Okay, who can I blame? and questions WDW

[Octobermommy]

I have never been to WDW and never really looked at this board but I did last week for some unknown reason and someone mentioned the buy 4 nights get 3 free. Now, my dh me and my 4 yr old dd are going next month. How did that happen?

We are so excited but I know nothing about Disney World. I did just join Mikes' tour guide so that should help a lot.

My dd is 4, do we need a stroller? She does not really ride in them much anymore at home.

Is there anything a 4 yr old girl should do? I did not even know about the Bibbity Bobbity boutique until yesterday but we have been trying to get her hair cut in to a chin length bob for a while and she was not interested but we told her she could get her hair cut at Disney and they would put color/glitter in her hair and now she wants to do it. So I think the BBB is out.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

[thomma]

We were unable to take advantage of the buy 4 get 3 free deal...it's a great deal. We've decided to go in April instead and we're staying off site. Can't wait!

We went in March when dd and ds were almost 5 and rented a stroller every day. It's a lot of walking and they got hot and tired so a place to sit and take a load off came in handy. I have big kids and their strollers were big enough for us. Actually we're planning on using them again for our next trip. Like I said we have big kids and we don't want to have to carry them if we don't have to. :)

Have fun planning your trip. I know others will chime in with helpful tips.

Kim
ds&dd 5/03

[Momof3Labs]

At 5.25yo, our DS still needed to be in the stroller after the first day or so at the parks. At 6.25yo, he walked all except the last night (we were there 5 days) when we let him ride in our Maclaren. I would expect that your DD will use a stroller a fair amount. You can bring one or rent one (renting is pricey, and you can't take the rentals to your bus or car, and won't have a stroller at the hotel where the walk can be long back to your room at night).

Where are you staying? Did you get the dining plan? If so, you need to make your dining reservations NOW, and still expect that you won't be able to get many of the times/locations that you want.

If you don't want to spend the big bucks on BBB, you can get her hair cut at the Main Street Barbershop in Magic Kingdom. It is very reasonably priced, and they will add color and/or glitter when they are done.

[Octobermommy]

Thanks. I was afraid of the stroller thing but we will take our own that we never use anymore I guess. DH wanted to bring the $20 umbrella stroller until I reminded him how hard they are to push with a 35 pound kid in it. We have not decided on the dining plan yet but we did get several reservations already. I did not get CRT, La Cellier or California Grille but got everything else. I was worried enough that I called to find out about dining options before I booked the trip. We are going to stay at Coronado Springs.

[caheinz]

Have fun! We took DS1 about 6 months ago, and he keeps asking when we can go back!

Definitely take the stroller. It's a LOT of walking otherwise. There's plenty else to wear her out!

Tour Guide Mike is awesome. Look at his rec's for your dates, and the recommended tour plans. We were there in June and I think the only long wait we had was to see Mickey and Minnie in Toon Town (which was expected).

[Octobermommy]

Tour Guide Mike is awesome. Look at his rec's for your dates, and the recommended tour plans. We were there in June and I think the only long wait we had was to see Mickey and Minnie in Toon Town (which was expected).

I completely rearranged our schedule to his recommendations so I hope it works out well. We are going in the value season so I hope the lines are not too long.

[JTsMom]

I agree- take the stroller! I think you'll be thrilled w/TGM- worked great for us! We never waited more than about 7 mins. for anything, and often it was much less! :)

We had the best time, and can't wait to go back. Can I hide in your suitcase? LOL Did you book any character meals?

Couple of random tips:
-Bring layers! The weather was totally unpredictable.
-Buy some ponchos from the camping section of Target/Walmart. Buy an extra couple for your stroller.
-If your DD isn't familiar with the characters yet, try some of the Disney DVD's like the Disneyland Singalong- they helped familiarize my DS with them, and with the parks, and he was so thrilled to be there! :)
-If you're a photo nut, like I am, think about really taking advantage of photopass. I didn't really look into it, and it's one of the very few regrets I have. I guess you can pre-purchase the CD and save $25 or so. If I had
it to do over again, I would have had our picture taken hundreds of times. We have very few of the 3 of us together now, and the 3 photopass photos I bought individually ended up costing me $45!!!!
-If you haven't made it over to disboards yet, run there!


Have fun!!!!

[hellbennt]

just got back today!
3 days w/ a 2.5yr old & a 5.5yr old!
thanks to this forum:

chrystal palace breakfast!:thumbsup: great food & great interaction w/ pooh, tigger, eyore & piglet!

haircuts at Mickey's Barber shop- saw lots of hair getting colored pink & green w/ pixie dust;)

day1 at MK: headed straight to Fantasy Land and got fastpasses for Pooh ride and Peter Pan's flight (well you can only get one fastpass at a time, lol)
ds1 LOVED pooh ride, probably more than Thunder Mtn & Space Mountain- he's 5.5 and tall, so 'physically' ready for those rides (wasn't terribly scared & didn't get sick), but socio/emotionally at the speed of Pooh, Peter Pan, tea cups, dumbo, etc:D
parade at noon was AMAZING (could not have made it to the 3pm parade!)


AK: Went straight for fastpass for Safari, then took some time on the Trail, then headed for Teratops (sp?) the Dumbo ride, lol, & then the Nemo Show - it was amazing! AK was day 3 & ds' were mElTinG...lol...so after Nemo, checked out Camp Micky & saw Chip & Dale, grabbed a snack & hightailed it out of the park as both kids, parents and ice cream were melting:ROTFLMAO:

HTH

[Octobermommy]

Thanks for the tips everyone. I just picked up WDW with kids 2009 from my library. It is over 400 pages and my dh does not understand why it can take this long to plan a dw vacation.

[erosenst]

We leave Saturday for our first trip with DD (almost 5). I almost didn't subscribe to TourGuide Mike, but am glad I did. (Even though the site is somewhat difficult to navigate.) Also, as PP mentioned, there is a LOT of good information at http://www.disboards.com.

A few things I wouldn't have necessarily thought of:

* Ziplocs - both quart and gallon size. If it's raining, quart is great for wallet and phone. You can also take a wet washcloth from the hotel in a ziplock for quick cleanups.

* Buy your park tickets from undercovertourist.com - they're usually the cheapest there.

* In addition to the poncho suggested above (and I would have never thought of a poncho for the stroller til I saw it somewhere), think of taking a microfiber rag or chamois to drive off wet stuff - they hold a LOT of water.

* We got a Disney autograph book ahead of time - bought it on eBay, although it's one they sell in the parks. It has its own plastic bag to keep it safe dry...but the reason we got it ahead was to put a sticker on each page of one of the characters. Theoretically, the characters really like the 'personalized' books, spend more time with your child, etc. We'll see - but it was a fun project to pick out the stickers, put them on, etc with DD.

* Used some other stickers to make envelopes for housekeeping - one a day. DD wrote "Thank you housekeeping" on them, and we'll put the daily housekeeping tip in at home, then put out one envelope a day. In addition to making it easier to remember to tip housekeeping daily (I often forget til the end), it was a good prompt for a discussion with DD about why we tip.

* We're definitely taking our stroller. Has a basket and canopy, a snack tray, and cupholders for us. She's old enough that she can easily walk beside us if we have to collapse it for busses, etc - but eliminates the time and cost involved with renting at the park.

Have a great trip -

Emily
Abby - almost 5

[Octobermommy]

Great tips Emily, thanks