Planning a Disney Vacation, Where to Start?

Get the Unofficial Guide to Disney World - they come out with a new edition every year, it's always been very helpful to us. Good luck!

If you can afford it do the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique. It is at the Cinderella Castle or downtown Disney and it is amazing! Your daughter can choose to be whichever Princess she likes and they will transform her into that princess. Book ahead though for this as their time slots fill up fast!
We stayed at the Polynesian which is n the monorail line. We haved stayed here everything and love it. Request a room facing the beach and you will have a view of the Cinderella Castle and fireworks show every night. Let a cast member- either at the hotel or theme park- know that it's her Birthday and 1st time it Disney and she will get special buttons to wear and the cast members will also wish her a happy birthday thru out the park. Please pm me with any ?s. I love Disney and will help you in any way :)

We used getawaytoday.com to book our first Disneyland trip (last year). Here's the link to Orlando packages.

http://www.getawaytoday.com/destination/Orlando

You can add character dining, a princess makeover, etc. and pay for it all upfront. I believe the site now takes layaway, which is really unheard of and a great perk. I can't recommend this site enough, the process was seamless & we had no issues, whatsoever.

If this is your 1st time @ Disney, it is very helpful to call Disney direct for a package ! The Disney pkg was a tad less than AAA's pkg. I called in April and explained how much I was willing to spend and the fellow from Disney put the package together in less than 25 minutes for the following month (including the plane, too).

Purchase a Disney guide ahead of time. You can always see the rides on You Tube , too.

I loved our stay @ Carribean Beach. It was very private. If you want to stay in a kid-friendly place, I would rec Pop Century ! It is very reasonable and they have 3 pools and a nice cafeteria.

Do not miss the Electrical Parade, the Fireworks and It's a Small World !

Also, The Disney Dining plan was wonderful. It saves lots of money if you plan on visiting all the great restaurants ! And we did not rent a car. Included in the pkg, was the Magical Express Bus. We were taken to the hotel right from the airport. The luggage is taken care of and is delivered to your room, too.

If you are going on a school vacation, the lines are very long. So, you will need to spend 2 or 3 days to see all of the Magical Kingdom.

My other favorite park is Animal Kingdom. The Lion King Show is fabulous ! I would rec going on the safari ride! It's so incredible to see the lions, giraffes, hippos, etc...up close ! At the entrance of Animal Kingdom is The Rain Forest Cafe. It's really fun to eat there !

My daughter is in middle school, so we started our day at 8am and came back to the room at 10 pm. With a five year old, it can be very overwhelming. When she was 5, we spent 1/2 the day at the park. Then, went back at night for the fireworks/parade.

Have fun !

Two websites to check out.

www.touringplans.com - although the website sounds generic it is specifically geared toward Disneyworld and Disneyland. If you look on the website they have a sample of the kind of info you can get but to get all the info you have to sign up which I think I paid $6 with a coupon. It was definitely worth the $6. You can see a crowd predictor calendar to determine when you want to go. The crowd predictor is for all 4 parks (Disneyworld, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios). If you buy the subscription you can also have a touring plan generated for you based on the day you go and what age your child is. The plans basically tell you the order of rides you should go on to minimize wait times. Check it out...sometimes too hard to explain in an email. I have used the plans for both Disneyworld and Disneyland.

The other website is www.mousesavers.com. They show deals that are available and you can sign up for an email newsletter if you want. We ended up buying our tickets through them.

If you go in March be prepared for crowds. When we went to Disneyworld we went at the height of spring break. I believe the crowd predictor said the crowd level was a 10 when we went but that was the only time we had and we were meeting with friends. However even with that level crowd we were able to get on all the rides at Disneyworld within 2 days using one of their touring plans.

We went to Epcot and Hollywood Studios too (4 days total of parks).

Even though Epcot seems more geared toward adults by kids loved the place and at the time I had a 7 and 5 year old.

I would not recommend Hollywood Studios...kids were somewhat bored. Would have rather down Animal Kingdom but some friends of ours had a bad recommendation on that as well. Said it was more like a zoo...but isn't that what kids like??

I haven't been in a number of years, but I will tell you that kids her age can't do the park all day long. What we did was go in the morning, and through lunch, and then go back to the hotel for some down time. We have stayed on the property, which minimizes the transportation time. However, I have to say Disney is very efficient with parking and trams and the monorail etc. so it's pretty easy to get around. If you can afford to stay on the property, you might do that. There are also condos which give you a kitchen. The hotels have pools and so it's fun to go back for some fun that doesn't involve the rides. A lot of people enjoy the character breakfasts (which occur in different places) so try to book that ahead of time. There is one at Cinderella's castle in the Magic Kingdom but we also did one in Epcot at the restaurant with the huge aquarium tank (Mickey in a wetsuit is really funny), but the other characters roamed around and posed for pictures. You can also find the characters throughout the park - I think they print a schedule and you just have to crowd around to get a photo.

It sounds dumb, but I would consider taking or renting a stroller. There is a TON of walking involved and even big kids like the stroller. The Disney strollers are pretty sturdy and hold big kids. I'd also suggest a refrigerator in your hotel room so you can keep a few things that she eats and take them with you in a little cooler. A yogurt, some string cheese, some PB&J, etc. - it's easier than standing in line to eat at the "nice" restaurants and it's quick if you aren't too close to the quickie food stands or fast food. I remember that the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse and the Pirates of the Caribbean are close to the entrance, so you have to walk past those to get to Small World etc. She's probably not big enough for some of the rides (Splash Mountain and Space Mountain, for example) so get all that figured out ahead of time so it's not even on anyone's radar. Use your judgment on the Haunted Mansion as to whether she'd be scared.

We stayed at the Polynesian, which has a pool and the lagoon, and a little boat that ferries people across the lagoon to the Magic Kingdom. It's walking distance to the monorail which takes you to Epcot. They had their own character breakfast one day a week at least. It wasn't cheap but we didn't have driving, gas, parking fees or the transit from parking lot to park.

But there are tons of new hotels and they're worth looking into. I'd suggest joining AAA just for the free advice as well as the coupons and the package deals. We also got one of the official Disney guides which was helpful - for example, the book suggested we go to the back of the park first and work our way to the front. The crowds do the opposite so it cuts waiting time. It's hard to take a kid past a fun ride to do something further away, but it's worth it. All the rides have an "approximate wait" time posted so you know what's happening with the lines. If you can take something to do in line, it's helpful. The line moves and snakes back & forth, but it's a whole lot of looking at other people especially if you are there during a common vacation week.

I would only do one park on a given day. It's too much moving around otherwise. Look at what the other parks have to offer and what she's interested in. If she LOVES animals, go to the animal park. If she LOVES raft rides and the big wave pool, go to Typhoon Lagoon. But don't try to do all of them with a 5 year old. There are SOME things she might like at Epcot, like Spaceship Earth and the dinosaur ride (I'm blanking on the name) and maybe not the international pavilions so much.

I'm sure others will give you much more up to date info, but I hope these general guidelines are helpful.

Have fun!!

We just took our first Disney trip in June. We booked through dreams unlimited travel. It's free and they are awesome. We worked with Beth Fejer. They make all the reservations for you. Cinderella's royal table at the magic kingdom is great. I heard 1900 fare park has the step sisters that are fun. We will go there next time. The dining plan is good. The deluxe plan is way more than you will need. We stayed at the carribbian beach resort. We liked it. Pretty much if we were in the room we were sleeping. Bobbidi boppity boutique is a must! My 6 and 4 year olds had the most fun at magic kingdom and Hollywood studios. The toy story ride is at hollywood studios. It was fun. Make sure you get a fast pass. The 50's prime time cafe is there too. That was neat. Have fun.

You've gotten some very good ideas for the other mom so I won't repeat them. A few things that I would like to mention are:

You can only get the dining plan if you book your disney reservations thru Disney Reservations, AAA or some select travel agents. Can not get if you go thru Expedia or a .com site

Book your dining reservations NOW. As soon as you get your plans booked, start making dining reservations, otherwise you might have a disappointed Birthday Girl if you go to a restaurant only to be told they are full.

Besides getting a birthday button for your daughter, if you eat at a restaurant in one of the theme parks or resorts mention to them it's your daughters birthday. Each restaurant does something different for the birthday person (could be a cupcake, a song or who knows what). Also ask the concierge to set up a birthday wake up call from Goofy and have them send a birthday card to the room.

Someone mentioned the ground transportation around Disney World. It's great BUT allow at least 60-90 minutes if you are going to ANY reservation. You don't want to be late for breakfast with the Princesses!!

One of things that I think is fun is at Ft Wilderness Campground they have a campfire sing-a-long where you can roast marshmellow (small fee) for Some-Mores. The sing-a-long is free and anyone can attend, no reservations.

I would highly recommend ordering the park maps and the DVD that is offered on the Disney World website. Your daughter will have fun watching the DVD and you can study the maps.

Have fun!!!!

N.

Go to disboards.com....it's a wealth of info!