Traveling to Disney World

When my daughter was nine months we took the drive down to Orlando. We left Chicago around her bed time at night. I gave her , her bath like normal and put her in her seat and off we went... She slept her whole night sleep and some. I had a bag of toys, books, snacks for her. And we did the same coming back! Have a great trip and I hope this helps

-Stay on property-the extra up front costs are evened out by using their transportation (including to and from the airports) and the meal plan.
-go to character meals if you can get the reservation. Waiting in line in the parks is insane and at the meals, each character makes their way to your table, poses for photos,signs autographs, etc. So worth it!
-buy the t-shirts, etc here before going. The souvineers are expensive and you can get Disney items here much cheaper (Walmart, Target, etc)
-do not try to 'over plan' the day. Disney is exciting and kids will be over whelmed (and the heat will exhaust you). You have to assume you simply won't see everything you want to on this trip, decide what is most important and go with it.
-consider going to parks at night and utilizing the 'extra magic' hours. It's cooler and if your kids nap, maybe do a character meal in the morning, go swimming for bit, nap and then hit the parks and let the kids stay up a little later.
-do not try to keep 20 people on the same schedule; it won't work. My advice, having gone in large groups is to meet once per day for a meal and then do your own thing the rest of the time.
-You can buy the hoppers at the Disney store. If you have time, you can budget and get them slowly, because they are pricey but worth it.
-check allears.net. Very extensive site with reviews on everything in Disney. all hotels, restaurants, events, you name it, they've reviewed it.
Please feel free to inbox me with the ages of your kids or any questions you may have. I've been to Disney a dozen times, I've made all the mistakes and now have figured out some tricks to save myself aggravation.

We just got back last week.

Definitely get the park hopper tickets.

If you want to do any of the character meals, you need to book early. Basically if you want to eat in a restaurant period, you need to make reservations early. I thought they were kidding. They weren't.

If you want to do Downtown Disney, save it for the evening. Going during the day is just hot and half of the places are closed until late afternoon.

I don't know if you can do the Disney Dining plan without staying at a resort, but I would look into it. Its worth its weight. Especially for the dinners. Although the tips are not covered by the plan.

You can take your own snacks and drinks into the park. They do have a bag search just before you enter the park. There is a picnic pavillian near the castle.

If you want to meet princesses, they hang around the castle at various times during the day and there is a tent where they sit 10h a day in ToonTown, between Mickey and Minnie's houses. The tent looks like a store, but go into the store, there is a line on the side to see the princesses and fairies.

If you use the Disney buses to get around, allow at least 1h travel time. Not kidding.

LOTS of sunscreen, hats, sunglasses!

Also, consider doing Universal Studios at least 1 day. They have entertainment for all ages, and the older kids will like it better than Magic Kingdom.

M.

My sister had a friend who shopped at local disney store and picked up sale items to have as a "treat" every night instead of buying stuff at Disney. She saved a ton of money and her child had an incentive for leaving to return to hotel. She picked up some shirts and some very inexpensive toys. I thought that was BRILLIANT!

I recommend staying somewhere with a kitchen and pool. We personally like Westgate Resorts. They have many different sized condos/vacation villas. We liked having breakfast at "home" before heading to park and either coming back during heat of day and having lunch and chill in AC or pool or going all day and having sandwiches for supper while eating at park for lunch. (Only eat out once a day).

I LOVED Universal when I went (ok 8 years ago!) with my extended family and my then 1 yo. Universal was brand new and you waited indoors for many rides which was refreshing. They also had "child swap" (we always got back the same kid though!LOL) where we all waited in line for ride together then my husband and I would wait with baby while my mom, dad and sis went on ride then we swapped. We got right on the ride when they got off because we had all ready waited in line. They always had changing places at child swap. VERY COOL!

I personally haven't done Disney since having kids, we went year before and plan to return next year. I have heard awesome things about meal plan at Disney.

Westgate Lakes Resort is just about a mile from Universal towards Disney. We like their central location.

Have fun!
D.

For Disney World - Definately get the Fast Pass when it is available. This will cut down on your wait time in line. Have a great time!

Right now until December Disney is offering the FREE dining plan if you stay at one of their properties, I would highly recommend it, huge savings and especially if it is your first time you will want to do Character meals etc. Visit disboards.com for great planning tips, hotel recommendations and planning ideas. You will need dining reservations and can book them online at the Walt Disney World website. Have fun!

O.,

You will have a great time, just know it is hot and humid and it rains, but when it rains it is a good time to be at the parks as people usually will go back to their hotels or sit it out somewhere it the park, but we used to our boys that they will not melt and we would make a run for our next attraction. Like the other moms said you can bring your own food in and it would be good to bring water, fruit snacks, nuts anything the kids would like to nibble on and would save you money.

Also Disney restaurants provide a lot of food when you do eat at one, so if the kids are smaller you could more then likely share a meal between two kids and/or some of yours with one smaller child. Also if you can use the buffet places as you get a lot to eat and they are kid friendly and have a lot of children foods, like mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, etc. You can also book a dinner at one, like Hollywood and Vine and then get preferred seating for Fantasmic later that night and not have to wait in line.

The idea of “pre-purchasing” some items at Disney is also a great idea. There is a Disney Outlet not far from WDW (http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/outlet.asp?id=17) and they sell items from the parks much cheaper, it might be last seasons things, but who cares. We went there last year before we checked into our hotel and bought the kids each something so that we would not have to spend more at the parks to get them something. A few years ago when we went I made them each a lanyard before we left and give to them when we got there (and we put the pouches on the end to hold the tickets and Fast Passes). I figured out each of their favorite characters, got them that person on the lanyard and then purchased a mess of pins to put on them, all from e-Bay. Then we limited them to getting one or two at each park. We also gave them each their own Disney Gift Card with I think $25.00 or so on it so they could only spend what they had an no more.

If the kids are small, take advantage of the park that opens early and then take a break during the day and go back to the park that stays open late, that is the advantage of the Hopper Passes. Also use the Fast Pass system, pick an attraction you would like to really do, get a Fast Pass, you have an hour window to use that Fast Pass, before going on that attraction, get another Fast Pass for the next one you want this way you are a step ahead. Only one person has to go to the Fast Passes they just need all the tickets when they go.

When you to the first park, get your photo taken by the Disney Photo people, they will give you a Disney Photo Pass card (kind of like a credit card) and you use it when ever you see a Disney Photo person and have them take your photo. They even use them around the characters. When you get home you can log on and check out the photos and only purchase the ones you what and you can also add borders and dates. Disney has made it official! The ability to pre-purchase Disney's PhotoPass CD for $99.95 has returned and is available to everyone; this will allow you to get every photo that is taken at the park and including the ones that you can “add” by adding borders, dates, etc. http://www.disneyphotopass.com/previsitoffer.aspx

I also have a spreadsheet that I made for my boss when she took her daughter a year ago, I have updated some of it recently for someone and would be happy to send it to you, if you would like it just let me know. We are going in Oct. and Dec. with each of our adult sons, one is in the Coast Guard, right now stationed in the Gulf working on the oil spill and the second is in the Air Force, stationed in Abilene, TX, so for the last couple of months we every pay day we go to the Disney Store and add 25.00 to a Disney Gift Card so when we get there that will be our spending money, we have also been doing it for each of our sons (using their money) so they also will have one to use. Also let me know if you have any other questions as we have driven down many a year.

I am sure you will have a wonderful time!

My husband and I took our son to Disney when he was five years old. Having some down time every day was important for everybody. We would get to our park of the day around 9AM, and stayed until lunch time. We usually ate around 11:00/11:30 and we never waited in long food lines. After lunch, we returned to our motel for a swim or a rest (okay, my husband and I needed the rest). Then we ventured out again later in the afternoon to a different park for dinner, more rides, and maybe a show. We kept our son on his same eating/sleeping routine except for one late night at the Fantasmic show at Hollywood Studios. Also, one of the parks is open very early every day for guests staying on Disney property. However, the park that opened early always seemed more crowded than the other parks, so we rarely took advantage of that option. Have fun!

I'd recommend you check out the disney resorts, you save at least 15 bucks a day per car on parking just by staying at the resort. And the extra "Magic Hours" are awesome!
Check out www.allears.net

Just a few tidbits....

At some point while in the parks, it's going to rain. So be sure to pack some rain ponchos, they cost a fortune in the park.

Wear comfortable shoes, you'll be doing a lot of walking.

You can bring food and beverages into the park. However, this means you'll have to wait in line for a baggage check, but well worth it. If you freeze a water bottle, or have an ice block you can use the drinking fountains (the water is warm) to refill. It's hot and humid (like the summers in Chicago), so drink lots of water.

I recommend the park hopper passes. The water park is not included with the park hopper pass. I've heard it's lots of fun, but we opted to spend our water time at the pool.

Don't all try to stay togehter as a group. It gets too complicated.

We went 2 years ago in October. Animal kingdom was one of the best places to meet the charaters. Epcot is great for the older kids, not a lot for those 6 and under.

Have a great trip!

We are starting to plan our first trip as well. I just started reading "The unoffocial guide to disney world" and it is awesome! Huge book but I am learning so much. Good luck and have fun.

Spend the extra $ on the hopper option with your Disney tickets. Take snacks in the park with you as everything is beyond outrageous in there. Start exercising now (you'll need all the stamina you can get!) and wear comfortable shoes. There's a TON of walking. You'll want to do the safari ride in Animal Kingdom, we greatly enjoyed the Lion King and Nemo live shows there as well. We enjoyed all of Magic Kingdom & Hollywood Studios. When you get to Epcot, don't skip 'the giant golf ball'--it's awesome. Have a fantastic time!

1) Get organize before you get there, deice what park you are going first, if you are going to dived in to groups, when you will get together again, where to go if somebody get lost, Are there kids all ages? Who is staying with the little ones and who with the older ones? What time would you swap so all of you get fun?
Most likely many of this plans are going to be change depending on situacions, but is better to have some kind of organization.
2) Be mentally prepared, kids are kids, or teens. They will be going nuts with all the fun things, they will want to do EVERYTHING and do it fast, that is why I think is a good idea taking turns to keep them busy while the other grup take it easy and then change teams
3)About money, I would keep all my fun shopping to the last 2 days, once that the kids and adults are sure what they like the most, once you all know how much you have left to spend and once the kids are no so hyperactive and want to go-go only to the rides. Talk to your kids (and often remind them, how much you are willing to spend)
4) No matter how much the little ones want to just keep going until failure, I would advice take mini rest, is not fun to have a grumpy-tired kid or teen, lol.
5) many of the restaurants you must reservate, so take that in count and make sure you always have a second or 3rd option because will be lots of people there, also be on time or you will lost your turn. There are some restaurants that you may not even get a reservation (like the castle, some people already reserve more than a year ago!) So the do it asap.
6) Bring planty of diapers if you need them, and extra clothes
7)If you can/want wear all the same color clothes, if not talk to your kids about what to do if get lost.
8)Get good use of the machines (I don't remember the names, but they give you a ticket with the time you should come back so you don't have to be on line all the time.
9)Wear comfortable clothes, specially shoes!
That is what I can think right now, but will add more if I can remeber more.
Ohh yeah, don't forget the camara, charger and don't forget to charge everynight, as well as everybody cell phones.
10) I rememberd one more, some parks close later then other depending the day too, so if you are thinking on spend as much time as possible in the parks, and you are going back and fort parks, make your last park th eone that close the last. However I do recommended to do one park per day.
11) I agree with Megan, go to Universal if you can, they have lots of fun stuff for older kids.

Orlando in the summer can seem like hell on earth - literally. It is BEYOND hot and humid so you will need some stamina. JMO.

I would plan time to hit the water parks - both Disney water parks (Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon) are wonderful. I also love Aquatica (up by Sea World). Wet 'n Wild seemed like a heavy "teen scene" to me and there's not much shade. On the other hand I have cousins who loved W&W!

Plan to get up EARLY every day that you want to go to the parks. Consider a hotel or rental house with a great pool because chances are the kids (and adults) will want one day just to "chill" and do nothing.

My all-time favorite web sites: 1) www.touringplans.com - PLEASE consider getting their book; and 2) www.mousesavers.com .

I have been to Orlando many times (live about 3.5 hours away) - trust me - you NEED to be prepared, especially in the summer. You can still have alot of fun but you will get much more out of it (and lose much less money) if you are aware of some things in advance.

Good luck and have a great time!