some roller coasters as well as other rides. Make sure you stay for the night parade, it's awesome! We really enjoyed Hollywood Studios when we went in May. There is a new Toy Story ride which was fantastic as well as other rides. We also did Epcot, the kids enjoyed it. It's really family friendly if you have babies. Most babies can do everything there. We have not tried Blizzard Beach or the other water park, but I have heard they are fun! Food is expensive, but on the map, it will show you where to go and rate it expensive wise. I suggest going to a grocery store and buying cereal, milk and plastic bowls and eating breakfast before you leave for the parks. You can bring food in, so pack snacks so you don't have to buy those at the park. We also bought stuff at the Disney store to give as souvenirs, the souvenirs are outrageously expensive. Have fun!

Edited to add: Check your resort and see if they have character breakfasts. If they do, check and see if you have to reserve ahead of time. Most times, you have to reserve months in advance.