Decided to go to Disney in one month - now my head is spinning!

[firsttimemommy]

I have never been to WDW with kids, and just had no idea of the DEPTH of planning involved!!! We just decided to go yesterday (thanks to a $$ bonus and stumbling upon a GREAT nonstop airfare). I've been reading as much as possible but am starting to worry that we don't have enough time to plan or reserve the "good stuff".

With only 28 days til departure and just beginning planning, is there anything I need to get on the phone and book NOW? I don't want to take a week or two to read about everything and THEN decide, only to not have a chance of getting a reservation, etc b/c I waited....

Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique?
Special Dining Experiences?

**going to WDW/Orlando April 25-May 4 - staying off site with relatives in Kissimmee - will have car :)

Oh help me veteran WDW'ers!!! LOL

[JTsMom]

I'd start with dining first. Are there any character meals you want to hit? allears.net has lists of them, or if you tell us what some of your DC's favorites are, maybe we can help. I'm clueless about BBB. Are you doing the dining plan?

[firsttimemommy]

Thanks Lori :)

I have no idea about dining - I am sure we'd like to participate in a character dining type experience or at the very least a show, even if just to say we did it! Maybe Hoop Dee Doo? Then a character luncheon or bfast? Maybe that fantasmic show thingee?

I feel TOTALLY unprepared for this LOL

DD loves HSM and anything "musical". She likes princesses but doesn't LOVE any of them.

DS loves Star Wars, Power Rangers and anything "tough". I *wish* he still loved Handy Manny, Pooh, Tigger, etc, but despite my best efforts, he seems to only care about the superhero type stuff anymore! He won't care about any of the costumed characters, although he does watch Mickey, Goofy and Donald sometimes.

It seems like most of the character meals are the traditional Disney stuff, right?

I just don't know what to do with them! LOL

[egoldber]

That's a good time to go. It's after spring break season, warm, but usually not too hot.

Are you staying on site or off site?

You definitely need to make dining reservations ASAP. That is a slower time so you may still be able to get some availability. If not, just keep calling back. People really do cancel all the time. Even try while you are there, you just never know.

For a princess meal, I would recommend the Storybook Dining in Epcot. That one is all princesses. One that is a little less girl-y is Cinderella's Feast at 1900 Park Fare in the Grand Floridian hotel (Cinderella, Prince Charming, Lady Tremaine and maybe a stepsister or two?).

My favorite breakfast is the one at 1900 Park Fare: Tigger, Pooh, Alice and the Mad Hatter and Mary Poppins. Fantastic character interaction and definitely not overtly girl.

Chef Mickey is very popular, but I am not such a fan.

Another fun less popular meal meal is Garden Grill at Epcot (Mickey, Goofy, Chip & Dale). And if you are staying in the Boardwalk area, you can't beat the convenience of the Cape May breakfast (Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Chip & Dale).

IMO, most non-character dining sit down meals are not worth the price, unless you are doing one of the finer dining options. And even then WDW's "finer" dining is not on a par with most fine dining. JMO. An exception to that is Spoode's on the Boardwalk. Wood fired pizzas, pastas, etc. Very kid friendly and a very pleasant view.

[jjordan]

If you have a place you really want to go for a meal and you can't get a reservation, try calling the morning of the day that you want to go. Dh and I got a prime reservation to the California Grill (perfect time to see the MK fireworks!) by calling the morning of.

[fivi2]

I really liked the Tusker House character breakfast at Animal Kingdom (my dc are younger than yours).

I especially liked being in the park before it opened - that was a nice plus. I would look into an early character breakfast at one of the parks - you get a good start on your day.

The dinner for us at Crystal Palace was fun, but my girls were pretty worn out by the end of the day.

[JTsMom]

Hmm, well, if you want to do something with the more classic characters (and I probably would, just b/c being at Disney might "inspire" them to be more into them ;) ), I'd think about Cape May, Tusker House, Chef Mickey's, Garden Grill or my personal favorite, Ohana's. Ohana's has excellent food and service, and the characters are Mickey, Pluto, Lilo and Stitch. They do a little parade around the place with the kids shaking maracas- very cute stuff. :) I'd do an early breakfast, and still try to be at the gates for the opening ceremony. Being at the parks when they open is the single best tip I could give anyone.

I would avoid sit down lunches b/c it cuts into prime touring time, UNLESS it's a late lunch, and you want to take a break afterwards or something, which I would definitely consider. If you pace yourself, the entire trip is SO much more relaxing.

Hoop de Doo is also fun. I think your kids are actually at a pretty good age for it, especially since you said your DD likes music. It's very corny humor, which most kids love, it's casual, the food is decent, and it's fun to go over to Ft. Wilderness for the show, especially if you take the boat. We did it on our first night, and it was a very nice start to the trip. Be forewarned that it takes a very. long. time. though. Just getting there takes an hour!

I also really like the Crystal Palace meals- we did lunch there. The food is excellent. If your kids aren't into those characters at all though, I probably wouldn't do it.


As far as the Fantasmic meals go, you don't HAVE to do the meal- you could just go see the show. The meal is supposed to give you priority seating, but you still have to show up pretty early. We just walked in about 1/2 an hour before it started. We were in the standing room only section in the back, but we were fine. The show is pretty intense, so it might have been a good thing for us. Honestly, it was a cool show, but I probably wouldn't be crushed if I never did it again. I wasn't all that impressed. DS enjoyed Epcot's fireworks much more than Fantasmic.


One thing I would definitely consider doing in your case is to think about signing up for Tour Guide Mike. (Actually, I'd tell everyone to do this-that guy should be paying me for all the plugs I give him, LOL!). If you sign up through the banner ad on disboards, you save $3. It helps you plan step by step, has great tips as far as where to watch parades and fireworks, and gives you touring plans for the rides so that you don't wait in any long lines (we never waited more than a couple of mins, and we rode TONS). It was the best money we spent for the trip.

[Moneypenny]

We just got back yesterday. My suggestion for character meals is to pick a late breakfast time (11:10 is usually the latest). We did Crystal Palace with Pooh and friends in Magic Kingdom and the Princess Storybook breakfast in Epcot. We were able to get to the parks at opening and hit the major rides/attractions before they got busy, go have a nice meal (which counted as lunch for me since we didn't get done until 12:30) and regroup a bit, and then finish out the afternoon. Plus, with a late breakfast they started putting out the lunch food for buffets so we got to eat some of that, too!