WDW - what would you do with a 3yo & 5yo?

[mamica]

I'm SO overwhelmed by all the considerations and options for planning a WDW trip. We'll be going, family of 4, with a 3yo and 5yo. Just getting started, but thinking about 1.5-2 days MK and 1 day AK, stay at Grand Floridian. Does this sound manageable? How many total days would you stay? What fun things would you do along the way? Definitely want to see some characters and take pictures; definitely eat with the princesses; I have no idea what else we should think about!

ALSO: I know GrandFlo is more expensive, but I'm trying to figure out an overall budget that we should expect. How much should I plan on for meals?

Thanks!

[alien_host]

We went on our first trip with our 5 YO and spent 5 days in the parks. 3 at MK, one at Epcot, 1 at DHS. We left plenty of stuff to do on another trip! We didn't leave the property at all and we didn't take time to do Downtown Disney.

For meals you can check menus and prices at http://allears.net/din/dining.htm

We stayed at BLT, but would also stay at Grand Floridian...it looks beautiful!

[las710]

I think staying on the monorail is a VERY good idea and have heard wonderful things about the Grand Floridian. We went last November with an 11-month old and an almost 3-year old and stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge which was beautiful but too far and pretty inconvenient to MK. We're going back in May and will be staying at BLT so that we are close to MK and can either walk there or pop on the monorail with the stroller. When we went last time, we bought the meal plan and we will be doing that again. The plan included a quick service meal, snack and sit-down meal for $40/adult/day. I think kids were about $12, but our kids were young and free. I think the meal plan may have gone up in price a bit, but minimally. When you consider that the character meals are around $37 per adult, the meal plan makes a lot of sense.

I bought the book Fodor's Walt Disney World with Kids and I thought it was really helpful. I hadn't been there in so long (15+ years) and it helped us figure out what rides would be appropriate for the kids, what character meals to book, etc. The disboards.com forums were also really helpful.

Have a great time!

[TwinFoxes]

Three days is a very short trip. I thnk you will feel rushed. Even though you're only going to two parks, you'll want time to explore the cool stuff right outside your door. Not to mention you'll want some down time. You'll want to be able to take a siesta by the pool without feeling you should be go go going.

"The Unoffiial Guide to Disneyworld " is very helpful. If I could have only one planning book that would be the one.

[fivi2]

We did a pretty similar trip when my twins were almost 3 yo - stayed at Gr. Fl., one day MK, one day AK (also visited grandparents in the area). It was fine for us, but both of my dc were younger. This past trip they were 4.5, and 2 days would not have been enough for them! (So, I worry that your 5 yo will want more!) We were at the parks 6 days this most recent trip and still didn't make it to DHS.

As far as what will they enjoy - you will have to play it by ear a little. My girls love the characters and the shows and some of the rides, but not many of the dark rides. We do love AK, but some do not. The Lion King show is fantastic. as is the Safari. We have not eaten with the princesses, but I do recommend Donald's breakfast at Tusker House at AK. (Donald, Mickey, Goofy, Daisy).

As pps said, the unofficial guide is a great start!

Have fun planning!

As far as meal costs, allears.net has menus with prices to help you get an idea.

[hlphillips2]

I totally understand how overwhelming it can be. It took me some time to plan our trip (happening later this year) but advice online (www.disboards.com and allears.net) helped immensely. I'm traveling with a 2yo and 5yo also and would agree from everything I've heard that staying on the monorail line is key. I registered with the Disney website for their planning dvd and have gotten several mailers with discount codes - plus when I called to check on pricing was given a different code with a better deal. Definitely worth pursuing. I think the Contemporary and Polynesian are normally around $340 per night and the Grand Floridian is slightly higher. So if you can get 25-40% off that amount it should give you a rough estimate.

Also, I'd recommend not trying to see everything. This is what overwhelmed me the most. One day for AK is what we're also doing. I wish I'd planned for one additional day overall but bought our airfare before I realized it. We're also arriving on the first AM flight (which gives us 1/2 day at MK when we arrive) and a late afternoon flight which will give us a pretty decent morning with extra magic hours in the MK. REmember that once you pay for three days worth of park tickets, additional days are only about $5 more per person. So if you can swing even a half day on either end, or an additional day overall it might be worthwhile.

[Tinkerbell313]

Disney has already announced its discounts for next year. They rarely do that this far in advanced. However, I think they are cutting back on the number of rooms available with a discount and are cutting back on the number of discounts. You can go on line and price out a trip very easily.

The price of the rooms depends on when you are going...value season, regular season, holiday season, summer season, etc. It als depends on the resort...deluxe, moderate, value. It also depends on the room at the resort...preferred, water view, MK view, garden view, etc.

We went when DD was 5 and DS turned 3 during our trip. We did not stay at a monorail resort and we saw no reason to since we were never in the room and did not feel it necessary to pay the money for a room we weren't going to use. We stayed at CBR (we went with another family and this is the resort they chose) and our bus trips were 15 minutes max each way last June. However, our children are very easy going and although they take naps, naps are not a necessity. We left the resort around 8am for the parks and we would return around 11pm ever night. Now, we did have a 2.5 hour sit down dinner every night. So the children were able to wind down and relax.

We did the dining plan and definitely found it to be a bargain. We saved about 30% compared to paying out of pocket (this is just our experience...it depends what you eat). Also, we did a number of character meals and table service meals, so it was to our advantage to do the dining plan (for a buffet, you might be paying $33 per adult...however, with the dining plan, that same adult can get one buffet (or table service), one counter service, and one snack for $41.)