Advice on Our First Disney World Orlando Vacation

I just got back from Disney World with my two girls (almost 5 and 20 months). As others have mentioned, you will need a stroller (for both kids) due to the amount of walking. You can either bring your own stroller (double or two umbrella) or rent one. I used Orlando Stroller Rentals (http://www.orlandostrollerrentals.com/) b/c it was cheaper than renting a Disney stroller and I had the stroller even when we weren't in the parks. I didn't have a double stroller to bring, and I loved the one they provided! The MOMS panel off of the Disney web site has information on everything... you can pretty much search anything you have a question on.

One of the biggest pieces of advice I can give is to pace yourself. Know what your kids can/cannot handle and work around that. You don't want to have cranky kids and cranky parents b/c you decide to do too much. A lot of families recommend leaving the park in the afternoon for naps/swimming etc and then returning in the evenings. My girls actually did better getting to the parks at open and staying until mid afternoon or so. We then ate dinner and were able to relax in the evenings and get to bed early. I would recommend going to the Magic Kingdom night parade and fireworks.

I'm not sure which parks you are planning on going to. My daughter actually really liked EPCOT - Spaceship Earth, Nemo ride, Turtle Talk with Crush etc. When you go to Magic Kingom, go to the Dumbo ride first thing (if your boys are into it). The line gets crazy long very early in the day. We were able to do most of the rides in that area with little to no wait. FYI - the Snow White ride is mostly in the dark (some kids get afraid) and the Lilo & Stitch ride usually isn't recommended for young kids due to the scare factor. Buzz Light Year ride is lots of fun!

If your kids are into character greetings, check out the maps of where you are likely to find characters during the day. You might also want to do a character breakfast so your kids are guaranteed to see a few characters at once.

Hope you have a great trip!

Do not take a stroller with you... They have some that are for two kids there that you can rent for I believe it was 15.00. We took our 3yr old daughter last year and she had a blast. Also there is a walmart close to disney world that you can pick up bottles of water and fruit and stuff to make lunches that you can stick in a cooler to take inside disney world that was extra helpful since its REALLY expensive inside disney world... I think it was $5 for a bottle of water when at walmart you can get a whole case for the same price.

Have a great time with the boys!

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It's a life saver, tips tricks from people that go to disney all the time.
Make sure you stay at a disney resort hotel and tell them it's your first trip. Go in the morning to the parks then take a break at lunch time and go back to the hotel for down time , naps, swimming etc. then go back in the evening. Take snacks and bottles of water with you. it will save you a bundle. Also if you stay at the disney resorts you don't have to worry about renting a car while yo are there you can just ride the free bus, train or boat. and free pick up from the airport if you are flying.

We are also headed back to Disney this year (May though), and it will be my 22nd time, so I have this down pat. First of all, bring your own stroller. The rentals are too expensive, and towards the middle of the day, your 3 year old will be exhausted and ready to hop in.

Second, like the other poster stated, you can bring your own food to the park, so we always bring drinks and snacks (although you can bring sandwiches and full lunches as well). The other little known fact is that any stand in Disney that has access to plumbing will give you as many free cups of water as you want! Most people don't know about this (which is why they probably still do it).

Third, I suggest breaking your day like this...get up early and make sure that you are at the park at or soon after it opens. If you are staying on Disney property, plan your days around which park has extra hours that morning/evening, so if Magic Kingdom opens an hour early on Wednesday, go that day in the morning. It will get you through an entire "land" before the rest of the people even get into the park. Make sure you FastPass all big rides (Splash Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, the Safari ride), because it will save you a lot of time (i.e. if planned ahead of time, you can pretty much finish a park in a day no matter what time of year you go!). Only stay at the park until slightly after lunch (leave by 2 at the latest) so your boys can go back and nap or swim in the pool during the hottest part of the day. Plan to leave the hotel by 4:30 or 5 to get in some more attractions before dinner (or have dinner early and then take in the evening). You will be FAR less tired doing it this way!

Fourth, make sure that if you buy things in the park, you buy them earlier in the week so they can just be shipped back to your hotel (if you are staying on property). It is SO convenient, and while many of the items are similar, there are items at all of the parks that cannot be found elsewhere, so if you purchase these, don't drag them along, ship them back! (It's another completely free service!)

Fifth, if you can afford the meal plan, I highly recommend it. I find that people who do the meal plan enjoy their experience more because they aren't focused on finding the cheapest food in the park, but usually dine at restaurants that actually interest them! Character meals are expensive, but become very reasonable when you think about what you pay for the plan. Unless you plan on eating lunch from a cooler every day and never buying a snack, it is definitely the way to go!

I hope this helps, and if you have any other questions please feel free to private message me. Like I said, I have been there enough times now that we have most everything down pat! Have fun!!!

We just returned from Disney - Magic Kingdom last week. It was our first time with my 4.5 year daughter & 2 year old son. Like the other mothers said, bring your own umbrella strollers. My 4.5 year old was tired after the 1st hour, so having her stroller was a GOD scent. We bought a cheap one in Florida at a Walmart. Agree on bringing a smaller backpack with snacks, water, plastic small bottles of pop/juice, and we packed a picnic lunch which saved much money. Make sure you see both parades. My 4 year old was so excited seeing all the Disney characters and waving to them --- watching her face was priceless and worth the entire ticket price. The FastPass system is so worth it too, especially for the big rides like Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Toy Story. Make sure you know if you get a fast pass, you can't get another one for 1.5 hour later, so plan right. For some reason, Dumbo was our longest line. So, I would suggest heading to FantasyLand first and do those little rides which are so popular for 2 mins of fun. Be prepared to walk, and walk. You will have to take a monarail, plus shuttle if you park a car. It is quite a process which can take 1/2 hour or more, especially at night when everyone is trying to leave at the same time. Our 2 year old crashed in his stroller at lunchtime, so make sure you plan who is going to not go on rides and stay back with the kids. (Grandma won that duty!!) If you want Disney products, you can get hats, t-shirts, cups, etc... at Wal-mart for 1/2 the price. If you plan to get pics with every character, good luck. Those lines were at least 1/2 hour in length. Again, my kids just liked seeing the princesses and characters during the parade. My 2 year old is prone to wander, so we brought his kiddy packback that has a "leash" attached, and it was so worth it. He was never able to leave my side while waiting in line. We only did one Disney park, and also did SeaWorld. I loved Seaworld. Not 1/2 as crowded as Disney, but so many things there for kids - rides, shows. We stayed at a Quality Inn outside Disney, and our room had a kitchen and 2 bedrooms for $100. Couldn't beat that!! Have fun. We are already planning to return next year, but maybe at a different time cause Magic Kingdom was so crowded.

try to make reservations for dinners in the park now. it may already be too late. go to the pizza planet for lunch at least once with your boys they will love it and buzz lightyear and woody were there last time we were there. At least one park is open late each day and one opens early each day. unless your kids are older I wouldn't worry about the getting there early one. Let them sleep in so you have good attitudes to start the day. nothing is worse than a cranky kid cause you woke them at 6am to get an 8am start on a park that hello will be there all day long lol. if your going to try to do the start early and stay late thing then go back to the hotel and take a nap with the kiddees . it is so worth it to have rested happy kids. nothing is worse than being in line behind the family with 2 screaming toddlers who are tired and ready to just relax. One of the best trips we took we did a disney trip and stayed on property (best way to do it if you can afford it) we went to parks when we got up went back to hotel for swim time each day and then back to park in the evening. bring lunches with you or snacks make sure your hotel has a fridge. we got milk and cereal and bagels and ate there. saves a bundle. we also brought lots of bottled water and juice. but be careful of too much juice as it will cause diarrhea if they have too much. bring layers of clothing as you never know what the weather will be. oh a big saver we did was to buy plastic ponchos at the dollar general for a buck as opposed to the 9.99 at disney. no mickey on them but hey they keep the rain off. outside of disney there is a place called old town. its our favorite non disney place. its a tourist trap but its fun. lots of little shops and some rides, live entertainment. and its free to get in. rides cost but we sometimes do them sometimes skip them. its more the atmosphere kind of like being in an old fashioned town. music is going overhead and shops all have the doors open. cobblestone streets that are for people not cars.

Make sure you find out about Fast Pass and that you fully understand how they work. Bring a small cooler (or buy one at the WalMart or Target once you get there) and bring your own drinks and snacks and maybe even lunch to save a ton of money. Yes, they allow you to bring in your own food and drinks. Bring a stroller or rent one there because it's a LOT of walking. If you have an extra day in town where you don't plan to be at the theme parks, go to DownTown Disney. They have tons of stores and restaurants. The restaurants range from McDonalds to Rainforest Cafe to a Dinosaur Themed restaurant with a sand area for digging for fossils. The stores are a great place to shop for souveniers -- plus they have an interactive toy store, a really cool Lego store with a playground, a train they can ride for a couple of bucks, a free ferry you can take around the lagoon, and a great splash pad area if the weather is right (bring a bathing suit and towel for each kid just in case)

I have to completely disagree on the stroller issue. There is so much to do in and around Disney (like the Marketplace) where a stroller will be essential. Also, the rentals just plain don't look comfy, you kids won't be used to it, no snack tray, can't recline it if they want to catch a quick nap, etc. Plus that $15 a day you'd spend on the stroller rental adds up quick and I'd rather put that money to good use somewhere else.

The Marketplace has some really cute things like the Lego store and the T-Rex restaurant-a must if your boys like dinosaurs!

I second bringing water and healthy snacks into the park with you. Makes it so much easier when the little ones get hungry and just need a little something to get them thru to the next meal. And you can feel better that they aren't eating junk all day. You can also check out the meal plan to see if that would work for your family if you plan on spending most of the day in the parks.

I don't think spending extra money for a park hopper pass is worth it especially with little ones. It takes a pretty good amount of time to get in and out of a park and it's well worth your time just to stay put and do one park a day.